Strength From Within (A Naruto Neglect Book)

11

The rest of the lunch was quite awkward. There was something about Daidai that bugged the Hokage and his wife, as well as Motoshi and Katsuko, but none of them could put their finger on it. Both parties had different reasons for it though; while Minato and Kushina felt annoyed at the strange boy, Katsuko and Motoshi couldn't shake the feeling that he seemed so familiar to them. They kept on glancing at him as if looking at him more would either get him to submit to their desire that he entered the ninja program, or that it would suddenly become obvious who he was.

Thankfully though, it wasn't too long before the family got their food, ate, and left.

Naruto wasn't the only person that had noticed the odd glances that he had been given, and Shizune had begun to get suspicious of the family too. "Is it just me, or do they seem to hate you already?" she asked, tilting her head and furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. It didn't make sense that they would hate him when he had done absolutely nothing to anger them.

"It's not just you. Both Kurama and I noticed it, and he's trying to figure out some things now," he explained, shaking his head a bit. "It doesn't make sense, they're treating me just like they were when I was Naruto, well, now they actually seem to want me on their side though. But Kurama felt like they were messing up his thought process, almost like they were touching him."

"But he's made out of chakra, and surely the Hokage would have said something if he noticed that chakra signature or had been tampering with it..."

"She's right, Naruto. Whatever's going on, they're not doing it consciously. Maybe because they're your parents, but they seem to be sensing tiny fragments of my chakra. But that would mean Motoshi and Katsuko would be doing the same if the link was family based."

Naruto shook his head and explained what Kurama had told him to Shizune. "We need to tell Tsunade, but at the moment I think the only thing we can do is wait and continue training. She won't get off work until later tonight, anyways. How about we go back home and start training?"

Naruto nodded and smiled. "Yeah, let's," he agreed, walking so they could pay before heading back to Shizune's house. As planned he left five clones with her to learn from Shizune, and another five to either study or do any of the practical experiments such as being injected with poisons and stuff from the clones that were learning.

Naruto himself headed to the training ground, making ten clones to practice jutsu and other chakra related exercises, meanwhile the original did strength training and running, or did mental and strategy training with Kurama. By sunset he had learned effectively, and one of his clones back home released itself to send Naruto information that it was time for dinner. One by one the clones dissipated, so the information didn't overload him, and they were all gone by the time he arrived home. He was exhausted, his body was still physically young after all, but Shizune had prepared a balanced meal and sent him to bath after he ate. He was sent to bed afterwards, which he wasn't complaining about. It was important that he rested well so that he had enough energy for the next day. They were doing everything they could to make sure that he developed well.

The next day they did a similar thing in terms of training. It was split into two sessions, one after breakfast, and one after lunch. Lunchtime was where they visited Tsunade, and explained their problems with Minato, Kushina, Katsuko and Motoshi. Tsunade didn't have much to input about the situation since it was rather complicated, but she said she would think on it and get back to him if she came up with anything. It was good that they spent time talking however, since it allowed Naruto to have time for a break, which was something he needed so that he didn't overwork himself. There was no need to be training 24/7 as it would only be reducing hours he trained if he had to spend a day or two recovering from overworking himself.

x-X-x

As next two months went on by, the training was going well. Of course, Minato had been unsuccessful in convincing Naruto to join the academy, and it was too late to join now as it was a month into the curriculum. Some of the top clans had enrolled their children into the course, but only a few had been advanced enough to get into the highest ability class that had older people. Neji, Motoshi and Katsuko were the only ones to have gotten in, while Sasuke was in the second top class along with Hinata. The other clans had decided to wait to enrol their children, as they did not want them to become full fledged genin so soon. They would wait a few years until they were old enough to be able to perform well and make better decisions.

One Sakura Haruno had enrolled to be in the course, but had failed to even get into the lowest ninja class and instead was sent to a civilian school.

Even without the academy, Naruto was still better than most of the students in the top class. He could now make up to thirty five shadow clones, and he used them effectively to train and study. Every Saturday morning Tsunade would test him on what Shizune had taught him that week, and each week he would pass with a high mark. Afterwards he would take a break and have some fun, which would usually consist of playing a game of shogi or something else with Shizune or Tsunade, or reading a book of his own choice. Sometimes he would spend time cooking dinner or lunch as well, which wasn't his favourite activity but he did find it calming.

Right now it was a Saturday afternoon, and he was out on a walk in the village. He didn't go out very often aside from training, going to the library or going home, and right now he was heading to the library to return a book on different types of plants. He had wanted to find out what some of the plants in the training ground he went to were, and it had been quite useful.

He had just been walking to get to the counter where he would return the book when he was spotted by Shikaku Nara, who had seen him around the village. He wasn't dumb, and he had known who Naruto was before he had become Daidai. Shikaku had taken a while to figure out the connection, having had not much interaction with him before the change, but when he did it seemed so obvious. He remembered the nine tails before its sealing, and the hair and eye colour was the same, and though his appearance had changed he still had the same face shape.

The head of the Nara clan had never gotten a chance to talk to him until now, though, as the boy was either with Shizune or Tsunade, or he himself had a place to be. Now that none of those hindrances were present, he was free to talk to him.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he began, his voice quiet enough that only Naruto would hear, "I believe it's time we had a talk. I am Shikaku, the head of the Nara clan."

Naruto froze, his eyes widening as he looked up at him, unsure what he should do. "I have to return my book, sir," he said, trying to buy a bit more time to talk with Kurama.

"Then return it, and we can go talk back at my clan compound. It's as simple as that."

"Just do as he says, Naruto, he's never held anything against you before and I can't sense any hatred," Kurama assured him, before telling him to return his book. Naruto did so, before turning to Shikaku and following him. The walk was silent as Naruto talked more with the Fox, to discuss how much information they should give.

His breath hitched as they got there and he was lead inside a room, where they sat down. "So, where to start, hm? How about the obvious thing, the appearance? You can trust me, kid."