1 Year
I tried to do something to avoid the traditional 'Timeskip and explain later' attitude some authors will take. This isn't *much* better, but it's better than nothing I'd hope. For the record, I read Naruto Fanfiction long before I ever read or watched the original material, so my opinion of some characters is most certainly different than most(Example, I like the character Sakura in most fanfiction.) This will reflect in my writing significantly, but I'm not stupid, so I won't change characters and imply that their close to the original.
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The Academy doors looked before Naruto. This particular era of his life wasn't one Naruto was looking forward to. The Academy before him represented the ultimate failure of the Konoha Shinobi Structure, the failure to uphold equal treatment of the new generation.
Corruption in the council was unavoidable, corruption in the forces was probable, corruption of the Hokage was possible, but corruption of an educational center was inexcusable. Children represented the new, the present of society. Children are the begging of society and what most societies structure themselves around in some form, directly or indirectly. For their to be corruption in such a sacred aspect of Konoha's culture, it meant that the city was compromised down to the...root.
Naruto was prepared though. He knew more about the Shinobi world than most Chunin at this point, with nearly 100 years worth of research through the use of clones. He had just started training with Lee and Guy off and on now that he was to the point it would do anything for him. His chakra control was at a point OG Naruto didn't reach until Shippuden.
He would be the Bane of these vile counts that pretended to be teachers.
His problem with the Academy went beyond the treatment of OG Naruto. None of the Konoha 11 + Sasuke seamed prepared for Shinobi life in the slightest. They stunted Sasuke's growth with too much praise, stunted Hinata by not attacking bullies, obviously held a bias against Naruto, held Kiba back by not handling his ego, and the worst one, by far, was Haruno Sakura.
Sakura had been *failed* by the Academy in the truest form. A girl from a wealthy family, having close to perfect Chakra control, possessing a near eidetic memory, was wasted on the fools. She left the Academy a whiny bitch that had to be taken out of contact from her team for 2 and a half years to become something special.
No, the new generation would flourish even if Naruto had to die to ensure it.
The good news was, he didn't have to stunt his growth. Team 7 would likely exist no matter what he did. Ino-Shika-Cho was already perfect, Team 10 was the most fitting for Kurenai if not tracking, and Team 7 was a frontline assault team with a Jinchuruki, and Uchiha, and a promising Medic, intelligence or Genjutsu specialist, depending on what Sakura chose to be, which was better than any other combination. So Naruto would go full throttle, he wouldn't likely get rookie-of-the-year though, no matter how good he was.
With a smile, Naruto opened the doors.
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First year Montage(If y'all like this, tell me, it's not something I've done before (
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"Naruto! What are the names of the 5 nations?"
"...name of the shodaime's legendary…"
"...where is the hypotenuse of this tri…"
"...5 katas of the academy style…"
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Naruto walked into the sparring circle, Choji on the other end.
They both made the honorary signs and prepared to go at each other.
Naruto struck out first, aiming for the sensitive spot on the back of the knee with his foot, throwing dirt from the ground into Choji's eyes as he did so.
Choji blindly blocked, allowing Naruto to swing his leg up into the side of Choji's head, ending the fight in one, continuous motion.
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Naruto looked at the test Infront of him, clearly a year above his intended level. He went through the test as normal without complaint. He finished quickly, meditating while he waited for the others to finish. Currently he was trying to access the Kyuubi's Chakra.
Once everyone finished, the instructor walked around and grabbed their tests. He started to sneer at Naruto, then saw his completed test and...stopped. There was genuine interest in the instructor's eyes upon seeing some of Naruto's answers. The man seemed disturbed, but continued on.
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Naruto was on his way home when he saw a boy, one he vaguely recognized as an upper-classmen, cornering something in the Academy courtyard. Upon further inspection, the 'thing' was a curled up Hinata.
Naruto smirked at the fated cliche. He threw a kunai at the boy, manipulating it to hit him with the handle. The boy dropped like a sack of rocks.
"Hey Hinata! Was he bullying you? Either way, he won't be a problem for the rest of the night"
"D-did you h-hurt him?", was the quiet response from the girl.
"Probably."
"...walk me home?"
"Why not."
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Naruto woke up in the middle of the night about a week before his eighth birthday. He discovered the reason for that was a boy with spinning red eyes and gaunt features standing above him.
'so it's started. They lasted longer this time at least.'
"...Hello Itachi."
"...You said you could stop my clan's massacre, long before it was even a possibility. What did you mean?"
Silver glinted in his sleeve as he spoke.
"Madara's dead. Had been for a minute. Don't ask how I know that, it won't help you, has it started yet?"
"I just received the order."
"...Bring the Children to this building. This floor is unoccupied. I'm sending 30 shadow clones that are capable of a solid transformation thanks to...you know. The imposter will take on the Military Police first, you'll have time. The clones will have empty eye-sockets, say you removed the eyes from the compound for protection of clan secrets, which isn't technically a lie. Izumi is the oldest that can be allowed to live. Let two of the adults awaken a mangekyo and remove their eyes, replace your eyes with theirs and then put two in Sasuke, ANBU have enough skill to perform that procedure I'd presume. This will prevent deterioration of your eyes. Do not talk to Sasuke, do not put him in the tsukuyomi. Do these things and you might one day return to this village. Do you understand?"
"...how-"
"Believe me when I say that you do not want to know and that I will never tell you. I give these instructions knowing what a pain in the ass you'll cause me, but this is for the good of Konoha. Plus, no one will ever believe you if you say anything."
"...you are not Naruto Uzumaki."
"That's...half true. I'm Naruto and more."
"I will trust you on this, if only because the alternative is my clan's likely extinction. You have knowledge of future events, which is not unheard of. Know that I will never put myself in this position towards you again."
"Save your damn clan Itachi."
With that, he left, and Naruto felt...some sort of relief. Someone else knew, finally. The butterfly effect could fuck off for all he cared... because *someone* was burdened with knowing that he wasn't Naruto other than himself.
Maybe Sasuke would be less of a fuckhead this time, at least.
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Naruto finished up his report on the uses of the basic henge while in deep cover, pondering the nature of his reincarnation as he did so. He usually didn't like to think about it, as it brought up some scary fucking questions about death. But one had to wonder…
The instructor collected the papers, once again pausing upon seeing Naruto's. This had been happening a lot as of late. The instructor had even stopped sneering at Naruto, even his grades were starting to reflect his true level. Naruto figured that the original Naruto validated their worldview by being...Naruto the first time, leading to more abuse. But this version of himself was different and that difference changed a lot. The instructors will still dumbshits though.
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Naruto once again walked into a sparring circle. Across from him stood Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke was very much his emo self, but this time around the avenger side of him was very light. He clearly worked hard in class, and he still had a complex, but he was much more social. He would discuss theory with Naruto and Shino, occasionally play Shogi with Shikamaru. It was good for him. The fangirls weren't as bad, seeing as they had to deal with the dreaded *Mangekyo no Izumi* if they weren't careful. Itachi had decided that a third person deserved an eternal Mangekyo. Izumi was incredibly different from the original young woman, and was quickly making a name for herself.
After the honorary seals, Sasuke made the first move.
Both boys moved faster than any of the other kids could think. They moved in a dance, both mixing in other styles to the Academy Taijutsu. Naruto's style was a chimera of instinct, the Academy style, and the personal style Gai had hammered into him during the times he chose to train with Lee. Naruto used his healing and constitution to make moves that would go poorly for most others.
Sasuke mixed in moves from a bastardized interceptor fist form. He relied on deflecting and landing hits only when an opportunity presented himself.
Both boys were incredibly fast, beyond what 8-year-olds should be capable of. Eventually, Sasuke was put on the backfoot, he just didn't have the stamina of an Uzumaki Jinchuriki. Sasuke was becoming more and more visibly frustrated at his inability to gain ground, it made him slip up.
Naruto landed a solid kick against his sternum that pushed him to the ground, facing away from Naruto. When he got up, a three tomoe Sharingan was active.
"Sasuke, no! You're 8! You don't have the Chakra to support the sha-"
Sasuke moved. Naruto was put on the backfoot as he worked as hard as he could against the most feared eye in Shinobi history.
Sasuke landed 7 hits out of 12, but just before he got Naruto over the line, he passed out.
'dumbass'
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After the Sharingan incident, Naruto had upped his already fucking insane training load by training the *rest* of the rookie nine. He started a study group with none other than Sakura Haruno herself. With Sakura came Ino, with Ino came Shikamaru and Choji. Hinata came for Naruto, and at that point the rest of the rookie nine decided to join. Another girl, Aimee, tried to join, but Sakura shut that down. Sasuke was apparently forced to join by the new Uchiha Matriarch herself, Izumi was scary enough to convince him.
It became the 'Clan Heir' Group, since the only non-heir was Sakura and she was a group leader anyway. The study group became more than just that though. Every day they met at a different home of the seven with Ninja families.
The Nara taught them extended strategy and command techniques.
The Hyuuga went through Chakra control, Hiashi treating the connections his daughter made as a gift from the gods themselves.
The Yamanaka went through a better psychology course with the nine, not to be outdone by the other clans.
The Abrame mostly went over history, as they were an old as shit clan that kept very, *very* good records.
The Akimichi kept the children's diets in check while also teaching them about the uses and importance of food in general, both as a weapon and sustenance.
The Uchiha would never be outdone by the Hyuuga, so they learned Jutsu theory and their Chakra natures from them.
The Inuzuka, funny enough, taught them the most about their bodies, as there were many accomplished med nin in their clan. They also went through more in depth teamwork exercises.
Sakura was the group's resource on what they needed to do academy wise. She edited everyone's assignment along with Naruto.
Naruto started the arduous process of teaching basic Fuinjutsu to the 9. He was still learning himself, so it was hard to teach others. He certainly learned much faster though, which was probably the latent Uzumaki in him.
Overall, it was a good year.
This whole clan cooperation began when the academy instructor currently teaching Naruto's class gave up on his hatred and went to the Hokage about the rampant corruption in the academy system. The clans stepped in to teach their own heirs and it evolved to include the rest of the rookie nine.
The Academy was rapidly improved, but the damage was done, and the clan heads wouldn't trust it for a while.
Internally, Naruto was brimming with glee at his victory.
'The changes begin.'