"Did you hear that we're having a new classmate tomorrow?"
"Yeah. I heard it's a relative of Kiba's."
"I heard they're a spy for one of the other villages."
"That's stupid."
"The graduation exams are next month. Isn't it a bit to late for someone to join?"
Naruto looked around and listened to the chatter of his many classmates. They got let out early and they were just waiting for parents to show up. Naruto, on the other hand, was just waiting for the place to clear out. He just sat on his usual swing under the tree. He felt eyes on him again, but he was used to it by now. He just lowered his goggles onto his face and looked down.
"Hey, blondie! Psh!"
Naruto looked up at the sound of someone above him. He was met with a wide grin. It was a girl about his age with messy black hair that was sticking up in every direction. Her eyes were black, but with some gray in the middle. She had a bandage over her cheek but he still saw purple marks on her face that looked like Kiba's.
"Who are you?" He asked. "Why are you in the tree?"
The girl jumped down and landed on her hands and knees. "I'm not supposed to be here until tomorrow. Iruka-sensei gave me a crash course of my future classmates." She said, looking up at him.
"You didn't answer my question." Naruto said with a small smile. "Who are you?"
"Oh!" The girl said and stood up. "I'm Kiyo Inuzuka!" She said proudly, pointing a thumb at herself. "I'm going to be the best ninja in the world."
Naruto frowned. "No way! I'm going to be the Hokage. And he's the best ninja in the world."
Kiyo looked at him and smiled. "I'll be your bodyguard then! You can be Hokage, and I'll still be able to go out into action. Not do boring old paperwork."
"That's not all the Hokage does!" Naruto said, suddenly standing up and seeing Kiyo was about his height. Her hair was making her look taller.
"Really? Because when I went there, he was surrounded by papers." Kiyo said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"KIYO!"
Kiyo flinched and closed her eyes at the voice. Naruto turned to see it was a woman with neat brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and dark eyes like Kiyo's. She had red marks on her face as well, letting Naruto know she was related to Kiyo.
"What are you doing here? Mom told you to stay at the house and you could meet everyone tomorrow."
Kiyo looked down. "Sorry, Hana." She said softly. She looked back up at Naruto and smiled at him. "I didn't catch your name, blondie."
"It's Naruto. Naruto Uzamaki." Naruto smiled.
Kiyo nodded. "Okay. See you tomorrow Naruto Uzamaki!" She said as she ran past Hana and away.
Naruto watched them walk away and saw Kiba walk up to them. He sighed and got up, thinking it was time he went home. He jumped onto the Academy roof before jumping from rooftop to rooftop until he got home. He only had one thought the whole night. I just made a friend.
Naruto ran down the street to the Academy, his backpack bouncing on his back. He actually didn't want to be late today. Kiyo would be there! He hoped that she would still be nice to him like she was yesterday. She didn't look at him with those eyes that looked like she wanted him to go away. They weren't cold. They were warm and welcoming.
"I'm here!" Naruto yelled as he ran into the classroom.
"You're actually on time." Iruka said, looking up at the clock. "Wow."
"That's how great I am!" Naruto grinned as he went to his seat.
"Don't get to cocky." Iruka said. "It was only by thirty seconds. If you walked through here any sooner, you would've been late."
"Yeah, yeah." Naruto waved his hand.
"Okay. Now that class has started and everyone is here..." Iruka looked around the room and doing a quick head count. "I can introduce your new classmate." He turned towards the back of the room and threw his pencil at a mess of black hair in the back corner. "Her name is Kiyo Inuzuka. She's a cousin of Kiba's."
"Yeah?" Kiyo muttered as she lifted her head, rubbing the spot where the pencil hit her. "Oh. I'm Kiyo Inuzuka! Nice to meet you all!" She yelled as she threw the pencil back to Iruka.
"Okay, now that that is out of the way," Iruka said as he caught his pencil and put it on his clipboard. "I want you to get into groups of two or more. They will be your partners for the rest of the month until the graduation exams. You will study with them, and practice your jutsu with them."
Naruto sighed and sank in his seat. He'd probably be stuck with Shikamaru or Choji again. He glanced over at Kiyo to see Kiba was already talking to her. He stood up and went towards Shikamaru who was reading a book in his lap.
"So, Shikamaru. You and me again?" Naruto asked.
The lazy Nara nodded and stood up. "Let's go outside again." He said.
Naruto nodded. "Okay." He looked around and saw Kiyo and Kiba were gone. Where'd they go? He wondered as he followed Shikamaru out.
"Hey, Naruto! Wait up!"
Naruto turned around as he heard Kiyo. The girl ran towards them with a black dog running at her heels. Kiba was also behind her, walking with his hands in his pockets.
"Can we join you?" Kiyo asked. She then looked at Shikamaru. "Oh! You're a Nara, right? You look just like your dad. Without the scars and wrinkles, though." She said.
Naruto looked at Shikamaru who looked thoroughly confused. "Who are you and how do you know my father?" He asked.
Kiyo shrugged. "My mom works with him sometimes."
Shikamaru nodded slowly. "Okay. Just don't be so annoying." He said and turned around, walking back down the hall.
Naruto turned and smiled at Kiyo. He couldn't wait to hang out with her. He looked at Kiba who was glaring at Kiyo. Naruto frowned. "Why are you glaring at her?" He asked. "Isn't she your cousin or something?"
Kiba looked at Naruto and nodded. "Yeah. She is." He said then walked past him after Shikamaru.
Naruto looked at Kiyo in confusion. "Oh, don't mind him." Kiyo sighed. "He's just upset that I'm in his class."
"Why?" Naruto asked as she started walking.
Kiyo looked at him and closed her eyes as she smiled. "It's just family tensions. It's okay." Then she turned around and walked away.