-Months later-
It was a bright and peaceful day like any other day in the Hidden Leaf Village.
The streets of the village were noisy and bustling with activity as the people of Konoha went about with their daily lives. The mood was mainly positive as it had always been for the past few years and one could easily hear the friendly greetings and excited chatter by the villagers. In a small medicine shop, Naruto was quiet as he witnessed the entire scene for a few minutes from the comfort of his chair at the side of the counter before turning his attention back to a large brown book that contained a detailed list of bank accounts with each one under a different name and the transactions made to them during the previous month.
It was a Saturday and there weren't any lessons for the day. He would have usually spent the day with his family but it so happened that his parents and the head of the Hyuuga clan had agreed a few days ago for his sister Natsuki to have a joint training session [1] together with her close friend Hinata today. Realizing that there was nothing for him to do there except for to watch the two girls train, he had declined to follow his family to the Hyuuga clan compound. With his family gone after lunch and having practiced chakra spinning the entire morning, Naruto had decided to take a break from his ninja training for the day and head over to his sensei's shop to see if there was anything that he could do there. Knowing that the shinobi would be working at his shop on such days, he had figured that he could try to help his sensei at the very least. Despite being busy, Takito had not mind him coming but was unable to spend any time with him and so had come out with a few tasks for him to do. They had been nothing too difficult; sweeping the floor, restocking the shelves with medicine and now this which was adjusting the numbers for a couple of bank accounts. Although Takito had instructed him to only do the transactions that involved simple addition and subtraction of a few small numbers [2], the ongoing work was still tedious but he had been diligent in his work for an hour and it won't be long now before he was finished.
Meanwhile, Takito himself was currently haggling with a ninja who had come to buy some medicine for an upcoming mission. Normally, Naruto would have been worried that the ninja might notice him but he was in his disguise and as long as he played his role, there was little to be worried about. His sensei had created a set of seals for him a few months back to help change his looks to a black haired boy with no facial resemblances whatsoever to him together with a false identity which were to be used whenever he was practicing his mask wearing or was going to see his sensei.
Right now, he was Minori Arikato; a distant relative of Rikuto Arikato who had came to stay with his granduncle and work under him to learn the tools of trade. He had been doing this for quite a while now and had grown used to the process of switching identities. However, there were still many things that he had yet to do properly, one of which was acting differently in front of everyone in the village when he was in his disguise.
Writing down the results of his calculations for the last transaction he was working on into the book with a pencil, the boy paused for a moment to think about how his training had been going. While he had successfully caught up with his sister and in some fields actually overtake her, his progress was beginning to slow down as he now faced a new set of challenges. Besides getting harder, his lessons now involved practicing every single skill that the shinobi had been teaching him. There was a certain standard which he now had to maintain in his performances during the training. If he failed to do so, he would be punished accordingly and was not allowed to advance any further until he had achieved that standard. On certain occasions, Takito would not completely teach him a certain topic and would instead leave a few hints as to where he could look for the answers. Only if he was unable to understand the topic after referring to the sources of information would the shinobi only then teach him that unfinished part.
Nevertheless, the blonde enjoyed his training especially the times when he could try out what he had learned. It brought a sense of satisfaction to be able to use his chakra to create a clone or two of himself or to walk up walls and trees, something that the other kids including his sister had yet to accomplish. Recently, his sensei had been considering the decision to introduce a few new fields into his training and Naruto was hoping that it would be the case. Seeing that his work was finally complete, he turned to look at his right only to find that the customer had already left while Takito was storing the money away.
"How are you doing with the work I've given you?" Takito asked without looking at him as he deposited the money into a scroll with a storage seal on it.
"It's finished oji-sama," the boy replied before handing the book over to his sensei.
Opening the book, the shinobi disguised as an old man took a moment to examine the Hokage's son's work before nodding. "Good, your writing is neat and you did not make any mistakes in your work. I think that I can allow you to work on the more challenging ones in the future," he stated before sitting down beside his student and writing a few extra notes into the book. "That aside, you've been a great help today and I really appreciate it Minori."
"You're welcome oji-sama," Naruto said with a beaming face.
"Well, there's no longer any work left for you to do so what are you going to do now?"
"To be honest, I don't really know oji-sama," Naruto admitted. It was now 3.17 pm which meant that he had around an hour left before Natsuki was done.
Takito had a deep frown as he observed his student while thinking about the entire situation. Perhaps he should do something to keep his student company. He suspected that the boy was tired of doing anything related to ninjas for the day nor was he keen in going to the Hyuuga clan to see his sister train as it probably reminded him that he was being excluded by his parents from the training. [3] With that in mind, the shinobi put the book away and went to get his wallet. "Tell me Minori, are you interested in going out for a snack? It's my treat," he said as he returned from the other room with his wallet in hand.
Naruto blinked his eyes in surprise. "Huh? Well, I would like to oji-sama ... but are you alright with that?"
"Don't worry about it Minori, I'm fine with it. If anything, think of this as a reward for the help you've been today."
"Wow, thanks Ta-I mean oji-sama! But what about your shop?" Naruto said before getting up from his seat and following Takito out of the shop.
"You need not worry Minori. I think I can afford to close my shop early just this once," the shinobi assured his student before closing the doors of his shop. "And not many people tend to visit my shop anyways."
"If you say so. So where are we going?" the boy eagerly asked.
"You'll find out soon enough."
-An hour later-
Naruto smacked his lips as he made his way home, the taste of the gyutan that he and his sensei had at the Yakiniku Q still fresh in his mind.
Upon arriving at the yakiniku restaurant, the two of them had taken their seats at a small, quiet corner of the place. Takito had allowed him to pick his own choices from the menu but Naruto had been content to let his sensei make the decision for him at it was his first time here and the shinobi seemed familiar with the food offered here. As a result, his 'granduncle' had ordered a plate of gyutan which was the main specialty of the well-known establishment for the each of them.
He had been hesitant to try it out at first but after taking in the savory smell of the salted beef tongues when they were cooked and seeing his sensei ate one, had allowed himself his curiosity to triumph over the reservations that he had about the dish. Mustering whatever courage that he had, he had slowly taken his first bite and was immediately struck by the delicate taste of the gyutan which he had found much to his surprise to be almost at the same level as his favorite food ramen. Before he knew it, he had found himself quickly taking another bite and another. That had earned a chuckle from his sensei which had came as a surprise for Naruto seeing that the man had always been aloof and dull since the very time they had first met.
After he had calmed down, he had proceeded to follow his sensei's manner of taking his time to finish his remaining beef tongues, savoring each bite before swallowing his food.
The both of them had then relaxed, enjoying the friendly atmosphere of the restaurant and observing their surroundings while quietly sipping their tea. It was here that they had started talking about the gyutan that they had when Takito had then told him an interesting story of how the salted beef tongues had first came to be served just after the third war and how it quickly rose to popularity in a matter of months. It turned out that during the Third Shinobi World War, meat was something of a rarity. With most of the livestocks killed by enemy ninjas, robbed by bandits or taken by soldiers, meat back then had rapidly became something that only the nobles and high-ups coud afford to have at a daily basis. As for the majority of the common folk, it became a treasure that they could at the very most have during major events or holidays and even then, the meat that they had was mostly bits and scraps. After the war had ended, meat had remained expensive and rare as it took time for the livestocks to grow to the size suitable for slaughter provided there were even anyone who could afford the price to buy them.
It was during this time that an owner of a yakitori restaurant had decided to serve the cow tongues and tails left behind by the soldiers and ninjas who had occupied the town which was his home during the war. Back then, eating the tails and tongues of animals was unheard of but many in the town had found the idea better than not having any meat at all. They started liking it and soon proudly declared it as something much tastier than the meat that they had used to eat. Travellers and passer-bys initially frowned at the dish but got used to eating the gyutan in time. Soon, news of the salted beef tongues had spread across the Elemental Countries and the ordinary people started trying out the idea for themselves. As many of the common people did it, some curious noble or rich person had decided to give it a try. And when one among the upper classes did that, others found themselves trying it also. And today, gyutan was one of the most popular dishes known throughout the land. By the time Takito was finished with the tale, Naruto had been so absorbed in it that he didn't notice that he had finished drinking his tea. Who would have known that the idea of gyutan that was now so popular among everyone was started out due to the lack of meat? [4]
When they had returned back to the medicine shop, more than an hour had already passed and Naruto had to return home. Of course, he had remembered to say his thanks to his sensei for bringing him out and treating him to a delicious snack. The ninja in return had dismissed his thanks, saying that there was no need for him to do so before both teacher and student had parted ways.
In the Yondaime's son's opinion, the entire experience was a welcome change to the times when he followed his family out for a snack.
For the past recent months, his family had the tendency to always head to the shop that sold anpan for a snack. Not that he had any problem with the bun but there was only so much that he could eat before he became tired of it. How was his parents able to eat them all the time was something of a mystery to him. And unlike his parents, Takito was willing to spend the time to listen to him and had many interesting things to talk about. As he headed inside of his home, he spotted his family's shoes arranged neatly at the shoe rack and knew that his family was back.
"I'm back," Naruto called out. It was his mother who replied.
"Naruto, you're back. Where have you been?" she asked as she appeared from the kitchen.
"I was just taking a walk around the village kaa-chan," he answered politely.
His mother nodded. "Well, dinner will be ready in half an hour so why don't you go get yourself cleaned up first?"
"Yes kaa-chan," the boy said before heading upstairs to his room. As he was about to head into his room, he caught sight of Natsuki talking to their father, recounting everything that she had done with the Hyuuga clan heiress during the joint training session and sighed.
It has already been more than a year since he had hoped that his family would realize the results of their actions and as much as it hurts for him to admit, it was likely that that would never be the case. It was a good thing that he had the fortune of being trained in the shinobi arts by Takito or he would have probably felt a lot worse about the whole thing. The ninja lessons had done much to help distract him from the thoughts of being excluded by his family. In the end though, the pain was still there and he couldn't help but wonder whether his family did really care for him these da-
'No.' Naruto immediately told himself. He should not be doubting his family.
All of this was happening because Natsuki needed to learn how to control the Kyuubi and it was only possible if they spent a lot of time with her which in turn meant sacrificing most of the time they would usually spend with him. And it was hard for his father and mother to notice him if they were busy trying to teach something that was very hard to do to his sister. Maybe when Natsuki was finally able to use her powers without any risk of losing control, things would change back to the way that they were supposed to be. After all, there was no longer the need for his parents or his sister to exclude him when that happened. And it was months away from now; Naruto remembered having overheard his father telling his mother that Natsuki should be able to enter the academy next year [5] without any risk of losing control just two days ago. There was never the need for him to have such thoughts about his family. [6]
In the meantime, he would just have to be patient and wait until that day arrives and while doing so, will continue his training with Takito in secret. It felt bad to have to lie to his family about his activities but it was necessary. His sensei had told him that no one in the village would ever agree to him training with the mysterious shinobi and Naruto did not want to be behind his fellow kids. Besides, the man had promised to explain everything when the time was right and Naruto believed him. Yes, everything must continue the way they are although it won't be easy for him to bear. Maybe he could divert some of his free time with his sensei in the future to keep himself even more occupied.
So Naruto had made a major change to his daily timetable. On the non-lesson days, he would no longer walk around the village and the times that he would usually spend with his family was reduced in order for him to be able to visit his sensei more often and to have more time to read the books and scrolls given to him by the shinobi. Of course, he knew that his actions might attract the attention of his family which he had now understood from his mask wearing lessons was something that must be avoided and had came out with a solution for this. [7]
A few days after he had came up with the new timetable, he had asked his parents whether he was allowed to visit the village library, stating the need to learn about ninjas in order to prepare himself for the day when he became one.
It didn't required as much persuasion and questioning as he'd expected for the two adults to give him the permission to do so as they had felt guilty about their son's situation and figured that the boy could do with some early learning on his own. What was the harm in letting him go anyways? The books that their son was allowed access to at this point were those on the academy level which did not contain any dangerous jutsus or skills that the boy might think of trying. With that, Naruto was able to visit his sensei during his free time and could use the excuse of being in the library whenever his family questioned him about his activities for the day.
That was not to say that he did not go to the library at all; he still had to put up a false image in front of everyone and the library in fact provided him with a much better place for him to read his reading materials than his home. It was quieter and more importantly free from any possible interruptions by his sister, parents or the occasional guests back at home. Getting the books and scrolls in and out of the place without being noticed was easy as Takito had again helped create another seal for him to conceal them from plain sight after Naruto had consulted with him about his plan. The ninja didn't exactly approved of his modified timetable but seeing that his excuse of heading to the library was able to convince his family, decided to let it be. Only once in a while would Naruto actually read a book from the library which he had found to be lacking in content when compared to the ones by his sensei and ask a question or two about the book from his parents.
As the months went by, Naruto had became satisfied with the way things were working out and had believed that everything would be simple from then on; that he had only need to continue with his new timetable and wait patiently for the year's end. However, it wasn't long before the same problem that he had managed to put aside for the time being came back to bother him once more, this time in the form of the children of his age.
The Yondaime's son had noticed that many of his fellow children were also beginning to show more interest in Natsuki and had the habit of trying to spend as much as time as they could with her which would sometimes result in him feeling somewhat left out. Another thing that annoyed him to no end about them was that whenever they all were chatting among themselves, he was unable to join in their conversation if the topic that they were discussing was about anything that was related to ninjas. As far as everyone in the village knew, Minato's son had never gotten any sort of training and Naruto realized that that he couldn't engage in the other kids' conversations regarding shinobis without creating any suspicion especially from his sister. He had tried to use what he had learned from the library books but his topic were mostly regarded by the children including Natsuki as boring. Seriously, it sucks to have so much to talk about and yet could not do so and can only listen to what others have to say or was simply ignored over a stupid reason. [8]
After several weeks of trying and failing, Naruto had given up and found himself only looking foward to the times when he could hang out with Takito who was the only person whom he could truly be open with.
When there weren't any customers to handle or work to do in the shop, the two of them would often go around the village where the ninja would show him all sorts of things that his parents had never done with him. If they weren't going around the village, they woud be talking about anything that had came into their mind for the day which was mostly the latest news that either of them had heard. Granted, Naruto had trouble understanding some of the things that his sensei would speak about but at least they were able to have a long and enjoyable conversation in the end. And if he was lucky, Takito would have an interesting story to tell him regarding the topic they were discussing about at that time. Otherwise, they would be playing a game of shogi, something that Naruto had gained a liking to despite having yet to win a single round against his sensei.
In the end, Naruto had decided that like his previous decision, it was best to ignore his problems with everyone else and accept the situation as it was. He had someone that he could at least spend his time with and it was better to focus on that than to fret about everyone else until the next year for it would not serve him any good.
He would adapt to the current situation, just as any ninja would have done.