Suguru inhaled all that was left of Shisui's chakra and verified the usage of another one of his possibly many abilities due to the changes caused by Dark Release. When Shisui truly perished, his body crumbled into hundreds of tiny feathers, scattering in the wind.
"Huh?" Suguru was astonished, "Was that what he did?"
It was like being reduced to dust. It was no wonder that no one could locate his remains. After a moment's astonishment, Suguru realized a change in his body.
'My physique has been slightly reinforced.'
Suguru was quite satisfied with absorbing Shisui's physical and spiritual energy. He had learned a little more about his Dark Release Kekkei Genkai because of it.
'I'm indeed some kind of human version of Samehada. My conjectures were right.'
Suguru's eyes flashed.
'That makes my path to power very interesting as well.'
No matter how small the gains were, Suguru was still satisfied. He walked into Konoha from outside. He did not return to his laboratory. Instead, he headed to Konoha's orphanage.
It was time he registered himself as a citizen of Konoha.
***
"Yakushi-san, there's a child at the door."
Yakushi Nono, the caretaker of Konoha's Orphanage, was eating dinner with the children when one of her assistants approached her.
"We've asked him a lot of questions, but he hasn't answered any of them. It looks like he was abandoned."
Nono put down her chopsticks and replied, "I'll meet him. Did you let him in?"
"Yes, Yakushi-san."
Nono nodded. "Good. Please attend to the children in my stead."
Walking over to the entrance of the orphanage, Nono spotted a child who couldn't be older than five, standing at the doorway. His gaze was blank as if his mind wasn't present in the here and now.
Nono walked to the child's side and asked, "What are you looking at?"
"..." The child glanced at her for a moment and gazed into her eyes. Without saying a word, the child just pointed at her. His silver eyes glistened in the moonlight.
Nono tilted her head. "Me? Why?"
The child frowned, averted his gaze to think, and then shrugged.
He didn't say a word.
"...You're not one to talk, are you? Is it alright if I ask you where your parents are?"
Another shrug. He didn't know.
"Did they leave you here?"
The child shook his head.
"Do you have any idea where they might be?"
The child drew a line on his throat. "They might be dead."
***
Suguru was sitting beside a bunch of noisy children as he nibbled on his bread.
'Well... that was easier than I thought. Other than my sudden appearance being a cause of contention, the fact that I walked in from outside the village should suffice as an explanation. I'll just say that a bunch of bandits attacked us, and I was the only survivor.'
Being a child had its perks. It was hard to suspect someone so weak and innocent, after all.
'Just like this, I should be able to join the Academy without any problems.'
Months passed in the blink of an eye.
Although Suguru's behavior intrigued a few of the adults maintaining the orphanage, his reserved and quiet nature soon turned into a pleasant sight. He was responsible and kind, staying away from trouble.
Whenever something pleased him, he would nod. Whenever something annoyed him, he would frown in disdain.
The adults quickly caught on to his preferences because of this. Still, there were a few who blatantly disregarded his preferences.
"Suguru~"
Suguru shivered. He knew this voice.
It was Hana. A brown-haired, brown-eyed orphan girl with freckles splashed across her fair face.
"Can I braid your hair again?"
Suguru frowned, clearly displaying disdain, however, Hana was swift in her movements. Suguru, who hadn't been training his body in public, was slightly slower. The latter was caught in an instant.
"Fufu~ I'm going to become a ninja one day! You won't be able to beat me in speed." Hana boasted.
"Che," And Suguru clicked his tongue.
He relinquished control and allowed the girl to braid his long silver hair. Thoughts of cutting it short crossed his mind. That way, he wouldn't have to deal with the girls trying to practice their hairstyling on him...
...All of that was a facade. Suguru couldn't care less if someone braided his hair. He was too busy thinking about what to do once he had more freedom. He yearned to return to his laboratory.
Childhood involved way too much supervision.
'Luckily, I can get into the Academy soon,'
He would have more leeway once the village gave him a place to stay.
'I should also start my training,' Suguru sighed.
After absorbing Shisui's chakra, Suguru had access to more of his reserves. It seemed like the more chakra he absorbed, the more he could use for his own purposes, even without mirroring a Byakugan, Sharingan, or activating his Kaisugan.
'If I can go on missions in the future, then I can absorb more chakra without anyone suspecting me.'
It was all the more reason to become a shinobi.
***
Eventually, the month of April arrived, seven years after Naruto's birth.
Suguru glanced at the orphanage, briefly reminiscing his short time there. Although he did not force himself to make friends with the kids, they seemed naturally drawn to him by their curiosities.
The fact that Suguru barely talked was a big reason why they tried to poke fun at him a few times.
Luckily, Suguru had lived another life before this. It was easy to avoid falling prey to their antics...
'But I still fell for some of their pranks,'
Suguru's eye twitched as he recalled a particular face. 'That damn Hana...'
Shaking his head, Suguru followed after Yakushi Nono. They were heading to the Academy to finalize their enrollment. A small part of Suguru was excited.
The main cast of the original would be present, still young and impressionable.
'I'm going to make myself one hell of a variable.'
Suguru inwardly cackled.
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I made a P@treon! Hehe~
Link: pa treon.com/ubemantou
(No space.)
I'll be working on putting advanced chapters there. OuO For now, there are only two advanced chapters. It'll grow as I write more :>
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