Rei was speechless. He had forgotten that terms like those didn't get thrown around to children. His parents were used to his intelligence by now and have stopped questioning but for others, his knowledge was an enigma.
He scored average in combat/practical lessons, but when it ca to theory he would blow everyone away by his knowledge alone. Often tis, Rei would ask questions that would even make the teachers stumble and struggle to find words to explain to him.
So Naruto not knowing about kekkei genkai wasn't a huge disappointnt, it would be miracle if half of the students of the class would even know the term by now. It was just that Rei being far more knowledgeable made others look like snails in front of him.
Rei then explained the content of the contract to Naruto, as deeply as possible, but dumb-ing himself a bit to get the words into Naruto's head in a proper way.
"So…you can get half my abilities if I sign this?"
"Yes." Naruto blinked once.
"…That's your secret?"
"…Yes."
Honestly, Rei expected confusion. Maybe suspicion. Possibly rejection.
Instead Naruto suddenly looked weirdly emotional.
"…You want half of my abilities?" he asked quietly.
That reaction caught Rei slightly off guard.
"…Yes?"
Naruto looked back down at the contract again. And internally, the blond boy honestly felt like his brain had temporarily stopped functioning properly. All his life, all he received was rejection, scowl and insults.
Children would be taken away by their parents if they ever tried to play with them, many of them bullied him. Only Rei was the one who would play with them and didn't bother with the stares by the people around.
The Third Hokage would sotis show up and teach him about random things and be kind to him, but that was it. Naruto had always felt this chasm in his chest when he wanted to do normal activities with anyone. And Rei filled that void.
And now that he was asking half of his abilities, he felt rooted on the spot. Half of his? Who? The guy who ca dead last in the last exams? The guy who ca dead last even in the practical combat and always get bullied around? And Rei wanted half of his?
Was he okay? He knew Rei was the theory topper of the class. Smarter than basically everyone around them. Strong too, maybe not as Sasuke strong but at least he would give Shikamaru a headache. But compared to him?
Naruto honestly thought he was kind of a ss. So the fact Rei genuinely thought Naruto had abilities worth sharing… It made his chest feel strangely warm.
Sure, the contract sounded a little weird. Maybe even fake. Honestly Naruto wasn't entirely convinced this wasn't so elaborate prank involving magical floating paper nonsense.
But that part barely mattered. Because Rei had trusted him enough to share a secret. A real secret.
"Alright!" Naruto grinned suddenly afterward.
Before Rei could even say anything else, Naruto imdiately signed the contract with complete confidence.
"…You didn't even hesitate." Rei stared slightly.
"Huh?" Naruto looked confused. "Why would I?"
"…I just explained that I can literally take half your abilities."
Naruto puffed his chest proudly. "Then you better beco super strong with them, believe it!"
And the mont the final stroke of Naruto's signature completed itself, his body reacted instantly.
Rei's eyes widened slightly as the contract dissolved into streams of chakra that rushed directly into his body. And imdiately—
Pressure.
An absurd amount of pressure.
"…Ah—"
Rei instinctively grabbed his chest as the chakra inside him surged wildly. It felt completely different from Hana's refined chakra or Daichi's rough combat-oriented one. This one felt… massive. Wild like an ocean compressed into a tiny container.
Naruto blinked. "…Rei?"
Rei barely heard him.
Because at that mont, his entire body felt like it was being flooded from inside out.
Chakra pathways expanded painfully. His muscles tightened instinctively. Even his breathing beca heavier as wave after wave of foreign chakra rged itself into his system.
And then suddenly—
It stabilized.
Rei froze slightly afterward.
Because he could feel it imdiately.
The difference.
"…Holy shit," he whispered unconsciously.
The amount of chakra inside his body had more than doubled instantly. No… probably even more than that.
Naruto was only half Uzumaki by blood. Half. And most of his natural chakra was already constantly being used to suppress the Nine-Tails sealed inside him.
Yet despite all those limitations…
The amount Rei inherited still felt monstrous by his standards. And that realization alone was terrifying. Because if this was what remained after the seal's passive chakra grubbing tendency… then how ridiculous would Naruto's natural reserves beco in the future?
Honestly, Rei suddenly understood a little better why Orochimaru practically lost his mind trying to collect bloodlines and talents. Once soone tasted even a fraction of this kind of growth, greed beca dangerously easy.
Thankfully Rei had already prepared for months specifically for this mont. Tree climbing. Water walking. Chakra exercises. Endless refinent.
All of it so his body wouldn't instantly collapse under the strain of Naruto's absurd reserves.
And thankfully… it worked.
"…Woah," Naruto stared at him with wide eyes. "…Did it work?!"
Rei slowly exhaled through his nose afterward.
"…Yeah."
And honestly? The feeling was addictive. Not only emotionally, but also physically.
For the first ti since arriving in this world, Rei genuinely felt what people in Naruto considered a "large chakra reserve." Before this, despite inheriting from Hana and Daichi, his reserves remained within the realm of talented civilian-born children.
Now?
Naruto anwhile looked unbelievably excited. He didn't understand what happened but he could sohow feel that Rei had beco strong.
"THAT IS SO COOL!" he whisper-yelled again while practically vibrating in place. "Do I get stronger too?!"
"…No." Rei answered honestly.
Naruto paused. "…Oh."
"…But you don't lose anything either."
"…OH!" Naruto imdiately recovered. "Then that's fine!"
Rei stared at him quietly for a mont afterward.
Honestly… Naruto's ability to instantly accept absurd supernatural nonsense remained concerning.
Still, as Rei slowly flexed his fingers, he noticed sothing else too. Vitality. That was the best way to describe it.
His body felt… sturdier sohow. Stronger internally. The Uzumaki constitution wasn't just about chakra reserves. It was physical energy itself. Life force. Endurance. Recovery.
And Naruto apparently possessed enough of it naturally to make Rei's body feel transford after only receiving half.
"…This is insane," Rei muttered quietly while trying to properly process the changes. "Let's go to Ichiraku Ran. I will personally pay for you for the next few days."
"What? Really?" Naruto's eyes went wide when he heard that. That place was always his favorite. Now and forever. So he was more than glad to be there again.
------
1 year later.
Maybe it was because he was growing up again. Or maybe it was because everyday life in Konoha constantly forced movent upon people. Train. Study. Spar. Learn. Repeat. Days blurred together surprisingly fast inside the Academy.
Before Rei properly realized it, another year had already passed.
And honestly… the changes were noticeable.
Not externally at first glance. He still looked like a normal Academy student. A little calr than others perhaps. More reserved. But physically he wasn't so monster child prodigy like Kakashi or Itachi apparently were.
Which was intentional. Very intentional.
Rei had spent the last year carefully balancing his image inside the Academy.
Theory topper? Fine.
Good chakra control? Acceptable.
Strong fundantals? Normal for a hardworking student.
But overwhelming combat talent?
Absolutely not. Rei intentionally kept himself sowhere in the upper-middle range practically. Skilled enough to gain respect from teachers. Not skilled enough to beco a problem.
It was exhausting honestly. anwhile Naruto had sohow beco even louder over the last year. Which Rei previously believed was physically impossible.
Still… one thing had definitely changed after the contract.
Naruto and Rei beca genuinely close friends afterward. Not just "the one kid who talks to Naruto" anymore. Actual friends. And because Naruto himself had no idea that Rei literally gained absurd chakra reserves from him, the blond idiot remained blissfully unaware of how much he accidentally contributed to Rei's growth.
Rei felt a bit of guilt when it ca to Naruto now. He couldn't help him in any way or form. He actually advised him to try climbing trees and see if he could do it. Turns out, even after one year he couldn't. The influence of Kyuubi's chakra was still very prominent and though it was lessening over ti, it wasn't enough.
Of course, in order to encourage him, Rei said that he too couldn't climb trees. All Rei could do was be by his side and not get bullied. That was the least he could do.
Naruto's chakra changed everything.
Even after a year, Rei still occasionally found himself amazed by the sheer amount flowing through his body now. His reserves had skyrocketed far beyond ordinary civilian-born standards. Combined with his refined control from Hana and combat instincts from Daichi, his foundation now honestly looked terrifying for soone his age.
Thankfully… nobody knew that. Or at least Rei hoped nobody knew that.
Today however, the Academy was holding sparring matches. Which automatically ant chaos. Half the students were excited. Half were terrified. Naruto sohow belonged to both groups simultaneously.
"I'm telling you, this ti I'm definitely winning!" Naruto loudly declared while shadowboxing imaginary enemies before class even started.
"You lost your last four matches." Rei replied calmly from nearby.
"That just ans I'm saving my real strength!"
"That excuse stops working eventually."
"No it doesn't!"
Nearby, Shikamaru Nara looked exhausted already and class hadn't even properly started yet. Eventually the students were called outside toward the training grounds where sparring matches began one by one.
And unfortunately for Rei… his first opponent ended up being Shino Abura.
Honestly?
Terrible matchup.
Not because Rei couldn't beat him. He could if he actually used his abilities. But Shino was exactly the kind of opponent Rei disliked dealing with publicly. The type who noticed things. He was both invisible and visible at the sa ti.
Which ant this fight required careful acting.
"…Begin." Iruka announced.
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