I followed Kami as he led me into the kitchen where Sasuke and Naruto were gathered around the kitchen table “Hey Jiji!” Naruto said as he waved at me.
I nodded at Naruto and Sasuke as I moved forward and sat down at the table, Kami provided me with a cup of tea like he usually would. I was happy to see that Kami seemed to be doing better.
As we all sat back down I turned to Kami who seemed to already be ready for my unsaid question.
“I’m fine now, I had a long chat with myself last night” he said with a small chuckle seemingly making a joke, that was what Naruto and Sasuke thought it to be. I nodded as I realised he was talking about the Kyuubi.
It seems the fox had helped Kami get through whatever had happened “can you explain what happened to you?” I asked and he nodded.
“Easily. I was overwhelmed, Naruto blowing up on me brought all of that shit to the forefront. My mind was occupied by my training, by Naruto and Sasuke and the future so I never had time to just sit down and process my emotions.
They’ve been building up for a long time now and it all came surging forward last night when I realised a few things. I feel much better now like a great weight has been lifted off of me” he explained as he shrugged.
His smile did seem a lot more genuine. I had always noticed the slight strain in his smile. I had thought when he revealed he knew about the Kyuubi that he was afraid I would do something if he revealed his knowledge and that’s why he was so tense.
I should’ve realised sooner that he was struggling, it was obvious that he would be. It was hard to imagine that a boy so sure of himself and his decisions was so broken.
“Has Naruto and Sasuke told you what we discussed last night?” I asked.
“Ahhh” Kami made a noise of realisation “they said that you had let them come on the trip with me but they never told me it was last night. You tucked me in?” he asked and I nodded.
“Thank you,” Kami said as he smiled at me. I smiled back “Yes I told them about the first part of our conversation, I thought it would be a good idea if they were to join you. Although they will need to have an Anbu guard each. I can’t spare more than one. It’s easier for you to have multiple Anbu guards each in the village since if they are needed for anything they aren’t that far” I said.
Kami nodded, seemingly expecting that outcome. He had a question and I already knew what it was “and the guards won’t be tasked with guarding you so you don’t have to worry about that” I said to him and he gave me a thankful smile and nod.
“Also before you go I want to test you, I want to see how far you’ve come so I can hopefully reassure myself that you’ll be safe. Also Naruto and Sasuke” I said, turning to them.
“You must do all you can to keep your identities hidden. Your Anbu guards will protect you but for certain reasons there are some people out there that would want to kill you so I need you to remain as hidden as much as you can. You can ask Kami or your Anbu guards any questions about this if you are confused” I said to the two boys and they nodded in understanding.
“Okay Jiji!” Naruto said with a grin. “Of course Hokage sir” Sasuke said with a nod.
“Can we watch Kami be tested?” Naruto asked with a grin and I nodded “yes for most of it but there is something you can’t be there for” I was obviously talking about the Kyuubi, I was simply going to have Kami fight someone in a spar.
I wanted to see the amount of strength and speed he could output with and without the fox. Granted it was mostly to make myself feel better about letting them go.
Soon I had to leave. I went about my duties for the day and then left a Shadow Clone to finish up before I went home and slept for the night.
The morning came and I got dressed in my usual Hokage Uniform. I sent a Shadow Clone to the office to deal with the morning paperwork before I left for Kami and Naruto/s house.
Soon I was on my way to a nearby training ground where I had asked a Jonin to meet us as a favour. I was hoping meeting Naruto and Kami would allow him to feel better about the past.
Soon the four of us arrived at the training grounds and I smiled as I saw Kakashi Hatake surprisingly early. I smiled as I saw him. I also noticed Kami looked at the Jonin with recognition, it made sense of course they had both been on that A-Rank.
“Kakashi, I’m glad you took me up on the offer” I said as I moved over to Kakashi, I also noticed Guy and Gekko off to the side. I was confused as to why they were here.
“Gekko is here to see how his student does against me and Guy wouldn’t take no for an answer” Kakashi said in his usual lazy tone of voice. I nodded in understanding as I turned to Kami.
“Kami this is Kakashi Hatake, he is the Jonin that I want to test you against” Kami nodded in understanding, an excited look on his face as he walked over.
“Hello Sir, I remember you from the A-Rank mission” he said as he gave Kakashi a nod.
“Yea I remember you as well brat, you and your 50 clones” Kakashi said with a nod. Kami smiled at the man.
“So why do you want me to test him?” Kakashi asked me, curious.
“I wish to see how far Kami has come and I want to see what you think of him, you are notorious for being hard to please” I said with a small chuckle.
Kami gave me a questioning look “Kakashi has had a few Genin Teams over the years and has failed every single one of them and sent them to the reserve corps” I explained to Kami who simply nodded.
I could see Naruto and Sasuke giving Kakashi a glare af if daring him to do the same to Kami.
“We can get right on with it if you’d like?” I said to Kakashi and Kami who both nodded.
“Okay brat, you have to get these three bells off of me, you have 1 hour” Kakashi said as he attached the bells to his belt and pulled out a book.
We all moved over to the side where Gekko and Guy stood so we were a safe distance away.
“Time starts now” Kakashi said and Kami promptly launched himself at Kakashi.
Kakashi Hatake’s POV
I deflected the kick away off to the left side before I leaned backward to dodge the follow up punch all the while pretending to read my book. I was watching the boy intently, I was already disappointed that he seemed to think that he’d be able to just attack me.
I dodged another two kicks before Kami feinted the next kick and attempted to dive for the bells, his hand reached out and I simply pivoted my body to the side so he went tumbling to the ground.
As the boy slowly got up, a massive grin on his face as he stared at me, he pulled out a Kunai and with a grin ran at me, he made a hand sign with his left hand and then waved his hands in my direction.
I recognised the Justu so I jumped to the side avoiding the Jutsu as Kami pivoted and rushed towards me, he made another hand sign as he breathed in deep before releasing a strong gust of air from his mouth that kicked up a cloud of dust, dirt and other loose debris.
Kami then suddenly stopped as he slammed down a smoke bomb, another Jutsu followed as a cloud of smoke went towards me. As I started to jump away the cloud of smoke was broken as 4 clones of Kami shot out of it, rushing towards me, 2 of them had kunai drawn.
The other placed a hand on the two Kami’s with kunai drawn and used a Jutsu. I recognised it as Wind Friction Shatter.
They both shot forward at a much higher speed as they engaged me in Taijutsu, I had to put the book away as the two Kamis rushed me. I was unsure which was the real one so I decided to pop them all.
The first Kami came at me, slashing his kunai at me. I knocked his hand away with a palm as I hopped back away from the second Kami’s kick. The two Kami’s rushed me, each of them attacking in perfect synchronisation.
I was unable to counter attack at the current strength I was using since the other Kami would protect and cover the other one whilst they were vulnerable to attack. I could just use my full physical strength and overpower them but where is the fun in that?
I glanced to the side seeing the two non kunai wielding Kamis over at my right, the forest was to my left. The two Kami’s made a hand sign as they shot two spears of wind at me. That was when the two melee Kami’s rushed and grabbed onto me, attempting to hold me in place.
I hummed in appreciation as I watched the two Jutsu fly towards me, I simply made a hand seal with the free hand they hadn’t managed to grab and then disappeared in a puff of smoke as a tree stump took my place.
The two spears tore the tree stump and the two clones to pieces. My eyes locked onto the two Kamis, I had a feeling neither of these were the real one.
Those two made 2 more clones, they quickly empowered two with Wind Friction Shatter, those shot towards me and then they buffed the other two. Eventually I had four kunai wielding, Wind Friction Shatter buffed Kami’s running at me.
I didn’t expect them to be so organised. He had definitely practised fighting with multiple clones. Number one rushed at me, slashing at my side. I knocked the blow away as number two came at my side jumping and slashing at me.
I ducked under the slash causing the Kami to go over my head, he landed on the ground, his feet sliding across the floor kicking up dust as he slid across the ground. One took the opportunity to slash at me again.
I dodged it by leaning back. I was forced to pull out my own Kunai as Three and Four arrived. I deflected Three’s slash away from my body before I used him as a shield to stop Four from being able to attack.
I positioned myself so three was In between me and Four. I rushed towards two but was a bit surprised as Four ran and jumped onto three, using his shoulder as a springboard to launch into the air above me.
Four came down on top of me as I charged at One. I decided to kick up the speed a bit. I sped at One, deflecting his Kunai strike as I grabbed him and threw him up at Four. One collided with Four as they both puffed into smoke.
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
Three and Two became One and Two as they put their Kunais away and stared at me. They made a hand sign each as they unsheathed the Chokuto on their backs.
Two more Clones appeared in a puff of smoke, each of them unsheathing their chokuto. I had noticed that they were slowly pushing me towards the forest. It was obvious they wanted to fight there since they had a lot more angles to surprise me from.
One and Two came rushing at me, their blades slashing outwards at me. The first one I dodged and then hopped over him using his head as a handstand as I pushed him down and into the ground.
I launched myself at Two blocking the strike as One tripped and fell face first into the dirt.
Three and Four were on top of me now to protect and assist Two. Three made a hand sign as wind chakra gathered at his feet and he took a step before using the Jutsu again to take another step.
I was unable to stop him flanking me as Four and Two pressured me with attacks, One soon joined them. I was forced to jump high into the air as a blast of wind slammed into the area I was just in from Three.
All four of them inhaled deeply and then proceeded to breath out four massive blasts of wind chakra. ‘Great Breakthrough’ I noted in my mind as I made a hand seal and then substituted myself for a nearby log that was in the trees.
I went to go through hand signs to blast the four clones who were looking for me but I was caught off guard as 8 clones appeared out of the bushes and tree branches from all around me.
I had realised he may have been trying to trap me as well so I was prepared as I dodged a few clones, slashing out with my kunai as I kicked and dodged.
I stabbed my kunai at the clone in front of me, I had dispersed about five already. They smirked victoriously as the kunai stabbed into its shoulder, blood sprayed from the stab ‘the real one’ I thought as the real Kami made a hand sign as I was quickly covered with clones.
I managed to get out and jump back to the open field. I had to fight my way out and use my full strength to get out quickly. As I stared at the forest I saw about 20 clones walk out, the real wounded Kami behind them.
He smirked, two of the bells were held in his hand as he quickly pocketed them “time to get the last one!” one of the clones shouted.
The 20 clones all rushed at me. I decided to stop playing nice and to see how he fared. The boy was interesting, he took a stab in order to steal the bells.
I lifted up the bandana covering my left eye as my Sharingan took in all the details of the clones.
“Fuck” I heard Kami mutter as the clones rushed at me.
Kami Uzumaki’s POV
“Fuck” I muttered as my clones rushed him. I was done for now, I had no chance of getting the last one when he used the Sharingan. My only bet was wearing him out but Kakashi could probably last an hour.
It had been about 5 minutes already. I called upon a bit of Kurama’s Chakra making sure to have the clones obscure me from Naruto and Sasuke as I used the Chakra to cauterise the wound on my right shoulder before letting it go.
My shoulder was a bit stiff and tight to move around but it should be fine. Kakashi is very smart but I honestly doubted he expected me to take a hit. I wanted to surprise him so my clones could surround him.
It was unfortunate that I was unable to get all three bells. Honestly if I could have used Kurama’s cloak I would’ve gotten them easily but I can’t become reliant on Kurama.
I sighed as my mind raced attempting to come up with something. There was no way Kakashi would go back to the forest and let me catch him off guard again, he also wouldn’t be caught off guard again.
He knew what I was willing to do to win now so it wouldn’t surprise him again. I watched my clones get beat to pieces, they were being thrown around like ragdolls as Kakashi systematically tore them apart. They kept making new clones as more and more popped.
The influx of constant memories was a bit annoying but I had trained for this in case I had to do something like this. Granted I could probably just cover the entire area with Jutsu and win but I didn't want to kill Kakashi or hurt the people on the sidelines.
Also I wanted to improve my skills and that was a cheap tactic in my opinion. In actual battle no tactic is cheap but in a test like this, I ain’t going to use tactics like that.
I continued thinking as my clones kept Kakashi busy, I was stumped, now that he had mostly stopped holding, I couldn’t win without Kurama. No tactic I could think of would work.
“Fuck it, let’s just try and improve my Kenjutsu” I made a hand sign as 20 more clones surrounded me. We all unsheathed our blades and then ran at Kakashi joining the mosh pit of fighting.
We were not able to win and by the end I was laying flat on my back breathing heavily. Kakashi did actually look a bit tired but that was most likely from the Sharingan. He also was holding back quite a bit, he didn’t use a single Jutsu for example besides the substitution technique.
“That was awesome!” Naruto shouted as he ran over, an excited grin on his face as he stood over me, Sasuke joined him and he seemed to have an impressed expression. This was the first time they’ve seen me actually fight.
“Yes I am quite impressed, Kakashi is one of our strongest Jonin so it was surprising you lasted that long even though he was holding back” Hiruzen said with a pleased smile and nod.
Kakashi looked like he didn’t care that much and he probably didn’t “there is no need to test the other thing, I believe you would’ve been able to get all three bells with it, you were close even without it” Hiruzen said.
I nodded as I slowly pushed myself to my feet, groaning in pain. It wasn’t the physical fatigue I felt that was causing me pain but the mental. I had pushed myself far but having more than 300 clones getting popped really strained my mind.
Kakashi was fast and he knew which one I was so he held nothing back against the clones and absolutely destroyed them with his taijutsu and kunai.
That is the power of the Sharingan. He wouldn’t have been able to win if he didn’t have it simply because of the massive volume of attacks coming from almost every direction almost every second.
“I am fine with letting you go, you’ve shown that you are still capable of rational thought and that your mind hasn’t been harmed from your recent problem” Hiruzen with a smile.
Gekko came over and congratulated me before giving me pointers on my Kenjutsu and how I used it. I had gotten some insights into it as well as I fought and watched Kakashi.
Soon Guy, Gekko and Kakashi left and we were walking with Hiruzen back to the village “so I’m letting you go for two weeks. I would like to recommend Yaharano for you three to visit. It is a beautiful town of Hot Springs” he said with a smile.
I nodded with a small smile, if we ended up near it then I would actually like to visit a hot spring. I never did in my previous life but I always wanted to.
“We have too!” Naruto exclaimed with a grin as he grabbed my arm and started shaking me back and forth. I groaned in pain since it happened to be the arm where I was stabbed.
“Sorry” Naruto sheepishly said as he let go of me with a smile on his face as he turned to Sasuke and started shaking him back and forth to make sure we knew of his excitement.
I let out a small chuckle at Sasuke’s helpless expression as he tried to push Naruto away. Naruto didn’t release him, he just continued to shake in excitement.
Hiruzen was watching with a smile as he walked us to our home “you have 2 weeks starting tomorrow, so you have the day to rest and get ready, I’ll make sure the Academy knows of your absence. I wouldn’t be allowing you to go if you hadn’t already trained a lot” he directed that last part at Naruto and Sasuke.
The Academy was more like a job than a school. It was all year round with few holidays. The weekends were for self study, for clan training or for rest.
Naruto and Sasuke both nodded resolutely, I was sure they would still train, I wouldn’t be stopping either. We soon got home.
“I have to go do some work, when do you think you’ll be leaving tomorrow?” he asked and I thought about it.
“Early in the morning, probably 9am. That should give us plenty of time to get to a nearby village” I said to him and he nodded, promising to meet us before we left.
It was the weekend so the academy wasn’t on. Before we started to get everything we would need packed into some storage seals we decided to let everyone know.
I headed to Gekko’s home, taking my time walking. I was sure Gekko already knew but I felt it was polite to notify him myself anyway. Naruto and Sasuke went to let their friends know.
Soon I found myself at a nice looking home in the district close to the Hokage Tower. I moved up to the front of the house and knocked on the door. I waited for a bit before the door opened.
A young looking woman in her twenties answered the door, she had long purple hair. She was wearing some baggy trousers and a white shirt. She had an apron on.
“Ah you must be Kami correct?” she asked and I nodded “can’t believe Gekko never bothered to invite you” she said with a smile.
I knew this woman was a named character like Gekko, I just couldn’t remember what it was. Hell, the only reason I knew who Gekko was because I loved the Part 1 Chunin Exams a lot.
“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, miss?” I questioned with a smile and she smield abc gesturing for me to come in.
“Yugao Uzuki, a pleasure to meet you” she said politely as she led me into the kitchen where Sensei sat at the kitchen table inspecting a Kunai.
“Hey Sensei” I said as I smirked at the man who turned to me in surprise, he seemed actually surprised to see me here.
“Never thought you’d visit brat” he said with a smile as he gestured for me to take a seat and I did.
“Not like you ever invited me” I said with a shrug and he nodded “fair enough” he said.
Yugao spoke next “Well Gekko is obviously not going to ask” she said as she gave Gekko a glare before she turned to me with a polite smile “what brings you here?” she asked.
I was reminded of my reason for being here at that question “thank you for reminding me” I said as I nodded at Yugao before I turned to Gekko “I’m pretty sure you already know since you were there earlier but I figured it’d be polite to come say bye anyway. I’m leaving tomorrow” I said to Gekko who nodded confirming my theory.
“Yeah it’ll be good for you to have a break every once in a while based on what Gekko has told me” Yugao said with a smile.
I nodded and we quickly fell into conversation, Yugao offered for me to stay for dinner and I accepted.
Sasuke Uchiha’s POV
We started off by going to Shikamaru’s home. It didn’t take long for us to arrive and we quickly knocked down the door.
The door was answered by Yoshino Nara who we had learned was quite strict, Naruto was as unafraid of her as he was with everybody.
“Hello Miss Yoshino! Is Shika in?” he asked with a big grin on his face. She nodded with a polite smile as she gestured for us to come in.
“Hello Mrs Nara, how are you doing?” I said with a small smile as we walked past her, she followed us after closing the door.
“I am doing fine, thank you for asking Sasuke, what about you?” she asked as she gave me a smile.
We soon moved to the kitchen where Shikamaru and his father were sat at the table. They had probably just eaten and were getting ready to do some training.
“Hey Shika!” Naurto said as he wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders and pulled him into a one armed hug. Shika was obviously annoyed as he pushed the blond away.
I moved forward and gave the boy a nod as he managed to push Naruto away.
“What brings you here? Usually you’d be at Sakuras picking her up for your weekend training sessions” Shikamaru asked, curious on his face.
“We’re leaving the village for a bit so we came to let you know and to say goodbye” Naruto said simply as he sat beside Shika on the table.
Shikamaru looked surprised and so did Yoshino and Shikaku. They both turned to me to explain and I sighed as Naruto never elaborated.
I sat down across from Shikamaru, his parents were sitting on either end of the table.
“Kami is going on a vacation and exploring the land of fire for two weeks. The Hokage said it was fine and offered for us two to join, we obviously accepted. It’ll be nice to spend some time with Kami” I explained with a small smile.
I saw a small grimace appear on Yoshino’s face. She didn’t like Kami’s situation. She hated that he was forced to mature faster because people hated him for some reason. She thinks children enjoy their childhood and it annoys her that he wasn’t able to.
She’d probably think differently if she realised Kami wasn’t interested in playing children's games. I knew this because she outright stated it. Shikaku and Shikamaru simply nodded in understanding.
We talked with them for a little before we left and headed to Choji’s home. The same happened. We simply said goodbye and then headed to Ino’s home. We knocked on the door and it was answered by Ino.
“Oh hey guys! Shouldn’t you two be with Sakura?” she asked as she looked at us curiously, she then stepped outside and shut the door. She was dressed in her training outfit so I assumed she was going out for a jog or something along those lines.
“Nah we aren’t, we still need to go talk to her and Hinata though” Naruto said with a smile towards the girl. He was always a lot more subdued around Ino.
“We’re going with Kami on a vacation of sorts around the Land of Fire. The Hokage let us join him” I explained as I nodded at the girl in greeting.
Ino nodded “if you’re not training with Sakura then i’ll get her to join me so i’ll walk there with you” she said and we nodded as we started walking towards Sakura’s home.
She didn’t live that far from Ino’s home. We soon arrived. I knocked on the door and Sakura opened it quickly with a bright smile. I had talked to her like Kami had said and it had worked mostly. I told her when I was uncomfortable and she was happy to do what I asked.
She had settled down a lot in recent times. She was struggling though in training. I was confused as to why she wanted to be a ninja, she didn’t seem cut out for it.
“Hey Sakura” I said as she stepped out of her house and shut the door behind her. She was confused as to why Ino was here.
“Why’s Ino here?” she asked as she greeted the girl.
“We’re going to be training together today and for a while it seems” Ino said as she gestured to me to explain.
“Kami is going on a vacation, he needs a break from mission and stuff for a while. The Hokage offered for us two to join him on his trip and we accepted. We’re just going around and letting everyone know. We’ll be gone for around 2 weeks” I said with a smile.
Sakura pouted a bit and she seemed a bit upset. “You can’t go with them forehead” Ino said with a smirk as she chuckled at Sakura’s expression.
Sakura glared at the girl before she gave me a hug. I reluctantly accepted it and then after some goodbyes. Naruto and I left to go and see Hinata.
Naruto hated going here simply because of her clan. Hinata herself was a nice girl but her father and how the clan operated was ridiculous. As much as it pains me to remember my clan was never like that and we were doing good.
The branch family being branded like that pissed Naruto off, the way Hinata was treated also annoyed us both. She was a good friend.
I also knew the only reason she was allowed to meet with us was because of me. The Hyuga Clan disliked Naruto just like most others in the village did.
We walked up to the guards and they glared at Naruto in disdain. Soon Hinata came to teh front gate, she was as shy and timid as she usually was.
“Hey Hinata!” Naruto said with a grin as we walked off to the side a bit, we weren’t allowed inside ever.
“H-Hey N-Naruto and Sasuke” she said with a small shy smile to each of us as she stuttered out her words.
“We just came to tell you that we’re going to be gone for about two weeks. Kami is going on vacation, a trip around the land of fire. Jiji offered for us to go with him and we accepted. We just came to let you know” Naruto said with a smile, the first time he had elaborated.
He cared about Hinata a lot, he didn’t reciprocate her feelings though. It was obvious even to us kids how Hinata felt about him.
It was mostly because he related to her a lot. He never had parents and had a hard childhood just like her but he felt pity for her since she didn’t have someone like Kami.
She frowned slightly, a bit upset “How about I get you a gift?” Naruto asked as he grinned at her. That cheered her up quickly and she smiled up at him as she whispered “t-thanks N-Naruto”.
We said our goodbyes as we headed back home, everyone had been told. The Hokage said he’d inform the Academy so now all we got to do is pack.
We soon got home and found Kami sitting at the kitchen table, a backpack at the side of his chair.
“Hey I’ve sealed away my stuff. There are backpacks in your rooms, get your stuff ready and then let me know and I’ll seal them away” Kami said as he nodded down the corridor that led to our rooms.
We both nodded and headed off to our rooms to pack.
Kami Uzumaki’s POV
I was unsure what to do on this journey. My goal was to find Tsunade but it wasn’t like I was an investigator or something. I was hoping my knowledge of her would allow me to figure some stuff out but I wasn’t sure.
Soon Sasuke and Naruto were ready so I sealed away everything they decided to bring and put the scrolls into their bags.
We were packed and ready to go. I told them to get as much rest as possible and I decided to do the same thing.
We would be leaving early. So I decided to head straight to bed. I was gonna do some chakra control exercises since they always helped me get to sleep.