CHAPTER 49: PREPARATIONS

Chapter 49: Preparations

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Naruto sighed as he finished talking to his dead parents. This was most certainly quite an eventful few days. But as of right now, he should stay wary more in the upcoming future.

Since the current state of the village is in disarray, there will be chances or people to invade and attack Konoha when they were at its weakest point in utter ages.

Or even ever.

And with that, Naruto turned around from the graves of his parents and jumped towards the endless and the abundance of trees that surround him.

But truly, if things were different from the beginning, maybe Naruto wouldn't have became this way. Maybe he wouldn't have become such an empty shell of a person.

Lifeless and devoid.

~~~

Naruto slurped up his ramen that he had made with the trusty microwave in his apartments. As he used his chopsticks to feed himself, he thought about something.

My eyes. . . I've been overusing them greatly ever since I got them during the battle of bridge. Naruto mused to himself, recalling to the time when he fought against Haku. Placing the empty cup of ramen right next to him, he sighed deeply.

I'm still lacking the power. Even when I improve continuously, I still somehow come to the conclusion of using the Mangekyou. Naruto's eyes roamed his apartment, gazing at many things that he had within it.

Naruto knew it.

"I've become reliant on the Mangekyou Sharingan in too many situations," Naruto told himself, disappointed in himself with this development. When in a troubling situation, he always resorted to using the Mangekyou even when the cost of using it was right in front him.

Getting off the counter, Naruto walked over to his bed that was positioned right next his window. Sitting on the soft bed, began to think once more.

If I become too reliant on the Mangekyou Sharingan, I'll without a doubt hurt my growth due to the blindness. Naruto continued to think about more possibilities for the future of his life.

Looking toward the window, he could see his own reflection with his azure eyes. Those azure eyes then morphed into his 3-tomoe Sharingan.

Then the Mangekyou.

"Maybe this is what I get for using Shin sekai." Naruto got up from his bed and got ready to go back to the hospital to act like nothing ever happened.

~~~

"What do you think?" Naruto looked at the stem of those voices. His eyes locked on a black long-sleeves button-up shirt, with shorts that would reveal his frail-looking legs.

"They don't match at all," said Naruto. It was a fact, even though they matched in color, the shorts with a button-up shirt did not at even the slightest.

Jiraiya sighed as he looked at the teenage boy.

"You'll be fine. People won't even be paying attention to you and your frail legs," He told the boy. They were getting for the funeral that was about to take place in about. Naruto got up from the hospital bed and snatched the clothes off of Jiraiya's hand.

"Get out the room." Jiraiya nodded to that command and walked out of Naruto room. Closing the curtains, Naruto was able to change clothes in peace.

Naruto sighed as he looked at his body while in the middle of changing. Even though he was without a doubt powerful for his age, his frail-looking body irritated him.

Don't get him wrong, most of the people around his age look a tad bit like him, but he was one of the most frail-looking kids in his graduating class. Though his level of power made the whole difference.

Sighing, Naruto opened the door to the sight Jiraiya waiting across the hall. He gave Naruto a grin and a thumbs-up following it.

"See? It's wasn't that bad. Girls will be swooning when they see you." Ignoring those words, Naruto walked toward the entrance of the hospital with Jiraiya tailing after him. Walking beside Naruto, Jiraiya looked at him as Naruto signed out of the hospital.

"You didn't take off those bandages?" Naruto shrugged.

"The medics told me to keep these on just until my injuries are recovered fully," lied Naruto. Truth be told, he actually forgot to take off the bandages and just made this whole story from the ground up.

"Hm? You seemed recovered enough." Naruto ignored Jiraiya once again and continued toward the funeral sight. As they walked by, Naruto noticed the many people also walking to the funeral.

It was at the top of the Hokage Tower.

While walking, Naruto and Jiraiya soon split paths to go to their groups; with Naruto going where the people that were around his age were located. Naruto caught sight of Satsuki and Sakura standing right beside each other.

Silently, Naruto stopped right next to Satsuki. Her eyes catching the sudden movement to her side, her onyx eyes traveled toward the person and saw the raven-blond next to her.

Satsuki took a glimpse at his clothes.

"Those clothes are terrible," her voice was silent and smooth. Naruto turned his head toward her direction and nodded with much dissatisfaction evident from all this. Internally sighing, Naruto felt someone drop right on top of his head.

Looking up with a flower within the palms of his hand, Naruto saw the reason.

Rain. Naruto thought, moving down the line as he was soon to be placing his white flower on the casket that was holding the body of the former Third Hokage.

Seeing Kiba let go of his flower, it was now his turn to place the flower that he had on top of the casket. All the noise that he could perceive at the moment was the downpour of rain.

Placing the flower on the casket, Naruto turned around and went back to his designated spot. Everyone standing in a formal array with them being cladded in a black outfit.

Taking a small look around, Naruto's eyes saw many people cry silently or even people feeling the the emotions like sorrow, grief, and sadness reign over them and their core.

His eyes was on the casket that had a frame of the Third Hokage once again. As he gazed at the portrait and the casket, Naruto felt confused with himself.

He wasn't experiencing what the other people around him were experiencing.

The sadness, the sorrow, and grieving — he wasn't. . . feeling it. He didn't have the slightest tear wearing down on him. Was it because of his lack of interaction or connection with the Third?

No, that couldn't be it. Satsuki was someone who had even less interactions with Hiruzen than me, and even she is feeling the tinge of sadness. Naruto then thought back to Madara's lessons.

Could it be that? No, even Madara had emotions for someone's death. He is someone who understood death itself — that's one of the reasons he wanted to complete the Infinite Tsukuyomi, no?

"You're simply indifferent. That's all it is. Your nature and attitude influenced this outcome." Naruto heard the loud voice of Kurama echoing inside his own head.

My own nature, huh? That. . . makes sense. Naruto thought to himself. He thought back to when he was still living with Madara and Yukari in that hidden location, then the time when he went to Konoha.

And as time went on, Naruto had thought he changed — his actions had pinpointed to that exact conclusion in mind. But Naruto was wrong.

Nothing.

Has.

Changed.

That's good. Naruto thought to himself as the funeral slowly ended. He knew that if he was indeed changing, he himself would be a liability to his own self — his own goal. Walking out of the Hokage Tower, Naruto noticed his clothes soaked wet from the rain that was pouring down on them.

His azure eyes spotted the numerous black cloths that surrounded his field of vision. As people split away, Naruto went to his own direction and crossed the village and to his apartment complex.

Going inside his section of the apartment, Naruto slicked his hair back to rid of the water piling up in his hair. Changing clothes, Naruto left the clothes that he used for the funeral hanging in his bathroom.

Falling back on his bed, Naruto started to gaze at the pearl-white ceiling. His eyes becoming heavy, he hoped to not catch a cold from the rain that poured over Konoha.

~~~

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Naruto's eyes snapped opened, being alerted to the sound of his door being knocked on. Shifting his body, his eyes slightly widened at the smoldering pain his head was going through.

Naruto lightly cursed under his breath, realizing that the rain got to him and that he was now experiencing a light symptom of a fever. Bringing his hand up, he caressed his head.

Going to his door, Naruto opened his door to find Jiraiya leaning against the wall.

"You took your sweet time opening the door — you. . . doing something in there. Oh, how you have grown," Naruto was not the slightest amused by this, and shut the door.

"Woah, woah. Open the door back." Naruto heard the muffled voices of Jiraiya on the other side of the door. Ignoring the unrelenting headache that he was experiencing, he reopened the door.

"What?" Naruto asked, giving him a sharp gaze toward Jiraiya.

"Relax. I have come for important talk." Naruto sighed, moving to the side to give entry to Jiraiya. He obliged and walked in. Jiraiya took a seat at the table nearby and eyed the living space.

Naruto followed and also took a seat at the opposite side of the table.

"As you know, since the Third Hokage is dead, we are left with an open spot that needs to be spill immediately." Naruto nodded, knowing that Jiraiya was right about that.

"The council had requested for me to fill in the spot to become Hokage, but I declined because I had a better idea." Naruto raised an eyebrow, curious on what this proposal to the council was.

"I thought of passing the offer of to the last member of the Legendary Sannin — Tsunade." Naruto remained silent, wondering how he was going to do that.

"And, as you know, she's deserted the village. The council was obviously very reluctant on the idea because the success rate of it is low." Naruto nodded, understanding the current situation on hand. Jiraiya continued.

"So, I'm here to offer you to come along with me. Think of it as a road trip — I promise that it won't be too long. Who knows, maybe I might even teach you a thing or two on the way." Jiraiya winked at Naruto.

He gave Jiraiya a puzzled gaze.

"I'm underaged, I just can't hook up with women like that," said Naruto in a serious tone. Jiraiya laughed at the stern expression that Naruto was giving off.

"Geez, kid — I was kidding. I get it, your heart can't be swayed by such people. It solely belongs to Uchiha Satsuki." Naruto's stern expression stayed the same, unamused by the words Jiraiya was spitting.

Jiraiya noticed this and tired deescalating the situation.

"Woah, relax. I feel like you're going to kill me in my sleep." Jiraiya got up from the chair and walked toward the door. Looking back, he waved goodbye to Naruto.

"So, do you accept it?" Asked Jiraiya, glancing at Naruto for a moment to see what his answer was. Naruto returned the glance and nodded his head to signal Jiraiya his answer.

"Good, be ready by tomorrow afternoon." Naruto nodded once more, twisting his head toward the window, letting the rays of the sun to hit his face. He sighed, ignoring the sharp headache that he was getting.

"I'm only mildly sick as of right now. I'll be fine by tomorrow." Naruto stretched his limb out, getting ready to prepare for the trip to find Tsunade. After a few moments, Naruto went towards the door and opened it.

Walking down to the streets of Konoha, Naruto planned to prepare for the up-and-coming trip to find Tsunade by gathering equipment to aid him in this mission.

I need to find a weapon shop. Naruto thought to himself, glancing at the things around him to find a shop that could potentially sell him a weapon of his own choice.

"There," muttered Naruto, finding a shop that looked promising weapon shop that could benefit him.He saw the weapons on display. It was obvious that these weapons were just here for display and were not for sale.

"You interested in something?" Naruto heard a voice to the side. Looking at the direction, Naruto saw a familiar face giving him a curious look.

"Ah, Tenten. And yes, I am looking for something," said Naruto, turning his gaze back to the shop. It would seem that he would need to look deeper into the store to obtain the ideal weapon for him.

(A/N: Yes, I got to lazy and did an overused trope in the Naruto Fanfiction community.)

"My father own this shop; this is where I get my equipment all the time." Naruto nodded at that, seeing as that is true for the most part. Though it wouldn't hurt to try something

Naruto continued his journey of obtaining a weapon of his ideal standard. He walked passed the display equipment and went into the actual shop itself. And to his eyes, an array of weapons were in view.

Ranging from swords to daggers.

"See anything you like?" Asked Tenten. Naruto stayed silent for a few moments before shaking his head.

"Not at the moment. What I'm looking for is something simple but reliable and durable. I don't need it to be fancy or grandeur." His needs were specific and most of the weapons arranged were made to cater to most people.

Lots of people like cool and fancy thing — most certainly cool and fancy weapons.

I prefer a sword or blade of some kind. Swords are usually to large and heavy for a kid my age. It'll only hinder me in the long run if I choose a sword. Maybe a dagger-like weapon? Naruto had many options that he could pick and choose from.

But he had to be careful and conserve money as well.

I'm not the richest person in town as well. I'm on a tight budget and can't go overboard on the items that I'm looking for. Mused Naruto, touching his chin slightly with the tips of his fingers.

I'll settle with a dagger or a small-sized blade. Maybe I can get both? Though it does have to be within the range of the budget. Naruto continued to walk around, trying to find two of his ideal weapons.

And after awhile, Naruto saw the two weapons that he needed. And they were conveniently on the opposite aisles from one another. He looked back, seeing Tenten lingering around.

"There, I'll be needing these two — this full tang hook blade sword and that small blade." Tenten nodded, seeing as Naruto finally made up his mind. His eyes gazed at both of the weapons.

The hoo blade sword wasn't truly a sword and it resembled that of a dagger more than an actual sword. It had sharp edges that could without a doubt cut through the flesh of humans.

The blade that he had found resembled that of a katana, though it was of course not a katana. It wasn't slightly curved or had a seppa that separated the sharp blade from the hilt.

"Thank you for buying our valuable goods. Have a great day." Naruto nodded, walking away from the shop. He sighed, looking at the amount of money that he had left after buying the two weapons.

Seems like I've overdone it. I'll hav to buy the rest of the equipment on some other time. But what I have right now is more than sufficient for me. Naruto walked back to the apartment, examining the weapons once more.

He sighed, arriving at the apartments and settled down. Naruto still had more things to prepare before his departure tomorrow. This was beneficial for Naruto in the long run.

He hasn't explored much outside of Konoha, and this was an opportunity for him to assess and learn more about his surroundings.

Sitting down at his table, Naruto decided to continue his day by playing chess with a Shadow Clone.

~~~