Declaimer- I do not own Naruto.
Rating- K+ - Please note this rating may change as the story progresses.
Notes-
(1)Words in italics are thoughts.
(2)This story contains information already known to those who have seen, read or just know enough about the world of Naruto, I explained it here in several paragraphs, you can, if you want skip this part and it won't make any difference. This part has been marked with a from the beginning of the first word in the paragraphs to the last one.
(3)This story takes place in Naruto's 2nd year at the Academy, after their stories told to us, but before the Naruto series begins.
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Chapter One – Last day
"Shadow shuriken technique!" A young raven haired boy yelled out, jumping from a boulder, he spun in the air for momentum, and threw an oversized shuriken almost as big as himself at the marked red targets. The shuriken didn't get very far, and the boy fell to the floor, badly scraping his left arm against the rocks in the process. The boy winced in pain, but didn't scream out and he didn't cry. All he could do was glare uselessly at the rocks, then the giant shuriken.
The sun was beginning to rise and the raven haired boy got up from his training ground, heading towards several buildings. The closer he got to the buildings the more the morning became apparent, the birds began to sing, the familiar "cock-a-doodle do" of the rooster could be heard, and the beautiful sunrise left the morning in a hazy reddish orange color.
The boy entered one of the buildings, which seemed to be abandoned, he entered wordlessly, and almost no sounds could be heard from the inside, only the soft patter of the boy's feet on the floor. He sighed as he started to walk upstairs. There was a pause between his near steady steps as he stopped to examine a picture on the wall, located halfway up the stairs. It depicted a smiling raven haired woman; she was probably in her late twenties. Next to her was a man who seemed to be smiling with slightly dull black hair, he was an important looking person with a serious face. He was probably in his thirties. A younger version of the raven haired boy was in the center, he had a huge grin on his face. Overall it looked like a great family photo, only one thing seemed to stand out something you would notice first, the right a part of the picture had been ripped out, with no trace of whom or what may have once been there. His dark black eyes paused at the picture of a long time; unconsciously his left hand traced the part that had been ripped off. He uttered these small words, so lightly spoken they may not have been heard even by someone standing right next to him.
"One day…"
He sighed again and continued his trek upstairs, to wash off and change into new cloths, his current ones having been deeply damaged by the training done not so long ago.
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At the same time many miles away, on the other side of the village an alarm clock rang repeatedly, trying in vain to wake up the small girl with bubblegum pink hair. The alarm then make a sudden violent sound which anyone could swear was heard by the entire neighborhood, waking the girl from her slumber with a sudden jolt, as though electricity was going through her body.
The girl yawned, forcing herself to crawl out of bed and to her closet. She walked as though she had a huge weight on her shoulders, showing signs of weariness. She most likely did not get a lot of sleep the night before.
After having showered and changed, the girl seemed to have lifted in spirits eyes suddenly bright and smiling and she skipped downstairs for breakfast.
"Good morning mom!" she exclaimed as she hugged her mom tightly with a big smile on her lips.
"Good morning Sakura!" Her mother tried in vain to sound as enthusiastic as her daughter. "Your dad already left for work, hurry up and eat your breakfast so you aren't late for your last day of school, do you need me to drop you off today?"
"No thanks, I want to walk, and I won't be late today!"
Her mother smiled at her. "Should I pick you up form school then?"
"No, I'll walk!" Sakura was accustomed to her mother asking her this every morning, only to receive the same answer.
Sakura ate her breakfast of pancakes with strawberries and strawberry syrup in silence, she was very excited thinking about what she would do over the summer, scheming ways to somehow catch glimpses of a certain raven haired boy.
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Almost a thousand miles away in a snowy village, a small brown haired girl ran, screaming for the help she knew would never come, running as fast her small legs would let her, panic and adrenaline surging through her body. She was more and more unstable by the second, the laughter of her follower filling her head. She tripped into the snow, her head cushioned by the soft snow. She clutched her head and bit her lower bit so hard it started to bleed, but she didn't even notice that. She was afraid, afraid even to turn around and look at the monster behind her. Yet she did, her eyes growing wide as she forced her voice to say the words in a tiny voice.
"Help me…"
It never came and her eyes dulled as her soul slowly and painfully left her body. The last thing she fully saw was bright red eyes and the ferocious smile of yellowing teeth and dark red fur.
A thousand miles away a young blonde jolted awake, from the nightmare, breathing deeply. He was drenched in sweat and his eyes were shaking, the rest of his body frozen in fear. He gulped and then his weariness overtook his fear, he fell back on his bed, breathing returning to normal. He woke up nearly twenty minutes later, having completely forgotten the nightmare he experienced a while ago.
He yawned and got out of bed, his hand automatically moving to his lips where a little drool was on his face. He licked his lips, he felt somehow sticky this morning.
He glanced at the clock located on the upper left of the wall to the right of the door. His eyes widened his mouth forming an 'O'.
I'm late!
He began to rush, moving as fast as he possibly could. In exactly fifteen minutes he was ready and he raced out of the front door, slammed it shut and left without even locking it first.
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The students of the ninja academy at Konoha village spend approximately five years on average studying to become ninjas. Of the forty or so graduating students, only nine became actual ninja every year. The others were either sent back to the academy for another year of studying or told quite simply they weren't ninja material, and sent back to their parents.
Teams of three each are made, instructed by a Jonin, or elite ninja. These Genin, or junior ninja work with these teams until the become Chunin, or journeyman ninja, when they may choose to start working on their own.
Genin ninja are ninja who work mostly for their village's economy, mostly working with manual labor and very rarely sent outside of their village for work. They typically do D ranking missions.
Chunin ninja are ninja who have successfully survived as ninja, and are qualified to watch over other ninja, they are leaders. Some of them may function as teachers; others may work with small teams to make decisions. They are typically sent on C or B ranking missions.
Jonin are elite ninja, they serve as military captains, and some are to instruct Genin in the art of ninjutsu. They are typically sent on B or A ranking missions. Some more talented Jonin are sent on S ranking missions.
Tokubetsu Jonin are elite Jonin ninja who specialize in a specific area. They may be assigned to regular Jonin as subordinates when their skills are needed.
A kage is the highest level of ninja possibly attainable, yet some ninja never officially achieve this rank, although their power maybe enough. A kage varies from land to land. In Konoha, they are known as Hokages, or Fire Shadows.
In terms of missions there are five different types, each one is given a letter to represent its difficulty. The easiest missions are ranked D, and the hardest ranked S.
D-rank missions are given mostly to Genin; they mostly involve small village affairs (lost pet, stolen wallet ect.) and manual labor (gardening, construction ect.).
C-rank and B-rank missions are given mostly to Chunin; they have some risk of death to the ninja involved, although this is very unlikely due to the fact that their Jonin teachers (or sensei) accompany them on these missions. They often involve traveling, usually to protect someone/something.
A-rank missions are very important, given only to Jonin; they have a major risk of death involved and usually have to do with political affairs.
S-rank missions are missions which deal with S-rank shinobi (or ninja), usually this means a missing-nin (a ninja who betrayed their village and are now criminals) S-rank ninja are highly capable most Jonin would rather flee then fight an S-rank ninja. Missing-nin are recorded in the Bingo Book, and if a ninja spots one, they either flee or kill the ninja.
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The sun's rays shone brightly on the students of Konoha, smiling faces of young ninjas to be could be seen, the only thing to set off the day would be the nervous faces of gradating students ready for their test, and the future ahead of them. For the air around these graduating students was tense and if you were to walk there you would feel out of place, like a lemon in a pile of potatoes, you may even have trouble breathing.
The raven haired boy gazed at the graduating students, much older then the others and reaching the adolescent age, they were easily picked out from the others. He watched them intensely, his eyes betraying no emotion, or the thoughts that may be running through his head at that exact moment.
A blond haired girl with bright light blue eyes smiled shyly as she watched him from afar, wanting to talk to him but knowing well that she shouldn't get close. She knew he would never talk to her, just walk away, she knew because had tried countless times to do just that, failing completely. She knew that if he became aware of her presence he would leave, he thought he was alone, and he liked that best. Or at least that's what she thought.
The blonde girl sighed deeply, being careful not to be heard by the boy. It was a sudden movement that caught her attention, her eyes suddenly widened, her ninja training beginning to take effect, she turned around swiftly yet gracefully to meet the intruder.
There had been a rustling in the bushes, sure it could have been a squirrel but right now, this close to the raven haired boy, the girl was sure it was another of his fan girls. He was popular among the girls, and she knew that only too well.
Sakura gulped, and hoped that the blonde girl didn't notice her presence; she slowly began to slide closer and closer through the trees and to the clearing where the academy was in view, but more importantly the raven haired boy.
"Sakura!" An angry voice growled softly yet menacingly from behind her.
Sakura jumped into the air with shock and surprise, tripping at the last moment and falling onto the ground on her back. This was going to leave a few bruises.
She gasped as her eyes opened wide and stared at the blue ones, staring right back at her.
"Ino!"
It toke Sakura a while to realize what was going on, as soon as her mind placed the order of events that just toke place she glared at the blue-eyed girl.
"Ino, you pig!"
"Forehead girl!"
"What do you want?"
"I didn't want anything; it's you who chased away Sasuke!"
"Huh, wha..?"
Sakura pushed Ino over and frantically looked around; the raven haired boy was no where to be seen. Her eyes grew wide as she realized that her inability to stay calm had caused Sasuke to run away from her, her eyes stared at the floor. She looked like she might just cry.
"S-sakura!" Ino sounded somewhat afraid as she said this. It didn't take long for Sakura to figure out why, as she lifted her head, she noticed the glares she was getting from the upperclassmen not too far away: Sakura gulped.
Sakura had broken the intense silence of the upperclassmen that were in no mood to be disrupted by a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears shrimps. One of them stepped forward, teeth barred. A female ninja blocked his path almost instantly.
"Leave them alone for now, we have other things to worry about, worry about your exams, Yuki."
When the upperclassmen turned his focus back to the little girls he smirked; they were running as fast as they could towards the academy doors.
"They will be late for class today" He said with an unsettling smirk.
Sakura and Ino huffed, out of breath as the reproached the academy door that was close!
Sure enough both Sakura and Ino were five minutes late for class that day and unfortunately because of that the seat next to Sasuke was taken, Sakura and Ino started bickering about this with each other until their teacher, Iruka told them to be quiet and have a seat.
He began his usual last day of school lecture; most of the students were falling asleep, or as a brown haired child with a white furry puppy on his head could say, already asleep. In the row down form that boys', another brown haired boy was munching on chips and the teacher had long ago stopped trying breaking this habit of his. Next to that boy way a bored looking girl with electric blue hair, she was reading a book. Across the room from them a boy with an earring on and spiky black hair up in a pony tail was gazing out of the window, pretending not to notice that a sandy haired boy with bright eyes was poking him with a pencil. Sasuke was possibly the only one focused on Iruka, with such an intensity that one may believe he was about to devour every word, he at least was paying attention. The majority of the girls in the class had their eyes and attention on Sasuke, including Sakura and Ino.
"Goood morninggg Mr.Iruka!!!" A loud blonde boy entered, he had blue eyes and gleaming white teeth as he made apparent, he had whiskers on his cheeks. He smiled at everyone.
"Sorry I'm late I-"He was cut off by his teacher.
"Go sit down Naruto, the seat in the back is empty."
"Righttt…" He put an emphasis on the't' in right as his smile faded his eyes looked weary again. He made his way back to his seat well aware that many eyes were following his every move and that every second he wasted getting there, every second he wouldn't have to listen to Iruka's end-of-year speech.
Help me…
He stopped short.
"Is something wrong Naruto?" Iruka asked impatiently.
"No."
"Then get back to your seat."
Did I just hear a girl's voice ask for help? He smiled at the thought, aww man it must've been Sakura! Oh yeah, I'm going to save Sakura! And then everyone will recognize me and I'll be the next Hokage!
Naruto continued to daydream about Sakura and becoming Hokage with a huge grin across his face, for the rest of Iruka's boring lecture.
"Bringgggggggggggggggggggg" The bell sounded, screams filled the hall way, everyone laughed and ran out of classrooms, paying no mind to their teachers.
Outside they began a chant:
"SCHOOL'S OVER! SUMMER VACATION!"
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Sakura was bubbling with excitement, school was out! And now today, I will finally have finished it! I'm sure I can finish it today.
She practically flew all the way home that day, completely out of breath as she entered her home. She was too excited even to let her mother know she was home, and to greet her father, she hurried straight to her room. The instant she was sure she was alone in her room her eyes wandered over to the little doll on her desk. A smile formed on her lips. Sasuke. She walked over to it, from this close you could notice that the doll was incomplete, it had one eye missing and his right arm needed to be stitched on. The little opened the drawer under her desk to reveal sewing materials. It was clear that the girl had made the doll all on her own, and today she would finish.
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The gentle breeze carried leaves through the air; Sakura breathed in the breeze and smiled. It was getting late now, it had been almost three hours since school ended, and she had gone on a long walk after finishing her doll.
"Someone, anyone HELP" Sakura heard a female voice shriek from deep within the woods.
"That sounded like…Ino?" Sakura took one step back and then closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then charged into the woods.
Sakura gulped as she came closer to a clearing, she could tell someone was there. She forced herself to look, gripping the tree she was hiding behind tightly, her emerald eyes growing wide with shock. What she saw would make anyone her age scream; it was Ino, cowering behind the shape of a taller, older girl, who Sakura recognized as the girl who stopped the other boy form bullying her at school. The girl, who had dark red hair and shining ruby eyes, was covered in blood, she had several kunai knives sticking out of her, yet she still held her ground, protecting Ino. She seemed to be having a hard time breathing; she had one eye closed and a kunai in her mouth. On her forehead was the Konoha ninja headband; she had graduated.
Opposite of them was a smirking boy, who Sakura remembered as the boy who was about to bully them earlier. If she remembered correctly his name was, Yuki? He had dark blue eyes and dark blue hair. He had on a long sleeved white shirt, on the side of his stomach however, it was red. Blood. He was bleeding but not a lot. His ninja headband had been badly scratched but still could be seen on his forehead, metallic and shiny. He was carrying a blood stained sharp sword in his right hand, a kunai in his left.
"Ayame, you are a fool. You didn't even realize how much power you had in your hands, but no, you had to give it back, do you realize the amount of power we could have had? We could have been legends!" He spoke harshly at the girl, his eyes narrowed in hate.
"We would have been fools to try and use it!"
"Enough!" He charged at them, dropping his kunai and using both hands to point the sword at Ayame, aiming for her heart.
"Aya!" Ino shouted. Ayame only coughed in response as a sharp blade was sliced through her heart. It missed Ino's face only by an inch.
Sakura couldn't take it anymore, she picked up a nearby rock and threw it at the boy, it hit him right on his head forcing the blade to move with him, slicing Ayame's body even more, but moving the sword from Ino.
Ino didn't hesitate, not even to ask why Sakura was there, she just made a run for it. Sakura was dumbfounded. I just saved her, and now she's going to leave me here?
"HELP, HELP, ANYONE HELP" Ino shouted running as fast as possible and screaming for help.
Sakura wasn't sure what to think, her instinct overtook her and she ran in the direction Ino was headed. Sakura knew that she was only lucky because the boy was in shock, soon he would be after them, and she could possibly die.
Tears fell from her eyes blurring her vision, she started to feel dizzy and a moment later she collapsed.
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Author's Note- I'm sorry about how slow paced it is, I'm not very good with fast paced writings, and this is the first time I've ever written fan fiction so I expect it to be horrible. I intended to write this story so that even those who don't know Japanese words which other author's integrate into their stories, because sometimes I didn't know their meanings, and I hated looking them up. I also tried to make it easy for someone who doesn't know anything about Naruto to understand it easily. I do hope that my future chapters will be more fast paced then this. I hope you enjoyed it. Mia
P.S. It is summer, and I will be going on vacation for three-four weeks, so I will not be updating in this time.