"Are the two of you that surprised to see me?" Naruto asked cheekily.

"..."

"How in the world did you just stand on thin air?" Sakura exclaimed while checking if there was a transparent staircase or something that Naruto used to prank them, Naruto wasn't known as the prank king in his younger days without reason, after all.

Sasuke was still in shock.

"I told you, didn't I? I was working on some chakra control exercises. This is one of them!" Naruto explained to his two dumbfounded friends.

The two could only nod their heads dumbly.

"So let us begin our discussion about our plan of action to save our friends," Naruto stated commandingly.

His friends couldn't help but stand up straighter at the tone of his voice.

"Let's start with the plans for our course of action while we attend ninja academy. So do we show our true power and graduate early or do we mask our true power and keep to the original timeline?" Naruto asked his friends for their opinions.

"I'd say keep to the original timeline. That way we would know what is going to happen," Sasuke said, going straight to the point.

"I agree. Although it is possible to get more things done if we graduated early, too many things will likely change and we will not know what to expect. We don't even know if our actions have repercussions," Sakura added, at the same time stating her views.

"I agree. So we shall attend the academy while masking our true power. However, I believe that our team placements were based on our results as well as our personalities and attitudes toward one another," Naruto said.

"Yes, that was the case. So now what?" Sakura asked impatiently.

"You blockhead! We would have to act like our old selves again and hope that we don't screw up! That's what!" Sasuke practically yelled at her for being denser than Naruto was at times.

"Yes, that's right. I am sure that I can do it perfectly fine, having been doing it the whole time I was in the academy, but can you do the same?" Naruto stated nonchalantly before asking in concern.

"Wait what? You were never an idiot?!" Sakura and, surprisingly, Sasuke yelled in astonishment.

The old Sasuke would never have done that.

Naruto merely nodded his head before rolling his eyes at how his teammates did not notice his act even after so long.

"I think I can do it. I mean, acting like I hate everyone isn't that hard. I do hate my fangirls anyway..." Sasuke stated before trailing off and shuddering at the mere thought of the rambunctious bunch that called themselves his fans.

"I don't know how I'll manage, though... Well, if I can not break up my friendship with Ino as I did before, I may manage somewhat. How do you expect me to act like 'Suke's fangirl even?" Sakura fretted in worry.

"We will drop our personality masks and reveal a bit more of our abilities after team placements, if that helps," Naruto said simply, surprising the two.

"We can? But doesn't that mean that the snake will change his plans?" Sakura asked.

"No, he wouldn't. I'm sure he will try harder to get me to join him this time. Do we kill him in the forest before he can do anything?" Sasuke replied before asking.

"That will change many things, but it will not be that important. The only thing is, we will spend more time in the village and the others may not get the incentive they had last time to get stronger," Naruto replied.

"So it's okay to go with the masks and killing the snake is what I'd do after staying with him for a while. So what do we do about the massacre?" Sasuke asked next after reiterating their choices so far.

"Itachi didn't kill everyone. It was Obito while he was playing Madara. Itachi was only going to kill the clan elders that planned the thing as well as your father who was right in the middle of it. He had gone into the room to see your mother dead and your father had just entered the room a while before you saw him. He killed your father, Uchiha Fugaku, basically why his katana was still dripping with blood, but your mother was killed by Obito like every other innocent," Naruto explained the hidden side of the story that even Itachi did not remember in their timeline, having had his memory altered by Danzo using Shisui's eye.

This left Sasuke wide-eyed.

"We should save Itachi from dying like last time, though. If I get samples from Sasuke's eyes, I can make another pair artificially and replace Itachi's eyes after he gets the mangekyō without him knowing," Sakura suggested.

Naruto nodded in agreement. This way his brother in all but blood no longer had to suffer the fate of losing his beloved older brother.

"Thanks..." Sasuke murmured, teary-eyed at how thoughtful his friends were to have planned on how they were going to prevent him from losing his blood relations.

"Do I ally the jinchūriki and form a Jinchūriki Alliance?" Naruto mused, thinking upon the benefits of such a course of action.

"That's a good plan. That way, we can prevent the Akatsuki from getting to them first!" Sakura exclaimed.

Sasuke nodded his head in agreement.

"So now I have to seek out the jinchūriki... I know of: Gaara no Sabaku and Shukaku of Suna, Yugito Nii and Matatabi of Kumo, Yagura and Isobu of Kiri, Roshi and Son Goku of Iwa, Han and Kokuō of Iwa, Utakata and Saiken of Kiri, Fū and Chōmei of Taki and finally Killer Bee and Gyūki of Kumo. So that's every one of the jinchūriki, yes?" Naruto listed before reconfirming somewhat sheepishly.

The two could only nod their heads in shock that he already knew how to find the jinchūriki.

"So I'll leave a blood clone behind when I go find the jinchūriki. It is probably also for the best for all three of us to leave clones to attend the academy to not waste time. We will be able to train with the time we are supposed to be at school. What do you think?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. It is an ingenious and very well thought-out, yet extremely simple plan," Sasuke agreed with Naruto's plan instantly.

Sakura nodded her head in affirmation.

"Do we let Itachi infiltrate Akatsuki? We don't have to worry about them finding out if we leave a seal on him that is similar to ours," Sakura asked tentatively.

"Yes. That is a brilliant plan. There are no blind spots to it. They will not be able to figure it out if we do that. We just have to leave it in the Hokage's private library and manipulate his memories a little to make him give it to Itachi. I will edit it to send messages to Hokage by appearing as messages on a screen while we hear his reports first. If we approve, the information is allowed to go through. That will be to prevent loopholes and Hokage-jiji from learning too much as there are things that will be altered significantly if Konoha knew of it beforehand!" Naruto praised before adding on to her idea.

Sakura smiled and nodded.

Sasuke finally asked, "Do we let anyone in on this plan?"

"No. They will think that we are crazy. Moreover, it is best to work in the shadows. I should probably use a blood clone to enter ANBU and become famous to get an entry in the bingo books just in case. I'll have to use a special jutsu that I had made a very long time back to hide the clone's identity, though," Naruto answered before stating a possible course of action.

"That's a good plan. You should probably start now," Sasuke told him.

Naruto nodded before doing the required hand signs.

"Chi no Bunshin!"

A clone identical to Naruto appeared from the small amount of blood Naruto had collected from biting his thumb. Sakura decided to hit it in the head.

Instead of disappearing, it whined, "That hurt, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura stared at the clone with wide eyes.

Naruto then did another set of hand seals at a much faster pace, shouting, "Kage Henge no Jutsu!"

The clone turned into a 15-year-old teen with red hair, violet eyes and porcelain skin. He wore a sweatshirt and a pair of ANBU pants taped at mid-calf. The clone had a katana strapped to its back that had a blood-red hilt-wrapping and had gold peeking from under the wraps. The sword's sheath was dark brown leather. A fox-shaped ANBU mask sat on the clone's hip.

The clone's outfit then changed into simple civilian clothing that was slightly torn up. The clone looked badly bruised and had cuts all over. It nodded at Naruto and vanished in a shunshin, to the border of the Land of Fire.

"What were your commands to it?" Sakura asked curiously.

"I told it that it now goes by the name Takamatsu Sōjirō and is to go to the borders of the Land of Fire. As Takamatsu Sōjirō, he is to enter Konoha as a teen who lost his parents but could not remember anything other than his name and had merely stumbled upon Konoha by accident. He is to enter the shinobi forces easily despite not having his 'memories' and quickly make his way into ANBU and make a big name for himself. I told it to use only two so-called kekkei genkai, Hyōton and Jinton. They are also known as ice and swift release. He is to achieve his goal by whatever means necessary and report to me on the first Monday of every month at midnight. That's all," Naruto said nonchalantly as he shrugged it off.

"Wait, what?" Sasuke and Sakura asked at the same time sounding completely confused.

"I found out that due to the Rinnegan, I naturally have all five chakra natures and am capable of combining them to form every kekkei genkai in existence. Well, that includes kekkei tōka too..." Naruto stated hesitantly as he began to trail off, wondering if he should tell them the last bit.

"And? You are leaving something out on purpose, are you not?" Sasuke asked perceptively.

~•~flashback starts~•~

Naruto had just begun trying out his theory of "air-walking" based on the chakra control exercises "tree-walking" and "water-walking". He had tried different amounts of chakra and types of chakra flow, all to no avail.

That was when he suddenly heard Kurama speaking to him within his mind.

"Kit, you do know that there are several ways for you to fly and things like that, yes?"

'Huh? What do you mean?'

"The Rikudo Sennin, my father, used to use his gravity manipulation from the Rinnegan to levitate. Hamura Otsutsuki, his brother and my uncle used to manipulate wind to float. You should be able to use both of these methods."

'So I can use wind chakra like that?'

"Yep. Did you notice that your dōjutsu is not just the Rinnegan?"

'Wait, so what are you trying to imply?'

"It's just that your eyes are a combination of the Rinnegan and the Tenseigan."

"Tenseigan?" Naruto echoed aloud.

"Yes. That is the name oji-san gave to his eyes. Did you look at your reflection? Your eyes are not a metallic purple like that of Uzumaki Nagato's. Yours are light blue, darkening when they reach the pupils and ringing them with a pretty pattern."

'What?!'

Naruto ran to the calm part of the river and activated his dōjutsu, eyeing his reflection carefully. He was surprised when he saw that Kurama's words have rung true. He stared at his reflection in utter amazement, almost dazed by the revelation.

"Oji-san could manipulate all the elements. Not chakra, but rather the raw elements themselves. Father suspected that it was due to his Tenseigan."

Kurama sent him a very clear mental shrug.

"It uses a very insubstantial amount of chakra and has effects much greater than any chakra-based attack. The best part about it is, it cannot be absorbed by the Rinnegan!"

'Doesn't that make the Tenseigan extremely overpowered?'

"Isn't the Rinnegan equally overpowered?"

Naruto was dumbstruck. That was the case. He was just so used to the Rinnegan being amazing that he did not realise it. Reluctantly, he had to accept that Kurama was right this time.

'That's... true...'

"As you know, my father is the ancestor of the Uchiha and the Senju clans. His sons were the ones that began those two famed clans."

'I know only because you told me.'

"Yes, yes. So oji-san also had two sons. They were the starters of the Namikaze and Hyūga clans."

'Huh? Namikaze? A shinobi clan?'

"Yes. Although they died out during the war, the main house members survived. That's how your father came about."

'Ah. I see...'

"So for father's biological sons, Indra inherited father's eyes as well as his intelligent mind. It was a regressed version of the Rinnegan, called the Sharingan. Ashura inherited our father's chakra, strong body and caring heart. These were passed on to the Uchiha and Senju clans respectively. After a while, the Senju split due to some sort of spat. This resulted in the formation of the Uzumaki clan. The Uzumaki focused on sealing and chakra constructs and inherited strong life-forces and concentrated chakra while the Senju did not particularly focus on anything, being much more diverse in their range of abilities."

'I understand that much. What's your point, Kura?'

"I would have gotten to it if you didn't interrupt me! Jeez..."

Naruto lifted his arms in the universal sign of surrender.

"So, the same went for the Hyūga and Namikaze. The Hyūga gained the Byakugan, a less powerful version of Tenseigan which is like the Sharingan is to the Rinnegan, and the Namikaze, his speed and affinity for controlling elements. Although the Namikaze did not inherit oji-san's eyes, the genes were probably just dormant in the line."

'You're confusing me, Rama.'

"Sorry. As I was saying, the Namikaze might have held the potential to also unlock the Tenseigan or Byakugan. However, because the genes had remained dormant, none of the previous Namikazes achieved their dōjutsu. You probably would never have unlocked it if not for my father's powers."

'Oh. Did he intend for this to happen?'

"I doubt so. It didn't seem like my father expected that to happen."

'Ah, I see. So all in all, I have the Rinnegan, the Tenseigan, all five chakra natures, my natural affinity for seals, the ability to form chakra constructs and the ability to manipulate elements?'

"I missed something. You can use the yin-yang release. It allows you to make anything you want from nothing other than your own chakra. You should also be able to recreate kekkei-genkai and kekkei-tōka by combining the separate chakra natures."

'That's quite a bit of a brain overload..."

"You'd just have to deal with it.'

'Damn you.'

"Oh, and the only reason why your clothes are clean and new is that Mugetsu-san helped you by taking over while you were asleep."

'Eh, what?'

Naruto looked down at his clothes as his eyes widened in realisation.

'I completely forgot! What if Mugetsu didn't help out?'

"Then you'd not have received such a kind reception from the snake mistress."

'I was not looking for an answer...'

"Your welcome."

Naruto shook his head in annoyance.

~•~back to the present~•~

"I uh... I kind of have the Tenseigan which gives me the ability to see chakra better than the Byakugan could? I also... I also have...uh... I have like, a 360° field of vision. It's like they claim the Byakugan has, but without the blind spot... I am also able to manipulate elements with minimal use of chakra. That's all I figured out about it so far..." Naruto babbled in the language that the higher ranking shinobi had to learn during the war to prevent any enemy spies from stealing important secrets.

This language came in a written form as well as a spoken form. Nara Shikamaru, the creator of this language, called it English. It was a pain for them to learn it, but it turned out to be very convenient.

Sasuke and Sakura's eyes started to bulge out of their sockets, jaws hanging slackly, completely unhinged. They stayed like that for a long while, not breathing.

When Naruto noticed his friends starting to turn purple from lack of oxygen, he hurriedly shook them (quite literally) out of their stupor.

He was relieved when he saw colour flood back into their faces as their breathing resumed, Sakura having fallen on the ground in a heap while Sasuke stood stiffly as though the slightest gust of wind would send him sprawling onto the ground next to Sakura. Sasuke did something very uncharacteristic of an Uchiha when he regained consciousness.

He screamed, "What the hell?! And you took that long to tell us?!"

His shrill voice scared off all the animals in the Forest of Death, the birds flocking away from their nests and the land animals dashing out, the fish swimming rapidly and some laying on the surface unmoving.

Naruto winced although he had smartly plugged his ears when he noticed Sasuke ready to explode, even going as far as to use chakra to reduce the damage further. Despite all his efforts, his friend's voice was still painfully loud to his overly sensitive ears. He whimpered as he was sure that his ears were bleeding.

Thanks to his accelerated healing, his ears stopped ringing not long after and the bleeding stopped.

"Gee, did you have to bust the eardrums of every living creature within twenty kilometres of this spot? Why do you think I didn't tell you sooner? I just found out shortly before you came, teme. I never knew you were such a screamer, 'Suke," Naruto grumbled.

"Oh," was Sasuke's only reply.

"What was that horrific sound?" Sakura mumbled as she sat up, temporarily forgetting about what Naruto had revealed.

Just as she was about to follow Sasuke's example and scream at poor Naruto, he clamped his hand over her mouth as he briefly explained what happened and had been discussed while she was out cold. Sakura nodded her head, allowing Naruto to release her and making her wheeze as she curled up in a ball, glaring at Naruto half-heartedly.

"That's it, yes? Nothing to add on?" Naruto reconfirmed while looking at his friends in the eyes.

"No, Hokage-sama. Your plans are perfect," Sakura and Sasuke chorused.

Naruto smiled devilishly at his friends, "If the two of you are up for it, we shall now begin our training session."

The two shivered, swearing that they saw the shinigami looming over them.

Author's Note:

Naruto's thoughts
Kurama talking to Naruto in his mind