Jiraiya and Naruto were sitting across each other, playing Shogi.

"I must say, you are rather good," said Jiraiya.

"Well, Shikamaru made me play so much that I have now become decent at this," was Naruto's reply.

"So, the plan."

"Taking down Orochimaru as soon as possible, but only after the three-year training journey."

"How?"

"Sasuke."

"What exactly are you going to do?" asked Jiraiya.

"Izanami. Generally, it would cost the user one eye, but due to having Rinnegan, he can heal himself easily."

"And the Kabuto guy?"

" We'll see," said Naruto.

"Akatsuki?"

"Must be killed. Most can't be saved."

"Tobi, or as you know, Obito?"

"Depends."

"Check"

"Checkmate," said Naruto completely turning the game upside down, as Jiraiya's eyes widened.

"Whoa!" he gasped, seeing Naruto's genius.

Sasuke, who was watching this, released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"So, let's get to the topic of Fuinjutsu. It's gonna be a long day," said Jiraiya, and Naruto gulped, as he knew that when Jiraiya said this, it would mean torture of a day.

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A few weeks had passed, and they were once again back in the village.

The class came in to see Naruto and Shikamaru playing shogi, which blew their mind.

20 minutes earlier

Shikamaru was peacefully sleeping when a loud yell woke him up.

"This is such a drag," he said as he looked up, only to see Naruto dancing with his hands in the air and Sasuke pouting. Nothing new.

Wait a minute! 

SASUKE. POUTING.

These two words could never go together for him. Sasuke was broody emo, and never showed any expression other than indifference.

"Okay okay, 100 to 99 with you in the lead. Next time, I will defeat you," muttered Sasuke.

"Aww, Sasuke is jelly," said Naruto. They both then heard Shikamaru and turned to him, only to see him trying to release a genjutsu.

"This is a genjutsu, this is a genjutsu, this is a genjutsu," he muttered over and over again.

"No this is not," deadpanned Naruto.

"You playing Shogi, and winning, and Sasuke pouting!" gasped Shikamaru.

"Well, it's complicated," said Naruto.

Present

After hearing the story, they both started a game, as this was something he loved to do.

However, as soon as the class came, Naruto started making mistakes, and Shikamaru won.

"HOW DO YOU EVEN PLAY THIS GAME!" yelled Naruto.

Iruka, who was intently watching them play, was disappointed, as the arrival of the class disrupted the game. Sasuke too sighed in disappointment.

"NARUTO BAKA, THIS IS A GAME OF SMART PEOPLE, YOU CAN DEFINITELY NOT PLAY THIS," yelled Sakura.

"No one asked you Sakura," said Sasuke coldly.

Before he could go any further, Naruto glared at him sternly, shutting him up.

'How troublesome,' Shikamaru thought as he went ahead to fall asleep.

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It was evening, and Naruto was walking home after a hard day training with Jiraiya. Yes, Jiraiya had returned to the village, as he had a godson to take care of. But no one knew of this, as he would leave the village frequently.

When Naruto passed training ground 7, he saw Sakura practicing Kunai throwing and Shuriken throwing. Naruto felt that someone was watching her, but could feel that the person was trustworthy.

He then jumped and landed near her.

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?" asked Naruto.

"Wha- oh Naruto. I am practicing, can't you see baka?" asked Sakura angrily.

"I meant why are you doing it so late alone?" asked Naruto.

"W-well, none of your business," she yelled.

"Okay okay, continue," said Naruto.

Sakura huffed and then started again, but her throws did not hit the mark.

Naruto walked up to her, and then straightened her hands a little and changed the angle of the Kunai.

"Now try," said Naruto.

"BAKA! WHO GAVE YOU THE PERMISSION TO TOUCH ME?" she yelled.

"I can hear you, no need to yell. And try throwing now," said Naruto.

Sakura huffed, but threw it nonetheless, and was surprised to find that her accuracy was much better.

"See," said Naruto with a bright smile.

"If you know how to do it, why are you so bad at it?" asked Sakura.

"Well... you know, some, no, most of the people don't want me to become strong. So I have to hide it for my own safety," he said with a pained expression on his face.

"Huh?" said a confused Sakura.

"Well, nothing. Anyways, good luck with your training," said Naruto.

"What did you mean?" asked Sakura.

"Not today, Sakura-chan, but maybe someday..." he trailed off as he hopped onto a tree.

Mebuki Haruno, Sakura's mom, who was watching this from a distance, was a little sad at how her daughter treated Naruto.

A few moments later, Sakura entered her house. Seeing Mebuki, she sat across her.

"Mom... I wanted to ask you something," said Sakura.

"What?" she asked.

"Well... you know Naruto?" asked Sakura.

"Everyone does," she replied.

"Well... did something happen to him?"

"Well, not recently, why?" 

"Today, when I talked to him about why he was so bad at studies, he said something about people not wanting him to become strong."

Mebuki looked up from the book she was reading.

"Well, something happened, and to others, he is a painful reminder of that. The villager hates him," she said.

"Why?"

"Well, it's better if he told you himself," she replied.

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Midterm exams were finished. It was the last day before the midterm break.

"Let us assume, that the moon is going to fall on Earth tomorrow. Who will you spend your last day with?" asked Iruka.

"As if it's gonna," said Naruto.

"I said assume," said Iruka.

"I am not gonna assume something that's never gonna happen," said Naruto angrily.

"NARUTO! WRITE," he yelled.

"Bu-"

"No. This is an activity and you have to do it. Don't worry, no one will read this," said Iruka.

Naruto muttered under his breath and then wrote something on his paper.

He then walked up to Iruka and gave him the paper. Iruka read it, and smiled a little, as Naruto turned red.

The next one to turn in was Sakura, who of course wrote Sasuke.

As she handed over the paper, however, she peeked at what Naruto had written.

"HINATA HYUGA"

Her eyes widened and then she smirked, getting some teasing material.

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Hiruzen was in his office. Currently, he was thinking about who to send to deliver a message to Kumo. The journey was long and tiring, and most of his Jonin and chunin were gone on different missions. This was supposed to be a high A-rank mission, and the documents were of high importance.

All of a sudden, Naruto burst into the office.

"OLD MAN, WE ARE BORED. GIVE US SOME MISSIONS," yelled Naruto.

"Naruto kun, what missions do you want? I suggest you start with a B-rank mission to gain some experience first," said Hiruzen.

"Nothing less than an A-rank one," said Naruto.

Hiruzen sighed. But then, this would be the perfect first mission for them.

"Well, you need to deliver a message to Raikage sama," said Hiruzen.

"Okay, we will easily do it, believe it," yelled Naruto excitedly.

"Naruto, we should take Jiraiya too," said Sasuke.

"Well we could," said Naruto.

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