The Dichotomy Arises

Will I Embrace the responsibility of shaping a new destiny: will I uphold peace or succumb to power? Unravel the mysteries of ninja arts, as the lines blur between reality and fiction.

Expect the world to be a little different and a lot more fictional. 

NO REALISM OR PERFECT PLOT WRITING, some things would just "work" out

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The annoying rings of my alarm made their way to my ears, waking me up from my dreamless deep sleep. I looked towards the clock, "9:15, I don't wanna get up." I yelled as I pushed the comforter off me, and sat up straight.

"This isn't my bed." I said as I looked at the sheets, "This isn't my room either!" , 'Did I finally get lucky!?' I thought. I looked around to find myself alone in the room.

I got up and started walking around as a bit of panic creeped it's way in my mind, 'Where am I? It somehow feels so familiar.' I thought.

'Am I smaller?' I thought. I walked in the attached bathroom and saw a mirror, but what the mirror reflected was confusing, it was unbelievable. 

Blonde hair, Blue eyes, Three whisker marks, It was Naruto. I watched the show growing up and was a huge fan, he was kind of an Idol to me.

I touched my cheeks, and somehow was aware that this was me, I looked like Naruto.

I went back to the bed and sat down.

"Okay, WHAT IS GOING ON!" Why do I look like him? At this point I was fully panicking, I ran out of my room to slide on some slippers and ran out of the house.

It was all there, the bustling streets of Konoha, The Hokage Faces, The academy, The Hokage Tower, The huge village gates.

By the time I was back home, it was afternoon, around 1 PM. 

"There you are." I heard a very familiar voice as I reached my apartment. I looked up to see, Hatake Kakashi, The Copy-Nin.

"Sensei? Were you looking for me?" I asked, fluent Japanese rolling off my tongue.

"Well, shouldn't you be the one looking for me? I know you did not get Gaara but Neji is no pushover, you have a very difficult opponent to face Naruto." He stopped leaning as he looked up from his book at me.

That's when it hit me, all the memories, that particular sentence felt like a key to a barricade of memories.

"I heard you were running around the whole village, while that's good, just cardio won't help." He said, as he moved away from the door, "I can't help you directly, So I got you a teacher, meet him at the Hot Springs. Good luck Naruto." He said as he was about to vanish, I asked, "Are you helping Sasuke?" He stopped and closed his book, "I am, and frankly his opponent is much worse Naruto, he's mentally unstable, so while the Hyuga won't kill you Gaara might kill Sasuke." He said.

"And If I win and reach the finals against Gaara?" I said as I opened the door, Kakashi stood in silence, I closed the door as I expected no answer.

I didn't like doing this, but Kakashi had been unfair, he deserved it.

I changed into a different set of clothes, A plain white tee and black shorts, I took some supplies in a bag as I left to find my teacher, the Master Teacher - Ebisu.

I saw Ebisu standing by the hot springs, "Yo Perv, How have you been?" I asked.

"Don't call me that Uzumaki! And I am here to fill in for Kakashi-San. I am your Tutor for the next month." He said adjusting his glasses. 

"Beggars can't be choosers." I muttered, "What was that?" Ebisu asked, "Nothing Nothing, What are we doing today?" I asked.

"Some chakra control exercises." Ebisu said adjusting his glasses again.

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It had been eating at him for the past hour, why would Naruto say that? Had he been that unfair? 

It was quite a hard predicament for Kakashi, he wanted to keep Sasuke close, due to the Snake and Gaara. He did provide Naruto with a tutor. 

'I'll think about this after the exams. Leave it be for now.' He thought as he approached Sasuke's room in the Hospital.

"I hope I am not wrong." He muttered to himself.

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"I can't seem to understand why you keep failing, right when I think you've gotten the exercise down." Said Ebisu.

"Maybe it has something to do with the mark that snake put on me." I said.

"What! Snake!? He put a mark on you as well? I was informed it was just the Uchiha who received the mark!" He said getting all hysterical.

"Fortunately, I did not get the hickey treatment. This is what I'm talking about." I said as I lifted my shirt and pushed some chakra to show the Five Pronged Seal.

"I see, no wonder you have been facing difficulties to form chakra properly. This is the Five Pronged Seal a high level battle sealing technique used to disrupt a person's chakra system. I cannot undo this, we'll need to find a sealing master or ask Lord Hokage." Said Ebisu.

And right on que, I heard the giggles. They brought a smile to my face, Meeting the great Toad Sage for the first time.

"He He, that's right Konami-Chan, He He.." The lecherous old man was crouched on a toad peeping on women using the Hot Springs.

"What a pervert-" I cut off ebisu, "Like you?", "Shut up Uzumaki!" He said as he approached the sage.

"Hey You!" Yelled Ebisu, "Such undignified behaviour is not-" He was interrupted by a sandle slamming down on his face.

"Idiot, what are you alarming them for!" Said Jiraiya.

"What was that?"

"Hey who is that?"

"Lord Jiraiya? Again"

"That's twice this week, let's get him." 

"Oh shit! gotta go" Said Jiraiya as he spared me a look, quickly handing me a few bills and saying, "If anyone asks, I went that way." Pointing to the other direction he was running off in.

"Hey Kid, did you see an old leach? If so, where did he go?" One of the many ladies asked me as they ran out of the springs.

'Hmm, I already have the money.', "There" I pointed right where he ran, it's been a minute since he stared and there's a small forest to the right in about 250 meters, where he's probably hiding.

"Thank you boy." Said a woman in her 20's as she ruffled my hair.

"You're welcome." I said as I counted the money.

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I found he lying on the ground, under the shade of a tree, he had too many physical wounds.

"You! You told them didn't you." He accused me.

"I don't know what you mean?" I said, being the innocent 12 year old I am.

"As if! What do you want?" He said sitting up.

"You are Jiraiya? the Toad Sage? The Seal master?" I asked.

"Ahh, my name precedes me. Yes Kiddo, From the north to the south, the east to the west, no one can match the gallant and manliness of the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, The Great Lord Jiraiya." A toad appeared under him as he finished.

"Calling yourself the epitome of manliness is a bit gay, isn't it?" I asked.

"What would a tadpole like you know? Again, what do you want kid?" He asked tending to his wounds.

"A seal masters help, your ex-teammate messed me up. Also some pointers for the finals of the upcoming exam would help. I could pay for lunch." I said, pulling out the bills he gave me.

"That's my money to begin with, and what do mean my ex-teammate, did ya run into that bastard Orochimaru?" He asked as his face turned ugly.

"Yep, fortunately for me this is all I got." I said as I showed him the Five Pronged Seal.

"Can you get rid of it?" I asked.

"Ofcourse, who do you think I am?" He said as he walked up to me, his fingers all lighting up with chakra. "Hold on, This will hurt." He said as he slammed his finger tips on the seal.

'Not as I bad as I thought it would hurt.' I thought.

"I heard what happened with the Uchiha, still I'd like to know from you as well, let's get something to eat." I heard him say as I clutched my stomach.

"Mind if I try the water walking exercise before that?" I asked.

"Let your chakra settle, take a break. You still need some pointers right?" He asked.

"That I do, does ramen sound good?" I asked.

"Stingy little brat, but it does sound good right now." He said as he let out a hearty chuckle.

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We got some ramen, and I recited the whole Orochimaru fight as we ate. He added some jokes here and there, but I could see there was something he was holding back, as If wanting to question me about something.

"Hey Kid, Are you still training under that sensei of yours?" Jiraiya asked.

"Kinda, I left a note telling him, I've got something to do and I'll see him later. So I am free and still have questions for you." I said.

"Okay, let's go to the river behind training ground 4." He said as he led on.

'He was supposed to be a loud and bold brat who would say the first thing that came to his mind, But the way he talked about their fight was completely opposite. As fishy as this looks, it's not really suspicious. The brat could use some of this maturing too, I still should talk to Sensei about this.' Thought Jiraiya.

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So over the next week I trained under Jiraiya. Unlike canon, I forced him to help me in every way, even told him I figured out the Shadow clone's secret. He did restrict me to a 100 clones a day, but that was more than enough. It meant I was doing a 101 days of work in a single day.

We decided to distribute the clones as, 

20 - Chakra Control, being the thing that needed the most and quickest improving.

10 - Overall reading, Tactics, Jutsu Theory, History, Shinobi Tricks and Traps, etc.

30 - Taijutsu, used to get down the muscle memory part. 

15 - Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)

15 - Kage Kunai and Kage Shuriken (Shadow Kunai and Shadow Shuriken)

10 - Recognizing and dispelling Genjutsu (Jiraiya would lend a clone)

I felt like he would not support such training and even feel suspicious, but I did forget, this is a world of maniacs. I had to make up a story of not feeling strong enough. 

For Taijutsu I was learning the basic kata's and fixing all the holes in my fighting. Even working on my reaction speed and timings.

The style I was learning was the Reverse Flying Fist, A type of style that relied on using a lot of chakra, it seemed to be a mixture of taekwondo and quick counter attacks.

The jutsu seemed basic but useful and quick to learn.

The Genjutsu was something I suggested, it seemed like something Naruto has completely ignored in canon but the concept of it was too interesting to skip it.

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'Okay, something was different but the change is great and welcomed.' Thought Jiraiya as he walked towards his Sensei's office. 

He scaled the Hokage tower and Jumped in through the window.

"I should just get the door removed or maybe wall it off." Said Hiruzen as he saw his priced student take a seat in front of him.

"To what do I owe this pleasure Jiraiya-kun." He asked.

"Well, the young Uzumaki is very surprising. Nothing like the reports led on, I believe the run in with Orochimaru showed him his standing in the world. He's taken to shinobi arts seriously. I was going to help him with the basics and teach him the Summoning for Chunin exams like we planned, but the kid begged me to train him properly. He even knew the secret to the Kage Bunshin Sensei! And oh my god is he talented, he's made exceptional progress in a week. I don't know where to begin." He said.

"Really now, It makes me quite happy. Train him well Jiraiya the boy deserves it, not to mention all the threats he is going to face in the coming years. I was going to have a talk with him after the finals but it seems I don't need to. Takes a big burden off of me. Still do tell what all he has learned." Replied the ageing leader.

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Now I know that Naruto behaving like this may raise alarms in canon world, but this is not canon and I do not care. 

Naruto will be much stronger and will stand at a very high level by the timeskip.

That is all for this chapter, see you in the next one!