(a/n: This is the first chapter of the introduction bundle to start off my new story. Enjoy!)
(Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Naruto is a copyright of Misashi Kishimoto.)
New Arrivals
The morning light shown very brightly past the trees and through the window, causing small flickering beams of light to dance across the wooden floor of the old apartment as the trees swayed back and forth. Other than the birds chirping outside, all was silent...
"Ramen!" The young blonde haired boy jumped out of bed. He was quite short and he had deep blue eyes which gleamed with determination and energy. His hair was all over the place, but seemed to form some solid spikes. But perhaps his most revealing feature was the deep lines that were engraved onto his cheeks, three on each cheek. They almost seemed like they were whiskers.
The boy turned around to take a quick glance at his calendar, just to make sure what day that it was. There were "X" marks on each day leading to the tenth day of October, where there was a crude drawing of a bowl of ramen doodled into its square. The boy smiled widely in excitement. He then quickly dressed himself in his usual white shirt and long black pants and rushed out of the door.
---
As the boy started to see the Ichiraku ramen restaurant start to come into sight, a figure could be seen sitting on one of the chairs. Once the boy was arrived at the restaurant, the figure was now fully visible. It was a man in his early 20s. His hair was brown and tied up. He was wearing a standard green ninja vest that higher ranking ninjas were often seen wearing. But the feature that stood out most was the deep straight scar that went from one of his cheeks, crossed over his nose, and ended in his other cheek.
"Hey Iruka-sensei!" exclaimed the boy to the man sitting at the table.
"Ah! Naruto! You're finally here. I've been waiting for ten minutes."
"Ha ha, sorry, I woke up kinda late." Naruto grinned.
Iruka smiled, "Well, anyways, happy ninth birthday Naruto! Could we have two large bowls of miso ramen please?"
"Ok," Teuchi, the store owner, replied. He placed two warm bowls of ramen on the table not too much later.
"Itadakimasu!" both Naruto and Iruka said. As they ate, Iruka seemed to be a bit distracted. After slurping his bowl of ramen to the last drop with ease, Naruto turned to his sensei.
"Huh? What's wrong, Iruka-sensei?" Iruka turned to Naruto and smiled.
"Well, there's something I have to tell you." Naruto was puzzled, Iruka usually didn't have anything serious to tell him other than to keep training and improving himself. "Naruto, you know that your apartment is empty, right?"
"Yeah…" Naruto replied softly. Since he was small, no one seemed to like him. They only saw him as a threat, a sin, or a demon of sorts. They looked at him with eyes that showed no feeling or affection. Naruto thought that this might be because his parents died long ago from an unknown cause. Whatever the case was, the apartment that he stayed in was left abandoned just so that he could live there by himself, away from others.
Iruka frowned slightly to see Naruto like that, but quickly adjusted back to his normal mood. "Well, I have some great news, there will be a new person moving in with you!" Naruto looked up at his sensei with curiosity. A new person? Who would want to live near me? Everyone hates me…
"If you'd like to, I could take you to meet him. He is currently at the Hokage's office to sign in to the village." Iruka said cheerfully.
"Sure!" Naruto's face lit up. There would finally be someone living in his apartment with him.
---
Once Iruka and Naruto arrived outside the Hokage's office, they could here voices inside.
"So you two are the new arrivals?" said an old voice.
Iruka and Naruto stepped inside. "Good morning, Hokage-sama." Iruka bowed down graciously to the Third. "I just wanted to show Naruto the boy that would be staying with him in his apartment."
"Ah, Iruka, Naruto, you are just in time, I was just about to take him to meet you two." Naruto examined the boy closely. He seemed to be the same age as Naruto. His hair was jet black, cut into small spikes that covered half his forehead. The rest of his hair was smooth and evenly cut to look slightly like he was wearing a helmet, though there seemed to be a few strands of hair sticking up on the back corners of his head. He had a finely molded face; it was slender and showed endless courage and determination. His eyes were brown with small black pupils at their center. They gave him a happy look, yet his eyes also showed a small hint of sadness in them. He was wearing a black pair of shorts and a blue T-shirt with a menacing, green, serpent-like dragon decorated on the shirt that appeared to be rising in a spiral, but its head was facing forward. He was also clenching onto a brownish-red wooden sword with his right hand which looked like it was a katana, except it was bit to too short to be wielded with two hands. He had a red backpack on which is probably where he kept all his belongings in. His skin was also slightly tan, but slightly lighter than Iruka's skin.
"Hello," the boy said with little shyness in his voice.
"Well anyways, I'll leave you and Naruto to introduce yourselves to each other. Iruka, please take them back to their apartment," said the Third.
"Hai, Hokage-sama," Iruka said.
The Third shifted his eyes to the girl that was standing back at the corner of the room. "Please take her to her house, Izumo, Kotetsu."
"Hai, Hokage-sama," both Chunins said together. They then both walked out of the room along with the girl. Naruto leaned over to try to get a better look at the girl but all he could catch was that her skin was slightly tan like the boy and that her hair was black.
With that, the boy, Iruka, and Naruto left the office and headed to Naruto's apartment. As they strolled along the sun-beamed road, Iruka broke the silence. "So, I heard that you came from another part of the Land of Fire." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Actually, it just occurred to me, we never introduced ourselves! My name is Umino Iruka. I work at the Ninja Academy of Konoha and I'm also Naruto's sensei." He placed his hand on Naruto's head and playfully ruffled his hair. The blonde boy smiled widely at his sensei and then faced the dark-haired boy.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! Remember this name, for I am the future Hokage!" Naruto said, pointing a finger at the boy with much enthusiasm. He then put his hands behind head and laughed. The other boy took a look at him for a few seconds before replying.
"It's nice to meet you two," the boy said with a friendly smile, "My name is Kansou Ryu. I am from the temple in the southern part of the Land of Fire. The Sandaime has ordered me to come Konoha just recently"
"Ah, well, anyways, we're here," Iruka said. Surely enough, they were at Naruto's apartment. Ryu looked at it with amazement, even though it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in ages.
"Here, I'll show you to your room Ryu," Iruka said.
"Sure!" Ryu smiled. At least I won't be alone, he thought. Naruto seems to be quite a good person.
Ryu's room turned out to be on the highest floor of the apartment, right across from Naruto's room. Ryu opened the door and peeked in. Naruto was surprised. The room was very similar to his. It had a one person bed, a stove, a refrigerator, a bathroom, and a table in the center of it along with small chairs. The only difference was that there were cobwebs and dust covering the whole room.
"Well, it looks like it'll need some work…" Iruka said, putting one hand behind his neck nervously.
"That's alright, I guess it's my duty as a new citizen of Konoha to clean it myself," said Ryu.
"Suit yourself. I think I'll be going home now, see you two tomorrow!" Iruka said.
"Hai!" Naruto and Ryu said in unison. Iruka was about to jump off the apartment, but stopped.
"I almost forgot! Naruto, please wake Ryu up tomorrow and walk with him to the academy," Iruka said, "I will be taking the other girl so I can't take Ryu there myself."
"Hai, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said, performing a small salute to Iruka. It seems I'll no longer have to walk to the academy by myself anymore, Naruto grinned to the very thought. A real friend at last!
(a/n: There are two more chapters of the introduction bundle, so R&R)
