Chapter 12

A few days later, Ino gave me the message that her parents accepted me as a part-time worker at their shop. Moreover, they were nice enough to let me start after the mid-year exams at the Academy. Not that I needed them to do so, I was pretty sure I could ace the tests without actual preparation besides the theory tests. It was still nice though.

"Are you ready, guys?" Chouji asked with a smile. It was plain to see that he was nervous though. I returned the gesture confidently.

"All ready, let's ace this. Well… except for Naruto." I said jokingly.

"Oi!" The blonde protested annoyed and I chuckled. He really had put effort on the theory part though. Granted, I had tutored him through the whole thing during the months we had been friends, so, he had an easier time than he would have had in canon. Or… this universe's version of canon. I was kind of surprised I didn't get a teaching skill or something of the sort though.

"Do you have to be so loud all the time." Shikamaru poked his ear with a scowl.

"Naruto wouldn't be himself otherwise." Shino pushed his glasses up. They both were trying very hard not to stare at Naruto as he started a conversation with Chouji and we walked calmly behind them towards the class. It was good to see the blond Jinchuriki being his usual self.

"Ready for the Taijutsu test?" Shikamaru asked turned towards me and I grinned at him.

"Yeah, nobody is going to be able to tell me that my win was cheap or luck." I said resolutely. Iruka-sensei had told us one week earlier that the Taijutsu test would be against the one closest to our rank. As first place, I would fight against Sasuke and if I was honest with myself. I was looking forward to it. I had improved a lot since our spar, he probably had too, and I really wanted to see how I stood against him now.

"I believe you have a good chance. Why? Because I've seen your improvement." Shino commented. "I wonder if I'll be able to take the third place."

"Against Kiba? You better, otherwise we'll have to gang up on you until you improve." I joked but he nodded seriously making me sweat drop. He sometimes missed our-

"And I suppose we'll have to do accordingly if you lose." He countered and my jaw almost dropped before I snorted. Shino was a sneaky bastard when he wanted to be… and also when he didn't.

"Right, of course." We both ignored the mutters about 'training maniacs' from beside us with practiced ease. Even if we were joking, Shikamaru really didn't like the mention of training outside of when we were actually training.

"Do your best, Shika!" We heard Yoshino from the entrance, the young Nara groaned in annoyance while I just smirked at him. Parents coming to the academy to see their children tests going on seemed to be a tradition of sorts. Especially for those that came from clans.

"If you complain, I'm gonna kick your ass." I warned without letting anything show on my face. Shikamaru's mouth clicked shut at my words before nodding in understanding.

"Right, sorry."

"It's not me the one you have to worry about." I reminded him. I didn't have a family. I had made peace with that before I even died in my last life. Naruto on the other hand…

"Sometimes it's difficult to remember." Shino said in a strange bout of empathy. He was just full of surprises today. "We shall try harder to do so."

[}-o-{]

"Aw man, my head hurts." Naruto complained as we went outside after the theory part of the exam and all of us rolled our eyes.

"Seriously," I chided. "It's not that difficult."

"Not really." He accepted with a nod before grimacing. "But it's boring!" I just pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Just give up, Eiji. It's a lost battle." I could only nod grimly at Shikamaru's words. We were distracted by the sound of several enthusiastic mothers cheering for their children as we would start the physical part of the test. My eyes though, focused intently on Naruto.

"Try not to eat too much of my dust, will you, Naruto?" I said with a smirk as his expression started turning sad. He quickly turned to me with a frown.

"I'll beat you today, for sure, believe it." He grumbled to himself. "Stupid jutsu that you won't teach us."

"It's not a jutsu." 'It's a Skill.' I added mentally for the hundredth time. It never got old. The others just ignored us as usual. They weren't as bothered by this as Naruto was. I knew the reason though, and it always made me frown. I forced myself to keep a normal expression though.

Naruto was worried. Both of us knew why the others didn't care. They knew they would have their own advantages once we started the next year, what with their clan training and jutsus. Naruto though, wouldn't have that. I didn't either, but I had the system and the blonde could see part of it in Running and some other things.

It had been frustrating. Because as we prepared for the mid-year exams, I had tried to discreetly invite him to a party. It would have kept his mood up by being able to track his progress if nothing else. It would have been a great way to show that I cared and trusted him. It hadn't worked. The Game didn't have a Party System. I added that to the long list of disappointments.

From then on, every time Naruto felt left behind hurt. And every time he called me Eiji-nii, I felt guilty. Sadly, we would have to wait until he found out about his advantages as an Uzumaki and Jinchuriki. Even if he didn't know why he had what he had.

"Start!" Iruka-sensei called out waking me from my thoughts. I sprinted almost without thinking while mentally activating Running. I quickly found my way to the front.

The lap running test went just as it did on a usual day. I finished first, with Sasuke and Naruto following not so far behind in that order. Then a complaining Kiba and, a little later, everyone else. Shino took the fifth place, which finished the number of scores that would get special mentions afterwards. Kiba and Naruto were much more vocal about everything than they usually were due to this. I walked towards the latter once we were done.

"You are almost there, Naruto. Just look at him." I pointed a thumb towards Sasuke who was leaning on his knees while trying catch his breath. My blond friend, on the other hand, looked barely winded. Being an Uzumaki did that. Or maybe it was the Kyuubi? Maybe both. The thing was, now with a proper diet to develop his body, the training we did and his nigh infinite stamina, Naruto would catch up to the Uchiha sooner or later unless something crazy happened. Being a prodigy wouldn't help the avenger, not with this.

"I know, I'll surpass him and then you, Eiji." He replied with a big grin. I was surprised when I first noticed that he had enough tact not to call me Eiji-nii in public. He still did call me that when we were with our friends though. That had earned some curious looks from them but they all just shrugged it off.

"You'll certainly try." I waved him off getting pout in return. A moment later when everyone had recovered, we followed Iruka-sensei towards the Shurikenjutsu range for our accuracy test.

"Well, time for you to show off even more." Shikamaru grumbled next to me and I smirked. What could I say? There was next to no chance of me failing this test. I could only get extra points with the Senbon part after all, which was the only one I wouldn't get perfect score.

I wasn't a teacher, but from what I knew of my fellow classmates I could guess the top 5 of this one. I was pleased to see that I had been mostly right. I was first place, then Sasuke, then came, to everyone's surprise, Shikamaru followed by Ino and Shino. The latter of which took the top place of everyone that wasn't taking Senbon training.

"If you don't take the first place in the whole exam, I'll call bullshit." Naruto chuckled as we moved towards the Taijutsu circle. I just shook my head amused. He wasn't wrong though. I was pretty sure that I would be top three at the very least in the theory part. Shikamaru would definitely get first place there, and there was a high chance of Sakura outdoing myself there too. I would be the first to admit that I didn't put too much effort on the books. Which Naruto usually pointed out when he wanted to slack off. It not being my highest priority and it being left out were different things though.

Still, I should do decently enough in that test and with first place in running and Shurikenjutsu, my first place was pretty much guarantied unless Sasuke absolutely trashed me in Taijutsu. Which I was sure wouldn't happen. Even if I didn't win, he shouldn't be that far ahead anymore. And I was being serious about not being sure about my victory. I had saved some Energy Points during the running test, but I had still had to use quite a bit to secure my first place. That meant that I wouldn't be able to use Intermediate Taijutsu for more than a few seconds.

[Eiji Satou

Title: Academy Student

Energy Points: 148/400

Chakra Points: 190/190

Strength: 19

Dexterity: 19

Constitution: 20

Chakra: 19

Chakra control: E]

[Intermediate Taijutsu (Active) – Lvl 4

Increases the skill of the user in hand to hand combat according to skill level.

Active Effect – Increases the user's physical stats by 2.

Active Effect Consumption 50 Energy Points per second.]

'Two seconds, three at most if I get lucky.' I mused to myself. Still, it shouldn't come to that. Two seconds should be enough if I was cornered. The rest I would save for Running or maybe Bloodlust.

"Eiji Satou vs Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka called out and I took a deep breath in before sharing a look with my opponent. After doing the pleasantries of the pre-battle, we faced one another.

"Wipe the floor with him, Sasuke-kun!" Saruka's infamous banshee scream rang over the other fangirls' voices. I was surprised to find out that Ino had become much less vocal about her infatuation. It hadn't lessened though.

"You can do it, Eiji-kun!" I felt a chill run down my spine as a girl shouted that. 'I have fangirls too?' I thought with trepidation. I grimaced at that.

"Oh, Kami." I muttered to myself.

"Tell me about it." Sasuke grumbled, apparently, he had heard me. This time we shared a look with a completely different meaning. No wonder he was so irritable. I would be too if I had to deal with this every day. It was especially disturbing considering that I was actually twice their age. Making friends with these children was one thing, they were pretty mature for their age. But thinking about… that was a different thing altogether, I thought with a shudder.

"Let's get this over with." I said and he nodded resolutely.

At sensei's "Start." we both rushed at each other. The spar was nothing like our first one. Fists flew around, kicks cut the air, bodies turned to dodge or parry. It was the most even match I had ever had, I realized. It was challenging and difficult. I never got a clear shot at him and neither did he get one at me.

And I loved it.

Defeating him had been great and all. But I had won with cheap tactics. Not that it mattered. A win was still a win. However, winning by a technicality and actually facing off the most prominent prodigy on the whole Academy since Itachi Uchiha was… something else. It filled my chest with a feeling of accomplishment.

But it wasn't enough.

And so, I pushed. I pushed myself as hard as I could. I couldn't waste Energy on skills, not just because. But I didn't need it. I could fight this by myself. Victory would be mine. My own hellish training would pay off, right there and then, that, I vowed. Not because I wanted Sasuke to acknowledge me, or because I wanted to prove myself to my friends. No. I would win for myself. I hadn't worked myself to the ground since I arrived to this world just to up and lose.

I didn't need a Bloodline Limit. I didn't need a fancy heritage. I just needed to survive. Survive and keep improving. But merely surviving wasn't enough anymore.

'Shinobi no Kami.' I thought as a grin spread on my face even with the spar still going on. 'Dream big, wasn't it? Why survive when I can live?' I had asked myself more than once. And therein laid the question. No, I wouldn't survive. I would live. Live this second chance I had been given and live it to the best of my abilities. I had made friends. I had found a brother.

That was why I wouldn't settle for acceptable or decent. No, I wanted to be the best damned ninja the Elemental Nations had ever seen. Fuck Madara and fuck Kaguya. More importantly, fuck canon.

With a face-splitting grin on my face, my fist connected right in the middle of Sasuke's gut. He staggered back and coughed. This was it. My win.

I kicked the side of his leg and he grimaced, his body twisting to his right. I rotated, sending a second kick to the side of his head. He ended up on the ground. Silence fell on us and I stopped. He weakly pushed his face off the dirt. We were all kids, at least in body. I had learned that after a while. A few direct hits and most of us would be down. We couldn't just tank those kinds of hits. Blocking and the like for sure. But never just taking the hits and shrugging them off.

With my gaze firmly locked on my opponent, I waited.

Why? Simple. I wanted him to get up. Probably for the same reason he hadn't just knocked me out all that time ago. I gave him a chance, out of respect. Because we stood at the top of the class. We were rivals. The only ones that could challenge the other. And it felt great.

I had never quite understood rivalries in anime and the like. It always seemed a bit stupid. Granted, some were touching and all that shit. But sometimes they were just stupid. At least back then. Because, sometimes they formed between mortal enemies and the like and you would get this kind of touching moment between people that should hate the other's guts. How did that make any kind of sense?

But… now I knew. A rival was much more than I ever realized before that moment. A rival was an equal. And in a world of strength, speed and power, an equal was important. I understood then, as I saw the last loyal Uchiha stand weakly on his feet. I smirked at him and he smirked at me. I took my stance once more and his face turned serious once more.

He dashed towards me, for all of a couple of steps before jumping. I wanted to laugh at that. I recognized it. I stepped aside and he opened his legs. He was really copying my move. 'Free Running.' I thought as I jumped with all my strength. He twisted his body midair to kick me but I kicked him first. He rolled on the ground before simply stopping. With a thud, I fell back to the ground.

"Winner, Eiji Satou." I started chuckling instantly after sensei's announcement. Wails broke out from Sasuke's fangirls while a few other girls cheered. I tried my best to ignore the latters. Soon, I was being shaken by an enthusiastic blond.

"You kicked his ass!" Naruto shouted while holding my arms and moving me back and forth. "And it was so awesome!" He added even louder than normal. I simply returned his grin wholeheartedly.

"Congratulations!" Chouji added with a thumbs up.

"You fought really well." Shino commented. "Even if it was an even battle for the most part. Congratulations." He nodded at me and I returned the gesture.

"Thank god." Shikamaru sighed. "I was worried you would have us up the training or something." He commented with a grimace at the very idea. I slapped him on the back.

"I knew you cared, Shika. Now, crush me so that it doesn't go to my head, will you?" I asked before chuckling as he instantly made his move on the board.

The top five of the Taijutsu spars ended up being me in the first place, Sasuke second, Shino, much to our joy, in third, then Kiba and lastly, Chouji. On the girls' side, Ino took first, then Hinata, then Sakura and the last two I didn't even care. It wasn't because they weren't named characters or anything of the sort. It was because they were just so far beneath the level of the named characters that it wasn't even worth the effort, honestly.

Naruto had been a bit bummed that he had only appeared in the top of the running test, but we were able to keep him from being too affected. He had placed pretty well in all of them, after all. I noticed though, that he seemed to be much less affected than I anticipated. It still surprised me sometimes, the apparent effect I had had in the world already.

We didn't have to wait much longer after the spars for the teachers to announce the results of the theory test. Shikamaru took first place, no surprise there for me, then Sakura, also not a surprise, then it was me, which was a bit surprising, then Shino and closing the top was Ino. Curiously, I looked a bit further down. Sasuke, Hinata, Chouji, Naruto and Kiba. Naruto was just glad he had beaten the mutt and, being honest, so was I.

Finally, they announced the overall top five. I had given up trying to guess them, considering that I barely remembered those out of the top fives and that girls were mixed up in almost all of them but were divided for the general top. I just couldn't accurately guess it.

"Fifth place in the male side, Naruto Uzumaki." All of us turned to a gaping blond.

"You did it, you hyperactive knucklehead." I brought him on a one-armed hug and shook him while the others congratulated.

"I'm at the top? But… I only entered the top for running…" He muttered still staring at where they wrote his name on a board.

"Forth place, Shikamaru Nara."

"Wooo! Well done, Shika!" We all heard Yoshino shouting from where the parents were watching. Said Nara Heir smacked his forehead with his palm and let out a long, suffering groan.

"Congratulations." Chouji said bringing his best friend in a hug much like I had done Naruto.

"Third place, Shino Aburame."

"We are just filling the list up, aren't we?" I said with a grin. Even Shino looked amused, from what little was visible of his face, that is. We didn't hear his parents shouting, although that wasn't surpri- Was that a buzz? Was that a bit of pink in Shino's cheeks? Interesting.

"Second place, Sasuke Uchiha." The fangirls went wild.

"Well, that was expected." I said with a shrug as everyone turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "You didn't see that coming?" I commented with a raised eyebrow.

"First place, Eiji Satou." I simply grinned as the screens popped.

[Quest Complete: Finish the Mid-Year Exams in First Place

Reward:

+ 1 to all Stats

+ 1 to all Skills

+ Title: Aspiring Prodigy]

[Aspiring Prodigy: Improves the rate at which your stats and skills increase by 10%.]

'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.' I thought with a grin as I equipped the title. 5% more was 5% more.

"Well," I said casually, even thought my expression betrayed how excited I was. "what are the plans for today?" I asked while Iruka gave a little speech before sending everyone home.

"We'll celebrate at my place." Chouji said with a grin. He seemed genuinely happy with our achievements. That was how Chouji was though, the others were always first in his mind.

"Your mother will have to let me help."

"She was kind of hoping you would say that. The Nara and the Yamanaka are coming too, and she really wanted to cook a lot. So, she said she would appreciate the help." He explained and I nodded with a smile. I didn't mind, I kind of enjoyed cooking anyway.

"Sure. It's the least I could do. Naruto will wash the dishes."

"Oi!" Everybody snickered.

"So, I leave you alone for half a year, just like you wanted," We all fell silent at that voice. Even the other students and families that stood near it. "and this is what you accomplish?"

Turning my head, I saw two women looking with extreme disappointment at a younger boy. A big, black dog stood right next to the older woman while three slightly smaller grey dogs stood behind the younger one. The mother had wild spiky brown hair and an almost animalistic look. The daughter had the same hair color tied in a ponytail with two locks framing her face.

Tsume and Hana Inuzuka, I realized.

"But mom-" Kiba started.

"You said you didn't need my training. That you could place well by yourself." I cringed internally from her tone. That was the voice that all boys and girls feared the most. A disappointed mother's voice. "'I don't need to train so hard. They are all weaklings.' Wasn't it?" I was surprised Kiba hadn't ran for the hills already at that point.

'This explains things a little.' I thought to myself. This explained his frustration at our progress a bit more. If he wasn't getting training from his family, it must have hurt to see us improve so much too while being orphans. Basically, in the same situation as he was at the moment. 'Still doesn't excuse anything though.' I shrugged mentally.

Besides those thoughts, I decided to ignore them. The rest of our group was looking at the scene play out. Naruto was on the verge of laughing before I elbowed him. Even if he tried to hide it, I was sure they would hear it with their enhanced senses.

My focus though, quickly fled to their dogs and compared them to Kobu's. I couldn't shake the feeling that his ninken… there was something wrong with it. But for the life of me, I couldn't point out what. It was frustrating.

"Curious, aren't you, kiddo?" The voice snapped me from my thoughts and I turned to see an amused Tsume.

"Sorry for staring, Inuzuka-sama." I bowed to both, the ninken and her. When I looked back up she had a half-smile and a raised eyebrow on her face.

"Don't worry about it." She waved it off amused. "Why so curious though? I'm sure you've seen ninken before." She asked with a tilt of her head that reminded me entirely too much of a confused puppy. It felt like seeing the action on a fully grown tiger or something of the sort.

"You are right, I've seen plenty, actually." I started slowly, my mind racing. And then, an idea formed in my mind. I had to make conscious effort not to smirk outwardly. "And I saw this one the other day… it acted strange." I commented with a confused frown. Maybe I was being stupid. Or maybe I was just a real genius.

"How so?" Piped up Hana from the side, all the ninken staring at me. Even my friends. Shikamaru's eyes told me to go along with it. That was all the reassurance I needed.

"Well, it wouldn't look up, even when spoken to. And his tail and ears were also down. It almost looked like it was trying to just curl up into a ball." I said as casually as I could with a small smile at the end. It helped that I wasn't lying at all. "Although, maybe it was just shy. I don't know dogs that well." I shrugged. I was being honest there too. I was just commenting on it because it was true and because 'why not?'.

The shared looked they interchanged told me that there was much more than I had originally assumed.

"Can you describe the dog? And its partner too, if you can." Tsume asked, and if I had been the kid I was supposed to be, maybe I would have missed the steel that slipped in her voice. However, I wasn't and I didn't.

I tried to cover myself, simply describing the dog to the best of my abilities but leaving Kobu's as vague as I could. I was trying to sell the story that the dog was the one that caught my attention, not the other way around, after all. It helped that I was good with half-truths. I didn't have any delusions of being able to outright lie to a Jounin.

"How rude of me." She said once I finished. "Tsume Inuzuka, as you probably know. You do know Kiba and this is my daughter, Hana." She said pointing at their children. "My partner, Kuromaru and my daughter's partners, Hai, Ma and Lu, Lu is a girl, in case you were wondering. You are familiar with Akamaru, I'm sure." I paid close attention as she introduced everyone, and noticed that she made the distinction between the Haimaru brothers. I narrowed my eyes trying to see a difference between them. They looked exactly the same, although…

"You don't have to try and recognize which is which." Hana said with a reassuring smile and I saw that the others were also looking between the three dogs confused, even Shikamaru. I looked at the dogs again.

"I think I can differentiate them." The three dogs' heads snapped towards me. I didn't quite know why I said it. It was unnecessary. But I was kind of on a rush after the day's events and accomplishments. Maybe I still had a bit of child mentality in me. Or maybe I was just getting used to being around important people?

"Oh?" Hana raised a skeptic eyebrow.

"Even Inuzuka have difficulties with that. They even smell almost identically. There's no way it is that easy for you." Kiba dismissed my statement instantly, getting a look from his family.

"Care for a test?" I asked with a grin to the dogs and one barked. "I'll close my eyes for a few seconds." And I did so. I heard the dogs walk around for a moment before one barked and I opened my eyes. "Hai." I pointed at the one on the right. "Ma." I pointed at the left one. "And Lu." I pointed at the on in the middle.

"H-How?" Kiba stammered. "I still have trouble telling them apart." He added in disbelief.

"Hai looks like a dog version of Shino." I explained with a smirk to my Aburame friend. "Ma looks like he has the same energy levels as Naruto. And Lu… well, she is adorable." Lu gave me a happy bark in response and I grinned at her. Her brothers looked put out by the comment.

"Well… color me surprised." Tsume commented with both eyebrows slightly raised.

"First time someone notices that fast, I think." Hana added, this time looked like she was trying to analyze me with her eyes.

"Hmm, guys? We should probably get going." Chouji said looking uncomfortable about interrupting. "Mum said she wanted to get home quick to start preparing the food and the look she is giving me…" He shuddered and we turned to see that indeed, the woman looked on the verge of coming and dragging us to their house.

"We better get going, then." I said. "Pleasure to meet you, Inuzuka-sama, Inuzuka-san." I bowed to both women. "And you guys too." My grin widened as I spoke to the dogs. I was a dog person, what can I say? "See you in class, Kiba." I was proud of how casual my voice came at that last one.

"The pleasure was ours, and please, call me Tsume." The intimidating woman said with a wolfish smirk.

"And me Hana." Her daughter added happily. "Anyone that can differentiate these brats can call me by my name." I gave a wry smile at that. Why was everyone so open around here? It was a goddamn ninja village, wasn't it?

"Sure…" I replied awkwardly.

Everyone else said their goodbyes and we went on towards the Akimichi compound.

[New Perk Acquired: Leader.]

'What?'

[}-o-{]

Hiashi PoV

"Eiji Satou…" I mused with narrowed eyes locked on the score board. "That's the boy that invited you to his… group, isn't he?" I asked, my gaze moving towards the dark-haired boy and his friends. The Aburame, Akimichi and Nara heirs and the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tails. The boy either was much smarter than his score in theory let on or he had a terrifying amount of luck.

"H-He was, father." I had to make conscious effort in order not to sigh at my daughter's stutter. An Heiress of a clan as powerful as the Hyuuga shouldn't behave like that and despite my efforts, the girl just wouldn't stop.

"Did he say why?" I prodded, with my eyes still fixed on the red-eyed boy as he interacted with the Inuzuka head's family as if he was an old friend. Which was strange, as I was sure it was the first time they met, the male heir aside.

"Not really." Hinata answered quickly. "H-he just said that he would like to s-spar, that his friends and him do that s-sometimes. And stealth practice… and shogi, I think…" This time I did sigh as I heard her go from almost normal talking to whispering.

"I see. Did he mention anything else?"

"He mentioned being interested in the Gentle Fist." My eyes narrowed instantly at the Satou's back as his group left.

'So, it's cunning and not luck, huh?' I thought to myself. The boy wasn't even in his last year at the Academy and he was already gathering allies, it seemed. That together with his talent… My eyes went back to my daughter. 'If only it was Hanabi.' My second daughter would have had a much better chance at befriending the boy instead of Hinata, with her social problems.

'On the other hand, … he did approach her.' I reasoned. Maybe the boy saw something in my first daughter, or was it just because she was the one in his class? Either way, I did see potential in Hinata despite what many believed. The problem was that she didn't have the drive to be a proper successor to the Hyuuga clan.

My thoughts traveled back to the Satou and the several meetings that had been had at the council regarding his friendships. The Akimichi and the Nara had had nothing to say but praises for the boy after only a few weeks and that had only grown with time. Especially once their heirs seemed to find in them the drive to better themselves. And that wasn't even mentioning the effect he had had on the Jinchuriki, the one to benefit from his presence the most.

'Maybe…'

"You have my permission to join them." I decided and purposely ignored my daughters break from the proper etiquette as she gaped like a fish. "However, you will keep the Gentle Fist a secret as it should be. We'll see if he earns the chance to learn it." And with that, I started walking back to the compound. Maybe the Hyuuga could benefit from this anomaly too.

Kami knows anomalies have the tendency of leaving all too early.