I woke up the next morning half expecting ANBU to be standing over my bed asking me questions.
No one was there. Just some kids snoring.
«You are paranoid.»
I stole from a store last night. I'm allowed to be paranoid.
«The shopkeeper has not noticed the missing supplies. Your secret is safe.»
Maybe For now...
I got dressed. Ate breakfast. Went to the Academy.
---
Class was the usual propaganda fest. Iruka drew diagrams of the village's defensive formations. Mizuki stood in the corner, smiling his fake smile.
Naruto passed me a note. It said "I'M BORED" in big letters with a drawing of a stick figure crying.
I wrote back "DRAW BETTER" and passed it back.
He drew a stick figure flipping me off.
«Your friendship is inspiring.»
I know right, would love to see you make friends.
«...»
Sasuke sat in the front row. He was paying attention. Taking notes. Being a model student. But every few minutes, his eyes would drift to the window. Looking at nothing.
I wondered what he was thinking about.
Probably the same thing I'd be thinking about if my dad was dead and my brother was a traitor.
---
= After Class – In Training Ground 3 =
Naruto followed me to the training ground like a puppy who'd learned my schedule.
"So what are we doing today?" He was bouncing on his heels. "More push-ups? More running? More???"
"I'm trying something new."
I sat down on the grass. Pulled out the paper, The ink and The brushes out of my bag.
Naruto tilted his head. "What's all that stuff?"
"Seal supplies."
"For what?"
"Making explosive tags."
His eyes went wide. "YOU CAN MAKE EXPLOSIVE TAGS?!"
"wel... I'm learning to."
"THAT'S SO COOL!"
He dropped down next to me, cross-legged, watching my hands like I was performing magic.
"Can you teach me?"
I paused. Brush in hand. Looked at him.
He was serious. His eyes were bright. He wanted to learn everything I knew.
JARVIS... what do you think, should i?
«Naruto is half-Uzumaki. The Uzumaki clan was renowned for their sealing techniques. He has significant latent talent in this area.»
So I should teach him?
«You should not currently. He is seven years old. His chakra control, while improved, is not refined enough for precision seal work. One mistake and he could cause an explosion. Or worse.»
Worse how?
«A misfired storage seal could collapse inward, crushing whatever is inside. Including his fingers.»
I looked at Naruto's eager face. His fingers. All ten of them.
"Not yet," I said.
"Why not?!"
"Because you might blow your fingers off."
"I WOULD NOT!"
"Remember when you tried to do the fireball thing with a stick on fire and blowing out air of your mouth towards it and you accidentally set your sleeve on fire?"
He crossed his arms. "That was one time."
"You were coughing smoke for three days."
"I'm better now!"
"I am firm on my words, but if you want I could teach you something else."
I stood up. Walked to a nearby tree. Picked two leaves off a low branch.
Came back. Handed him one.
"Look at the other leaf."
He stared at the leaf in my hand.
I channeled wind chakra. The leaf split clean down the middle. Two perfect halves. They floated to the ground.
Naruto's jaw dropped.
"HOW DID YOU...."
"Wind transformation. Stage one. You put a leaf between your palms, use your chakra to slice it in half. It teaches you how to make your chakra sharp and thin."
I put the other leaf between his palms.
"Do that."
"alrighty!"
He sat under a tree. Put his hands together. Squeezed his eyes shut. Concentrated.
The leaf sat there. Uncut.
"IT'S NOT WORKING!"
"You're forcing it. Relax. Let the chakra flow."
"I AM RELAXING!"
"You're yelling."
"I'M NOT YELLING!"
I left him to it.
---
I sat on the grass. Spread out the paper. Dipped the brush in ink.
«The explosive tag formula requires 47 brush strokes in a specific sequence. Begin with the central kanji for 'explode.'»
I drew the kanji. My hand shooka little.
«Too much pressure on the downward stroke. The line width is inconsistent.»
I kept going. The strokes felt wrong. The ink blotched in a few places.
«The sequence is incorrect. You skipped the third auxiliary kanji.»
"Damn it."
I set down the brush. Looked at the tag. It was ugly. Messy. The kind of thing a first-grader would make during art class.
«Infuse chakra. Test it.»
It's gonna fail.
«Probably. Test it anyway.»
I picked up the tag. Walked to a nearby rock. Stuck the tag on it.
Rat seal.
Click.
The tag glowed faintly.
Then it fizzled.
Smoke curled up from the paper. The glow died. The tag sat there, useless, looking embarrassed.
«Failure logged. Analyzing errors.»
I skipped a kanji... Didn't I.
«You skipped three. And your brush pressure was inconsistent. And your ink-to-chakra ratio was off by 17%.»
So basically everything was wrong.
«Correct. Try again.»
---
I took a deep breath.
New paper. New ink. Dipped the brush.
«This time, follow my instructions exactly. Stroke by stroke.»
Okay.
«Begin. Central kanji. Downward stroke. Consistent pressure.»
I drew. My hand was steadier this time.
«Good. First auxiliary kanji. Upper left. Short stroke. Precise.»
I drew.
«Second auxiliary. Upper right. Diagonal stroke. Do not rush.»
I drew.
«Third auxiliary. Lower left. Curved stroke. Breathe slowly.»
I drew.
«Fourth auxiliary. Lower right. Closing stroke. Hold.»
I set down the brush.
The tag looked... clean. The lines were straight. The ink was even. The kanji were in the right places.
«Acceptable. Not perfect. But acceptable.»
Will it work?
«There is only one way to find out.»
I picked up the tag. Walked to a different rock. This one was bigger. More solid.
Stuck the tag on it. And took some steps back.
Rat seal.
Click.
The tag glowed. Brighter this time. The kanji pulsed.
Then...
BOOM.
The rock shattered. Pieces flew everywhere. A chunk the size of my fist sailed past my head and embedded itself in a tree.
Naruto screamed.
"WHAT THE!!!"
He was on his feet, leaves flying out of his hands, eyes wide as dinner plates.
"YOU BLEW UP A ROCK!"
"Umm I guess."
"WITH PAPER!"
"Yeah."
"HOW?!"
"Seals. I told you."
He ran over to where the rock used to be. There was a crater. Smoke was rising from it.
"THAT WAS AMAZING!" He grabbed my shoulders. "MAKE ANOTHER ONE! BLOW UP ANOTHER ROCK! OR THE HOKAGE MOUNTAIN!!"
"hmm good idea but I only have so much paper."
"THEN GET MORE PAPER!"
"It's expensive."
"I'LL HELP YOU STEAL IT!"
"how do you... Nevermind"
«He is enthusiastic.»
He's gonna get us caught.
«Probably. But his enthusiasm is genuine.»
I pulled out another sheet of paper. Dipped the brush.
"Watch closely," I said. "I'm only gonna show you once."
Naruto sat down. Cross-legged. Eyes locked on my hands.
I drew the tag. Slow. Careful. Stroke by stroke.
Naruto didn't say a word. Didn't bounce. Didn't yell.
He just watched.
«He is paying attention. This is unusual for him.»
I mean He wants to learn.
«He wants to blow things up. There is a difference.»
Same thing, really.
---
= Aftermath =
I made 15 more tags before the sun went down. 14 worked. 1 fizzled.
Naruto made zero progress on the leaf. He kept trying, kept failing, kept yelling at the leaf like it was personally insulting him.
"I HATE THIS LEAF!"
"It's just a leaf Vro."
"IT KNOWS WHAT IT DID!"
I packed up my supplies. Brushed the grass off my pants.
"Same time tomorrow?"
"Yeah." He kicked the leaf. It didn't react. "I'm gonna beat this stupid thing if it's the last thing I do."
"I believe in you."
"SHUT UP!"
I walked home. The sunset was orange and red. The kind of sky that looked like someone had painted it.
«You now know how to make explosive tags.»
Yep.
«Next step: selling them.»
Yeah, think I'll need to find a ninja store to sell them to.
«there is one shop I can recommend, and it will pay you a good amount for your explosive tags»
Hmm?. Which one?.
«Higurashi's Weapon Shop»
isn't that the shop that Tenten's parents Own?, Though in the original Naruto version they didn't have a weapons shop but in this reality they have one.
I guess that was another butterfly effect of me coming to this world.
«certainly»
May be quite a lot of things will change in the future... because I wasn't supposed to be in this world originally but I am.
---
END CHAPTER 20
Xx-----xX
A/N: Leave some power stones and if you don't... I will come to your house tonight >:)
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Btw if you want to read some advance chapters then check out my P@treøn, links in the synopsis.