Naoto Uzumaki was like his father in many ways: they both had sunny blonde hair that stuck out at all angles when left unmanaged, though Naoto usually combed his, leaving it straight and constantly in his eyes; they also had the same ocean blue eyes that showed every emotion they happened to be feeling. They both even had a strange like for the color orange(though Naoto liked it to be a bit darker than his father) and ramen. More importantly, however, was that each had an undying sense of loyalty and devotion to their friends and had chakra influenced by the fierce nine-tailed-fox. But they were also different. Naoto was shy and self-conscious where Naruto was loud and proud and Naoto was at the top of his class while Naruto… well, hadn't been. The two were very close, especially when Naoto's mother passed away, killed during a mission in the Land of Sound. This is his story. It all starts… on the day he graduates from the academy.
Naoto placed his brush gingerly down on the counter, glancing at his mirror through strands of sunny blonde hair. He made a quick checklist of everything he had done that morning in his mind: He'd gotten up, brushed his teeth after his usual breakfast of shrimp ramen, changed into his regular outfit of a dark orange t-shirt, long sleeved white undershirt and black pants(along with the regular black sandals)… but he couldn't shake the feeling he'd--
"Forget something?" Naoto jumped, startled, and looked over towards the door. He father stood there, leaning against the door frame and grinning a fox-like grin. Dangling from his hand was a gleaming silver locket.
"Ah!" Naoto gasped and ran over, taking the trinket from his father and clasping it around his neck "Thanks, Papa!" He looked up at Naruto, grinning widely as Naruto's large, warm hand ruffled his hair.
"No problem, Naoto. Just take care of it, remember." Naoto nodded furiously, looking down at the locket. It had been the last gift his mother had given him, right before she left on the mission that had cost her her life.
"Hold onto this, Naoto." She'd said to the four year old as she wrapped his tiny fingers around the locket. It was the first time she'd left on a mission since he'd been born. "Keep it safe until I return, Okay?" Naoto sighed softly at the memory but it soon ran from his mind as the doorbell rang. He grinned widely, running out of the room and Naruto shook his head.
"Careful on the--" He was cut off by a series of loud thuds, followed by Naoto's quiet 'I'm okay!' "… stairs." Naoto stood, brushing himself, and opened the front door, grinning when he saw the pale black haired, blue eyed teenaged boy standing on his front step.
"Good morning, Toshi!" Toshi Uchiha, the eldest son of Sasuke Uchiha and sn unknown mother glanced at Naoto for a few moments before looking away.
"Hn… Morning, Uzumaki." He glanced back as Naruto appeared behind Naoto, and bowed respectfully. "Hokage-sama."
"Mornin', Toshi-kun. How's that old man of yours doing?"
"I'm afraid he still has the flu, Hokage-sama." Toshi stated in his ever famous monotone. "But he requests that you tell Sakura-san to stop coming over and trying to make him better." Naruto laughed, and shook his head as he shrugged on his Hokage robes.
"I'll make sure to pass along the message. Better hurry or you'll be late." Both boys paled slightly and Naoto hugged his father quickly before running off after his best friend.
"See you this afternoon, Papa!" Naruto waved, smiling as he shut the door to his house.
"See you, Naoto." Naoto grinned slightly before turning back… just in time to run into Toshi.
"Erf! T-Toshi…? Is something--" Naoto blinked, frowning, as Toshi covered his mouth, the usually calm collected teen looking quite obviously frazzled.
"Sh! There are girls over there!" Toshi hissed in a strained whisper. Naoto tilted his head curiously, brow furrowing slightly, but nodded and Toshi lowered his hand. The two disappeared behind a large fist as the girls walked by and Naoto peeked through a hole to look at them. He gasped softly, smiling widely.
"It's Ai-chan!" He whispered excitedly, looking over at Toshi with a wide smile. The young Uchiha wrinkled his nose at the object of Naoto's affection.
"She's the worst spazz of all of them." He whispered moodily, pulling Naoto away from the peep hole. "C'mon, there's a short cut through the baths this way." Naoto nodded, following his best friend.
"Right." He and Toshi snuck to the bath house, surprised when Toshi turned to go through the woman's bath. Naoto blushed darkly and grabbed the back of Toshi's shirt. "Toshi, wait! Th-That's the women's bath!!" Toshi arched an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I know. So what?" Naoto blushed darkly.
"W-We can't go through there! We'll get killed, or-or arrested, or--" Toshi's hand was once again over Naoto's mouth .
"You're the Hokage's son! His only son!" Toshi smiled at Naoto, who was a little surprised. Toshi hardly ever smiled. "We aren't going to get in trouble." Slowly, Naoto nodded and Toshi lowered his hand. "Besides, we aren't going in. We're going around the wooden fence." Naoto nodded and the two proceeded to go through the bath house. They reached their classroom just as the bell rang and Naoto let out a sigh of relief… until he felt a firm hand clamp on his shoulder.
"Good morning class." A sweet female voice said and Naoto turned to see his sensei, Sparky Umino, standing behind him. He smiled sheepishly.
"G-G-Good morning, Sparky-sensei…" He whispered, clutching the front of his shirt in a loose shirt. Toshi just looked back at the raven haired woman from the corner of his eye. Sparky smiled sweetly at the two of them and Naoto felt a shiver of fear run down his spine. Even Toshi's already ivory complexion got a little paler.
"Uzumaki-kun, can you tell me why you and Uchiha-kun aren't in your seats yet so that we can begin the graduation test?" Naoto's face lit up in embarrassment.
"Uh-Uhm, well, we-we just got here, S-Sparky-sensei…" Sparky arched an eyebrow.
"Well… Since you got here as the bell rang, I can only punish you half the amount as I usually would. You have detention this afternoon until four today." Naoto swallowed thickly.
"Th-That's very… considerate… of you, s-sensei." Sparky beamed.
"I know. Now, both of you get to your seats." The two boys nodded and rushed off to their seats as Sparky strode to the front of the room, pulling a list out of the front pocket on her green Jonin vest. "Alright, kids, today is the day we test you to see if you are capable of becoming Genin!" There was a brief moment of muttering in the class, which was quickly stopped by a look from the young woman. She unrolled the list, glancing at it, before looking back at her class and smiling.
"I'm going to be calling you one by one. You are to go through the door to my left and your test will be taken in there." She grinned, looking around the room at the children in front of her. "It has been a privilege to teach you all and I wish you only the best of luck." With that, Sparky called the name of the first student, the two disappeared through the door… and the graduation test began.
Hiii everyone ^^! GxS here (obviously ^^') Here's my first story x3! It takes place about 20 years after the Chuunin exams. Sasuke did leave, but Naruto managed to(eventually) get him back. No, neither Naoto's nor Toshi's mother was from the anime/manga. They don't even have names... but any character ideas for them would be appreciated :3 Next one up after the New Year!