5 A Gathering For The Future

Naruto anxiously paced through her dining room area. She had finally realized just how unprepared she was after the initial shock wore off.

Naruto had no fancy clothes, no connections, and no past experiences with these people. And although she considered herself quite mature for her very young age, something that was required of her, she also realized she had zero social experience.

So far, Naruto realized that this would likely end with her just standing in a corner watching everyone looking like a weirdo, which would give her a terrible impression and make her already terrible status drop even lower when even the major clans disliked her.

All of a sudden, as these negative thoughts filled her head, it felt like the world around her was spinning, she could feel her heart pounding rapidly like a speeding train in her ribcage, her bones raddling with each thundering beat. Her vision tunneled as the negative thoughts consumed her, a feeling of impending doom hovering above her like a grim reaper. As her breath becomes shorter, a loud ringing noise echoed through her mind, and she found herself just standing in the same spot as if nothing had happened.

[Host has just experienced a panic attack due to the stress of future events.] Naruto sighed hearing this and she sat down on the couch. She had never experienced something like that and hoped to never again. She materialized the system into her hand and opened the GP shop to try and get her mind off of the occurrence.

Scrolling through the different things in the shop, Naruto clicked her tongue at some of the prices. She only had an extra 10GP to spend, as she already planned on using the first 10GP to upgrade her mental capacities, as that was the bare minimum amount to let her smoothly use the system and be in the real world at the same time. There were all kinds of things she could enhance, like strengthening her bones, enhancing her nervous system, and different other parts of her body, and even strengthening her meridian system. "System, what do you recommend." She finally asked, figuring that if anyone knew then it would be the system and that she would be stupid to not ask for its opinion.

[Host is recommended to invest all extra GP into improving their muscular system. On average, most cultures with clans and are invested in the strength of their people start training their young early. The host can be expected to commence battle with some participants at this event, and being stronger in a society like the one host is in currently will make connection easier. It will also allow the host to gather GP more easily. It is also recommended to not rapidly improve only one group of the body, as the human body is a delicate thing that works because of the beautiful symphony of all the gears working in unison.] Naruto grunted in acknowledgment at this. She scrolled to the specific upgrades and selected them. She deposited her saved GP equally into both upgrades and selected the confirm button that had appeared on the screen of the system.

[Warning! Because this is the host's first time enhancing these specific parts, and because of the host's young age, the process will hurt.] She read the warning on the screen, and then felt an odd feeling, like water flow through her veins. She felt it slowly seep into her muscles, and then continue up into her head before blinding pain assaulted her senses. Her head felt like it was split open by a lumberjack, and she felt all her muscles scream in pain as it felt like they rapidly expanded and deformed. But just as quickly as the pain came it left, leaving her a sweating mess and panting don't the floor.

[Congratulations, the host is no longer impossibly weak, and now has the average strength of an adult male.] Naruto read on the screen of the system that had been dropped in the process. She gritted her teeth at its sarcastic reading, before pushing herself up. She slowly waddled her way to the bathroom, her muscles still sore and painful, and her head in pain as her brain was registering the new speed it could process. She finally reached the bathroom and looked in the mirror, only to see no difference other than her muscles being slightly more toned.

Naruto flexed her muscles and felt the difference, she felt incomparably more powerful than before, but she was confused as to how. [System uses world energy to directly enhance the muscle tissue evenly and through the whole body. This means that the host's muscles will no be imbalanced and always be compact.] She heard the monotone voice of the system explain. And now that that problem was solved, Naruto could finally focus on the gathering tomorrow.

Naruto's main issue currently was formal clothing, digging through her small stash of clothes that had been placed in the home before she came, she could only find a few t-shirts and shorts. Finally, at the back of the small collection of clothes, she found a plain white kimono along with an orange hakama. She instantly fell in love with the outfit, orange being her favorite color, and tried it on to make sure it fit.

After figuring out it fit, Naruto put it on her bed for tomorrow, before checking the time. Realizing just how late it had gotten, she finally lay down and fell asleep, her muscles still sore and head pounding.

Waking up, Naruto felt herself blinded by the bright sunshine that peeked through her blinds. She glanced at the digital clock and realized that she only had an hour before she had to be at the gathering. A little after the Hokage had left yesterday, a letter with an invitation had appeared on her dining room table with details on the meeting place, the Hyuga Main Branch Complex, and when to be there.

Naruto quickly rushed to the bathroom and scrubbed as well as she could, before flying out and into the kitchen, throwing together some of the fresh fruits in the fridge with some toast and butter with cinnamon on top. She also thoroughly combed her long hair that had spiked up, but it spiked up no matter what she had done so she stuffed it as well as she could into a bun that lay loosely on top of her head.

Naruto finally arrived back in her room, carefully putting on her new outfit, and checking her clock to see that thirty minutes had passed. Rushing out of her front door, Naruto pulled out a map as she passed by the nearly empty streets of the old residential system she lived in. While running, she realized just how fast she was running and grinned in excitement as she realized how much the system had truly affected her physique, along with how fast her mind was working, she felt like she was on cloud nine.

Twenty minutes of non-stop running later, Naruto arrived at the grand gates of the Hyuga complex, only slightly winded. Though, considering that ninjas ran hours without even getting slightly strained breath quickly humbled Naruto, though she also figured they achieved this through chakra manipulation so that cheered her up slightly.

Looking at the grand building, Naruto felt incomparably small. She cringed just imaging the amount of money it would take to build it, but she also figured this was some kind of proof of status for clans. Naruto almost let saliva drip from her mouth as she thought of owning that much money, before quickly straightening up her attitude and putting on an icy facade. She didn't want to embarrass herself, and making herself look like some poor homeless ruffian would be worse than just not showing up.

Approaching the front gate, she noticed a man standing outside of it. He had short brown hair and pupilless white eyes that seemed to bore straight through her along with his Konoha headband hanging on his neck and his forehead in plain sight with no mark, signifying his status as a part of the main family. He exerted a feeling of haughtiness and pride, that seemed to bleed off of him in large amounts. Their eyes locked and the man's presence seemed to bear down on her, but it was nothing compared to the Hokage. And after her experiences in the dungeon, Naruto could easily withstand this kind of pressure, especially because there was no harmful intent in it.

The man's eyes flashed with a look that showed he was impressed, before just as quickly turning back into the plain stare. "Invitation?" His cold, no-nonsense voice asked. Naruto calmly fished the envelope from one of the folds in her kimono and handed it over to the man. The man slowly read it over, and each second seemed to stretch on for years, Naruto could feel her heart in her throat as the man's blank eyes slowly read over it. Finally, the man took his eyes off the envelope and looked straight into hers once again. Naruto felt all her muscles tense in anticipation her fists almost reflexively curling, and her legs primed to move at even the slightest of movements from the man. The man finally looked away after what felt like an eternity and opened the large steel gate that had guarded her entrance. "Follow the pathway to the main building, once there the guests are gathered on the first door to the right." She heard the man say, and merely nodded in acknowledgment. She gracefully walked past him, trying to not show any of the tensenesses in her form. Once she had finally walked past him, she had to hold back a large sigh of relief after she had finally entered the compound.

Looking around, it was even more beautiful on the inside. There were all kinds of beautiful flowers and a clear pond that was filled with a variety of koi. She finally approached the main building, realizing that while it looked stunning from far away it was even better up close. Its traditional style, along with the glistening wood and amazing architecture made it give off a feeling of nobility.

Naruto quietly entered the first door on the right, only to be greeted by a large room with multiple people sitting at the table that was located in the middle. She counted six other children, along with their parents attending, that all looked at her curiously as she entered. Ignoring the pressure of all the eyes looking at her, Naruto took a seat at the furthest possible seat from them, feeling awkward being the only child there completely alone.

A couple of minutes passed with the uncomfortable silence, the only noise being the low whisper of small talk between some of the children and their parents, before the door slid open once again, revealing a person with the standard blank white eyes of the Hyuga and long brown hair. The man wore fancy clothes and gave off a sternness that showed how serious he was. Trailing behind him was a cute young girl with short lavender hair and the signature Hyuga eyes.

The man formally sat at the head of the table, the young girl trailing silently beside him, and cleared his throat to attract all the attention to him. "Hello and welcome to my humble abode. I am Hiashi Hyuga, head of the Main Branch of the Hyuga Clan, and I have invited us all here today in an attempt to make connections between our dignified clans. As most of you know, the Attack of the Demon-Fox six years ago has devastated our village, and as a part of this village, I feel that our younger generation should have closer bonds, making sure to be a stronger generation than us to make sure Konoha prospers in the future." Hiashi stated. Naruto could practically taste the honey that he had spun into his words, and yet his tone was still icy and with zero emotions. And seeing all the other parents with a sour look on their faces, Naruto could guess they had too. But they looked like they disliked the Hygua from the moment he came into the room. Naruto had heard rumors from the streets and other kids in the orphanage who had overheard the Matron or other adults who like to often gossip, and she had heard of the Hyugas barbaric treatment of their branch family, but she merely contributed this to baseless gossip. But seeing the sour faces of most parents in the room, she decided to file the information to the back of her mind and lookout for it.

Following this, Hiashi elected each of the guests at the table to introduce themselves. In total, excluding the Hyuga and herself, six other clans were attending. The Uchiha, famed for their dojutsu the Sharingan, and their youngest, Sasuke Uchiha, a young boys with fair skin, black eyes, and spiky black hair. The Akimichi clan, known for their yang techniques to do with the body, and their heir, Choji Akimichi, a chubby young boy with spiky brown hair and small eyes. The Nara clan, famed for their yin techniques derived from utilizing shadows, and their heir, Shikamaru Nara, a young boy with spiky black hair and black eyes. The Aburame clan, known for their techniques that utilize bugs, and their heir, Shino Aburame, a young boy with spiky brown hair and the rest of his face covered. The Yamanaka clan, a clan with special techniques allowing them to manipulate minds and other things to do with the brain, and their heiress, Ino Yamanaka, a young girl with long, smooth platinum blonde hair and pupilless blue eyes. And finally, the Inuzuka clan, a clan that is famous for their techniques the utilizes a Ninken given to them when young, along with their heir, Kiba Inuzuka, a wild young boy with spiky brown hair and black eyes that had split pupils.

After they all introduced themselves, Naruto felt all eyes on her once again. She cleared her throat and finally introduced herself. "Naruto Uzumaki, thank you for the invitation." She humbly said, not wanting to speak in front of this many people, and bowed her head down. She stayed in that position for what felt like years but was merely a couple of seconds before she felt most of the eyes move away from her form, and she finally lifted her head.

"Now that you have all introduced ourselves we can move on, I have prepared our training field here at the Hyuga clan for today's events. If you could all follow me I will lead you there." Hiashi announced, before standing up and walking out the door. All the families also stood up and trailed behind him, Naruto stumbling a little bit at the unexpected sudden movement, and trailing behind at the back of the line. After a short walk, they all arrived in a large open area with a couple of wooden dolls and a sparring ring.

"Now that you're here, I can explain why I gathered us here. I want our children to bond together by sparring and training with each other." Hiashi said while gesturing towards the large open area. Naruto heard a scoff to her side. Turning towards it, she saw the head of the Nara clan, Shikaku Nara she remembered, having a dark look in his eyes as he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Cunning bastard..." She heard the older man mumbled under his breath. She looked at him oddly and got his attention as he looked back while lighting the cigarette. "The Hyuga are trying to make their heir bond with the other large clan's heirs. This is because of their current predicament due to some... traditions. Having our children be friends will make us less inclined to accuse them, and will also make sure none of our children doubt their clan in the future as they are long-time friends. The Uchiha are probably in on it too. The Uchiha have been struggling with public perception lately, and having connections with the other clans will hopefully fix this. The two clans have been in a predicament and are finally actively trying to get out of it." The man explained in a low whisper to Naruto. She could tell he was purposefully vague, probably due to her young age, but she still got the gist of it. But considering what she had just heard, Naruto couldn't figure why she had been invited. Being friends with her wouldn't stop the rumors and get them closer to civilians, if anything, it would do the opposite.

'Unless it has to do with my connection to the Hokage?' She couldn't help but think. She knew that the Hokage wouldn't visit just any random orphan, which meant she was somehow special. But Naruto just couldn't figure out why yet.

"Sounds great, my pup could use some more training!" She heard a boisterous female voice. Naruto looked over and saw the head of the Inuzuka clan, Tsume Inuzuka, agreeing. Followed quickly by the many other clan heads agreeing to this, seeing no point in not agreeing. Naruto also quickly nodded her head, as she knew she needed friends, and because it would help to be a measuring stick. It would also help her learn techniques, something the system couldn't give her because even the weakest of the systems techniques costed a ton of GP.

"Well then, it's time for the first training session of the younger generation of the major Konoha clans!" Naruto heard Hisashi say, his voice still the cold authoritative tone she had heard before, but there was a hint of another emotion she couldn't pick up on.

Naruto ignored that feeling and walked towards the sparring field with all the other children, prepared for what was hopefully the first of many training sessions she would have in the future.