22 TSoL Chapter 20 - Time is running

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Having arrived at the academy, Naruto, as usual, found his class and walked inside. And unlike a few months ago, this time his presence was noticed almost immediately.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun!" Hinata welcomed the blond with a warm smile, quickly approaching him.

"Morning, Hinata-chan!" replied Naruto with his trademark bright smile, waving his hand.

To be honest, Naruto was happy that Hinata had overcome her shyness and could finally talk to him normally and with more confidence. Moreover, Naruto began to notice that the girl was definitely trying to stick to him as close and as often as possible, which made him think whether it was a sign that she liked him.

Right after they greeted each other, a somewhat lethargic Shikamaru approached them, yawning and asked: "Yo, Naruto. Are we playing shogi today, or are you busy?"

"No, I don't have any plans for the first half of the day today, so we can head to your place after the academy for a few rounds," Naruto replied to Shikamaru's question.

"Okay, then me and Choji will wait for you after class," said tired Shikamaru, heading to his seat next to Choji.

At that moment, Ino came up to the blond and greeted him: "Hey, Naruto. I'm glad you came today. Don't you think that such frequent absences won't do any good to your final grade?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto replied:

"It's okay, my main priority is to maintain a satisfactory result in class to successfully graduate from the academy. Anyway, I learn much faster when I apply my knowledge in practice."

Sighing, Ino shook her head and said:

"You know, with this attitude, you won't be able to change your bad reputation here. Almost the entire class still considers you a mediocre student with hooligan tendencies. And that's considering that your grades have improved and your pranks have become rarer."

Hearing her words, Hinata frowned and said:

"I believe that if they don't have the desire to get to know Naruto-kun better, then there's no point in trying to change their opinion. Such 'friends' are not needed by Naruto-kun," Hinata's voice was calm, with barely noticeable notes of her unusual dislike towards other students.

Despite the fact that Hinata had started to change over time, it was still quite an unfamiliar sight from her side. Ino found it hard to believe that Hinata could change so much after getting closer to Naruto and Ten Ten.

Naruto only smiled at Hinata's words and said:

"Well, she's right in a way. I don't really want to prove anything to them anymore. Anyway, my academic performance is good enough to not be last, and they don't need to know the full range of my abilities. A true ninja always keeps a few secrets to themselves and a couple of aces up their sleeve," Naruto spoke calmly, with a steady and sharp gaze, while still holding a light smile.

Seeing such a restrained and thoughtful Naruto, Ino couldn't help but think that he looked really good right now. In recent times, she had started to notice more and more that Naruto was quite handsome and didn't really pale in comparison to someone like Sasuke. Just before, she hadn't paid much attention to it because of his loud behavior and that terrible orange jumpsuit. But now that his approach towards himself had changed, the girl began to understand how a person's character and aura could actually affect the perception of those around them.

At that moment, Kiba, as usual, interrupted the conversation:

"Hey, Naruto, how long are you going to keep skipping classes? Are you afraid of facing me in practice?"

As if agreeing with his words, a dog head popped out of Kiba's jacket and barked:

"Woof!"

"He has beaten you three times already," Ino said with a smirk.

Offended, Kiba pointed an accusing finger at Naruto and said as if justifying himself to Ino:

"It's only because he's incredibly lucky! He always manages to dodge my attacks, which starts to irritate me, and in the end, I start making mistakes. If I had hit him just once, he would have lost immediately!"

"Blaming others for your own mistakes? What sort of ninja are you?" Hinata couldn't help but smile as she said this.

After hearing a comment from one of the calmest and best students in the class, Kiba couldn't help but blush. He clicked his tongue and turned away from them with his arms folded, replying:

"Anyway, I've almost finished mastering the fighting style of my clan, so his luck will run out as soon as I'm allowed to fight with the Inuzuka style."

Looking at Kiba with interest, Naruto asked:

"So you've already almost mastered it? That sounds great, I've been wanting to find my own style which I've been studying all this time against others. I think it will be an interesting sparring match."

"Heh, well of course. Be prepared to lose, Naruto!" Kiba cheered up upon hearing the blond's words.

While the group of students around Naruto were chatting happily, Sakura, who was standing aside, was not in the best spirits. Recently, she had started feeling a certain emptiness, as her relationship with Ino had become less friendly, Sasuke was as cold to her as usual, which couldn't help but upset her, and even Naruto, who used to bother her a lot by trying to talk or invite her for a walk, bringing some colors and emotions to her life, completely stopped doing that and limited himself to just regular morning greetings in class. She didn't even see him outside the academy, as well as Ino. Recently, she stopped approaching Sasuke, and began disappearing more often for training in her clan.

Sighing, the pink-haired girl decided to try her luck with Sasuke again, although she understood that it was really useless, and even the boy's attention didn't seem like such a desirable goal to her anymore. For some reason, all the joy from the process began to gradually fade, which further increased the growing emptiness within the girl.

After giving one last glance at the group consisting of Naruto, Ino, Hinata, and Kiba, Sakura only briefly held her gaze on the warm and calm look of the blond, and feeling worse than before, she made her way to Sasuke's desk, which was already surrounded by some girls from the class.

Eventually, Mizuki-sensei entered the class and began a lesson on combat mathematics, which aimed at quickly calculating trajectories for the movement of objects, whether it be throwing weapons or the movements of ninja bodies. Naruto became quite good in this direction, which couldn't help but irritate Mizuki, but since it wasn't a test, he could only try to catch the blond with a couple of oral questions, but alas, Naruto's answers were surprisingly correct.

After a full day of study, Naruto headed out of the classroom, where Shikamaru and Choji were already waiting for him. Hinata accompanied Naruto, who, becoming bolder and more assertive, asked to go with him. Since Naruto was clearly not against it, and Shikamaru just lazily shrugged his shoulders, the whole group headed towards the Nara clan, where Naruto could play his third game of shogi with his lazy classmate.

The first time Naruto suggested playing Shogi with Shikamaru, the lazy Nara was honestly quite surprised, and even his eternal laziness seemed to have temporarily subsided. He did not expect such a request from someone like Naruto, but he did not refuse, since shogi was one of the few things that killed time well and provided some exercise for the mind.

Although Naruto was not even close to being at Shikamaru's level, but the moves and tactics he used were more than original and interesting. Honestly speaking, sometimes they were more than unpredictable, which added interest even in such a low-level game. That's why Shikamaru found it interesting to spend time with the blond over Shogi. Moreover, Naruto's skills were growing quite quickly, which fueled the interest of the lazy genius Nara.

On their way, they talked about the training program at the academy and what could be added to it. Although Shikamaru thought that the program clearly lacked a quiet hour, Naruto just laughed and said that a music lesson wouldn't hurt either, which made the lazy genius smile.

Finally arriving at the Nara clan's estate, Shikamaru quickly brought a shogi board from his home and settled down in a specially designated place for shogi games to start their game.

Choji and Hinata sat next to each other watching the game with interest. And while Choji mainly watched the game board, eating another pack of chips, Hinata was more focused on Naruto himself, cheering for his victory.

At that moment, they were noticed by the head of the Nara clan - Shikaku.

The person, who was suffering from boredom, decided to approach and watch the youth play their game. His arrival was noticed by the children, who immediately greeted the head of the clan:

"Hey, (crunch-crunch) Shikaku-san!" Choji, being true to himself, even greeted the head of the clan without stopping eating.

"Oh, good to see you, Chouji-kun," the elder Nara, who had long been accustomed to the antics of his old teammate, and to his small copy, was not at all embarrassed by his manners. Not that his manners were any better.

"Good day, Shikaku-san." Hinata made a small, formal bow, displaying the manners of a princess of the Hyuga clan.

Seeing himself treated with such deference by the member of the haughty Hyuga clan made Shikaku even a little flustered, but he nodded in response to maintain the appearance of a wise clan leader.

Finally, it was Naruto's turn to greet him:

"Pleased to meet you, Shikaku-san. I haven't met you before, but I'm a classmate of Shikamaru's at the academy. My name is Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto tried to be calm and polite, so as not to waste all the etiquette lessons he had with his mother, and more recently with Hinata.

As the head of the Nara clan took a closer look at the Naruto, his eyes widened at the sight of the calm boy in blond hair and clothing, bringing back old memories of the days he spent playing shogi with his friend and former Hokage, Namikaze Minato. That's why he thought:

"Minato?... No, that can't be him. But this appearance, and the carefree atmosphere..." Shikaku was truly shocked and froze, looking at the suspiciously-like-Minato blond. "Naruto, huh? So that's what happened back then. Now everything makes sense... It's strange that the Hokage kept even his advisor in the dark."

While the head of the Nara clan appeared frozen, Shikamaru, who threw his scowling gaze at him, spoke:

"Old man, do you need something? We're trying to play, you know."

Although Shikamaru said that, he was thinking about his father's strange reaction to Naruto:

"It looks like father is surprised by something. He must have seen Naruto before and knew about him from rumors, so his reaction was probably caused by Naruto's appearance, which he changed a while ago. But why did it surprise him so much? Does he remind him of someone? Ugh, how troublesome."

While Shikamaru's thoughts hit the nail on the head, Shikaku quickly regained his composure and smiled, answering:

"Oh, nothing special, I just wanted to see your game. And yes, Naruto-kun, it's nice to meet you. I hope you don't mind if I watch?"

Shikamaru simply shrugged and looked questioningly at the blond. Naruto just nodded and replied:

"Of course, but there's nothing to watch. Shikamaru really makes me give it my all, while he barely makes an effort."

Smiling slightly, Shikamaru replied:

"If I look relaxed, it doesn't necessarily mean it's easy for me. The opponent doesn't necessarily need to know your current state, it's one of the basics of psychological pressure," here, seeing a glimmer of hope in Naruto's eyes, the younger Nara smiled and added with a cheerful note in his voice, "but playing with you really isn't that difficult, so in a way, I really don't make an effort."

Sighing and looking a little dejected, Naruto seemed slightly puffed up, but taking a breath, he quickly regained his composure and smiled, replying:

"Well, if that's the case, then I need to do even better than before so as not to make you bored, right?"

"What a troublesome guy," saying this, Shikamaru himself smiled and began thinking about the move the blond had just made.

Watching the children play, Shikaku remembered his younger days when he also played with Minato. And although Minato played much better than his son, Shikaku found Naruto's strategies in the game much more engaging. That's why he thought:

"It's not surprising that Shikamaru continues to play with the boy despite their level differences. Even for me, some of his tricks seem quite interesting. I'm sure if this were a real battlefield, the kid would be a truly formidable opponent."

And so the game continued under the eyes of the three spectators.

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At that time, an elderly man with multiple bandages all over his body, including one of his eyes, was in the Hokage's office. This man was Danzo Shimura and at the moment, the topic of his arrival was a certain blond whiskered boy.

"Sarutobi, why didn't you inform me about these strange changes in the jinchuriki?" Danzo seemed calm, but the tone of his voice carried an irritable character.

Smiling, Hiruzen replied:

"Should I inform you of all the teenage changes in the child?"

Frowning, Danzo said more seriously:

"If these were ordinary teenage changes, I wouldn't raise this issue. But I'm concerned about his sudden change of appearance, as well as his sudden improvement in his studies. I wouldn't want his growing intelligence to lead to the loss of our village's most valuable asset. It was only out of old friendship that I promised to remove constant observation of the Jinchuriki, on the condition that you periodically report on his condition. But what do I see now? Changes that are inexplicable. Isn't this something that should be reported above all else?"

With a heavy sigh, Hiruzen rubbed his nose with his fingers and, taking a pipe out of his desk, began filling it with tobacco as he spoke:

"Danzo, when you talk about his change of wardrobe, I think you forget whose son he is. It's quite possible that the father's tastes were passed down to his child."

Danzo only grimaced at the mention of Minato. Hiruzen, having finished filling his pipe, lit the tobacco and took a drag as he continued:

"As for his improvement in studies, I've already sent someone to conduct a small investigation into the events that could have contributed to this. After questioning Iruka, it turned out that the boy was bothered by his inability to reproduce the cloning technique, and according to the words of the Academy's librarian, Naruto has become his constant visitor. It turns out that he also visits the Konoha library with high regularity. Based on this, it's obvious that the boy has finally decided to get smart, which I'm ecstatic about. Otherwise, if he continued in the same vein, he could have failed the graduation exam. I would definitely be ashamed to face Minato and Kushina when I'm gone."

Hiruzen finished his story with another puff of smoke.

After listening to him, Danzo nodded and said gloomily:

"If you say so, then fine, I'll leave this matter. But I would like you to not keep such information to yourself in the future. When it comes to the village's weapons, we cannot relax."

"Hah..." Hiruzen sighed heavily. "Danzo, how many times must I tell you to not refer to Naruto-kun as a weapon? He is a good kid and certainly does not deserve such treatment."

"Hmph, when an insurmountable threat looms over the village, we'll see how you explain his role in its defense," Danzo said, turning and heading for the door of the office.

Danzo wouldn't have let go so easily if he hadn't conducted his own investigation. Everything Hiruzen said coincided with what his people had learned. Moreover, he had also found out that the jinchuriki had made several friends, which had strengthened his attachment to the village, something that Danzo viewed as a major plus, even though he did not share Naruto's desire for friends and socializing with them, as it dulled instincts.

Leaving the Hokage's building, Danzo gestured with his hand, and a masked man appeared next to him. Glancing at him, Danzo said:

"Check on the Jinchuriki once a month, and report to me on any subsequent changes that occur."

"Hai!" the masked man nodded, and immediately disappeared into a shunshin.

Looking at the kage monuments, Danzo lingered his gaze on Tobirama before heading back to the root base.

After some time, after Naruto finished playing with Shikamaru, he headed to meet Ten Ten with Hinata, who was waiting for them outside her shop, wanting to show them something new.

Naruto assumed it was related to the recent discovery they made in studying seals, or more specifically, it was he who made that discovery and shared it with everyone.

"Perhaps she has implemented this in her paired dragon seals. I wonder what will come of it?" With these thoughts in mind, the blonde, accompanied by Hinata, continued on towards the Ten Ten family shop.

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Author's Note:

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