Academy's day over!
The academy gates turned into a parent-palooza as every kid rushed out to meet their parents.
Shino was picked up by his dad, who also happened to be a teacher at the academy. Talk about keeping it in the family.
Meanwhile, Shikamaru and Choji were solo. Being from the super-important Ino-Shika-Cho clans meant their parents were probably knee-deep in clan and village business.
Kiba, though? He got picked up by his older sis, Hana, who, surprisingly... turned out to be a total knockout. Who knew?
After saying bye to his friends, Naruto started his walk to home.
"Man, today was such a boring day. I should probably learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu and send a clone to the academy. Double the chill time!"
'Even back in my past life, school wasn't this boring. If I wasn't hanging with Shikamaru and the gang, I would've died of boredom for sure.'
The second he stepped outside the academy gates, his spidey-senses tingled. Three Anbu were tailing him. With his boosted chakra, his perception had gotten a nice little upgrade.
'I can practically read their chakra signatures now. It's way clearer than before.'
'Weird, though. Why weren't they watching me at the academy? Did old man Hiruzen think nothing major could happen there?'
Naruto wondered.
As he walked, his mind was already strategizing his power-up plan.
'Gotta grind for more XP and boost my chakra level. But the normal way takes forever. Looks like I need to start going on missions where I can actually throw down.'
'But for that, I gotta graduate and become a ninja first.'
——
Creak!
He pushed open his apartment door, and the usual quiet emptiness greeted him.
"Home sweet empty home, right, buddy?"
He wandered into the kitchen, yanked open the fridge, grabbed a water bottle, poured himself a glass, and plopped onto a chair.
'Even though he was fuming earlier, Sasuke was surprisingly chill after the auditorium. That's way different than what I thought he'd do,' Naruto mused, a little surprised.
'If this whole fate thing is real, do I have to fight him in the future, like all those Asura and Indra reincarnations?' he wondered internally.
[No host. You no longer have the chakra of Asura Otsutsuki. The System extracted it from you the moment it activated.]
"WHAT?!"
Naruto yelled, totally speechless.
"Oi, brat! What's with the shouting? You woke me up from a perfectly good nap," Kurama grumbled, jolting awake.
'Seriously? Is it even possible to extract Asura's chakra? Didn't the Sage of Six Paths find something fishy about it?' Naruto was totally gobsmacked.
"Hey, brat! I asked you something! Spill it!" Kurama demanded.
'Nothing, Kurama. Go back to sleep. Seriously,' Naruto said, still speechless.
He focused his mind on his system.
'Explain? When and how did this happen?'
[The moment the system activated, it detected an unknown chakra within the host's body. This chakra, if fully Awakened, would have become a permanent part of the host.]
[The System cannot allow any permanent external chakra sources to integrate with the host's body, as it would interfere with the system itself.]
'So, you're saying you can just extract any chakra sources from me?'
[As long as they are temporary, such as chakra batteries like Bijuu within the host.]
"SERIOUSLY?" Naruto was stunned again.
"Ugh!"
"BRAT! What's your deal today?" Kurama was getting seriously ticked off.
'Oh, uh... Sorry about that. I was just... You can go back to your nap. I won't bother you again, I swear,' Naruto stammered.
Meanwhile, the Anbu tailing him were also finding Naruto's sudden outbursts a bit strange.
Anbu 1: "Captain, I think the Nine-Tails is affecting the Jinchuriki."
Anbu 2: "Maybe we should report this to Hokage-sama quickly."
Anbu Captain: "Uh-huh. We'll report after our shift."
Naruto, completely clueless about their conversation, continued his chat with the System.
'Wait, does that mean you could also extract Kurama from me easily?' Naruto asked eagerly.
[Affirmative. However, for complete safety, the system advices the host to have at least Low-Tier Kage Level Chakra.]
'Why? Shouldn't half of Kurama's chakra be easier to extract than Asura's?'
[Asura's chakra was in a dormant state and was not sealed within the host's like Kurama's. That is why it was easily extracted before it could become Permanent.]
'Hmm, I get it. So the seal is the key.'
'Then I really need to focus on grinding XP so my chakra level can hit Kage,' he realized.
He glanced at the setting sun through his apartment window.
'So, I'm not Asura Otsutsuki's reincarnation anymore.'
"Hmm, I wonder who is then?" he mused with a small smile.
——
At the Hokage's Office.
"Naruto was shouting the moment he returned from the academy?" Hiruzen asked, his brow furrowed.
"Yes, Hokage-sama. We believe it may be related to the Nine-Tails. Perhaps the Kyuubi is influencing the Jinchuriki," an Anbu replied.
"Hmm, I see," Hiruzen said, gesturing for the Anbu to leave.
'If that's the case, things could get messy,' he thought worriedly, his face etched with concern.
He knew that if Danzo got wind of this, he'd be back to his persistent nagging about handing Naruto over to Root, wanting to mold him into the perfect weapon for the village.