Chapter 6
Chapter 5: My Dream (Part 2)
The day flew by quickly, thanks to the help of Naruto’s Shadow Clones. With their aid, Sakura managed to teach him a variety of new skills and refine his existing ones.
The first order of business was addressing Naruto’s outfit. She replaced his bright orange jumpsuit—much to his loud protests and cries of indignation—with a more practical green-and-blue outfit. The new attire bore the Uzumaki clan spiral and the Senju clan crest on the back, symbolizing his heritage. Though he complained initially, Naruto begrudgingly admitted that the new clothes felt more comfortable.
"It's comfortable, but I really miss the orange. It's my thing, Dattebayo!" Naruto whined.
"Son..." Sakura growled. "Your thing is surviving. You can wear orange when you sleep or do civilian activities, but when you're doing ninja stuff, no more freaking orange, capiche?"
"Yes, ma'am!" he responded, recalling how Mizuki had been beaten down by his scary mom just yesterday.
The training ground buzzed with activity as Naruto and his clones tackled various exercises under Sakura’s watchful eye. They practiced chakra control techniques like tree-walking and water-walking, enhanced their wind chakra, and dabbled in other essential foundational skills. The clones absorbed knowledge quickly, allowing Naruto to make remarkable progress in a short amount of time.
Meanwhile, the original Naruto sat with Sakura, practicing his handwriting. She had set out a stack of papers and brushes, insisting that good handwriting was essential for mastering Fuinjutsu, the art of sealing.
“Ugh, this is so boring!” Naruto groaned, rubbing his cramped hand.
Sakura gave him a stern look. “Good handwriting is the cornerstone of Fuinjutsu. If you mess up even a single stroke, a seal could backfire. That’s the last thing you want.”
Naruto pouted but obediently picked up his brush again, carefully copying the characters Sakura had written out for him.
After a few quiet moments, Sakura asked softly, “Naruto, do you have a dream?”
Naruto paused, tapping the end of his brush against his cheek. “Hm… not sure, to be honest. I don’t really have a clear idea yet,” he admitted. His voice was quieter than usual, a rare moment of introspection. “But… maybe I’d like to rebuild Uzushiogakure. I made a clone and read some books about Mom’s homeland—it looked really pretty before it fell. Now it’s all just ruined. Then, I’m gonna be the Sandaime Uzukage, believe it!”
Sakura looked at him, surprised, and smiled, ruffling his hair. “Not until you fix your horrible handwriting and manage to catch up to the rank you’re still quite behind on in many things.”
Naruto cursed under his breath, frustration with his handwriting practice slowly giving way to determination as he immersed himself in Sakura’s lessons. Though his strokes were clumsy and uneven at first, his natural resilience began to shine. Soon, the once-messy characters began to resemble the precise, flowing marks of a budding seal master.
“Not bad,” Sakura said with a nod, holding up one of his practice sheets. “You’re getting the hang of it.”
Naruto grinned proudly. “Of course! I’m awesome, after all! Future Uzukage here, ya know!”
Sakura chuckled. “Alright, Uzukage-sama, let’s move on to your next challenge.” She set aside the papers and unrolled a blank sealing scroll. “This is where things get real. We’re going to create a basic storage seal.”
“Whoa, cool!” Naruto exclaimed, his excitement returning to full force. “So I can seal stuff in this?”
“Exactly. But remember, precision is everything.” Sakura leaned closer, pointing to the scroll. “Follow my movements carefully.”
She demonstrated the process, her brush gliding across the parchment in graceful, deliberate strokes. A faint blue glow pulsed from the finished seal, indicating it was complete.
Naruto watched intently, nodding to himself. “Got it!” He grabbed his brush and started replicating her work. The first few attempts fizzled out or smudged entirely, but with each try, his seals improved.
By the time the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the training ground in hues of orange and gold, Naruto managed to create his first functional storage seal. He gave a victorious cheer, jumping to his feet and holding the scroll high.
“YES! I DID IT!” Naruto yelled, his voice echoing through the training ground.
Sakura clapped for him, a proud smile lighting up her face. “Great job, Naruto. You’re a natural.”
Naruto grinned sheepishly. “Thanks, Onee-chan. It’s all because I have the best teacher ever!”
Sakura’s expression softened at his words. “You’ve grown so much today, Naruto. Your parents would be proud.”
The next day arrived with an unceremonial grunt from Naruto, who whined as he took her bento. “Today is my team placement, but I want to train with you!”
“We can train later. Here, read this book. Your father wrote it. It’s about Fuinjutsu and basically stealth.” Naruto’s eyes sparkled with the excitement of another thing from his dad. Sealing his items into a storage scroll, he waved as he ran down the street. “See ya later, Mom!”
“See you, brat!” she waved back at him, a bit of pride swelling in her chest. Unlike Naruto, she had to learn how to wield a kunai and fight early. She survived many things and wouldn’t allow Naruto to be clueless, defenseless, or alone like she was. Before Minato and Kushina died, she had been lucky enough to learn a few things from them, but after that, she had been on her own. She couldn’t blame her mother, though. She did look like Father Dan a bit. It didn’t help that occasionally she found strands of hair among her sea of pink hair. Rubbing her forehead, she listed her tasks for the day while folding her pink apron.
"Time to report to the Hokage tower and take a mission. Maybe check on the hospital."
Ino wished she could slap herself, but that would garner a confused look. In the back, Naruto sat quietly reading a book. His beloved orange jumpsuit? Gone. He wore something different. When he had walked into the classroom nonchalantly with a book in his hand, she thought, since when did that ADHD energy monster read books? She spotted both the Uzumaki and Senju clan symbols. The Uzumaki symbol made sense, but the Senju? Did Naruto have ties to the Senju? She focused and watched as various classmates came in until Sasuke, the youngest son of the current 5th Hokage, walked in and she squealed with delight.
Sasuke managed to dodge the fangirls and sat down with a loud sigh next to the quiet Naruto, who was deep in his book, surrounded by his fangirls. Sasuke wished he were Naruto for a day; he had it easy.
Finally, hopefully, Iruka came late. Iruka, looking slightly frazzled, stepped into the classroom with his usual clipboard in hand. He surveyed the room, his gaze lingering on Naruto for a moment. The boy’s change in appearance and demeanor hadn’t gone unnoticed by him either.
“Good morning, everyone!” Iruka began, raising his voice over the chatter of excited students. “Today, you’ll find out who your teammates and sensei will be. I expect all of you to do your best to work as a team from here on out.”
Naruto looked up from his book, his attention caught. He couldn’t help but grin in anticipation, though a small part of him hoped his teammates wouldn’t ruin his plans to train harder.
Iruka continued, calling out the teams one by one. “Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Sai, and Uchiha Sasuke. Your jonin-sensei will be Itachi Uchiha.”
Naruto smiled. He couldn't wait to tell his mom about his new team. He gave Sasuke an eye smile and a thumbs up. The Uchiha returned it with a nod and a smirk. Sasuke wasn’t so bad, luckily. Naruto didn’t know much about Sai except that he was quiet and loved to draw and sketch.