"We blesseth them with foresight. They art of those who veil-pierce now. Truly we are magnanimous."

- The Book of Log

C12: Genin Days (Pt.3)

Naruto looked up at the figure and saw a man who looked so much like him staring back. Even if it worked, he didn't need his ability to figure out who this person was. The hair was a dead giveaway.

"Yondaime-sama?"

A blank stare was his only response.

Am I dead?

"Yondaime-sama?"

Naruto blinked and the room changed. The man was now sitting on a strange misshapen ball-like structure as far as he could tell. For that matter, he was sitting on one as well. The room had turned coffee brown as walls and roofing popped into existence.

Why am I shaking?

He turned towards the blond man who now wore a plain yellow shirt with blue jeans.

"Yondaime-sama?"

The man finally responded, his voice cracking as he spoke, "One-second… Na—RUTO. The connec-"

Naruto felt clammy. His stomach was wet cloth being wrung dry.

I'm just seeing things, there is no ghost here. I'm just hallucinating.

The man reappeared.

Why is my stomach hurting? Ghosts don't exist.

He shivered and scratched his neck, feeling the cold sweat cling to his fingers.

Is this fear?

The blond watched the figure open and close its jaw soundlessly as he tried to still his trembling hands.

Am I scared? Is he a ghost? Am I dead?

"Connection failed."

Naruto tried searching for the origin of the sound but to no avail. He stood up and looked around, his hands calmer now. He needed to get out of here. This was not okay. Even though he knew he was lightheaded and that his body was panicking, he himself felt calm enough to assess the situation.

I am scared.

His throat tightened.

I am hyperventilating.

He tried thinking about the Anbu and their masks, spending time with Sasuke and his clan.

His throat tightened.

He tried thinking about the time he spent with others; Sakura. Choji. Shino. Kiba. Jiji. Konohamaru.

He tried inhaling.

He tried thinking about the first time he stepped outside of his house.

The sun. The light.

Sunlight poured into the room.

His breath hitched.

He felt someone hold him in their arms.

"Slowly…"

The warm and soothing voice washed over him.

He gulped the air.

"Deep breaths…"

He breathed.

The blond lay there, his gut telling him that this was perfectly natural. He kept his eyes shut, imagining being home instead of dead with the increasingly suspicious Fourth Hokage comforting him. He just wanted to melt into his arms, but if this was him hallucinating, he didn't want to know who was holding him.

"Here's some water, if you feel up to it."

Naruto looked up at the person helping him and knocked the glass out of his hand.

It vanished.

Yondaime did not.

The Uzumaki glanced at the man who watched him apprehensively with a face full of concern. His cerulean eyes brimming with tears. He walked back towards him and made for a hug.

Naruto had recovered just enough to move out of his way, "I think… not," he barely managed to cough out.

"Chocolate milk?"

Yondaime-sama had another glass in his hand, or perhaps the same one. The blond wasn't sure. He had similar clothing to the apparition before him, but this time something was different. He was different. He was… alive.

Naruto couldn't access his abilities, but his observational skills were still adequate enough for him to determine that. The involuntary muscle contractions, the tensing of his fingers as he held the glass…

"Thank you."

He took the glass and drank it in a single draught.

It refilled.

He drank it again and again.

"Good right? The divine realm has amazing chocolate, way better than the muck we get in the Shinigami's belly."

Naruto looked at the man again, his head clearing.

"Can you please… not speak for a minute? My head is ringing and I need to sit down."

Almost as if in answer, a sofa appeared. He sat down while rubbing his temples.

Another one appeared and Yondaime sat down too.

After exactly a minute, the man spoke again, "You remind me a little bit of Kushina, she was just like this when she was having you."

The blond drank slower.

"Although she used a few choice words when she told me to shut up. It was funny, motivational and irritating all at the same time," He looked slightly despondent, "She really had quite the way with words."

Naruto said nothing.

"Even after the war, she still treated me the same as she always did…"

His voice turned wistful towards the end. The blond noted it, feeling happier that his mental faculties were coming under control. "You talk about her like as if you haven't met her… here."

The man tilted his head, "Yeah, over here, we can meet everyone. I've spent a good long time talking to basically my-" He looked at the blond child, "-our family line. They were all really excited to meet me! First ninja in the family since we never mention my great great great grand uncle who married a fish."

He looked at Naruto's shocked face, "Don't worry about it. I've cleared it with him, it isn't back-biting, so I'm not a bad person for saying it," He smirked before continuing, "To answer your question, the afterlife is great and yes, I know you figured out I was your dad before I even-"

"-mentioned mum," Naruto finished his thoughts out loud, "Hold it… dad," It felt weird saying it out loud, but all the scenarios he'd run in his head about what he'd do when he met his family had him use that noun, "Why can you read my mind? Is this a dead person thing?"

"No," The man looked happy, "It's a me thing, although I only ever do it to people I know after I got beaten up as a kid that one time."

"But Kakashi-sensei does it too."

"Who do you think taught him that?"

The blond opened his mouth and then closed it, "So you were Kakashi-sensei's sensei?"

Yondaime nodded.

"Nii-san never mentioned…." His eyes widened, "Oh."

The man smirked, "Even before you ask, I don't have enough time to teach you how to do it. Kushina refused to marry me until I taught it to her and I held out until after the war."

His smirk changed into a grin, "And she still never managed to work out how to do it anyway."

Naruto observed his father's emotions as he talked about his mother, his knuckles tightening, "It sounds like she was better than you?" he said, trying to keep his voice even.

"What makes you say that?"

"People generally don't smile while saying things like that unless they are taking satisfaction in the misfortune of the failings of those better than them," He remembered the evil vindictive grins on the bullies faces in the Academy. They ignored him, but he did not.

Yondaime's eyes widened, seemingly lost for words as to how to respond, "That's really rude, Naruto. I teased your mother about it, sure, but she did the same to me," The man nodded as if to reassure himself, "…It's fine."

The blond looked hurt at his reprimand. The man looked at him worried that he'd gone too far, "I'm sorry," He tilted his head slightly, "It sounded… harsh. I know. But you were also being harsh." He saw that it had just made him sadder, so he quickly added, "It's fine though. It isn't like we've… been there for you so that you'd know these things."

Naruto looked at him, "No, I'm sorry," His expression flattened, "I'm not sure where all these emotions are coming from, so I should be the one apologising," The blond looked at his feet, "I can normally control… these feelings."

They sat in silence as the blond tried to relax.

After a little while, his knuckles loosened and the man spoke, "How about we start over again?"

"You never introduced yourself in the first place." shot out the Uzumaki before he could stop himself.

Naruto's father scratched his head, looking embarrassed, "You're right," He looked at his son and smiled before speaking, "I'm Namikaze Minato."

Minato held out his hand. Naruto, after looking at his own tremulous hands, managed to steel his resolve enough to shake it.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto."

As the blond said it, something crossed his mind, "Why do we have different surnames? Mum has the same as mine, right?"

"Yeah, well…" The man looked unsure, "It's a long story. I don't want to bore you."

Naruto sat his glass down on a table that had appeared. "I want to hear everything."

"Everything?"

"Yes, everything. How much time do we have?"

"Enough to tell you my whole life story… and for you to tell me yours. Probably," The Namikaze tilted his head, looking at his slightly confused son, "Surely you didn't think that I wouldn't want to get to know my own son?"

The young blond said nothing in response. He simply picked up his glass and folded his legs, prompting the sofa to change into a comfy futon.

"So, let's see," Minato scratched his chin, "I was born on the 25th of January at 9:34 AM. My dad would have been half-way through his usual routine of catching fish, but my birth interrupted their normal life pattern." Minato tried to remember how Kushina used to tell stories to the Uchiha children, "Forever!"

Naruto barely managed to catch his breath, "So-you're… telling me." He tried to stop himself from laughing, "That Sasuke's dad— mistook gallium for mercury-"

"And brought me a mercury fountain for my wedding day!"

"-nearly poisoning everybody!"

"Yes!" The Namikaze looked triumphant, "Finally someone else finds it funny as well!"

The blond looked at his dad, "Of course it's funny, how can it not be? What idiot can't tell the difference between the both of them and why did he think it would be a good idea to have a gallium fountain?"

"I like gallium quite a bit." Minato leaned forwards and whispered conspiratorially, "And between you and me, I actually use liquid gallium in my sealing inks. No one ever figured that out!"

Naruto looked amazed, "Sealing is really awesome."

"And that is a perfect segue way into the next part of the story! We decided to visit your mother's family after we got married. They didn't even know she was with me, let alone that we got married." He leaned forwards and whispered conspiratorially, "It was supposed to be a surprise."

Having heard him tell one story after another, Naruto had gotten used to his tells, "Let me guess, you received a surprise instead? She was already betrothed?"

Yondaime gestured with his hands as he spoke, "Kinda, you see. When she went to talk to her father, who as you know-"

"Is the head of the Uzumaki clan, yes."

"I was hiding just outside the door ready to make an entrance when he told her that as the peace negotiations had started and she was past the usual wedding age and had finally returned to the village, they'd already begun preparations for the 'ceremony'. Your mother just said okay with a thumbs-up and he said that it was scheduled for tomorrow."

The Uzumaki began to panic, "Why did she do that? Wasn't she already married to you? Did she just forget about you?"

"She came back and explained to me what they meant by the ceremony because I was just as worried as you. I had sneaked into one of the deadliest villages in existence and she hadn't even told them that I was there." He looked at his son seriously, "If anyone found me, I would probably have vanished, never to be seen again."

"So, what was the ceremony?"

Minato took a deep breath, "Right. So, the Uzumaki clan like most ninja clans, don't care about the sex of the head, but they were expected to marry. They typically host a tournament where out of whoever applies, the heir gets to pick between the top three to marry."

"Why not the top to maximise the potential abilities of the next generation of heirs?"

"Kushina said that it was so that they had more choice. They used to do that until one of the previous clan heirs killed the first and second person, to marry the third person who they had fallen in love."

"Why not just let the clan heir choose anyone they like then? It sounds a bit arbitrary, doesn't it?"

"You're right." The Namikaze nodded, "Most of the top clans are extremely concerned about genetics, so they pull things like this. The Uzumaki especially."

Naruto tilted his head slightly in thought, "You used seals to repair that earless guy's hearing, right?"

"Yes." said Minato unsure of where he was going with this segue-way, "I was granted my Journeyman ranking after doing that."

"So could the Uzumaki use seals to manipulate the genetics of the children of the clan?"

His father looked at him, part pride and part wondering how he managed to figure that out so quickly, "Yes, theoretically," He decided to not delve into that can of worms, "Anyway, so Kushina had the bright idea to add me into the tournament and told me that she'd divorce me if I lost."

Naruto's eyes widened, "Wait, what?"

"Yes. She assured me that they were all 'stupid' kids and that she couldn't bear the shame if I lost to someone in her clan, excepting her of course. She wanted me to prove to her clan that I was the best person to marry her. No exceptions, so no one could pull anything stupid in the future."

"She'd been with you how long exactly?" asked the blond child, surprised at the gamble his mother had taken.

"A long time. I'm sure she was joking… probably. I don't know what would have happened if things didn't turn out the way they did."

"And what happened?"

"The tournament was the hardest thing I had done in my entire life. No exceptions. I started sealing when I was a genin, sure. Most people called me a genius, okay maybe," He rolled his eyes in exasperation, knowing how many smarter people were out there, "I was a shoo-in to become Hokage at the time since the war had just finished. But the Uzumaki are taught sealing from the moment they learn how to write Kanji."

The man leaned in, "They asked us to do the craziest things with sealing and I even lost one of the trials. That guy came in third overall."

"Who came in first?"

"Before I answer that, I just want to be clear that when I say I lost the trial, I mean that I didn't come in the top three. I only outright won one of the trials and came second in all the others, except for the one where I came in fourth."

"So, there was someone who almost always outclassed you?"

"Yes."

Naruto grinned, his gut confirming his hypothesis as it was highly likely, based on the premise of the story, that there was an obvious answer to his question, "Was it mum?"

"Yes." Minato looked confused, "Wait a second, how did you figure that out? I didn't realise it was her because the seating allocation was randomised each round. The final trial, the one I won outright, was space-time ninjutsu themed and in that one, she was sitting next to me."

"Just a guess, but I'm assuming she was disguised?"

"She wore a hood the entire time and wore clothing with a distraction seal, so no one focused on her."

"So she revealed herself at the end and picked you?"

Minato grinned, recalling the scene, "It was a bit more complicated than that."

"THE WINNER OF THE TOURNAMENT IS…."

The austere voice boomed across the massive stadium which was not only periwinkle in colour but had periwinkles emblazoned across the walls too. Minato didn't know why, but he just remembered that periwinkle was a generic term for small marine snails.

"Must be the stress which is bringing out random useless facts," he mused to himself.

At the top of the stadium, a platform jutted out like the head of a snail where instead of two eye-stalks sat three thrones. The voice may have boomed from the mouth of the platform, but its owner was the aged man sitting on the right throne. His voluminous ginger beard fell to his navel and held in an outstretched hand, was a card. He had headed the tournament thus far.

"UZUMAKI… Kushina?"

Pin-drop silence.

The stadium, which just a moment ago bubbled with laughter and the low murmurs of conversation, stilled.

Minato could barely make out the expression of exasperation mixed with a tinge of anger that graced the proctor's wrinkly face. He turned to judge the reactions of those sitting next to him; the bejewelled woman sitting on the left throne grinned with delight while the wizened man in the centre had his lip upturned in an almost smile.

"I have not missed your pranks, heiress." He could almost hear his teeth grit, "This has gone too far!"

The elder's voice became louder and louder. The seal on his origami hat, transferring and amplifying his voice, "This is making a mockery of not only the tournament but your family-"

The wizened man removed the hat from the proctor's head and placed it on his own. He spoke with a voice deep and melodious, enough to make Minato feel a shiver run down his spine. This was the same kind of voice Sandaime used when he ordered battalions to go die for nothing. It was the honeyed sound that commanded, the voice that demanded attention and subservience. He hoped that he'd never learn how to speak like that.

"Daughter, can you please come up here so that we can continue with the proceedings."

Kushina looked at him and smirked before joining her father up in the stalls. She stood behind his throne.

"The person who came in second is… Namikaze Minato"

Silence... and then murmurs.

"This is not good not good not good-"

Minato was freaking out as he heard the entire audience talk about the foreigner in their midst. He began to worry about the trouble this would cause Kushina until a voice interrupted his rapidly downward spiralling thought process.

"And I choose him to be my consort," spoke Kushina, almost princess-like.

This was weird even by his standards. He'd seen happy Kushina, sad Kushina, crazy Kushina and a whole host of other types of Kushina, but princess-like wasn't one of them. It was almost like diplomatic Kushina, however, the superiority and arrogant undertones of each word she uttered was like those slimy kings and daimyos he worked for. He had no idea that she could speak like that.

It was actually kinda hot.

"I invited him to Uzushiogakure, knowing that this tournament was going to take place to let him prove his worth in front of the village."

Chatter started again.

"He came in second after me, proving that he is a worthy consort. And…" Kushina looked a bit nervous, "We've also kinda already married and I wanted him to see our village, 'ttebane."

The entire village stood in silence.

Her father snatched the paper hat back from Kushina, "The heiress seems to have preemptively chosen her consort. As per the laws of Uzushiogakure, he is a viable candidate as the only qualifier is to compete in this tournament." He raised his hands in a theatrical gesture, "May I introduce Namikaze Minato, the heiress' consort! Please raise your hand."

The crowd started to applaud as he lifted his hand. Minato blushed when he heard someone yell a compliment for his space-time ninjutsu.

"So I basically won the competition, we had another amazing wedding and then we left. A few months later, Uzushiogakure was annihilated." Minato's fist tightened, "Everyone except Sunagakure and that was probably only because they were too far, temporarily joined forces to destroy them after we were almost done with the peace negotiations. It was a backhanded dirty trick and we barely managed to convince the council not to go to war again."

Naruto was shocked. He then remembered a textbook covering the topic, but that didn't make it any easier. Understanding it intellectually was different from actually being confronted with the idea by his father. His entire clan was gone. He didn't know them, but if they were anything like the Uchiha, it would have been…. nice to have met them.

"They were good people. Kushina was the first to tell me not to go to war over this."

Naruto nodded, eating ramen now.

"This place is great, Ichiraku ramen if I just think about it?" the blond seemed happy and also intent on changing topic. It wasn't like he couldn't summon Ichiraku ramen from his inventory anyway.

Minato smiled, Kushina used to do the same thing, switching topics by talking about ramen.

He really is your kid, isn't he?

"Dad, you're smiling sadly again. Considering that this normally happens when you discuss mother, it begs the question. Haven't you seen her yet?"

"No," The man paused, looking like as if he was trying to figure out if he wanted to confide in his son or not. After a few moments, he nodded to himself, "I haven't actually seen her in years. She said that she wanted to see her relatives and… and she hasn't responded to any of the texts or emails I sent her."

Naruto looked at him thoughtfully, "I do not understand what a 'text' or 'email' is, but have you tried sending her a normal message? Like via a hawk or a person? Surely, they have a service like that here? Wherever here is? You keep on dodging my questions about details on the afterlife!"

Minato looked at his son and slowly closed his eyes, feeling quite stupid and deliberately ignoring his last comment, "I should have tried that. I didn't even consider using non-electronic means of communication…"

He looked back at his son and noticed that the walls starting to disappear, "Naruto, it looks like our time together is coming to an end. There are a few important things I need to tell you."

Naruto looked like he wanted to interrupt but thought better of it.

"Try not to die. Seriously. Your ability has changed now. If the game decides that you deliberately died, you will die. No respawning."

The room was rapidly disintegrating now.

"And also, be wary of the Kyuubi because-"

Naruto started to disappear, "Dad."

"it might-"

"DAD!"

Minato stopped as he felt his son in his arms.

"Take care… son" He smiled at his son who smiled back.

Naruto opened his azure eyes.

Stretched out in front of him was a large mahogany hall with a spiral staircase at the end.

Where am I?

The room was nondescript, but he knew instinctively that it was the heart of the house. There were doors neatly lining the left and right side of the rectangular hall at regular intervals. Everything was perfect, architecturally speaking.

The doors were clearly labelled with calligraphy.

My handwriting

Inventory, Skills, Memories… he looked inside each door and realised something.

This is my mind

The 'Memories' room had a massive file drawer at the back and the walls were papered over with book covers – his favourite books – and pictures. He saw Konohamaru playing with a monkey plushie. He saw the teddy bear he was given to replace Kaeru looking into the heater. The first time he went to Sasuke's house. There were a lot of pictures hung on the wall.

The 'Inventory' room had everything he stored in his inventory neatly arranged.

The 'Skills' room was a veritable cornucopia of objects, everything sectioned as if he had entered the Academy on exhibition day. Every style of art was placed in a section of the room titled art, every jutsu had a training dummy performing them.

One door which he didn't recognise was purple and labelled 'Traits'.

Traits? What is a trait?

The moment he clasped the door handle, a screen appeared.

NOTICE

SYSTEM HAS DETECTED ONE DEATH!

CHALLENGE MODE HAS BEEN DISABLED!

[TRAITS] HAVE BEEN ENABLED

[MIND PALACE] IS NOW AVAILABLE

[…]

Naruto tapped the ellipsis, immediately regretting his decision. A massive list appeared with a scroll bar the thickness of a nail. He took the executive decision to not read through it and tapped yes.

He turned the handle and opened the door. Darkness spilt out of the room into the hallway. Looking into it, he saw tendrils of light snaking their way from the shrine at the other end of the room. A plain sword sat at on a velvet cushion with candles surrounding it. The blond clasped his hands together, remembering how the Uchiha did it in front of their shrines.

It just felt... appropriate.

TRAITS

Traits are unique inimitable skills.

Traits are randomly generated based on multiple variables; you may reroll traits once before making a decision.

To improve/buy traits, you require Trait Points (TP)

Naruto looked at the three screens in front of him; two squares floated above a large rectangle.

TRAITS

Jinchuriki [Kyuubi]

Elemental Mastery

Selecting the Jinchuriki trait made the screen to the right change

Jinchuriki [Kyuubi] – LV0

You have the Nine-tailed Fox, the Kyuubi sealed inside of you. This gives you access to abilities most people can scarcely imagine, but sadly, you need TP to access them. (10 Levels)

LV1 – Jinchuriki [Kyuubi]

Enables usage of 1% of [Kyuubi] chakra via negative emotions

+100,000,000 CP

Side-effects: Facial markings, memory loss, red-eyes, pain, skill adjustments and limitations and a sore pancreas

Naruto looked at it confused.

Does this mean that even though I am a Jinchuriki, in reality, I have no access to its powers unless I invest in this trait?

His eyes narrowed as he realised that he'd need to invest his sole point into this trait if he wanted to gain any benefits from this skill and see what the next stage had to offer. He decided to hold off on it though and check out his other skill.

Elemental Mastery – LVMAX

This is a trait and a skill at the same time, so you have the option of either levelling up each skill tree through practice or investing TP into it. Lucky you! (100 levels per tree)

Wind (LV1): You can create a gentle breeze

Water (LV0): You might be able to create a ripple if you're lucky

Earth (LV0): You have a deep-buried potential to move a grain of dirt.

Fire (LV-1): You will probably just singe your fingers if you're lucky

Lightning (LV-2): You will probably just temporarily scramble your nervous coordination if you're extremely lucky

Naruto sweatdropped thinking about the fact that it seemed like he might actually kill himself trying to use lightning ninjutsu.

Negative levels? That is concerning…

The blond looked at the screen below the two, a large rectangle which told him that he could choose between four new traits.

Available Traits

Uzumaki [Heir] – You are the heir of the Uzumaki clan. This lets you bypass any obstacles in [Uzushiogakure] and grants you access to the Forbidden Section of the [Uzushiogakure National Library]. Being a member of the Clan [Uzumaki] grants you access to a unique set of skills. (Choose your skill tree when using your TP)

I thought I was already the heir to the Uzumaki clan? I should probably invest into this too, if only because it'll give me a connection to my clan.

Slinky-Fu – Your limbs can turn into slinkies enabling the usage of a unique form of taijutsu, Slinky-Fu. Silent as it is deadly, your opponents will be shocked into submission and run away in fear.

Interesting, but taijutsu isn't one of my strong suits.

Fire Fiend – Your primary affinity becomes Fire. Investing in this skill grants you a vast array of fire type skills. It also lets you shoot flames from your butt.

This sounds too much like something Sasuke would choose, so no way.

Kagune – You now have two new organs, a kakuhou and kagune! A unique one-of-a-kind weapon, shaped by your physiology and psychology, it is alive and a part of you. Unlike most other traits, this one utilises a special point system to upgrade itself which is obtained via cannibalism.

Cannibalism? Yeah, no. I like not having an increased chance of developing prion diseases.

Naruto hovered his finger over the Uzumaki [Heir] trait and nothing happened.

No more information than that?

The blond thought about it and decided to level up his Jinchuuriki trait. At least he knew for certain what the outcomes for that would be.

Warning

You are now unable to access chakra control sensitive jutsu such as Genjutsu and Iryoninjutsu

- [Genjutsu: Clone] is now unavailable and will be hidden

"What," The blond was starting to get angry, remembering the months he'd spent perfecting the clone jutsu.

"Why has this happened?"

He thought of the word [Status] and it appeared in front of him.

Name: Uzumaki Naruto

Class: The Gamer

Title: Genin (+50% EXP gain until level 10, then 25% until level 20; Max Scroll Ranking: Low C)

Level: 8

Affiliation: Konoha

Health Points: 40,050/40,050

Chakra Points: 100,040,090/100,040,090

Chakra Control: 50%

Vitality: 5

Strength: 2

Dexterity: 4

Wisdom: 5

Intelligence: 8

Faith: 1

Luck: 100

Stat Points: 4

Trait Points: 0

Ryo: 8,064

Equipment Load: 25.8/31.25

"My chakra control has dropped so much."

But my chakra has gone up by such a high amount that it might compensate for it…

"Looks like I'm not going to be able to use genjutsu anymore," Naruto said to himself. He tried standing up, but his numb legs disagreed. It felt warmer on the ground. A lot warmer.

Once feeling returned to his legs, he stood up and stretched.

Is that an escape pole?

In the corner of the room, barely visible, was a pole going down. He did what any twelve-year-old would do. He jumped on it and fell down.

Down.

THUD!

He didn't feel injured. That was probably because this was all in his head, he reasoned. He did feel extremely hot though. Naruto looked around and realised why.

The floor ahead of him coursed with lava, tributaries from a massive river of flames chartered a course through the ground. The centrepiece of the room wasn't the lava though, it was the massive fox muffled with barbed wire and pinned to the ground by stakes to a barren island surrounded by the aforementioned lava.

As the blond took in his surroundings, a figure shimmered into view. The same being which advised him in the secret hut where he found the Scroll of Sealing.

"Look upon my suffering in this accursed place you call your pathetic excuse for a consciousness." The Guide snarled, its red eyes burning with hatred at Naruto.

"This is all in my head then?" asked the blond, pointedly trying to avoid looking at the beast.

"Only your mind can produce such torturous conditions, human. The sentient mind can accomplish wondrous feats, but you. You humans turn it into a torture machine," The apparition's long red hair curled in anger, "Uncivilised apes."

Naruto tried thinking about what the Guide had just said, ignoring the curses and promises of hitherto unsurpassed destruction the figure was promising him.

If this is in my head than maybe I can control how things look like here. Perhaps I can change this sad-looking place. He might be happier.

The blond imagined forests and plains of verdant brilliance. Day and night cycles. The sounds of birds in a bright Konoha morning. Fields with rabbits, sheep and birds. Rivers of honey and milk. Chocolate milk. Valleys filled with ramen.

If this is in my head, then maybe…

He opened his eyes and took in the cool spring breeze with the sweet smell of honeysuckle and… actual honey, filling his nostrils.

It looked better than his imagination.

"What have you done ningen?" The Guide sounded almost scared as it looked around, taking in the almost endless horizon and the mosaic-like tree groves darting the landscape. The river of lava that was next to them was now liquid honey. The Fox laid on the floor, which was now a meadow, eyes open in surprise.

"You said that I can control this place, so I figured that you might prefer living in better conditions. It was my fault that you were like that Guide, right?"

The Guide took some time to respond, "Right…"

The instant he said that he vanished. Naruto saw the massive fox leaping at him and braced himself. He closed his eyes and through his eyelids, saw a blinding white light. The Kyuubi was blown backwards as a sphere with a single kanji surrounded the blond.

SEAL

Naruto was shaken and wanted to leave. As the thought crossed his mind, he noticed the spiral staircase from earlier. He walked up the staircase and found himself back in the room he started in. It seemed like a new door appeared at the opposite end where he had first appeared, labelled 'Exit'. He pushed the door open and entered another room of darkness. As he walked forwards, a glowing book materialised in front of him.

He opened it.

The oldest entry dates back to roughly thirty days, so I guess that's how far back I can go...

The latest memory wasn't even his.

"His eyes started bleeding as he looked away from… it.

He saw Sasuke's sharingan pulsating with fear.

He looked up at Zabuza.

Kamui

The man's leg ceased to exist causing him to fall.

Something caused Sakura to scream.

Kakashi blinked."

'It' in this section referred to his beheaded corpse. Naruto shivered as he read about himself dying. Sasuke developing his sharingan. The strangest thing he felt though, was that this was from Kakashi's point of view. He tried to avoid thinking about it too much. His ability was weird enough as is.

This is too late. If I want to make a difference, I need to go back.

The blond paged through the book, trying to figure out the best spot to return to life.

"Team, what do you think we should do now?"

Sasuke looked at his teammates who seemed completely out of it. Sakura was basically shut off from the world, trying to absorb as much as she could from the leaflet. Naruto had a smile with a dazed look on his face. It looked like it'd be down to him, "Sensei, can we-"

Naruto interrupted the Uchiha, "We should train seriously. We've spent enough time doing D-ranks. Now that we've fully surpassed our quota, we can train and then perhaps in half a month we can do a C-rank mission?"

Sasuke looked slightly displeased at being cut off but shrugged. He didn't care too much about being cut off. He was going to ask for a C-rank anyway, so it didn't matter if he or blondie said it.

"Sorry for cutting you off Sasuke."

He took one look at his friend and knew that something was off right away.

His eyes were different.

They looked a bit like one of the rabbits he was told to kill under Father's orders. Naruto's azure eyes looked scared and worried about death. Something was clearly wrong. Thinking about it, he'd never seen Naruto display any negative emotions. He'd never seen him look scared or worried, forget both.

"Don't worry about it, I was going to say the same thing anyway."

Kakashi looked between the two and then started, "Sakura, are you listening? In half a month, I can teach you tree-walking and water-walking which would leave plenty of time for-"

"No, sensei. Can we please have serious training?" asked Naruto, interrupting the man.

"Let me guess, sensei was an Anbu too?" said Sakura.

Everybody was surprised, none more so than Kakashi.

"Naruto, did you tell her about your upbringing?" asked Kakashi with an inquisitive tone. When the blond nodded, he continued, "Well, yeah. If you mean Anbu training, well…" He paused, "No."

"Why not sensei?"

"Great question Sasuke. The thing is, you three probably wouldn't be able to cope with it. Aaand-"

"And what?"

"You see Sakura, the thing about the Anbu crash course training is that its purpose is to create the ideal stealth shinobi. You three are worth more than that. Anbu are the elite force of the village, but there are stronger shinobi who have never been Anbu. When they join us, we let them pursue a… different training regimen."

The three genin looked at their sensei, their interest palpable, "What do they do?"

Kakashi could tell that he had them on the ropes. They were hanging off his every word.

I could get used to this.

"We ask them what they want to learn and then, we assist them in achieving their aims."

Sasuke sweatdropped, expecting something cooler. Naruto tried looking for a deeper meaning behind his words. Sakura was already losing interest.

"What's wrong, my cute little genin?" Hatake looked at his charges, "Well anyway, I want you three to figure out your aims for the future. Why do you want to become shinobi? What skills will help you to achieve it? Once you know what you want, It'll make life easier and help me help you. Let's meet here at 9 AM in three days."

The three genin nodded.

Kakashi looked at Sakura who returned to reading the puppetry pamphlet, "That includes today by the way. If that's settled then. I guess I'll be off?"

"Sensei, there is something I need to tell the team," Naruto said with a determined glint. If he was planning on not dying again, he needed to trust his team. His dad had stressed to him the importance of teamwork and he'd taken it onboard. They were there to back him up when he'd fall, literally and figuratively.

"Oh?" Kakashi stroked his chin intrigued, "Let's hear it then."

Sakura looked up from the scroll.

"I have a kekkai genkai which gives me well…" Naruto looked at his team's faces. Sakura looked intrigued. Kakashi was surprised. Sasuke was… angry?

"Well what, Naruto?" asked Sasuke a bit more aggressively than normal.

"It gives me abilities like a game." The blond looked at his friend nervously and quickly continued, "It tells me how much health and chakra I have. Gives me a general idea of how strong people are. Lets me learn skills if I have it written down onto a scroll. It tells me how much I'm progressing in the ninjutsu I know. It-"

"How long?"

"How long what?"

"How long ago did you unlock it?" Sasuke tried asking calmly. Naruto didn't need to look at his mugshot to tell that the Uchiha was getting angry.

But why?

"I've had it almost since my birth. My first memory was-"

"You've never once mentioned that you had a kekkai genkai!" Sasuke looked incredulous, "To me!"

"Yes Sasuke, I've never mentioned it to you before."

"Why?"

"Why not?" Naruto quickly said before he realised his mistake, he sounded like he was dismissing his question off-hand, "Well I-"

"Forget it," Sasuke dismissively said and walked off.

"Sasuke?"

Sakura and Kakashi watched the exchange with morbid curiosity.

Naruto was getting worried. Sasuke was his first friend and he didn't like seeing him angry.

It can't have been because I said 'Why not?' right? He was getting ang-

"Naruto?" Sakura looked directly at him.

He felt anxious, "What? Are you also angry with me?"

"No."

Sakura looked at what he was certain was his cheek. He could see her confused green eyes.

"Then what?"

"I'm not angry with you. In fact, I'm honoured that you've trusted me with your secret even though I've only known you for a few weeks. I don't have many friends, so that means a lot to me," Sakura reached out and grabbed his cheek, "What I want to know is when these whiskers on your face appeared?"

Naruto's brain stopped. She wasn't angry with him. That was good. Kakashi-sensei hadn't said anything thus far. But what was this about whiskers?

"Whiskers?"

"You have three horizontal lines on… umm, over the ramus of your mandible? I'm not sure, I haven't really studied medicine well enough yet." Sakura ran her finger down his cheeky and he felt it, "There. I don't think you had these when I saw you at the start of our session today. How did these just appear?"

There were uneven lines across his cheek. On both sides.

"I have no clue."

Everything felt weird.

"I have no clue."

Naruto walked away from his team.

There was too much happening. He didn't know anything. Sasuke was angry with him. He needed to think.

What i-

The blond was broken out of his musings when he bumped into someone.

He looked around and realised that he'd reached Konoha central. He could hear it now, the warbling of warblers, the gaggle of crowds bartering over goods and… Shikamaru?

"Is that you Naruto?"

R&R (Suggestions and advice are always welcome!)

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