Though Hizashi's death was a major blow to Konoha as a whole, life went on as usual. Konoha was as bright as ever, and Naruto seemed happy to go to school. Unlike the original Naruto, this new version studied theory and wasn't as naive as before, thanks to his ability to concentrate on his studies.
Of course, he threw a tantrum in the beginning, but the magic books made him realize the importance of reading. Even though he understood that the academy books weren't as helpful as the magical ones, he still read them and excelled in theory.
However, practical skills were where he struggled. His kunai handling, ninjutsu, and genjutsu were all lacking. But there was one area where he excelled - taijutsu. Kisuke had finally started training him, and due to Corazon's influence, Naruto was consistently engaged in weight training to improve his physical abilities. It was done in moderation, not as intensely as Rock Lee, and hakuda didn't require immense strength to begin with. It was more about using one's weight against the opponent.
So, even though he was struggling with ninjutsu, his overall grades were good, and he wasn't at the bottom of the class. The only issue was Kurama's chakra, which posed a significant challenge for him. This new style of taijutsu caught the attention of Iruka, who had now become a teacher at the school, and he reported it to the Hokage.
Needless to say, the Hokage was impressed with Naruto's hand-to-hand combat skills. He fought with an elegant finesse, indicating that someone was teaching him well at home. Of course, Hiruzen didn't question Aoto about this. Naruto held the same beliefs as he always had, so everything was fine.
Two months had passed since the death of 'Hizashi', and one day, Hizashi showed up with Hinata. After the death of 'Hizashi', he had been very attentive to Hinata and showed her love. It was more out of guilt, knowing that his own brother was in captivity. At times, he contemplated going and telling Hiruzen, but then he thought about the change he had slowly started to bring about in the clan. He didn't let the other faction suffer any longer and granted them much more freedom.
This didn't sit well with many of the higher-ranking members of the clan, but Hizashi simply ignored them. He even started training Neji himself and had been upfront with Neji from the start, telling him how his own father had sacrificed himself for the family. He wanted to make it up to him by personally training him.
Of course, Neji refused, but Hizashi insisted. He was persistent about it, and it went on for a month before Neji allowed Hizashi to train him for an hour a day. It was a start for both of them, allowing father and son to spend time together.
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'Oh the lies! The freaking lies.'
But finally, today was the day he didn't need to lie to another one in the family. Hizashi had showed up with Hinata the door step of Aoto's place in the evening after most of the people had gone back to their home.
"Father, why are we here so late at night?" Hinata asked and blushed a bit when she said that. She knew that this was the home of Naruto and thus the prospect of seeing him made her shy and also a bit unexpected. She also noticed one thing after his uncle died.
His father was being very loving to her since then. And she noticed quite a bit of change on his behaviour. His father would now be pleasant to everyone and not be all bossy. He showered her and her younger sister with love, and though he would ask them to train but not forcefully.
This made Hinata very happy as she finally started to see light at the end of the tunnel and getting the father's love which she always wanted. She never cared about being the head of the clan and was glad that the whole charade had finally ended.
"To see someone close to us." Hizashi said.
"Close to us?" Hinata was confused. The first thing that came to her mind then was Naruto but that was impossible. So who was it. She was curious. Hizashi came and knocked on the door.
"Come in." Aoto came and opened the door for them.
"Good evening, Aoto-san."
"Good evening Hinata."
Both of them had entered his home and Hinata was half expecting Naruto while Hizashi was expecting to see his brother. But the house was empty except for Aoto. Hizashi was a bit confused and wondered where did he keep his brother. In all these days, he half expected Aoto to be caught and investigated by Konoha because there were many sensory ninjas around but nobody found out.
In fact, Hizashi himself used Byakugan to search for his brother from far but to no avail. Where the hell was he keeping him?
"So why so late at night?" Aoto asked, and even though he knew he didn't want to ask in his own accord.
"Uh.. We would like to meet him. The girl deserves to know as you once said." Hizashi answered and in a pleading tone. Hinata noticed that her 'father' was being very respectful to Aoto but didn't know why.
"Right. Then you should tell Hinata of whom she is going to meet." Aoto nodded. Hizashi turned around and bowed with his head hitting the floor.
"I am sorry Hinata-sama for lying to you all these months. I am not your father." Hizashi spoke his words as clear as possible. Hinata was not expecting the sudden change of her 'father'. The emotion called confusion hit her like a train.
"Eh!"
"Yes. Hinata-sama. I am your Uncle Hizashi and in order to survive I had to pose as your father and let someone else die in my place. There is no curse mark on my forehead for some reasons, but your father is fine and he lives here. I am sorry for deceiving you, but this was the only thing I could do to save my life." Hizashi said and Aoto was surprised that Hizashi didn't paint him as the bad guy.