Konoha Village.
Perhaps it was because he'd finally become a ninja, but the demon fox kid who used to run wild all over the village had been much quieter recently. It was so noticeable that some villagers found it a bit strange.
Naruto Uzumaki was no longer self-conscious about his identity as the "demon fox" and paid no mind to the villagers' pointing and gossiping. He felt he had discovered a new source of pleasure.
The red swirl on the back of his ninja vest...
The spiral-shaped neon signs on some of the small shops...
As Naruto looked at the spiral pattern on a shuriken target at the training ground, that familiar feeling surfaced again. Acting on pure instinct, a spiral-shaped cyclone of chakra began to float in his palm.
"A Rasengan?" he thought, examining it. "So this is a ninjutsu... It doesn't even need hand seals... It doesn't look very flashy, though... I bet I could add other chakra natures to it... But the power seems a little weak. Is it even useful?"
Naruto shook his head lightly and casually pushed the Rasengan in his hand against a nearby tree.
CRACK!
To his surprise, the hard tree trunk was immediately gouged out, a circular crater carved into it by the friction of the Rasengan's swirling chakra.
Naruto sat down cross-legged, supporting his chin with a finger. He glanced at the mangled tree, his eyes brightening. "Maybe I'm not bad at studying... maybe I'm just a genius at inventing ninjutsu."
Compared to the Sealing Jutsu: Devour that was deeply ingrained in his mind, the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu and the Rasengan felt far more comfortable to him. There was no helping it; while the forbidden sealing jutsu felt like a dry, academic phrase, it was as if he had used the Rasengan and Shadow Clones thousands upon thousands of times before. Yet, he had only just started using them.
Naruto gathered another chakra cyclone in his palm, this time gradually adding his Wind Style chakra and watching it morph into the shape of a shuriken. "Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
"Just as I thought!" he declared to himself. "I'm not bad at learning ninjutsu! It's because I'm good at inventing it!"
As Naruto was excitedly adding new elements to the Rasengan at the training ground, he didn't notice a pair of eyes watching him quietly.
In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stared at his crystal ball, his jaw nearly on the floor as he watched Naruto use the Rasengan. "If I remember correctly, Naruto only stole the Scroll of Seals a few days ago, right? He learned the Rasengan that quickly?"
The Rasengan, of course, was not invented by Naruto. Konoha's Fourth Hokage had invented it and recorded the jutsu in the Scroll of Seals. Because it was a dangerous technique, ordinary ninjas were forbidden from practicing it.
Before graduating, Naruto had stolen the Scroll. According to Hiruzen's plan, he should have only been able to learn the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu. He hadn't expected the boy to learn the Rasengan as well.
Hiruzen picked up his pipe. Watching Naruto's Rasenshuriken cut through another tree, he gripped it tightly. "Fourth Hokage, your son is truly amazing... perhaps even more outstanding than you were."
"Lord Hokage, may I come in?"
A knock came from the door. After receiving the Third Hokage's approval, a ninja with a prominent scar on his face walked in and respectfully handed over a notebook.
Hiruzen took the notebook and flipped through it casually. "Thank you for your hard work, Ibiki. Did your team find anything?"
Morino Ibiki was the head of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force. After Mizuki had tricked the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki into stealing the Scroll of Seals and then attempted to defect to Orochimaru, Hiruzen had taken the opportunity to dispatch the ANBU to help root out spies in the village.
Ibiki shook his head, his face grim. "Lord Hokage, according to your instructions, we have privately investigated Orochimaru's former subordinates... We believe two people among them are the most suspicious."
"These two... no need to investigate them further."
Hiruzen shook his head. His fingers tapped lightly on the desk as he flipped back and forth between the records of the two ninjas.
The first was a female Konoha chunin named Anko Mitarashi. She was once Orochimaru's student, and her mental state had always been unstable.
The second was an ordinary Konoha genin named Kabuto Yakushi. He was once Orochimaru's subordinate and was said to have come from the Konoha Orphanage, which was controlled by Danzo's 'Root'.
"I understand," Ibiki said, bowing his head before slowly leaving the office. As the head of the T&I Force personally promoted by Hiruzen, he would respect any of the Third Hokage's orders.
What no one expected was that after Ibiki left, Hiruzen's expression grew complex. He glanced again at the file for the genin named Kabuto Yakushi, his voice barely a whisper. "Danzo, I hope you have no more dealings with that rogue disciple of mine..."
After muttering to himself for a moment, the Third Hokage put down his pipe. In truth, the genin named Kabuto had been under his surveillance for a while. According to his observations, Kabuto likely knew something about Danzo's collusion with Orochimaru back in the day. Keeping this genin, who wasn't particularly strong, around could be used as leverage against Danzo.
After a long while, Hiruzen suddenly slapped his forehead and looked down at the crystal ball on his desk. "Ugh, I forgot to check on that boy Naruto again... The Rasengan is a very dangerous jutsu. I hope nothing went wrong."
The image in the crystal ball was empty.
During that time, Naruto had already finished his training and gone home. Tomorrow was the orientation for academy graduates, where they would be assigned to their genin teams. Iruka-sensei had said it was a very important day.
Early the next morning, Naruto washed up, put on his ninja headband, and headed to the academy. Looking around the classroom, he thought, "It seems... no different from usual."
He turned, and his gaze subconsciously stopped on a short-haired girl with white eyes. "Eh? Hinata..."
"Naruto-kun?"
Hinata Hyuga's face immediately flushed. She looked nervously at him and asked, "Is... is there... anything I can help you with?"
"No, I just feel like something's weird..." Naruto quickly shook his head, wondering why he had taken the initiative to greet the shy girl.
A moment later, his gaze fell on the black-haired boy sitting near him, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his face. "Hey, Sasuke! Good morning!"
After greeting him, Naruto felt a flicker of resentment. Why did he just take the initiative to greet this guy?
"What do you want?" came Sasuke Uchiha's cold, impatient reply.
The girls might find that expression cool, but to Naruto, it was just annoying. "Tch, what's so great about you!"
"Hmph. Idiot."
"..."
No matter how many times, communicating with Sasuke never went smoothly.
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Bonus:
Naruto Uzumaki: "Hmm… who should I talk to? Oh, hey, Hinata!"
Hinata Hyuga: "N-Naruto-kun, I..."
Naruto Uzumaki: "Wait, no, not that kind of vibe. I'll go check on Sasuke instead."
Hinata Hyuga: "???"