10 Chapter 10

Day 5

The night after, Naruto looked at the test in front of as if his eyes could light it on fire. Perhaps it could! Rinnegan and all.

He hated written tests, he was terrible at rote memorization of texts….or he just found reading things that didn't interest him rather boring.

He sighed. The test hadn't even begun.

"Are you ready to start?" Hiruzen asked.

They were in the Hokage's house this time. Hiruzen invited them over for dinner as well as to conduct the exam Naruto was given. The Sarutobi residence was quaint and warm, spacious and filled with old wooden furniture.

"Hai," He said firmly, looking forward to getting it over with.

He flipped the clipped papers over and began reading the first question.

…And to his surprise, it was theoretical.

What would you do if, during a mission, you encounter factors that would increase its difficulty grade by a large margin?

Naruto was capable of answering that, seeing that it happened during his first C-ranked mission. He had recounted this story quickly to the third the day before.

"Have you tailored this test specifically for me?" Naruto asked.

The Hokage shook his head. "This is a standardised Jonin test. I've decided to work our way down to see if you can handle the heat."

Naruto smirked. "Bring it on, old man!"

He filled out the questions as best he could. Then came questions about the duties of Jonin, the bingo books, the mission parameters, scenarios of infiltration, detecting spies, torture and interogation, basic poison knowledge, etc.

They were all questions Naruto knew how to answer, more or less, due to the fact that he'd experienced the situations before and –get this– they were actually relevant to his ninja career.

It took about an hour before Naruto finished the exam, with plenty of time to spare for the two hour test.

He went over his answers, changed a few small details to add clarity, then nodded.

"I'm done, Jiji!" He said.

Hiruzen had been watching over him the entire time, eyeing his answers as he wrote them.

He took the paper and examined his answers one final time. It took him five minutes.

"You pass," He said, surprisingly –to both him and Naruto.

"Really?" Naruto asked.

Hiruzen nodded, "Honestly boy, I didn't expect you to be able to answer half of them, and yet you answered all. With deep insight no less."

The old man read one of the answers again. "How did you know what to do when inflicted with snake venom?"

Naruto shrugged. "I fought Orochimaru a couple of times. Sasuke as well, used snake summons."

"I see," Hiruzen said, "How about the civilian evacuation protocols? How did you know about that?"

Naruto winced. "A guy named Pain destroyed the village once with the very eyes that I have."

The Hokage almost dropped his pipe. "You just said that you fought the leader of the Akatsuki and defeated him! Not that he had Rinnegan eyes!"

Naruto winced. "I'd glossed over that? Aheh, oops?"

Hiruzen deadpanned. "Tomorrow, I'm sitting you down for you to tell me the full story. The complete story. With all the details"

"I don't know if that's possible in one session…" Naruto said.

"Then we'll keep doing it until you're finished," Hiruzen responded.

Naruto could only nod.

"Hai," he said, "by the way, does this mean I'm a Jonin now?"

"Not just yet," Hiruzen shot him down, "You still have to do the physical exam, and just because you have both eyes activated now, don't think you'll have an easy time, brat."

Naruto just smiled. "I'm not gonna take it easy on you, old man! I'm gonna show you how much I've improved…wait not that you'd know because you don't have the memories of my world's version of you and–"

"-I get it," Hiruzen smiled. Whoever this boy was, he was beginning to like him and his energetic personality. It seemed to be completely genuine.

Though to be sure… "Also, before you go, there was one other way to confirm that you're speaking the truth, without needing you to tell me your story again at all."

"And how would you do that?" Naruto said.

"Have a Yamanaka look through your mind."

They both fell silent at that. Then Hiruzen continued. "It's something you can consider going over with your mother. If you do decide to do it, I can ensure that nothing will be leaked of your true origins. I will have my most trusted personnel, Yamanaka Inoichi, perform the memory search and make it an S-rank secret."

Naruto nodded, understanding. "I know that this situation is bizarre, and I will try my best to ease your worries, but I can hereby swear that I will protect this village. It's my home, dattebayo, I'll give my life before seeing it fall."

Hiruzen smiled at the declaration and a part of him was set at ease at the loyalty the boy showed. No spy could emulate that sense of passion that Hiruzen could see within him. Through those purple-tinged eyes, there burned the Will of Fire.

"I don't doubt it, Naruto."

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"He asked you to do what?!" Kushina said, irate. "Oh, the next time I see him, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind."

Naruto waved his hands, trying to calm her down. "Mom, I…I think it's the right thing to do. With this, there can be no doubt that I'm just some impostor."

"You're no impostor," Kushina firmly stated.

"To you, yes, but to everyone else?" Naruto gestured to the world around him, "I need this Mom. I need it for my piece of mind. I need Jiji's complete trust. I owe him that much."

"You owe nothing to him," His mother said, but she took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "What if–what if the Yamanaka messes up and puts you in a coma? What if you forget about me? About all the risks of mental manipulation? What if–"

Naruto hugged her, silencing her protests. "It's going to be fine, Mom. This is important for me."

It took the rest of the night for Kushina to gradually accept the idea into her mind. Any time there was something that could potentially take her son away from her, to rip apart the very real dream she was living in the past few days, she would do her best to tear it to shreds…

…but if her son wanted to do it…she should support him.

Kushina cursed the old man with the stupid red pointed hat and grey hair.

In the distance, Hiruzen sneezed.

That night, just like the nights before, Kushina fell asleep clutching on to her son, making sure that he would not disappear.

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Day 6

The next day, Naruto woke up in the exact same way he did his first morning in the Uzumaki residence after Kushina decided to join him once again the night before. It was understandable that she'd want to join him in bed again after hearing the news the night before.

He was once again tangled in a curtain of silky red hair. He sighed into it, before inhaling slowly, taking in the wonderful scent of roses from her shampoo.

For some reason, today was different. He felt…off.

He glanced towards his mother's sleeping visage.

She looked…so extraordinarily beautiful. Completely different from the beaten down woman he met initially. She'd been getting better and better each day, and it seems that her Uzumaki heritage had sprung her back on her feet in miraculous time. She was now glowing with a vibrancy that made her seem like a fairy in one of those story books. Her complexion was perfect, her skin shined, her form back to ninja shape.

She was incredibly pretty a few days ago. Now she was downright perfection incarnate.

He'd seen beauty before, with Tsunade, Sakura, Hinata, and all his female friends.

But his mother was just in a different league entirely. So much so…

…that something of him was standing ramrod straight.

Naruto was uncomfortable when he discerned that he was having a hard on…with his mother in his bed, and the thoughts from that morning when he woke up to her sight invaded his mind again. The fact from yesterday also rang in his head. They weren't technically related. So she was also…a woman…an incredibly stunning, jaw-droppingly gorgeous woman who was in his bed.

Something about this situation wasn't right.

'Noooooo sir.'

Jiraiya would be having a laughing fit in heaven if he got caught by his mother like this.

'Ero–sennin…how far have you corrupted me…'

He was another person that was potentially alive in this world, and another person to reconnect with.

For now though, he needed to get up and…deal with his little problem, one way or another.

He just hoped it died down after his usual morning self care routine and thereby having a good excuse as to why was…excited.

…Though he suspected that needing to pee wasn't why his little self was acting the way it was…but he didn't want to acknowledge it.

Naruto carefully tried to extract himself from her grip. He hadn't noticed the previous time due to having removed himself from the situation immediately but now that he paid attention, he found that Kushina was wearing something rather…revealing.

'Don't look at her. Don't look at her. Don't look at her.'

He looked at her.

Her sleeping form in her red silk night dress was a sight to behold. One of the straps had fallen from her shoulders, laying near her elbow. It had dragged down the rest of the attached fabric, revealing a generous amount of cleavage that was just a hair's length away from showing something he was absolutely forbidden to see.

The creamy plumpness of her thighs as she had her leg laying over his own, angled in such a way that the bottom of her dress lifted up and dangled right below her wonderful full rear, once more hinting at taboo territory. Her figure was like a statue carved by Kami, with perfectly sized busts, voluptuous but not overtly so, a slim waist leading to flaring, child-bearing hips that would turn men into depraved animals, before ending in long luscious legs that went on and on and on…

'She is…wow.'

He tried to look away.

…but for some reason, it was just so extraordinarily difficult. It was like something primal in him that reared its ugly head and demanded satisfaction. It hungered for the person in front of him. To claim her for himself. If Kurama had remained in his mindscape, Naruto would have no doubt that he'd be disgusted.

Naruto had no clue where this feeling came from.

He looked at those wonderful plump breasts, pressing against the side of his chest. Just a touch further of that silk nightgown, and he would see a gem worthy of no man's eyes. He wanted to touch it, feel the contours and the shape of her bosom, caress it and hear her moan. He wanted to go lower, tracing her taut abdomen, squeezing her derriere, and he'd run his tongue up and down her creamy thighs and long legs, worshipping every inch of her.

He wanted to…to…to fuck her.

Naruto's only experience with sex was…awkward. His first and only time had been with Sakura on that fateful night she'd falsely confessed to him. Even thinking back to it momentarily left a bitter taste in his mouth. She'd allowed herself to be taken by him, but there was a reluctance in her that made everything…dissatisfying. She could not sheathe even half of him, and despite the tightness of her virgin pussy, she'd felt too much pain for him to go any faster than a snail's pace. Needless to say, they both went to sleep that night with regret.

Yet, now, when Naruto imagined Kushina's face and body in place of Sakura's, he was sure that the experience would be far from what he'd felt before. He would take her, ravage her like he'd never done to anyone, and she would scream as she was split in half by his cock.

His thoughts paused in his tracks, reined in by his will.

'What was that?! What is happening to me?!'

He'd just had his mom back, and no way in hell was he going to lose her by being a creep.

'Kami, what is wrong with me? Curse you Ero-sennin!'

'Be gone, dark thoughts! I banish you to the darkness, lock you in the deepest parts of my mind, never to resurface again!'

Good thing for Naruto, his willpower was the highest in the elemental nations.

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Naruto was in the training grounds, privacy sealed and all.

He wanted to get started on mastering his doujutsu. After this morning's…episode, he had quickly made breakfast, left a note, and made his way here. He needed to distract himself by doing something productive.

The new clarity the Rinnegan had given him made him feel like he could see much farther than he normally could. When he was walking towards the training grounds, he found that he could make out details of a pot hanging from a balcony on an apartment that was an entire district away.

He was excited about what more these eyes could do. He had gotten over losing his original blue eyes pretty quickly. It wasn't as if it was a detriment to him, unlike losing an arm, but just a change in appearance. He was still Naruto so…he now viewed the eyes as a boon. Though he still didn't think he really needed it, even without Kurama's powers.

But he might as well learn how to use it.

'The first step is to channel chakra into your eyes and concentrate. View the world as it was meant to be viewed.'

He channelled his chakra to his eyes and there was the itchy sensation again, for both eyes this time. There was no burning sensation. He knew Kushina had told him to wait before he does anything rash whilst she's not there to help him but he was impatient and wanted to get the ball rolling. He trusted his Uzumaki constitution to make sure he didn't die from falling unconscious.

Suddenly, he could see…something around the objects in his vicinity…faint outlines? The tree for example, even the grass, though its energy acted a bit differently, the rocks as well…also different.

It was chakra, he realised. He could see the chakra!

It was weird to see how chakra outlined things. How strands connected to these outlines leave the source and dissipate into the air. How it sometimes passes from one object to another.

It was sort of like a Byakugan, from what Hinata told him in his previous life, without the ability to see in all directions and through objects. In this regard, the Rinnegan seemed a bit more limited, nonetheless, it seemed pretty useful. This meant he could perhaps also see how nature chakra flowed into him when using sage mode.

Naruto smiled. It was a simple first step, he realised, but activating his eyes was probably the stepping stone to the real techniques.

He took out the notebook again and flipped open another page.

'The second step is the introduction to Preta Path. Now that you can see chakra, watch how it flows, learn how you could guide it, change it, then allow it to enter you, and make it your own.'

Naruto really wished that Hagoromo went into detail with his instructions but he was used to learning from roundabout or trial and error ways of teaching before…like popping balloons for the rasengan.

Naruto thought about how he'd absorbed nature chakra. He was already used to doing it before he had the doujutsu. Perhaps that was why the Rinnegan unconsciously enhanced his ability to do so. Though, that was one thing. Absorbing, say, a giant ball of fire, then turning it into fire chakra, then turning it into pure chakra before finally absorbing it was another thing entirely. Or at least that was how Naruto thought it worked from the…oh you know, the two sentences of instruction that Hagoromo gave?

'Great,' He thought, 'Now I just have to find someone to cast various dangerous Jutsu on me. What could possibly go wrong?'

'…Wait a minute…'

"Shadow clone jutsu!"

A clone of Naruto appeared. "Oh, hell no, boss!"

He already knew what was going to happen. Since Naruto didn't really know many jutsus other than rasengan and rasenshuriken, it's much too dangerous for the clone to use the technique on him. You ask why he knew so little, then he'd say it's because his former best friend was a sharingan user and could just steal it by looking at it. So the only techniques he knew were the one's Sasuke couldn't copy.

…But what he could do was aim a rasenshuriken at the clone and watch as it tried to absorb it.

'I could start with just the rasengan…but where's the fun in that?'

"I don't know why you're complaining, I'm going to get the memories right afterwards," the original Naruto said.

The clone deflated. "Damn it…"

And so began his training. In the meantime, he made a note to ask his mother whether she knew any elemental jutsu that he could use.

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Hinata had just finished training by having a spar against Hanabi. She lost. Her twin sympathised with her but did as her father told. Hinata was used to it already, and was just looking forward to the day she became good enough at her new style to show the clan what she was made of. It was a hopeful outlook, but the encouragement she'd received from her new friend had done wonders for her confidence. She was almost oozing with determination now…as well as admiration for the one who set her on this path.

And so, she decided to head to the training ground a bit early today.

It was the usual path she took–through the clan district, then exiting towards the civilian district. With each step she took, her heart began to race in anticipation. Would her friend be there like the day before? Would she be able to eat lunch with him and Lady Kushina again? Would she be able to…be and feel like herself, as she very rarely did at home?

Hinata blushed, thinking about it. She was getting used to his presence and was elated that there seemed to be mutual trust between them. She just hoped that he would continue being friends with her for…well forever? Maybe? …was that too forward again?

She arrived at the training ground, and to her disappointment, there seemed to be no one there, just the usual trees and field of grass and earth, as well as a small branch of the Naka river flowing by. She sulked and looked down at her feet as she approached, not thinking about anything other than the…kind smile, cheerful attitude…and the…the…

Hinata blushed.

'What's wrong with me?' She thought.

Then as if stepping over an invisible boundary, she felt wind fly into her face. She gasped, startled, and looked up.

There was a person–no, two people there, though not the boy she expected to see. They looked so similar that they seemed to be…brothers?

Both had bright blonde hair which almost shone like the sun, though she couldn't make out the details of the rest of their features due to having something else catching her immediate attention.

One of the boys was holding this strange ball of energy that spun in his hands, with spirals of what seemed to be…blades of wind attached to it.

It was a calibre of technique that Hinata had never seen anything remotely alike before. She could tell through her senses that the amount of chakra that the…what seemed to be a chakra fuma shuriken gave out was absurd. She imagined being hit by that thing…and a feeling in her gut told her that there would be nothing left for her family to find.

Her heart started drumming against her chest. She was overwhelmed with adrenaline. Was it fear? Or Awe? Or a mixture of both?

The amount of chakra control needed to power such a technique…just who was this person?

Then, the guy holding the ball of energy launched it at the other one.

Hinata yelped, feeling like she was going to witness a murder. The sound must've caught the attention of the boy who was about to get attacked as he pointed at her before the jutsu landed on him. Hinata felt her heart drop. Had she just witnessed a murder? Was–was she safe right now?

Then the person popped into a cloud of smoke and the other boy–the attacker–jolted as if struck. He turned around and faced her…though weirdly his hands covered his eyes…

"H–Hinata-chan?!"

Wait…Hinata knew that voice! It was the very one that couldn't leave her thoughts for the past few days. She gasped.

"N–Naruto-kun?"

'This…this was not good.' Naruto thought.

He had been lax, not expecting anyone to enter the training ground he was in and he'd been far too distracted to remember to maintain a henge after the coast was clear. He'd needed every ounce of concentration to get the preta path technique to work, after all.

Hinata had made a habit of showing up around noon so he'd expected her then.

He didn't expect her now.

"Drats," He said. In his panic through the glimpse of Hinata's visage through his clone's memories. Had she seen what he looked like already? His features? His rinnegan eyes?

He'd instinctively covered it with his hands, hoping that she hadn't. She was Hyuga, he knew, and their eyesight was nothing but sharp. Also, with their specialities in doujutsu they were one of the very few who could recognise the rinnegan as what it is. The eyes of Rikudou Sennin, the most exalted of the three great doujutsu. Naruto knew that the less people knew about the eyes, the better. Especially when you factor in the lengths that Kumo had once gone to just to obtain a Byakugan. Even the leader of the Akatsuki, the only other person with his eyes – pain – had hidden himself away in Ame and laid low until no one expected him to come.

"This–ugh–well this is awkward," he said, trying to salvage the situation, "I didn't expect you to be here."

He felt like at this point, it was already too late to put his henge back on. It was like having his hand glued to the forbidden scroll and trying to convince the old man that he'd just stumbled upon it by accident.

Perhaps it was completely reactionary or maybe it was just his unconscious desire to see how Hinata was reacting to the whole thing but he unintentionally channelled a trickle of chakra into his eyes, an amount that was practically negligible to his immense reserves. To his surprise, it was just the amount needed to see through his eyelids and the hands covering them.

'Huh…it seems that I have very limited, short ranged X-ray vision…that's…mildly useful.'

Regardless, it was just enough for him to see Hinata's reaction. She was staring at him, wide eyed and…fascinated?

"N–Naruto-kun?" She enquired, her voice taking the tone of astonishment, and surprise, "Is that you? "

Naruto gulped and nodded.

Hinata almost stepped forward, wanting to take a closer look. Without the frightening wind shuriken thing, her sharp eyes easily drank in his features. He had the same facial and body structure as before, the same hairstyle–spiky and beautifully messy–though differently coloured. He also had these…adorable whisker marks that he must've covered up in a henge. Of course, the hands covering his eyes were blocking her from taking him in fully.

But it was enough for her to deduce that he didn't seem all that different from the disguise he put on at all, to her great relief. He just had more exotic features. She wanted to continue examining him…

…Then she hesitated, and finally, understanding of the situation struck her. "I…I'm sorry. I wasn't meant to see this…was I?"

A pit had grown in her stomach. A deep, nauseous feeling that made her realise that this, of all the things she could have done, could be the very thing that would tear their friendship apart before it even truly started. Naruto had been keeping his identity a secret for a reason, and she'd just…walked over that very reason to find him here now.

Naruto, on the other hand, could see Hinata's fascination morphing into shock and then…grief?

'Why is she…?'

"I–I'm s–sorry. This was an a–accident, i didn't mean to–to" She was panicking and Naruto could tell that whatever conclusions she'd drawn up in her head had led her to thinking that he'd be mad at her or something.

Well, Naruto could see it–the reason why she'd think so but she seemed to have it all mixed up. In the first place, it was he who should be apologising. He was the one being disingenuous towards his friend, not showing her his true self.

"Hinata," Naruto said, rushing towards her and, to her surprise, he'd wrapped his arm around her shaking shoulders, bringing her into an embrace.

She froze, startled by the intimate contact. She'd never had someone who'd comfort her with a hug before other than Hanabi but that had been years ago before the frequent sparring sessions had formed a rift between them.

Now, here she was, feeling the strong, steady arms of her friend as he held her. Was he…was he showing her that it was all fine? That he'd forgiven her intrusion to his privacy?

"It's alright, Hinata," Naruto's calming voice said, "You have nothing to worry about. You haven't done anything wrong."

She felt herself tear up again and couldn't help but bring her shaky arms to wrap around the warm body in front of her. She felt his very presence in his frame. She felt like it was the most powerful thing she'd ever been in such close proximity to. There was none of the Hyuga litheness in his deceptively muscular form. He felt solid. Unmoving. Steady as a mountain to the stream that was the world's problems.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun," She tried to explain, "I should have paid attention. I–I didn't mean to intrude on you like this. I know you must have kept your identity a secret for a reason."

She couldn't see his face due to having her own in his chest but the words came stumbling out of her like a torrent. Naruto only listened until she finished.

"I, I told you I don't have anyone I could call a friend, so I'm grateful beyond belief when you came into my life. I just got you and I–I don't want to lose you because of some stupid mistake that I made because I was too lost in my head, thinking of you, to–to make you think that I don't respect your boundaries–to not pay attention as I stepped over them."

She tried breathing in but it came in choppy. Her throat felt dry and her stomach wanted to protest against the breakfast that she ate hours ago.

Naruto only embraced her tighter. He sympathised–no he pitied her. He pitied the fact that she was freaking out over something that was completely out of her control, thinking that she was the one who did something wrong. He was so angry at the sort of situation that she grew in, the sort of situation that ripped apart her self esteem to the point that she was currently having a panic attack over a misunderstanding.

It was his fault that this all happened in the first place. The privacy ward hid him until she was within its proximity. At any other time, he'd have noticed her approaching way earlier than he did, or the fact that the proximity sensor had rang as she'd entered. He'd simply been too focused in his training to realise that she was there.

Now…now she was crying…and it was because of him.

Making a girl cry, especially one as sweet and kind-hearted as Hinata, was the worst thing a man can do.

"Hinata-chan, please look at me," He said. He no longer cared about his secrets in front of his distraught friend. He needed to show his genuine self, all of him, to fully be able to apologise to her.

She didn't listen to him, burying her face deeper into his now soaked black jacket. It was as if she was afraid of the reprimand, the look of disappointment that she was expecting to see.

"Hinata, please," He asked gently, his voice almost whispering in her ear, "Look at me."

Slowly, she tilted her head up. She didn't look him in the eyes at first, as it dragged from the ground, to his jacket and stayed there for a couple of seconds before seeming to gain the courage to travel upwards.

When she met his purple ringed eyes, she almost jumped out of her skin. Her eyes were so wide and her expression was one of such shock that she almost became pure white as the blood left her face.

"This is a misunderstanding," he said, firmly, such that there could be no doubt, "and it's not your fault. At all. It is mine for hiding myself from you."

Hinata could only stare at him. Her pupil-less lavender eyes flickered back and forth between his own, as if questioning if she was really seeing what she was seeing.

The shock, to Naruto's surprise, had calmed her down almost immediately. She unconsciously lifted her hand to caress his cheek, just on the cheekbone right under his left eye.

"You're right in a sense," Naruto continued, "I have secrets. Though not for the reasons that you may think."

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