Enigma

Once again, another fic pops its way into my head, and this one wouldn't leave. So here you go, another fic from me. Damn me. Hopefully you like this one, as it's action, but it's what would've happened if Naruto hadn't gone to the academy and was instead trained personally by multiple people. You'll find out who they are in this chapter. Also, once again, this is NaruSaku, I'm very addicted if you can't see.

Sorry for rambling, but here's the newest story from the head of Kokuou no Shin'en.

Chapter I

The Enigma

"Okay, can anyone show me the Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique)?" Asks the teacher after he finishes going through the attendance list.

"I can sensei!" I call from the back of the room, getting a smile from the teacher.

"Okay, come up Sakura." He says as I race to the front of the class before performing the Henge (Transformation) into the old-man that I had seen momma talking to.

"Ah, very good Sakura, a perfect example of Henge, most of you should practice, since to pass the exams this year to get into the next, it's required that you can use Henge." He informs the class. I hear the entire class groan before the bell rings and they cheer.

"Yay!" I cheer with them, happy since school was out. Dropping the Henge, I run out the door with other kids to the front of the school. Cheering again as I reach outside, something catches my eye. Looking that way, to my surprise, I see a little boy standing in a tree. He looked about my age, he had golden-blond locks, cerulean-blue eyes that could be seen from here and three whisker marks adorning both cheeks. Pushing past some of the kids to get to the new boy, I was disappointed when he was gone when someone got in my way.

"Oh well, maybe I can see him tomorrow!" I cheer myself up, deciding on going home.

Heading straight home, all of a sudden I run into someone. That's when I realize that I didn't take the back roads. Looking up, I could only whimper as three of my long-time bullies stand there.

"Where you going so fast, Forehead?" Asks the leader of the group, to which I could only whimper

"What are you doing?" I hear a voice behind them say, causing them to turn on a heel and look at the intruder. Leaning to one side so I could see past them, I see the boy from earlier standing behind them with his arms crossed.

"What of it?" He replies, glaring at the newcomer.

"Ero-Sennin (Perverted Sage) says that useless violence is bad. So leave her alone and walk away." He warns them, making my eyes widen. These bullies were about three years older then us, making them ten.

"Shut up kid, your Ero-Sennin sounds like an idiot." Instantly I was scared. The look on the boys face said that that was the wrong thing to say.

"I don't mind being insulted, but insulting Ero-Sennin…" He whispers, head hanging, bangs covering his eyes. Now I was really scared, when he looked up his eyes were blood red and slanted. "But insulted Ero-Sennin is the really bad..." He says, before all I could see was a flash of yellow, and then the head bully was on his knees, eyes wide with the little kid's fist lodged into his stomach. Retracting his fist, he brings his foot up before bring it down on the back of the kids head, causing him to meet the cement.

"Naruto!" I hear someone call before the kid's eyes return to normal and he turns around to look at the man who had called him. The man was big, really big, he had really long white hair that was near his waist, and he had a huge scroll along with a Hitai-ate with the symbol for oil on it.

"Sorry Ero-Sennin, but they were going to hurt her." He says before point at me as he seemed really nervous. "And they insulted you!" He explains, waving his hands for emphasis.

"J-Jiraiya…" Whisper one of the bully's friends, before he runs off scared.

"Jiraiya?" I ask to no one in particular, testing the name in my mouth. "Naruto?" I say, once again to no one, but this time it got Naruto's attention.

"Naruto, we have to get out of here, we need to continue your training." I hear Jiraiya say with a sigh, before picking up the blond and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

That was the first, and last time I saw Naruto during the Academy.

(Five Years Later)

"Naruto…" I test the name in my mouth for the first time in years as I had not needed to. "I still haven't gotten the chance to thank you…" After that, I always kept a look out for him. But I hadn't found him. I figured he should have gone to the Academy, but once I found out who Jiraiya was, I could understand him not needing to. Him being one of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja).

"HARUNO SAKURA?!" Yells the teacher, Iruka, snapping me out of my trance.

"Yes, Iruka-sensei?" I ask, chuckling nervously.

"I have assigned you a special job." He says, smiling brightly, making me smile.

"Sure, what is it Iruka-sensei?"

"Well, we know that he hasn't come throughout the years, but if he wants to become a Gennin (Low Ninja), he needs to know the exams are in a week. I'd like you to find Uzumaki Naruto." The name instantly got me standing up.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" I ask, getting his, and the classes attention.

"Yeah, unless you hav-." He starts.

"No, I have no problem!" I say cheerfully as I run down the steps, since I'm in the back of the room, and take the piece of paper from him.

"Sakura, wait!" Iruka calls, snapping out of shook from the sudden outburst.

"Yeah sensei?" I ask, stopping in the doorway.

"If he refuses, say that Ojii-sama (Grandpa) wants him to." He says, making my eyebrow raise.

"Ojii-sama?" I ask, getting the same look from him.

Sighing, I run out the door before looking at the sheet of paper I took from sensei.

'He lives in the slums?' I ask, seemingly finding that hard to believe. 'But his sensei is Jiraiya, so shouldn't he be living somewhere nice?' Shaking these thoughts from my head, I start to make my way to west Konoha, where Naruto lived.

I took about an hour after I got there to find the right building, since they all seemed to look the same. Hell, I couldn't even find the right complex, but to my luck, and to my dismay, I ran straight into him, knocking us both down off a three story building. When I didn't feel the customary wind hitting me before going splat, I open my eyes to find that I was dangling from something. Looking to what caught, to my surprise I see Naruto standing on the wall holding the back of my shirt.

"Mind telling me why someone from the academy is running around the slums?" He asks, before pulling me close to his body and causing me to blush as he jumps back onto the roof and let me go before backing off.

"Um, Iruka-sensei wanted me to come and tell you that…" I start, trailing off in the end as I inspect him. He still had golden-blond hair, and it had gotten a little longer, making him look familiar, like I had scene it before. His eyes were the same as well, except that they weren't exactly cold, but not exactly inviting either. He wore dark clothing, navy blue pants, black sleeveless undershirt, which I notice hugged his well developed body, making me feel like a pervert, but it interested me at the same time.

'How does a twelve year-old get that kind of body?' Continuing to inspect him, he had gloves covering his hand, with the Konoha symbol engraved on the metal plates on them. He wore a Black vest that was zippered up to an inch or two before end.

'He really does seem like an enigma…'

"Yes, Iruka-sensei wanted you to come and tell me, what?" He asks, getting a little impatient as he fidgeted.

Before I continue, I couldn't help but wonder why he was nervous about something. "What's wrong?"

Glancing around, he looks a little scared. "Well, Baa-chan wanted me to meet her by training ground thirty, five minutes ago, and she has a bad temper…"

"Baa-chan?" I couldn't help but be curious. This enigma had the strangest nick-names for people.

"You'd probably call her Tsunade." He says off handedly, still inspecting the area. "But I find it fun to call her Baa-chan, but could you please tell me what Iruka wants, I don't want to be any later then I already am…" He says.

Sighing in defeat, I relay the message. "The Gennin exams are going to take place in a week, Iruka-sensei wanted me to tell you that. " I say, seeing him nod his head.

"That all?" He asks, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Yeah, an-." Before I could finish my sentence he was off faster then I could've imagined. That's when I realize he said Tsunade.

"Wow…"

'And I still didn't get to thank him…'

(A week later; Gennin Exams)

I couldn't help but wonder what team Naruto was gong to be on, we had all already passed and I was trying to catch up to Naruto, who the rest of the class ignored.

"Hey, Naruto!" I call, catching his attention as he turns to face me.

"Um, sorry, but what's your name?" He asks, making me smile sheepishly.

"Oh yeah, sorry, I'm Haruno Sakura, nice to meet you!" I say, holding out my hand, which he took and shook.

"Uzumaki Naruto, as you already know." He says, regarding me with interest.

"Um, I was wondering if you wanted to go and get something to eat?" I ask, hoping he doesn't take it for a date.

"Okay, where?" He asks, placing his hands behind his head as he walks along.

"Uh, why don't you choose?" I reply, seeing him raise an eyebrow.

"Kay, if we're going to Ichiraku, I'm paying, wouldn't want to bankrupt you." He says nonchalantly, stepping up the pace a little as we round the corner and there a sign says, 'Ichiraku Ramen!'

'Ramen, huh?' I think, laughing a little. That's when I notice something peculiar. A villager, no, the villagers were glaring at him. 'What the…'

"You coming?" Naruto asks as he stands outside the little Ramen shop, waiting for me. Nodding he heads inside, with me right on his heels.

"What'll it be today, Naruto?" Asks the chef kindly, his eyes closed because of his smile.

I see Naruto look at me before I get a little flustered. "I'll just get some chicken ramen please…" I say nervously, seeing Naruto nod.

"Teuchi, we'll get one medium chicken ramen and three large miso." Naruto ordered for the both of us.

"You mean she's with you?" He asks, jerking her head towards me as if it were uncommon.

"Actually, yes, I don't know why though…" He says, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Why did you want to get something to eat with me?" He asks, giving me a curious look.

"I dunno, guess I wanted to get to know you…" I say timidly, blushing a little.

"Is this what you'd call friendship?" He asks suddenly, causing my head to jerk up with surprise.

"What did you say?" I ask incredulously.

"He said, is this friendship." Teuchi says for him, handing me a bowl of ramen and three to Naruto.

Ignoring Naruto for the moment, I stare in wonder at the chef. "You're his first friend, well; at least you're his firs friend his age." Teuchi continues, making more ramen for some reason. "He's never had a friend before, much less talked to someone his age; he's normally with Tsunade or Jiraiya, and occasionally Kakashi, once I saw him with Anko. But he's never talked to someone his own age, I'd say you're the first in four years." He says, handing Naruto three more bowls of ramen. Looking at Naruto, I see that he had already finished with the other three, causing my jaw to drop.

'H-how…'

"Like I said, I don't want to bankrupt you." Naruto says without glancing at me.

"Hey, Naruto?" I ask after a silence had fallen over the small shop.

"Hm?"

"Do you remember five years ago?" I ask, seeing him look up at me as his eyes widen a little bit before the return to their normal state.

"What are you talking about?" He asks, finishing his twelfth bowl of ramen.

"I, I guess you don't remember, but thank you." I finally say it, and to my surprise, he just looks at me before smiling a little bit.

"For whatever you mean, you're welcome." He says, before getting up and checking the sun.

"Lets see, about five o'clock, two hours late…" I hear him say, before my eyes widen and I start apologizing profusely. All he did was smile before telling me to quiet down.

"Don't worry, Kakashi's always two hours late, so I should start heading there right now, so see you tomorrow Sakura!" Naruto calls, before disappearing.

"Kakashi?" I ask the wind. "Teuchi said that he was here once with Naruto…"

Shaking it off, I decide that I'd find out tomorrow.

(Next Day at Seven in the Morning)

I had been sitting in class spacing out, trying to think of who I would get on my team, when I hear the door open. Snapping out of it, Naruto walks in, a bored expression on his face as he goes and sits next to me, before closing his eyes.

"Team Seven, Haruno Sakura…" I hear Iruka-sensei call after inspecting Naruto.

"Uchiha Sasuke…" I felt my spirits lift as I whisper a quiet yes. Turning around, I stick my tongue out at Ino, causing her to twitch.

"And Uzumaki Naruto." He calls. Turning back around, I glance at Naruto to see him still lazily sitting back.

"And you're Jounin (High Ninja) sensei will be Hatake Kakashi." He finishes, to which Naruto immediately sits up.

"You're kidding! Right?" He yells, getting the entire class attention.

"No, I'm not Uzumaki, now sit down." Iruka says, before Naruto speaks up again.

"But we'll be here for hours! Kakashi's always late! Everyone knows that!" He yells, making everyone raise an eyebrow.

This got Iruka's attention as well. "What makes you think that, Uzumaki?"

"Before I even met him, Anko-chan told me about him! Saying he's always late!" Naruto continues to yell, making sure he had everyone's attention. At this, Iruka's eyes widened.

"You've met him?" He asks eyes still wide. This made Naruto quiet.

"Yeah…" He mumbles, rubbing the back of his head. "Never mind, I'll sit quietly…" He continues to mumble, before sitting back down and placing his head in his arms.

Iruka calls out the rest of the teams, and a little over fifteen minutes and we're the last ones in the class room, even Iruka-sensei left.

"Told you…" Naruto mumbles to no one in particular.

"Is this the same Kakashi you told me about yesterday?" I ask, seeing him nod, before he goes up to the blackboard and talks the chalk.

"What are you doing?" I ask, getting a sigh out of him before he starts to try schematics for something, every once in a while muttering yes or no, saying it wouldn't work. About an hour after watching Naruto do this, Sasuke finally speaks up.

"What are you doing, dope?" He asks, his tone condescending as usual.

"Trying to see if I can get Kakashi in one of my pranks, he's really aware of everything around him, even when not in battle because of me." Naruto offers off-handedly, still scetching out what would seem to be a complicated plan. About thirty minutes after the little break in silence, Naruto grins before laughing.

"This should get him!" He says cheerfully, before taking out a scroll.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" I ask, looking at the schematics and realizing that even I didn't understand any of it. Although it looked simple.

"Quiet simple actually, I'm replacing the desk with a tub full of paint, and then disguising it as the desk with a Genjutsu (Illusion Technique). After that, I'm going to Henge my self into the screen door, when Kakashi walks through, I'm going to grab his legs and make him fall promptly into a can of paint. Knowing Kakashi, he'll flip over the can of paint and try and land on the desk, only to realize that he's knee deep in rainbow paint!" He explains, and like he said, it was quite simply, yet genius. It only took him ten to organize all of this, so I knew he was a pro. Giggling a little bit, Sasuke watches with interest as Naruto performs Henge and replaces himself with the door. About five minutes later, a man with white hair and a mask covering the bottom of his face enters. Glancing around, he's about to ask a question before Naruto releases the Henge and pulls on his legs. He did exactly as Naruto predicted, he flipped over the pain can and tried to land on the desk, and I could only giggle again as he looks down and glares at the paint before training his glare and the know laughing Naruto.

"Ha-ha! Got you Kakashi!" He choked out as he was rolling on the floor laughing.

I heard a chuckle behind me, and saw Sasuke smirking.

"Naruto…" I hear him curse under his breath as he steps out of the tub. "My first impression of you, is I hate you." He says, mostly glaring at Naruto.

"Oh come on Kakashi, I was only getting you back for stringing me up like a boar!" Naruto yelled, which made Kakashi stop before chuckling.

"Meet me on the roof in three minutes." He says, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Damn Kakashi, always trying to show off…" I hear Naruto mutter before getting up and looking at both of us.

"Coming? Kakashi doesn't like it when people waste his time." He tells us, before walking down the hall. Looking back at Sasuke, I see him stand up and follow Naruto's lead. Standing up, I follow them and get the roof to see Kakashi reading a little orange book.

"Kakashi!" I hear Naruto yell, as if reprimanding him. "Put away that vile book! What if Baa-chan was here! Huh? You'd get your ass kicked is what!" Naruto yells, seeing Kakashi sweatdrop before slipping the book back into his pouch.

"You know Naruto, I'm going to get you for that prank earlier…" I hear Kakashi whisper into his ear as he passed, only to see Naruto grin.

"You can try, Kakashi, you can try…" He taunted, getting a growl from Kakashi.

'They seem like brothers, the way they talk to each other…' I think as we all take seats in front of Kakashi.

I see him sigh before he mumbles something under his breath about stupid blond-haired prodigies.

"Well, since I'm going to be your Jounin-sensei, I guess I should get to know you somewhat, so you're going to tell me your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams. You first pinky." He said, point at me, causing me to twitch.

"I'll teach you to call me pinky!" Piped up my Inner, to which I instantly agreed.

"Give us an example, sensei." I reply seeing his back hunch a bit more.

"Kay, my name is Hatake Kakashi, I like a lot of stuff, dislike very little, have no hobbies, and I don't' have a dream, no go." He says, making me sweatdrop before moving on.

"My name is Haruno Sakura, my likes are…" I say, before glancing at Sasuke and then looking back to Kakashi to continue. "And enigmas, the way they are mysteries as stuff." I explain the second part, glancing at Naruto. "My dislikes are jerks, and bullies. My hobbies are flowering and hanging out with friends. My Dreams are…" I trail off, glancing at Sasuke, before glancing at Naruto. Now don't get me wrong, I still like Sasuke, but I wanted to learn more about Naruto.

Kakashi regarded me for a second before pointing to Sasuke. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I don't like that much, and I dislike a lot. I don't' have any hobbies. My dream." Here Sasuke pauses. "No, my ambition is to kill a certain someone…" He said, darkly, making me furrow my brow.

'That seems dark, even for Sasuke-kun…' I think to myself, seeing hearing Kakashi sigh.

"Last but not least, you." He said in a bored tone as he pointed at Naruto.

"My real name is Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, but everybody calls me Uzumaki Naruto." He says, catching my attention.

'Namikaze, where have I heard that before…?' I think as Naruto continues.

"My likes are ramen, Baa-chan, Ero-Sennin, Anko-chan, Ojii-sama, training, and pranks! My dislikes are the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook, perverts, killers, and snakes. My hobbies are training, planting, and coming up with new techniques! My dream is to become Hokage just like Ojii-sama!" Naruto says excitedly, smiling the whole way through.

"Naruto, you do know that Minato would've taken the surname Uzumaki, don't you?" Kakashi asks, throwing me and Sasuke out of the loop.

"So? I like my real name, and I do want something to remember him by." He says, making Kakashi sigh.

"Since Naruto's here, I don't think I really need to administer the test, but it's required, so meet me at training ground 12 tomorrow at Seven in the morning. Also, don't' eat." He says, before turning around and stepping on the balcony.

"Why should we eat, sensei?" I ask, seeing him turn around and give us what I would presume to be a smile, since his eye turned into a U.

"Because you'll puke!" He says, before disappearing.

"Don't listen to him." Naruto says suddenly, catching both mine and Sasuke's attention. "He doesn't want us to eat because it'll make us weak as we fight, and arrive an hour and a half late, because we need to talk before Kakashi gets there." He says, making Sasuke snort.

"Why would we need to talk?" He asks, tone once again condescending.

"Because, if Kakashi does what I think he's going to do, we're going to need to work together." He explains, before sighing.

"Now I need to go and find Anko-chan, she's teaching me another torture technique today…" He says before disappearing.

The words he said made me blink. 'Torture technique?'

Review, flame, and whatnot...

Ah, this fics isnt' so bad, although hopefully I dont' screw up...

I need some help deciding Naruto's weapon.

He can have a sword like Zabuza's, big and wide, which he would carry around on his back.

He can have a normaly Katana that has been enhanced to be stronger then normal.

He can have the ability to manipulate chakra into a sword, but that would be a Kekkei Genkai, since chakra can't be shaped normally.

Those are his choice of weapons. This fic will be updated on a normal basis if I can.