Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Naruto is the property of Kishimoto Masashi.

Please note that all translations will be included at the end of the chapter.

IMPORTANT! If you came here looking for a simple rewrite of the series with a more powerful/smarter Naruto, or a story in which Naruto is betrayed because he's a demon, or something equally clichéd, you came to the wrong place, I'm afraid. This is an entire rewrite, including new characters, new jutsu, new circumstances, new missions, etc. Nothing about this is the same. This is entirely different to the usual "Naruto is actually a demon" stories that you might have seen before. This is a story about family, and about friendship. Most importantly, though, it is a story about what makes one human, about how some humans can be more monstrous than the monsters, and about how something as simple as a name can be so important that a person's entire identity hinges upon it. This is the story of a conflicted boy with two names who is trapped between two worlds—that of humans and monsters—who he chooses to be, and who supports him in that decision.

The question is, what name will that boy choose for himself?

NARUTO

A scream resounds somewhere far below, followed by a chorus of similar sounds and a mighty crash. A roar echoes from deep within me as the air fills with the scent of smoke and metal. I mentally pause for a moment, thinking that this is all incredibly familiar as my gargantuan body continues to move on its own. I can't control it. Not since I saw those eyes. Eyes like... What were they like? I can't remember. Everything seems to be moving too quickly for me to understand. My nine tails swipe out at the mountains and forests behind me, inadvertently hitting the village in front of me that was quickly being reduced to ruin, the light of the full moon covering all who are present, but their eyes are not on the moon. They are on me.

There they are. Those figures again, standing strong amidst the carnage, blond and red flowing together in the smoke-filled wind. Always together. I'm captivated, and yet infuriated. I want to destroy them where they stand, and yet I want to call out to them. Beg. Plead for help. This isn't me. I don't want this to be me. It can't possibly be me...

That was an idiotic thought process. Why would I think such a thing? It is me, and destroy I must. An arm is raised, and...

Light engulfs us all...

NARUTO

Naruto quickly sat up in bed, panting heavily, the familiar sensation of cold sweat running down his brow. He was in his room, the soft yellow walls and blue carpet offering a sense of security. The sun peeked in through a gap in the pale blue curtains, illuminating his wooden bed with orange covers, his bedside table, his wardrobe, and his desk that sat along the wall to his left.

As he calmed down, he grimaced at the feeling of his sweat-drenched pyjamas, noticing that he desperately need a shower before he could think about doing anything else. He peeled his blue pyjama top off his body and stood up, intending to make his way to the bathroom, but before he could take a step towards the door, it burst open and, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the colour red in the doorway.

"Rise and shine, 'ttebane!" a female voice cries out from the doorway, laden with the excitement and early morning pep that he just didn't seem to have at the time.

Naruto turned his head with a tired yawn to see his mother—Uzumaki Kushina—standing in the doorway, her waist-length red hair framing her pale face, violet eyes shining with excitement. Her high-collared, sleeveless white blouse and long green dress seemed to have been thrown on haphazardly, and she wasn't even wearing her usual black bracelet, black hair clip, or grey shinobi sandals. In fact, in retrospect, Naruto didn't even think she had brushed her hair at all that morning.

"Oh! You're already up! You'll never guess what just happened!" Kushina continued, speaking almost too quickly for Naruto's tired brain to keep up. Undaunted by this, she paused, nearly vibrating with excitement as she actually waited for him to guess.

"What...?" Naruto finally mumbled after a few seconds of waiting, yawning tiredly as she started to speak again.

"Well, I woke up this morning to find that your father made pancakes!" Kushina exclaimed excitedly, a large grin on her face.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. Sure, his dad's pancakes were the lightest and fluffiest pancakes he'd ever had, and most people would probably kill to eat them, but they were far from his favourite food in the world. To him, pancakes were bland bread covered in syrup or honey that was, in his opinion, far too sweet, so he wasn't very fond of them, and the only novelty value they held was that they were round. Even so, his mother's reaction to his dad's pancakes was always amusing.

"Has anybody ever told you that you're easily impressed?" Naruto asked with another tired yawn, and as Kushina pouted and opened her mouth to protest, he continued with, "What's the occasion, anyway? Dad's always at work by this time."

The pout instantly disappeared. "Oh. Your father isn't going in this morning. He got the morning off."

"He's not going in later, then?" Naruto asked curiously, somewhat hoping that she'd say no.

Kushina grimaced sympathetically. "I'm sorry, honey. Your father is a very busy man, and he has meetings with the elders all evening. It was all he could do to get the morning off. Please don't be angry at him..."

"I'm not angry..." Naruto muttered, averting my gaze as he kicked at the ground with a bare foot, wondering if he'd just told a lie. "I'm just...disappointed, you know...? We never get to spend time together, and I was hoping that he could help me with something..."

"Oh?" Kushina responded, somewhat surprised by the response. "Is it anything your mother can help with?"

"I don't know. Are you any good at the Bunshin no Jutsu?" Naruto asked, somewhat hopefully as he turned his gaze towards his mother who let out a soft hum as she descended into thought.

"Well, I'm not bad at it. Honestly, asking your father about that jutsu won't get you anywhere in a hurry. He's not very good at it," Kushina admitted, tapping her chin as she descended into thought once more.

"Eh?" Naruto stopped where he stood, eyes wide with shock. "Dad can't use that justu? I thought it was basic ninjutsu."

"Well, not everyone can do every ninjutsu. Some people just don't have the talent for certain jutsu. Your father can't do the basic Bunshin no Jutsu, but he can perform the more difficult variation. I can't perform anything more than basic genjutsu. Some people can't perform a single genjutsu, while other people can perform genjutsu, but no ninjutsu, and some people even rely entirely on taijutsu. There's nothing strange about it," Kushina jovially informed her son with a kind smile, placing her hands on her hips.

"Why does that happen, though?" Naruto asked curiously, cocking his head to the side as he took a step towards his mother.

"Genetics, I think," Kushina told him, looking away with a frown as if she was carefully considering her words. "Usually, families all have somewhat similar abilities and chakra natures, so I'd say it's inherited, like how our clan is proficient in fūinjutsu. The way the chakra has to be moulded is very different, and I think some people are just naturally built to perform certain jutsu. It probably wouldn't be wrong to say that you inherited your father's lack of ability in that area. Of course, that doesn't mean that you can't do it. It just takes more effort." Before Naruto could descend into thought, Kushina clapped her hands. "Now, then. Go and get ready. You don't want your pancakes to get cold."

Naruto offered her a small smile, playing the conversation over in his mind again. "Right. I'll be off, then."

As he jogged out the door, planning to head to the bathroom for a shower, he heard his mother shout down the hall after him. "By the way, we're going out for ramen tonight!"

All thoughts of nightmares and training were forced from Naruto's head, and he found himself almost being able to taste Ichiraku's amazing ramen. He spun around to look at his mother who was leaning out of the door to his room, aware that his eyes were probably sparkling with delight. "Really?!"

Kushina smirked. "Has anybody ever told you that you're easily impressed?" she teased with an amused giggle.

NARUTO

"Tell Naruto-kun how bad you are at the Bunshin no Jutsu," Kushina ordered through a mouthful of pancakes, pointing her fork at her husband who had dramatically reddened. Minato nervously tightened the white apron that he wore over his blue jumper and trousers, the red Uzushiogakure no Sato spiral sticking out like a sore thumb on the sleeve. None of his gear seemed to have been equipped, although Naruto suspected that he'd do it before he went to work later. Minato raised a hand to fiddle with a thick strand of his spiky blond hair as he approached the table, frying pan in hand.

"K-K-Kushina-chan! I'm not that bad!" he stammered in embarrassment, hastily plopping another large, thick pancake down on Naruto's plate.

"Oh?" Kushina responded with a teasing smirk. "Do it now, then. Show us all your prowess, oh great Hokage."

Minato's jaw snapped shut with an audible click, and as he absentmindedly pushed a piece of pancake around the plate, Naruto saw his father glance at him out of the corner of his eye. "You know," Minato nervously began, beginning to sweat profusely, "I need all my strength for work. You understand, right?" When Minato didn't get a response from his smug-looking wife, he sat next to Naruto and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Naruto-kun gets it, right?! Of course he gets it! He's smart!" Minato almost pleaded desperately.

Naruto smirked mischievously. "Dad, you were right about one thing. I'm smart. Smart enough to know when someone's talking crap."

The response was instant, with Kushina howling with laughter to the point where she was forced to clutch her sides in pain as Minato, having gone as red as his wife's hair, removed his arm from Naruto and shuffled away from him, his chair scraping across the wooden floor as he did so. Sinking into his chair, he tried to make himself look as small as possible while Kushina struggled to get out simple words. Naruto watched his mother's reaction with a bright grin, verging on laughter, himself.

"Well, if I fail at being a shinobi, at least I know I can always have a career as a successful comedian," Naruto joked with a shrug as Kushina's laughter began to die down. His father, on the other hand, had begun to mutter something unintelligible, likely uttering words of betrayal as he shuffled his seat back towards his wife and son.

"Don't eat too slowly, Naruto-kun," Kushina told him with a chuckle as Naruto shovelled another bite into his mouth. "Class starts in an hour, and it'll take you about half an hour to get there. This is your last week. You need to learn as much as you can."

"Right..." Naruto responded with a sigh and a bored roll of his eyes, shovelling yet more pancake into his mouth as the conversation turned down a road that he couldn't be bothered to walk down. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Kushina begin to regard him with a frown, but she said nothing. She was wondering if he was taking it seriously, Naruto knew.

Nevertheless, the subject was quickly dropped in favour of Minato's usual breakfast table banter—stories about all the weird, funny things that elders were taking issue with. It was during a story about how they'd become offended by a ninken appearing in the Hokage Residence that Naruto finished his breakfast and grabbed his green bag which was resting against the table leg.

"I'll hear the rest of the story later, Dad!" Naruto shouted as he ran out of the room towards the door. "Bye!"

There was a synchronised, cheerful shout of, "Bye, Naruto-kun!" within the house as Naruto opened the door and hurried out. It was only when the door was shut that he took off down the street at a run.

NARUTO

One of the areas that Naruto always passed through on his way to the Academy was the shopping district—a lively area of Konohagakure that was always filled with the hustle and bustle of civilians and shinobi going about their daily activities, whether that was grocery shopping, buying provisions or clothes, or looking for new weapons. Another thing that the shopping district was famous for was the good food that the vendors served.

As he raced down the street, he heard a cheery voice calling, "Hello, Naruto-kun! How are you this morning?"

Recognising the voice immediately, Naruto slowed down and looked over at the small restaurant with white drapes at the side of the road. Outside it was a young woman who was pulling up the shutters. Naruto recognised her immediately, from her long brown hair that was tied up in a white bandana to her white robes with folded sleeves and her blue apron. Her black eyes, standing out against her fair skin, seemed to twinkle with happiness as Naruto slowed to a stop next to her. Naruto inhaled deeply, already able to smell the scent of freshly made ramen wafting from the restaurant—the first batch of the day, no doubt.

"Morning, Ayame-chan. Nice morning, isn't it? You guys must start work really early!" Naruto exclaimed, peering inside the restaurant, watching as the lights from inside the kitchen illuminated the otherwise darkened restaurant.

"We start work no earlier than your classes start, Naruto-kun," Ayame told him with a cheerful smile, turning to face him as she did so now that the shutters were up. "Good luck with that, by the way. Your exams are coming up, aren't they?"

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Well, I'm trying my best. They aren't the easiest, and I'm not very good at one of the jutsu."

Ayame seemed to wave off the very notion of failure. "Just pass the other two, then. When you've passed, come here for a celebration."

Naruto immediately brightened up at the very thought of eating the ramen at Ichiraku. "Oh, yeah!" he exclaimed, a bright smile on his face. "Mum and I are coming here for dinner, so I'll see you then!"

"You're always welcome here, Naruto-kun!" an amicable male voice spoke up from within the restaurant, cutting Ayame off before she could express the delight that her expression betrayed. As Naruto peered inside, he saw the restaurant's owner, Teuchi, emerge from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. He was a tall man with short greying hair, tanned skin, and narrow black eyes, and just as always, there was a welcoming smile on his face. He wore a similar uniform to Ayame, his daughter, with the exception of his white hat with his restaurant's logo written in red along the right side.

"Morning!" Naruto responded with a bright smile, happy to see the kindly restaurant owner.

"Good morning," Teuchi responded with a chuckle. "We're always happy to see our favourite little customer."

"'Little'...?" Naruto echoed disbelievingly, not sure whether he should be offended

"Whether you like it or not, to us, you'll always be that little boy who walked into our restaurant on that rainy day," Teuchi responded with a hearty laugh. "You'll understand when you're an adult. You'll spend a lot of time thinking about the good old days." Naruto considered that for a moment, but ended up shaking his head, unable to imagine such a thing. Teuchi's laugh resounded yet again. He turned to head back into the restaurant, eyes twinkling with mirth. "We all get old eventually, Naruto-kun, some more gracefully than others. You'll remember this conversation someday and realise that I'm right." Then, with an amused chuckle, he added, "Have a good day at school. Study hard."

Ayame turned to follow her father into the restaurant with a giggle. "That's if you can get there. Hurry on."

As the father and daughter duo made their way into the tiny restaurant, Naruto stood rooted to the spot as he considered what they'd said. It took a good few seconds for the implications of Ayame's words to sink in, and with a cry of, "She's right! I'm late!" Naruto took off down the street as fast as his legs could carry him, and despite worrying that he wouldn't make it to class in time, he couldn't deny the warm, fuzzy feeling that he got from talking to Ayame and Teuchi. If he didn't go to the restaurant for their delicious food, he'd still go to it just to see those two.

"Good morning, Honourable Son! On your way to class, I see! Good luck!" a voice suddenly shouted from his left. Naruto stopped for a moment, turning towards the source of the voice. He bowed quickly, mirroring the elderly owner of one of Konoha's many weapon shops. Naruto offered the balding grey-haired man an uneasy grin as the man straightened up, tightening his blue apron that covered his light grey shirt with rolled up sleeves and tan trousers as he regarded Naruto with dark brown eyes, a small, almost unnatural smile on his face.

"Good morning, Kudō-san. Thank you," Naruto responded as politely as he could before racing off once more, unable to shake the image of Kudō's dull, uncaring eyes and distant smile from his mind. He was used to it, and he believed that he had largely stopped caring about it, but he wish he knew why the citizens of Konoha behaved like that towards him. It made him uneasy. Surely, his pranks didn't warrant that kind of animosity.

Needless to say, the warm, fuzzy feeling was gone as soon as it had begun.

NARUTO

It was, as his mother had warned him, just over half an hour before he reached the Academy. He burst through the door to his classroom to find, to his relief, that class hadn't begun and his teacher, Iruka, had not arrived. He made his way through the chattering students and up the wooden stairs to take his place at one of the long wooden benches, hoping to catch his breath. He slid along the bench until he reached his usual position beside a classmate of his, his blue shirt standing out from the other members of the class. He stuck out just as much as Naruto did in his orange jacket and trousers. Just looking at the raven-haired boy as he leaned on his hand, his dark eyes staring out the window, it was obvious that his mind was far away from the classroom.

With a chuckle, Naruto nudged the boy with a chuckle. "Oi. Sasuke," Naruto called, trying to get the boy's attention. Uchiha Sasuke let out a grunt of acknowledgement and turned to face Naruto. Naruto offered him a cheeky grin. "Made it."

Sasuke let out another grunt and flashed a knowing smirk at the boy as he took a glance at the white clock that hung just above the sliding doors that led in and out of their classroom. "With minutes to spare. Did you get distracted on the way in, or are you just that slow, usuratonkachi?"

Naruto, for a split second, saw red, and he immediately opened his mouth and practically spat, "Teme..." at the boy next to him, as if such a thing would hurt Sasuke's feelings. Sasuke's smug-sounding grunt told him that it hadn't worked. With their little exchange of insults over and done with, Naruto couldn't help but smile slightly. He and Sasuke, who had met each other through their parents almost at birth, had a relationship that was difficult to describe. One minute, they were something like friends, or they at least had respect for each other, and the next thing they knew, they were hurling insults that strangely failed to hurt either of them. It was a strange relationship, indeed.

"You know..." Sasuke began, trailing off for a moment as he pondered his next words before adding, "I think I'm actually going to miss this. It's never going to be this easy again."

"You're right, 'ttebayo," Naruto responded wistfully as he gazed around the classroom, carefully taking in the chattering students, wooden floors, long desks, posters and notice boards, and the pale green walls with exposed wooden beams. This was all they had known for the past few years, and as long as their exams went well, they would be employed as shinobi within the week. They'd be earning money and paying their own way in life, and they'd even be legally allowed to live on their own. As long as they wore their headbands, anyone with even an ounce of respect would treat them like adults. It was a lot to take it, and it felt like they would be taking a huge step, but it was exciting nonetheless. "Dad says that there won't be war in our lifetimes, though," Naruto told Sasuke somewhat matter-of-factly. "It could be far worse."

"You're right, I suppose," Sasuke admitted, lazily leaning on his hand once again.

"Even so, you two can't let your guards down. It's going to be dangerous out there," a female voice from Naruto's right chimed as the owner of the voice settled next to Naruto. Naruto turned his head to meet the bright green eyes and long bubblegum pink hair of the beautiful Haruno Sakura, and he wasted no time in squirming in his seat, blushing madly, which Sakura, in hindsight, was doing her best to ignore. Sakura was a nice young girl, but she had a bit of a temper. Naruto met her when he entered the Academy and had fallen in love at first sight. Knowing who he was, Sakura always tried her best to be polite, and although Naruto begrudgingly couldn't call her his friend, as such, they often spoke and would sometimes enjoy a good conversation, which mirrored Naruto's relationships with most of the rest of the class.

"G-good morning, Sakura-chan..." Naruto greeted with a silly grin as Sakura tried her best to put on an awkward smile.

"G-good morning, Naruto-kun," Sakura responded uneasily, but as politely as she could. Leaning forwards, she looked straight at Sasuke and immediately seemed to forget about Naruto, devolving into a blushing mess much like he had. "Good morning, S-S-Sasuke-kun..." she stammered nervously, face bright red as Sasuke turned to face her with yet another grunt of acknowledgement. The morning greetings done, Sakura leaned back in her seat with a sigh and looked around herself, fidgeting with the hem of her red qipao dress, and Naruto couldn't help but notice the way her hair, tied back by a red ribbon, perfectly framed her face.

"You know, I wonder how many of us will still be here in a year's time, provided the Chūnin Selection Exams go ahead," Sakura wondered with another sigh, her eyes glittering with sadness at the mere thought of such a thing.

"Depends on how much trouble pops up. As Naruto said, these are times of peace, and this class alone contains multiple important clan heirs, the children of clan heads, and the son of the Hokage. Attacking many of this year's genin, even in self-defence, could spark a diplomatic issue. The other countries can't afford to start trouble," Sasuke carefully reasoned, leaning back in his seat.

Naruto had another look around the faces in the classroom. Sasuke was right. While Sasuke, himself, was not his clan's heir, he was the son of their leader. Sleeping on his desk just behind Naruto was Nara Shikamaru, heir to the Nara Clan, his black hair pulled back in a spiky ponytail. Beside him, eating a large packet of crisps, was the heir of the Akimichi Clan, Chōji—a chubby boy with spiked brown hair and swirling red face paint on his cheeks. A few rows back was the fidgeting Hyūga Hinata—a shy girl with dark blue hair and pale, pupil-less eyes, and the heir to the Hyūga Clan. The list went on and on, and finally, there was Naruto, himself. It was his father who had the power to declare war, and if something was to happen to him, Naruto knew that he would ignore the Tree Leaf Honoured Opinion Watch, who his father didn't like, anyway, and start a war with whoever was responsible without regard for the consequences, because that was the sort of man his father was.

Just as Naruto opened his mouth to respond, the doors slid open and the children scrambled up the steps to get to their seats. As the crowd parted and the children sat down, Naruto was able to see his teacher, Umino Iruka, take his place at the wooden podium at the front of the class. He was a somewhat tall man with tanned skin, dark eyes and dark brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Across the bridge of his nose was a large scar that Naruto had never dared to ask about. Aside from his forehead protector with a blue cloth, he wore the standard shinobi outfit for a chūnin—a green flak jacket with the red Uzushiogakure no Sato symbol on the back, black sandals, and a matching jumper and trousers, the bottoms of his trousers tied to his legs with bandages. A small black pouch was tied to his right leg with bandages, and a larger beige pouch for weapons was attached to his hip.

"Quiet, everybody!" Iruka called as the class finally settled down, the whispers dissipating and the shuffling ceasing. There was a moment of silence as Iruka seemed to dare anyone to make a noise. "Now," he finally continued as he ascertained that the noise had stopped, "as you all know, your exams are in less than a week, and I don't want to see any of you having to repeat the year. Your exams will be in one of two chosen areas—Bunshin no Jutsu or Henge no Jutsu. The jutsu that you will be required to perform will be revealed on the day of your exam. Because of that, we'll be doing something like a workshop today to brush you up in the areas that you're having trouble in. Those who wish to study Henge no Jutsu, go to the training hall. Those who want to practice their Bunshin no Jutsu, head outside. I will be with the Bunshin no Jutsu group, but Mizuki-sensei will be along shortly to work with the other group." To Naruto's surprise, Iruka looked straight at him, his expression serious. "I'll be seeing you in the Bunshin no Jutsu group, Naruto-kun."

Naruto, blushing and grinning, began to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment and sank down in his seat as his classmates began to laugh quietly. He heard Sakura barely suppress a giggle, and Sasuke let out an amused snort. Almost immediately, the most of the class began to move, including Iruka who made his way towards the door, intending to go outside, no doubt. Those who didn't looked as though they were considering where they should go. Naruto was about to stand to leave when Sakura leaned forwards, looking into Naruto and Sasuke's faces with a puzzled expression. She leaned on her hand.

"Hey, where do you guys think I should go?" she asked, sounding somewhat confused.

After a brief moment of thought in which he thought of nothing, Naruto simply responded with, "What do you think you have the most problems with?"

Sakura hummed in thought. "Henge no Jutsu, maybe. I get the features wrong sometimes. You're good at that, aren't you, Naruto-kun?"

"There's an easy way to fix that. Problems with Henge no Jutsu usually happen because you don't know the target well enough. You have to study them carefully first and see them in your mind while you're using the jutsu, and you always have to keep their proportions in mind, because the moment you let that slip, the jutsu will go out of control and you don't know what you could end up with. You can't just expect to transform into a perfect copy of a person after seeing them once or twice, or if you've never paid close attention to them," Naruto responded with a cheeky grin. Eventually, though, he nervously admitted, "I can't tell you anything about the technical stuff, though. I barely understand that, myself."

"No! That's great! I know the technical aspects of it! I'll try it out!" Sakura exclaimed excitedly, hurriedly sliding out from behind the desk with a quick cry of, "Thanks, Naruto-kun!" before heading for the doors at

"Isn't that common sense?" Sasuke asked once he was sure that Sakura was out of earshot.

"People seem to forget that part in the heat of the moment, though, and it's a lot of information to keep in your head," Naruto quickly responded, hurriedly thinking of a reason why Sakura's oversight could be reasonable. Sasuke was silent for a moment.

"That's true," he eventually admitted monotonously. Naruto couldn't tell how Sasuke was feeling when he did that—something that he'd never gotten used to. "There's a lot of pressure to get it right, I suppose."

"Anyway, I'm off," Naruto told Sasuke, trying to force the smugness out of his voice that naturally occurred at the mere thought of making Sasuke admit that he was right. "Iruka-sensei will kill me if I'm late."

"Since when have you even cared about that?" Sasuke scoffed disbelievingly, eyebrows rising so high that Naruto thought they would disappear into his hairline. He hadn't seen Sasuke being this expressive in months.

"Well..." Naruto began, training off as he strained to find the right words. "This could be my last chance to learn this thing. I suppose it's more for myself than Iruka-sensei."

Sasuke was silent for a moment as his expression seemed to reset to its default apathetic expression. "I might go to the Bunshin no Jutsu class, too. I don't need to practice Henge no Jutsu," he finally stated, rising from his seat as a few more students, chatting loudly amongst themselves, decided to do the same. As they headed for the door, Naruto and Sasuke followed, enjoying a peaceful silence as they walked down the hall, having separated from the loud group who had evidently gone to the training hall. When the two friends/enemies finally stepped into the warm sunlight, they were greeted by the sight of a large group of students and their teacher. As they approached Iruka turned to them.

"Are there any students left in the classroom, boys, or has everybody else gone to the other group?" Iruka asked absentmindedly, turning his eyes to a clipboard in his hands as they finally joined the group. Naruto nodded his head.

"There were a few more in there," Sasuke informed him turning back towards the door as though some students would emerge right there and then.

Iruka craned his head to look through the classroom window, but as Naruto followed his gaze, he quickly came to the conclusion that his teacher wouldn't see much through the glare that the sun cast on the windows. Iruka turned to the group, immediately calming them as though it was their instinct to stop when their teacher so much as looked at them. From his expression, Naruto could tell that he was annoyed that not everyone had gone to their respective groups. It was, no doubt, eating into their training time, although it was admittedly not by much.

"Wait here. I'll hurry them up," Iruka ordered. "Don't go anywhere."

There was an almost unanimous cry of, "Yes, Iruka-sensei!" as Iruka began to walk towards their classroom window, prepared to berate any stragglers. The chatter began anew almost immediately, some children already practicing their hand seals before their teacher returned.

Sasuke turned to Naruto with something akin to a frown. "What's wrong with your Bunshin no Jutsu, anyway?"

"Ah... I dunno..." Naruto responded vaguely, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "It's like...my chakra just goes like baaaam, 'ttebayo! You know?"

Sasuke's frown deepened to the point where it became recognisable as one. "For goodness sake. Describe it properly, usuratonkachi."

Naruto grumbled something unintelligible and nonsensical under his breath, glaring at Sasuke as he did so before finally retorting with, "I did, idiot!"

"Explain it again, using proper words this time," Sasuke demanded, his tone leaving no room for arguments.

Naruto' s glare deepened and he became visibly frustrated as the necessary words evaded him. "It's like...my chakra...just panics, you know?"

"Your chakra...panics...?" Sasuke asked disbelievingly, his eyebrows raising for the second time that day.

"Yeah. It...goes out of control, I suppose, like it won't listen to me. It just goes baaaam, you know?" Naruto attempted to explain, feeling more and more flustered by the second as it appeared that words were not his strong suit.

"The last part was unnecessary," Sasuke deadpanned.

Naruto chose to ignore Sasuke. It was frustrating. When it came to ninjutsu—an area that Naruto loved—he was willing to put in the work, and he was quite good at it as a result. He was able to meet any challenge that the Academy threw at him, and he achieved reasonable results with every justu, all except the Henge no Jutsu, which he excelled in, far beyond Sasuke and even Iruka, as he was even capable of transforming into things that he'd never seen before as long as he had a clear image of what he wanted. The other jutsu was the Bunshin no Jutsu, which was the exact opposite. He could barely even produce one clone, and said clone was never even viable. Just as Naruto's thoughts wandered back to the conversation that he'd had with his mother that morning, Sasuke spoke up, ignoring Iruka's distant shout of, "Get to your groups, kids!" as he knocked on the window.

"Can't say I know what to do about that. You could always try to improve your chakra control, though," Sasuke suggested after a brief moment of thought.

"I've tried that..." Naruto muttered defeatedly, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Mum said this morning that some people just can't do certain jutsu... Maybe this is the jutsu that I'm not built for..."

"Possibly... I mean, you can do everything else..." Sasuke quietly admitted as Iruka rejoined the group, a few stragglers following shortly afterwards. As the group quietened again, Sasuke quickly hissed, "I'll ask my brother about it." Naruto nodded his thanks and shot Sasuke a grin before turning back to Iruka who had just begun to speak again.

"It seems as though everyone is here," Iruka noted bluntly, his eyes scanning the group. "We'll go over the basics once again before we start practice, OK?"

The student's voices raised in unison once more. "Yes, Iruka-sensei!"

NARUTO

For those who want translations for the Japanese words and phrases in this chapter, or any words of phrases that might be confusing to those who are unfamiliar with them, here's the list:

-kun - An honourific used to refer to a younger male, a very familiar male, like a friend, or a male who is equal in age and standing to the speaker, although this also requires some familiarity.

-chan - An honourific used to refer to a younger female, a very familiar female, like a friend, or a female who is equal in age and standing to the speaker, although this also requires some familiarity. Usually denotes fondness, but can be used condescendingly.

-san - An honourific that roughly equates to Mr, Miss, Mrs, etc. Used to refer to an older person, an unfamiliar person, or a person who requires respect, like a boss.

-sama - An honourific used for individuals who require a lot of respect, usually as a result of their job or position. It is also used to refer to deities.

Ninken - A ninja dog.

Bunshin no Jutsu - The Clone Technique.

Henge no Jutsu - The Transformation Technique.

Uzushiogakure no Sato - Literally the Village Hidden by Whirling Tides. It's the proper name of the village.

Usuratonkachi - An insult used by Sasuke to refer to Naruto. Literally translates to "thin hammer". As such a hammer would easily break, it would be useless. Hence, when Sasuke uses this phrase, he is essentially calling Naruto useless. Like the next word, it cannot be translated effectively, so it will stay in the story.

Teme - An insult used by Naruto to refer to Sasuke. It's a rude way of saying "you" and can be viewed as an insult.

'ttebayo - Short for dattebayo—a verbal tic that Naruto blurts it out on occasion, and he rarely says it in its full form. It has no real meaning, and it cannot really be translated. His mother has a similar tic—dattebane, or 'ttebane.

Shinobi - Ninja.

Tree Leaf Honoured Opinion Watch (Konoha Go-Ikenban) - The dub refers to them as the Konoha Council.

Crisps - Americans would call these "chips", I believe. To us in Britain, chips are what Americans would call "fries".