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...

Naruto had quite a stroke of luck; they say that when you think about something a lot, it tends to happen to you. Similar energies or vibrations attract each other, which led Naruto to encounter what seemed to be a strange person at first glance.

Naruto has a habit of using echolocation almost all the time, which is why he discovered the peculiarity in the Uchiha Clan. He learned to emit a strong but very quiet sound with his tongue, which is inaudible to all humans. However, one day, someone heard or noticed the sounds he emitted in the environment, but it should have been impossible since he sends sounds at frequencies that humans usually shouldn't pick up.

"Child, your sensory abilities are quite surprising. Do you want to be my student?" confidently replied the old man who passed Naruto on the street.

"What?" Naruto looked at him strangely, was he talking to him? It seems so.

"You cleverly hid them; most probably will never sense them, but there are people sensitive to every frequency, so simply changing the frequency of the sound to be imperceptible to a certain species is not enough," the old man explained, examining the teenager.

"Oh... your Chakra Circulatory System is damaged, hmm... that's even better...!"

"Who are you, old man?" Naruto asked, sensing the old man with his sensory perception. There was no Chakra in him... wait... Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief in an instant. This old man was able to hide his presence so well that not even Naruto could detect it!

"I am the Senior Monk from the Fire Temple, my name is Wataridori," the old man introduced himself politely.

"The Fire Temple?" Naruto repeated thoughtfully.

"Do you possess that famous Gift of the Hermit Group?" Naruto began to understand why he couldn't detect Chakra in this guy. He simply doesn't have it!

"Are you willing to possess it? It's a gift to humanity; you don't need to have a functioning Chakra System for it. If you want to be my student, I'll show you how to acquire it!" The old man looked determined to make Naruto his student.

"Why do you care so much? I don't know you," Naruto involuntarily stepped back from the old man a few steps, but he seemed unaffected by his actions.

"Echolocation belongs to the field of Kontorōrujutsu (Control Techniques), but you probably call it differently... sensing and controlling the body, or something like that. You are perfectly suited to be a Monk, without a Chakra System and already knowing the basics at such a young age, you can acquire the Gift of the Hermit Group in less than a year, I guarantee you that," Wataridori explained excitedly.

Naruto scratched his neck awkwardly, "Oh, grandpa, I'm sorry, but I don't have time for that," Naruto waved him off and walked away, leaving the Monk alone.

Naruto was unaware, but that brief encounter was truly exceptional on his life's journey, which will alter his destined Fate. Naruto will meet this guy many more times and he will greatly help him, as well as guide him onto a different path of power that Naruto never dreamed of...

...

Naruto entered the hospital room where Kushina lay. He approached her bed and looked at her pitifully pale face, filled with purple spots. He kissed her forehead in greeting and exchanged the flowers next to her on the bedside table. He changed them regularly every week to make them look beautiful, as if she could wake up at any moment.

But that's unlikely. She has been in a coma for two months now, and her Life Energy is dwindling. Kushina will only survive a few more years, before she dies in unconsciousness.

It's been almost half a year since she got sick, and they couldn't help her. They only found a way to reduce the amount of scattered Life Energy in her body, but that's all they could do.

Naruto sat next to her on the bed and took her pale hand. She lost her creamy skin color in favor of a sickly white, her hands were also wrinkled and dried, as if she had aged decades. Naruto spent from half an hour to sometimes even two hours a day sitting with her, often talking to her, telling her about his day and other matters.

He now spends definitely more time with her than when she was healthy and full of vitality. He now regrets not dedicating more of his time to her or to other family members. He so much desired strength, power, and a longer life span that he forgot about all of them. He devoted himself to trying to cure his condition and gain as much power as possible, and now what? It was all in vain, since he can't even find the cause of her illness. Why did he train and study so hard if it didn't help him in any way?

They, humans, are truly powerless against the Will of the Heavens...

Lately, Naruto has stopped training; actually, even if he had time, he didn't do it. He doesn't feel the same as before. His motivation was the desire to experience; he wanted to go everywhere without fear for his life, do everything possible, experience all emotions. But now he feels deep regret, greater than being crippled with limitations. It's overwhelming. The deeper the bond with someone, the more it hurts when that person suffers, and you can't do anything. Helplessness is overwhelming, and you can't get out of it, you just sink deeper into it.

The regret of being crippled motivated him; the thought of defying the impossible was exciting, and the fear of death at a young age only gave him more strength. However, his Ka-chan's illness was something else; he couldn't cure it so easily, he couldn't do anything, not even Tsunade could. Even after six months of research, they haven't achieved anything to improve her condition.

Deep down, Naruto wanted to come to terms with the fact that his Ka-chan will never open her eyes again or speak a word. However, his heart forbade him to think of her death. He hated himself for it; he was completely shattered and didn't know what to do. He was just wasting time...

The doors to Kushina's room opened, and through them came a girl, a mirrored reflection of the unconscious woman. The only difference was in age and vitality between them. That girl was Himiko, Kushina's daughter.

"Hey, Onii-chan, Ka-chan...!" — Himiko stood beside them, greeting them. She was met with silence and a nod from Naruto.

For a few minutes, Himiko stared sadly at her mother, then turned to Naruto.

"Umm... Onii-chan?" — Himiko looked uncertain.

"What is it?"

She fidgeted for a few seconds before saying what was on her mind. "I have a request, can you come to the academy tomorrow? Sensei wants to talk about my grades..."

Himiko hung her head in embarrassment. Compared to her older brother, she was just his shadow. She had the worst grades in the whole class, and the teachers were always scolding her. If she weren't the Hokage's daughter, Himiko was sure they would have kicked her out of the Shinobi Academy long ago.

"Shouldn't Tou-san go there instead?" — Naruto asked blankly.

Himiko felt even worse; her Onii-san didn't even see the point in wasting time on her.

"He said I should ask you because he's busy..."

"Oh, I see," — Naruto nodded. Well, Minato was deeply saddened by his wife's condition, and since she got sick, he was coming home later and later. He became a workaholic, throwing himself into his Hokage duties to forget about their problems. Fortunately, it's not like he completely forgot about them, but the time they spent together had shrunk by at least half.

Seeing his younger sister with such a downcast face, Naruto felt bad. Maybe she thought something silly, or perhaps he said something wrong? He wasn't sure, but he wanted to comfort her.

"I'm only a little older than you, and your teachers may not take me seriously, but if you want me to go, I'll do it," — Naruto patted Himiko on the head, causing her to look at him in surprise.

"Really...?"

Naruto nodded affirmatively, "Yes, we'll go there together. You'll have to lead me to the teacher's room because I don't know the way."

...

The next morning, before the start of classes at the Shinobi Academy...

"You didn't dress up too much, did you? It's just a meeting with Sensei, Onii-chan...!" — Himiko sighed, looking around at all the people who were staring at them with curiosity.

"I just dressed a bit better than usual; I usually don't care about my appearance, so that's probably why you think that," — Naruto calmly explained, running his hand through his hair.

"Sure... all my friends are staring at you...!" — Himiko pouted cutely, and Naruto chuckled.

As they passed Himiko's class, her best friend, Hinata, came out of it.

"Even Hinata... Tchh..." — Himiko couldn't help but snort at the sight of her friend's slightly flushed cheeks.

"Umm, hello Naruto-onii-chan...!" — Hinata approached them and greeted them shyly. She was really shy, but it added to her charm.

Since her attempted abduction, she had been calling him older brother. She was very grateful for his rescue, and for a long time, she bowed low to him until Naruto forbade her. Honestly, he was annoyed by such low and pathetic behavior from the heiress of one of the noble clans like the Hyuuga Clan.

"Hi Hinata-chan, how are you?" — Naruto sent her a polite smile as usual.

"I-I'm fine... thank you," — Hinata blushed shyly. Really, she had no communication skills other than a brief greeting and formalities. How could such a lively girl like Himiko spend almost all her free time with her? Naruto was really puzzled.

"Can you take care of Himiko-chan for me? I need to meet with your Sensei, and I'm worried I might mess something up again," — Naruto laughed aloud and left the girls to themselves.

"Yes, no p-problem...!" — Hinata nodded vigorously and grabbed her friend's arm for confirmation.

"Hey, Onii-chan?! You said you didn't know the way to the teacher's room?" — Himiko called out, but Naruto just waved his hand, pretending not to hear what she said.

Using his sensory perception, Naruto easily found the teacher's room where Sensei Himiko was before classes began. He had met him a few times in the past and had exchanged some formal conversations with him. Iruka was a good guy and really suited his role as a teacher.

He knocked on the door, and when he heard a voice telling him to come in, he opened it.

"Good morning, I'm looking for Iruka-sensei."

"Oh, here I am!" — Iruka raised his hand, waving in greeting. He was a young man, just over twenty years old. He was probably the youngest sensei in the entire Shinobi Academy.

"I came to talk about Himiko-chan; sorry, but Tou-san has been busy lately, so I was asked to come instead," — Naruto explained.

"I understand, don't worry; I know how demanding the Hokage's job is. Would you like to sit?" — Iruka offered, pointing to a nearby chair, which probably belonged to some other sensei, but he was currently absent.

"Yes, thank you."

Iruka immediately got down to business. "Himiko has never had high grades; they were at best average, but recently they've been the worst in the whole class, and I'm afraid she might have to repeat the year, so I'm intervening early."

Naruto sighed. "I realized that learning isn't her strong suit, but I didn't expect it to be that bad."

"Yeah, well, it's really surprising considering Menma or even your achievements, despite your young age," — Iruka admitted.

"I probably have no choice; from today, I'll help her with her studies. We'll go over the basics of the first year and cram that knowledge into her head, then we'll focus on the second year, and I guarantee that her grades will skyrocket within half a year," — Naruto declared seriously.

"Oh... I'd be grateful, but I'd ask you not to overwork her..." — Iruka felt really stupid saying that; he shouldn't say something like that, after all, he was a teacher, but Naruto's serious look sent shivers down his spine.

"Here are her latest tests, so you know what to focus on. Besides, she's one of the best students in terms of physical strength, and she has a really accurate eye for throwing kunai. Her only weakness is studying, but if that improves, she'll be a fantastic Shinobi in the future!" — Iruka said.

"Yeah, I know. After all, she's a woman from the Namikaze Clan," — Naruto chuckled. Actually, she was even from two great clans, but all the Hokage's children took his clan name.

Naruto talked with Iruka about Himiko for a while longer, then left the teacher's room with the bell. It went really smoothly and without any problems.