"Uzumaki Naruto, am I correct?" A gentle voice asked from behind him. He quickly turned, getting into a fighting stance. He saw not an enemy ninja, but a small girl with a determined look on her face. Relaxing, he gave her a large grin.
"Yep! That's me, and I'll be Hokage someday, believe it!"
She gave a small smile and inched closer.
"The Hokage asked me to find you. He said you were supposed to escort me to the academy." She stated, getting right to the point.
"The old man? Are you new?" Naruto asked, frowning in confusion. She nodded, and looked down at her feet.
"Ah. How did you get into the academy this late? We're graduating in just 5 days..." He trailed off. He then realized he hadn't even learned her name yet.
"What's your name?" The blond shinobi asked.
"Kairi Kusane," she sighed, lifting her gaze, "and I'm here by special order of the Hokage. I'm originally from Suna, the village hidden in the sand, but the Hokage contacted our Kazekage, and said I had to graduate here, even though I'm not part of this village. I don't know much about the situation; even If I AM the reason for it."
"Oh... well, let's get going then, Kairi-chan." Naruto smiled, scratching the back of his head. He really had no idea what she had just said. He then turned in the direction of the academy, and took a step forward. I hope Iruka-sensei doesn't get mad because I'm late. When he thought about it, he realized he had been late that whole week. Iruka-sensei should be expecting it.
"Naruto-kun," He heard Kairi call. She pointed to a building that looked like the ninja academy.
"Yes?" Naruto asked. He squinted at the building. It was as if a replica had been placed right in front of them. But it obviously wasn't, since the academy was three blocks to the left of Ichiraku's, and they were... three blocks to the left of his favourite ramen shop. He was almost too bright for his own good. He gave her a sheepish grin and led her to the entrance.
"Naruto!" He heard Iruka-sensei call. He hadn't even seen him yet, and already he was yelling at him.
"Sensei!" Naruto yelled back, his grin only widening as Iruka's footsteps got louder.
"Why, you little-" He got ready to punish him, but Kairi cleared her throat and he let the words hang in the air.
"You must be our new student. Welcome, my name is Iruka." He said politely, but not before giving Naruto a glare.
"That's right. I'm Kairi Kusane. Pleased to meet you, Iruka-sensei," Kairi spared a glance at the blond shinobi beside her before turning back to Iruka.
"Also, it's my fault Naruto-kun was late. I foolishly got distracted by the... view. So if you feel the need to punish someone, I'll take it." Naruto stared at Kairi as she lied for his sake. He shook his head at her. She didn't have to cover for him.
"No, no. It's alright, Kairi. Let's just start the lesson," He paused, "and if I catch you late again, there WILL be punishment." At that moment, sensei put on his 'Serious Face' as Naruto liked to call it.
He beckoned them into the classroom, and Naruto reached for Kairi's hand as he pulled her towards the empty desk next to him. Being the container for the nine tailed fox, all the children's parents told them to stay away from Naruto. It made him feel as if he was the murderer. Not the demon that was sealed inside of him without his consent.
"-Uzumaki?" Kairi asked quietly, tapping Naruto on the shoulder. She looked almost worried.
"Oh, so that's how it is, huh, Kusane?" He sneered, but winked just to show he was joking.
She gave him a small smile before gesturing towards the front of the room. "Pay attention! I have a feeling you're one of those kids that goes to school and learns nothing. Am I right?"
Naruto grinned and stuck his tongue out at her. Turning to the front, he realized Iruka had called on Kairi. Her eyes widened in panic before she stammered, "I'm sorry. Could you please repeat the question, Iruka-sensei?"
She takes school too seriously, he thought.
"What type of jutsus did the Second Hokage specialize in?" Iruka asked, placing a hand on the edge of his desk and leaning on it. He even tapped his foot a couple times, to make it all the more serious.
"The Second Hokage specialized in water based jutsus, and is known as the best water manipulator that has ever existed. He could even perform powerful water jutsu in areas with no water." She said, cocking her head to the side.
"Nicely done, Kairi. Even better than some of the students I've taught for years. I'm sure you'll pass the graduation exam." He said, giving her a warm smile. She returned it with a smile of her own.
The rest of class passed by fairly quickly, and Naruto was surprised to find that only three people had bothered to verbally abuse him before lunch. And all three now cowered at the sight of Kairi.
"You didn't have to stick up for me you know, Kusane." Naruto frowned. He was looking over at a pale boy sitting amidst a crowd of girls. The boy didn't seem to be enjoying his lunch. Kairi noticed this, and avoiding Naruto's protests, she approached the boy.
"Hi. I'm Kairi Kusane. And you are?"
The boy looked up at her, and turned away crossly. Kairi laughed. He didn't seem to like girls in general much either.
"Sasuke. His name's Sasuke Uchiha." Kairi heard Naruto say behind her. Kairi looked back at him and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah. I kind of noticed. All the girls are squealing his-" Kairi didn't get to finish, because a frustrated pink haired girl had smashed her elbow in her face in a vain attempt to see Sasuke. Kairi gave a loud yelp, and held her hands to her nose as she felt a cool liquid begin to drip out.
By the time Naruto and everyone else processed what had happened, the blood on Kairi's hands was mixing in with her tears. Diluted blood dropped onto her bright green T-shirt. Everyone expected her to uncontrollably sob like any other girl would do in the situation, but Kairi surprised them all.
"My shirt! Uzumaki, bring me a rag, a towel, SOMETHING." She shouted at Naruto. She titled her head back and watched an upside down Naruto go get Iruka.
The pink haired girl who had caused the damage ran up to her and cried out when she saw what she had caused.
"Oh my gosh, Kairi, I'm so sorry! I was just... I was just... I'm sorry!"
Kairi gave her a smile, and winced as she pulled her hands away from her nose.
"It's okay! Really," Kairi said.
Naruto came back with a sopping wet cloth, and a surprised looking Iruka.
"Kairi, what happened?" He asked, examining her bloody nose. He took the rag from Naruto's hands and asked permission before lightly dabbing the dried blood.
"I just got smashed in the face." Kairi said weakly.
"Sakura-chan, was it you who did this?" Naruto asked, raising his eye brows at the frightened looking girl.
She suppressed a look of disgust before nodding her head. Naruto frowned, turned to Sasuke, and his frown immediately turned to a glare.
"Naruto. It's not Sasuke's fault. So stop glaring at him like you want to kill him." Kairi snapped as she sat down on a bench. She was getting dizzier by the moment, and Naruto's behaviour, as well as everyone crowding around her was getting to her.
"S-sorry." Naruto whispered, looking down at a pebble he had been kicking. When Kairi heard Naruto's tone of voice, she intertwined her fingers with his, and gave a light squeeze.
When Naruto looked up, she was already staring at a lone tree in the middle of the training grounds. Her face looked like a blank canvas; empty of emotion. Naruto wondered what she was thinking.
Author notes:
This is my first story on . So don't bash me too hard. Also, I'm only in grade 8, so I haven't matured in my writing much. Hope you like it. And review, so I can tell if I should continue.