Hah, Comrades? (Please Vote and Tip)

"Kakashi-sensei!" After the exercise ended, Naruto caught up with Kakashi again and looked at him hopefully.

"Kakashi-sensei, could you teach me one-on-one? Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, for example. I don't know a single Ninjutsu technique yet, and my Taijutsu is poor too."

Kakashi turned his head. His right eye drooped as he looked at Naruto helplessly, and after a pause, he said, "Sorry, I don't have time."

Naruto's expression froze, but he quickly tried again. "Then could you spare me just five minutes? Teach me one technique. I'm talented, I promise!"

Kakashi scratched his head and gazed up at the white clouds. After hesitating for a full minute, he finally spoke.

"Hmm, but I didn't bring any Chakra Paper today. I don't know your Chakra nature, so I wouldn't know what kind of Ninjutsu to teach you."

Naruto opened his mouth to say he had wind, earth, and water natures—the Uzumaki Clan Sage Body had given him earth and water—but stopped himself. He had no idea how to explain it.

Seeing Naruto had no answer, Kakashi turned and continued walking, waving a hand at him. "Next time."

"Kakashi-sensei, didn't you see how hard I've been working? I've been training on my own ever since I got here this morning!" Naruto called out, his emotions rising.

"That's only one morning of training. What does it prove? What were you doing all those years before?" Kakashi turned back, his right eye drooping.

Naruto clenched his fists. At the mention of those earlier years, he felt helpless and angry.

He wanted to roar, but he didn't dare. The Anbu Ninja watching him was nearby.

All he could do was bottle it up and think bitterly:

Because for the past ten years, that Naruto had been struggling just to survive. He'd even come up with the absurd idea that pulling pranks would make people accept him.

And what were you doing, Kakashi? If you knew that Naruto wasn't training properly, why didn't you come and guide him?

Why? Because there was nothing you could do?

When your father killed himself, there was nothing you could do. When your best friend Obito died, there was nothing you could do. When Rin Nohara, the girl who loved you, died, there was nothing you could do. And when your teacher's orphaned son was struggling to survive, there was still nothing you could do!

Now I'm asking you for a little one-on-one guidance, and you won't even do that!

Kakashi, what can you do?

Naruto had a thousand things he wanted to say, but he couldn't voice any of them. The more he thought, the more stifled he felt, until he thought he might go mad.

Orange-red Chakra began to seep from his body, carrying an evil presence.

Kakashi suddenly turned and fixed his gaze on Naruto. The hidden Anbu Ninja had no choice but to reveal himself. Standing behind Naruto, he pulled out a Talisman and moved to stick it on his back.

The Talisman could seal Chakra and suppress evil. Its power was limited and temporary, but it would buy enough time for the Third Hokage to arrive.

Just then, the [God-Tier Bloodline] and [Uzumaki Clan Sage Body] within Naruto took effect. The Sage Body already had the power to suppress Tailed Beasts, and in an instant, it forced back the Nine-Tails Chakra spilling out of him.

Naruto immediately came to his senses.

He froze, then realized what had just happened. Cold sweat broke out across his forehead.

But the next moment, his heart turned cold again. He glanced expressionlessly at Kakashi, who was watching him tensely from a distance, then at the Anbu Ninja behind him. Lowering his head, he turned and left.

I can't rely on anyone in this world. Only by relying on myself can I gain the power to decide my fate!

Naruto's heart was cold, but his mind was clear. Kakashi's attitude had shown him even more plainly what people in this world were like. Everyone lived for themselves.

Perhaps somewhere out there, human kindness and moving friendships still existed. But would he, Naruto, ever have them?

Looking back over the entire original story, only two people had truly cared for Naruto.

One was Iruka-sensei. He had given Naruto care that went far beyond a teacher's duty. Many believed that without Iruka, Naruto might well have fallen into Darkening like Obito.

The second was Hinata. Though her personality kept her from showing it openly, she had always supported Naruto from behind the scenes and worked to grow stronger for his sake.

As for Sasuke? He was consumed by revenge. If anything, Naruto had cared far more about him than the other way around.

And Jiraiya? What had he been doing for those twelve years? If Naruto hadn't potentially been the Child of Prophecy, would Jiraiya have given him a second glance?

In this life, apart from Iruka-sensei and Hinata, no one else is worth giving my all for!

Hah. Comrades?

Naruto didn't care how the Anbu Ninja reported his near loss of control to the Third Hokage. The Third Hokage never came to see him afterward, either.

All Naruto wanted now was to grow stronger. At that moment, he was at Sasuke's house, reading through more than a dozen Ninjutsu Scrolls.

After the Uchiha Clan was wiped out, their property had naturally been seized. Most of the countless techniques accumulated over a thousand years had ended up in Konoha's hands or those of a few other clans.

Sasuke had still received a tiny remnant of that legacy: the Scrolls before Naruto now.

But perhaps to keep Sasuke from becoming too powerful, the Scrolls recorded only C- and D-rank Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu. They were low-level techniques with little power.

For Naruto as he was now, though, they were treasures arriving just when he needed them most!

"Here, Chakra Paper." Sasuke handed Naruto a thin sheet. "Just channel your Chakra into it."

"Thanks!" Naruto took it and tested himself as instructed.

His Chakra natures were already displayed on his Personal Status Panel, but if he wanted to use Ninjutsu openly, he couldn't skip this step.

As he channeled Chakra into the paper, it first grew damp, then split down the middle. Finally, it crumbled into fragments that fell to the floor.

"Water, wind, and earth. Naruto, you have three Chakra natures?" Sasuke looked at him in surprise.

The more Chakra natures someone had, the more types of Ninjutsu they could master. In general, that meant greater strength.

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly. "It's no big deal. Don't say it so loud."

"The Ninjutsu Scrolls are over here. Read them yourself."

With that, Sasuke went off to train. Naruto had put him under immense pressure. If he didn't work harder, he feared he would never surpass Naruto.

Naruto laid out the wind, earth, and water Ninjutsu Scrolls before him like priceless treasures and began studying them carefully.

This was his first time learning Ninjutsu. Aside from asking Sasuke about the Hand Seals, he would have to figure everything else out on his own.

In the original story, Naruto had barely mastered any Ninjutsu. He had made it all the way to the later stages with spinning spheres, Shadow Clones, and Senjutsu. Now he was seriously studying Ninjutsu. Even thinking about it felt strange.

Naruto was simply desperate to grow stronger. Nor did he intend to develop his abilities exactly as he had in the original story. With the [Fate Choice System], he was bound to become stronger than that version of himself.