This story is dedicated once again to my lil' imouto and to all the kind people who've supported my other fanfiction.

Also, I own Naruto.

JUST KIDDING, standard disclaimer applies.

Konoha Military Academy

The land of Fire had always been a military nation.

But then so too had been the land of Earth, Lightning, Water and Wind. For millennia these countries had feuded and fought. Battling it out for the position of supreme ruler on the continent which they shared. But when another power approached from across the seas, when another army from a continent twice the size of their own declared war, the feuding lands had been forced into an unwilling alliance. That alliance had eventually caused the countries to merge and become what was henceforth known as the Land of Kizuna.

That was 80 years ago.

But the war still wages and Kizuna's youths are still constantly being recruited to fight. However Kizuna's life blood; its military, was built on very shaky foundations. When the different lands merged, the current leader of each army (known as the Kage) set up a training academy in the new capital. These schools supply Kizuna's battle forces with new soldiers. This could have worked well, if the schools did not retain a strong sense of patriotic loyalty to the land of which their founders originally came. The schools viewed each other as bitter rivals and relations between them were extremely hostile. This strained relationship was only exacerbated by the close proximity of the Academies and violent clashes between students were and still are frequent.

This instability, in the very heart of the country could well have led to the break-up of Kizuna. Fortunately – or unfortunately, depending at how you look at it – a tragedy of epic proportions seized the country, and its citizens united in the face of adversary. But alas this was not an enemy sheer numbers could overcome.

When the influenza had hit, it hit hard. Wiping out nearly half of the entire population, there was scarcely a family unaffected by the epidemic. The influenza, more commonly known as the Fox Flu, passed through human contact and was impossible to cure. Once you had caught it, you were dead, gone. They thought that no-one could survive it. But some did. Around a dozen individuals survived the disease, their bodies somehow managing to fight off the infection. These people became known as Fox Hosts. But they were a tiny minority. Eventually the disease died out, after the government had anyone who had been infected isolated. The country began to recover, but the Fox Hosts were never forgiven for living when so many had not. They were surrounded by much fearful speculation. After all, how had they survived the deadly infection when so many had perished? Some believed that the disease still lay dormant inside the Hosts' bodies, ready to one day awaken and start a new disaster. They were both feared and hated. And so it came to be that the Fox Hosts were ostracised by society. Neglected, mistreated, blamed.

OoOoOoO

Sixteen years after the influenza struck, a young Fox Host ran or should I say sprinted towards Konoha Military Academy, founded by Hokage Senju, the previous leader of the army of the Land of Fire.

Naruto was late, again. And it was his first day. His alarm hadn't gone off and he lived three miles away from the school, but the bus drivers always refused to allow him onto their vehicles. Somehow, Naruto didn't think Iruka-Sensei was going to accept that as an excuse.

Wait a second; actually he wouldn't have Iruka as a sensei anymore. He only taught the younger students, the ones who hadn't qualified for the 'National Instructed Naval Junior Agenda' Training Course, or N.I.N.J.A. training for short. So Naruto would get a host of new teachers. He tried to see this in a positive light, but it was hard, considering the fact that Iruka was the only teacher to ever give him a kind word. Still, at least he would be able to see which of his fellow classmates had qualified for the course. He couldn't wait to see all the dumbstruck faces when he walked through the door. After years of being the class clown and more importantly the class joke, Naruto felt that he was justified in rubbing his qualification in. Just a little.

When he reached the academy gates he was only twenty minutes late. He thanked the lord that he was fast and used to running places. He decided to walk to his new classroom, not wanting to trip and make a fool of himself on his first day as an official N.I.N.J.A student. When he reached his new classroom he was both shocked and relieved to see that the sensei wasn't there yet. Though if the sensei had been present, it would not have affected his entrance.

Naruto kicked the door open, "Announcing Naruto Uzumaki, official N.I.N.J.A. student and future Commander-in-chief of Kizuna's Army." He shouted.

"Sloppy as usual Naruto," Shikamaru, the resident lazy genius said idly – and hypocritically considering that he was sitting with his shirt untucked and his feet splayed across two desks.

"Naruto you have to get out of here. Only people who qualified are allowed in this room," drawled another black-haired boy.

"I did qualify Sas-chan," he replied mockingly, using the embarrassing nickname his squealing fangirls called him.

"Come on now, we all know that you're far too stupid to have done that." said Sasuke, his ears reddening at the name.

Naruto flushed angrily, "You wanna say that to my face!" he yelled.

"What was I saying it to last time baka, the window!" said Sasuke condescendingly.

Naruto was about to punch the bastard when the sensei walked in. Now a whole 35 minutes late. Everyone hastily scrambled to their seats. Naruto saw that his and Sasuke's fight was no longer the centre of attention, in fact the only person still watching them was that shy Hinata girl, who looked away quickly when Naruto met her eyes. He looked back towards the sensei, who was now staring at him and Sasuke pointedly. Shooting each other murderous glares, Naruto and Sasuke went to find seats. Sasuke went to the front and so as to get as far away from him as possible, Naruto went to the back. He opted for the empty seat next to Hyūga Hinata, remembering that although she was extremely shy, she had never shown any hostility towards him, unlike most of the others.

While the new sensei started droning on about regulations and responsibilities, Naruto took the time to properly examine his fellow classmates.

How Yamanaka Ino had qualified he had no idea, since as far as he could tell she had spent the majority of every lesson – physical or academic – ogling Sasuke. Perhaps she had copied off someone. As for Nara Shikamaru, him qualifying was no big surprise. Akimichi Chōji, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba all had the ability he supposed, if they had trained hard enough. And Hyūga Hinata….. well actually he didn't know much about her, she was so shy. But then again quiet people are usually smart right? As for Haruno Sakura he knew she would get through of course, she had never in her life got less than 90% in a test. Naruto knew this for sure because she always announced her test results very loudly, so that Sasuke (who due to her contrivance sat only a seat away from her) might hear.

Naruto finished assessing his classmates and turned to examine his new sensei. The man looked about thirty, with spiky hair turned prematurely white. He had a lean, muscular figure and a slightly eccentric appearance; most of his face hidden behind a mask and headband. He seemed to be reciting the N.I.N.J.A. training course code of conduct from memory, while reading a novel at the same time. Naruto grinned at his unprofessional, indifferent attitude. But his smile faltered when he took a closer look at the cover of the book his new sensei was reading. It had the distinctive orange binding of the illicit series from the 'adults only' section of the bookstore.

Oh great, his new sensei was a pervert.

Soooo, what did you think? Reviews would be greatly appreciated.