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Naruto awoke with a start, drenched in sweat as his latest nightmare finally woke him. This ten year old hates those dreams where everyone of the village calls him a demon, and, sometimes, he sees the vicious nine-tailed fox in the dreams as he stares at him menacingly.

He used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his forehead as he stood to get ready for a new day and meet the new academy instructor. He sighed as he stumbled over to his closet and got some clothes for after his shower.

He had all his homework done and was ready for the day! He stepped out of the shower with a grin as he dried his hair and put a towel around his waist and went to get dressed. He chanced a glance at his alarm clock and got urgent as he hurriedly got dressed and ran out the door after taking a long drink of milk.

He ran through the door of his classroom exactly two seconds before the bell rang and sighed in relief and got into his seat between Sasuke and Kiba right before Iruka and a girl with dark purple hair and brilliant blue eyes walked through the door.

"Morning class, this is Kianga and she's the new instructor this year, she'll be mostly the physical trainer for you. She may not look it, but she is the best medic in Konoha, the most skilled Jounin Kanoichi in our part of town, and also the best our Hokage could give for little kids that always seem to run into trouble." Iruka said and Kianga blushed at all the compliments.

"Stop it Iruka, lets just get on with the lesson!" she said shyly. Her voice was so gentle and sweet it was almost angelic.

"Yes ma'am!" he chuckled, giving a mock salute and she glared at him as she turned away and began passing out books.

"Everyone turn to pages three thirteen when you get a book and we'll begin talking about the third great shinobi war!" she barked and everyone obliged obediently.

Soon everyone was listening intently. Everyone but Shikamaru, who just slept and woke when ever he was hit with a piece of chalk before sleeping some more. Naruto raised his hand hesitantly. "Yes, Naruto?" she encouraged.

He smiled. "So the fourth Hokage ended the war with the help of his old Genin team?" he asked.

She smiled. "That's right! And if you all train very hard and be good to everyone, than you'll all be on your way to making your dreams and ambitions come true." she gave them a thumbs up before the bell rang. "All right everyone, I'll see you in one hour in the training field out back!" she waved before jumping out the window.

"All right class." Iruka sighed. "Let's talk about strategies before moving onto survival tactics." they groaned but took out their books on the subject.

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"All right! Everyone made their targets!" Kianga cheered excitedly. "And I was afraid that Iruka was right about you bunch!" she chuckled.

"What does he say about us?!" Kiba and Naruto demanded, glaring at Iruka.

"He says that not everyone is as talented as most and some of you can't hit a target if your life depended on it, but hey, that's from him, not me." she shrugged with a smirk. She was really starting to take a liking to those two, no matter what anyone says about Naruto being the nine-tailed fox, she doesn't go by what she hears from others, only what she sees in the heart itself. "All right!" she cried. "Ten laps around the area and then inside for lunch!" they all obliged with just a few complaints.

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Naruto walked with his normal grin on his face as he walked down the street to the shopping district to check out the newest store, go to his all time favorite store, the Higarashi ninja shop, and go to the orphanage to see his best friend, Hikari. So when he got to the new store he was surprised to find her there and not at the orphanage. "Naruto!" she said excitedly. "I just got adopted two months ago! And I love my new parents!" she cried running over to give him a hug.

He hugged her back and they grinned at each other. "So… how've ya been? I haven't seen you in about four months, in fact, I was just about to go to the orphanage to visit you." Naruto said confused.

"I've been great! My new step brother and my new parents are the best! And they just came to Konoha a few months ago from the land of candy!" she hugged him again. "I've missed you." she giggled. "So… did you give it to Hinata for her birthday yet?" she said excitedly.

"No! Who said I was giving it to her?" he demanded with a blush as he turned away.

"ahh…. You did." she said matter-of-factly as she led him inside.

The store was nice. Food in the isles, cleaning supplies near the back, a few ninja scrolls lining the walls, some jewelry at the front counter behind glass, musical stuff, and much, much more. "Nice." Naruto grinned. "And to think, I came just to check out the store and I get ambushed by my best friend, who happens to help run the store with her new parents!" he said in mock shock and they both burst out laughing.

He looked at her. Her nice black hair and brilliant green eyes matched her work vest perfectly and the smile on her face made her look so nice and lovable. She wore a nice blue shirt under her vest and nice brown pants with blue civilian sandals. "You look nice." he commented and she blushed

"Thanks." she said shyly and then grabbed his hand and pulled him forward. "Come on, you have to meet my new brother, he just became a ninja two weeks ago!" she said excitedly pulling him up the steps. "Toru!" she cried.

"You don't have to scream, I'm right hear Hikari." a boy with blue eyes and brown hair chuckled walking up to them. "Who's your friend?" he asked curiously.

"This is my best friend I was telling you about! Naruto, this is Toru. Toru, this is Naruto." she introduced them.

"Nice to meet ya!" the two boys said together as they shook hands with a smile.

"Okay. Naruto, let's go see my parents. They'd love to meet my main talking subject!" they all laughed at that one as they walked. "Mom! Dad!" she cried out to them. "Guess who came to visit!" she said as they walked into the living room.

"Who?" a man with green hair and eyes asked.

"Yeah. Who's here?" a woman with brown hair and dark eyes that were so dark they were almost black asked with a soft smile.

"This is Naruto! Naruto this is my mom and dad! Naruto, Toru, Tanya, and Toyo." She said gesturing to each and everyone of them.

"Nice to meet the famous Naruto." Tanya said warmly with a gentle smile.

"So this is him?" Toyo said. "I don't know why, but I expected you to be taller." He shrugged and they all laughed.

"Yeah, I've gotten that a lot!" Naruto groaned once everyone calmed down. He looked at the clock. "Oh shoot! I've got to go before this one store closes!" he said to them urgently. "I'll be back in about a week if I can, but I really have to get there to get my order! See ya!" and he jumped out the window and stumbled on the ground before taking off in a run while waving at them and they waved back.

"He was nice." Toyo commented. "You should invite him over more often." he nodded.

"He's a ninja in training and when ever I go over to his apartment he's never there. I got lucky when he walked up to the store." Hikari sighed. "But when I see him, I'll ask him!" she said excitedly.

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Naruto walked into the Higarashi ninja shop with a grin. "Hey Naruto!" Tenten said waving at him. "What can I get for ya?" she asked excitedly.

"Is my order in yet?" He asked confused.

"Oh yeah!" she said grabbing a package from under the desk. "Here you go! The blank scrolls, two chakra control scrolls, and a bag of groceries!" She handed him the box and they grinned at each other.

He paid for it. "Thanks Ten!" he said happily walking out before walking home with his normal grin.

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A week later Naruto was walking into his best friend's store once more, he didn't even pay attention to the name of it. "Hey Hikari!" he said coming up to the counter.

"Hey Naruto! What's up?" she replied.

"Not much." Naruto sighed before looking around. "I'm gonna look around." he said and she nodded before taking out her note pad and sketching things onto it while he looked around the store in interest.

Naruto took a med ninjutsu taijutsu scroll off the shelf and put it back again with a sigh. He continued to look and came to the instruments. He's never been one for music, but one thing caught his eye. It was just a normal guitar, acoustics, but he seemed unusually drawn and felt an urge to learn to play, just to play this one guitar. It was a nice guitar, made of nice red wood with an orange wood handle.

He blinked before shrugging, taking it off the rack, and grabbing a few guitar books. He brought it all back to the counter where Hikari raised an eyebrow in confusion and he shrugged once more. She rang up the price and he paid for it.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure!" Naruto said happily with a grin.

"Great, we're having this one food from the land of candy! I can't remember the name, but it's really good!" she said as she closed the shop for the night.

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Naruto sighed as he lay in bed thinking about what to do about his aim in shuriken practice. He couldn't throw it strait by himself, only when he's with his closest friends and no one else, he even surprised himself the past two weeks in class.

He didn't feel so well so he decided to sleep in and not go to the academy, but he couldn't sleep. So now he lay in his PJ's and wished for sleep to come.

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Iruka and Kianga sighed as they glanced at the class. "Where's Naruto?" Kianga whispered.

"I have no idea." he whispered back and began roll. "Does anyone know where Naruto is?" he asked when he said the last name.

"No." they replied in tired voices as they got ready for the day.

"Class. I'm going to go around and do some errands while Iruka takes up with his survival tips." she got a lot of groans before she jumped out the window to go and check on her favorite student. Naruto.

She got to the door and knocked on it. "Go away!" a voice moaned from inside and she knocked again.

"Naruto! It's me, Kianga!" she said urgently.

"Fine!" Naruto groaned. "The door's open."

She opened the door and found it was surprisingly clean inside the little apartment and the lights were all out. "Naruto? Are you okay?" she called as she turned on the hallway light and walked towards the location of the voice.

She entered the bedroom to find Naruto curled up on the bed and glaring at his ceiling. "I'm okay! Just a little sick is all!" he groaned turning over to look at her with his same goofy grin.

"Maybe I should take you to the doctor or something?" she suggested softly.

"No, I'm just a little sick, no need to do that!" he said softly as he closed his eyes. "If I need to I'll call Rin-Neechan or Kailua-Neechan." he groaned curling up again. "But could you get me some Aspirin from the medicine cabinet from the bathroom, it's that door closest to the hall way door." he asked gesturing to the door.

"Sure." she said smiling sadly as she went over to get it and some water for him. "Here you go, Naruto." she said and he took it thankfully.

"Thanks." he said after taking it and laying back down. It must be this weird noodle dish I had yesterday night." he groaned.

"Where'd you eat that?" she asked suspiciously.

"At that new store, my best friend works there." he said.

"I'll be right back." and she hopped out the window. She came back to find the room empty and then heard a gagging sound from the bathroom before she heard the flush and Naruto came out using his sleeve to wipe his mouth. "I went to investigate where you ate!" she commented. "Hikari says she's sorry you're sick, her whole families sick, too." she sighed.

"That's horrible!" he moaned lying back on the bed.

"Yeah." no reply. "Naruto?" she asked urgently but calmed when she heard the soft snore from under the covers. She sighed before leaving to go and take over for class and tell Iruka what she found.

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Well there you go! My first chapter of my story! I'll have the next one up ASAP!!!