Chapter 07: Rapid Improvements

Disclaimer:

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 07: Rapid Improvements

"And… you say he's been doing that for a week?" the worried Hokage asked.

"Yes… every day for a week already. He comes here first thing in the morning, visits the library, spends several hours reading books and scrolls in silence, and then he comes to the yard for practice…" Iruka explained the strange behavior he noticed in Naruto since the previous week, when he came to visit.

"Mmm…" The old man peeked from around the corner.

Naruto was currently practicing the Bunshin jutsu in complete focus.

He realized that the resulting clone was very much perfect.

"I thought he was incapable of using that jutsu…"

Iruka nodded. He also found it strange. "He could do the other two, but the Bunshin always came out wrong because he didn't have enough control over his chakra… this has always been the one thing that held him back."

"But now he can do it with no problems. How is that possible?" The Hokage asked.

"On the first day, he spent several hours practicing the leaf exercise. And I must say… by the end of it, he had perfected it completely. He could hold a dozen leaves on his body with no problems."

"So, he had been practicing his chakra control…" The Hokage knew well enough why Naruto had problems controlling his chakra flow. He always had to work with a big handicap after all…

"It wasn't just his chakra control…" Iruka whispered. His face filled with worry.

"What is it?" The old man asked.

"I have looked through all the books Naruto has been reading over the last week. There are a few missing, but for the most part, he had gone through the entire academy curriculum. And not just the theory but also the practice. Other than the leaf exercise… Naruto had perfected his taijutsu, shurikenjutsu, and the three academy ninjutsus, among other things."

"You mean?"

Iruka glanced at the boy. "It's like… he went through six years of the academy in just seven days."

"I see…"

"Lord Hokage… what happened to Naruto? He is like a completely different person since he left the hospital," Iruka asked.

"I'm not sure either, but… his mind appears to have been affected during the attack he suffered at the hands of the traitor. According to Inoichi, some of his memories had become fragmented in some parts… while others are completely missing."

"So he has some type of amnesia?" Iruka asked. "Is he going to ever go back to being like he was? Or…"

"Only time will tell. But it seems unlikely that he will go back to his old personality. I can only hope that at least he can recover some of his old spark."

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"Bushin!" Naruto said while making the hand signs.

A clone appeared at his side and he observed it carefully, trying to find some flaws.

"Looks good, but…" He smacked the clone on the head and this one disappeared. "A bit disappointing, considering how difficult it is to make."

After putting in a lot of effort, he managed to learn how to circulate chakra through his body and perform these basic ninja techniques.

But it required a lot of extra effort for him to do so. He knew where the problem was but not how to fix it.

Normally, people would only need to worry about combining two types of energy, but Naruto had a third one added to the mix.

Since the first day, he had noticed a third string of energy circulating through his chakra veins and into his core.

It wasn't difficult to find the origin of this energy. Especially after he had seen the Demon Fox in person.

For some reason, whoever had created the seal designed it in a way that would allow a small amount of demonic chakra to seep into his body.

The real purpose of this would remain unknown to him for the moment since he was no expert on seals.

But it was a fact that having this extra flow of energy was making it difficult for him to make use of these ninja techniques since they require being very precise with how much chakra is used. The mixture of spiritual and physical energies also required finesse.

'In any case… my purpose at this academy is now complete.' He had learned as much as he needed for now.

It was time to take the next step.

Naruto pretended not to notice the two adults hiding around the corner and made his way outside the academy.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

By the time he left the academy grounds, it was already getting dark.

His stomach grumbled in complaint.

For the past week, he had been so focused on the task at hand that he had neglected some of his other needs a bit.

The only food he had in his small apartment were dried noodles since that seemed to be the only thing the previous owner of this body ate.

'Maybe I should go do some shopping…' He looked down at his orange jumpsuit. 'And not just for food. I need more clothes too. I still can't believe that this is the only piece of clothing he had, other than those ugly pajamas.'

The Hokage had left him a decent amount of money so it should be enough to get a few necessities until he finds another way to earn money.

"Naruto?! Where have you been?"

He heard someone calling his name and turned around.

There was a young woman wearing a white apron right next to a food stall.

There was something very familiar about that stall… its looks and the smell that came out of it.

As for the girl…

"Ayame," Naruto said.

"So you didn't forget about me, huh?" The girl waved her hand at him.

"Well?...what are you waiting for? Come in. My dad will prepare something for you. I'm sure you are hungry."

Just in time, his belly grumbled again. "I am indeed hungry…"