Chapter 1: Brothers
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Naruto x Hinata
Shisui x Kurenai
This fic will be primarily focused around Naruto and Shisui and Naruto will be a stronger and smarter in this fic. The chapter length will usually be around 6-7k words but can change depending on what I want to show in the chapter.
A note to keep in mind is that Naruto has all of the Kyuubi inside of him. The Kyuubi was not split in this fic.
There will be graphic gore, dark themes, and smut in this fic so it is rated MA. Read at your own discretion.
"Get back here brat!" An angry black-haired jonin cried out, his lips curled downward and twitching, his nose crunched and his eyes watering. He jumped across the rooftops alongside his comrades as they chased the blonde kid with their hands stuck down their pants as they viciously scratched the itch all around their groin.
"Come and catch me!" Naruto exclaimed in glee while sticking his tongue out towards them as he ran as fast as he could, jumping fluidly across the rooftops due to sheer experience.
Man, that was so funny. Lacing their underwear with itching powder was an awesome idea!
Naruto then quickly switched directions towards a market area that was chalk full of people, intending to lose the blood-shot male jonins in the crowd. He saw the market in which hundreds of people were walking around, looking at the various items on display outside to attract customers.
"Look out! Coming through!" Naruto warned as he charged through the crowd, expertly weaving around people despite the lack of space to even move properly…for an average person that was.
Due to the speed at which Naruto was moving, no one could see it was him specifically which was what he would prefer.
"Ow!"
"Hey watch it!"
"KYA! THIS PERVERT TOUCHED MY ASS!"
As some of the jonins got caught in the middle of the crowd due to their inability to move or even think properly due to very unfortunate circumstances, Naruto snickered loudly as he heard all the exclamations from the crowd as well as cries of pain.
He noticed a few determined jonin were still chasing him so he decided to flee into the forest as he had done numerous times in the past, deciding to use his knowledge of the terrain and various training grounds to his advantage. That wasn't to say that the jonin weren't also familiar with the terrain surrounding Konoha but given their current focus on scratching the intense itch that was flaring continuously around their groin, they were unable to function on the same level of coherency they normally would.
Naruto weaved through the dense forests at his top speed, creating distance between him and the chasing jonin until he eventually left their field of vision.
"Ha…Ha…Ha…" Naruto heaved, trying to catch his breath while simultaneously feeling the intense urge to collapse on the ground, laughing his ass off.
"Where am I?" Naruto asked himself as he analyzed his surroundings, see nothing but thick trees which separated the sunlight into thin rays.
I think I got lost…I think this is the right way!
Naruto began walking in a random direction, no idea as to if it was the right way or not.
A few minutes down the line, Naruto instantly began hearing some faint sounds of explosions and steel clashing against steel. Naruto turned towards the direction of the sounds, his sensitive hearing aiding him in figuring out the precise location.
What's that sound?
He wondered as the sound kept on getting louder and louder, causing his slow walk to become a jog and eventually a run.
Metal clashing against metal, punches and kicks landing on something soft, and the heavy inhale and exhaling of air. Naruto could hear it all, his seven-year-old body having heightened senses to the point where he could sense lots of minute details from at least half a mile around him in all directions.
When he did finally reach the source of the sounds, Naruto hid behind a bush and gazed at the scene before him that immediately caught his absolute attention.
Shisui Uchiha, a fifteen-year-old teen with short spiky black hair, held in place with the leaf headband wrapped around his forehead panted heavily as he looked at the numerous training dummies laid out before him, many of them already burnt or cut.
He took shuriken from his pouch in between each of his fingers and launched them strategically at the dummies, some of them hitting directly on the foreheads of the dummies while several others sliced through the air in pairs, eventually one ricocheting off of the other to hit particular dummies on the side.
Shisui's eyes widened a bit as he sensed a powerful chakra signature in the line of trees surrounding the clearing watching, however he kept his focus on his training, not alerting the person watching him that he was on guard.
It didn't take more than a moment to recognize just who this was because this chakra signature was one, he sensed frequently when in the village and always had a good laugh when he heard the type of pranks the boy did. Although the main reason he knew just who was watching him was because of the scorn he saw in the eyes of nearly everyone in the village whenever the young boy walked through the streets.
It made him wonder how they all could be so blind to the fact that all that was in the blonde's eyes was pure innocence like that of any child. How they all could think of him as a demon was a fact that baffled him but he could understand it given his clan's history of falling to the curse of hatred.
That hatred is leading our clan down a really dark path.
Shisui suppressed those thoughts in favor of going through his training in the rare moments of personal time he had been given from his difficult and intense missions as well as having to act as a double agent for the Hokage.
He quickly weaved through hand signs and built up chakra inside him, changing it's nature to fire before expelling it through his mouth.
Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!
The ball of fire quickly made contact with the numerous dummies and exploded, incinerating much of the grass and destroying all the dummies it hit.
Naruto's eyes were wide open, refusing to blink while his mouth was agape in sheer awe at what he was seeing.
"S-So cool…" He couldn't help but mutter as he witnessed all those cool jutsu and moves. "I can't wait till jiji enrolls me in the academy and I can train to be a shinobi!"
"So, you want to be a shinobi?"
"AHHH!" Naruto screamed in surprise as he quickly turned around, falling on his bum. He was face-to-face with the same person he had been watching do all sorts of cool jutsu. "B-But…" Naruto stuttered as he looked behind him and saw that the now destroyed training field was empty. He looked back at the black-haired teen standing in front of him. "How?"
The teen gave him a small smile which was a bit surprising to Naruto because he honestly expected him to be angry at him. "One of my favorite jutsu called the Body Flicker Jutsu. It lets me move really fast."
"W-Wow…That's so cool!" Naruto said, his eyes gleaming with sparkles. Years of living as the beacon at which the villagers directed their hatred, he had become prone to sensing negative emotions and determining if anyone was intending to harm him. He could not sense any of these emotions from the dark-haired teen and it calmed him down enough that he was able to focus on all the incredible shinobi-related things that he had saw.
Shisui smiled at the awed look. The boy's baby-blue colored eyes held so many emotions that it was hard to get a read him yet if there was one thing he could see, it was the will of fire. Under the layers of pain, traumatization, and loneliness, it burnt bright.
Konoha…a village based around the will of fire and peace. Something worth fighting and dying for and yet…it's residents can't even tell the difference between a kunai and the scroll it's sealed into. Ironic that the very child they direct their hatred towards holds the will of fire.
He seems to hold a tremendous amount of chakra as well…no doubt because of the nine-tails and his Uzumaki heritage. I wonder…
"So…Naruto…" Shisui said as he helped him get up but was cut off.
"Y-You know my name?"
Shisui grinned at him, bending down to appear less intimidating and meet him at eye level. "Of course. Your pranks are quite legendary and I love seeing you pull them off."
Naruto's eyes widened, finally having someone other than his jiji or the ramen stand owner and his daughter Ayame giving him some form of recognition. "Really?"
"Yep." Shisui also had been quite impressed with his inherent ability in stealth and speed. Being able to prank jonin and even anbu at an age of seven and managing to get away with it was quite the feat. "Say, would you like to learn some jutsu?"
"Really?" Naruto's eyes were filled with even more sparkles then before as his pupils got bigger to almost uncomfortable levels. Receiving a nod in confirmation, Naruto began jumping for joy, much to Shisui's amusement. "Awesome! I'm going to be the best shinobi and then I'm going to become Hokage dattebayo!"
Shisui raised his eye-brow as he heard Naruto's last words. "You want to become Hokage?"
Naruto nodded his head. "Yep! I'm going to take the hat away from jiji and become the best Hokage ever!"
"Well then Naruto, you're going to have to train really hard to become a great and powerful shinobi if you want to become Hokage."
"I know dattebayo! So, let's train uh…" Naruto stopped, realizing he didn't know the black-haired teen's name.
"My name's Shisui."
"Shisui nii-san." Naruto grinned.
Shisui smiled upon hearing that.
Nii-san…like having another little brother.
Itachi never called him nii-san but he still considered him as a brother and now it seemed he would be getting another one which he was not at all opposed to.
"Come with me Naruto-kun." Shisui said as he walked back to the training field with Naruto eagerly following behind him.
"Now before we start your training, I need to ask you if you know what chakra is?"
"Chakra…isn't what you use to do all those cool jutsu?" Naruto answered although with some confusion as he didn't know just why Shisui was asking this.
"Yes, but there is a lot more to chakra then just that. Chakra is made up of the physical energies from the cells of the body and the spiritual energies of a person's consciousness." Shisui explained only to sweat-drop upon seeing Naruto's blank confused face.
"Huh?"
Shisui paused for a moment, trying to think of a good analogy to explain to the blonde before remembering a particular trait about him and all other Uzumaki. "Think of chakra like ramen. Ramen is made up of broth as well as the noodles. Combining the two gives you ramen. It's the same with chakra."
"Ramennnn…" Naruto droned with drool coming out of his mouth.
Shisui sweat-dropped. "Pay attention Naruto."
Naruto shook his head and gave Shisui is full attention. He didn't want one of the few people that was kind to him to leave or think that he was not taking this seriously.
Seeing that he had the blonde's full attention, Shisui explained what chakra was again, this time Naruto absorbed the information and had nodded in understanding. "I think you often channeled chakra in your legs which had allowed you to run quickly and out run all those jonin and anbu you often pranked. Now, we just need you to push your chakra through all your tenketsu before you can start learning on how to mold it. Try sensing what you feel when you ran from the shinobi after your pranks Naruto."
"Ok…" Naruto said a bit confused but nonetheless remembered feeling the shinobi chasing him closing the distance between him and them. He remembered wanting to go faster.
"Try feeling the energy in your legs, giving you power, making you faster. Remember that feeling and channel it throughout your body and then push it out."
Naruto did remember given the sheer number of times he had done so. The adrenaline, the rush, the burning sensation in his legs and the desire to run as fast as possible. The need to keep running despite his bodies' protests yet the hope that the shinobi would continue to chase him because in that one moment…he was recognized.
He was noticed.
He existed.
The energy that was in his core responded to this desire and flooded his chakra coils before the pushed it out of his body, causing his chakra to flow out of all of his tenketsu. There was a brief flare of pain but given all the pain he had gone through, physical and mental, it was nothing he couldn't handle.
Meanwhile, Shisui could not believe his eyes. He could actually see Naruto's chakra as an aura that was pouring out of his body, surrounding it like a protective blanket.
The sheer amount of chakra he could now fully sense coming from Naruto was enormous, enough so that when Naruto had initially pushed it out of his tenketsu, it almost felt like a physical blow to Shisui.
What incredible chakra. He probably has chakra nearing the Hokage's level…amazing. If given the right training, he could become a powerful shinobi.
"Alright Naruto, that's it." Naruto heard the words and stopped channeling his chakra but now he had a stronger sense of the chakra flowing through his body. It felt as if he could call on it immediately now that he got a taste for it. "Excellent job Naruto, you have a lot of chakra."
"Hehe…I'm awesome, aren't I?" Naruto cheekily replied with a face-splitting grin, feeling the urge to stick his chest out in pride from the compliment…which he did.
Shisui simply smiled. "Yes, yes you are Naruto. Now with that out of the way, let's test some of your more basic skills."
Hokage's Office
Hiruzen's eyes focused on the crystal ball in front of him as he deeply inhaled the contents within his Kiseru to calm his mind as he contemplated future courses of action. After being alerted by the initial chakra burst thanks to his unmatched sensor skills, he had used his crystal ball to observe the source area and what he had seen definitely surprised him.
Naruto was showing an incredible talent and aptitude for learning jutsu as he was easily learning basic chakra control, taijutsu kata, shuriken jutsu and even getting started on ninjutsu with the Shunshin (Body Flicker) which was a given considering who was training him.
But the level of enthusiasm and drive Naruto was showing was something he honestly was not expecting given the majority of the village targeting him for their misplaced hatred. His was not the normal prodigy level talent that Itachi or Shisui showed when they had been his age but rather a more hands-on type talent as well as a will of fire that burned brighter than he had ever seen.
The boy simply did not tire and did not stay down and kept absorbing all the training Shisui was giving him like a sponge that seemed to be able to have no limit as to how much it could hold.
Despite this revelation in Naruto's raw talent, Hiruzen knew it would not continue simply because with the rising resentment from the Uchiha clan, a coup was most likely inevitable despite his best attempts to seek out other solutions. That duty alone would not allow him to train Naruto to his full potential but he would let it continue simply because Shisui was one of the few people he could see that Naruto had opened up to given how relaxed the boy seemed to be around the sharingan wielder.
Not only that but Hiruzen knew Shisui better than almost anyone except maybe Itachi. He knew Shisui's love for the village and he was hoping Shisui would be able to instill that love into Naruto. Perhaps that love would be able to overcome the hatred that he knew festers in the deepest recesses of his heart not that he could blame him. But as the leader of the leaf he simply could not afford to have the village jinchuriki turn on them.
He loved Naruto as if he had been his own grandson but one thing even stronger than that love was his love for his village, not just as one of its residents but also as its leader which came with a whole slew of responsibilities.
Hiruzen thought that the best way to perhaps speeds things up would be to allow Shisui more time off of missions that don't involve keeping an eye on the Uchiha clan to train Naruto. It would deepen their bond, give Naruto happiness since he knew just what a kind soul Shisui is and would never hurt the innocent blonde.
Maybe I could help speeds things up…
Hiruzen thought as he wondered if he could somehow help Naruto get stronger.
"You called for me Hokage-sama?" Shisui asked with a bow while on his knees.
"Yes." Hiruzen said as he got up from his chair and walked to the window while motioning the hidden anbu to leave.
Shisui easily noticed this but said nothing, knowing that he always signaled the anbu to leave when discussing matters regarding the Uchiha clan's plan for a coup.
"You've been training Naruto Uzumaki…" Hiruzen started, his tone not giving away any sort of emotions that would indicate just where Hiruzen stood in regards to the statement.
"Hai Hokage-sama. I sensed him watching me while I was training and decided to talk to him. He seemed to be quite excited to learn about becoming a shinobi so I decided that I could help him in that regard." Shisui explained.
Hiruzen simply took a smoke but didn't turn to look at Shisui. "What do you think of Naruto?"
Shisui took a moment to analyze the question.
Despite it's simplicity, he knew that his Hokage was asking several unspoken questions due to Naruto's status as a Jinchūriki.
"I believe him to be remarkable Hokage-sama. His eyes hold the will of fire the likes of which I have never seen before. Despite being the focus of the village's hatred, he seems to be living through life with a smile despite it being obvious it's simply a mask. He dreams to become Hokage and his determination to reach that goal is driving him forward."
Hiruzen turned to look at Shisui and the Uchiha could see his hokage having a true smile on his face, something that was quite rare to see given the world they lived in.
"The first time he told me he wanted to become Hokage, I saw the fire in his eyes. He wants to be acknowledged and respected yet he does not understand the true weight of what it means to be Hokage." Hiruzen said, remembering with fondness when those bright cerulean eyes had gazed into his own weary and tired eyes, loudly declaring that he would become the strongest shinobi ever and then he would become hokage.
"Have I made a mistake in teaching Naruto, Hokage-sama?" Shisui couldn't help but ask. If it was anyone else, he doubted he would have been called here but Naruto held the Kyubi and thus was subject to very specific rules.
"No…in fact I couldn't be happier that you of all people met him and decided to teach him. I was watching you two and I can safely saw that he truly was opening himself to you. Naruto is very good at detecting those who want to harm him and those who don't and after I sentenced those who wanted to do him harm when he was infant to death, none have dared to lay a finger on him…at least so far."
"But…I know that despite the light his eyes hold, he holds hatred against those that direct their hatred towards him. Having you…someone I trust more than anyone beside him will help douse that hatred otherwise it would grow with each feeding the other in a never-ending cycle."
"I am honored for having your trust Hokage-sama." Shisui couldn't help but say with an honest smile. He loved Konoha and what it stood for and hearing the absolute trust it's leader held for him made his heart elevate.
"I want you to continue training Naruto Shisui. Train him to be a true shinobi. Consider it another s-class mission." Hokage said, cutting straight to the point.
"What about my clan?"
"Continue keeping an eye on them to. Use Shadow Clones to train Naruto on days you are keeping an eye on your clan. In fact, teach him the Shadow Clones as well."
"Hai Hokage-sama." Shisui had been about to instinctively protest against teaching a child a B-rank kinjutsu but he knew his hokage had thought things thoroughly. And there was also the fact that Naruto held an insane amount of chakra as a side of effect of not only having the Kyubi inside him but also due to his Uzumaki heritage.
Once Shisui was gone Hiruzen couldn't help but gaze at the portrait of a blonde-haired man sitting on the nearby shelf, beside three more portraits.
"Minato-kun…I'll do my best to take care of Naruto. He will become a man you and Kushina can be proud to call your son." Hiruzen swore to himself, his eyes burning with determination of such intensity he hadn't felt in a long, long time.
Two months later
Naruto narrowed his eyes in focus as he channeled chakra throughout his body. A moment later he ran forward in a burst of speed that made it seem as if he had teleported. While moving his eyes analyzed his surrounding environment and quickly took out several shuriken and kunai before launching them at not only the various dummies set up in the middle of the training ground but also at several targets painted on the trees surrounding the clearing.
He kept this up for several minutes, hitting almost all of the targets dead center due to constantly practicing ever since his nii-san had shown him how to train like a shinobi, he had spent every single day training himself to the ground. Both for the reason of wanting to become Hokage and also to make Shisui proud of him.
Once he was done, he finally stopped channeling chakra throughout his body causing his exhaustion to hit him with full force. He panted heavily on the ground as he greedily gulped down air that his body had been deprived of due to constant training since early morning.
"Excellent job Naruto-kun."
The blonde-whipped his head towards the unexpected voice, his lips curling into a happy smile when he saw who it was. "Jiji!"
Hiruzen sweat-dropped as he saw the previously exhausted Naruto, run up to him with an excited smile in a sudden burst of energy.
"What are you doing here jiji!?"
"I was just walking around and noticed you here. I see you are training quite hard Naruto-kun."
"Of course! I'm going to become the strongest shinobi in the village and then I'm going to take your hat jiji! Dattebayo!"
"Well you're going to need to become much stronger before that happens." Hiruzen said with a smile.
"I know! I'm going to train every single day to get stronger! Don't get too comfortable with that hat jiji!"
Hiruzen simply chuckled at the hyper-blonde. "Do you want to get some ramen to eat? My treat!"
Naruto's face turned into one of bliss as some drool escaped the corner of his lips. "You're the best jiji! Let's go!"
Hiruzen sweat-dropped as he saw a dust cloud of where Naruto stood a second ago, his excited yelling being heard in the distance. "What is it with Uzumaki and ramen?"
He could still faintly hear the cries of a certain red-head as she devoured bowl after bowl of ramen by the dozens, draining his wallet dry. It was a miracle that girl didn't grow fat as she grew up.
It's easy to see where all that ramen had gone.
Hiruzen thought with a perverted giggle before quickly chasing after the red-head's progeny.
A short while later, Hiruzen gazed with a dumb-founded expression as the blonde's stomach, equivalent to a black hole devoured bowl after bowl of ramen with no end in sight. He could tell that Ichiraku was having quite the fruitful business thanks to the boy…however.
Looking out from the corner of his eye, he could see various civilians and even some shinobi pass them bye. They all held a scorned look and their eyes were sockets burning with hatred with a blanket of fear above it as a result of his presence.
How did this happen?
He couldn't help but wonder. Naruto being the Jinchūriki of the Kyuubi was something he had planned to keep hidden but somehow a rumor had gotten out and he had barely time to contain it or risk a full-blown riot just after the attack. It took some force and creation of the law to have everyone calm down. But even so, not just the mystery of the Kyuubi incident but just how this information was leaked was a cause of worry.
He didn't ponder over it for long and released some killing intent towards those that saw fit to pour their hatred towards the blonde ball of innocence beside him, instantly causing them to flee.
"Jiji, is something wrong?" Naruto asked, looking at Hiruzen with a concerned look.
"It's nothing Naruto-kun. Although, you better be careful with eating all of that ramen. If you want to be a powerful Shinobi you have to eat a lot healthier."
"But ramen is sooo good…" Naruto whined with teary eyes.
Hiruzen chuckled and patted him. "Eat up boy."
Despite his calm and gentle demeanor, his mind was currently in a frenzy over the simple concern Naruto showed. He had directed killing intent towards the civilians and shinobi around them, not at all towards Naruto. Despite this, the blonde somehow managed to sense it in the air, even though he wasn't able to fully grasp just what he was sensing.
This in itself was both equally impressive and equally frightening, especially given the boys young age. Impressive because it showed the boy had incredible potential as a sensor in the future not to mention the sheer talent, he displayed in being able to grasp everything he was taught in record time. Hell, he doubted even the genius Itachi, Shisui or Kakashi could learn jutsi as fast as Naruto could which spoke volumes of the incredible things he could accomplish in the future.
However, this was also frightening because this type of sensitivity towards killing intent showed that the blonde had been exposed to it all too often, enough so that he was even able to subconsciously detect it. He knew Naruto's life was bad but to think it was to this extent…
He had been so busy with rebuilding Konoha after the Kyuubi incident, especially with the latent threat of the other hidden villages taking advantage of their weakness to strike that he had left Naruto at the orphanage and relied on regular Anbu reports for assurance that he was being taken care of. He even had gotten the boy an apartment of his home as soon as he could with his family's funds but it seemed as if he was not aware of all of the information. Those reports mentioned of how the villagers directed their hatred towards him but looking at the blonde now, he had some investigating to do.
Putting that away for later, Hiruzen focused on the task at hand. Namely, Naruto's display of tremendous talent in the art of being a Shinobi.
"So, I hear you have become good friends with Shisui Naruto-kun."
"You know Shisui-niisan?"
Hiruzen chuckled, "Of course. He is one of my shinobi and I am the Hokage after all."
"Shisui-niisan is awesome! He taught me so many cool jutsu and how to use Chakra!"
"I see. And do you want him to keep teaching you?" Naruto rapidly nodded his head in response. "I see. I'll make sure Shisui spends as much time as possible with."
That time would truly be a small amount but regardless, it wasn't hard to see how much Shisui started to mean to Naruto after one simple encounter. He had observed this meeting through his crystal ball which allowed him to easily draw the conclusion that Naruto was simply not psychologically normal. A simple meeting with someone who for one of the rare few times did not display any hostility towards Naruto and even provided him with the alien feeling of warmth he longed for was enough for him to place great importance on the relationship.
It made the sight all the more painful in that Hiruzen knew he had played a role in the boy becoming like this. This was why, apart from keeping an eye on the Uchiha clan, he planned to pull Shisui from his regular missions, apart from spying on his clan, to fully train Naruto as much as possible.
This move was as much for Naruto as it was for the future of Konoha. Since he very well couldn't have their Jinchūriki be weak and unable to control the beast within, this would also help Naruto become strong enough to tame the power of the nine tails. And Naruto would also grow closer bonds to Shisui and hopefully open up a bit more to develop more bonds with people from within the village.
Hiruzen was not blind to the psychological effect of having so much negativity directed towards oneself and despite not seeing many signs of it, it was not far off to assume the resentment and hatred no doubt boiled beneath the surface. This move would essentially be killing two birds with one stone in a sense but he would also have to make sure no one came about learning about this arrangement.
If anyone saw an Uchiha training the container of the nine tails, it would only solidify the rumors of an Uchiha being responsible for the nine tails attack on the village that happened years ago. This would make any chance of obtaining peace with the Uchiha clan fade away forever. He knew of a few private training grounds only he himself used that he could and would direct Naruto and Shisui to so they would be left undisturbed.
He was curious to what caliber of a shinobi Naruto would turn out to be.
A week later
Shisui smiled as he saw the panting Naruto gaze at him with those determined eyes, he recently became familiar with. He was improving his skills as a shinobi at an incredible rate, far surpassing his expectations especially when he had learned the Shadow Clone jutsu in the span of a few hours.
A few hours!
Just the mere thought of it chilled Shisui. To be able to learn and effectively use a B-rank kinjutsu in such a short span…it just showed how incredible his rate of growth was. Not to mention this jutsu was effectively made for him. With the incredibly large and dense chakra reserves he possessed, he could create around a hundred shadow clones, exponentially increasing the speed of his training and that's what he was testing right now.
To get a grasp of his current skill and compare it to where he was a two months ago. In this time frame, Shisui had focused on teaching all of the fundamentals whenever he could and when he was too busy, he would send a shadow clone to do so. Basic kata for taijutsu, some key ninjutsu like Substitution, Transformation and his key favorite Body Flicker which he spent extra time on. In addition to shurikenjutsu, Shisui also spent time on familiarizing Naruto with basic kenjutsu with a practice blade and had him master basic chakra control exercises such as tree climbing and water walking.
His mass use of shadow clones helped him immensely but they had learned to tone down on the rate at which the clones should be dispelled due to one day of Naruto being knocked unconscious as he dispelled too many at once. Shisui doubted that not just anyone with massive chakra reserves could train this way as they also required a significant healing factor that would help the brain recover from the memory lash back.
Shisui didn't have any more time to think as he saw Naruto release a flood of shurikens towards him, their aim still a bit sloppy but still accurate. It was more than easy to dodge but he was here to test Naruto so he used his tanto to deflect all of the shuriken. Naruto had used Body Flicker to close in on Shisui while he was distracted with the shuriken to strike at his legs with his blunt practice sword but as expected, Shisui blocked it with his tanto.
Right at that moment, another blade headed towards Shisui from the back but with someone with his skill and awareness, he was more than capable of dodging it and he did. His body blurred causing the blade to pass right through him and he appeared behind Naruto, hitting his head with the handle of his tanto.
"Ow!" Naruto pouted as he was hit by Shisui's attack. "Stop doing that Shisui-niisan!"
Shisui chuckled at him. It was the tenth time Shisui hit him like this and while it was playful in nature, it basically told Naruto that he once again failed to hit Shisui.
"That was a nice trick you pulled off Naruto. Transforming your shadow clone into a shuriken to throw it at me so that it could get behind me and you could pull off a sneak attack."
"But I still couldn't hit you!"
"Yes, and because you missed, I managed to close in on you and hit you. Remember, you always have to have a back-up plan in case your first plan fails. Like, when you threw all of those shuriken, you should have had more than one clone hidden among them and rather than charging yourself, you could have used a shadow clone instead while you hid underground." Shisui explained, pointing out Naruto's flaws to prevent him from repeating this mistake in the future, especially in crucial moments.
Naruto thought for a bit with a cute thinking face before his widened in surprise. "Ah! This way, even if you did escape, I can see what you would do and then attack or escape or plan!"
Shisui nodded, marveling at his battle ingenuity. He was no genius on the level of Itachi of course but he was still able to easily grasp anything battle related and come up with different strategies on the spot during tense situations. Maybe it was this unique way of thinking that allowed him to easily grasp various jutsu and train so quickly.
A battle genius.
Despite him being seven, he had enough facts to easily come to this conclusion. It wasn't just from training him that he experienced this, but the complexity of the pranks he managed to pull off, especially in secure areas such as Anbu headquarters, Jonin lounges, clan compounds, etc. was nothing short of astounding. Being able to accomplish these feats displayed his ingenuity and would have shined bright enough for everyone to see similar to how the moons and stars lit up the night sky. However, so many had their eyes covered by their subjective sense of reality, their hatred against the beast that dwelled within Naruto warped their vision and mind to see the nine-tails and Naruto as one and the same.
"Hey Itachi!" Shisui waved towards who he considered to be his younger brother.
Naruto looked towards the two people approaching them. One was a kind of scary looking invidual in a black top and pants and shinobi sandels with an emotionless expression on his face. The other was much smaller, the same height and age as him but unlike the scary one, his face was one of surprise and joy.
Both of them had similar black hair with a bang going down on each side of their faces as well as a similar face.
"Naruto-kun, this is Itachi-kun, my younger brother. And this is Sasuke, Itachi's younger brother."
Despite the uncomfortable feeling of interacting with strangers in such a way because of how alien friendly greetings was to him, seeing the friendly smile on Shisui's face as well as the lack of any hostile aura from Itachi and Sasuke, Naruto greeted the two.
"Hello."
"It's ok Naruto. They are both really nice." Shisui's encouragement seemed to be enough for Naruto to push past his uncertainty.
"Is Shisui-san training you to be a shinobi?" Sasuke asked, having seen the two spar together from the distance.
"Yes! Shisui-niisan is the best! He taught me all sorts of cool jutsu! He's probably the strongest in the village!" Naruto boasted, his respect and love for his brother easy to see from the sparkle in his eyes.
"Nu-uh! Itachi-niisan is the strongest! Shisui-san could never beat Itachi-niisan!"
"Shisui-niisan is stronger!"
"Itachi-niisan is stronger!"
"Shisui-niisan is stronger!"
"Itachi-niisan is stronger!"
The seven-year-old boys butted their heads together in anger, sparks flying from their eyes.
Some distance away, standing near the cliff beneath which lay a raging river, Shisui looked at the scene with a smile on his face.
This is what I want to protect…
"I didn't know you were training him."
"He walked in on my training and I decided to teach him. I'm honestly glad that I did. That kid has some hidden talent. He could make a great shinobi one day."
"If we are seen near him, relations between the village and Uchiha will only grow more tense."
"Don't worry about that. I'll be careful." Shisui reassured. Given that it was suspected that an Uchiha had caused the Nine-tails attacks around 6 years ago, being around Naruto was risky but given that he had the Hokage backing him and they were being very cautious, the risk was minimal.
"How are things looking?" Shisui couldn't help but ask after silence had enveloped the two.
"The clan is getting more determined to go through with the coup. They are currently gathering resources but it will take a year or so before they are ready."
Shisui sighed. "I haven't been able to find anyone who is against the coup but I'll keep looking. I just hope we can find a solution before this escalates."
Itachi didn't reply but Shisui knew his brother was thinking the same.
A coup would lead to a civil war and then…the Fourth Shinobi World War.
Both of them experienced the Third Shinobi World War and they did not want all of that death and destruction to happen again. They didn't want to lose that which they loved most.
Their eyes burned with determination fueled by their love for the village and for those they held close to their hearts. They would achieve peace no matter the cost.
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