~Two Weeks after Reincarnation, Soutarou POV~
Land of Fire.
Konohagakure.
Konoha Calendar Year 48, November 12th.
'So apparently I turned four years old today. Which means Itachi's already killed shinobi during the third great ninja war… Still this timeline is messing with my head, but then its Naruto and Kishimoto was smoking crack out of his own ass when making the timeline. All things considered, its a good thing that I've started learning how to read though I have to say I don't remember it being this hard last time I did this rodeo. Maybe my mind's older and less malleable? No, that doesn't make sense since I'm only four years old… This language is just bullshit!'
Sighing heavily, Soutarou shook his head and ran through the kanji looking as if he was a child that an adult was trying to make eat their vegetables.
'Come on superpowers and shit… oh and hot Naruto World girls-... *sigh* If only…'
Shaking himself out of his stupor, Soutarou forced down the knowledge and continued to practice…
The clock continued to tick on the wall behind Soutarou's low to the floor table. As he continued to read and shift around before finally letting the paper with all the kanji fall onto his face.
'Which bastard made this many kanji? What there's gotta be at least two thousand of them! I got most of the hiragana and katakana, but do I really need these many kanji? Damn Japanese! Weren't these guys known for their efficiency? How is this efficient in any way!? I miss English… speaking of do I think in English or Japanese now? Another thing, even though I wrote down all the future information in short-hand and personalized English, I don't doubt that a guy like Orochimaru, future Kabuto, or even Jetsu won't be able to figure it out… it's best to destroy this now that I've thought it all over.'
Getting a match from the kitchen, Soutarou lit the papers on fire and waited until the entire thing turned to ash and then burned those ashes before washing half of them straight down the drain and flushing the other half down the toilet.
'If I still get screwed over somehow after all of that then oh well. Speaking of future knowledge… there are some really good people to make a secret organization right now… Haku, Kimimaro, Kabuto, Karin's Mother plus Karin, Pakura, maybe even Guren… *sigh* Unfortunately I'm only four years old… the only saving grace here is Pakura, Nono and thereby Kabuto, Karin's Mother, Haku, and even Kimimaro all meet their unfortunate circumstances around the same time… about eight years from now, or rather seven years after Naruto's birth. Which would make me about thirteen or twelve dependent on how early in the year those events happen. Well no point in thinking about that if I can't even survive the nine tails attack…'
'Damn talk about a time of opportunity, but also a time of damnation… worst of all I'm not Itachi or Shisui who reach literal Kage-Level by the time they're eleven or even eight years old so trying to take advantage of my future knowledge regarding some of these is too hard… I need to prioritize I guess… definitely Pakura, just her Scorch Release and current strength alone make her a priority, not to mention she's also fairly easy to manipulate… Though her age might make it a problem, it shouldn't be a major issue if I say… run amok and cause chaos in Sunagakure, not to mention I have a literal playbook of how to do it from my other world knowledge… As for the others, I can't take any of them without damaging the canon too much… Karin and her Mother are still ones I'd take… I bet Honoka is still alive too, so maybe her as well… If I save Nono I might be able to manipulate Kabuto later on… Kimimaro is needed for Orochimaru to feel comfortable to attack Konoha later… otherwise he won't have another S-rank shinobi in his back pocket… Guren is similar though I'd classify her as a strong Elite Jonin rather than a S-rank… Alright for now I'll focus on finishing learning this damn kanji and then I'll see who I can save and who I can rope into my cause.'
'Time to go to the village's internal orphanage… Thankfully it's not like the other orphanage outside the village that's just a recruitment facility for Danzo. I likely won't run into that person-'
'Fuck.'
There stood a woman with dirty blonde hair, an innocent aura, framed round glasses, and what could only be described as a nun outfit.
'If I walk away now it's going to be even more suspicious.'
'Smile. Smile. SMILE DAMMIT.'
Forcing out a smile, Soutarou walked up to his former caretaker, who wasn't the woman he was trying to run away from and began talking to her and asking her questions before the caretaker kindly waved over someone else and said, "Soutarou, dear, I noticed you have quite a few concerns about becoming a Shinobi and even wished to learn how to read early to prepare for the academy. So I made a request with the village for a tutor and surprisingly lord hokage approved it and assigned this wonderful lady here, Nono Yakushi."
Soutarou's face paled for a moment, before regaining color quickly, though not before Nono noticed. Soutarou calmly smiled and politely introduced himself and exchanged pleasantries with Nono before the caretaker said something else that nearly gave Soutarou a heartattack, "Now then Soutarou why don't you take this lovely lady back with you to your house? Afterall, she's your personal tutor from now on though she's quite a busy person so she'll only visit you once a week."
'Once a week with the Wandering Miko!?! ARE YOU CRAZY? It's over! Danzo's sending me to the shadow realm. My family's wealth! My prime real estate! My Senju heritage! Damn you Danzo! You damn monkey don't you know this is Danzo's number one spy in this day and age?!? Hiruzen you damn fox monkey shameless perverted worthless hokage how could you do this to me??? I swear if I survive this I'm running away and starting a farm somewhere.'
Panic flashed on Soutarou's face before snapping away into a normal smiling child's expression, which of course didn't go unnoticed by Nono. Nono simply asked, "Is something the matter?"
Soutarou normally replied, "No I'm just very excited that's why I went quiet and a bit worried because I haven't… I haven't cleaned my house for guests… Eheh…"
Scratching his head and putting on his most innocent face Soutarou smiled. Nono smiled back with a similar smile which immediately sent off alarm bells in Soutarou's mind.
'When that damn Kabuto bastard smiled like this back in the anime it usually meant he knows something… dammit I know she saw my expression change. Fuck it we ball… Nono is easily an Elite Jonin so for her to be my private tutor definitely means I have strong connections and Hiruzen should know about her too… She's too high profile for the Konoha higher ups to not know about her. Damn conspiracy!'
"Ms. Yakushi, I'll be in your care," Soutarou finally said in a small bow.
Nono returned the gesture before the two headed towards the village center, conversing as they walked and quickly arrived at Soutarou's house. Soutarou opened the gate and then the door quickly and let Nono in before taking his shoes out and rummaging around for a large enough pair of house slippers for Nono. He then gently placed them out in front of her and motioned for her to follow. Which then led them down a hallway and into a large living room space, where a low coffee table was facing an older TV. The room for the most part was sparkling clean, except for the table that had dozens of papers with kanji written all of them. The writing ranged from once terrible to progressively better additionally there was a textbook out and several diagrams out. With scattered and fallen ink on the table along with several pens that seemed to have rolled. Soutarou scratched his head in embarrassment before saying, "I'm usually much more clean… but the last few days I've been practicing my kanji and writing so I haven't bothered to wrap up this area.. Apologies for the mess."
Nono softly shook her head and said, "It's rather clean, but don't you feel lonely in such a big house by yourself at such an age?"
Soutarou without looking back at her said, "That would just be ungrateful of me. There are so many children in the orphanages in and outside the village, so many barely old enough to speak yet already on their own. I on the other hand have a generous pension, my parent's wealth, their jutsu scrolls, gear, and resources that will undoubtedly set me onto a path of success soon or later. So no it's not lonely, rather I'm grateful everyday that at least I have this much. I always try to see who has less than me, not more than me… not in the sense that I'm looking down on them, but rather how grateful I am for the life I have and to constantly be so."
Nono watched with curious eyes before saying, "You're quite unlike an ordinary child. You're mature beyond your years and you're cautious of me. Which begs the question why?"
Soutarou's expression hardened before he realized something, 'Even though Nono is Danzo's spy she was eventually killed because she had too much agency and wished to leave the root… I doubt she'll go out of her way to hand over a talent to the root… so I might as well go raw dog since it's already been exposed, not to mention in the shinobi world intelligence such as mine is just seen as talent or as a genius…'
Soutarou's mask fell and his face turned stoic and said, "The Shinobi World is such, anyone, anywhere could be an enemy. Because I know this, I also know that without the drive and motivation to gain strength I will not be able to achieve anything. I won't be able to live long. I won't be able to change the world for the better. I won't be able to achieve my goals either. Simply put, the original sin is weakness. Because I am weak, everything I say is wrong. But if I possess enough strength then my will is the way, it becomes right. Only those strong can choose their fate and that is the unfortunate tragedy and truth of our world."
Nono muttered, "Weakness is the original sin…"
Nono brows scrunched and she pursed her lips before looking kindly at Soutarou, "Too intelligent.. At only four years old you see too much… You shouldn't expose that much to others they'll become afraid of your potential-"
Soutarou interjected, "It's because I can tell you're tired of this world that I'd dare expose it in the first place. So I ask you not as my tutor assigned by the hokage, but as a fellow person tired of this accursed world… Will you help me become strong?"
Nono stared at Soutarou's now raised hand that seemed to reach up to her. She was slightly amused and nodded though not before she thought,
Nono finally genuinely smiled, bent down and took his small hand and said, "Let's see how far your will goes… Soutarou Morita. Let's begin then shall we?"
***Author's Note: There'll be significant time skips for the first bit and things might seem a bit off or weird, but again these are the build up chapters.***