Reincarnation – Naruto

“Then why does everyone call you those names?” Sakura asked frowning.

In truth, she had nothing against Naruto. She just wanted to make a good impression on Sasuke.

She didn’t expect that she would make a fool of herself instead of looking cool.

“The true incident has been classified by the Hokage-sama as village secret.” Naruto said

“You cannot expect us to defend ourselves by betraying the village can you?”

This was also a message to Hokage. Although the line itself was pretty innocent, many people understood the meaning behind it.

When the rumor spread, the Hokage didn’t come out to defend them for a case that was classified by him.

This reminded some people about the legendary Sukumo Hatake. He had a good prestige in Konoha.

It was said that he chose the lives of his comrades over the mission. Later those same comrades turned on him. Later in despair, he committed suicide.

This was also taught by the clans to their descendants. Never get on the wrong side of the Hokage. Or all your fame and wealth will be meaningless.

Those who were praising you could instantly turn on you with one word. The clans were still assuming that Sukumo did something against the Hokage. They could never imagine that he was killed simply because his reputation was getting stronger than the Hokage.

“Sit down Naruto!” Said Iruka angrily. He was indoctrinated by the bullshit of fire. He could never listen to anyone talk about the Hokage in this way.

The class introduction continued.

“I am sorry about speaking so harshly and laughing at you Naruto-kun” whispered Sakura.

“It’s not your fault Sakura-chan. You could only know what others tell you about me.”

“In fact, I would still be facing discrimination in the academy if the Hokage sama had so generously allowed me to reveal my parentage” Naruto maintained the façade for the time being

Hearing this both the monkey and Iruka were happy. It seems the earlier statement was aimed at the civilians and not at the Hokage, or so they thought.

“What a drag.” Said Shikamaru Nara.

He was quite terrified of Naruto. His entire conversation had three outcomes.

First, He proved that a civilian ninja can also rise to the top like the 4^th Hokage. And he was not a civilian.

Second, He told all the clan members that the Hokage would not be helping them in their times of need. Instead, he would be happy to throw them under the bus.

Third, He is naïve and doesn’t blame anyone when it’s quite the opposite.

Now the Nara was unsure whether to befriend this person or to stay away from him.

“What a drag. I envy the clouds!”

-----xxx-----

Lunchtime came quickly and Naruto and Sakura disappeared somewhere. Sakura had already asked Naruto to have lunch and Naruto complied.

During lunch, she kept asking about various things like ninja techniques, chakra, the fourth Hokage, etc and Naruto answered them without revealing any secrets.

Sakura was frustrated by the answers. She thought that Naruto was a naïve idiot who would reveal everything to a pretty girl. But at least he was more approachable than Sasuke.

-----xxx-----

A week passed without any incidents. The classes were boring to Naruto. He already knew these contents as did children from clans. Sakura was still fangirling Sasuke and he still ignored her.

Finally, in the afternoon Iruka announced a physical test.

Everyone was excited. They could finally show off.

The test was divided into two parts, Shurikenjutsu, and physical spars. Everyone wanted to be at the top of the class.

In the Shurikenjutsu test, Sasuke scored 96 points which didn’t surprise anyone as Sasuke is a Uchiha. What surprised everyone was Naruto scored 94 points. Although they expected him to be good, they did not expect him to be this good.

Then Iruka gathered everyone in the academy training ground for physical spars.

-----xxx-----

All the other matches were boring. Shikamaru gave up before starting, and Choji after a little while. Ino and Sakura got into a catfight.

The last match was me vs Sasuke. I know this is arranged by that annoying monkey. I just wanted to lay low for a bit, but I knew that the Uchiha would not let me rest.

I was at the entry chunin level by chakra alone. Add haki to the mix and I can go to the late level for a few seconds.

The frustrating thing about haki is that as much it is about the will it is also about physical power. It was very difficult for me to practice armament.

Even now I can only coat myself in the invisible armour for a few seconds. And it might take me a few years to complete hardening and maintain it.

The match started and we formed the seal of confrontation. Now I had many ways to end this match. But I chose the quickest.

Using body flicker jutsu I appeared in front of Sasuke. Although I had not mastered this jutsu, it was enough for my purpose.

I coated my hands with haki and punched him. Sasuke flew out of the arena and it was a TKO. Then I started walking away from the ring.

Everyone was shocked. They were expecting to see a high-level fight. Maybe even a draw. But no one expected that I would one-shot Sasuke.

After I went out Iruka still surprised announced my victory. Since Sasuke was in no condition to form the seal of reconciliation he didn’t bother me about it.

After that Sasuke started bothering me every day to spar. And I ignored him.

-----xxx-----

In the Hokage office

I instructed Iruka to match up Naruto against Sasuke. I was expecting a good fight, although at children’s level but still a good fight.

Sasuke was an Uchiha and Naruto was taught by Kushina. By developing a sense of rivalry, it would be easier to bind Naruto and Sasuke to the village.

In fact, I was quite satisfied. Naruto had many friends. The more friends he has the better. This way he cannot defect from the village.

My only concern was Sasuke. He was a loner and didn’t like interacting with others. I was hoping that by developing a rivalry with Naruto, it would be easier to manipulate him.

His brother Itachi was already a loyal Anbu and Shisui was coming along nicely as well. With Sasuke, I will have the future of Uchiha in my pocket.

Minato was a loyal dog. I really regret losing him. His son will make an excellent replacement.

As I was in my thoughts, the match started. What happened next shocked me.

I was having a headache now. I’m sure as soon as news reaches Danzo, he will come back to annoy me again. And as much as I am afraid of Naruto snatching the Hokage position from me, I am more worried about Danzo.

Till now Naruto had not made any indications that he wanted to become the Hokage. I can assign some position like Hokage secretary and he would be satisfied while my Sarutobi clan holds the Hokage position.

Even if he was not satisfied with the position, that was a headache for the future.

If I handed Naruto to Root, Danzo would use him against me in the near future.

As I was thinking about the coming headache, Danzo barged into my office.

“Danzo, haven’t I told you Numerous times to knock”

“Hiruzen, you saw how powerful that brat is. Hand him over to my root. I will train him to be an excellent Ninja.”

“How many times must we have this conversation? I have already picked out Naruto’s instructor after he graduates from the academy. He will be under Kakashi Hatake.”

“Kakashi was his father’s student. It will be good for him. I will not allow you to expose him to darkness.”

“Hiruzen….”

“Enough. This matter is settled. I am the Hokage.”

“You will regret this Hiruzen.” After saying this Danzo left dissatisfaction visible from his face.

I didn’t want Kakashi to interact with Minato’s family. Kakashi was an excellent ninja. He had no ambition. That’s what made him an excellent pawn. I am afraid that after interacting with Naruto, he will start seeing him as the next Minato.

But it was better than handing Naruto to Danzo.

The main problem was Kushina. If only she had died under the Kyubi attack, it would have been much easier to manipulate Naruto. But there are no ifs.

I just hope Naruto has no ambition for the Hokage position and Kushina behaves. I don’t want to lose the perfect vessel for the tailed beast.