Title: Against the Odds
Naruto was pissed. No—furious.
He stomped through the streets of Konoha, fists clenched, jaw tight, and eyes burning with rage. The villagers barely spared him a glance, too used to ignoring the blonde troublemaker. Fine. Let them ignore him. Just like Kakashi-sensei did.
"Sasuke needs more help to face Gaara," Kakashi had said, calm and unreadable as ever. "He has a better chance of winning."
Naruto scoffed out loud, earning a dirty look from a passing merchant. "Tch. Of course, it's always Sasuke this, Sasuke that. What about me, huh?!"
He kicked a rock so hard it hit a wall and bounced back at him. He didn't even flinch when it hit his shin.
Kakashi had made his choice. And once again, Naruto was left behind.
But not this time. Not anymore.
Naruto Uzumaki was going to prove them all wrong. He'd beat Neji, wipe the floor with Sasuke, and show the whole damn village that he wasn't some nobody. He'd show Kakashi, too.
The only problem?
He had no idea what to train.
He'd already improved his Taijutsu, his stamina was top-tier, and Shadow Clones were his signature move—but that wasn't enough, not against Neji's Byakugan and Gentle Fist. He needed something smarter, sharper—like…chakra control.
Yeah. That was something he could actually work on.
But how?
He frowned, standing on the sidewalk like an idiot, until a sign caught his eye. His feet moved before his brain even caught up.
The Konoha Public Library.
Naruto froze in front of it. He stared at the doors like they were some kind of cursed seal. He hated books. They were boring and full of big words and rules and—
But he hated being underestimated even more.
With a deep breath and a growl under his breath, he pushed the doors open and stepped into enemy territory.
Naruto slouched deeper into the uncomfortable wooden chair, surrounded by stacks of chakra control manuals. His eyes were bleary from reading, and half the words swam in front of him like drunken bugs. He grumbled, flipping through a section on advanced leaf balancing that made his head hurt.
"Ugh... Why does everything have to be about patience?" he muttered, resisting the urge to slam his forehead on the table.
He'd found a few interesting chakra control methods—walking on water, chakra thread manipulation, and even a few D and C-rank jutsu scrolls that had been gathering dust in the Genin section. Not bad, but not exactly Neji-destroying level either.
He reached for another worn book—Advanced Applications of Chakra Flow in Close Combat—but as he tugged on the spine, something behind it caught his eye.
A long, narrow scroll coated in dust.
Curiosity sparked. Naruto gently slid it out, coughing as a small cloud of dust erupted into the air. There was no official seal, no warning, no stamp. Just a cracked leather wrap and faded ink across the front.
"Animal Instinct."
Naruto blinked. "What the hell is this?"
He unrolled it slowly, careful not to tear the brittle edges. Inside, the ink was still dark, and the calligraphy sharp and fierce, like it had been written in a hurry—but with purpose.
"Every creature is born with the will to survive. Buried beneath rational thought and shinobi training lies something older… rawer. The animal instinct. If harnessed, it can be molded into a form of taijutsu that does not rely on form—but on feeling. Reaction. Kill or be killed."
Naruto's breath hitched.
The scroll continued with illustrations—wild, chaotic movements that didn't look like any academy kata. Claws, fangs, low stances, twisting hips and broken rhythm. It reminded him of something primal… something feral.
Beneath the diagrams were handwritten notes detailing exercises.
Naruto skimmed the first few.
"Run through the forest blindfolded at midnight. No sound. No chakra sensing. Only instinct."
"Meditate under starvation for three days. Fight the hallucinations."
"Challenge a wild animal with no weapons. Survive. Learn."
Naruto's hands trembled as he scrolled further. This wasn't just dangerous. It was borderline suicidal.
But it also felt... right.
No one would help him? Fine.
Then he'd become something no one could ignore.
Not Neji.
Not Sasuke.
Not even Kakashi.
He carefully rolled up the scroll, slid it into his jacket, and gave the librarian a tight nod as he left, hiding his find like a stolen treasure.
Naruto didn't know what kind of monster this training would turn him into.
But he was going to learn.