Techniques

How to feel ashamed?

A few days ago his hard physical training made his body become much stronger than it was, but he still had his limits where he couldn't give his all with the fear that his bones would fracture again or his skin would tear much more than expected.

After all although his healing is incredibly efficient, he still needs a day or two to fully recover from those big wounds.

But now, everything changed.

The fingernails Naruto had lost while climbing the cliff, his shattered hands, his broken legs, everything about him recovers in just 30 minutes at most when Kurama's chakra enters his body.

His claws grow and new nails form, his bones harden and recover from the injury, even the torn skin on his hands recovered from one minute to the next and disappeared without leaving the slightest scar.

Unfortunately for Naruto, this crazy regeneration only works when he himself has his body charged with his own chakra plus Kurama's, causing him to regrettably not be able to regenerate as fast in the middle of a fight.

But for physical training...

It's the damn key to heaven.

Turning awkwardly to lie on his back, Naruto looked up at the sky and muttered inaudibly "Kurama, do you think the old man has realized yet that I'm trying to control your chakra?"

-I seriously doubt it-

"Why?"

-Because I should have panicked by now, after all I still clearly remember the horror in the old man's eyes when he stood in front of me at your birth... there must be nothing more dangerous for him than for your seal to weaken-

"Horror..." Closing his eyes with a sad smile, Naruto muttered "Maybe that's why he too ignores me like everyone else..."

-Humans are confusing, fickle and unreliable-

"You think that about me too?"

-Look in the mirror, technically you're more of a fox than a human.

Holding his hands to his cheeks and feeling his thin whiskers, Naruto chuckled and thought "So we're practically brothers"

-You practically mutated because of my chakra, so I'd be something similar to your father-

Snorting as he gritted his teeth to gather enough strength to sit up, Naruto wiped the sweat from his forehead with his forearm and looked at the mess around him.

Shattered trees, split rocks and a visible trail of blood trailing up the cliff beside him.

"Kurama"

-No, no one around you-

"Really no one is watching me?" With a confused face as he stands up on his shaky legs, Naruto mumbled in confusion.

From the beginning, Naruto never wanted to give his all for fear that the hokage or some other ninja would report his changes.

He always thought he would have some group of ninja watching him or at least an anbu.

But with Kurama, Naruto was finally able to confirm that contrary to his thoughts and paranoia, no one was really watching him.

"Are you really sure?" looking sideways, Naruto asked.

-You know that I can feel every emotion around us, and apart from your silly feelings, nothing else exists around us-

"But why?" With confusion, Naruto muttered, "Shouldn't they protect the jinchuriki?"

-Didn't you say that the old man was watching you with the crystal ball?-

"But that only serves to know what I do and where I am... not for my protection or my retention in case I want to defect."

-Think it through Naruto...to begin with, do you really think these people would even think you would ever defect?-

"..."

-Yelling since you were a child that you would be a hokage, smiling in spite of everything at every turn, and naively treating the Hokage as if he was your family member?

"I really thought of him as my family..." With a sad smile, Naruto murmured.

-That's why the least of his worries is your escape-

"..."

-As for your protection... don't you already know how negligent this village is? Just think about it kid, just everyone knowing that you are the Jinchuriki, shows a serious leak of secrets among the Konoha forces... after all, the jinchurikis could be considered as the most important weapons for the villages and it is extremely important to hide and protect them until their moments come-

"Their moments..."

-The destiny of the jinchurikis was always to be sacrificed in cases of emergencies... in a way we are not very different-

"I know" Lowering his gaze and noticing how his clothes are once again all tattered, Naruto smiled bitterly and muttered "This was my last outfit"

-Not that it's of much use to you either, after all you've grown considerably-

"Yes?" Raising his arms and noticing that his sleeves didn't reach his wrists, Naruto asked "Why did I grow so much?"

-You're at the age where you won't stop growing, and I don't know if you've noticed it, but your body has had noticeable changes that even I didn't expect-

"Mn" Nodding with understanding, Naruto slowly walked to a small river in the distance and looked at his reflection, totally ignoring his dirty face and focusing on his hair.

Unlike the blonde shade he had before, right now you could easily notice small crimson locks standing out in his slightly long, disheveled hair.

-Do you know why these changes happen?-

"In my memories a luminous being told me that I would improve my bloodline"

-A luminous being?-

"It was just a silhouette of light" Shrugging as he washed the dirt off his face, Naruto thought 'I should also have some power in my eyes, but I haven't detected anything yet'

-The bloodline that was upgraded must be the Uzumaki, that's why your hair is changing and your chakra is growing... but this brings a little problem...-

"What problem?"

-The Uzumakis... how much do you know about them?-

"The whole ninja world united to eradicate them out of fear of their knowledge and large chakra reserves"

-It wasn't only because of that- 

"No?"

-The Uzumakis had a small peculiarity that made them especially... confrontational-

Remembering how they described the red-haired acquaintances, Naruto nodded "I know something about that"

-Uchihas have tendencies to be vengeful killers. They love a lot, hate a lot-

"..."

-Uzumakis are not very different, but they are not only based on love and hate... let's say all their emotions are usually extreme, hate, love, sadness, happiness, greed, desire, anger, frustration and every emotion there is-

"You say I'll go crazy?"

-I wouldn't say you will go crazy, but you will be very prone to commit emotional stupidities and get easily carried away by your feelings... a little anger could easily end up in a fight to the death for you-

"I don't think it's that hard to take..."

-And I'd say the same thing too if it weren't for you now occupying my chakra-

"..."

-You know perfectly well how crazy you get even in the initial phase with my chakra and you know how irritable it leaves you even afterwards... now imagine all of that, multiplied by 100 thanks to your Uzumaki lineage-

"I'll be a walking fucking bomb"

-Exactly-

"Damn... and what am I supposed to do?" Frowning slightly as he easily understood how dangerous the situation was, Naruto asked with confusion.

-Unfortunately, you won't be able to do anything but learn to live with this-

"The Uzumakis had no way to control it?"

-The Uzumakis shone for many talents, their great physical strength, their great vitality and their great knowledge in seals... but unfortunately for you, they were never able to control themselves, and it will only become more and more difficult the older you get...-

"Great, now I'll be a freaking maniac" Scratching his hair in frustration, Naruto shook his head and quickly took off his clothes, then jumped into the river and sighed with satisfaction as he floated out.

Floating while relaxing his tense muscles, Naruto asked after a few minutes "Kurama, do you know much about the Uzumakis?"

-Mito Uzumaki was my first Jinchuriki, I know everything I saw since I was sealed inside them and then I know what your mother was taught-

"You know everything?"

-Don't compare my great memory and wisdom with your fish brain-

"You know about the diamond chains?"

-I hate those damn chains!

Hearing the angry roar, Naruto chuckled and commented "I know you have a bad history thanks to those chains, but you can't deny that they're incredibly powerful"

-...-

"Do you know how I can learn to use them?" Thinking for a few seconds, Naruto continued "I think it would be a very good secret technique, no one would expect it from me"

-...-

"You know I would never use it against you Kurama" Rolling his eyes knowing that the grumpy fox has more than one trauma from chains, Naruto snorted indignantly.

-It's not that I don't want to teach you how to use them, but it's really not something you can learn-

"Why?"

-Because it's something that naturally awakens within the Uzumakis, and only a small part of them can do it-

"It's a Kekkei Genkai?"

-Exactly-

"Fuck... so you don't know anything about how to awaken them?"

-Mito commented to Kushina that when they awaken it, they just know it instinctively... it's like it's a fifth limb-

"*Sigh*"

-What it can help you to do in case you wake them up, is to train them. I remember perfectly well how Mito trained and then how your mother did it-

"Do you know any other cool techniques they have?"

-I remember many of them, but it's not something you can control right now, since unlike the other ninja clans, the Uzumakis constantly specialized in chakra control and it's something very vital when using their seals-

"What technique do you know?"

-Do you know Tsunade?-

"The legendary Sannin?"

-She has a technique derived from a secret technique of the Uzumakis... I remember she called it Yin Seal or something-

"That thing she puts together on her forehead?"

-Mito also used it-

With a twinkle in his eye, Naruto asked excitedly "Can you teach me how to use it!?"

-That I can, I can. But like everything else, you're just not ready yet-

"Damn!"

-This requires much more chakra control than any other technique you may know... a single mistake can cause you tremendous damage to your body and even death is not out of the question-

"Tsk."

-Do you know that it is impolite to click your tongue?

"You forget that I have no parents or relatives? It's lucky I can eat with chopsticks" Laughing as he climbed out of the river, Naruto shook his body violently to dry off the water and grabbed his clothes, then put them on straight and stretched his stiff and sore limbs "I have to buy some clothes..."

-Will you finally change that carrot style of yours?-

"You know how cheap that outfit was?"

-And you don't know why it was so cheap?-

"..."

-Wearing that in the ninja world, is straight up asking to get yourself killed, look for something less flashy-

"Something else?" Rolling his eyes as he started walking home, Naruto asked sarcastically.

-It wouldn't hurt to eat something more nutritious than just ramen either-

"If you know I'm lucky to have enough money for two meals a day?"

-Don't you have that toad of yours full of money?-

"It's my life savings!"

-What are they for if not to spend them?-

"..."

***

"How bad do I look?"

-You look like you've been squashed by a Biju-

"Now do you have a sense of humor?"

-...-

Looking at his dark circles under his eyes along with slightly reddened eyes, Naruto frowned slightly as he looked up at his hair, noticing with a strange feeling how his blonde hair was disappearing with each passing day.

"Wasn't my regeneration supposed to help me with this?" touching the dark bags under his eyes, Naruto grumbled.

-It heals physical damage-

"Aren't dark circles under your eyes something similar?"

-Your ailment right now is in your mind, and if you don't find how to release your stress, it will only get worse-

"Tsk" Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Naruto took some bandages at his side and began to wrap them carefully around his hands and forearms, then taking a dark jacket at his side and placing it over his orange T-shirt.

Following Kurama's advice, he forgot his former wonderful orange outfit and bought several dark outfits, incidentally spending a bit more on frozen meat and saving some vegetables.

Sure, it would never cross his mind to give up ramen, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to nourish his body a little more so that it would grow smoothly.

Although he bought jackets and pants, Naruto couldn't bear to spend any more money and ended up looking for the cheapest t-shirts he could find and, thus, orange was back in the game.

[A/N: Photo reference here]

Walking towards his bed, Naruto stares at the forehead protector and a hint of sadness passes through his eyes, then shakes his head and ties it around his neck.

Inhaling deeply while trying to control his turbulent emotions, Naruto put away his ninja weapons and walked to the door, then stopped and thought for a few seconds. 

Forming a simple seal, Naruto suddenly changed his face to a random one and nodded, then walked out the door and walked calmly towards the street.

Looking around with slight concern, Naruto finally sighed when he saw that no one was looking at him as they usually do and put his hands in his pocket as he started his way to the academy.

-Are those bugs scaring you?-

"You know it's not like that..." Shaking his head as he slowly looked around, Naruto continued "But I can't help but feel so... disappointed"

-Disappointed?

"Because my parents gave their lives for these people?" Shaking his head while lowering his gaze, Naruto muttered "Selfish, contemptuous and heartless people... was it really worth sacrificing everything for them?"

-...-

"They really chose them over me?" with a sad smile while kicking a stone from the ground, Naruto lost himself in his own feelings while as was his habit lately, he walked by inertia towards the academy.

Hearing the commotion around him, Naruto looked up and noticed the large crowd of people at the entrance, noting with even more bitterness the numerous parents accompanying their children as bright smiles covered their faces.

With a slight lump in his throat, Naruto increased his pace and quickly entered the academy, then walked to the room where he would be introduced to his new ninja life and opened the door.

Looking inside and noticing that no one had arrived yet, Naruto sighed and unfastened his false face, then walked to the last seat on the left and leaned his face on his arms while resting on the table.

Closing his eyes as he slowly calmed his breathing in an attempt to calm his heavy heart, Naruto quickly fell asleep.