8 TSoL Chapter 8 - Return to the Academy

After waking up in his old apartment in the morning, Naruto was finally completely rested and relaxed. And even though it was time for him to return to the Academy, he felt unusually light and at ease.

After finishing his morning routine, Naruto had breakfast and put on his new white suit. Looking in the mirror and smiling relaxedly, he nodded to himself and said:

— Great! I feel that today at the academy I will not be the Dead Last, dattebayo! — clenching his fist, Naruto smiled to himself, and thought:

«After all, over the past three days, my clones have been able to pull up some of the missing knowledge in the library, and training with my father has helped me improve my movement skills by adding chakra to my feet.»

Pleased with himself, Naruto grabbed the book he had borrowed from Ino, sealed it in the recently studied storage seal, and left his apartment.

Along the way, unlike previous times, he decided to completely ignore the villagers, since they no longer bothers him with their looks, because he finally learned all the details of their blind hatred.

But if Naruto still tried to pay attention to the views of people on him, then he would be able to notice that very rarely, but on the faces of some residents there were completely new facial expressions, conveying such emotions as surprise, confusion, and even vague awareness and trembling.

These rare residents were people who lived long enough to remember one promising young shinobi, wearing the same outfit, golden hair, and the same calm and relaxed gaze.

An elderly man who owns a small musical instrument shop even witnessed moisture as he quietly said in confusion:

— M…. Minato? His voice was too low for anyone to hear him.

— Did you say something, father?

An adult son standing next to him did not understand what was wrong with his father, and therefore he followed his gaze and saw a blond boy with a relaxed and serene smile.

— Oh, no, nothing serious, — the elderly man decided to dismiss his son's question.

His son looked a little confused, as at first he did not recognize the boy, but then, after looking closely, he was surprised when he realized who he was seeing. Slightly angry, he told his father:

— Father, is it because of him that you have such bitterness? Has this demonic brat somehow offended you?

Hearing the words of his son, the elderly man suddenly got angry, and hitting his son on the head with his cane, shouted:

— Shut up, you fool! Don't you dare call this young man a demon! - the elderly man was clearly dissatisfied with the words of his son.

— But father, everyone in the village says that he... — the guy did not have time to finish, as he was interrupted by his father.

— What do they know? Tfu! — spitting in contempt for other villagers, the elderly man continued, — just give a bunch of idiots a reason to vent their displeasure, and they will believe in any nonsense they hear. Even if the target of their dissatisfaction is a small child!

Rubbing the sore spot, the guy wanted to answer his father, but knowing that this would inflame him even more, he decided not to do it, and just accept his words. In any case, if no one offended his father, then he didn't care.

All this time, Naruto didn't notice the small changes in the eyes of some of the older residents, and ended up quietly making his way to the academy, unaware that he had planted small seeds of doubt and suspicion in the heads of a number of people.

Upon entering the Academy grounds, Naruto looked around in an attempt to find Ino, but without seeing her, he decided to check in the classroom. Going inside the building, he walked along the corridor to the desired class and slowly entered it.

Everything was as usual, Ino, Sakura and several other girls formed a circle around Sasuke, Shikamaru was sleeping on the desk, and Chоji was chewing on another packet of chips next to him. Kiba tried in vain to divert the attention of the Uchiha girls to himself, while Shino just sat there and waited for the class to begin.

Moving his gaze to Hinata, who had already noticed Naruto, and looked slightly embarrassed at him, all the memories associated with her behavior in his presence reappeared in Naruto's head, which gave him a lot of food for thought, but he decided to postpone this question again for later, though he decided to come over and say hello anyway.

— Good morning, Hinata-chan, — Naruto said with a light and warm smile.

Seeing this, Hinata's heart skipped a beat, and she blushed deeply:

— D... good morning, N... Naruto-kun. — the young Hyuuga replied stammering, pushing her index fingers together and looking embarrassedly at the blonde, while she thought:

«Naruto-kun is so unusually relaxed and calm today. And his new clothes... it suits him, — blushing even more, the white-eyed girl carefully studied the object of her interest, — even his gaze changed and warmed, as if something had ceased to torment him. Something good must have happened. I'm so happy for him.»

Nodding to the hovering Hinata, Naruto headed towards his desk, but as he passed the girls who were attracted by the Uchiha, he gently tapped Ino on the shoulder, distracting her from the flirtation.

At first, the blonde frowned a little, not understanding who had thought to distract her from this battle for attention, but noticing Naruto and his new appearance, she quickly forgot what she was doing and said in surprise:

— Naruto? Wow, I was wondering why you were away for so long, and you really decided to completely change your wardrobe, as I advised you? - the blonde looked at the new Naruto with satisfaction, obviously pleased with his choice, - it definitely suits you almost perfectly. Of course, I could improve this image, but I think that what you have now is also quite a good option.

Noticing that Ino stepped back from the circle, Sakura also shifted her gaze and spotted Naruto. She also saw his new clothes, and could not help but think that this is the first good thing that she saw in him for all time.

But then, remembering all his loudness, his passion to annoy everyone with his pranks, and his constant obsession with her, she suppressed all extraneous thoughts from her head, and decided to make sure that he did not arrange another prank again, and also satisfy her interest, because lately, Ino has started communicating with Naruto quite often.

Standing next to her "friend", she began to listen to what they were talking about.

— Right, Ino-san. From now on, this will be my daily outfit. But I didn't want to talk about that, — looking at Sakura looking at them, he returned his gaze to Ino, — I returned what I took from you not so long ago. Thanks again for giving me this thing, it helped me a lot.

Saying that, Naruto handed her a small rolled-up scroll. Ino stood a little frozen in surprise. The way Naruto was talking to her now was completely different from what it had been before. Looking at him again, she realized that even the aura around him had changed, as if he had been reborn.

Even Sakura, who was standing nearby, noticed this, and for a moment got confused, but quickly pulled herself together, and putting her hand on Ino's shoulder, pulled her out of her stupor. Young Yamanaka quickly came to her senses and said:

— Oh, yes, it's okay, — then taking the little scroll he gave her, she asked, — what is it?

— I sealed this object in a scroll so you don't have to carry it home yourself. Also, if you need my help, then I am always at your service, dattebayo!

Saying that, Naruto showed her a thumb and smiled warmly. After that, nodding to Sakura, he relaxed towards his seat.

Following him with her gaze, the blonde looked at the scroll in her hand and said:

— Sealed it? When did he learn to use seals? We haven't studied them yet, — Ino asked this question without waiting for an answer.

But she forgot that Sakura was nearby, who did not think about this situation as much as she should, and expressed her opinion:

— That's right, even I don't know the seals yet! This is definitely one of this dunce's pranks, — Sakura said with folded hands and nodding to herself, — and I bet he's pretending to be calm on purpose to dampen our guard. If I were you, I would carefully check this "seal" before opening this scroll.

Having finished her thought, the pink-haired girl returned to pestering the gloomy Uchiha, leaving Ino alone with her thoughts.

Hearing Sakura's guess, Ino could not prevent such a move from Naruto. After all, she herself had previously assumed that the book she brought him could help him in his next joke.

She decided to be careful and take this scroll to her father to check for unwanted surprises before opening it. She did not believe that Naruto knew the fuin seals, and thought that this seal was either bought or stolen somewhere, or it was not a storage seal at all, but something else.

Glancing suspiciously at Naruto, who still looked quite serene, a strange sensation of warmth and calmness emanating from him again returned to her. Remembering again Sakura's words that this could be his pretense, she decided not to attribute her usual logic here, and to trust her "friend" and her memories of Naruto's previous antics, so as not to allow herself to be caught in delusions. Only, she does not yet know that she has already become a victim of these very delusions, which in the future will turn her eyes on Naruto irrevocably.

At this time, unaware of the two girls' thoughts about him, Naruto recalled his conversations with his mother about trying to start making music as a hobby. He remembered how she said that his father played the shamisen, and he remembered that he had seen this instrument once before, and it looked very long and fragile. Naruto wasn't sure if it would suit him, so he kept thinking:

«Just because my father played the shamisen doesn't mean I'll play it too. I would like to first see what instruments exist in general, and perhaps find something that I personally like, — Naruto scratched his head, and realized something, — but I still have no idea how good I will be at music, and whether it suits me as a hobby in principle. I guess there is only one way to find out. I think it's worth going to a musical instrument store after class and finding the right instrument for me.»

At this point, Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by a loud Kiba.

— Hey Naruto! I am glad that you finally deigned to appear, because while you were away, I was able to become even stronger, — Kiba lifted his nose smugly, pointing at himself with his thumb, — now, in each of our sparring sessions, I will look even better against your background. The main thing is not to stop skipping classes and wreaking chaos in the village.

His loud words were able to wake up even the eternally sleepy Shikamaru, who lazily looked up, trying to understand where all this noise was coming from, and seeing Naruto returning and greatly changed, he began to observe the situation with interest.

With an odd look at Kiba, Naruto replied:

— Why do you think I skipped in order to create chaos? Maybe I've been training hard all this time, haven't you thought about it?

Naruto always had a hard time understanding this guy. He had family, friends, was part of an existing clan, but tried to attract attention no less than he himself had before. Unless in the practical jokes, in his opinion, he sucked.

Hearing Naruto's answer, Kiba and the other students standing nearby just laughed. Kiba wiped a tear from his eye and said.

— Ha ha ha! Yeah, right! Where else could someone like you learn new ninja knowledge and skills besides the academy, huh? Don't kid yourself, you will always be in the role of a minor character when the main character in my face shines in plain sight, — saying that, he winked at Ino and Sakura, whose attention was drawn to this situation, but immediately showed sour expressions from just one glance at Kiba's flirting.

Naruto only smiled in a relaxed manner, and replied in a calm voice:

— If that's what you think, then good. We can find out if your conclusions are correct or not at the next sparring.

To everyone's surprise, instead of the usual loud and annoyed answer, Naruto kept himself completely calm, as if Kiba did not bother him at all. This definitely pissed off Kiba, who was expecting a completely different reaction, and now he was seething with inner anger.

Seeing such a strange contrast, some of the kids now looked at Naruto a little differently. Even Sakura had to admit that at the moment, against the backdrop of the loud Kiba, the calm Naruto didn't look so bad. Now, she didn't know if he was really starting to change, or if it was all part of his pretense to act out at the end. In her and Ino's head, the image of a loud, obsessive and hooligan boy in an orange jumpsuit is so deeply ingrained that all the slightest changes for the better are either ignored or perceived with strong suspicion.

The only girl in the class who looked at Naruto with warmth and admiration was the young Hyuuga. She clearly saw that Naruto was able to take the path of change. He was able to do what she was trying so hard to achieve.

«Naruto-kun was able to start changing for the better, and I still remain the same... I... I also want to change, and become bolder… — She clenched her fists, and decided next time to speak to Naruto first. If she can do this on an ongoing basis, then perhaps after some time, she will be able to tell him about her feelings.»

While a small light flashed in the eyes of the young Hyuuga, one lazy Nara found this whole situation rather unusual. He did not draw any conclusions, but decided to closely follow the future practical exercises.

At this time, Iruka entered the classroom and interrupted Kiba, who was about to start loud indignation towards Naruto.

— So, students, go back to your seat, the lesson will begin now, — opening his journal, he began to check who was missing, and stopping at Naruto, said, — Naruto, your long absence will not do you any good. If you want to get all the necessary knowledge and graduate from the academy, then you should take your studies more seriously. You understood me?

— Yes, Iruka-sensei. I have a lot of things to do lately, so I can't promise to attend all classes, but I will try to keep absenteeism to a minimum.

Iruka raised an eyebrow in surprise as it was quite unusual for Naruto to calmly accept his words and respond equally calmly. But what was more surprising was that Naruto, who wanted to become Hokage and was always eager to learn new jutsu, said that he had a lot of things to do, for which he exchanged his studies at the academy.

Hearing about some "things to do" from Naruto, Sakura and Ino became even more suspicious, and more and more thought that something must be wrong here.

Deciding it had something to do with the additional training from the Third Hokage, Iruka just sighed and spoke:

— Well Naruto, it's your right not to come, but if you don't handle the tests and practice sessions, I'll have to take action, do you understand me?

— Hai, Iruka-sensei, — Naruto replied in the same calm tone.

With that done, Iruka checked the others' presence, and proceeded to teach. After theoretical studies, it's time to practice.

Practical lessons consisted of throwing shurikens and kunai at targets, sprinting, practicing substitution techniques, and, at the end, one-on-one taijutsu fights.

In throwing kunai and shuriken, Naruto showed himself only slightly better than before, and only because he was able to correct himself, based on previous unsuccessful attempts, thanks to his memory. That is why he did not end up at the bottom of the results, and took a solid middle place.

In the short distance race, he was able to break his last record, and to the surprise of many, was able to get into the top three students in this business, among whom were Kiba and Sasuke.

If Kiba was angry and showered Naruto with questions about his sudden improvement, then Sasuke just frowned at the calm blond and silently walked to the side.

In the replacement technique, everything went as usual, as Naruto never had a problem with it, except that it was given to him a little easier thanks to his chakra control training.

Finally, the moment of one-on-one sparring came, and Kiba was eager to fight like no other. Raising his hand, he said:

— Iruka-sensei, can I spar with Naruto? — He asked with a grin.

Iruka glanced at the calm Naruto, then turned his gaze to Kiba, and said:

— If Naruto agrees, then I don't mind.

— Great! — Kiba jumped up and pointed his finger at Naruto and said, — Come on, Naruto, are you ready to accept my challenge?

Naruto just nodded serenely and replied:

— Of course, let's have a good fight.

Kiba just chuckled and thought:

«The fight? Pfft! There will be no fight, there will only be a beating of one loser, hehe.»

Naruto and Kiba took a position opposite each other and awaited a command from Iruka, who glanced over at them before raising his arms and slashing her forward sharply, saying:

— Fight!

At this point, Naruto began to use his head as in his training session. He remembered that Kiba had a very high speed, so he needed to act with him ahead of time. That is why, he immediately remembered all the previous fights of Kiba, his behavior and manner of attack. All this gave him a complete understanding of exactly how Kiba attacks him, and of course, he did not disappoint him.

— Get this! — screaming, Kiba jumped in Naruto's direction, aiming his right fist right at Naruto's calm and annoying face. Kiba was very fast and extremely confident in his attack.

Having already predicted this move, Naruto dived under Kiba's fist and bent to the right side, he made a body turn, carrying out a leg sweep near the ground, which knocked the surprised Kiba off his feet, forcing him to roll over the ground by inertia until he stopped with his ass up.

Looking at his exposed butt, Naruto chuckled and asked.

— Does this mean that you are giving the first "point" to me?

(Author's Note: This is a Russian joke, the word "Point" can also mean the word Ass. My English is too bad to have an English equivalent, sorry.)

Hearing his words, many of the children in the class laughed.

— Ha ha ha! Kiba clearly knows how to give up!

— Right, right! This is definitely a very visual way.

Even Ino and Sakura held their hands to their mouths to try to contain their laughter. Hinata also chuckled softly, forgetting her shyness.

Hearing laughter and mockery in his direction, Kiba blushed, and jumping to his feet shouted pointing his finger at Naruto:

— It's not over yet! You were just lucky because I underestimated you and was not ready. The second time it will not happen again.

Hearing him, Naruto's gaze became completely serious and he calmly replied.

— In a real shinobi battle, such a mistake would cost you your life. Try not to repeat it again, and attack me with full dedication.

[Mission: Defeat Kiba Inuzuka without missing a single direct hit. Rank - B]

[Reward on successful completion: Basic Namikaze Clan Taijutsu]

[On failure: weekly ban on seeing parents.]

After saying that, and seeing the new mission from Sistem-chan, the atmosphere around Naruto changed to cold and focused. He didn't smile anymore, forcing even Kiba to stop talking, focusing on the fight. The rest of the students also became quiet, noticing the changes, and began to closely monitor the further development of the battle.

Iruka also watched their confrontation with interest, noting everything in his notebook. He decided not to stop their fight after the first exchange of blows, as he saw that none of them were serious yet, but he was ready to intervene if they crossed the line.

Kiba began to circle around Naruto like a wild animal. Many children did not notice this, but in this way, he slowly closed the distance. Of course, Naruto noticed this, and quickly jumped in the opposite direction. Seeing this, Kiba followed him quickly catching up to him and preparing to launch a series of attacks.

Taking a stance, Naruto was ready to block, but at the last moment he noticed that Kiba's fingers were not clenched into fists, but open with bared claws. Realizing that blocking such attacks would be tantamount to receiving a blow, he decided to switch to dodging.

Kiba's first punch was aimed at Naruto's chest and slashed through the air inches away as Naruto successfully pulled his body back, then he had to move to the side, avoiding Kiba's second punch aimed diagonally at his shoulder.

With each evasion, Naruto avoided attacks better and better, memorizing and getting used to all of Kiba's movements, who became more and more angry, realizing that by dragging out the fight, he was allowing Naruto to read himself like a book. He had not yet had time to properly study his family's taijutsu, and therefore had an extremely basic and primitive fighting style, built more on instincts.

Suddenly, noticing something, Kiba grinned and intensified his attack, pulling Naruto in a certain direction. After a few successful dodges, Naruto suddenly buried his back in a tree and his eyes widened at the realization that he had forgotten to keep an eye on his surroundings.

With a grin, Kiba shouted:

— That's your end, loser!

Seeing Naruto stumped, many of the kids in the class thought it was an obvious victory for Kiba. Sakura and Ino weren't even surprised, since they had originally assumed that was how it would end, but what was their surprise when they saw Naruto just jump up, somehow land on a tree, escaping the claws cutting through its bark, and then with a sharp kick, like a yellow blur, he landed behind Kiba's back, and with a spin kicked the surprised boy in the back, sending him flying into the tree and getting a second kick to the trunk of the tree with his face.

The blow was strong enough for the disoriented Kiba to fall to the ground with a shattered nose. Naruto was about to land his second punch, but was interrupted by Iruka, forcing him to stop his punch inches from a frightened Kiba.

— Stop! The fight is over. The winner is Naruto Uzumaki!

Hearing Iruka's words, Naruto relaxed, and his whole serious atmosphere was instantly dissipated, and with a carefree smile, he extended his hand to the confused Kiba and said:

— It was a good fight. If I hadn't reacted fast enough, you would have gotten me. You're damn fast, dattebayo!

Hearing his words, Kiba also relaxed, and with a grin, he took his hand and stood up to answer:

— Yes, this last move of yours was also damn fast, all I saw was a yellow spot, and then a blow, - wiping the blood from his face, he asked, - by the way, how could you jump so sharply from the tree? It was like you were stuck to it for a moment.

Hearing his words, Naruto replied with a grin.

— The magician never reveals his secrets, nor does the shinobi, — Naruto then added with a laugh, — but your clan will definitely be able to tell and teach you about it.

Realizing that Naruto was not going to tell him the details, Kiba decided to do as he advised, asking his clan about it. The rest of the students watched in surprise as the recently feuding Naruto and Kiba were now talking calmly as they walked back to their side.

Finally, plucking up courage, Hinata approached Naruto and said:

— N… Naruto-kun. Congratulations, it… it was a good fight! — Hinata was very embarrassed, but still continued to stand and look at the surprised Naruto.

— Thank you, Hinata-chan! Do your best too, I will cheer for you dattebayo!

— H... Hai!

Hinata was very happy. She not only managed to be the first to speak to him, but also to get his support for her fight. Clenching her fists, she was ready to give her all.

Sakura and Ino looked at Naruto with difficult eyes, but Sakura was the first to come out of this state, saying:

— He must have been just lucky. It's impossible to improve so much in such a short time for him.

With that, Sakura headed towards the frowning Uchiha, who was still trying to figure out how Naruto could use this tree as a support in a situation like this.

Left alone, Ino glanced again at the relaxed Naruto, who was chatting sweetly with Hinata, looking at which one could see that she was clearly in love with him. She felt a little jealous as she could never get such warm companionship from Sasuke.

Taking one last look at Naruto, she sighed and headed to regain control of the situation around Sasuke with the other girls.

Shikamaru, who was closest to Naruto and Kiba, overheard their conversation and realized that their blonde classmate had become not only stronger, but also more cautious. Naruto really began to change, and Shikamaru found it interesting, but he was too lazy to start communicating with him and find out everything for sure. So he dropped the question until Naruto wanted to talk to him, otherwise it would be too troublesome.

The rest of the battles were pretty boring. The only two fights that interested Naruto were Hinata's fight against the clanless child, where the heiress of the Hyuuga family easily won, and shone like the sun, receiving praise from Naruto, and Sasuke's fight against Chоji, where the chubby boy, although he was slow, but on the surprise is quite strong. This was understandable after Sasuke's first attempt to block his punch, after which he was thrown a few steps back. Realizing this, Sasuke took advantage of his speed and ended the fight with a series of quick punches to the weak points of his body, incapacitating the plump boy.

With this, the school day ended, and the students began to go home. Naruto was also able to receive praise from Iruka, who was extremely surprised at his ability to temporarily attach to vertical objects with his chakra. Naruto decided not to tell him that he had already learned full tree walking, and water walking as well.

Standing at the exit of the academy, Naruto thought:

«Wow, the Academy is no longer as boring and unpleasant as it used to be. I was also able to communicate with a couple of students, and my life begins to qualitatively change. I can't believe that I used to put so little effort into acquiring new knowledge.»

Leaving the academy grounds, Naruto headed towards the shops, thinking:

«Anyway, now, as I planned, it is worth going to a musical instrument store. Hope I can find something suitable for myself.»

With this in mind, Naruto went in search of a store whose owner would not want to drive him away and would be ready to help him find an instrument.

* * * * * * * * * *

Author's Note:

I'm starting to gradually change the behavior of the hero, and some of the characters.

There will be many more interesting things in the future, so do not forget to comment and leave your opinion on this work.

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Thanks to everyone who is still with me!