There would be qualities of Kushina Uzumaki involved. The girl who'd run to slightly chubby when introduced to the Academy, who'd developed into fit and taut later, and who'd gone from resembling a tomato to becoming the "Red Hot Habanero" of Konohagakure. Known for the strength of her fists, her considerable temper, and some serious stamina. As an Uzumaki she brought red hair, longevity, stamina, and a talent for fuuinjutsu to the genetic heritage.
There was also Minato Namikaze to consider. A genius in many ways, capable of developing new jutsu that would later become his signature techniques. Chakra control was great, stamina was good, but it was his reflex speed and tracking talents that shone most in the Academy.
A slight shift in the genetic mix at an early point, and everything else could follow a different line. Except that things didn't diverge until much later, because unfriendly eyes were on the child. Stand out too much, too soon, and the child died before realizing any of his potential.
No, in this as in so many things, timing was a very important ingredient.
Then it was a matter of watching how things played out.
Age five:
Naruto sniffed the air as he became aware that he wasn't alone. Not that he was completely alone that much. The ANBU that he could barely perceive were often flitting presences as they made their rounds through Konoha.
He'd caught one or two, figuring out where they were likely to be. Even confronting one once before he'd found out from Jiji that the masked figures were actually his agents. They spied on everyone, looking for infiltrators and carrying messages and trying not to get involved in day-to-day things any more.
So he knew Baku and Inu and Cat, or at least their masks. One of them, Baku he thought, had even looked over his hidden stack of books and left a couple of extras.
So his secret was out, but it was still secret. Jiji knew and had cautioned him not to show too much.
That was why he was a loud clown most of the time. Playing the idiot made it easy to see who would be truly a friend, who would be a potential enemy, who was figuring him for an idiot with a truly abyssal ability to perceive.
There. Baku had just shown up and was in the shadows of that tree.
Naruto moved one hand while doing a one-handed push-up with the other. Enemy?
Baku's stance shifted slightly, somehow conveying amusement. Then a hand moved. Nonhostile. Then Baku was gone again, apparently unconcerned for things.
Naruto sniffed again, catching that lavender-and-cinnamon scent. Ah, her. He hadn't figured out why she watched him. Only that she did. She apparently knew something was up.
Well, time to put the goofy-mask back on. Maybe he could figure her out if he "stumbled" across her.
Maybe...
Age six:
Iruka was aware that something was off about the class clown. Loud, obnoxious, constantly pranking, an apparent idiot.
The problem was that the pranks weren't quite as simple as they looked. How in the world had the boy managed to get five cans of Day-Glo Orange paint, arrange them with five feet of ninja wire, make an obvious trip wire to distract people from the real trip wire, and then put the entire contraption together in what should have been plain sight?
In fact, he took notes as it was somewhat more sophisticated than the prank mechanisms he'd worked out when HE was younger. Clever how he used the ring on a kunai to lead to an opened soda can's ring which led to an unscrewed section of hinge on this door to a twig which had held the ball which had supported the plank on which rested the cans.
"Can't they do something about that demon brat?!" exclaimed the shopkeeper. "I've complained about it for days, always walking by here!"
"You're next to the Academy where he's a student," noted Iruka.
"Doesn't matter! Why just yesterday morning I had to chase it away from my storefront! It was just loitering there, scaring away customers!"
"Yesterday morning it was raining, he could have been sheltering from that," noted Iruka.
"Now look at my clothes! Ruined!"
"Water soluble paint," noted Iruka as he picked up one of the cans. "They use this for painting temporary signs for detours and the like."
"So?"
"Meaning you just have to hose your clothes off," noted Iruka. "I'll talk to him though."
"As if talking is good enough for it! Should have been drowned at birth!"
Iruka frowned slightly and walked away, thinking he himself would have done a LOT worse if he'd been in Naruto's shoes. This was relatively tame.
An ANBU appeared next to him.
"Eep."
The ANBU, female and wearing a mask that had markings like tear tracks under the eyes, regarded him briefly. "Did you just 'eep'? Seriously?"
"I was a little preoccupied," admitted Iruka.
"Whatever helps," said the ANBU. "The Hokage would like to see you."
"Oh dear," said Iruka, thinking that did NOT sound good.
"Iruka Umino," said the Hokage after the door had closed behind the chunin. "Ninja registration number 011850. Academy teacher for the past five years, chunin. How goes your goal to pass the Will Of Fire on to the next generation?"
"Well, there's a few snags, and one student in particular," began Iruka.
Hiruzen Sarutobi held one hand up. "You figured it out. To be expected, you were a bit like him when younger and you have actually looked past rumor to see the individual."
Iruka frowned. "Well, yes, a few things he's done or said haven't quite fit the image he tries to put out."
"He's six years old, not everyone can quite pull off multiple roles at that age," admitted the Hokage.
"Then he is putting on a false performance," realized Iruka.
"He is hated for idiotic reasons, and the idiots would seize on any indication of his true ability as all the more reason for them to be further idiotic," stated the Hokage. "So I am confirming what you suspected and telling you that it is all quite secret. Naruto is the jailor, not the prisoner, and he is far more the child of his parents than he lets on."
"You know who his parents are?" asked Iruka.
"He not only figured out that someone has doctored records, that almost everyone who knew that secret or who his mother was has met with accidents." The Hokage's eyes narrowed. "I need evidence of who did that. I suspect, but will need more than suspicions. But yes - I know who they were and he asked me about it. So he knows he has enemies who are FAR more subtle than some ignorant and hateful civilians. If you come across any actual evidence of the individuals involved - give no indication otherwise but see me as soon as you can without raising suspicions."
For a moment the old man before him was less the grandfatherly role he quite obviously preferred and more the sort of individual who walked away from a field of fresh corpses that hadn't been that way a minute ago. Then the moment was past and the old man was simply refilling a pipe.
Iruka nodded, understanding completely.
"Good, always pleasant to have someone intelligent involved," said the Hokage as he sat back again. "Be subtle. Assist him in playing the role as much as you can. At some point when you are chastising him for a prank use the phrase 'parcel post' and 'puckernuts' in a single sentence. That'll let him know you are at least partially assisting in this masquerade."
"I see, sir," said Iruka.
"When he finishes the Academy and is assigned to a team, he may discard that mask," mused the Hokage. "It should make him less a target at that point for at least one such individual."
Age Nine:
"Damn, you're good at this."
Hinata blushed, ducked her head, and tried not to let the comment disturb her concentration.
It didn't work though, the leaf came apart in little pieces all at once.
"Aw, damn. Sorry."
"Language, Naruto," chided the Hokage from where he was apparently doing paperwork.
"Ah. Sorry."
Hinata picked up the pieces and began knitting them back together again.
"Ah, Naruto. I need this one delivered," said the Hokage, rolling up a scroll. "Second floor. Baku."
Naruto nodded and got up. Doing "punishment duty" like this was certainly better than some of the things he could have done. It was a shame that Hinata often got dragged into it as well, but her wanting to do "extra credit" to bolster her scholastic scores had apparently been accepted by her clan.
Hmmm, this was a technique scroll. Kage bunshin?
Age twelve:
Iruka KNEW darn well that Naruto could only perform this badly if he was making an actual effort to do so.
"I'm sorry Naruto - but that's a fail."
"Well, he did produce two bunshin," pointed out Mizuki.
"If he was trying to get enemy ninja to laugh themselves silly that might be a point," said Iruka. He pointed at one of the two diseased clones. "That one there has the skin falling off. The other doesn't have any apparent bone structure."
"Well, you tried, Naruto," said Mizuki.
"Okay, taijutsu test. Hinata Hyuga versus Sakura Haruno. Begin!"
"Okay, I will DO this! I will demonstrate to Sasuke that I'm the best!"
"Thirty-four palms!"
"I will... gk."
THUD!
Choji finished the chip he'd started when the match began, swallowed, and considered. "Did she just demolish Sakura, rearrange Sakura's hair into something with a lot of loops and bells, and then retreat to her side of the ring before Sakura could hit the ground?"
"Yeah," said Shikamaru. "I told them, insulting Naruto in front of his only friend like that would be troublesome."
"Well done, Hinata. Except that now we have to wait for Sakura to recover so we can actually grade her on her taijutsu. Ino, you're up next."
"HELL NO! Last time I fought her she put my hair in some weird twin-odango style!"
"Okay, Hinata. Take five. Ino, you'll be sparring against Sakura as soon as she's recovered."
"Naruto. There's a super secret test you can take to still pass the exam."
"Really, Mizuki-sensei! That's awesome! What do I got to do?!"
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(Posted Sun, 14 Jul 2013 02:21)
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