Chapter Ten

Every morning, or every other morning when he'd choose to pass the test to go on die fighting Orochimaru, or laugh himself sick as Gaara gelded Sasuke, Naruto woke up to the same old broken down dive he'd always lived in.

Although, ever since he'd begun his home improvement kick, he'd wake up to create a steadily increasing number of clones to work on the place while he was away.

Lately he'd been creating close to six hundred clones every morning just to fix up his house. They'd strip out everything except the support beams for the upper stories then go to work. By the time he came back for lunch (if he came back for lunch, variety was the spice of life, after all), his apartment would cover two entire floors of that building that were formerly empty (no one wanted to live too close to the demon brat), with open internal balconies, galleries, brand new custom furniture and floorings, everything clean and bright, newly painted and with glittering fixtures.

The entire place was a palace.

Of course, the Uchiha district was simply enormous, large enough to practically count as a village unto itself, with its own shops and everything.

But now it all sat empty.

It would be a mistake to say that Naruto bought it. Actually the Hokage gave it to him for free, reasoning to the boy in private that he could not make up for his harsh life in other ways, but perhaps this could go a long way toward giving him a brighter future. In public he had no need to say anything but that those lands were his to distribute as he chose, and no one else had wanted them in all the years they'd been available.

So, like the First Hokage had done, the Third made them a grant, as he had the authority to do. And, since he'd learned how to get the Hokage to do that for him, Naruto did it often, because after every reset it was back to that same old dingy dive he'd always called home.

Interestingly enough, having done a little research, he knew what was now the Forest of Death had once been offered as the same deal to another clan, one that had not, in the end, elected to join the newly emerging village of Konoha, but had stayed in the land of Mist where their valuable abilities had since been destroyed when that country turned against and murdered their bloodline carrying clans.

The land, initially kept reserved in case they'd changed their minds, had since come to other uses as a survival training ground and testing area.

But all of that came about later as he was doing research into the district and discussing the history of the place with Sarutobi. Ever since he'd started getting it he would spend some time there searching as he poked further and further into the former Uchiha lands. For the moment, he was busy looking for their library of stolen ninja techniques.

It was not easy to find.

Hardly surprising, really. The Hokage had doubtless been searching himself, and sent teams to do likewise before they'd closed it all down. The collection of scrolls on stolen techniques must represent an incredible resource, if only no one could find it, and Sasuke wasn't talking.

Perhaps the bastard realized what he'd given up, and had been trying to figure out a way to get it back, after having spent part of the money.

Nah!

That was really unlikely. Anything Sasuke wanted, he got, as someone was willing to give it to him. No, more than likely he was just being a bastard about it, denying the village help because he could.

It was also possible the bastard had forgotten where it was. After all, he'd been quite young when he'd left the place, and that might have gotten caught up in all of the general repressing he did over the rest of that trauma.

Sasuke was not a well-adjusted, happy boy.

It was also possible the broody boy had never known about it. Children blab things without meaning to. So, if it was all so desperately secret, they just might not have told the kid where it was before they all died, just handing him scrolls as needed.

And if that were the case, the Uchiha was too proud to ever admit it.

Anyway, no longer dipping into the Uchiha's mind (it was an icky place), the Uzumaki boy had spent several entire resets after finding out how to get the Hokage to grant him those properties going over them and looking for those scrolls, only to be disappointed.

They were really marvelously well hidden. But then he had an idea.

I I I

It struck him, as he'd been thinking, that somewhere on the Uchiha property was the Uchiha library, containing whatever records they'd made of special moves and ninja powers stolen over entire generations of using Sharingan, that, it was presently hidden in such a way that unless he could somehow get his own Sharingan (the most likely key), he was unlikely to find it. Ever, considering how hard he'd looked already.

His clones were in the process of dismantling buildings, and if they hadn't found it by doing that, they were not likely to find it at all. Although there were plenty of ordinary secrets around the place. Who knew that the Uchiha were such perverts? There was porn stuck in practically every wall of every home, concealed by who knows who for what reasons.

Although, he was learning a great deal about traps as he dismantled the places, and the Uchiha had some fiendish ones. Too bad most couldn't be used out in field conditions.

Still, that wasn't a total loss, as it had reminded him of something. Namely Sasuke's techniques hadn't come out of nowhere. He'd known some C-rank special powers even before he'd graduated the ninja academy, which was also long before he'd gotten his Sharingan activated.

So, no Sharingan meant he couldn't have just copied them, which meant that he'd learned them from somewhere. Since it was unlikely his family taught him, seeing as how they were all dead, and had been long before the Uchiha had started to use those techniques, the most likely answer was he'd learned them off scrolls, perhaps taken from that exact same Uchiha library.

So, what would an arrogant bastard do with a scroll detailing a secret ninja power after he'd learned what it could show him? Why, nothing! He'd leave it wherever it happened to be when he got finished with it!

Because, you see, arrogance makes people do things like that. And especially in the Uchiha's case, where people were falling over themselves in eagerness to do things for him or give things to him, he didn't have to be careful with anything that he had.

There is a word for that, and it is called: Spoiled - a word that suited Sasuke perfectly. He was a perfect little spoiled princess. Everyone in Konoha loved him and gave him whatever he wanted, while he pouted about it not being enough or good enough for him.

So, figuring that unless Sasuke gave it away once he no longer had need of it (and not finding that likely, as the Uchiha was far from generous) Naruto felt that the most probable place for those scrolls to be abandoned was in the bastard's apartment.

So he broke in to go looking for it, one day while a clone was off taking the written test to cover for him, so he could be certain Sasuke wasn't home, or going to be returning there for an hour or more.

That was all the time the blond burglar would need to ransack the residence of his rival, especially with a dozen clones to help. He could go over every inch of it to be sure not to miss anything.

They struck paydirt almost at once. It wasn't even hard.

On a shelf next to the dining room table was one of those little honeycomb-holed organizers meant for holding scrolls. Most of them were slightly dusty, and seeing as how Naruto knew his teammate had a cleaning lady that was sad, as it said he almost never read them.

Which suited what he'd expected, actually.

A couple of those scrolls were worn, like they had been well-read. Taking one down to look at it, the blond burglar found on it the basics of how to use the Sharingan, for those that had the bloodline; what to expect from activation and so on, including cautions on its use, mostly a warning to beware of the level of chakra drain. Nothing terribly hard to understand, although it did contain some specifics that outsiders to the clan would probably find useful, such as limited range, included as part of a caution that anything not clearly seen could not be adequately predicted or copied.

So it wasn't telescopic vision. That was good to know. If a normal person could not see it in sufficient detail to read, the Sharingan couldn't copy it. If that sort of information was widespread then everyone facing one of this clan would do Zabuza's thing of hiding out in mist or fog to hunt these guys.

Oh well, nothing there he didn't already know. But it was nice to see it spelled out in detail.

Two more of those scrolls showed the basics of a fighting style, developed by the Uchiha after a generation of stealing the best they could see. On the few scrolls he had available, it wasn't much, not too different from the style taught at the academy, but it did show a few moves Sasuke had used that were not taught to ordinary ninja.

It probably got into greater detail on more advanced scrolls, but those were not present, only the basics, probably what Sasuke had been working on at the time the clan died.

The last of the frequently read scrolls was solid gold, as far as Naruto was concerned. It contained several fire techniques, the two that he'd seen his rival use, plus four others. The later ones on the scroll hadn't been read as much as the first two, while the last had hardly been read at all.

Naruto palmed his face and sighed. Somehow he'd always figured as much. Deep down, the bastard was just as lazy as Kakashi. Once something got hard he'd stop even trying.

Maybe having the Sharingan made you stupid? Unable to read? But no, that couldn't be right. To get the early parts of this scroll so worn his rival would have had to have been studying this for years.

Yet... he hadn't mastered the whole thing?

Naruto didn't know about anyone else, but he would've been using all six of those special moves in a month, tops. And that was even before he really knew how to read. Most likely he would've blitzed through them in less than a week, frying himself several times in the process of learning them, but still!

To have had such wealth and not devoured it was inconceivable to the orange clad boy, whose appetite for ninja skills was insatiable. And that fire scroll was just one of many!

The next scroll Naruto pulled down from that shelf was a new addition by the look of it, yet still several months old. But when he opened it up it explained itself, because at the top was a note from Kakashi, saying that these might help the Uchiha to become a better ninja.

On it were three Earth techniques: One for making a wall of earth spring up out of the ground to protect you from opponents, and the two Kakashi had used to defeat Sasuke during the genin test: One that allowed a user to hide underground, even moving a short distance through dirt, and the other where you dragged your victim down into the earth until only their head stuck out.

By the looks of it, their teacher had to have given this to Sasuke right after the test, or at least in that timeframe, yet it was brand new - it had never been opened, much less read.

Naruto stood there, fists clenched and steamed. How could he? How COULD Sasuke be so wasteful? And Kakashi? He'd NEVER ONCE offered to train his most desperate student in anything useful! The blond had begged and pleaded for scraps of attention, for any hint of training, and yet here he'd showered it on the pretty head of the Uchiha! Even when he didn't want...

In the midst of this upset a lightbulb went off over Naruto's head. This had been the way it had always been between them. Kakashi would ignore him to favor Sasuke, while Sasuke didn't work hard or appreciate...

That was it.

The ONE time Kakashi had done anything close to training anyone other than Sasuke was that tree climbing exercise. Sakura had gotten it right away, while Naruto had pressed hard... and the Uchiha only worked at it because he didn't want Naruto to get the move down first.

Kakashi was using him as a tool to motivate the Uchiha who, by the looks of the things found here in his room, didn't work hard for anything if he could avoid it.

So why hadn't he done those contests more times?

Feh. Probably because Sasuke'd asked him not to. Kakashi would never do anything Sasuke didn't want. He loved him like a son and wouldn't deny him anything - including having his 'rival' held back, and Sasuke... sigh... Sasuke practically defined his existence by being better than Naruto.

No, not just better, by utterly leaving him in the dust. The greater the gap between their abilities, the more the Uchiha would gloat and boast over it.

So that's why Kakashi hadn't done any more of those 'race you to learn this' contests between him and the Uchiha, even though it did serve to motivate the broody bastard. After all, whenever Kakashi made the two race to get a technique down, they'd both still learn it eventually.

And Sasuke felt better about himself when Naruto knew nothing. It gave him a better opportunity to shine, after all.

The BASTARDS!

Grabbing all of those scrolls so he could memorize them over the rest of the day (and who cared if the Uchiha found them missing. They'd all be back in place after the reset anyway, and the Uchiha would recall nothing of it), Naruto almost missed one that had been tossed into the back like garbage.

Peeking at it, Naruto found it to be a scroll of very minor ninja techniques useful in camping. But scribbled across the top, in Sasuke's handwriting back from third grade or so, was "Not going to help me beat Itachi."

So, that made it garbage, did it?

Naruto didn't think so, and he grabbed that scroll along with the others to go and study their contents. Unlike certain Uchihas, he wasn't going to turn up his nose at any chance to increase his skills or knowledge!

It disgusted him that anyone could call that sort of pathetic person a genius.

On his way out, his clones stopped him to see a discovery they'd made while prying up floorboards (hey! It didn't matter if they got caught ransacking the place, as it would all be back to normal either tomorrow or the next day).

Down in a dusty corner, hidden under the floor, was a box of what had to be Sasuke's treasures. It held an ornate katana, a lady's jeweled pin, and a small box of family photos. Since some of those photos showed his dad with the sword, and his mom wearing the pin (the photos had names on the backs), it was easy to figure out these were all relics of his parents.

Holes had been cut out of some of those photos, where, at a guess, Itachi had once been pictured. A name scribbled out here or there confirmed it.

These treasures weren't exactly hidden in a convenient place, but neither were they left entirely alone. The nails and holes over the opening in the floor to reach them showed signs of having been pried open several times before.

So, at a guess, the Last Uchiha pried them up to look at his family mementos once or twice a year, or whenever his brooding began to falter.

Acting on a bit of petty revenge, Naruto took the items to see how much a pawn shop would offer for them. Of course, armed with the Uchiha's bank account information, found hidden behind a painting in the suite's kitchen, he had no need of extra money - one quick Shapeshift and cash withdrawal would provide all he could want within his modest needs, he felt sure.

But it was the spirit of the thing that counted. Sasuke treated what Naruto treasured as garbage, Naruto could do the same in return.

I I I

Those purloined scrolls were a treasure trove of the highest order to Naruto, who'd been desperately seeking after such knowledge for years - even if you didn't count all of the time pre-loop he'd spend long enough during endless repeating days he felt that probably qualified alone.

Even just the scrolls he had already opened amazed him with their utility.

Opening them all revealed nearly thirty techniques, only counting those that Naruto DIDN'T already know, averaging about six techniques per each of the five common elements - and most of those scrolls had never been opened.

Not once, until Naruto had done so just now.

In fact, floating down out of one was a note, almost five years old, inviting the Uchiha to special training, written by one of their academy teachers. Naruto didn't know if the man had gotten to teach Sasuke private lessons or not, and that was far from the only scroll about techniques given to Sasuke during his academy days.

There were scrolls on the basic three with notes and details written in the margins that the Uzumaki lad had had to pull out of Ebisu a scrap at a time. Actually... Naruto scowled, reading on.

Yup. Ebisu STILL hadn't taught him all of this stuff! There were a few ways to tweak those techniques that the special jonin had never mentioned, like that basic Clones did not have to be formed of the user himself, nor did they have to be of human or even animate creatures. The note told a story of a special case when an illusion of a deer, frightened away by an enemy's approach, had convinced a squad of ninja during one war that the victim they were seeking was not present, else he would have spooked the deer himself, when he was the one laying wounded under a bush who'd created the deer clone!

And there were multiple anecdotes of enemy ninja scrambling for dropped weapons only to find, as their hands closed upon hilts, that the obvious ones they'd been seeking were simple illusions, and useless to them.

Transformation and Body Switch had been put to similarly imaginative uses, all listed out here as suggestions for the Uchiha by generous professors. And for the most part, he'd never once even looked at the scrolls.

Actually, looking at the dates, Naruto had to suppress another grimace of disgust, as these teachers had been trying to get Sasuke to learn the jutsus at least a year in advance of the other students being introduced to them!

A genius? Oh! You bet! I mean, look at how fast he'd learned the... whatever.

Well, yeah, that was easy to do when you had a year lead in on everyone else learning them. Sasuke would've had to have a head like a block of wood NOT to have gotten them quickly or early! And somehow Naruto did not suspect those teachers had given up when he hadn't read their scrolls!

All of the extra credit stuff was included that Naruto had never gotten invited to learn, too. There were techniques taught as rewards to talented students to help motive them in classes, things like how to detonate exploding tags from a short distance, basic stealth and wire work, how to form tags into defensive traps automatically triggered by an enemy crossing the circle, and more.

Body Flicker... yep, everything he knew except the Shadow Clone and his own creations had been given to the Uchiha long ago, most of them with master's suggestions on how to really use the techniques to their full potentials.

And, yes, the three basic chakra control exercises were all here, spelled out in detail. One of them was even a gift from Kakashi.

Naruto... the boy had to stifle a sigh and wipe away a tear. He would've done anything for that level of support, for even HALF the assistance the Uchiha had received. But then he had to stifle a miserable laugh, too, as all of that put together, and what did Sasuke use?

Sasuke'd known roughly two techniques, outside of the basic Academy ones. TWO! Here on these scrolls before him were listed nearly THIRTY! A CHUNIN would've been happy to have that kind of technique arsenal! And here Sasuke could've had that as a FREAKING ACADEMY STUDENT! If only he'd listened to those who would've gladly taught him!

It made him want to cry.

All that support, and the Uchiha hadn't even WANTED it! He'd certainly never come close to making the best use of it!

Impotent jealousy gave Naruto actual, physical pain before he reigned it in and mastered himself. Whining about the past couldn't solve his current problems. That was what the broody bastard did, and look at where it got him. He could've been a jonin by now, easily, if he hadn't been feeling sorry for himself and had actually been willing to work hard for what he wanted.

Naruto did not know what Sasuke's problem was, but he sure as anything wasn't going to share it! These techniques were before him, and he was going to learn them. No! He was going to MASTER THEM ALL!

Then he'd see what else he could do with those.

I I I

POWER STONESSSSSSSSSSS