Naruto: The two foxes.
Naruto and I were running around the village, attracting way too much attention, as usual. I sometimes wondered how we got along so well. He was hyper, energetic, and never thought before doing anything. I had a quiet energy, always thought ahead, and was almost always calm. He was alone in a world full of people that hated him. The Nine-tailed-fox he had inside of him killed my family. But the fox demon inside of me had killed many families as well, and I didn't consider it my fault, so I couldn't blame him. We were like brothers, almost. Our lives had turned out so similarly. I had no family left. My clan was all killed by the fox spirit inside me. The Atsuko clan had only me left. My name is Shuni Atsuko, and all I want to do with my life is be a great shinobi of the village hidden in the leaves.
Today was the first day I decided to show up at ninja school. The genin test would take place in a week, and I was planning to pass. The only bad thing about this was that it meant one group had to have four ninja instead of three, making it more difficult to stay hidden. I ended up having to sit beside Sasuke Uchiha, and we were watching each other for signs of weakness the entire class. When I discovered that I was the only girl not swooning over him, I believed it would give me a distinct advantage fighting him, if it ever came to that. He usually has girls swooning over him, so why would he expect a new student like me to be any different?
Both Naruto and I passed the genin test. We found out how to make Shadow-Clones, and the sensei's were very impressed. I ended up being in the group of four with Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. We went through introductions with Kakashi sensei, and it was my turn. I spoke clearly and honestly:
"My name is Shuni Atsuko. I like challenges, and dislike cheap tricks and illusions. My hobby is training so I can be stronger. My dream is to rebuild my clan and then kill the one who destroyed it."
This caused Sasuke to look at me with surprise, and Naruto to look at me in sadness. He knew I fully intended to kill the fox demon inside of me after continuing my clan, even if it meant killing myself in the process. I spoke to him in his mind to calm him. 'Brother, do not worry. It is what I have to do, and for now, I shall be with you here, and we shall become great shinobi.' I looked over at him, smirking. 'I hate when you do that Shuni, sis. It scares me.' He replied, laughing quietly. I half smiled. But now it was time to train. Kakashi would definitely give us a hard test tomorrow, and I wanted to be ready.
I was training alone, standing upside down on a tree branch, focusing my chakra. I jumped down, and attempted to loosen the cursed seal enough to talk to the fox demon. It had always told me how to train the most effective way possible. I was successful. A cloud of blue chakra that resembled a fox appeared in front of me. 'You know, you'll learn to accept me, girl. I help you so much already. Why have you not told Naruto he could talk to the Kyuubi?' It said, its tone calm. 'Because I do not wish Naruto hurt.' I replied. I felt a presence behind me, and quickly sealed the fox's chakra. I turned, ready with a shuriken. I lowered my weapon when I saw it was Sasuke.
"Do you need something, Uchiha?" I asked coldly. He could have seen; I should have been more careful! "Yes Atsuko, I do, actually." He said softly. "I want your assistance to control my chakra… I saw what you did just then, and I want to be able to do the same. To stand on a tree like that with just chakra as your hold is an advanced technique. Can you teach me how to do this?" He looked down. I know it must have been hard for Sasuke to ask for help, so I helped him. By the end of the day, he could control his chakra much better than he was ever able to before. However, by the end of the day, something had gone wrong. Naruto was screaming in my mind, there was an outsider shinobi attacking him. I had to help.
"Naruto needs help!" I screamed. I was off, running as fast as possible, with Sasuke running at my side. We found Naruto, and I knew what must be done. "Go, Sasuke," I said, "I don't want you to have to see this." I then loosened the seal enough to become one with the fox's chakra, and use it's strength to attack. I grew fangs and claws, and had a tail of blue chakra. My only priority was to kill the outsider as quickly as possible, and that was what I did. As soon as the threat was over, I sealed the demon fully. As I thought, Sasuke hadn't left and had seen the entire battle. He looked shocked. He pulled out his kunai blade and glared at me. "Explain!" He said coldly. So I did. And he listened.
Sasuke accepted me after that. We grew to trust each other. We would often train together, fighting until one of us couldn't fight anymore or we got bored. Sakura hated me, but I wanted to change that. I went up to her after one of our training sessions with Kakashi-sansei and asked if she wanted to have lunch with me. She looked surprised, but agreed. When we reached the sushi restaurant, we got seated quickly and ordered. When our meals arrived, we started talking.
"Sakura, why do you dislike me so much?" I asked, sadly. "Well…" she replied, embarrassed, "It's because Sasuke gives you so much attention!" I stared at her, surprised. Then I began giggling.
"What?" She asked, annoyed. "Sakura, I have NO interest in Sasuke. We're just training partners!" That was only a half truth, as I had grown to like Sasuke-kun. After I said this, we started to get along quite well. We talked about whatever was on our minds, and I found she was actually not as annoying as I first thought. At this rate, we'd all be getting along great. "You know Sakura," I started, "Naruto genuinely cares about you. He's only acting as he does to try and get you to notice him." She looked shocked. She told me she thought Naruto was just a clumsy fool and knew nothing at all about him. I told her about him, and often referred to him as my big brother. "Shuni, why do you call Naruto your Nii-san? You aren't related, that much is obvious." I felt bit of sadness there, at the reminder that I had no real family. "I call him my Nii-san because that is what he is to me. He's always been the nii-san I wish I really had. He protects me and cares for me. And since I have no other family, he's all I've got."
We had just come back from the Land of Waves, and we were all stronger. The Chunin exam was coming up, and one of us had to drop out and let the other three go on. Kakashi-sensei would pick who it was, so there would be no team resentment or rivalry. Sakura surprised everyone by dropping out. "You work together so well," she whispered, tears in her eyes. "I don't want to hold you all back anymore. You'll do better without me." And then she left, leaving us all watching her go.
"This happens often, as a ninja." Kakashi said. "Your teammates will leave you and not come back. You have to be able to deal with that to become a better shinobi!" We understood, and with the Uchiha and brother, I left for training.