Act I: Chapter 10

Hello everyone,

There were some reviewers on fanfiction mentioning how immature and selfish Naruto is. Also how he is not necessarily a team player. I will absolutely agree with you on this, and I would like for everyone to consider his circumstances.

He is an SI from our world. Our world is leagues more peaceful than the narutoverse. So an SI get's thrown into a world where he is forced to become a killer just to survive, and if he wants to reach the same sense of freedom as his last life, he has to become one of the most powerful killers ever…

On top of that, he has lingering issues that stem from Naruto. First of all, he's 13… so his physical brain is going through puberty, meaning his hormones are all over the place. This doesn't just mean that he's horny all the time… Testosterone is flowing through him and this leads to a whole host of emotions. Not to mention he must feel as if he's been dealt a bad hand, because he doesn't have Kurama to lean back on.

This is all accumulating into what you see in the story. A driven young man that feels older than his peers, yet is looked at as if he's a child. Quick to anger, and quick to react.

It's something he'll have to learn to live with for sure.

I hope that clears up his actions a little bit, even if you all don't agree with it.

Follow me on instagram at wtmcdonaldauthor! If you are feeling generous, and wish to donate to my writing career, you can find me at Patreon under Twubs for early access to chapters of The Ladder, Defiant, and Tsunami of the South!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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"Well that was unexpected."

I felt Shikamaru approach, although my eyes were at the top of the stadium, where a kunai had impaled another kunai into the wall. It didn't take me long to deduce that someone, most likely Asuma, had intercepted the kunai I had thrown at Ino. Although, instead of them just ricocheting off of each other, his had pierced mine.

'Perks of wind ninjutsu.' I thought as I looked away and met Shikamaru's eyes.

"To you." I said with a grin. "He was tougher than I thought he'd be." I responded truthfully to my classmate.

"His mindset has changed since the academy." Shikamaru said.

"That seems to be a common theme." I retorted, thinking about the rest of my classmates. Sakura was almost a completely different person, Ino as well, Kiba was impressive even if he got overwhelmed. Hinata, Shikamaru, and Shino hadn't even showcased what they were capable of.

"Begin!"

I turned to the stadium, where Sakura and Ino were charging at each other. It was obvious that Sakura was much faster than Ino because of our training. There was one thing you could count on being a Genin under Gai, and that was a strict workout routine. Ino didn't have that yet and it showed.

Sakura started on offense, as she was taught. A lead roundhouse was ducked by Ino, who tried to counter with basic taijutsu. Sakura overwhelmed her. Three strikes later, and another roundhouse kick saw Ino jumping backwards to avoid being laid out cold.

Unfortunately for Sakura, this was a trap. I could see it from my vantage point. Ino was currently in her backflip, running through hand seals that I could guess was for her family jutsu. Sakura pursued her target, just like Gai taught, and just like Ino wanted.

When Ino landed, she was on her knees with her hands out in a hand seal that I hadn't ever read about. It was specific to her clan, and I did my best to memorize it as I saw it, even if it would never be useful to me.

Sakura was 5 feet away from her when Ino activated the technique, and not near fast enough to avoid the Mind Body Switch Technique. Ino went limp as her consciousness left her body and traveled into Sakura's. Sakura stopped running with a shit-eating grin on her face and turned to Asuma, the proctor.

"I forfeit." Sakura, or rather Ino, said without flair.

"Winner: Ino Yamanaka." Asuma drawled out, almost lazily. He represented how the rest of the crowd felt: disappointed.

Sakura should have known about the Yamanaka clan techniques. Taijutsu wasn't a bad idea, if you could overwhelm your opponent and never allow them to cast their jutsu, but she had walked right into Ino's trap.

"Well then…" I muttered as Sakura's body became stiff and rigid. I couldn't physically see Ino moving back to her body, but when she came to it was with the same shit-eating grin that had just been on Sakura's face.

"I was thinking the same thing." Shikamaru said as he patted me on the shoulder. "I'm gonna go congratulate her. We should train sometime, don't be a stranger…"

I still didn't know how to take Shikamaru. In the anime, he was a good friend to Naruto, and a good ninja to the village. His only downfall was his laziness, something most of his clan shared. Probably due to how they were raised. The intelligent people in this universe understood how dangerous this profession could be to those that were strong, both physically and mentally.

I followed behind him and moved over to where my own sensei was consoling Sakura.

"It was a clever trap, Sakura. Don't be ashamed." Gai told her as she gripped onto the railing in front of her. She was pissed.

"I didn't see her making the hand seals, and when she landed I froze. I could have substituted and won the match immediately." Sakura retorted, obviously beating herself up about it.

"Rock Lee vs. Kabuto Yakushi."

"I forfeit."

;Jesus people are forfeiting left and right. I thought as I heard the information.; I turned to where Lee had already taken the field. Disappointment was written all over his face, and his eyebrows were furrowed. He tensed and jumped back up to the railing, right beside me.

'Out of the academy, I couldn't even perceive his and Gai's movements.' I thought as I watched him land beside me. 'And it's still not good enough.'

A familiar chakra appeared out of nowhere, directly behind me. It happened so fast that I couldn't help but panic slightly and I jumped as if scared. The panic disappeared quickly as I realized who it was.

"Damn you Kakashi." I said as I turned around. Him and Gai both were chuckling at my reaction to him. That confirmed it, Kakashi has been teasing me because he knew that I was a sensor.

"Ah don't be mad Naruto. Follow me, would you?" Kakashi said with his hands up in front of me. He snuck a glance to Gai, who nodded to him. I suppose that was him asking for permission to steal me away for a moment.

He led me to a door off to the side of the room that I didn't notice until we were right on it. As soon as I realized that fact, I looked around to see what it was that concealed the door from my senses. I didn't find anything that would clue me into what was actively doing the concealing.

We passed through it, to a balcony that looked straight into the Forest of Death. Kakashi wasted no time in jumping off of it and taking off. I set my feet, primed my chakra, and followed.

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We made it back to a random training ground that I didn't pay too much attention to. I tried, but it was so deep into the training grounds that it was hard to keep track of where Kakashi had led me.

I landed, and couldn't help but breathe a little heavier. Kakashi had set a very fast pace and hadn't taken it easy on me at all. Was that the speed that the rest of his team moved? Neji, and Tenten… well just Neji now, I could see keeping up that pace. But could Sasuke outperform me in speed?

"You did well, that was high Chunin speed, and I can tell you could have kept going." Kakashi said as he turned to me. His hands were inside his pants, but they did not have porn inside one of them, which was a plus. It was just too tacky for me to condone to be honest.

"Thank you. It's about time I increase my weights." I mentioned, in response to his praise. My speed now was good for my age. I needed it to be great for the entire planet, no wait, the universe. Shit I had forgotten about the otherworldly threats.

"Always looking to improve aren't you?" Kakashi said in his normal lazy voice. It was almost as if he was berating me for it.

"It's either that, or die." I answered with a shrug. It was easy to view this world in that light. You either become strong enough to live freely, or you die. Those were my only options, unfortunately.

"You're so bleak for your age, you know that?" Kakashi asked with a frown on his one visible eye. He didn't allow me to answer him. "You've been deemed old enough, and strong enough to know this information, and I've been cursed to deliver the news." He sighed.

'Wait what?' I thought as I heard that part. 'What is he about to tell me?'

"I knew your parents, Naruto." Kakashi started, causing me to panic internally. Yes, I knew who my parents were, but I expected to have to hold that information close to my chest for a long time. In no way did I expect to learn about them this early on.

"I should mention that this information is highly classified. It is an S-Rank secret that you will have to keep to yourself one face a punishment of death. Do you understand?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, sir." I managed to croak out. The pain in my chest didn't make sense to me. I knew who my parents were. Why was my body acting like this?

"Good. Now, your father was actually my Jonin sensei when I was your age. His name is one you'll recognize. Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime, was your father…"

The ache in my chest was too great when I heard those words and I coughed trying to get it to go away. My lip began to tremble as he told me my fathers name. I continued to stand at attention trying to play off how I felt. Why? I don't know. The half of me that truly was an orphaned Naruto was forcing its way into my psyche.

"Your mother was one of the strongest Kunoichi of her generation, and is single-handedly responsible for me standing here today. She was one of the kindest, most intense humans I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Her name was Kushina Uzumaki." Kakashi continued to tell me the information.

I couldn't help the tears. It was an old wound to this body. I grew up alone, my entire life thinking my parents were either dead beats or some nameless chunin that gave their life in the war. Either way, I was told that no one would ever know who my parents were because there were no records that they existed.

'No one fucking cares, get it together Naruto.' I tried to school my face, and succeeded for a moment after I berated myself.

And then Kakashi was directly in front of me, holding a photo in his hands, the same photo that I had seen in another life. Minato, standing next to a pregnant Kushina. The only difference was this was not an animation, it was real life.

That was when the real waterworks began.

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"I'm sorry." I croaked out, my voice hoarse from earlier.

I sat with my back against a tree, legs spread out in front of me. Kakashi was on the other side of the tree, with his shoulder barely touching my own. Much like a big brother would do.

"Don't be. I'm sorry you couldn't know sooner, I tried many times only to be stopped by …my superiors." Kakashi explained, pausing as he realized he was about to rat out the Hokage.

"It's not your fault." I told him. I felt so stupid for crying the way that I just had. I literally knew the information he told me, and I thought I had already come to terms with it. But I don't know… I guess the validation was what did it for me. There were already so many variables that had changed between the anime and here, what with Neji having Kurama and all. "So now what…?"

"Well, now that you know, there are some techniques that I am allowed to show you, and some that have been confiscated by the Hokage. Mainly, one jutsu in particular that I think you'll find very useful." Kakashi said as he held a palm out in front of him.

I felt the chakra appear before I heard the whistling noise and felt the wind from the technique. It was the Rasengan, and seeing it in person was even more impressive than in anime. It was a swirling, chaotic but controlled, ball of chakra about a foot in diameter. He held it there for a while, and I did my best to use my sensing ability to memorize the way the chakra flowed but it was nearly impossible. I knew it would have to be something I worked towards to perfect.

Kakashi stood up and backed away from the tree, motioning for me to do the same. I obeyed, waiting to see what he was going to do with it. As soon as I was far enough away, he shoved the rasengan into the tree. Bark splintered, and his hand sunk into the trunk as a hole was carved in the middle of it. Soon, his hand appeared out the other side of it.

'Wow that thing grinds so fast and hard that it cut a path through the fucking tree…'

"That is the Rasengan…" Kakashi said and I could tell that he was utterly proud of himself.

"Now." He said, clapping his hands together. "You have some homework…"

In his hands was a water balloon.

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I quickly learned not to return to the Forest of Death. The Anbu and Jonin of the village were busy collecting bodies from it for a few days, and sending the corpses back to where they came from. There was even a funeral for Tenten, confirming what I knew to be true when she was not with Sasuke or Neji during the second stage of the exams.

When I arrived, I knew I shouldn't have been there. Gai and Lee were beside me and Sakura. We were known to be on his Genin team though so we had a cover. Nobody said anything, although when I approached Tenten's father, a muscle bound man that towered over even Gai, I could tell in his eyes that he knew.

"My condolences…" I whispered as I bowed to him. He returned the gesture appreciatively, but his eyes roamed to Gai and Lee numbly. He had just lost his daughter, and I knew that he couldn't care less for these pleasantries.

I waited for Gai, Lee, and Sakura to finish before I turned to the rest of the people at the funeral. Kakashi was there, and although he kept a neutral face, he was much too stiff. His eye was staring at the casket at the front of the clearing, and he did not acknowledge me as I arrived. He blamed himself, I could tell.

It was understandable. She was his responsibility and he would have to carry the burden of her death.

Sasuke sat beside him, and he did look at me as we started walking through the rows of chairs to a set of four seats I could see in the back. We shared a nod as I passed. Neji sat beside him, and just like Kakashi he stared at the casket in front of him unflinchingly. He blamed himself just like his sensei.

I did not expect the massive man that sat beside Neji to be there. He had white hair that framed his face in the front and was tied in a ponytail at the back that ran down to his waist. His face held crows feet around the eyes, wrinkles in his forehead, and lines around his mouth for smiling too much. Red streaks, not unlike tears, fell from the corner of his eyes to his chin. The forehead protector read 'Oil', instead of the traditional Konoha symbol. He was wearing black, not his normal outfit.

'Jiraiya?'

I looked away from the man, not wanting to draw any attention to myself. Luckily for me, he was a famous sannin and my staring could be played off as hero worship and not recognition. Although, knowing my luck it wouldn't be.

We found our seats with Gai closest to the middle. It was some unspoken code that the strongest shinobi were on the outside of the rows. It allowed them to react faster, and not be impeded as much as he would be in the middle surrounded by people. My eyes found Kakashi to be on the outside as well as Jiraiya on the other side.

What was Jiraiya doing here? Did he know Tenten maybe? Or was he close with her parents?

'No.'

I realized that was not why he was here. I took a look at who he sat beside and I put the pieces together. Neji held Kurama, the nine-tailed fox. Jiraiya was the only person capable of even slightly deciphering my fathers seal that held the beast inside Neji. Just like in the anime, Jiraiya took Naruto on a three year training trip to help him control the power of the nine-tails inside him.

I did not have the nine-tails in this life, however. Just like when I was told about my parents, not three days ago, I felt a slight ache in my chest. Somehow, the fact that Jiraiya was helping Neji and not me hurt. I pushed it away, as I knew it was irrational. Jiraiya was the only person capable of helping Neji control that chakra, and he had a duty to the village to complete that task.

'What about his duty as a godfather?'

I couldn't help the traitorous thoughts that slipped into my head. For all I knew, he wasn't my godfather and had no duty towards me. Even if he was my godfather, I didn't need him to look after me or try to be my father. Hell, I didn't even need him to be a strong shinobi, I would do that on my own.

I steeled myself as the funeral began.

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Lee's leg swirled in the air and shot towards my face, as I had seen him do a thousand times at this point. When we first started sparring, I made the mistake of trying to block that kick. I hadn't made that mistake again, unless I absolutely had to.

I ducked it, and molded chakra in a way that was becoming instinctual, without hand signs.

A Shadow Clone appeared beside me on my right and immediately attacked as Lee's feet planted on the ground to send another kick with his other leg.

A black sword appeared in my clone's hand just as I decided to catch Lee's kick with a textbook block. My clone swung his sword down at Lee's neck. Lee, with his leg still in my lock, fell to the ground using my strength holding him as leverage to counterattack.

My clone missed, but I let go of Lee's leg in mid air, causing him to flail in the air for a moment and be caught off guard. I stabbed my hand forward, and sent chakra to the piece of metal on my right wrist. I had been training with this sword for a long time now. I knew the exact length of it, and how it appeared out of my seal.

When Lee landed on his back, there was a black sword resting on his chest.

'Another win.'

"Winner: Naruto." Gai's voice echoed across the clearing.

I had begun to hear those words over and over again over the past month. So much so that I was beginning to gain confidence in my abilities. Lee was becoming slower to my perception, and more predictable with his taijutsu. Both of these showed progress with my strength, speed, and familiarity with our taijutsu style.

Ever since sensei had begun letting me use my sword in our spars, they had begun to tip in my favor. Lee was unused to facing kenjutsu users, and it showed.

We made the Seal of Reconciliation to each other, and the spar was over. However, I could tell by the look on Lee's face, he was angry. His eyebrows were furrowed, and his body tense. His body jerked in certain directions, and I knew he was replaying the fight over in his mind.

"Ok what is going on? That is the fifth time this week." We all turned to Sakura, who was covered in sweat as she finished her workout for the morning. She had finally gotten to the point where she could start wearing her weights constantly throughout the day. She was getting much stronger as well. Her taijutsu had improved by leaps and bounds.

"Naruto has used some very nasty tricks in the past month, tricks that would catch most chunin off guard." Gai said, answering her question fluidly. He went to speak again, but Sakura cut him off.

"That's how he's winning, I get it sensei, but he's keeping up with Lee in speed. How is that possible? We started on the same weight when we began. I don't get it. What am I doing wrong?" Sakura asked, her frustration bleeding through.

"It's been bugging me as well." Lee muttered, as he stared at me, angry.

'Jealousy is a bitch.'

Gai looked at both of them, and we both knew that his normal placating comments would not suffice. The answer was a simple one for us, but was I allowed to say it? I looked towards Gai, who caught my eye. I signed him a simple question.

"May I?" I signed beside my leg where only he could see it.

He nodded.

"I'm a cheater." I said simply, while shrugging my shoulders. "In a way that's not fair to either one of you." I told them as I sent chakra back to my wrist, sealing the sword inside of it once again.

"How so?" Lee asked, his frown deepened if it was possible. It was odd to see him frown.

"Well, in a couple of ways. You two know of the Shadow Clone Jutsu obviously?" I asked. I didn't want to just tell them the answer. I wanted them to understand why I was outpacing them.

"Yes, solid copies of yourself, same as Zabuza." Sakura answered, in a factual manner.

"Similar but different." I agreed. "The major difference is that I retain the memories of each clone."

The lightbulb did not go off in either of them. It wasn't an easy concept to grasp, I would admit. Had it not been for the anime, I probably wouldn't have considered it either.

"Right now, there are 30 other Shadow Clones of me. Most of them are training right now. When they dispel, I will get their memories of everything they did today, complete with all their mistakes and triumphs." I explained, trying not to make it too hard to understand.

Sakura's lightbulb went off first. Her face went through a myriad of emotions. Understanding, incredulous, confusion again, and finally anger and jealousy. I could have called out her next question but I let her ask it anyway.

"Why haven't you taught us this?" Sakura asked towards Gai while pointing towards herself and Lee.

'She obviously forgot about Lee's condition in the last five minutes.'

"Lee is incapable of molding chakra outside his body, as you well know Sakura." Gai commented quickly. "But the reason you have not been taught the jutsu is because of its extreme chakra cost. You do not have the reserves to summon one Shadow Clone, let alone the amount that Naruto can summon and still be able to fight during the day." Gai explained, brutally to the girl.

It sucks being told that you were being left behind because of things outside of your control. And I got where she was coming from, I really did. It was the same scenario with the Sharingan. Uchiha were allowed to skip years of training just by watching someone perform it once with their eyes. At least I still had to put in the work.

Sakura frowned, and her mouth moved like she wanted to ask more questions. Nothing came out, as she processed the information.

"Truth be told Sakura. Naruto has more chakra than most Jonin. He's probably the only person alive capable of this training method." Gai said with a shrug, trying his best to shake it off for Lee and Sakura.

Another lightbulb went off in her head. "But that only explains the skill sensei, what about his speed, his strength. He recovers faster than anyone I've ever met." Sakura said as she pointed both arms to me.

'I am right here you know…'

I answered that question, as I wasn't sure that Gai knew the answer. "I'm an Uzumaki."

Gai looked at me then, and he looked surprised. Surprised for what though? Surprised that I knew that answer, or that I knew about my long lost clan.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sakura asked, turning her attention to me.

"The Uzumaki Clan are renowned for their life force. The wife of the Shodai was an Uzumaki, and despite being born during the warring clans era, she lived well into the reign of the Sandaime. We are known to heal faster than others, and can traditionally survive other injuries that would kill normal people." I explained. I didn't mention the fact that we were chosen as jinchuriki for this reason, as I wasn't supposed to know that little tidbit of information. I might have even said too much.

"The only explanation I can think of is that I am building muscle faster because of my heritage." I finished. It was something I had thought about for a while as well. I hadn't gotten sore, beyond that first day of training with Gai. Even now, when I went up levels in weights I barely felt it. Exhaustion, yes! Soreness, no.

She didn't respond but her face did continue to go through emotions again. I realized it must suck to be told that no matter what you did you couldn't keep up with someone. Even though I didn't have the Sharingan, I was able to cheat Father Time with the use of Shadow Clones, evening the playing field a bit.

"Life isn't fair, Sakura." Gai said as he switched back to his unusually cheery mood. He was trying to bring their spirits up.

"All we can do is work harder!"

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A/N: Boom!

So we got Sakura vs. Ino. And it was slightly more skilled than the Anime.

We got Naruto learning of his heritage. Kakashi teaching him the basics of the Rasengan. Tenten's funeral where Naruto learns of Jiraiya and Neji, although he still holds out hope for the future. And finally Naruto is whooping up on Lee, exposing a major hole in his offense/defense.

What did we think? Let's talk about it in the reviews!