Hang On Until Tomorrow

by Taneya

Everything you knew was a lie. He's not who he appears to be. Strength hides in the strangest places, and some masks are crafted too well. When you're hanging on the edge, how much can you slip without falling? Is it truly doom that waits at the bottom?

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. If it did, nobody would watch/read because no one would like it.

Hang On Until Tomorrow

Chapter 1: A Dead-Last Mask

"Regular speech"

"KYUUBI SPEECH"

'Naruto talking to Kyuubi (and thoughts)'

"Jutsu"

"Summons' speech"

Flashback

Kazama Arashi, otherwise known as the Yondaime Hokage or Konoha's Yellow Flash, stood atop the giant toad Gamabunta. Arashi's blond hair and signature cloak flapped in the wind caused by the Kyuubi's waving tails. No one knew why the fox had attacked, but everyone knew that they would all die unless they did something soon. Arashi realized this, and that as the Hokage, he was obligated to protect his people, but it still pained him. Not only was he leaving his son(1) an orphan, he was sacrificing him to seal the Kyuubi. The Yondaime wasn't much looking forward to the 'eternal suffering' part, either.

"Naruto…" he whispered. He held a bundle in his arms, which, on closer inspection, could be revealed to hold a baby boy. The child was blond and smiling and very, very small; it was only a few hours old. "Naruto…" Arashi murmured again, "Please forgive me for what I am about to do. I told Sarutobi how I want the villagers to see you as a hero, but I'm not sure that will happen – "

A loud explosion cut him off and shook the ground. The Kyuubi was easily plowing through the waves of shinobi desperately trying to slow its progress.

"Arashi!" Gamabunta bellowed. "We don't have much time!" The Hokage nodded in understanding.

"Live well, and don't you dare become a pervert." Arashi added with a sad, proud smile. He caressed the baby's cheek and stroked his hair. "Goodbye."

With that, Arashi tossed Naruto high in the air and performed a series of fast hand signs, catching the bundle gracefully as it fell back down. Feeling a chill run through his spine, he looked over his shoulder. There, standing right behind him (or floating, rather), was the god of death himself; the Shinigami.

Facing forward again, Arashi held his child close and stood his ground as the Kyuubi came into view. Its fangs bared and splashes of blood coloring its muzzle and teeth, it charged. The demon's unearthly howl made the Yondaime want to clap his hands over his ears. He waited as the Kyuubi got closer and closer, then raised one arm in a hand sign while his other arm cradled his son against his chest.

Arashi's eyes widened and his mouth opened in a silent gasp as he felt the Shinigami's arm plunge through his chest. Naruto began to wail as the arm passed through him, too. It kept extending, reaching through the two blondes before its hand grasped the Kyuubi. The giant fox stopped in its tracks and let loose a beastly scream of rage and agony. Yondaime gritted his teeth through his own pain and used all of his strength to pull the Kyuubi's soul out of its body. Gamabunta, seeing Arashi struggling, fed some of his chakra into the young Hokage. With renewed strength, Arashi gave a mighty heave, and tore out the soul of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The Shinigami then raised its sword and cut the last connection between the demon and its body. The fox gave one last, mighty screech before its body shimmered and faded into nothing, a few fading glimmers of light in the air a last reminder of its presence.

The Kyuubi's soul, meanwhile, flew over to the two blonds; Arashi watched in awe and slight horror as the Kyuubi's soul distorted and was absorbed into the baby's body. A spiraling seal on his stomach, which had been painted in black ink beforehand, was cut into the infant's stomach, blood running from the shallow design now etched into the child's flesh. At the same time, six thin cuts, three on either cheek, appeared on his face. The small injuries glowed red, then turned black; the blood starting to roll down his cheeks disappeared as the cuts healed, the same happening to the mark on his stomach.

The Shinigami's arm drew back through Arashi, who gasped and doubled over. He fell to his knees, his arms trembling as he kept his hold on the squirming, crying child in his arms. A strange mark was cut into the Yondaime's forehead, glowing red and then turning black, much like what had just happened to his son, the mark on his forehead marring his handsome face. It was shaped like half a of yin/yang symbol, a stylized water drop with the pointed end curved to the side. The pointed end was facing down, toward the bridge of his nose, and was curved to the right side of his face. Two jagged, asymmetrical lines were on either side of the central mark.

The Yondaime slowly stood up, and shakily asked Gamabunta to set them down. The giant toad complied, bringing his enormous tongue out of his mouth and wrapping it around the two humans atop his great, scarred head. He set them down on the ground, solemnly nodding to the blond Hokage and disappearing in a large cloud of smoke. The Yondaime watched for a moment as the smoke began to disappear before turning back to his child. Naruto was no longer crying, but watching his father with solemn eyes, as if the infant understood what was happening.

The young Hokage fell to his knees again. He set Naruto down on the ground in front of him, a solitary tear sliding down his cheek. The Yondaime then looked over his shoulder at the Shinigami, who had been waiting patiently, and nodded. The Death God returned his nod with a regal one of its own, and reached out its hand. The Hokage gasped as he felt the hand latch onto his soul. It was such a surreal sensation; he was in too much pain to cry out. His eyes widened as his soul was ripped from him, and he fell onto his side as the last link was cut. He lay there, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, next to his bawling child.

Kazama Arashi, Konoha's Yellow Flash, the youngest Kage in history, was no more.

Uzumaki Naruto yawned widely as he leaned back in his chair. He was tipping said chair so it was resting on only two legs, making it look very likely that it was about to fall over (bringing its occupant with it). However, Naruto was far too skilled in chair balancing for such a thing to happen to him…again. Not after what happened during that lecture on the Fourth Shinobi War a few months ago. No way was thathappening again. Naruto inwardly shuddered. But that is a story for another day.

Uzumaki Naruto – otherwise known as dead-last, monster, demon, brat, and other such not-the-epitome-of-very-nice names – was sitting in his carefully balanced chair in one of many lecture-hall-like classrooms in the Ninja Academy of Konohagakure no Sato. Currently he was listening to Umino Iruka tell them about chakra control, an absolutely crucial—no, vital – part of any ninja's life. In the big, bad, outside world, you'd be dead in an instant without proper chakra control. Seriously.

…Yep, Naruto was bored out of his skull.

Uzumaki Naruto was a short, thin, blond boy whose spiky yellow hair seemed to pay absolutely no respect to gravity. He had a round, child-like face (which made sense, seeing as he was only twelve), with three black marks on each cheek that looked like whiskers. He had large, sky blue eyes that were filled with laughter and innocence, but with a hidden maturity just below the surface. He wore standard ninja sandals, loose orange pants, and a matching, zip-up jacket with a white collar and blue patches on the shoulders. There was a red circle on the back containing a black spiral; it was literally like having a target on his back.

…Now, it wasn't that Naruto didn't care about his education; far from it, he desperately wanted to graduate to become a ninja. He liked Iruka-sensei – he was one of his precious people – but he was getting tired of the Academy. He was just bored because he had already heard this lecture before. Thirteen times, if his count wasn't off…

The genin exams were just days away, and Iruka was using the time to cram as much review into his not-very-easily-taught-on-the-most-part students' heads as he could. Naruto understood where the chunin was going with this, but it didn't change the fact that it was as boring as hell.

…On second thought, hell would've been better. At least you could look at the pretty dancing flames and talk to other people about what they were there for. Someone down there was bound to have a few good stories…

Naruto moved his weight forward so the chair landed on its front two legs with a soft thump. The blond slumped forward in his seat, laying his head on the table and closing his eyes. Iruka – who had been jerked out of his 'lecture-mode' by the thump of the chair – faintly felt a vein pulsing in his head. He then grabbed a chalkboard eraser and flung it at Naruto's head with aplomb(2), scoring a direct hit. Naruto, in response, yelped and jerked his head up, looking around wildly. The rest of the class laughed boisterously or reprimanded him for not paying attention, save for a few who looked on in silence. Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji were the only ones who remained silent, watching the blond glare at Iruka while trying to fight down a light, embarrassed blush growing on his face.

"KIT," came a voice in Naruto's head. "TAKE NOTE OF THOSE WHO ARE SILENT. THEY MAY BECOME INTERESTING LATER ON." (3)

'Hai, Kyuubi,' Naruto replied perfectly calmly, as if having one of the most powerful beings in existence talking to him in his head was a normal thing. And for him, it was. Naruto knew about the demon sealed inside him. He had known since he was seven, when certain circumstances had led to Naruto paying the fox a little visit… (4)

Naruto was running. He didn't know why, but he was running. He was fleeing from the villagers that were trying to hurt him(5), and he didn't know why. They were quickly getting closer, but it was not a surprise seeing as their legs were about thrice the length of his own and twice as strong.

He looked back over his shoulder to check the distance between them, and immediately stumbled over his own feet. He fell in a tangled, undignified heap; he scrambled to get up, to get away. The villagers closed in around him, spite and malice visible in their faces.

"Please!" the blond child cried. "Please, leave me alo – " he grunted when one of them kicked him in the stomach, throwing him against another villager's legs. He was pushed away, and the beating began.

He was punched, kicked, and thrown against walls of the buildings that lined the dirt road they were on. He was stabbed with kitchen knives and hit with empty beer bottles. One villager even broke a crate on his head, from which more alcohol bottles spilled, riddling the jinchuriki with stinging liquid and broken glass. His head was spinning, and his vision swayed a bit before darkness crept at the edges of his sight before it swallowed him entirely.

Naruto was floating. In water, he noted vaguely. The water was very shallow, and shouldn't have supported him, but it did despite physics and logic. Naruto sat up, and surprisingly, his back wasn't wet. He stood up, his sandaled feet meeting with a hard floor below the shallow, unnatural water. It was strange, how only what was actually in contact with the water was wet, and how the rest of him seemed like he hadn't touched the liquid at all.

He looked around at the cellar-like space, wondering at the jagged walls adorned with spiraling dark designs intertwined with zigzagging, angular ones. He was standing in a long, long hall, the end of it disappearing far ahead of him in the midst of foreboding shadows that seemed darker than night. For some reason, he was compelled to go down it, so he took a step forward.

He walked for what seemed like an eternity, but his legs did not feel any strain and he felt no hunger or fatigue. He walked on, finally seeing a glowing red light. He wanted to stay away, to stop and run back the way he had come, but his legs pointedly ignored what his brain was telling them. He continued walking forward towards a place that gave him an unshakable feeling of endings and fading to nothing. It was an inexplicable feeling, something he would never be able to describe properly. He could feel a sense of foreboding, not in his heart or his head, but somewhere…else. He felt it in the very core of his being, the part of him that sent a chill up his spine when nothing apparent was wrong – the first time he had gotten the Chill (as he dubbed it), he had ignored it, and gotten a flowerpot dropped on his head from a window. He had felt the Chill just before the villagers had started chasing him, too – it had been far colder.

He didn't like the place of endings and fadings…not because it felt dangerous to him, it just felt like a bad place…a sad place.

But his legs kept pushing onward to the glowing-red place of endings and fadings He walked through a low doorway, only it lacked a door. Where the hallway had been low and dark with pipes on the ceiling and water on the floor, this place was huge with a ceiling that seemed as high as the Hokage monument. The floor was dry, and Naruto briefly wondered how the water could have just stopped all of a sudden without being blocked by some sort of physical barrier. The room was lit with a dirty-yellow light mixed with a bit of orange, but Naruto caught a few shimmers of blood red light in his peripheral vision; however, the red lights always disappeared when he turned to look at them head on. At the front of the room was an enormous barred cage. It had a small strip of paper with the word seal written on it attached to the thicker metal where the barred doors met. A red glow came from inside the cage, but the red light didn't seem to be able to reach beyond the bars.

Naruto seemed to have regained control of his legs, and was now merely curious instead of drawn by some inexplicable force. He walked toward the cold-looking metal bars, all caution abandoned. When he was about three fourths of the way across the room, a huge face appeared behind the cage, emitting the red glow he had seen before and that now lit the whole room. Naruto stopped in shock, looking at the beastly, growling face in fear. The fox was both a beautiful and terrible creature to behold. It had red fur with a slight bit of brown mixed in, and large golden eyes with vertical, almond-shaped pupils; eyes that seemed to be able to look right into the darkest depths of your soul. It had nine large tails waving around behind it, leaving residual trails of chakra in their paths. The demon had an ethereal presence, one that made you feel terribly small and weak in comparison. Its (currently bared) large white teeth looked sharper and more finely pointed than swords. It was a wonder that the Konoha shinobi had been able to fight it at all, what with its overpowering appearance and aura.

Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes, taking measured breaths as he calmed himself down. He opened his eyes, and the caged demon gained a slightly surprised expression at the determination and courage held in their clear, blue depths.

Naruto strode up to the cage with as much dignity as a seven-year-old could muster, took another deep breath, and spoke. "My name's Naruto. What's yours?"

"Alright children, settle down," Iruka said with a sigh, looking disappointed at the children's immature antics. Most of them calmed, but a small few were still snickering or sending glares of disapproval towards Naruto. Giving up on finishing his lecture, he ushered the trainees outside for some kunai practice.

Naruto walked out the doors of the Academy, his hands in his pockets with his shoulders slumped and pointing forward, head slightly bowed. While most of the other children walked into the wealthier part of town to their comfortable houses where their loving parents were waiting for them, Naruto headed in a different direction – towards the poorer, less cared-for section of Konohagakure. He reached an apartment complex that was livable, but had definitely seen better days. It had a few stray graffiti drawings on it, but it was standing and it seemed like it would stay that way for a while. Plus, it had all it's doors and windows intact.

Naruto ambled in the front door and straight to the staircase. He went up a few flights before turning into a hall and walking down it, stopping at a door near the end. He fished a key out of a hidden pocket on the inside of his orange jacket. Unlocking his door, he stepped inside, then shut it and locked it again. He then performed a few quick hand seals and placed his hand flat on the door. An intricate black seal appeared for a moment throughout the apartment – on the door, the walls, the ceiling, the window – then faded. Naruto sighed, and sat down on his second-hand couch.

If not for the Sandaime, who ensured that Naruto had enough money to live on, Naruto would be homeless. As it was, he had to use a henge while shopping so that the villagers would actually sell to him, and it also ensured he didn't get overcharged. Still, even with the help of the Sandaime, Naruto had it tough. The landlord fined him for things that weren't his fault, such as when the building had become infested with termites. The money to pay the exterminators (two irritable genin teams) had come straight out of Naruto's pocket. The landlord had also cut off the hot water from Naruto's apartment. Naruto had no doubt that, if he lived in a house of his own, the villagers would have tried to burn it to the ground. (He suspected the only reason they hadn't burned down his apartment building was because some of 'their own' lived there as well.) Naruto's apartment had been ransacked several times before (which he had to clean up, and had been fined for), which was why he now went to such lengths as a locking seal to prevent further inconveniences. (He would probably get fined for the noise the villagers – and possibly ninjas – made while ransacking his apartment, under the guise of 'disturbing the peace' or something equally stupid.) (6)

Even with the money Sandaime managed to get him, it still wasn't enough to maintain a proper ninja's life style. Kunai and shuriken were used quickly in battle, and they didn't just grow on trees. Naruto was an artist as a side-job, and he was surprisingly good at it. He used a fake name, so that people might actually buy his works. If customers wanted something special, they could give a picture or description to the owner of the shop that sold his paintings. The owner of the shop knew who he was, but fortunately he wasn't prejudiced. With his side job and the money the Sandaime gave him, Naruto was able to get by. Soon, with mission income as well, he would be able rest easy when it came to money.

He himself had one of his own works hanging on one of the walls in his apartment – it was a picture of Konohagakure itself, at sunset. It was painted with painstaking detail, and the shadows and warm-colored lights where so well done you had to look at the painting up close to realize it was a painting and not a photograph. There were a few people milling about; small bits of color in the streets and on the roofs that you could make out as tiny people if looked closely. One dark person was even suspended in midair – an Anbu on patrol. You could tell just by looking at the picture that the person who had painted it had a great fondness for the place portrayed, and it's people.

He sighed and got up from the couch, taking off his orange jacket and dark blue sandals. Time to train. (7)

The sun rose lazily over the horizon, shedding amber rays of light on Konoha. In a slightly shabby apartment complex in the poorer part of Konoha, sunlight filtered through a small window into the room of a certain fox jinchuriki. The blond was already up and about, doing his morning exercises. He was currently upside down, one hand on the floor, only the pads of his fingers touching the cold surface. His other hand was behind his back as he pushed his body up from the floor, then slowly lowering himself so that his golden hair brushed against the hard floor before pushing himself up again. A bead of sweat rolled off his forehead and disappeared into his hair; his cheeks were rather pink from the blood going to his head. He was counting under his breath.

"246…247…248…249…250 with both arms!" he exclaimed with a satisfied grin before touching his feet to the floor and standing up. "Next…" he said to himself before casually walking up the wall. He stopped near the middle of the ceiling, his arms crossed over his chest and just as upside-down as he had been moments before. He then started doing sit-ups…while hanging from his ceiling. Which, when thought about, is actually a perfectly normal thing for a ninja to do.

He did about one-hundred-and-seventy-five sit-ups before his stomach growled (his abdomen was getting more than a bit sore, too) and he gave up training in favor of breakfast. He dropped off the ceiling, twisting in midair to land on his feet, much like a cat; he had the same feline grace as one, too.

The blond haired boy meandered into the space that served as his kitchen. It was still connected to the main room, with no door to separate the two. Naruto filled a pot with water and set it to boil, getting out a package of ramen. He did enjoy ramen, and the many different flavors ensured that didn't get tired of it, but he really wished for more variety in his diet. He realized ramen wasn't the healthiest food either, but it was one of the few things he could afford. He changed into fresh clothes while the water heated up, mentally wincing at the bright orange. It wasn't that the storekeepers intentionally sold him the horrible orange suit – he shopped using a henge – no, it was part of Naruto's mask – his fake, outward self that the rest world saw. Naruto in reality was a bright, talented child, and when he was young, it had shown in his work. But Naruto, ever observant, saw that it just scared the adults and made them hate him more. So, he created a mask – one of innocence, happiness, and stupidity. Naruto noticed, after putting on his mask, that the adults weren't quite so bad towards him. His teachers – instead of yelling at him and giving him punishments for 'being a smart-mouth' (while other students who acted similarly were praised for their brightness) – simply ignored him and left him to his own devices, punishing him only for actual bad behavior, if somewhat harshly compared to other students.

Naruto made his way over to the counter, pouring the ramen in and leaving it to cook while he set up a placemat with a glass of water on the end of the counter he used as a makeshift table. Getting out a bowl and putting in his finished ramen, he softly said, "Itadakimasu," and picked up his chopsticks.

Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino were neck-in-neck, speed walking towards the Academy. Haruno Sakura was a pink haired girl with intelligent, emerald green eyes. She wore a red ribbon in her long hair, a red dress with a white circle on the back coupled with form-fitting black shorts, and standard ninja sandals on her feet. She used to get teased about the large size of her forehead, but it was barely noticeable now.

The other girl, Yamanaka Ino, had long, light blond hair held up in a high ponytail and pupil-less blue-green eyes that had a strange black border around the iris. She wore a loose, purple sleeveless shirt that exposed part of her thin torso, and a purple skirt that hung low on her hips. She had white arm warmers and cloth wrappings around her middle and legs, stopping at mid-thigh. She too wore standard ninja sandals.

The two girls used to be friends, until their shared crush on the same boy made them rivals. That boy was the reason both of them had grown out their hair, as they once heard a rumor that he liked long hair. That same boy was also the reason they were racing down one of the streets of Konoha at (literally) break-neck speed, plowing through anyone and everyone in their path.

Uchiha Sasuke sat at his desk, one of the first people at the Academy that morning.He was the reason two former-friends-turned-rivals were running as fast as he could to the Academy. He had pale, flawless skin and silky ebony hair that stuck up in the back, with two longer locks of hair framing his elegant face. He had black, narrow eyes and a 'holier-than-thou' attitude, which women certainly seemed to believe; they practically worshipped him. He was wearing a wide-collared, short-sleeved blue shirt with a stylized white and red fan on the back. He wore off-white shorts with a navy-blue shuriken pouch, standard ninja sandals, and white arm-warmers with blue straps to keep them in place. He had his elbows on the table and his fingers intertwined, the lower part of his face hidden in his typical 'brooding pose'. He had no interest in girls, which was unfortunate, as they were very clearly interested in him. Romance just didn't fit in his busy schedule of 'get stronger, get REVENGE.'

While the Uchiha brooded, students started filtering in one by one. Thankfully, none of his fangirls had arrived yet, so he still had some time to himself before they started fawning over him. Suddenly, the door opened with a loud bang. Sasuke looked up from his brooding only to see an orange-garbed blond meander in, muttering something to himself with a slightly manic grin. The blond sat in the remaining seat next to him distractedly, the other filled by a brunette girl that had arrived soon after Sasuke but fortunately hadn't bothered him, lost in her own thoughts. Naruto then realized who he was sitting next to, but merely stuck his tongue out and didn't bother to move. Sasuke raised an eyebrow in response, then went back to brooding.

In less than a minute the door banged open again, this time by two girls with pink and blond hair respectively. Sasuke inwardly sighed; there went his quiet. The two started to argue with each other about who got there first. Then, spotting Sasuke, the two swooped over like harpies closing in on their prey. They made 'flirty' faces at Sasuke, then glared at Naruto, both actions done with what seemed like rehearsed simultaneousness.

"Get out of the seat, Naruto!" Sakura shouted, raising a fist. Inner Sakura echoed her, only much louder and with an added "Cha!" Naruto ignored her. Which was odd, considering he (or at least, everyone thought he did) had a huge crush on her. "Naruto!" she shouted again. Naruto raised his head and suddenly leapt up onto the tabletop. Sakura, thinking she had won, gave Ino a satisfied smirk while Inner Sakura shouted something about "True love conquers all!" and "Take that, Ino-pig!" Naruto, instead of getting off the table and going to find another seat, took a step across it so he was positioned in front of Sasuke. He crouched down, the two orphans meeting each other's eyes. You could practically see the electricity running between them, their distaste for each other clear on their faces. "Naruto! Stop glaring at Sasuke!" Sakura admonished, her inner self doing the same in a much louder (and ruder) manner.

Naruto ignored her again and continued his staring match; his nose was almost touching Sasuke's. "What's so special about you anyway?" Naruto asked, more to himself than Sasuke, but the Uchiha heard it anyway. Sasuke's glare lost a small bit of its intensity as he saw a flicker of a strange emotion in the cerulean eyes that were boring so intently into his own. Suddenly, the boy ahead of Sasuke's seat leaned back, pushing the two boys into each other, their lips meeting. Everyone in the class, which now had everyone present except the teachers, turned toward the boys as they heard the gasps from Ino and Sakura. Soon the whole class joined in a collective gasp, eyes wide and some mouths open. The two boys in question were wide-eyed and stunned. No one moved a muscle for several moments, until the boys finally came to their senses and broke the lip-lock, spluttering and spitting.

"NARUTOOO!!" Sakura screamed when she had recovered from her shock. Many of the girls in the room came to join Sakura and Ino, who were cracking their knuckles and had murder in their eyes.

"Wait, Sakura-chan! It was an accident! I swear!" Naruto pleaded, but he could not escape their ire. His pleas soon turned into cries of "Itai!" and "Please stop!" Soon, Naruto was a twitching pile on the floor. Most of the people who hadn't participated in the beating had turned their eyes away(8), and had begun surveying the damage once the girls were finished with him. Their conclusion: he'd survive.

True enough, after a few moments, Naruto rose from the land of the not-conscious and found a different seat, as Ino had taken the seat beside Sasuke (Sakura settling for the seat on the other side of the brunette) and he didn't really want to be near Sasuke at the moment.

Iruka arrived a couple minutes later to shoo them all out onto the practice courts. "Alright children, today we are going to practice taijutsu." The class groaned, but was quickly quieted by Iruka. He was about to continue when Mizuki appeared.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Mizuki said with a smile. "I had to give a mission report to the Hokage."

"That's quite all right, Mizuki. Now class," Iruka addressed the ninjas-in-training again, "Mizuki and I will assign each of you a partner. Pairs of students will take turns sparring in front of the rest of the class. Students watching fights will look for mistakes and strengths, and will tell their observations in a discussion after each match." Here Iruka gave Mizuki a nearly imperceptible nod.

"You are not allowed to use chakra, weapons, or anything of that nature," Mizuki said. "Or headology, Reihara(9)," he added, seeing the white haired girl's growing smirk. Immediately after hearing his words, her face fell and she shot a steely-eyed glare at him. "This is a purely taijutsu fight. Each fight ends when someone is immobilized, unconscious, or gives up.

"Understand?" Mizuki asked, putting a hand on his hip, getting a round of nods in reply. The two teachers went through their ranks, pairing people off. "Hinata and Izuna," Mizuki said before going on. "Kiba and Mabui. Shikamaru and Nado."

"Aw man, why do I have to get stuck with a girl?" Shikamaru complained. Nado, a pretty girl with raven-black hair that reached her waist, shot him a dirty look.

"Sakura and Shino. Ino and Seyla. Sasuke and Naruto," Iruka said with a tone of voice that seemed to be reserved for teachers. The two boys in question stared at him like he was mad (not that he was even looking at them), glared at each other, and turned away in nearly perfect unison. "Chouji and Hideyo. Manabu and Kowaru. Giteru and Uematsu. Mokana and Reihara." The two teachers continued until everyone had been paired off. They had been writing the partners on clipboards as they went along, and were now compiling them all into one list in the order they would fight. Meanwhile, Sasuke and Naruto were glaring spitfire at each other, though neither really knew why.

Iruka blew a whistle to get their attention. "Everyone gather around, find a seat, and make yourselves reasonably comfortable," he said, taking a seat on a lumpy grey rock himself. "First up are Shikamaru and Nado. Would the two of you please go over there? Yes, there, that's fine," Iruka said, absently doing a final run-over of the list. Shikamaru grumbled and followed Nado to the sparring area, stepping into the circle that had been drawn on the ground to show students exactly where to stand. She spun and faced him once she was in her own circle, her straight black hair whipping around her like a veil of shadow, her dark brown eyes already sizing him up. The lazy boy merely sighed and tilted his head back, idly noting the odd shape of a passing cloud.

"Now, you will start when I say so," Mizuki said, squatting on top of a wide, flat, and rather short stone. "Ready…fight!" he said, bringing his hand down in a chopping motion. Nado charged forward, taking a swing at Shikamaru's head. He leaned back, her fist almost grazing his nose. She brought up a leg, her long hair swinging around her. The lazy genius blocked with his forearm and grabbed her ankle with his free hand, twisting her leg and forcing her to spin in midair. She landed on her hands, almost like she was doing a push up. One of her legs shot at him wildly, hitting him lightly in the stomach. He stepped back, Nado getting up quickly and following through with another punch. She stopped when she saw both his hands up in surrender.

"I give up," the lazy Nara drawled, putting his hands in his pockets and walking over to sit with the rest of the class. Nado stood there, openmouthed, her arms hanging limply in front of her.

Iruka coughed. "Winner: Nado!" She meandered back towards the group in a daze, still stunned at her easy win and how the Nara had given up after one light blow.

"Okay…anyone have anything to contribute?" Iruka asked hesitantly. In an instant, almost everyone put their hand up. "Yes, Naruto?"

"Shikamaru's a wimp! He gives up before he's even tried!"

"He's lazy!"

"He's a Nara, of course he's lazy!" Suddenly everyone was talking, and raising their voices to be heard over everyone else, and soon everyone was practically screaming their comments at each other.

"Enough!" Mizuki shouted. "Next, Kiba and Mabui!" Mizuki said loudly, and the two named stepped forward. Kiba was a tan boy with spiky brown hair and a triangular red mark on each cheek. He was wearing brown capris and dark blue ninja sandals, along with a grey jacket that had fake brown fur lining the hood. His white puppy, Akamaru (who usually sat atop Kiba's head), was left in the audience in the arms of a meek Hinata. Mabui, the brown haired girl who had sat next to Sasuke, gave Kiba a childlike, curious look. Her auburn hair was held in a high ponytail, with one thin, braided lock of hair left free to frame her pale face. She wore a white button up coat with a high collar and no sleeves, along with black capris and ninja sandals. She had fishnets on her arms from her biceps to her hands, the thumb and finger parts cut off. The ends of the fishnets were lined with thin strips of black cloth.

Mabui continued to stare at him with a slightly vacant expression, not even moving after Mizuki had announced the beginning of the fight. Kiba waited for a moment before he lunged at her, trying to kick her in the face. He succeeded, sending her flying several feet before she landed on the ground. Kiba still stood there, surprised that she had offered so little resistance. She lay on the ground for a second before getting up, completely unscathed.

"Ha! Guess you don't pack much of a punch, dog-breath!" Naruto yelled from the audience. Kiba growled in response and charged Mabui again. When Kiba tried to punch her this time, she leaned to the side just enough to dodge his punch. Baring his teeth, he tried to punch her again. She ducked under his arm and went towards him, fast. The Inuzuka didn't have time to react, and received a sound blow to the face. He fell backward, knocked out from the force of the hit. Mabui straightened and her face gained a dreamy look as she was lost in her own thoughts once more, her body automatically walking over to the class, leaving Kiba in the dirt.

No one said anything for a moment. Then, "Winner: Mabui." Mizuki said hesitantly before sending Naruto to drag Kiba back over to the group. He complied, grumbling something that sounded to Iruka (what he could hear, anyway) suspiciously like, "…dragged him through the dirt…likes it… – k's like a good rock…him over. "(10)

They managed to get through the after fight discussion, which mostly consisted of things like "Kiba got his ass kicked!", and "Oh yeah, girl power! You rock, Mabui!" The battles continued on; mostly short, active bouts with someone getting hit hard enough so they were a bit dizzy and then decided to give up, got knocked out, or were beaten enough they conceded defeat. Finally, it was the last match. "Sasuke and Naruto, please go to the sparring square." Mizuki said, writing the winner of the previous match (Hideyo) on his clipboard.

The two named combatants got up, walked to the sparring square and took their positions, glaring at each other all the while. They both settled into the Academy's taijutsu stance, Naruto making sure there were several flaws in his so as to keep up the 'dead-last' façade; Sasuke's stance was perfect. Mizuki called the start of the battle, setting his clipboard down beside him to watch the fight. Neither teacher knew what had happened before they arrived, but they both sensed a bit more animosity between the two than usual.

Naruto leapt forward first, swinging wildly at Sasuke's head; Sasuke barely needed to dodge. Sasuke replied with a powerful kick, getting Naruto right in the gut. The demon-container fell back, winded. He staggered to his feet, only to receive a heavy blow to the face. He stumbled back, crossing his arms over his face to block Sasuke's next kick.

"KIT, WHY DON'T YOU ACTUALLY LAND A BLOW?" Kyuubi said with a sigh.

'You know I can't do that, Kyuubi,' Naruto responded, allowing Sasuke to break through his guard and send him flying several feet. 'I need to keep up the act," he continued calmly as he shakily stood up.

"HOW ABOUT ONE HIT – JUST ONE? YOU CAN MAKE IT LOOK CONSISTANT WITH YOUR MASK; I KNOW YOU HAVE THE SKILL TO. I JUST WANT TO SEE YOU LAND ONE IN THAT PRETTY-BOY FACE OF HIS." Kyuubi paused. "OF COURSE, YOU'RE JUST AS MUCH OF A PRETTY-BOY AS HE IS UNDER THAT GENJUTSU OF YOURS," the fox finished with a chuckle.

'Shut up!' Naruto mentally growled at him. 'I give,' he conceded. 'I'll hit him, but not in the face. I don't think the 'dobe' could manage that.'

"YOU JUST DON'T WANT TO HURT A FELLOW PRETTY-BOY," Kyuubi sniffed. Naruto mentally huffed and turned his nose up at the fox. In the real word, Naruto dodged Sasuke's most recent punch, making it look like he had stumbled at a lucky time. He extended his leg – seemingly wildly – while the Uchiha was still in an offensive position. He managed to land a rather light hit in the other boy's stomach before Sasuke grabbed his leg and pulled, unbalancing Naruto and causing him to fall. He landed flat on his face, making Kyuubi laugh (though it more resembled an evil cackle) while Naruto scowled. Sasuke kneeled on Naruto's back as he tried to get up, holding the other boy's hands against the ground.

"Winner, Sasuke!" Mizuki announced, marking something on his clipboard while Sasuke's fangirls cheered.

The after battle talk went much like the battle itself; Sasuke completely trounced Naruto.

"Sasuke is so cool!"

"The idiot got massacred."

"Hey Sasuke, great job!"

"Oi Naruto, who's the weakling now?" Kiba (and the other KO'ed participants) had been revived with liberal amounts of cold water.

"Uzumaki-san swung wildly and didn't use self-control, whereas Uchiha-san used no more strength than necessary and struck when the time was right."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Okay, Hideyo, whatever you say…" At this point Iruka cleared his throat, with a look on his face that displayed that astounding (now slightly exasperated) patience that only teachers seem to have. He and Mizuki – who had the same expression to a lesser degree with some indifference mixed in – began to herd their students inside the building. As everyone started heading inside, Naruto fell back to the end of the line, keeping his head down to make him seem upset. He realized a certain Hyuuga heiress noticed this, and he also noticed the feel of her chakra signature heading back through the line towards him.

He smiled, still keeping his head down. Hinata was one of the few people who actually cared about him. Sure she didn't know what – or who – he actually was, but she did look past her elders' hatred and peers' dislike of him to try to see him. She admired him for his determination and how he was able to keep going despite his hardships – those were a few of his true attributes that showed through his mask. His dream truly was to become Hokage – he couldn't hide it, even though his mask declared it more often (and at a greater volume) than he actually would have. His dream was still one of the most important things to him, and Hinata saw that.

"Um…a-are you…okay?" she asked slowly, hesitantly falling into step beside him. A soft blush made its way across her features, her pupil-less eyes showing concern and nervousness. Naruto turned his head towards her and gave her a genuine smile. Her blush darkened.

"I'm fine, Hinata-chan," he said warmly. He then wondered about Hinata's health, because being in close proximity of her crush or not, he didn't think a human was supposed to be able to turn that shade of red.

"O-okay," she replied quietly. They continued the rest of the way back to the classroom in silence. The two teachers stood at the front of the room, waiting for the students to find their seats. When everyone was seated, Iruka spoke.

"Our next activity will be—"

'Activity?' Naruto thought incredulously. 'That's a lame way to say it.'

"VERY LAME," the fox agreed.

"—a written test on the Second Shinobi War," Iruka finished, oblivious to the blond's silent conversation. A chorus of groans met this announcement. Iruka ignored them and asked Mizuki to get the tests. "Please come up to the front to get your test and a writing implement. You have until lunch time."

Soon the room was filled with the scratching of pencils and pens. 'Damn, this test is easy.' Naruto was slowly going through his test, getting just enough questions wrong that he would get a terrible grade and still pass. He could have easily gotten all of them right, but who ever heard of the dead-last getting one of the best scores in the class? He was at the last question ("What was Commander Nara Souchou's strategy at the Battle of the Valley of the Moon?") when Iruka told them to hand in their tests and go to lunch. Naruto inwardly grinned at his great timing while outwardly he groaning at his unfinished test. He then brightened considerably at the concept of food.

Naruto rushed to turn in his test and raced out of the classroom chanting a mantra of "Food, food, food, food…"

Naruto sat down in the shade of a large willow tree, leaning against its trunk. Its long branches cascaded out and down, making uniquely shaped shadows rest on Naruto's scarred face. He was eating greedily from a bento and keeping generally to himself. No one ever ate lunch with him, not even Hinata – she was far too shy. Her asking about his wellbeing earlier was one of a few instances where she actually managed to work up a bit of courage to assert herself.

Around him people were talking, eating, or – in Shikamaru's case – lying flat on their backs looking at the clouds. Whatever they were doing though, they were with someone else (Sasuke was accompanied unwillingly by his fangirls clustered around him but still keeping a respectful distance). Naruto sighed. He was used to being alone and ignored, and at least it was better than being beaten up. He recalled the "Accidental-Kiss-With-Sasuke-and-Subsequent-Beating-By-His-Fangirls Incident" (as he had so eloquently dubbed it) with a shudder. "SAY THAT AGAIN?" Kyuubi interrupted his thoughts in an amused voice.

'Oh, shut up Kyuubi,' Naruto grumbled, tipping his bento and pushing the remainder of his rice into his mouth with his chopsticks.

END OF CHAPTER ONE

Author's Notes

0. ( Ha ha.) Yes, I will be using a numbered system of author notes, because putting it all in one, ginormous, un-organized block is – in the immortal words of Shikamaru – "too troublesome". This way is better.

1. I don't know if the Yondaime is actually Naruto's father, and I don't care. He is in my story. That is the joy of fanfiction! Also, after the chunin exams and Itachi and Kisame come and Itachi uses the Mangekyou on Kakashi, Itachi says he's after the "legacy of the fourth Hokage". Pretty big hint… Also, I'm not sure about his name. I've heard it at Kazama Arashi and Namikaze Minato, but I like Arashi better so I'll use that. It's fanfiction, so I guess I can do what I want. Yeah!

2. I love the word 'aplomb', and I was overjoyed when I got the chance to use here. Ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha…

3. Ha ha! I stole the 'ALL-CAPS' speech from Terry Pratchett for Kyuubi to use. In Terry Pratchett's (hilarious) books, Death speaks in all-capitals; I am borrowing that idea for Kyuubi's speech. I think the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon, who could only be SEALED with the help of the Death GOD, is important enough to use the same type of speech as Death, don't you? Also, the 'kit' thing will be explained. Eventually…probably…but I stole the idea itself from other fanfiction. But since nothing on fanfiction is copyrighted except the series themselves, I believe I can borrow one word.

4. Guah! Flashbacks! I hear your screams of pain and protest, dear readers, but fear not! I will do my best to keep the thrice-cursed flashbacks to a minimum.

5. I know, I know, the 'Naruto-gets-beat-up-by-angry-villagers-and-meets-Kyuubi' thing has been done before, and so has my whole frickin' plot of how Naruto is hiding his true potential and all that, but you know what? I DON'T FRICKIN' CARE! I'm doing my take on it, and if you don't like it, the 'back' button is right up there in the upper-left corner of the screen…

6. I know that I use far too many parentheses. It is a bad habit of mine; I used to use an insane amount of commas, but I eventually got rid of that habit (or so I hope). The overuse of parentheses will, with luck, also go away with time.

7. After the page break that separates the explanation of Naruto's money situation and stuff and the next morning, I had starting typing a section about how Sakura doesn't like waiting for her late sensei! I almost skipped the genin test, the Mizuki incident, and the bell test! Goodness me, I feel like an idiot.

8. This sounds so serious doesn't it? I hadn't noticed it when I first wrote it, but going back and editing, I can't bring myself to get rid of it. Whether it's just what it is or has some underlying meaning is up to you; it is up for interpretation.

9. Headology is another thing from Terry Pratchett's books, and I love it. It's where you mess with people's poor, lesser minds! You don't actually do anything to them, per say; it's like what Ibiki does. He screws people up without touching them or even using genjutsu. I adore headology! Yeah!

10. The un-mumbled version of that is "I'd like to see his face if I dragged him through the dirt, see how he likes it. That looks like a good rock to drag him over…" He's saying this – not because he feels sorry for Kiba (he could carry him, after all), but because he's annoyed at Mizuki for making him go get Kiba.

Watch for the semi-colons when you read my story. I use them a lot and the writing makes a lot more sense when you don't mistake them for commas.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Japanese, I have included the following section especially for you. Don't you feel special? Also, for those of you who are confused about people's names, Japanese say their surnames first, and then their own names. It's different, but cool, and I'm not used to hearing these characters' names the English way. I personally don't want to have to spend about twenty extra minutes per chapter going back and fixing people's names, but that's just me…

Translations: Remember, I don't actually know Japanese, I'm just learning it. So please forgive me if I get things wrong; I like to include Japanese tidbits in my story. At least I don't go and make whole sentences in Japanese, and THEN GO AND WRITE A SENTENCE IN ENGLISH INSIDE THE SAME QUOTATION MARKS! (Goodness, that's a lot of caps for a normal person to be using.) I have seen this in fanfictions before. I hate when people do things like that. I encourage all fluent (or sufficiently knowledgeable) Japanese speakers to point out any error you see, and I will correct it.

This list in alphabetical order for your convenience. Again, don't you feel special?

Bento: boxed lunch

Cha: Sakura's inner self says this a lot. I figure it's basically an exclamation.

Chakra: a mix of physical and mental energy, used for jutsu

Chunin: ninja rank just above genin

Genin: lowest rank of ninja

Genjutsu: an attack on the mind using chakra, or an illusion

Henge: a low-rank ninja technique that allows the user to give themselves the appearance of another

Hokage: "fire shadow"

Itadakimasu: I think this is something like "Thank you for the food." Japanese people say this before they eat.

Itai: "It hurts!"

Jinchuriki: demon container/host, or literally "power of human sacrifice"

Jutsu: the techniques ninja use, and these techniques also require the use of chakra, the amount depending on the level of jutsu

Konohagakure no Sato: "Village Hidden in the Leaves" (Konohagakure: "Hidden Leaf"; Konoha: "Leaf"…methinks.)

Kyuubi no Kitsune: "Nine-tailed Fox"

Oi: I think this is basically how people get each other's attention. Where we say "Hey!", Japanese say "Oi!"

-san/-chan/-kun/-sama/-dono: honorifics added to the ends of people's names

Sandaime: This basically means "third"

Sensei: "teacher"

Yondaime: I think this is basically "fourth"