Times Change
By: Silla Uchiha
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto because if I did I would be somewhere counting my cash and gloating over my awesomeness
Intro
A shining blue bird soared over the tall stone mountains of Konohagakure, sun reflecting off of the rugged Hokage faces. The village in Japan was well-known and for a good reason. It was the home of the fabled Ninja, most powerful men and women the world had ever seen.
After the wars, there was peace for many years and little by little people began to practice the ninja arts less and less until it was nearly non-existent. No one needed the battle strength anymore. Until now.
Strange things. Murders. Disappearances. Attacks.
The Hokage knew he had to take action. So he announced that they were opening a Hardcore Training academy that taught not only the basics, but also additional classes suited to the individual's strengths. And little by little, they trickled in. Teens Between the ages of 14 and 18. They all had their own reasons for wanting power. The recent events floating around that everyone keeps trying to pretend they didn't hear are real, and these kids are their final hope.
Chapter 1
Punching Bag
HIYAA! A lightning fast punch whipped out from out of nowhere and hit the punching bag with a loud, -BANG!- The sound reverberated throughout the room and suddenly the chain holding the punching bag broke, sending its heavy mass skidding to a halt, hitting the wall on the other side of the bare room. A teen boy drew his fist back and swept his foot around to land gracefully on the wooden floor. He straightened up and ran his fingers through his spiked blonde hair, wiping away the sweat which was now running off his forehead and dripping off his sculpted jawline. He turned around and stared at the broken chain swinging from the ceiling, bright blue eyes sparkling with pride and determination.
"I broke it." he thought, a big grin forming on his face, "I ripped it right off its hinges!" He pumped his fist in the air and yelled, "Believe It!" at the top of his lungs.
"NARUTO!" The blonde boy whipped around and stared at the figure standing in the doorway. It was a young man with tanned skin and a faint scar tracing over the bridge of his nose. He looked sternly at the boy and said, "Naruto, was that loud crash I heard you're doing?". Naruto grinned at the man, "That was me alright, just look at that chain hanging there all torn up!".
He flexed his muscles, putting even more strain on the cotton fabric of his sweat-soaked tank top. "You'll have to get me another punching bag Iruka-Sensei, Believe It!". Iruka shook his head in a tired way. 'Well I guess that's deserved", he said, looking at Naruto with pride in his dark brown eyes, "You have put in an awful lot of work to finally reach this level of strength".
"Well, what did you expect Sensei?" The blonde said, grinning even bigger than before, "Do think I'm gonna let just any loser get ahead of me before I get into that new training school?" Iruka's eyes widened in surprise and he felt a twinge of guilt in the pit of his stomach. Why had he put the stupid idea in Naruto's mind, that he could possibly get accepted into the elite new school? Did Naruto even know how impossible the entrance exam was to pass? These were goddamn ninjas, most people still think they're a myth! "Unfortunately" he thought, "Once Naruto's got an idea in his mind, it's rare to succeed in breaking him out of his little dome of stubbornness."
Seeing the unbelieving look on Iruka's face Naruto suddenly became serious, something very unlike him. He started his teacher right in the eye and said, "Iruka-Sensei, I will pass the entrance exam".
He walked over and put his hand on Iruka's shoulder, "Soon there won't be anyone, anywhere who will be able to best me and I can finally prove to the world just how awesome I really am". Their gaze lingered for a few seconds and then Naruto laughed and said, "Don't worry about me Sensei, I'm older now and I'm gonna make all of my dreams come true." Iruka stared, shocked. Naruto gave his favorite teacher one last grin and walked out of the room and down the stairs. "Oh and Sensei!", Naruto said, calling out from the lower floor, "You still owe me a new punching bag! Don't forget now!" And with that, he left the Dojo, ran down the street and out of Iruka's vision.
Naruto ran up to the five-story Japanese style apartment where he lived and walked into the lobby. Pressing the buttons on the elevator door he leaned onto the cold metal bars and closed his eyes as the floor began to rise, making it's way to the third floor.
"Iruka-Sensei looked really unconvinced" his thoughts making him feel slightly discouraged, "What if I really don't pass the entrance exam?" But then, like always, there was that little voice in the back of his head that said "No! Don't you dare give up! Remember who you are!". A determined smile started to form on his face. "That's right," he said aloud, "I'm the one and only Naruto Uzumaki! Believe It!"
The elevator doors opened and he stepped out and into the hallway, a fresh wave of courage running through his energetic, youthful body. He was never gonna any talented jerk win, people might have hated him when he was a scrawny little child, orphaned and cursed. But now…. He was stronger than ever before. Five years of training hadn't only made him as formidable as any, but it had also given him a father-like figure in the form of Iruka. Because Naruto would never admit, being an orphan, and all those years of loneliness had taken their toll and he'd had his share of tears and sorrow. Iruka had come and after all these years, they became inseparable, going out for Ramen together, laughing, and chatting like they knew each other for decades. The desire to prove himself to Iruka made him even stronger than he already was, and Lord knows he already had a hell of a lot of stamina.
No, Naruto Uzumaki was not going to be easy to defeat.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and shuffled through the papers that littered his desk. The past month had been particularly stressful for him, all of the blueprints, choosing suitable teachers, and preparing courses and activities for the new training academy had really worn him out. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Seeing as there were over a thousand students trying to enroll, and more arriving daily, Hiruzen saw no other way out but to put forth a test that would separate the serious from the slackers. He folded his hands and frowned, slackers would not be tolerated.
Naruto yawned and turned over in his bed, one hand pounding his bedside table trying to make contact with that whack-ass alarm clock that always seemed to start beeping when he had just begun to fall asleep. Damn, that thing was annoying. His fist finally made contact with the tiny electronic annoyance and it went flying across the room and landed on the carpeted floor with a small -ping-. Naruto turned over in his bed and sighed with content, "At least it stopped ringing" he thought drowsily. Just as he was drifting off again, the broken annoyance gave one final static -bleep- and went silent. The Uzumaki leaped up from his bed, truly pissed off. He jumped down and grabbed the stupid electronic. Just as he was about to pound the poor clock into atoms, his cell phone rang. The blonde glared down at the clock, "This isn't over, do you hear me?". He dropped it to the floor and slid over to the bedside table to answer his call.
"Hello?"
"Naruto, it's unlike you to be awake at this time of the day", came the collected voice of Iruka.
"Oh, well that's a long story", The blonde replied, cracking his knuckles, "but anyways what up?"
"Oh, I just called to remind you that you need to be in the town square at ten o'clock sharp, the exam doesn't accept late-comers" he answered, remembering his favorite student's short attention span. He was bound to get distracted.
"Aw don't sweat it, the king needs to be on time to meet his new loyal subjects." Naruto replied. He heard laughter on the other end.
"Alright", the man chuckled, "I guess then I've got nothing else to say now, I wish you the best of luck Naruto."
"Thanks, Sensei"
"Goodbye and don't get into trouble"
"Believe It!"
Naruto put down the phone and walked into his closet. He took out a black t-shirt with the Uzumaki clan symbol, a red, teardrop-shaped swirl and put it on along with a pair of khaki shorts. He splashed water on his face and tried to calm his rising nerves, he ran his hand through his blonde locks and wondered absentmindedly if he looked neat enough. After he had finished washing his face and hastily running a brush through his hair he grabbed his backpack and made his way to the door. He took one last glance at his untidy bedroom before shutting the door completely and running towards the elevator.
Running down the streets at top speed, Naruto was frantic. Eating breakfast at Ichiraku's had taken more time than he expected and now he was running late for the opening of the school. He ran even faster, past food stalls and apartments. "I'm gonna make it!" he thought, putting on another burst of speed. He could just begin to see a large, enclosed building surrounded on three sides by dense forest. There were silver gates surrounding the school with an opening in the front and back of the building. The place was surrounded by a huge crowd of people.
Panting, the blonde prepared to run the last spurt of his long marathon to the academy. "Finally", he thought, "The finish line". Just as he was about to slide into the crowd of people like he'd been there the whole time, he collided with something big and hard. Papers scattered everywhere and he and another figure went sprawling on the rough gravel.
"What the hell?" Naruto cursed, tasting blood in his mouth, he must've bitten his tongue. He looked to his right and observed the boy he'd bumped into. He looked about Naruto's age, cold dark onyx eyes that glared scornfully at him, fair skin, a mouth that seemed permanently stuck somewhere in frown town, black hair that framed the sides of his face and extended into multiple spikes in the back of his head.
"Dude", the blonde thought, his mind as usual, unable to focus, "His friggin hair looks like a chicken's butt!". Unable to control himself, Naruto burst out laughing and clutched his stomach. The black haired boy looked at him with pure disgust. "I hope for your sake whatever's making your day so fantastic, doesn't concern me…... Loser, he added, as an afterthought. Naruto immediately stopped laughing, a gleam of malice flashing within his cerulean orbs. "What did you say?!". Black eyes looked boredly into the blue ones, "I said you're a LOSER". The blonde growled in annoyance and clenched his fists angrily. "Say that one more time, pretty boy." A blood red tinge seemed to swirl within the stony depths of the other boy's eye, but in a millisecond, it was gone and he replied, "If you were worth it, I would say that we could take this outside, but… you know…. you aren't worth it." The raven haired teen turned his lips up in an egotistical smirk and began to walk away. Naruto's cheeks burned hot with rage, this guy was really starting to tick him off.
"I don't know where you get your delusions, Chicken butt, but you must be senile if you think that you're above besting me!" "The other boy whipped around and death-glared him. "What the hell did you just call me?" Naruto glared right back at him, indifferent to the eye-daggers. "Chicken Butt" he replied, "Cause your hair looks like a chicken's rear end". The other boy's eyes really did turn red this time, for a whole 3 seconds actually. "I'll have you know that it comes naturally you… you… insignificant loser…" he spat out vehemently. Naruto laughed humorlessly. "Guess the same goes for your sucky emo attitude!"
The boys glared at each other, trying to bore holes through each other's bodies with nothing but their eyes. Just as they were about to jump at each other, a little white dog ran into the fray, jumping into Naruto's backpack searching for something. 'HEY!" the blonde yelled, "Someone get that mangy mutt away from my stuff!". "The little dog stuck his head out and barked at him before disappearing in the large crowd. Naruto whipped around to face the strange boy but he was nowhere to be seen. It was like he'd vanished into thin air. The blonde cursed loudly, ignoring the dirty looks he got from the surrounding adults. "Whyyy?" He thought frustratedly. This was not a good way to begin his quest to become Hokage.
"Good Morning everybody!" a voice came blasting over the crowd. Hiruzen Sarutobi was standing on top of the podium arms raised towards the crowd. The crowd cheered loudly, most of them secretly wondering if this old geezer could train legendary ninja, let alone walk up the stairs. After raising his hands for attention the large group fell silent. "Welcome everyone! To the grand opening of the Konoha Training academy, thank you all for coming! The crowd cheered even louder than before. The Hokage cleared his throat before continuing. "Ahem, as you all know, with the vast amount of students entering the school, the board has decided that an entrance exam is in order. Because of the amount of students here to take the exam we are going to split you up into four groups. Each group will be taking the exam in a different area." He cleared his throat and continued, "One group will go with Kakashi Hatake, one group with Might Guy, one group with Asuma Sarutobi, and one group with Kurenai Yuhi. When I read your name you are to go to your team leader and wait for further instructions. Is this clear? His statement was met with a simultaneous "YES". Smiling he continued saying, "Alright then! Let's begin.
Akimichi Choji! Hitamashi Daya! Nara Shikamaru! Gomaru Irani! Yamanaka Ino!" The Hokage continued yelling names until Naruto thought he would die from the exhaustion of trying to memorize all of them as they were called out. When he finally stopped he said, "You who have just been called! You are under the command of Asuma Sarutobi and you will take your exam in the sparring fields! Go now!" The group of people trailed behind the man known as Asuma and disappeared out of sight behind the large building.
Not wasting a single moment the hokage said, Hyuuga, Hinata! Montomri, Aya! Inuzuka, Kiba! Raiga Kintaro! Aburame Shino! The hokage's voice droned on and when it finally ended he continued by saying, "You who have been mentioned! You are under the command of Kurenai Yuhi and you will be taking your exam is the training rooms! Go now!" The second group of students filed out and only half of the original crowd remained standing in front of the gates.
The old man began to yell out the names of the third group of people and Naruto strained to hear in case his name was called. He hoped they hadn't overlooked his careful registration. Haruno Sakura! Yoshimaru Akai! Uchiha Sasuke! Lynari Nya! Uzumaki Naruto!
Naruto, upon hearing his name jumped up and skidded over to the spot where the third group was gathering. He waited until the hokage had finished calling out names, feeling giddy and lightheaded as he contemplated the horrors that the exam might hold. "A mental test perhaps? An illusion? One that confuses your brain and leaves you woozy? Or maybe-" 'ALRIGHT!" The hokage's voice boomed, disturbing his thoughts. "You who have been mentioned! You are under the command of Kakashi Hatake and you will be taking your exam in the forest grounds! Go now!
Naruto's group walked over to the man known as Kakashi Hatake. He was a very young man but his messy hair was a shocking shade of silver. His entire face with the exception of his right eye was covered by a navy blue mask. The one eye that could be seen was looking boredly at the group he was assigned to, as if unimpressed.
"Well, I guess this is all of you" he sighed, stating the obvious. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Kakashi Hatake, nice to meet you all." His eye crinkled in what appeared to be a smile. "Now, it may be a good idea to warn you all before we proceed." Naruto frowned. Another boy piped up, "Warn us? About what? This is just a little exam right?" Kakashi smiled under his mask at the boy's confusion and continued, "In case you haven't noticed, the forest we are practicing in is widely known as the forest of death." Gasps issued from the crowd of students, and Kakashi either didn't notice or he purposely ignored their shock. "Now raise your hand if you read the fine print on your entrance paperwork." Only three students raised their hands and Naruto gulped. Kakashi chuckled darkly, "Now that is your first deadly mistake."
End of chapter 1! Yay! So what did you think? Was it intriguing? I hope sooo xD There will be plenty more chapters soon if u guys like so don't worry too much! Xoxo
Chapter 2 Coming Friday! Reviews make me update faster!
- Silla