Shadow of Doubt
A young boy meandered down a dingy alley, humming some annoying tune and smiling inanely.
This was his first time out of his house. The Hokage was tied up with some appearance at the festival, so couldn't watch over him. Skipping slightly, he ran into what looked like a pair of legs, and there was a smash on the ground next to him. On his knees, the boy bowed Samurai-style. (A/N Samurai is when you're kneeling, you put your hands in front of your knees and press your head onto them.)
"…Sumimasen?" he asked, looking up at the man. He then knew that sorry wouldn't suffice.
-time skip no jutsu-
-タイムスキップノジュツ-
A boy in a crimson mid-thigh training yukata was dancing with two fans. With his eyes closed, and his platinum-blonde hair caressing his knees, he looked like an angel.
'An angel of death…' thought the old Sandaime. He never forgave himself. 'Why did your life turn this way?' The boy reached up to his hitai-ite, re-adjusting it over his eyes so he could continue practise his training without suffocating.
"Nee-sama!" The Sandaime looked over further, to see his grandson running up to the blonde.
"Naruto-nii-sama! Are you really taking us out?" Konohamaru asked, jumping, with a huge smile plastered on his face. Naruto looked at him for a while.
"Yes, I suppose I will." Naruto graced Konohamaru with one of his miniscule shadows of a smile. For Konohamaru, this was enough. He beamed bright enough to rival the sun, and shot out a quick 'Thank you' before dashing inside the house attached to the training grounds to tell his 'Corps'. Minutes later, the whole three members of the Corps were collected around Naruto and waiting. Soundlessly, Naruto headed off with Konohamaru and co. following him.
"Where do you want to go to today, Konohamaru-chan, Moegi-chan, Udon?" The three had to strain their ears to hear him, but answered none-the-less.
"Can we go to the weapons shop today, nii-sama?" Konohamaru asked.
"Can we, Naruto-nii?" chorused the other two.
"It would seem I have no choice." Naruto let a smile ghost around his lips. It was amazing how much these three children could bring out his emotions. It would seem that he'd always been impartial to children.
"Naruto-nii? We're here…" Konohamaru trailed off, and Naruto turned his head a bit.
"I… know…" he said. He had been lost in thought, but maybe thought was too strong a word. It was more like meditation. He didn't think any more. He just… was. He ushered the children into the weapons shop, and showed them to the least lethal area. "If you need me," he said, "I will be in the isle to the left. That one." He said, pointing to an isle in the distance. The children all nodded and scattered off to look at the new selection of shuriken.
"Kaien-san," Naruto nodded to the shopkeeper at the desk. "Would you have my new weapon ready?" The man at the counter smiled and pulled out a package wrapped in deep purple fabric from under the counter.
"Here you are, sir. Made just up to order, for you. What a weird weapon though, never seen anything like…" The old man looked like he wanted answers, and Naruto didn't like questions. "15000 Ryo, was it?" he asked, pushing a rather large bundle of notes towards the shop-keeper. All the poor man could do was stare. Where had the mysterious young man gotten all this money from? Naruto just shook off the old man's stares and walked over to the children.
"Have you done everything you wanted?" he asked in his soft-spoken voice. All three children nodded. Even though they hadn't gotten proficient enough to buy their own weapons, molesting them was still a big enough pleasure. "Let's go then." Naruto and the Konohamaru Corps left the shop. "I'm being placed in a team today," Naruto mentioned, "So I have to go to the academy. Can you bear going there to wait for me, or do you want to go home?"
"We want to be there to congratulate nii-sama when he gets put in a group, right, guys?" Moegi said, elbowing her friends. They all agreed, and Naruto walked on, letting a smile flicker in his eyes for less than a second, before walking again, the three friends all happy at getting this emotion out of him. They bounded along with new energy to the academy.
---
Uchiha Sasuke did not need team-mates. He was a loner, an avenger. Any person who got in his way would get hurt or slow him down. He couldn't have that, so he isolated himself from everyone. Sadly, this didn't have the same effect he had hoped it would. Rather, it made people like him more than before, for no reason. However, any way you looked at it, Uchiha Sasuke did not need team-mates. They were a nuisance. Said he. And who was ANYONE to question the Great Uchiha Sasuke about any of his views? His word was law, after all. The aforementioned Uchiha was currently staring at the wall behind the black board, because he's just that cool. He can do stuff like that. Well, not really.
'Damned Sharingan. Where are you when I need you? I want to see into the next room! I don't know why, but I have this inkling it might be fun… if I knew what fun was…' Iruka looked behind himself to see what would be so interesting.
"Sasuke, avert ye gaze; yonder wall hath done you no harm!" All the reply he got was the Uchiha actually turning his Uchiha Stare O' Death™ (Patent Pending) towards the door, instead. Iruka sighed. 'Be careful what you ask for, I guess…' He should have known by now how troublesome academy students could be. 'Damned pompous, holier-than-thou-attituded swine…' We'll cut that off there. "Anyhew, today is the day when you officially become Konohagakure shinobi. Genin, to be exact! We will be announcing your teams, which have been handpicked in order to put your strengths and weaknesses together to create the ultimate fighting unit. So, with no further ado, Team 1 is…"
-time skip no jutsu-
-タイムスキップノジュツ-
"Team 7," Iruka called out. He always hated this day. Every year, the same snooze-inducing rotas, roll calls, and team-building. His throat was raw already from calling out all these names, and why did they all have to be so long-winded? Why? Whywhywhywhywhy? Stopping his diatribe, he restarted his sentence, as some of the children were looking at him with this… in their eyes…
"Team 7 will be Haruno Sakura," All the boys, and the girls, in the class hoped they weren't in this 'troublesome' girl's team. "Uchiha Sasuke," The Famous Uchiha let out a small sigh, but inwardly he was tearing his hair out, and also strangling someone who looked suspiciously like his teammate. Still, maybe his future could be salvaged slightly? If his last remaining teammate was not too bad…? Iruka coughed to startle Sasuke out of his manic laughter, and announced "Your last teammate will be Sarutobi Naruto."
Sasuke smiled slightly. Finally, the kind of attention he deserved. The Hokage's son! His musings were cut short, however, by a certain pinkie's screeching.
"But Iruka-sensei, there is no one in our class called Naruto, let alone a Sarutobi! Aren't your facts a little bit skewed?"
Iruka sighed. Why would no one ever believe him? For god's sake, "There is a boy named Naruto in this class, now. Come on in, Naruto."
-A/N no jutsu-
Um… all I can say is… very short… Sorry about that. If anyone reads this, tell me if you want me to continue? Ne?