Namikaze Naruto- The Unpredictable Shinobi

Chapter 10: Growing up & Academy

Naruto, on returning, swiftly showered, had dinner and slept, not without switching off her alarm clock, since it had been quite late. Yet, her biological clock had woken her up at 5 a.m.. She created clones to clean her place and prepare breakfast, and slept again till 6 a.m.. Thanks to Kurama, she felt temporarily refreshed. She did the usual prep and training. She wanted to be proficient in sealing and medical ninjutsu, but that didn't mean that other forms of fight are thrown in the bin. Like her idols, she wanted to be an allrounder.

She met the Sandaime and relayed everything that had happened in the meeting the previous night and took an afternoon nap- an extremely rare occasion.

Time-skip brought to you by Naruto's Bijuu Kozoyata

Naruto was around 8 years old. She improved greatly, her strength increased, and was as tall as an average 8-year-old boy, neither too tall, not too short. She tried new styles/Katas of Taijutsu, Kenjutsu and Ninjutsu. She was good, but not an expert in Genjutsu, for her age. She has been learning the Hiraishin for quite a few months. It was exhausting for a child, and a beginner like her. She tried to study the scrolls of the Nidaime and Yondaime, but turns out you need to figure out the trick to the technique bu yourself. Also, Senju Tobirama and Namikaze Minato each had their own versions of the Hiraishin no Jutsu.

'I need to make my own. (sigh) I hope I'll get it down within a year' Naruto thought. 'Come on, Kit. Where is your positive attitude?' Kurama asked her. 'Ah, Gomen Kurama. It's just that the Hiraishin is a bunch of complex seal conjoined together, but that shouldn't stop me!' Replying thus, she went back to work.

Oh, that's right! She will be attending the Academy from the next day. She had to be ready with her disguise- a loudmouth, idiotic, dead-last of a male. 'Why does every syllable of it seem opposite to what I am, Kurama Onii-sama?' she half-whined. 'Thinking of it won't do any good, but will make you lose grip. Focus on your work.' He chided her. She had an orange jumpsuit. Completely orange with blue and white detailing. She likes the colour orange, since it was the mix of red- from her mother- and yellow- from her father. Her original attire was black and blue simple shinobi- genin attire, with minute detailing of orange, yellow and red.

She had long, waist-length blonde hair. A seal on it to reduce it to Minato's hair style- neck length spiky blonde hair with bangs framing her face- and another seal that reduces it to slightly shorter spiky hair, with no bangs. Upon that, a blonde wig, fixed tight. A seal to make sure that sensors and Doujutsu users identify her as a male. Bandages that bind her chest, would soon be replaced by a seal that flattens it, once perfected. So far, she had avoided hot springs and only attended them alone. Overall, let's say she is pretty much well disguised and she was proud of it. Some might point out that the seals can show up as tattoos. Well, Naruto has researched and found a way to make them invisible, or blend them in the surroundings, but appear when activated and deactivated. She was still working on how to keep them invisible even during activation and deactivation. During the experiments, she learned new things.

The cottage in the forest had been completed and she lived in it. But for others, she was living in the old apartment. The cottage had seals on it, and had befriended the animals in the forest, normal and abnormal, and played with them. She keeps the basic things upgraded in the apartment, so as to convince others, including the ones who trash the apartment repeatedly.

She met Shisui and Itachi while training under the disguise of 'Mito'- a girl around the same age as Naruto with auburn hair and brown eyes (of course no whisker marks on cheeks). Itachi was quiet and stoic, but kind, and they got along well. Shisui, however was bright and bubbly with his own moments of wisdom, much like her and they instantly became siblings in all but blood. The two Uchihas became her best friends and there were moments when she disliked to put up with that disguise.

Academy was... fun? Of course, parents ostracized her, most kids kept away from her. At least her mask helped turn her attention in a less lethal way. She quickly became buddies with Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji. Yamanaka Ino was one of Uchiha Sasuke's many fangirls, but she had her nice moments. Aburame Shino soon respected Naruto as a friend. Hyuuga Hinata was a very nice and cute girl, but extremely shy. She had a crush on the brash sunshine of a 'boy', but tried to grow out of it with Naruto's help and became friends. Uchiha Sasuke ... was nothing like Itachi. Arrogant, egocentric, and having an unhealthy obsession to surpass Itachi. Naruto wanted to facepalm many a time since she had specifically asked his father to reduce the clan pride. She tried making friends with him many times, but decided to keep her distance when he had insulted her every time and any other attempt had proven futile. Haruno Sakura... Let's just say she was not in the good books of Namikaze Naruto. But for the sake of the mask, Uzumaki Naruto was to crush after her. The rest of the class was civilians. The students mentioned above were all heirs of important shinobi clans in Konoha. All except Sakura who was the daughter of a member of the civilian council and was a studious girl, topping every written test.

Kiba's clan specialized in combo techniques with their canine partners. Kiba's partner was a pup Akamaru. The Inuzuka clan had red fang marks and feral features like fangs and dog like pupils. Shino's clan specialized in attacks using insects. They breed a swarm in their body's chakra network since infancy. The insects generally drain out the chakra of the opponents. The Aburame clan members are known to be quiet and stoic, but not arrogant. The Hyuuga clan was similar to the Uchihas- stoic, with a hint of arrogance in some, pride a lot in their Doujutsu Byakugan that can see through things and even the Chakra Network. They specialize in Taijutsu and are known for the Jyuuken- Gentle fist that pushes chakra out of Tenketsu- chakra points of their hands in their Taijutsu punches. Shikamaru's clan was known for their techniques that manipulate their and others' shadows. The Nara's were also known to be lazy and very smart with high IQ around 200 that helps them observe their surroundings and situation without anyone realising. It's no wonder Shikamaru sleeps most of the time in class and manages to get passed without trying. The Nara's also believe that everything is too troublesome to be bothered with, but once something catches their interest, they won't leave it till it has been solved. His father and Nara clan head Shikaku was the Hokage's aide. The Akimichi clan are all big boned and Chouji hated when anyone called him fat. However, he was a sweet boy with a big heart, always found munching on snacks, preferably potato chips. Their techniques burn calories and their plumpness aids them. The Yamanaka are mind-masters. They specialize in techniques that manipulate enemies' minds. Ino's father Inoichi was the head of the Intel Division in Konoha's Torture and Interrogation- T&I unit. The three clans Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi have, since the beginning of Konoha been a prominent trio in techniques, famed as Ino-Shika-Cho combo.

Naruto pranked around and had fun, annoying their homeroom teacher Umino Iruka to no end. He had been orphaned in the attack by Kyuubi and was one of those who had developed hatred for Naruto due to the Biju. But after some coaxing from the Hokage to keep his mind open and explaining that even the child was an orphan, Iruka found himself empathizing and soon became a father/brother figure to her- not her but to her mask. You could never be too careful.

Graduation Day arrived after 4 years of schooling. Naruto just wanted to pass, but another sensei of the name Mizuki had given evil vibes and had dropped enough hints of bad intention that made her fail her attempt at Bunshin no Jutsu just to see where Mizuki had this going at. The chunin with dull grey hair under a bandanna approached Naruto with a promise to pass her if she brings the Forbidden Scroll from the Hokage's office in extreme stealth. She complied and brought the scroll. However, before she could hand it over or make an attempt to finish the traitor in the dark of the forest, Iruka found them, causing Mizuki to reveal his intentions to kill two birds with one stone- bring the scroll to the rogue snake Sannin Orochimaru in return for power, and kill the demon brat. He tried to break Naruto by revealing to her that she was the Kyuubi and that Iruka hated her for killing his parents. Iruka proved him otherwise, prompting Mizuki to aim a killing blow at a wounded Iruka that was stopped by Naruto, who created 70 shadow clones using the Tajuu Kage Bunshi no Jutsu- Multi Shadow Clone Technique, that she claimed to learn from the scroll she stole. The physical beating from the clones proved enough to hand over the traitor to the Hokage. Iruka awarded her with a Hitai-ate, the head band of Konoha- a mark that she was now a shinobi, and currently, a genin.

'Another step towards my dreams, father, mother...'