Academy

I woke up to the sounds of birds chirping, took a bath and brushed my teeth.

It's been three years since I joined root.

I've trained as hard as I could despite my body being that of a child.

I broke my limits and furthered my expertise.

Danzo ordered me to kill a member of the root who was injured from a mission and did it without hesitation.

I did everything perfectly, even Danzo was surprised at my growth. I requested to follow on missions to gain life and death experiences and avoid being killed later on but got rejected seeing as I had a small body and was still a child to his eyes.

That was good.

He acknowledged my skills but underestimated me as a person. If only he knew.

I went to the kitchen area of the Nara compound to see a little Shikamaru being fed by Yoshino.

"Good morning Yoshino-sama," I bowed to her. "I see little pineapple's awake."

"Itsuki-nii!"

After my mother's death, the Nara compound became silent and blue. I talked to the Shikaku and Yoshino about this and told them that my mother wouldn't want something like this to happen which made them happy and thankful that I was matured to handle the situation.

"I just hope that one day, you'll trip your self and suddenly decide to call me auntie." Yoshino just sighed and didn't bother with me. "Your food is at the table."

I nodded and just ate immediately as the door opened.

"I see uncle pineapple's having a bad day." I said as Shikaku went inside the kitchen and directly sat down and ate the food. He had dark circles under his eyes, signifying that he lacked sleep.

"Well the Hokage has been stricter towards the clans and 'encouraged' that we should work hard," Shikaku said as he continued eating his food. "He's warning smaller clans to keep up or we'll be shadowed by the bigger clans."

I knew of this matter, especially when I had access to Danzo's office.

Yes, I had and that's how smart I am. For three years, I gained Danzo's trust to be his right hand man.

However, it won't be long before that name would perish and disappear.

"Hmm... Then I should do my best to contribute to the clan," I said to Shikaku as I finished my food and stood up. "A little patience uncle, I'll climb up through the ranks and make it so that Nara will be one of the bigger clans, and maybe overlap those clans on top."

Shikaku just smiled and nodded as I washed my plate.

I walked to the door after ruffling baby Shikamaru's hair which earned me a whine, heh I used be like that. "I'll be going to the academy now, see ya later!"

"Byebye Itsuki-nii!"

"Take care little Itsuki!"

"Che! Can't you just take of the 'little'?" I playfully argued a little bit earning me a glare from Yoshino.

"Can't you just the honorific suffix then?"

I just laughed and shunshinned to the academy.

After arriving, I saw children my age being dropped by their parents. I walked towards the entrance and continued my way to the library since there was still an hour before class.

One of the hobbies I took over time was reading, I loved it. Be it novels, jutsus, or anything that expands my knowledge or peak my interest, I read them all.

As I was reading, a chunin who was walking noticed me. He had a white hair and was wearing the normal chunin attire, the only thing that differentiate him from others was from the way he tied his headband on.

"Hey kid, class is starting!"

He smiled as I nodded. 'There should still be at least half an hour before class starts though.'

I sighed as I followed him. As I was observing him, I noticed that he was very edgy. It was like he had secrets that he doesn't want to tell. Well all of us has secrets.

"Ano... What's your name?" I asked him as he wryly smiled and scratched his neck.

"My name's Mizuki, I'll be one of your sensei from now on."

'Is his neck itchy or something? I know for a fact you don't scratch your neck unless something's going on there.' I thought as I focused my sight on his neck.

'Oh the cursed seal, one of Orochimaru's pawns.'

Of course I knew of this, I'm Danzo's 'right hand man'. I go with him whenever he meets up with the snake. And heck, I love the fact that Orochimaru's very intelligent, I give him credit for being one step ahead whenever he talks with Danzo. It's like he knew what the mummy wanted and was going to say, so he talks while leading every conversation to his favor.

That's why I plan to work with Orochimaru soon, the sooner the better. I've got things in mind.

"Oh okay..."

We arrived at the classroom and saw a- Uncle Pineapple!? Wait no, he's not Shikaku. Fuck he looks like Shikaku I swear! Just a little bit of makeup and take off his headband, and zigzag hair line. I SWEAR!

"Ah! Mizuki, I was just checking the upcoming students' names, can you help me out for a sec?" The Shikaku looking guy said.

"Of course Iruka," Mizuki replied and turned to me. "Why don't you go and sit on an available chair."

I turned my head and looked towards the whole classroom. 'But every chair is available though...'

Fuck it, I'll just sit on the furthest corner near the window. I don't anything to learn here anyways, why didn't Danzo just promote me, he has tons of influence. That motherfucker.

I decided to flip the book open, reading the contents of each pages. It's a story of a character having a system to help him with his life. Damn, how I wish I had that. "Naruto: Blessed" by Clarkkk, what a nice novel.

I continued reading until Iruka tried to take my book off my hand to which I just pulled a little for his hand to miss it. 'Wait, why did he-'

I observed the whole room and noticed that every seat was filled with students looking at me. 'Wait what?'

Iruka's face was flexed, I could describe it as a volcano wanting to erupt. "Itsuki Nara?"

I looked towards Iruka's eyes, then to my classmates. They were all just staring at me dead silent.

"Uh... present?"