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The sun was like a bruised orange in the sky. Naruto stood in the academy training field, panting heavily with a frustrated grin. With a sharp whistle of air, his two shadow clones vanished into plumes of smoke, leaving only the real boy standing in the dust with his hands on his knees.
"Tomorrow is the day," Takuma said, standing a few steps away as he patted the dust off his clothes. "Are you nervous?"
It was the last day of their training. Naruto could now reliably produce shadow clones. Takuma had taught him as many insights into the practical use of clones in combat as he could, as time permitted. He knew that Naruto could quickly outpace him in that regard. In the week since Naruto had been able to produce clones, he had already begun to diverge in how he saw clones and how he believed they should be used.
Naruto blinked and stood up straighter. He looked at Takuma as though the chūnin had spoken in a foreign language. Then, he threw his head back and let out a loud, bratty laugh, crossing his arms as he leaned back on his heels.
"Nervous? Me? Ha! You've gotta be kidding, panda eyes," Naruto scoffed, kicking a pebble across the dirt. "I'm not nervous at all! I'm gonna walk in there tomorrow, cross my fingers, go BAM, and drop a squad of clones right in front of 'em, believe it! They're gonna have to beg me to graduate!"
Panda eyes? Takuma tilted his head. The kid was practically vibrating with arrogant, unearned swagger. The hidden anxiety in the face of failing the exam was completely scrubbed from Naruto's system, replaced by his usual bulletproof sense of invincibility.
"What about the theoretical portion?"
Naruto visibly deflated at the question. "I-I'll manage… somehow," he said with none of his previous confidence. "Believe it!"
"Confidence is good," Takuma said mildly. "Overconfidence is a blind spot. Be alert during the entire process. There's going to be at least one thing that's hidden, and the proctors will be observing you to see if you can spot it."
"Yeah, got it." Naruto waved him off, puffing out his chest with a daydream in his eyes. It couldn't be more obvious that he was already thinking of getting the forehead protector and treating it as guaranteed. There was nothing Takuma could say that would temper Naruto's excitement. And it wasn't like the kid was an idiot. His instincts were unusually sharp, and as long as he somehow managed to scrape together a passing grade in the theoretical test, Takuma didn't think there was a need to worry about the rest of it.
"Very well," Takuma smiled. "I wish you the best of luck, Naruto. I hope the next time we meet, you'll be a proud genin of the Hidden Leaf. Do your best and prove everyone who doesn't believe in you wrong."
"Do you believe in me?" Naruto suddenly asked with a very reserved expression, but his eyes were piercing like nothing Takuma had seen from him before. Their blue colour made the gaze even more intense.
"I do," Takuma replied evenly. "Your aim sucks, you have dismal chakra control, you're quick to rile up, you fall for feints like an absolute sucker, and have a dozen more glaring problems that I can point out from the top of my head, but yes, I believe that you have what it takes to be an excellent shinobi."
Naruto's shoulders slumped, and he shot a faux-resentful glare his way with a pout. "Couldn't you have said that you believe in me without all of that?" Before Takuma could reply, Naruto stood straighter, pulled his green goggles down, and pointed at Takuma. "Ah, you must be embarrassed. I see, I see. No need to explain! The next time we meet, I'll be a shinobi!" He pointed at Takuma, and there was a pause full of confidence before he declared,
"Tomorrow, I will take the first step towards my goal of becoming the Hokage."
Naruto didn't wait for a response and ran away without saying goodbye.
"I hope you don't mind," Iruka said, walking towards Takuma from his bench. "He likely wanted to spare himself the goodbye. Will we see you at his graduation ceremony? I'm sure he'd appreciate it greatly."
Takuma considered the offer, then shook his head. "Not at the ceremony." Given the graduating batch of students, the ceremony would be crawling with clan heads, and he didn't want to attract attention to himself beyond his role as the Hokage-appointed tutor for the jinchuriki, especially considering the chaos his actions were causing in the shinobi clan circles. "But if you'd be kind enough to tell him, I'd be more than happy to congratulate him afterwards with a meal at Ichiraku Ramen."
"I'm sure he'd like that," Iruka smiled.
"And I'm sure he would want you to be there as well. Naruto realises that none of this would've happened if you weren't there to bat for him in the first place," Takuma said, patting the older chūnin—and the better human being—on the shoulder.
Iruka didn't say anything, but he looked grateful. The teacher had a complicated relationship with Naruto. He had lost his parents at a very young age during the Nine-Tails attack. To take care of Naruto for six years as his teacher was not an insignificant undertaking, even if he understood the distinction between the tailed beast and their jinchuriki. To hear that he had done a good enough job meant a lot because he would never think that of himself.
"Then, it'd be my treat," Iruka said.
"Oh no, I can't let my team leader pay if I'm there," Takuma replied.
Iruka laughed. "I haven't been your team leader in a very long time, Chūnin Takuma."
"I insist," Takuma said, nevertheless.
"Then how about I treat you to a meal tonight?"
"I would love that, but unfortunately, I already have plans for today."
———
.
Takuma couldn't help but feel tense as he stepped into the Hokage's office. Even the stunning late evening view of the village glimmering with lights in the growing darkness did nothing to calm him down. It was well beyond the Hokage's office hours, but the leader of the Hidden Leaf had stayed back so he could talk to him.
"How did it go, Ratel?" Hiruzen asked as he prepared his smoking pipe with practised ease.
Takuma, dressed in his ANBU gear, responded. "Uzumaki Naruto has gained an impressive level of skill with the Shadow Clone Jutsu in the short amount of time he had to learn the ninjutsu. He can produce clones with combat-functional reliability."
"So, he will be able to pass the graduation test tomorrow?"
"Certainly," Takuma nodded. "It wouldn't be with stellar grades, but given his previous attempts, I believe there's no doubt that he'd at the very least meet the minimum standard as established in the graduation test rubric." Practically speaking, Naruto with shadow clones and his combat sensibilities would make an excellent graduate, who would need to be put through basic training to get them up to speed. Takuma did it through the Genin Corps basic training; Naruto would do it under his jōnin teacher.
Hiruzen smiled and relaxed into his chair. He had been receiving regular updates about Naruto's progress, but hearing it from Takuma's mouth clearly unburdened a personal weight of worry from his shoulders.
"If I may, Lord Hokage," Takuma said.
"Yes?" Hiruzen asked.
"It'd be my recommendation that Uzumaki Naruto is given access to the A-rank Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu." Hiruzen stopped in the middle of lighting his pipe. He looked on in mild surprise as Takuma continued, "He has shown prodigious talent for shadow clones, managing to learn the B-rank jutsu as an academy student. He's also perhaps the only one in the village who can use the jutsu to its fullest potential with a risk low enough that it would be very hard for him to kill himself, even if he's as reckless as he is."
Hiruzen put his pipe down and leaned forward. "That is an unconventional recommendation for a child who isn't a genin yet."
"In the week Naruto has been able to produce clones, he has shown an impressive creativity in their usage. Given time, he could be known for them in the same way Jōnin Uchiha Shisui was known for the Body Flicker Jutsu." Takuma could've used the Raikage and his Lightning Release: Chakra Mode as an example, but bringing up another Kage in front of the Hokage didn't seem wise.
"That is high praise." Hiruzen seemed happy. He then gave Takuma a look of amused interest. "I can understand advocating giving access to a B-rank ninjutsu to a specially talented genin, but I didn't think I would hear someone trying to get an A-rank ninjutsu, a forbidden one at that, for an academy student who's not even a shinobi." He smiled and seemed to consider something. "I understand you negotiated for your one-year jutsu restriction to be waived as part of your ANBU contract. If I remember correctly, your contract is rather peculiar in the way it handles compensation. You clearly understand the importance of access to jutsu. Does it not bother you that Naruto would get that jutsu when he has not earned it?"
Takuma was honoured that the Hokage knew details about his contract.
"…I'm not a saint, Lord Hokage. I was jealous when one of my batchmates used a B-rank ninjutsu against me during a spar when both of us were only genin because she managed to get one due to her connections. I envy my peers from clans who can bypass restrictions that I had to negotiate for. And I'm sure many of my chūnin peers would be similarly envious that I'm in a situation where I not only have free access to jutsu archives, but can also get compensated with access to jutsu… However, I feel no envy whatsoever towards Naruto if he gets the jutsu."
"Why not?"
"Has Naruto not already earned it? Does he not continue to earn it every day?"
For a split second, Hiruzen went dead still, the words snatching the air from his lungs before he could draw another breath. His eyes flickered down by a fraction of a millimetre as his fingers subtly locked against his palm. There were a couple of seconds where he didn't show any expression, but then his expression softened as he nodded.
"If there's anyone for whom the village could create an exception, I'd say it's him because he protects us every living moment," Takuma said from his heart. "Some may argue that he's only a genin and perhaps this could be discussed in a few years when he's matured, but I believe he should be given the jutsu as soon as possible. Protecting him as a student who stayed within the village was manageable, but he's about to become a shinobi and will be stepping outside the safe walls. It's in Naruto and the village's shared interest that he learns to protect himself. Giving him access to something he clearly has an aptitude for is the best way to empower him and let him protect himself."
"And gain the village a powerful weapon," Hiruzen suddenly said.
Takuma nodded without any hesitation. "You and I and every shinobi are weapons, sir. Some are more powerful than others. Naruto just happens to have the potential to be the most powerful weapon out there."
Hiruzen stayed silent for a minute before nodding.
"You've done an exceptional job, Ratel, especially since you've been so busy recently." As the Hokage stood up, Takuma relaxed as that meant the meeting was over, but before he could say anything, Hiruzen continued, "I would like to continue our conversation, but it's getting late, and I think we can talk in a better venue. I would like you to join me for dinner—that is, if you don't have any other plans for the evening."
Even if Takuma had any plans, there was only one answer.
"I'd be honoured, Lord Hokage."
.
———
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