"Actually, I've always been curious about this. Naruto, how exactly did you manage to fail the graduation exam twice before being dropped to our year?" Sakura asked curiously.

Naruto smirked.

"I would usually not be willing to tell you that, but I'll make an exception this time since it's your birthday," he replied, causing Sasuke to lean forward in his seat in anticipation.

"The answer isn't that shocking, actually. I was made to join the academy one year early since jiji knew I was capable enough to do it. He'd force me to take the exam every year and I would fail it on purpose despite him glaring at me. I always told him I did not want to stand out as some prodigy but he never did listen. It seems I have become more convincing over the past several years, considering how I managed to convince him to agree to let me join in the same year as my peers and even graduate together. He has tried to reason it out with me so I would take the exam so that I will not waste any more of my time idling away at the academy. I refused every time, though. I'm not sure if he gave up yet. Anyway, this time around he already had me take the test unofficially and even went as far as to prepare all my shinobi identification documents and the paperwork required to graduate from the academy as a legitimate genin. I'm technically a graduate already even though he did not make it public, so he would make up an excuse for me to pass it even if I do choose to fail the graduation examination," Naruto explained, not looking particularly concerned about the content of his words.

Sasuke's eye twitched.

"To think the person I've been calling dobe was actually a closet genius all this time. You must have thought me a fool, 'Ruto. Just how early were you able to obtain the qualifications to graduate in the previous timeline?" the Uchiha demanded.

Naruto shrugged, seemingly unaffected by his comrade's annoyance towards him.

"I wasn't even trying. I accidentally did the test during my first term in the previous timeline and jiji had hounded me to graduate since then. When he realised I'd purposely fail every time he just stopped asking and left me be until the time when I had to take it with the rest of the class I had been placed in. I flunked that one and did not join the following class the semester after that. I had to sit for the exam again and flunked it purposely, thus giving Iruka information about my poor record and creating the impression of a troublemaker. I even played along for fun and always did leave jiji completely exasperated whenever I dragged the whole village into my pranks while subtly picking on Iruka," he admitted, sounding rather smug when he came to the part about how the act of troublemaker had even begun.

Sasuke had started looking like he was having a spasm from just how violently he was twitching.

Honestly, his reaction was perfectly justified. A genius on such a level even made those of past generations who passed the graduation exams early look pitiful in comparison. If he had truly wanted to find someone on the same level as Naruto, just who in which era would be able to match up to those standards? Seriously, that a five-year-old had met the requirements that a seven-year-old Itachi had only just managed to pass with much difficulty without effort was inconceivable even though they both knew that Naruto was not the type to make empty boasts or baseless claims. They simply could not stop themselves from wondering how much higher than themselves Naruto had stood without any of them noticing from the very start.

Sasuke made the connection then and paled a little.

He realised that at the time he had defected, his life had definitely been spared by Naruto.

"As for the thing with Mizuki, that was all just an excuse for me to study the forbidden scroll and even jiji knew that. He had kindly chosen not to point it out, so I also chose to obey and quietly accept the headband he handed over. I framed up the one Iruka gave me to carefully preserve that memory, since it had been the first time I had ever been given anything in my entire life," Naruto added after a moment.

"Amazing," Sakura said dryly, feeling numbed by the blond's heartless continuous string of earth-shattering revelations.

Naruto laughed a little hollowly as his eyes glazed over with memories of a time when he had not had any human contact, besides the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen. Frankly, the true reason why he had taken on that mask in the first place was probably to get closer to Iruka. Naruto noticed how Iruka was quick to form close bonds with others and decided that he also wanted it for himself. As such, to form an impression on Iruka's mind, he subconsciously decided to use that playful, childish and stubborn personality because he wanted to be accepted. However, what he told himself was that Iruka would then feel obliged to 'straighten him out' and thus feel even more attached to him for it. Indeed, he had definitely been brewing up such a plan since he had first decided on the mask he was using for his act. Even so, later he truly got attached to Iruka and no longer thought about taking advantage of his tendency to care too much for those under his care.

Before either Sakura or Sasuke could even say a single thing about Naruto's emotional state, he quickly shook himself out of his stupor and grinned brightly once more.

"Here. Happy birthday, Sakura!"

He handed over a crystal orb which contained colourful mist which swirled within its depths.

She gingerly held the small spherical crystal as an expression of shock appeared on her face.

"T-This... This is..." she stammered, looking so stunned that her eyes almost seemed empty.

Naruto chuckled at the sight of the soulless Sakura.

To be honest, that was the most effort he had put into making any gift. He had learned a lot during the process of preparing it and had even benefited greatly.

Naruto let the final drop fall from the tip of the dropper and into the test tube, causing the dark fluid to instantly turn colourless. The pungent smell that hung in the air vanished abruptly, as though sucked into the tiny amount of liquid that seemed so stagnant and dead. The strange compound was unbelievably clear, even more so than the purest water. This was in stark contrast to its murky yellowish-brown hue from before that had so closely resembled mud. He finally let go of the breath that he had been holding as a grin broke onto Naruto's face. That was when laughter bubbled up from deep within his chest.

"I did it..." he murmured, still in disbelief at the results that he had finally obtained after months of hard work.

It was the universal formula that allowed one to counter any toxin. As long as one had a sample of the poison or venom, they would be able to use the very same formula to cure the person that was afflicted. It was truly a miraculous discovery, something that he had known Chiyo-obaa-san and Sakura to have been fervently hunting for. There had been no guarantee that it even existed, but he had believed in the two women and their absolute faith in the ancient texts that had so briefly alluded to its presence in a long-forgotten age. As a result, after months of hard work, he reinvented the miracle formula. He had originally intended for it to be given to Sakura one year before, but it had taken unexpectedly long and the delay had caused him to decide to pass it to her on her next birthday instead. However, the greatest gains he had obtained were not truly the formula itself. It was, in fact, what he had learned in the process of trying to create it. Sure, this was a discovery that was far less jarring as compared to his invention of the immortality seal but it was nonetheless a brilliant finding that could save countless lives as long as it was used in the right way. The sheer effort he had to put into preparing Sakura's gift would be truly mind-boggling to anyone else if they had learned about just what trials Naruto had to endure in order to discover the formula.

He had only decided on what he would give to Sakura soon after he took up Chiyo-obaa-san's offer to learn about puppetry and poisons. It was the sight of her earnest dedication towards her art that had jarred his memory about the mission that Sakura had inherited during the previous timeline from the aged puppet mistress. Thereafter, he sent his clones out to every region in the Five Great Shinobi Nations just as he had done before in order to map out the entirety of the Elemental Continent. He had his team of five hundred clones uncover every last piece of medical knowledge in the continent that he could possibly find and had another legion which consisted of thousands of clones analyse every single text and record which was sent to the processing team that remained in his mindscape and organised the information before it was actually sent back to him, hence giving him real-time updates to his medical knowledge. He had also sent out a modest team of one hundred to find information about a wider range of poisons and each of their respective antidotes.

It was only after many months of hard work that his effort came to fruition and, surprisingly, he had yet to give up and fall into the trap which was his temptation to simply replace all this sometimes frustrating and sometimes boring research with a fūinjutsu equivalent which would do the job with much less effort on his part. Though that would work too, he knew that he would not be proud of himself to have taken a shortcut in the process. It would feel like he had betrayed his resolve to present Sakura with a fitting gift to thank her for being his comrade-in-arms all this time. Even after all that hard work, he still had to work hard to formulate a sealing array which would enable him to pass his valuable experiences during his time of research on to Sakura. Though he could not deny that he was also good with medical jutsu, he would never be able to have the same passion for it as Sakura. To him, the most appealing of shinobi arts would always be fūinjutsu.

He had taken inspiration from that jade slip he had discovered within the ruins at the bottom of the sea, which had contained the blueprints for those strange projectile weapons. It had been an amazing discovery since it was proof that information could be preserved even through those extreme circumstances. After all, which scroll or carved tablet would be able to remain so fully intact after countless years within the depths of the ocean? He simply had been unable to even believe his own eyes when he first realised just what function that jade slip performed. He had studied the seals on the slip and applied it to a glass orb after several revisions.

It ended up looking like an unassuming marble. It was pink like cherry blossoms with crimson seal arrays which almost resembled flowers blooming within the glass, beautified through Naruto's first and only ever attempt to make his seals appear aesthetically pleasing. He had to use the ancient written form that he had learned not too long ago in order to achieve this effect. Unless he had undergone the task of formulating a novel concealment array for his purposes, conventional seals would never be able to replicate it.

Sakura then shook her head, still feeling stunned.

"No, I definitely cannot accept this. Not only does it contain all of your precious experiences that you only managed to obtain after endless hard work, I do not want to take advantage of you like this. These are your own memories. Just because you had edited it a bit so that it would be more systematic for my perusal does not mean that I would not be able to tell. This tiny orb alone has more information about medical and poison techniques than the greatest libraries of the Five Great Shinobi Nations combined, not to mention the fact that the knowledge it contains and all it entails is all verified. More importantly, I could scan the contents briefly but if I were to delve too deeply into it, I'll just end up with a horrible headache. You know that I've no talent in mind jutsu whatsoever," she sighed, her refusal completely rational as she held the orb back out to Naruto.

What she did not realise, however, was the fact that her fingers remained clenched tightly around it. Though she knew full well that she simply did not have the capacity to accept it, a large part of her was simply unable to resist the temptation of such a fantastic gift. She may never be able to use it to the full extent of what it offered, but simply having it within her grasp was already enticing enough. The idea of having all this information that even Tsunade Senju herself would gladly kill to obtain was driving her crazy. She wanted it. She really wanted it, but she just could not take it. She prayed Naruto would take mercy upon her and free her from her internal struggle by removing the glass orb from her possession. Its demonic attraction was almost unbearable.

Naruto only smirked. He was glad to see that Sakura liked the present. It was simply just showing so clearly on her face that he would not be able to remain oblivious to the attraction she felt towards it even if he had wanted to.

"Don't worry about that. Of course, I would have anticipated this problem and prepared something to counter it," he replied smugly.

He slowly reached into a drawer on his workstation and pulled out a silk-wrapped parcel.

The only reason why it was not in his convenient storage dimension which he had aptly named Inventory (it was likely that no one other than himself would understand where the term came from though) or even his storage seal was because the seal array on it was an incredibly fickle one. It was almost as though it had a personality of its own. Even if he was the one who made it, he still felt a little unnerved by it sometimes. Before it was bound to a user by blood, the item which was marked by it would be resistant to space-time fluctuations. It was strange and quite puzzling.

It had artificial intelligence and was designed to catalogue and retain memories in the orb. From the memories she had been given by Naruto to her own memories, this item was like a master key. It functioned as an intermediary which allows her to access the memories that were stored within the orb. It was also the only thing which would enable anyone to access the secret hidden files within the orb which detail some mystical elixirs and meditation techniques which he had discovered within the ruins of the tomb of an ancient sage. The latter actually had the shocking function of increasing one's chakra capacity and density while the former served to increase one's chakra reserves and improve the foundational chakra circulation within separate medicinal formulae.

Naruto had no use for them and had thought of Sakura at the very moment he first laid eyes upon it. The original relic had been very damaged and barely legible with many important parts of it missing, but he had been successful in finding similar techniques in a more complete state in what appeared to be the ruins of a place dedicated to some form of religious worship, judging from the rubble which resembled statues of deities and altars. He had put the information together and edited whatever seemed to be incorrect using his own knowledge of the herbs and other ingredients. Some of the listed ingredients were ones that had records of being extinct since over a century ago, so he had to look for suitable substitutes and then brew the elixir to test it on himself. He had to revise each of the recipes several times before he finally got effective formulas that he knew would not be considered lethal poison to anyone besides himself.

It was a beautiful metal brooch that was shaped to resemble a feather. The craft was delicate, every detail of the long plume painstakingly etched into the surface of the silvery platinum metal. It was almost soft to the touch, the design and texture so realistic that it could be mistaken for a real one. The feather was silvery white from where it sprouted from the quill, gradually becoming scattered by a silvery blue hue which darkened until it reached the tip which was a cobalt blue which seemed to match the colour of the clear winter sky.

Around the quill tiny cherry blossoms formed a small cluster, each petal so lifelike that one could almost smell the familiar fragrance which signalled the melt of snow and the onset of spring. The pink blooms were the exact same hue as Sakura's hair. Naruto himself was not quite sure why he had designed it as such. After all, blue and silver had never been Sakura's colour. Sasuke always wore navy blue since it was one of his clan's colours while Naruto's eyes always seemed to reflect the colour of the sky regardless of the season, with Shikamaru having once joked a lifetime ago that the sky actually reflected Naruto's mood instead. He simply had a strange, almost prophetic dream. Though he vaguely recalled it, he could not make any sense of it and had thus decided to disregard it completely. Despite that, he had still found himself designing the brooch in such a way and inscribing seals on it before he had even figured out what he was even trying to do.

"It's beautiful..." she gasped in surprise.

Sasuke nodded in agreement. "It's surprisingly fitting. How did you even end up guessing that light blue suited Sakura? Her colour had always been red."

Naruto shrugged helplessly as he admitted in full honesty, "I would have thought of jade green first since that matches her eyes and probably looks better on her than it ever did on baa-chan, but I just ended up with it looking like this before I knew it. If you don't like it, I can still make a new one as long as you don't mark it with your blood. If you do that, it will become something like an extension of yourself. It will be bound to your very being, a part of your self, and no one will be able to take it from you. Perhaps it might even follow if we were to make another leap to the past. To be honest, though it is definitely trustworthy, it might be uncomfortable to keep the thing around. That matrix actually forms an artificial soul, a spirit that will act as your assistant and has potential for growth. It might even be able to actively aid you in battle at some point in the future. It would be like having a housemate you can never be rid of or being haunted by an incredibly stubborn ghost that cannot be exorcised."

Sakura blinked in surprise, floundering slightly as she tried to come to terms with what she had just heard.

"Before I come to a decision, how about you let me have a look at that spirit of yours? If it's cute and I like its personality, I wouldn't mind keeping it around," Sakura spoke cautiously.

She bit her lip as she stared at Naruto.

To be honest, it was more than just a little disconcerting when the Naruto they knew in private was actually taller than the image that he portrayed in school. He had been using his ability to transform his appearance flawlessly to make his appearance match that of his past self from the previous timeline in his academy days. Though it was true that even back then he had the full support of Sarutobi Hiruzen, it was not like he had reported on his treatment at the hands of the villagers. It seemed that the meals that he was getting during this timeline were much more nutritionally balanced.

Ever since starting to live with Anko, he has not had to subject himself to grocery shopping. He could leave the trouble of associating with the closed-minded villagers to Anko who, although not particularly well-liked either, was at least treated civilly and was not shunned by the majority of the civilian population of Konohagakure no Sato for a reason that was not only beyond his control but also stupid at best. Were they actually actively trying to get him to hate Konoha instead? If they just wanted a hostile jinchūriki, then their current course of action was certainly the way to go. Truly, how foolish were they? He loved Konoha and wanted to protect all the people that lived within it, but that did not mean that he did not sometimes entertain such thoughts.

Even Sasuke had brought up this point on one occasion, with neither Naruto nor Sakura being able to come up with an appropriate reason to explain their actions. Naruto's bet was that they just needed an outlet to let out their frustrations and the hatred that they felt towards the Kyūbi no Kitsune due to the loss of shinobi lives at the front lines of the battle against the nine-tailed bijū all those years ago not too long after Naruto's birth. They only connected these two events because Naruto had been the only child who had been born on that very day, an orphan whose origins were unclear. Sakura could faintly recall that the villagers had initially presumed him to be the reincarnation of the bijū itself in the previous timeline. That was the main reason why she used to avoid him so. She had believed those rumours about how Naruto was a demon, a monstrous being that hid its true form under the appearance of a child.

Then again, at this point that probably applied to all three of them. They were monsters that had assimilated and taken the place of the children who were somehow both the same and separate from their past selves. Though it was true that they had returned to the past, it was another alternate world in which none of the events of the future had ever occurred. Otherwise, how could the lack of a paradox be explained? If they had really gone back to the past and changed their futures for the better, then how could their presence in this time be explained? It simply would never have had to happen. Even if Naruto knew of the jutsu, he would likely still be wearing his mask until the very end without seeing the need to use it and the two of them would continue to be oblivious about the true personality of their old teammate.

Naruto sighed, looking a little dismayed at the notion. "Ugh... this little fellow over here is just... He's troublesome, to say the least."

"All I ever said was that I liked you, Master!" came the indignant shout that seemed to resonate in the minds of those present in a manner not too different from telepathy.

It was a boyish voice, young and innocent-sounding.

Sasuke snorted while Sakura's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"When you said that it was not yet mature and still had room to grow, I was expecting it to be more... artificial. Perhaps something like Sasori's puppets or mindless drones under the effects of that talisman under the summoning by Edo Tensei, you know? I didn't quite expect that it will be something so... lifelike..." Sakura muttered while staring at the incorporeal form of a young boy who had long white hair that darkened to black at the tips and cobalt blue eyes.

It was tied back in a ponytail, a feather almost identical to the brooch that was still in Naruto's hand acting as the hairpin to keep it in place. He wore a white silken kimono which had an odd effect of shimmering like freshly fallen snow which had a black obi and cherry blossoms on the hem of his sleeves and at the bottom of the kimono. He had a very pretty face, one that few girls would dare claim to be inferior to their own. Long silvery grey eyelashes framed his upturned eyes, his eyebrows in the same metallic shade. His cherry blossom pink lips were pulled into a pout and a feathered mask rested in his hands.

"This is a... shota...? I mean, he's certainly very cute but... Naruto, I never thought..." Sakura muttered but never managed to finish.

"I did not get to design his appearance, alright? The most disconcerting part is that he has the capability to actively make decisions. Yes, he naturally takes on the aspects of the tool that I placed the matrix on. I even designed his personality, but his preferences were something I did not take into account while creating him. He just suddenly started calling me otou-sama all on his own accord despite my constant refusal and then transitioned to calling me Master when a shadow clone came in through hiraishin at some point," Naruto sighed.

"But Master is otou-sama," the childlike spectre mumbled under his breath, his eyebrows knitted in a frown.

Sakura almost squealed.

There was no denying that this kid was cute. His personality was not unappealing either. He certainly had a lot of character, but that was not necessarily a bad thing. Life would definitely be much more interesting with him around.

"He's honest, compliant and would follow instructions, but handling him can become a bit of a hassle since he can act a little bratty at times. Even so, he's a good kid," Naruto told Sakura while ruffling said kid's hair as he preened at the praise.

"You can touch him?" Sakura exclaimed in surprise.

"You would be able to do so too if only you would accept him as your bonded," Naruto replied, not seeming too interested, but this revelation stunned Sakura.

Before Sakura could think of what to say in response to this, the little boy suddenly scowled at her before changing his expression to pleading as he addressed his creator with a pitiful and helpless look, "Master, you'll be giving me to that human? An inferior being like that? She's just a little human girl! I can't see why you'd give me as a present to her. She isn't even that pretty or talented. Why'd you keep a little human child like this around?"

Sakura twitched, but it was not in anger or even annoyance.

A giggle made its way out of her as she remarked without much deliberation, "Actually, rather than simply being hard to handle, he reminds me of you, 'Ruto."

Naruto merely raised an eyebrow at the comment made by Sakura, but the incorporeal child bounded forward as his eyes began to shine.

"You really think so?" he asked, suddenly sounding shy.

Sakura nodded awkwardly, not quite sure what to make of this change in demeanour.

The boy then grinned at the pink-haired girl.

"Actually, I've changed my mind. You aren't that bad at all, human," he declared pompously, though all it served to do was make him look even more adorable due to his tiny build. "This human is an acceptable servant, Master. Her only flaw is her inability to show due respect to her betters."

Naruto smiled at the boy helplessly as he explained patiently, "Sakura is not my servant, my dear. She's a friend of mine. She will fight beside me and speak to me as an equal."

"But she's just a human!" the boy protested, genuinely confused.

Sakura finally interjected, fed up with the boy constantly referring to her as though being human was a flaw in itself, "I have a name, you know. It's Sakura. Besides, don't keep saying human this and human that. Come up with a better insult if you must, but you should first realise that your beloved Master is one of those inferior beings you speak of. Are you going to continue insulting your very own Master as well?"

The boy stared at her as though she was stupid and spoke pityingly, "My Master is different from you humans. In fact, even if he was a human, he would still be superior to your lot. Even humans are classified under the categories of lesser human, human and arch human. I do not see how it is the same. You, a mere low-class human, would speak to one so superior to yourself as though you are equal? If that is not overstepping your place, I have no idea what is. Besides, humans are indeed inferior to the other greater races with the exception of arch humans who, depending on individual potential and capability, can surpass the ones within superior classes of the other greater races. It is clear enough that Master was born an arch-human, is it not?"

Sakura spluttered, unable to believe the audacity of this little boy. What did he mean by inferior race? Arch humans and lesser humans? She had never heard of any of these strange terms but did not dare to dismiss the boy's words as nonsense. After all, though his face was slightly twisted into a mild grimace, Naruto did not seem to have any intention of refuting the boy's words. Even so, she just wanted to know why Naruto did not just tell them all this upfront. Why did he wait for them to find out through this spirit?

"The only difference between Naruto and normal humans is the fact that he's the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Kitsune, Kurama," Sakura retorted with false bravado.

"That in itself means that he's not human. A jinchūriki is an arch human who has transformed into a hanyō in order to be able to accommodate the chakra of a yōkai monarch, which is also known here as a bijū. Yōkai is just one of many kinds of summoning beasts. They have material bodies comprised entirely of chakra and, in this world, they were used to seal the powers of a mutated Shinju by their former contractor and hence became incapable of leaving this realm. A Shinju actually bears fruit once in every millennium, the fruits being chakra constructs which are eggs of a sort that birth yōkai. It is only on rare occasions, however, that monarchs are born and after one is born, it becomes able to produce more of its own kind.

"A single yōkai race will never have more than one monarch be born within any particular world. Yōkai is one of the only few greater races to which gender has no meaning. Another such race is spirits like myself, who can be born naturally in the spirit realm or formed by an exceptional individual as a servant. Spirits are also the only greater race with inherited memories and do not copulate to reproduce. Even so, should our arch-human or arch-demon masters require it of us, we will always be willing to reciprocate. For a greater race like spirits, it is not like we can be summoned at will as servants just like that either. This is not even mentioning the fact that I, for one, am a great spirit due to Master's sheer capability. I will never take you as my master, but it is fine if I just assist you as long as it is in line with my Master's will," the boy, now revealed to be a spirit, huffed.

Sakura blinked in surprise. All that long explanation seemed to do was to serve as a roundabout way of telling her that he was an amazing individual and that his Master was more amazing. As such, it seemed that the kid was willing to serve her for as long as Naruto willed it. It was so loyal to Naruto that it was almost incomprehensible to her. It seemed like the little spirit saw her from a viewpoint that she would take with a mere wild dog. She would never be able to lower herself to act as a servant for such an animal so why should the spirit agree to act as her servant? In fact, for it to have decided to assist her for as long as Naruto wanted her to was probably simply out of loyalty and due to what little respect she had earned from her thoughtless remark that it somewhat resembled Naruto.

"Then... what is your name?" she asked after a moment of thought.

The little spirit child blinked, then gazed up at Naruto with a hopeful expression.

"Master, a name," he said with barely repressed excitement.

"Do not think for even a second that I know not the significance of a name for a spirit. Within the spirit world, only spirit kings and queens are granted names. For summoned spirits, it is harder still to find a powerful enough master with the ability to grant a spirit with a suitable name. With you knowing what you do of my abilities, you are definitely aware that you have an incredibly high chance of receiving a suitable name from me. You would dare attempt to take advantage of me as a mere creation of mine?" Naruto chuckled darkly. "Know your place, spirit."

The young spirit visibly deflated.

"Master, I'm sorry. I truly am! Do know I'd never dare do such a thing! I was just hoping..." it trailed off on a forlorn note, seeming to wilt even further.

Naruto could not stop the fond smile from making its way onto his face. He had not been particularly offended by the spirit child's behaviour at all. It was true that its initial reaction to Sakura was fairly annoying, but he had never been upset at it. He just thought it would be a good opportunity for him to use its words against it. The situation had seemed fairly amusing, but he quickly found himself starting to feel a little bad. The little spirit was like his own child. It was, in a way, seeing as he had been the one to create it. Its initial address of himself was not wrong, but he did not quite see himself as a father. He simply could not help but find the young spirit rather endearing despite it being so annoying most of the time.

"Refer to yourself with any nickname you wish," Naruto spoke flatly, causing the spirit to curl in on itself a little more.

Naruto could not help the slightly sadistic smirk that crept onto his face at this appearance. The spirit had the most entertaining reactions and he found himself unable to help but continue to bully the little spirit. That, however, did not mean that he had not started feeling guilty. Quite the contrary, in fact, considering how he felt as though he was most cruel for being the cause of the pitiful expression on the spirit's childish features.

"As long as you perform to my standards, I will give you a name that suits you," Naruto said coolly, but the spirit suddenly looked very hopeful at this assurance.

"So if I make this weak little human happy then you'll give me a name?" the spirit confirmed this with a slightly trembling voice.

"Right. Now isn't that simple? She will become stronger in time and will eventually be able to manifest your form such that you may be seen by others. Until then, you'll just have to advise her and provide her with assistance in accessing the memories of the orb. The feather brooch which functions as your vessel is certainly already sufficient to use the orb freely, but I'm aware that operating it would be challenging for an ordinary person. I will be entrusting that task to you. Do you think you can do it?" he asked the spirit with a smirk.

"Yes! And then after she can materialise me I will act to protect her too!" the spirit proclaimed eagerly.

"Then show me. Do not approach me about the matter of granting you a name until then. You do not want me to give you a bad one, right?" Naruto spoke with finality.

The spirit shook its head rapidly and bowed one final time before putting on its mask and drifting to hover behind Sakura in the form of a bluebird as Naruto pinned the brooch onto Sakura's cloak (it was shockingly cold inside the lab for some reason and Sakura had to wear her thickest cloak to block out the chill).

"Call me Aoi," the little spirit decided with a nod.

"Prick yourself using the quill and no one besides me will be able to take that brooch from you." Naruto then muttered to himself while reaching into his pocket dimension, "Now I can finally go about handing over the last part of the gift."

From his inventory, he retrieved two identical scrolls and handed one to Sakura and the other to Sasuke.

"Use this scroll and you'll reverse summon yourself into a summon world for which you have an affinity. All you need to do is follow the usual hand seals for the Kuchiyose no Jutsu and give a blood offering to the scroll. To be honest, even I have no idea why blood is necessary to do so many of these ancient rituals. The summoning technique is one of the techniques that predate conventional jutsu, after all. Perhaps I should research that at some point... Just use it when you feel like it, I suppose. There's no difference if you do it now or later, but-" 

Before Naruto was able to finish his sentence, Sakura was already gone.

After hearing that she could go to the summoning world at long last, Sakura had been too excited to listen to Naruto any longer. She immediately went through the procedure of the all-too-familiar jutsu and cut her finger on the sharp quill of her brooch before smearing it onto the fūinjutsu matrix drawn on the scroll. Within moments, Sakura had disappeared in a flash of light accompanied by a puff of smoke. She was never able to hear what Naruto said next.

"-I'd advise you to prepare a variety of things in advance since there is just no knowing what the climatic conditions there are like," Naruto finished with a sigh.

"And she's gone," Sasuke commented, slightly surprised to see her go. Though it was not like he had distrusted Naruto's words, it was still unbelievable for the process of obtaining a summons to be so simple. The trouble that he had gone through in the previous timeline just to obtain his hawk and snake contracts now seemed so silly. If Naruto had the means to obtain a summoning contract so easily, for what reason had he gone through all those trials just to be able to obtain a contract? Even then, he had not been allowed into their sacred lands! The sheer audacity of this was to the extent that he did not know whether to laugh or cry at Naruto's antics. Even if he had long sworn to never let himself have any expectations so as to not get a heart attack for literally every occasion in which Naruto accomplished the impossible, it was more easily said than done. How can he simply not be stunned when he learned that such a method actually existed?

"Indeed she is," Naruto agreed, not seeming to take notice of how distraught his friend secretly was.

"Say..." Sasuke sighed, "was it so difficult for you to reveal that sooner? I've already started making plans to go on a journey during summer break to obtain my hawk summons again using the knowledge that I already have of the trials from our past life."

Naruto laughed sheepishly. "Well, I've only just learned about this little... back door of sorts. I didn't really know it was possible until recently too."

Sasuke shook his head and responded resignedly, "This is just like hearing about your Tenseigan all over again. Can you still use the Rinnegan?"

Naruto tilted his head to the side, his brows furrowing as he asked confusedly, "Should I not be able to? I used to keep it activated all the time to train in order to increase my chakra capacity, but I've found a rather... fortuitous encounter a couple of months ago. I've already released the seal completely and my chakra reserve continues to expand even now. The Jūbi even mentioned that I was something like a humanoid bijū. I think my body will be able to regenerate for as long as I have chakra at this point. Believe me, it's tried and tested. It used to only work whenever I used Kurama's chakra, but that isn't even necessary anymore. Even I doubt I am still human."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he gasped at this new information. "Don't tell me you tested that seal on yourself. You mentioned that it had the side effect of restoring chakra?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "As if I would do something like that. I do not covet eternal life."

"Actually, I was going to tell you this but a being so similar in physical composition to a mythical creature is practically immortal. You might have to start thinking about that at some point. What will you do now that you know you have eternity ahead of you?" Kurama spoke nonchalantly while picking his nails.

"Wait what?" Naruto shrieked internally.

"Well it does seem you're going to be stuck with us much longer than the mere length of a human lifespan," Mugetsu agreed. "Rejoice. I've heard that humans can only dream of such longevity."

Naruto's eye twitched. "Weren't you guys listening? I just said I didn't want to live that long!"

"Feel free to forget what we just said. You can think about it later after your human friends have passed away to continue their journeys in the next world," Mugetsu sighed in a put-on way.

Naruto screamed in frustration, "I just said that I didn't want that! Fine, I'll forget all about it just like you told me to. Hopefully, the two of you were wrong about this."

"I don't mean to dash your hopes, but to possess such immense chakra reserves practically equates to having an incomparably long life. It's just like how Uzumaki who have twice the chakra of ordinary shinobi live twice as long as others and how our Father who taught us almost everything we know lived for almost an entire millennium before his passing and still continues to influence this world for so many years after he died. Without even taking into account the fact that your body is no longer that of a human, arch human or otherwise, you would already outlive all of your peers, Naruto-sama," Saiken spoke up reasonably. "I'm not telling you to distance yourself from your peers, but I wish to warn you to cherish what time you have left with them."

Naruto felt helpless and even slightly chastised at Saiken's admonishment of his denial.

"Whatever," Naruto spoke aloud with a sigh, "anyway, this is your share. You can use it whenever too so just take it."

After handing over the scroll in his hand, he disappeared from his lab. He used hiraishin to teleport himself away instantaneously, not even looking back. Just like that, Sasuke was left behind standing alone in the middle of the icy cold laboratory.

Though he was practically shivering in his winter coat, going as far as to circulate fire chakra to keep himself warm, he did not act to take his leave.

He did not quite dare to.

Had he said something wrong?

Naruto's expression had been so dark that even he honestly felt quite terrified.

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

Sakura opened her eyes slowly.

Nothing felt any different, actually. It was just as mind-numbingly cold as before. To be honest, she almost thought she was still in that frigid laboratory.

"Hey, Naruto! I don't think it worked!" she exclaimed.

When she finally took notice of her surroundings, however, her words died in her throat.

She had been transported to a beautiful icy wonderland. The process of being summoned here was much smoother than teleportation using hiraishin, which was what caused her to doubt the success of her endeavour. She was truly lucky that Naruto had chosen to make his lab so cold. If he had not done so, she would have been ill-prepared to face this wintry setting.

That was when a beautiful bird swooped down in a flurry of snowflakes. It had a crown of feathers that actually quite resembled that on the brooch that Naruto had gifted her before. Its feathers seemed white from an angle but were actually an incredibly pale shade of blue. It was regal and majestic, its massive wingspan seeming as wide as a mountain. In fact...

She glanced at Aoi the spirit, who had transformed back into a boy and was staring down the great beast that had landed delicately on an icy spire that was at least fifty metres tall. The bird dwarfed the natural ice formation, causing it to almost look like a bird of prey on the delicate branch of a tree. Though intimidating bluish fire wreathed the bird, Aoi was not at all daunted. The spirit stood upright as it glared right back at the bird. It was at this moment when Sakura realised with a start that the half-mask that the spirit donned over its eyes actually seemed to reflect the appearance of the bird before them.

Was Naruto secretly a prophet? Sakura could not see how he could have ever guessed that she would meet this particular summoned beast. How did he know to design Aoi in such a manner?

It seemed to be an eternity before they finally broke eye contact as the majestic bird turned to regard her mutely.

The bird nodded slightly, seeming satisfied with what it saw.

"You must have been sent by the Master of Mugetsu-sama?" the bird addressed the girl.

Sakura nodded nervously. She now felt a little anxious. Oh, why had she been so eager to leave that she had not even taken the time to prepare her own self-resolve? She had never expected to meet such a strange and powerful summons on the other side. Naruto seemed to have rigged it such that she would be specially arranged to obtain an impossibly powerful summons.

"His name is Naruto. I was told I would be able to obtain the contract of your race," she carefully spoke.

The bird surveyed her for another long moment before speaking, "It is indeed so."

Sakura, feeling uncomfortable as the massive bird continued to stare at her, blurted, "You seem to resemble the Vermilion Bird of legend, just blue instead of red."

The beast seemed a little startled by the proclamation but then laughed in a way that sounded like a beautiful trill. "Why aren't you well-read? It seems the Master of Mugetsu-sama must have brought you with him when he had travelled through time. Your soul is certainly older than the age of your fleshly body implies."

Sakura felt rather helpless when she heard the words of the summoned beast before her. What in the world was she expected to say in response to that? She had not bothered to listen to what Naruto was saying before and now it seemed she could not reach him through their telepath link no matter how hard she tried. Confusingly enough, she could still seem to reach Sasuke. She felt him at the other end of the connection, but Naruto himself was mysteriously missing. She tried to speak to Sasuke to ask him about Naruto in her anxiety, but he remained stubbornly silent. She felt more than a little hopeless in her current situation. Just where could Naruto have disappeared to this time?

The bird seemed to notice her mental state and continued without dwelling further on the topic, "However, I am in fact no Vermilion Bird. Instead, I am what one would call a phoenix. If I were to be more specific, I am an Ice Phoenix."

"A... phoenix...?" she echoed, the unfamiliar word rolling off her tongue.

"That's right. That arrogant peacock of a mythical beast is the King of the Ice Phoenixes. You'd better be grateful because, without Master, you would never have been able to contract such a powerful summon," Aoi huffed.

"What's a nameless servant of the great Master doing with a human girl?" the ice phoenix retorted with a piercing glare. "Have you been discarded by your Master?"

Aoi glared right back. "At least I'm better off than some nameless king who has not even met Master. Besides, you're only the king of the ice faction. You're better off reporting about your race having the honour of being selected by the Master to the Phoenix Empress."

The ice phoenix was practically seething at this point but did not counter Aoi's words. It was practically an admission that the spirit was right. The matter of meeting the esteemed Master of the Jūbi who is the incarnation of the Shinju was better left in the capable hands of the empress. It was beyond his station to even dream of being granted a formal meeting with Naruto without the authority of the empress.

"You are adequate, so I will take you to meet the Great Elder of the Ice Phoenixes. We phoenixes are different from other mythical summonses in that we are constantly searching for someone. For the entire duration of our existence, our goal is to find that individual within the human race. We, too, do not know the significance it has for our race. My role is to find the Saint of Ice. The King of the Fire Phoenixes will also have to find his own Saint of Fire. Although you can consider yourself our summoner from now on, as long as you are in fact that prophesied individual your very soul would have special significance for my race. Though you can live the rest of your life like any other human, know that you will reincarnate within our sacred lands the same way we are reborn from our ashes. From that point, you will have your duties to uphold as the Saintess. In exchange, however, you will be able to command me as you wish and even request the aid of the Empress herself in battle," the king declared.

Before Sakura could even process these words, the ice phoenix was already swooping through the air. It had abandoned its perch and was diving through the air right towards her. She could not even scream in fright. That was just how disoriented she felt.

"My name is Oswald," the phoenix informed as he sent Sakura up onto his back using his icy flames and took off towards the seemingly endless horizon.