Common Sense

Ch.2

Hullo everyone!

So, second chapter, the start of the Ninja Academy and a taste of real world for little Naruto.

I thank everyone for the reviews and I appreciate the Follows and Favorites.

I feel like I should explain a couple of things that may have been misunderstood:

While Naruto does understand the villagers feelings, he does not know how or why. It is the inherent ability of the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, alongside a very fast healing. This is more or less canon. That is to say that OG Naruto obtains this power once he can use the Biju Cloak, and Mito is reported to have it too, so I merely conferred it to him a bit earlier.

I prefer using the Romaji to name the techniques that are Canon, and in English the ones I made up or found somewhere in the Fandom, but I have decided that not everyone can be arsed to go looking for the meaning of every single one, so I put the English translation too. It may seem strange, but I personally dislike when all the techniques and names change language, it takes away from the atmosphere.

I still don't own Naruto, but I' m working on it, don't worry!

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Eight years old

Bright blue eyes sparkled with excitement as they darted through the courtyard, taking everything in and analysing every person in attendance.

Standing in assembly, the new students of the Ninja Academy and their guardians were listening to the Hokage's speech, a masterpiece of rhetoric, meant to involve the youngsters with the use of simple terms and strong emotions and intrigue the adults with its secrets and hidden meanings.

"The Will of Fire" the Sandaime explained, now truly in his 'Professor' role "means that the entire village is like a large family unit and every Konoha shinobi with the Will of Fire loves, believes, cherishes, and fights to protect the village, as previous generations had done before them."

Sarutobi smiled, his eyes making contact with everyone in attendance "This is what gives Konohagakure's shinobi the strength to continue fighting against all odds, building willpower and strength of character. Our comradeship, our understanding of sacrifice, pain and love. Konoha was founded upon these ideals, and because of these ideals it remains unbeaten."

He smiled, and this was the village's grandfather, the man who took care of everyone despite their origins. Naruto looked on in admiration and affection, feeling every word reach deep within and take root, filling him with an indescribable sense of belonging.

"One day you will all inherit the Will of Fire, just like those before you did, and when you will have understood its meaning, you will be true Konoha Shinobi."

A shift, and in front of them was the venerable leader once again, the one who rebuilt his village from ruins with tireless determination. The next word shook the air, with a finality and weight that surprised everyone.

"For when the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew.(1)"

And Naruto understood, not completely sure of what, but he understood for a second why Konoha was the first and the greatest Hidden Village; the next second the feeling was gone, and the crowd broke in an applause, cheering for their Hokage and the children who started the path of a shinobi.

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Sarutobi truly felt all the weight of his age and responsibility watching the young prodigy kneeling in front of him. He silently watched what could and should have been Konoha's future battle with his own emotions.

The poor boy just had to kill his own clan, leaving only his little brother alive, but traumatised. Hiruzen seethed inwardly at Danzō's manipulations: the man had not only gone behind his back to solve the internal conflict with the Uchiha Clan, not trusting his Hokage to resolve things peacefully, but had emotionally blackmailed Itachi with a treat against his beloved little brother.

And now he had to deal with the fallout. His old teammates had already been entranced by Danzō's view and he wasn't sure how much he could trust them; Konoha would be seen as weak for years to come as they lost one of their most prominent clans, even if in terms of military strength very little would change as the Uchiha had all been working in the internal Police, and wouldn't that be an entirely different can of worms, which meant that the other countries would be testing the borders to see if they had been truly weakened, and he had to deal with the distraught teen in front of him.

He would have liked to keep Itachi in Konoha, disguising him and reintroducing to the ANBU, but the boy was right that someone had to keep an eye on Madara and that no one else was qualified to do so. He would have to contact Jiraya and, despite his shame, let him know the truth so that the two could rendezvous somewhere and swap intelligence. And possibly have him help the boy with his emotional issues somehow, even if he would never be completely healthy again, it was the least he could do.

Hiruzen allowed himself a moment of sadness for what could have been, as Uchiha Itachi would have been great, without a doubt. Still, not everything was lost, and even if it was a small chance, he would work toward a future where the teen could be reintegrated in the Village.

Dealing with Danzō would take more finesse and attention that he would have liked, and the Sandaime didn't doubt that his old comrade would find a way to free himself of the blame for this massacre. The man still had his uses, after all, but he would need to be watched carefully, least he take advantage of the chaos that would indubitably follow.

Motioning to Itachi to rise, the Hokage schooled his expression so as not to let any of his thoughts through, and spoke to the boy "Uchiha Itachi, it is with great sorrow that I receive your report. Know that as your Hokage, I'm proud of you and your devotion to Konoha. The Will of Fire burns brightly in you, never lose it."

The old man tipped his hat, uncovering his eyes, and continued "As you know, you will not be able to live in the village anymore, and will be labelled as a missing-nin, and even if no hunter-nin squad will be sent after you I have no doubt that you will live a hard life from now on."

Silence stretched as the older man let the teen take everything in, who managed to keep his emotion to show thanks to his ANBU and Uchiha training.

The Hokage then tapped a seal on his desk, and with a poof two different scrolls appeared. Picking them up, Sarutobi offered them to the youth who, after tucking them away looked questioningly at his leader.

"The first scroll, the green one, contains pay for an S-rank mission and indications for a couple of safe houses known only by me. I should think that you'll need some time to yourself." Taking a deep breath, the Sandaime carried on "The second scroll contains a one time summoning contract with the monkeys, thanks to which I'll send you some information and put you in contact with Jiraya. As you cannot be seen in Konoha, he is the next best thing to relay intelligence. From then on, it would be more inconspicuous using your crows. Good luck, Uchiha Itachi, and may the Will of Fire continue to burn brightly in you. I will make sure that your brother is well taken care of."

With the faintest smile, eyes a little less clouded, Itachi bowed to his Hokage one last time and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

The Sandaime looked on to the village from his office's window and smiled slightly. 'Anything for this place' he thought.

He then groaned at the thought of all the paperwork he would need to file and all the problems he would have to take care of.

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Naruto tried to listen to Daifuku-sensei, he really did, but the man was droning on and on about the founding clans and the importance of the Daimyo as a ruler for all of Hi no Kuni, and while he started off nicely talking about the relations between Konoha and the Capital, it became mind-numbing as he went on and on in the technicalities.

Honestly, Naruto would have taken ten minutes to explain the three main institutions, which were the Daimyo, the Hokage and the one that connected the two, the Council of Fire. The council was made by high level functionaries, the two Heads of the country, the elder council, the Jonin Commander and the ANBU commander. Bam, finished.

And so his mind wandered a bit, thinking about the ceremony that was held the day before in the Hokage's office with the Sandaime and the Head of Konoha's barrier team for his obtaining the first Journeyman level in Fūinjutsu.

It had taken Naruto by surprise when Hokage-Jiji had asked him if he wanted to take the test, but the blond had happily thrown himself at the new challenge, and had passed with flying colours.

Kakoi, a second level Fūinjutsu Adept, and third most qualified man present in Konoha at the moment - the Sandaime's only remaining loyal student, who was a Master, was roaming the Elemental Nations on some mission - after the Hokage himself and level three Adept Shimura Danzō, who wasn't really all that willing to be present for this kind of ceremonies.

Obtaining the rank of level one Journeyman meant that he could start studying more advanced seals, even without constant supervision by someone with at least two rank more than him.

The thing was, there were very few who took the route to become Seal Master, as it required a long time and extreme dedication, but Naruto was nothing if not determined.

The Journeyman class was the first to be officially recognised, and consisted of three levels, each with more privileges than the previous. Access to more complex and interesting Seals being only one of them. Once one passed the exam to become an Adept, the next class of Fūinjutsu users, which allowed one to start selling seals independently. There were only three level one, two level two and one level one in the village as a whole. Out of three thousand shinobi in the village, only six Adept class and two Master class.

It was mind-boggling to Naruto, who had been raised with bread and seals ever since he was five. Fūinjutsu, his beloved Art, was the least practised of the shinobi disciplines, without a doubt.

It was true that out of those three thousands shinobi only a thousand and a half were on mission duty, as the various institutions needed military personnel, and even of those the majority were part of the Genin and Chunin corps, people who still had to work hard on their skills to amount to something, therefore not having time to study a time expensive skill like Fūinjutsu when a new Jutsu could bring their potential up by magnitudes.

Naruto felt extremely proud of himself when Hokage-jiji had given him his certificate and the look of astonishment Kakoi wore the whole time made it even better, but now he was so pumped up to go try new seals and that particular matrix he had only glimpsed the existence of in the few Uzumaki journals the Sandaime had given to him - the old man was slowly giving Naruto his inheritance back, and presented him with new scrolls and diaries when he was sure that the boy had completely understood and mastered the previous lessons- but he had to endure, as the teachers had caught him already too many times trying to disguise his writing on his Fūinjutsu diary as taking notes, and had not been pleased, even if they were somewhat amazed that he could even understand the basics of the Art.

Chunin level ninja usually only knew how to make a barrier or so other than the most basic tags, so it was only natural for them to be surprised, but Naruto merely looked at them as if they were incredibly stupid, all the while wanting to scream his heritage for everyone to hear, as he was more than proud to be an Uzumaki, but remembering his promise to Sarutobi, the boy decided to keep quiet. After all, a ninja had to conceal his abilities if he wanted to go somewhere in their profession.

Letting his mind wander, he decided to recap his training of these last few years and what he would need to do in the year to come.

Unfortunately, Naruto didn't have a real friend yet, even if he got along quite well with Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba, so he still had plenty of time left for himself, and now that he lived alone in the apartment Jiji had given to him, he could train freely without fear of getting reprimanded.

Taking a pen in hand, Naruto opened a random notebook and started writing:

TRAINING DONE:

Fūinjutsu Journeyman level one

Basic tags (Enclosing, exploding, flash-bang, smokescreen, stasis)

Classic Uzumaki Clan Five Seals Barrier

Strengthening seal

Gravity seal

Kekkaimon Gofūjutsu: Hachimon Heijō (Barrier Defence Seal Jutsu: Eight Gate Lock-Up) - which at his level was simply an intruder detection barrier, but that would change as he practised -

Taijutsu - Uzumaki style Bājíquán

Flexibility and stretching exercises every day - the Uzumaki style required great mobility as it features explosive, short-range power and is famous for its elbow and shoulder strikes -

Practising the 'six big ways of opening' - Ding 頂: using the fist, elbow or shoulder to push forward and upward; Bao 抱: putting arms together as if hugging someone. It is usually followed by Pi 劈 (splitting); Ti 提: elevating the knee to hit the thigh of the opponent, or elevating the foot to hit the shin of the opponent, etc; Dan 單: using a single move; Kua 胯: using the hip; Chan 纏: entanglement with rotation around the wrist, elbow and shoulder (under the initial supervision of either the Hokage, as he was the only man alive to remember the practice, having seen it many times, or one of the guard ANBU who took pity on him) -

Strength training with elastic bands so as not to unduly stress the body

Ninjutsu

Academy three 1/3 - the Bunshin Technique being still elusive and the Henge still a bit wobbly -

Camping five 3/5 - He could do the Fuuton: Smokeless Breeze, Raiton: Portable Light and Katon: Small Campfire. The Doton technique Softening Ground remained elusive and Suiton: Pure Spring was difficult to produce correctly, as the jutsu should have produced clean water, and Naruto's looked like a rain puddle -

Bukijutsu

Kunai and shuriken throwing

Ninja wire usage

Chakra Control

Leaf sticking

Leaf spinning

TRAINING TO DO (until end of Academy):

Fūinjutsu

Level three Journeyman - an extremely ambitious goal, seeing as each level was more difficult to attain that the other; it is said that even for a prodigy, at least fifteen years are needed to approach the level of Master -

Finger carving method (Super coooool!)

Basic elemental sealing

Enhancing seals

Taijutsu

Completing one of the Fist Forms 1/20

Chakra enhanced attacks, up until small bursts - the Uzumaki style, based upon the ancient art of Bājíquán, had integrated the clan's famous potent chakra into its forms, often helped by way of seals, therefore creating terrifyingly powerful attacks which dealt serious physical damage with each hit; it had been often called as the rival style to the Hyuuga's Gentle Fist, but the comparison couldn't stand as the Byakugan wielders had dedicated their fighting ability almost completely to Taijutsu, and ha therefore a much more refined and fluent style -

Balance and stability training

Ninjutsu

After using the Chakra Paper to see affinity

two D-Rank jutsu, preferably one short range and one support

at least one C-rank jutsu of the same element, preferably long range

Completing the Academy three

Bukijutsu

Betterment of Shurikenjutsu (work on aim and variety)

Beginning of Chun Yang Jian - one of the eight weapon forms comprehended in the Bājíquán style -

Chakra Control

Tree walking (first with hands and then without)

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Sasuke Uchiha's transformation from classic Uchiha kid, maybe even on the friendly part of the spectrum, to antisocial and revenge driven.

Naruto sensed these changes happening in the weeks following the Uchiha Massacre, and would have normally stayed out of the way, but the deep and desperate feeling of loneliness that Sasuke was experiencing was something extremely familiar to the blond, and so he decided to try and show some support. They both were the last of their clans, after all.

The problem was, Naruto didn't really know how to make friends, did he. The boy tried to observe the dynamic between the other kids, but friendships had already been formed, and while he would have liked to just go there and state that they were now friends, so could he please stop emitting negative emotions like a factory, he knew better.

Therefore, out of possibilities for a normal friendship, Naruto decided to merely help Sasuke out when he needed it, without making a big deal out of it. It seemed the right approach for someone like Sasuke, who was still reeling from the trauma of the massacre happened a little more than a month before.

One day, after seeing the Uchiha struggling with the last of the camping five, Suiton: Pure Spring, the Uzumaki wrote down his observations regarding the jutsu he had finally managed to get down on a page of his notebook and casually made it fall down to Sasuke's seat, then faking ignorance.

It went on like this, the strange comradeship between the two boys, both unwilling to take down their walls and make the first over act of friendship, but covering for each other and giving a hand when they could do it without making it too noticeable.

Sometimes it was Naruto that interposed himself casually between Sasuke and the rapidly forming group of girls who wanted his attention, and sometimes it was the Uchiha who called the attention of the teachers when they got too close to noticing that the blonde was once again immersed in his Fūinjutsu notes.

It was strange, and a bit dysfunctional, but the boys found it strangely comfortable, to have someone to watch their back without having to continuously spend time together.

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Exiting from the Ninja Accessories Shop, a blonde woman, Leaf strolled placidly through Konoha's streets, before ducking in a deserted alley, where she brought her hands up in a hand-seal, generating a poof of smoke.

Eight years old Naruto Uzumaki exited from the alley as inconspicuously as possible, before hurrying to his apartment.

Once inside, he locked the door and activated the Muffling Seals, as was standard practice for him.

He rummaged in his backpack for a couple of seconds before taking out a completely normal looking piece of paper, expression of triumph clear in his face.

Chakra paper wasn't all that cheap, and it could be sold only to shinobi, as it required headband and identification number to buy.

Of course, Naruto being an Uzumaki just had to have it early, and so he set out to find a proper vict- err… model for his henge.

After a couple of days he found a genin kunoichi that was training for the Chunin Exams, and so had all the right to be seen buying Chakra Paper; Naruto followed her, making sure to stay hidden from her perception at all times, until he had learnt her mannerism and speech pattern, as the teenage girl had the tendency to have long pauses between words when she spoke.

The blonde boy then broke into her house in the civilian district and found her identification papers, wrote down what he needed, and hightailed back to his apartment.

The next step was finding a day when the girl was out training and the Ninja Accessories Shop - which was the one shop with the least security - had only that civilian guy who always looked bored out of his mind and no one else. Once he found the right time, it was a piece of cake.

Naruto snickered a bit thinking of his prank, but he knew better than to proclaim what he had done, as this was the sort of minor thing that fell unnoticed by the newly reconstructed Police Corps, as they were still managing the mess left from the Massacre and the ANBU were too overworked to deal with it. All in all, a good prank indeed.

Taking the piece of paper in hand, Naruto channelled the smallest amount of chakra that he could, which was still a lot even after all the control exercises he did, and the paper immediately split in two, a clean cut.

Wind, that was his element.

Well, Naruto could work with that.

With a foxy grin, eyes crinkled a bit, the Last Uzumaki started planning his next moves.

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Doooooone!

Uff, this chapter was pretty difficult, as it was mostly world-building, but from the next one you will start to see some action, don't worry.

I have introduced Sasuke, as he will be an important player in the grand scheme of things, but I have given him a different role.

I wanted to portray a Sasuke who feels deeply wounded and doesn't want to let anyone near him and also feels the deep emptiness left by his family, but who gets started on the road of the recovery by an efficient Sandaime and a supportive Naruto, who doesn't bitch too much about not having the Uchiha undivided attention.

Itachi's role will be extremely important, that is all I'll say for now.

Sarutobi will be a bit more ninja-ish, as you must have noticed, and doesn't give up on rebuilding his village again and again. I wanted to stay as close as canon as possible with the Massacre, but from then on he will be much more active, seeing as he now has the upper hand with the Elder Council.

I don't remember where I read the Fūinjutsu classification, but I want to thank whoever wrote that fic both for the idea and because I remember really liking it.

Kakoi is an actual character present in the series, even if he is seen only before the Pain attack, but I figured that giving him a Fūinjutsu rank wasn't too much of a stretch.

Next chapter will see Naruto's tenth year!

I want to thank again everyone for the encouraging reviews, Follows and Favorites!

See ya next time,

J