Chapter 1
“You called for me, Hokage-sama?” Iruka asks as he enters Hiruzen’s office.
Hiruzen nods. “Yes. As I’m sure you’ve already guessed, this is about Naruto.” He says, looking up from his paperwork. “Be careful about what you do around him, especially when it comes to using chakra. With his talent, he might as well have a sharingan.”
“You called for me, Hokage-sama?” Iruka asks as he enters Hiruzen’s office.
Hiruzen nods. “Yes. As I’m sure you’ve already guessed, this is about Naruto.” He says, looking up from his paperwork. “Be careful about what you do around him, especially when it comes to using chakra. With his talent, he might as well have a sharingan.”
Iruka tilts his head. “Wouldn’t that normally be a good thing?”
Hiruzen sighs. “Normally, yes. The reason that I want to be careful about what he sees before becoming a full-fledged shinobi is because he is considered a massive flight risk. Everything he does, he does for the sake of his own amusement, and he is loyal only to himself. If he gets bored, it’s highly possible that he will just leave the village.”
Izuka’s eyes widen, realizing what Hiruzen wants from him. “So, keep him entertained, but don’t allow him to become too strong. Until he graduates the academy, that is.”
Hiruzen nods. “Now, you may leave. I believe that you have tomorrow’s class to plan for.”
Naruto walks down the street with both mouths set in firm frowns, 2 hands in his pockets, and the other two crossed over his chest, contemplating his future plans. ‘What should I do when I reach my limit?’ He thinks. ‘Getting stronger is fun, and so is fighting. But, what should I do once I get so strong that I can’t get any stronger, and everybody else is so weak by comparison that fighting them just isn’t fun anymore? I could become Hokage, or just leave and start up a new village with me as its head, but that doesn’t sound very fun either, not with all the paperwork that I’ve seen the old man have to do, so that’s out the window. Or, maybe I could-’
“What are you doing here, Naruto?” A voice says, drawing him out of his thoughts.
Naruto looks at the source of the voice, discovering it to be Sasuke. He then looks around, discovering himself to be right outside the Uchiha District. “I was lost in thought and didn’t realize where I was.” He answers honestly.
Sasuke sighs. “Just leave before Shisui-nii-chan finds out you’re here. He’s been annoying me about you ever since you copied his shunshin.” Suddenly, he notices that all 4 of Naruto’s eyes are focused on something behind him. “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”
“Right you are!” Shisui says with a laugh, stepping around Sasuke as he does so. “If you thought I was being annoying, you could’ve just said something, you know.”
Sasuke deadpans at him. “You would’ve intentionally gotten worse if I did.”
Shisui hums in thought. “True.”
Naruto joins Sasuke in deadpanning at Shisui, before turning and starting to walk away, his lower hands in his pockets and his upper arms crossed over his chest. “I’m going to go train now, bye.”
Shisui dashes in front of him. “Wait! Come train with me and Itachi. I was on my way just now, that’s why I came to the front of the compound in the first place.”
Naruto frowns at him. “I train alone.”
“Come on, just this once. I wanna see what you’ve got, and show off your copying skill.” Shisui says.
“Why should I allow you to show me off like some prized pig?” Naruto asks, his lower mouth twisting into a frown to match his upper one.
Shisui blinks. “Because we’re friends?”
“We have met each other exactly 2 times, counting now, and the one thing you have ever given me was your prized smokeless shunshin, which I learned on my own after watching you use it. We are not.”
Shisui frowns, before coming to a realization. “You do everything for the sake of fun, right? I’m sure that training with 2 highly skilled, highly experienced shinobi would be much more fun than training alone, wouldn’t it?”
Naruto frowns. “I have been having trouble getting stronger during my solo training sessions recently, which does make them less fun…” he says contemplatively. “You know what, fine. I’ll come along, just this once.”
Shisui grins. “Great! Follow me!” He says, before disappearing with a shunshin, Naruto following behind him.
Itachi raises an eyebrow as Shisui appears, a 4-armed boy appearing behind him a split second later. “I take it this is the boy you say copied your unique version of the shunshin?” He asks. “I wasn’t expecting it to be Naruto.”
Shisui tilts his head. “How do you already know who he is? You’ve never met him before.”
Itachi facepalms. “Shisui, how many people have 4 arms and eyes, and 2 mouths?” He asks rhetorically, causing Shisui to drop his head in shame.
“Yeah, he is rather recognizable.” Shisui says, dejected. “I should’ve guessed that you’d already know who he is, especially with how you make a point of knowing everything that happens in the village.”
Itachi smiles. “Yes, yes you should have.” He says before turning to Naruto. “Now, what convinced you to join our training session? I thought you preferred to train alone.”
Naruto raises his 2 left eyebrows. “Shisui said that it’d be more fun than training alone, I’m here to see if it’s true.”
Itachi nods. “Yes, that does fit with what I’ve heard of your reputation.” He says, before dropping into a taijutsu stance. “Now then, Shisui, let’s make sure not to disappoint him.”