While I was waiting for the memory feedback from the clone, I returned to the party. It was supposed a small gathering, as always.
We celebrated my and Sakura's birthdays together, and a few of her friends from the academy were invited too. Well, I say a few friends, but it looked like she invited all the girls from her class. I even spotted Hinata trying to find a place with fewer people around.
Thankfully, we were celebrating in the garden, which had plenty of space to escape the noise if needed.
Of course, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio was running around. Ino was the most active, while Choji sat with the adults, completely absorbed in a small eating contest with his dad. I was pretty sure I saw Shikamaru climbing onto the roof to get the best view of the clouds.
The rest was pure chaos, with many small groups of giggling girls scattering around. Honestly, I was tempted to help Hinata find a hiding place. Even battlefields were quieter than this.
I planned to celebrate with my old teammates later. I doubted Hana or Izumi could create so much noise even if they tried. Unfortunately, they were out of the village, so I couldn't invite them.
Although now that I think about it, inviting those two would probably bring Kiba and Sasuke along.
Kiba I could handle; he'd just be another loud person running around. But bringing Sasuke here? With his entire fan club present? Nope! Not happening. I don't think my ears would survive, and I'm sure the fan club wouldn't either.
I decided that removing myself from the chaos was not just advisable; it was a rescue mission for my social battery. I quickly hid a few plates full of snacks and cake inside a storage seal on my arm and took a seat on the roof.
Up there, I could still watch over the party, but at least the noise was somewhat lessened. The only other occupant was a peacefully sleeping Shikamaru, so it was quite tranquil up there. However, it wasn't long before Hinata spotted me and quickly made her way over.
"Social battery ran out?" I asked, unsealing a plate with a slice of cake for her, along with some more snacks. She nodded, looking at me as if I had just saved her entire bloodline.
"Too many people... So much noise; it felt like the world itself was trying to swallow me whole..." she said quietly as she sat next to me.
"Well, this is a prime spot to watch the chaos without participating," I replied casually. "I've heard you're doing great at the academy, but remember to have some fun along the way." I said after a short pause, looking for her thoughts on her class.
She nodded and started slowly chipping away at the cake.
"It's... interesting. I'm actually the best out of all the girls during sparring and weapon training. But..." She trailed off, almost as if trying to formulate her thoughts into coherent sentences.
"It feels like they don't teach us much..." she continued, hesitating again. "It's weird, like we're supposed to be soldiers, right?" she asked, unsure of her assessment. "But how can we become ninjas if we aren't taught anything useful?" she finally asked, her eyes darting around as if hoping nobody else could hear her.
I couldn't help but smile proudly at her, giving her a nod of acknowledgment.
"You're asking the right questions, Hinata... and it's understandable that you're hesitant to ask them," I replied with a sigh, trying to find a good way to respond.
"After the 'One-Month War,' we needed more ninjas, and we needed a lot of them." I began to explain. "Normally, the Hokage would allow a few promising students to graduate early, but then the whole Uchiha fiasco happened..." I paused for a moment, checking if Shikamaru was truly asleep.
"What people don't know is that the village lost over one hundred Anbu agents that night." I whispered quietly, extending my observation haki around us to ensure nobody could hear us.
Hinata snapped her head toward me, her eyes widening in realization. "T-That would... that's so many of them..." she stammered, shocked by the number of fallen elite ninjas.
I nodded, my expression grim. The lost people were the root ninjas I had killed, but they were still part of the Anbu force, and losing so many, almost a third of the entire root, was a crippling blow.
Adding to that the casualties caused by Itachi when he stormed the Root HQ, the numbers were indeed grim.
"Losing so many so quickly made the Hokage lower the standards at the academy drastically to recruit as many new genin as possible. I believe he wants the Jonin-sensei to teach them the basics on the go," I theorized, my eyes narrowed. "But such a solution isn't sustainable in the long run. He'll raise the bar again after a few years." I said quickly, noticing her disappointed look.
My gaze shifted to the sky, my disapproval of Hiruzen's recruitment strategy evident.
"It will just send many people into reserves or to their deaths. They simply won't be prepared, especially those from civilian backgrounds," I concluded.
I will have to address the situation, but talking to Hiruzen would likely be pointless. I've already heard Hana complain that her mom was really angry about the whole thing.
Other clan heads have probably spoken to Hiruzen as well. I know for certain that Choza did, but the lack of any change suggests that Hiruzen is unwilling to reconsider.
If he didn't budge when the clan heads approached him, there's no way he would listen to me.
"S-So, we have to learn on our own?" Hinata asked, clearly unhappy about the situation.
"At least for now, yes... I'll see what I can do to help," I said quietly. But I knew that teaching every single kid at the academy was out of the question; I simply didn't have the time.
"Y-You will help us, then?" she questioned, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Of course I will. All you need to do is ask," I replied seriously.
She seemed relieved, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"I-I want to learn ninjutsu…" she continued, her voice so quiet that I barely heard her.
"Then we'll start working on it the next time we train together," I assured her, turning away to hide my grin.
It seemed that she only needed to recognize how little she learned at the academy to decide to learn ninjutsu from me.
I looked back down towards the party, deciding I had hidden out long enough.
"Try to have some fun; you never know when you might meet new friends," I encouraged Hinata before jumping from the roof and landing with practiced ease back in the garden.
I braced myself for the chaos of the gathering up close. God, I missed the comfort of the roof already.
Thankfully, the loud little gremlins tired out quickly, making it actually possible to talk with the adults present, mainly Uncle Inoichi and the others.
Once again, my hunch proved correct. It turns out most of the clan heads had petitioned Hiruzen to raise the academy standards but were unsuccessful. Predictably, they were quite frustrated about it, and for good reason.
This also reinforced my belief that I didn't need to take any active steps; Hiruzen would bring about his own decline in popularity, and all I had to do was watch it happen.
The evening arrived swiftly, bathing the village in the orange light of sunset, and the party slowly began to disperse.
Thank goodness; I don't think I could survive more of the chaos caused by Sakura's academy friends.
I finally felt the clone pop, receiving a surge of memories from it. I couldn't help but smirk. The sealing formula I had given it worked; or at least, it seemed to because not long after my clone dissipated, I heard the voice I had been wanting to hear for some time now.
"So, kid. What is it you needed my opinion on? Your clone was rather vague..." The deep rumble of Kurama's voice resonated through my subconscious.
If the seal worked correctly, it should be transmitting directly to my mindscape.
"Glad to hear you again, Kurama. I'll explain shortly... But first, can you actually sense the world around me through the connection?" I asked him with curiosity. I received a low rumble in return as the fox concentrated for a moment.
"It is far from perfect, but yes, I can feel chakra through you in a very limited area." His response came slowly; he was likely still adjusting to the sensation of sensing through a medium.
"Good, that will make the explanation much easier," I replied through the telepathic link that felt surprisingly stable.
I quickly soared above the buildings, heading towards a small house on the outskirts of the village. Honestly, that whole area reminded me of the suburbs from my past life, plenty of space, somewhat quiet, and rather dull in appearance.
But it's where Noriaki lives now, and I'm looking for him.
I made sure I was out of sight and closed in, finding Noriaki in his backyard, training with some kunai.
I sensed Kurama grumble as I got closer, not a menacing sound, but he was clearly annoyed.
"I guess you can sense it already..." I trailed off, not needing to elaborate further.
"That... that is a substantial amount of MY chakra inside that kid," he growled, his voice echoing in my mind.
"Yeah... and I have no idea if it is even safe for him to carry it, much less use it like the Hokage and other higher-ups will expect him to," I replied, hoping we wouldn't have an angry fox on the doorstep demanding his chakra back by midnight.
"Right now, not a chance. When he's older, though... that will depend on him," Kurama analyzed. "If he tries now, it would tear his body apart... violently," he added, something I already expected, but it was nice to have confirmation from the source itself.
"Any tips for him on how not to kill everything around him whenever he uses it?" I asked Kurama, though I wasn't keeping my hopes up.
"No idea. I've never given my chakra willingly to my previous jinchuriki... and I know they struggled because of it," he replied, his voice more guarded. "But he should be careful. If he uses up too much of it in one go, it won't regenerate back," he added, making me pause for a moment.
"I thought it wouldn't regenerate at all... at least that's some good news for him," I told Kurama, relieved that I wouldn't need to save Noriaki from dying due to the biju chakra inside him running out.
"Hmph... now that I can sense through you, I'll see if he's worthy of using my chakra." Kurama grunted, clearly unhappy but, fortunately for Konoha, not too angry.
"And if you determine he's not?" I asked, my voice quiet and curious.
"Then I won't help him, of course." The fox's response came so casually, as if he were discussing the weather.
"I- that's still way better than what I expected... Thanks, Kurama." I sent through our link, unsure of what to say but relieved that I might actually get some help from him after all.
"Just make the sealing formula better. I can barely sense a few hundred meters through you, kid." He chuckled, a low rumbling sound that shook my entire mindscape before the connection shut off.
Kurama closed the link, likely to take another long nap. At least I could contact him in emergencies, but he was right; I needed to improve the sealing formula. Coincidentally, he had offered himself as a test subject for it.
My smile widened as I leapt away from my hiding spot and headed back home. Maybe, just maybe, these communication seals would work better than I had anticipated.
With my immediate plans confirmed, I quickly got to work over the next few months, primarily focusing on improving the sealing formula that connects me to Kurama. There's no way I would waste time spying on Noriaki to help Kurama decide if he's worthy, whatever that means.
Instead, I aimed to fully integrate our senses, giving Kurama access to my entire sensory range. If it works, it will save me a lot of time and give Kurama something to do other than sleep. Unfortunately, it seems like this will be another long-term project.
I also started Hinata on ninjutsu training, concentrating entirely on Lightning Release. Since I had no fire jutsu in my repertoire, lightning jutsu were all I could teach her for now.
Even though she was clearly more talented in chakra enhancement and taijutsu, she progressed quickly, thanks to her Byakugan, which made it easy for her to learn any jutsu she could observe a few times.
If she keeps this up, I might have to start teaching her the Rasengan just so I don't run out of jutsu to teach her.
It's funny, really. The Hinata from the original timeline clearly never reached her full potential. This Hinata, however, I will ensure becomes the best she can be.
Unfortunately, my short break from missions had to come to an end, and soon I found myself split between missions and training whenever I could.
At least my mission record looked much more normal than before, albeit barely. There can't be many nine-year-olds with two S-Ranked missions on their record.
During one of my missions, I encountered a bunch of refugees from the Land of Water. Apparently, there is unrest among the ninjas of the Hidden Mist.
The Kiri Civil War seems poised to begin, likely spurred by Itachi's "fight" with Yagura. With the tyrant Mizukage weakened, the rebellion is expected to fully form within months, if not sooner.
I imagine I'll be sent to the border with Kiri more often in the near future, mostly to ensure that the refugees aren't causing trouble for the citizens of the Land of Fire.
From what I've heard, Tenzo was already deployed there on a long-term border patrol mission alongside Kakashi and at least three full Anbu teams.
Hiruzen clearly anticipates trouble, and I agree with him. The rebellion will need supplies, and where better to obtain them than coastal cities with minimal ninja presence? I doubt they will care whether those cities are in the Land of Water or the Land of Fire.
In response, Mizukage's forces might simply torch the cities they can't control to prevent the rebels from feeding themselves. Therefore, the presence of elite teams seems fully warranted in my opinion.
I wonder if Konoha will pick a side to support. I don't remember much about the Kiri Civil War from the source material, so I'll be going in blind again… unfortunate but far from unexpected.
Who knows if Yagura is controlled by Obito in this timeline, or if he is even controlled at all? I suppose I will have to figure that out on my own if possible.
However, it seems unlikely that Hiruzen will allow any Konoha ninja to assist either side for a few years at least.
Konoha needs to rebuild at least a little and hope that Iwa and Kumo don't try anything drastic. I would hate to fight another war so soon after the last one.
It took me several months to finally find the free time and energy to see Izumi and Hana again. We decided to have a little team meetup whenever we could, so the two of them got together quite regularly.
Unfortunately, since I was in the Anbu, I couldn't team up with them on regular missions, even though we were all technically chunin.
At least I was able to tip off Izumi about the Uchiha Tablet, just as Itachi asked me to. I hope it will help her, even though I have no idea how.
Meanwhile, Hana had enough free time to earn her field medic certificate from the medical ninja corps, which was yet another reason for her to celebrate.
I can't blame her; apart from becoming a fully qualified medical ninja, being a field medic was the highest achievement in medical ninjutsu.
However, considering Hana's intent to take care of her clan's ninken, I predict it will take only a few years before she becomes a fully certified medic, or possibly a vet. I'm not actually sure if the ninja world differentiates between these two fields, and at this point, I'm too afraid to ask.
I've also been unintentionally updated on the latest academy gossip by those two. How did they find out? I wasn't going to ask, who knows what I'd find out if they answered…
But apparently, Sasuke has finally begun to socialize a bit. According to Izumi, he has befriended Shino from the Aburame clan.
At least that's a familiar name, although I admit I had completely forgotten about Hinata and Kiba's future teammate. This is good news; it suggests that Sasuke is slowly becoming a more normal kid, at least for a child soldier in training.
Hana also filled me in on Kiba's latest attempts to skip school; that guy just never learns, it seems.
We really need to meet up more often. Hopefully, I can form a permanent team with Izumi and Hana once I'm out of Anbu. But with my luck, something will probably go tits up again, and I'll end up staying in Anbu longer.
Still, a guy can hope... right?