The Evolution of Love

The Beginning

It started as a warm sunny day in the Hidden Leaf's Konohagakure; the birds were singing and chirping towards one another, the rivers calm and tranquil, and the people bustling down the road with high spirits of buying and selling the things that need and desire.

Who knew it could turn into a living hell in a matter of seconds.

"HAHA! You'll never catch me! I'm too fast for you old guys!" A blonde blur stated as it started to leap around Konoha.

A few other blurs started to chase after the blonde one. "Uzumaki Naruto! Get back here and face your punishment for defacing the Hokage Monument!"

The blonde young lad named Uzumaki Naruto (age 13) just grinned at the shinobi who were chasing him. "Aww c'mon! You guys have got to admit that the Hokage's do look better that way!"

If you could see Naruto's… art of the Leaders of Konoha's faces, you could see that he had made them look like circus clowns.

"C'mere you little snot! This'll teach ya to mess with the Leaf's sacred monument!" A shinobi said as he tried to grab Naruto, only for the blonde to slip away from his grasp.

"Gotta catch me first! Dattebayo!" Naruto then jump into an alleyway down below and started to cackle triumphantly.

"C'mon men! Let's get that brat!" One ninja yelled to the others.

The rest of the "Naruto Retrieval Squad" all pumped their fists into the air, cheering on the idea of capturing Konoha's pariah once and for all. The shinobi all jumped down the alleyway where their objective had gone, and started to chase after his tracts. But as soon as they left, the fence that was to their left suddenly shimmered until it was uncovered to reveal a snickering blonde boy staring at the ninjas' retreating backs.

Naruto laughed and started to run the opposite directions of the Jōnin ninjas, feeling a sense of victory overwhelming his body.

But as Naruto ran into the main road of Konohagakure, he couldn't help but notice the reactions of the villagers when they saw him. They all whispered amongst themselves while giving him dirty looks, the ones who were walking would always walk far from him or get out of his way if he would ever cross paths with them.

"Hey, is that him?" One villager whispered to another.

"Yes, it's the demon child."

"I heard it nearly wiped out the Leaf."

"Really? Then why are the letting it run free?"

"I don't know. But they need to hurry up and get rid of it."

"I heard it's training to be a ninja!"

"What, no way!"

"Well, if it does become a ninja, I hope it dies on a mission."

"Good riddance is what I say."

Naruto closed his eyes tightly shut and ran faster to get away from the villagers hurtful words. He didn't understand why the villagers hated him so much, why they always gave him those judging looks. Why was he treated this way? Why was he always scorned for every action he did? Naruto asked himself these questions every day, but he'd never have an answer.

The blonde ran up the stairs to his apartment, opened the door, and slammed it shut. He slid down the door until he sat and brought his knees up to his chest.

"Why…" The boy croaked out. "Why do they look at me like that…?"

As usual, the lone Uzumaki had gotten no answer.

Sasuke… Naruto thought about the last Uchiha who was the number one Rookie in the Academy, his class, and his bitter rival. He's just like me; he has no family, no friends, but he's treated with respect! But me… Naruto brought hugged his knees closer to his chest. Me… I'm just treated like dirt...

Naruto then sighed and stuffed his face into the crook of his arm, sulking about today's events and sulking for the possibility of tomorrows'.


THE NEXT DAY

Naruto was making his way over to Konoha's only ninja Academy to get ready for another boring day of Umino Iruka's (age 27) boring lectures. Naruto was wearing his usual garb which consisted of a black shirt with a large red swirl in the middle, orange pants, green goggles placed securely on his forehead, and blue unisex ninja sandals.

The Uzumaki yawned loudly. "Oh boy, another day of Iruka-sensei's stupid lectures! This is going to be a long day."

As Naruto was closing in on the Academy, he eyes caught something on the corner of his eyes. He saw a person, no doubt a tourist by their clothes, talking to one of the merchants about their products. Naruto looked on with curiosity and shock as he saw the merchants actually being nice to the tourist. Naruto never knew that the villagers of Konoha could be soo… nice to strange and new people. He pondered about his discovery as he made his way to the Academy.

Just a little bit later, Naruto was sitting at his desk not paying attention to his sensei's lecture about the limitations of a person's chakra. The lone boy was staring out the window thinking about earlier this morning.

That was weird… Not only was that tourist new, but he was also treated with respect and kindness… And even though the guy wasn't from around here, he was super nice to everyone… Naruto then looked out the window with his famous closed-eyes expression. And the villagers really liked 'im… What if… I was nice…? Would that change anything…?

Before Naruto could ponder more on his conclusion, he felt a piece of chalk hit the center of his forehead.

"Naruto, if you're going to daydream, at least do it on break. I'm trying to teach a class here." Iruka said exasperatedly.

Iruka expected Naruto to yell and shout at him; but what he got instead not only surprised him, but the whole classroom too. Naruto suddenly blinked and stared at Iruka.

"R-Right…" The blonde said before paying his attention to his assignment.

Everyone stared in silence as they watched the blonde boy start to scribble on his paper. Iruka snapped out of it once he heard loud whispers resonating throughout the classroom. The chūnin coughed to restore order, and started to slowly get on with class.

But as he was teaching, Iruka couldn't help but wonder about Naruto's sudden behavior.

What's going on with Naruto? He didn't even yell at me for scorning him. Is it some illness? I've got to speak with him during break. Iruka thought.

After a long period of notes, quizzes, and lectures from Iruka, the chūnin teacher called for recess.

"Alright everyone, that's it for now so let's take a break. Will meet outside on the training grounds in 30 minutes to go over what you've learn about combat." Iruka said.

The students all cheered and immediately headed for the door. A few moments later, the room was emptied out except for Iruka and Naruto. Umino looked at Uzumaki, only to see the boy staring out the window again with a blank expression on his face. Iruka sighed and slammed his book loudly on his desk.

Naruto jumped and looked at Iruka with alarm. "Iruka-sensei? What was that for?!" The boy yelled.

Well at least he's reverted back to his old self. Iruka thought. "Never mind that Naruto, I just wanted to talk is all."

Naruto stared at Iruka skeptically. "It's not gonna be another chew-out is it?"

Iruka chuckled. "No, no, I just wanted to ask you a question."

Naruto sighed and put his hands behind his head and stared at his sensei with his closed-eyed expression. "Okay, shoot."

Iruka went over to Naruto with his hands stuffed in his pockets. "What's the matter?"

"Huh?"

Iruka sighed. "I mean, what has been bothering you lately? You've been very unusual in class today. Are you sick?"

"Oh so that's what you wanted to know." Naruto sighed and stared at his desk with his blue eyes paling. "It's just that… this morning I saw some of the villagers—"

Oh no, not again… Iruka thought with his eyebrows furrowing.

"—being super nice to this new guy that came to town, and they looked like they were having fun. So I thought, if I could be nice, would the villagers change about their thoughts on me?"

Iruka's eyes widened. He now knew why his favored student (though he would never admit it to anyone) wasn't acting like his normal self.

Iruka stared into Naruto's confused yet hopeful eyes. He sighed and started to scratch his cheek with his finger. "Well Naruto, it takes time for a person to really accept another one, even if they happened to tweak their personality a smidge."

"Oh." Naruto looked down, crestfallen.

"But…" Naruto looked up again. Umino smiled at his reckless pupil. "I guess it could be worth a shot."

"Yatta!" Naruto cheered happily, pumping his fists into the air. "Alright! I'm gonna be the nicest guy I can be!" Naruto then jumped out of his seat and ran out of the classroom.

"Thanks Iruka-sensei! You're the best!" Naruto called, his voice booming off of the hallways.

Iruka laughed heartily and started to organize his desk. "That boy is so full of energy…"

Once he was outside, Naruto was busy pondering over his new-found resolve. The question was, how was he going to do it?

Help an old lady cross the street…? Nah, to obvious… and cliché… Naruto scratched his chin. Walk some dogs…? Nope, they'll just break loose or bite me… Naruto then sighed and folded his arms. Man! Isn't there anything out there that can help me be nice?!

Naruto sighed and made his way over to his swing. The swing was always empty because no one would dare go near it. The reason why is because of Naruto. Ever since he had first set foot near the swing, no one would even look in its direction. So Naruto took the liberty of claiming it for himself, and played on it.

Before the spiky haired boy could even sit on the swing, he heard a chirping noise.

"Eh?" Naruto started to look around for the source of the noise. "Oi, is anyone here?"

The chirping started again and Naruto went around the tree to investigate. After he reached the back of the tree, he saw a baby blue bird chirping pitifully at the tree. It tried to flap its wings but it didn't budge anywhere.

"Hey, what are you doing down here?" Naruto asked the small thing as he picked it up in his hands.

The small bird chirped at him, staring with his huge black beady eyes. Naruto stared at it quizzically before he looked up. He saw a nest with other baby birds, its siblings no doubt, chirping down at him. Naruto stared at the nest, then the baby bird in his hands, and back again.

"Oh, are they your family?" Naruto asked (no duh Sherlock). Naruto grinned and put the small bird in his unruly blonde locks. "I'll getcha back up there, no sweat! Dattebayo!"

The ninja-in-training then grappled onto the tree and started to clamber up its trunk. After a little while, Naruto finally made it to the grove where the nest was. The little creatures started to immediately chirp louder at him. And their sibling chilling in Naruto's hair chirped just as loud.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it already, you wanna be together, jeez!" Naruto grumbled as he dug around his head for the bird that was hiding in his hair. Once he felt a lump in his hair, he pulled it out and placed the babe bird with his family. It was immediately welcomed with hearty chirps and nuzzles from its brothers and sisters.

Naruto smiled at the scene unfolding before his eyes. He felt a small part of his being get stabbed because that he was never treated this way. But the rest of him couldn't help but feel elated that the lone bird was finally reunited his family.

At least one of us is happy… Naruto thought solemnly.

"OI NARUTO!"

Naruto suddenly jumped up hitting his head against a branch that was above him. "GAH!" The blonde then fell out of the tree, resulting in himself getting hit on the noggin once more.

"Ouchouchouchouchouch!" Naruto mumbled as he began to comically roll on the floor while soothing his two bumps that formed on his head.

After he was done with his episode, Naruto suddenly rounded on his offender. "OI! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Well it looks like he's back to his old self, eh Shino?" A voice mocked.

"So it seems." Said another.

Naruto then looked at his offenders for a second time. He realized that it was just his classmates Inuzuka Kiba (age 13) and Aburame Shino (age 13) standing over him.

Inuzuka Kiba was wearing a long-sleeved tan shirt with pale blue shorts, and blue unisex shinobi sandals. He had brown spiky locks, and had a tattooed red triangle on each cheek. He also had a small white dog named Akamaru, which was perched atop of his head. Aburame Shino, on the other hand wore a pale green outer trench coat with a grey one with red buttons on the inside. Shino also had spiky brown hair, but he also wore pitch black shades that didn't even show a glimmer of his eyes.

Shino was considered weird. What with him being antisocial, having fetishes with insects, and never showing his mouth to anyone. While Kiba on the other hand was Shino's polar opposite. Kiba was short-tempered and impulsive; he's always loud, and could be very crude at times when he wouldn't even notice. But apparently, the two boys made a very… unique friendship.

"Oh it's you guys, Kiba, Shino." Naruto said as he got up and dusted himself off. "So what's up?"

"'What's up?'" Kiba snorted. "What's up is you actin' weird Naruto! I mean, you didn't even explode today! What's up with that?" Akamaru yipped in agreement.

Naruto blinked at him, before pounding his fist into his hand. "Oh, that! Yeah, I was just thinking about somethin'."

Kiba cackled loudly. "You, you, think?"

"OI! WHADDYA—" Naruto suddenly stopped and breathed in deeply, only to exhale through his nose. "I mean, what do you mean by that?"

Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru looked at Naruto with surprise. Kiba with his sharp eyes widening and his mouth slightly gapping, Shino with his eyebrows rounded fully over his glasses, and Akamaru with him tilting his head and his brown ears flopping with him. The Inuzuka and Aburame suddenly exchanged looks.

"But seriously dude," Kiba replied with his tone serious, "what's wrong with you? You sick or something?"

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, I just trying something out. No biggie."

"And what are you experimenting with, Naruto?" Shino asked, with his interest clearly hidden by his demeanor.

The blonde suddenly grinned, unsettling the two boys. "Oh, you'll see during combat training. Dattebayo!"

Before either brunette could question the Kyuubi container any further, Iruka suddenly called all of them over for training.

"Well, that's our cue! Ready guys?" Naruto asked the duo.

Kiba and Shino exchanged confused looks once more before nodding hesitantly at the blonde.

"Yosh! Let's go!" Naruto cheered as he, Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru made their way towards the combatant arena.


"Alright students, today we're going to be working on combat with taijutsu." Iruka said, and the male part of the class all cheered while the female all groaned. "Alright, alright, settle down, all of you."

He coughed before starting again. "As you all know, jutsu is an essential part of a ninja's being. But he himself is also a great weapon without jutsu. True, ninjutsu and genjustu do make for a powerful combination of a shinobi's strength, but his taijutsu is also a great and important weapon in his arsenal."

Iruka then shuffled his papers that were in his hands. "After the combatants fight with one clear winner, they will make the sign for unity amongst shinobi." Iruka then made his two fingers on each hand cross each other as a demonstration. "Understood?"

"Hai, Iruka-sensei!" Everyone said in unison.

Iruka nodded and then looked down at his papers. "Alright, first contestants are…"

Naruto couldn't help but yawn as he watched his classmates duke it out with each other. Sure fights were cool, but then it would get boring after you had seen everyone pull the same punches.

"Hey, Naruto." A voice called out to him.

"Hmm?" The blonde jinchuriki looked around until he spotted two familiar faces. "Huh, Shikamaru? Chōji? What's the matter?"

Nara Shikamaru (age 13) and Akimichi Choji (age 13) were two other familiar faces that Naruto knew. Nara Shikamaru was considered lazy, and always griped about everything. But under his lazy façade, he was a true genius. His partner Akimichi Ch oji was a kind boy with a big heart. Minus the fact that he eats a lot, he is considered very loyal to friends and teachers.

Shikamaru wore a short-sleeved grey shirt with dark grey rings around the sleeves with his clan's symbol right in the middle. He also had on dark navy blue shorts and blue unisex shinobi sandals. Shikamaru always liked to keep his black hair up in a ponytail, just like the rest of his family and clanmates. Choji, on the other hand, wore a long-sleeved zip up jacket that was light green at the collarbone area, and dark green the rest of the way down. Black shorts and blue unisex ninja sandals. Choji also had spiky brown hair and one red swirl mark on each of his cheeks.

The duo made their way over to the blonde, with Choji eating some potato chips and Shikamaru with his hands stuffed inside his pockets.

"Kiba, he told me you had something big going on. But he says you won't tell him. It's troublesome that I'm gonna say it but… just what are you planning Naruto?"

"Oh so Kiba told you huh?" Naruto said.

"Not only that, but Shino actually said something about it too." Choji answered, munching loudly on his chips.

"If Shino actually says something, then it must be big. That guy really does give me the creeps." Shikamaru said, rubbing his temples with annoyance.

"Kiba and Shino?! I knew I couldn't trust Kiba, but Shino too?" Naruto sighed. "It just goes to show you about who's who these days."

"Well, what are you doing Naruto? Is it another prank?" Choji asked quizzically.

Naruto pondered for a moment. Should I tell them…? He shook his head. Nah, that would ruin the surprise!

"Well like I said to those two guys, you just gotta wait and see!" Naruto gave them his fox grin and nice guy pose.

The two friends blinked, looked at one another, before blinking again. Shikamaru was the first one to recover.

"Che. How troublesome." Shikamaru complained as he ran his fingers through his hair while looking at the sky.

Choji then snapped out of it and then went back to eating his chips, slowly. "Well, this outta be interesting."

"Next up is… Haruno Sakura and Hyuuga Hinata." Iruka called out.

Naruto immediately paid all of his attention to the arena. Not only because it was a girl fight, but because his crush, Haruno Sakura was fighting.

"Please take your positions." Iruka instructed two girls.

Haruno Sakura (age 13) took the left side of the drawn out arena while Hyuuga Hinata (age 13) took the right. Haruno Sakura was a girl of principle. She always followed the rules, did her work, a perfect student. Though she did, and like all of the girls in the Academy, have a huge crush on the one and only, Uchiha Sasuke (age 13). Sakura wore an all green, long-sleeved dress with white leaf decorations on the bottom right of her dress. She also wore a single red ribbon that kept her hair in place nicely, and had blue unisex ninja sandals.

Naruto smiled and was about to cheer her on, but stopped as he spotted something on the corner of his eyes. It was the other girl.

Hyuuga Hinata, the heiress of the prestige clan of the Hyuugas. Like the rest of her family, she possess a kekkei genkai of ocular prowess that can be able to let her see into a shinobi's chakra points. But unlike her other Hyuuga brethren, Hinata was a shy, timid, and meek girl. She didn't like violence, yet she wanted to be a ninja, and she rarely spoke like Shino.

Naruto thought that she was…

"Weird…" He whispered aloud.

Shikamaru looked at Naruto with confusion. "Mm? You see something Naruto?" the lazy tactician asked.

Naruto started to wave his hands around frantically. "O-Oh it was nothing. Just a fly." Then the blonde boy stared at the Hyuuga with interest.

Hinata wore a pale turquoise-ish vest-like jacket that had the Hyuuga insignia right over her heart. She also wore black expendable shorts, and the standard blue unisex ninja sandals.

But really caught Naruto's eyes, was her whole physical enigma. She had the darkest hair he had ever seen, her eyes were the biggest eyes he had ever seen too. They looked like two full moons that had a tinge of lavender colored on them. And her skin, her skin was very pale, like porcelain. And her cheeks would always stay in a constant blush. It wasn't infuriating, it was just… Unusual for him…

As they got ready, Naruto couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor girl. What with her, poking her two index fingers together, and her knees slightly buckling, he just couldn't help himself but be sympathetic towards her.

Naruto sighed through his nose and gave a small, but genuine smile towards Hinata. He knew she wouldn't look towards him but…

Wait… What was that…?

Naruto blinked. He could see her look at him just out of the rim on her eyelids. She was looking at him. She was actually looking in his direction! Naruto couldn't help but feel elated that someone was actually paying attention to him.

He felt his smile widen until it stretched so far, it hurt. He gave Hinata a small wave. He watched her jump with surprise, with her eyes widening. She then whipped her head back to her opponent.

Naruto felt his smile falter until it slowly became a small frown. Had he ruined it? Did he make her uncomfortable? Was she mad at him? Questions started to immediately buzz around his brain as he stared at Hinata.

Did she… hate him now…?

Before Naruto could rip his eyes away and sulk with guilt. He saw that the darkette, yet again, looked in his direction. Naruto jumped with surprise. So she didn't hate him! The blonde just grinned. He was going to talk to her after training.

"Hinata… Hinata. Hinata!" Iruka yelled at the timid girl.

"Y-Yes Iruka-s-sensei?!" Hinata squeaked with her face burning up.

"I said are you ready?" Iruka asked her gently, feeling guilty as he startled the poor girl.

Hinata nodded hesitantly. "H-Hai sensei…"

Iruka smiled with relief. "Well then, please bow to your opponent, and get into your fighting stance."

"Y-Yes…" The two girls bowed towards each other, Hinata's a little more humble than intended to be. Then they both got into their stance.

Naruto watched with awe as the meek girl as she got into her fighting stance. A second ago, he thought that she wouldn't know anything about fighting, but now that he's watching her get ready, he was sorely wrong.

Hinata breathed in deeply as she calmly spread her feet, with her squatting slightly. Her right hand slipped out in front of her while her left went all the way back until it stopped right in front of her heart. She then stared at Sakura with such resolve, determination, and confidence he nor has anyone ever seen before. It was so amazing, that whispers were loudly emerging from some of the other students.

Usually, Hyuuga Hinata would always forfeit a match; fearing that she might hurt one of her dearest classmates or friends. But lately, Hinata has started to get more involved with the program, confusing everyone.

"It seems Hinata looks serious today," Shikamaru stated boringly, "how troublesome."

"Yeah, it looks like Sakura's in trouble." Choji agreed in between munches.

Naruto frowned upon hearing the news. He didn't like the idea of Sakura being frowned upon on, but he couldn't help agree with them. Sure Sakura was considered a genius in all of the shinobi academics, but when it came to fighting… she wasn't as good as she was supposed to be.

It just proved their point as Sakura slipped into her battle stance. Her fists were up but they looked sloppy, her back was slightly hunched instead of straight, and her feet were two close-for-comfort.

Iruka felt himself sweatdrop as he watched. Hopefully this won't end as bad as I fear… He thought pleadingly.

"R-Right… Ready… Begin!"

The two girls just stood there, squaring each other off, until Hinata shifted herself to the right, making Sakura shift to the left. Hinata shifted again while staring at Sakura with an impassive face.

Wh-Why is she looking at me like that…? Sakura thought nervously. Does she have some sort of grudge against me…? The pinkette shook her head vigorously. No, no! I mustn't let her get to me! Not like this! I'm doing this for Sasuke-kun!

The green eyed girl stared at almost-every-girl-in-the-academy's dreamboat, Uchiha Sasuke. The boy wore a dark black shirt that had a high collar visage and the Uchiha clan's insignia on the middle of his back, black shorts, and blue unisex shinobi sandals. He had black raven hair with two long spiky strands of hair that reached all the way down to his chin. His black pearled eyes looked off somewhere, not interested in the fight.

The pinkette sighed with awe and admiration. She suddenly looked back at Hinata with determination flooding her electric green eyes. ALRIGHT! This win will definitely make Sasuke-kun notice me now! CHA!

"HIIIYAAAHHH!" The pink haired girl screeched and charged at Hinata at full speed. Sakura then threw a punch, hoping it would make the timid girl go down. Sadly, that didn't happen. Once Sakura threw that punch, Hinata easily sidestepped it and effectively chopped Sakura at the midsection of her back. The pinkette went down with a heavy thud, struggling to get back up.

Iruka sighed. If only more of the girls in this class would actually train to be great kunoichis, then stuff that are humiliating like this would never happen to them! "Winner, Hyuuga Hinata."

"Aww, what a disappointment."

"I know right, I was hoping for a longer chick fight!"

"Tell me about it! But I guess it was cool."

"Yeah, who knew that Hyuuga girl could be good at fighting!"

Some of the students whispered to one of another; mostly consisting of the male populace. Iruka smiled at Hinata not only for showing a display of skill, experience, and precision, but also for displaying an act of kindness towards her comrade.

Hinata quickly ran over to the fallen Sakura and helped her up. "S-Sorry about that! I-I didn't kn-know it would hurt y-you this b-bad!" Hinata lended out a hand and Sakura took it gratefully.

"Nah, it's okay! You had to do what you had to do!" Sakura smiled. Though the pinkette's inner voice thought otherwise.

"CHA! SHE MADE ME LOOK BAD IN FRON OF SASUKE-KUN! NOW THERE'S GONNA BE HELL TO PAY! SHANROO!" Inner Sakura boomed, punching the air vigorously.

"Great fight girls." Iruka smiled. "Now please show the unison sign of friendship towards your fellow classmate."

Both girls nodded and faced each other. They both put out two fingers and they crossed, and then they folded and held each other. Hinata smiled gently at the pinkette with a light hue of pink on her cheeks. Sakura in turn, grinned at the shy Hyuuga heiress with her own light shade of pink appearing on her cheeks.

Iruka smiled at the display. He was glad that even though there was one loser, and one winner, the girls had managed to not bicker and maintain stability towards each other.

Now that's what a call being a true shinobi… Iruka thought as he smiled at the two girls proudly. "Alright you two. Please move out of the arena for the next two contestants. The next combatants are…"

Naruto watched as Hinata made her way out of the drawn out fighting ring, to the far right of the flock of girls that were positioned there. Naruto squinted his eyes slightly to see that the heiress was far away from the girls instead of closer.

Doesn't she have any friends over there…? Naruto thought curiously. He would have to investigate.

As the blonde haired Jinchuriki was about to make his way over to the lavender eyed girl, he was stopped by his sensei.

"Okay, our next contestants are Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto groaned. Somehow, he knew that was going to happen. As he made his way out onto the arena, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Naruto looked around to see Shikamaru giving him a small smile of reassurance.

"Good luck out there Naruto," The cloud gazer said, "you're gonna need it."

"Geez Shikamaru," Naruto grumbled, "aren't you just a little ray of sunshine!"

The Nara shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Naruto sighed and continued to trek out to the arena, grumbling under his breath. As he positioned himself on the far left, Sasuke made his way over to the right. As he did, he was greeted by screams and cheers of the girls.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun!"

"Sasuke-kun!"

"You can do it Sasuke-kun!"

The last comment came from Yamanaka Ino (age 13). She wore a light orange long-sleeved shirt that had dark black lines along the edges. She also had on badge pants with white rings at the bottom, red unisex ninja sandals, a light purple double ringed necklace, and a blue hair clip on the left side of her short light blonde hair.

Ino constantly thinks about boys and takes a great deal of pride in her appearance, more than others. She's very popular in the Academy, with the girls but mostly with the boys. She can also be very confident, kind, and outspoken, not afraid to speak her mind, and sometimes suggests that Chōji should lose weight (much to the hearty boy's annoyance).

"Alright Sasuke-kun, pound your opponent!" This comment came from Naruto's crush, Sakura; much to the blonde's disappointment.

This is already starting bad… Iruka thought hesitantly. Might as well get this train wreck started… "Alright then, Naruto, Sasuke, please bow towards your opponent."

Sasuke just glared at Naruto with a face of disgust. But in any case, the Uchiha did what his teacher complied. Somewhat stiffly.

Okay that's one down… Iruka thought. The chūnin then turned towards the other student with worry clearly drawn on his face. Now for the other… Hopefully…

"Okay Naruto, your turn." Iruka said with hesitancy.

Everyone turned towards the blonde, already knowing what would happen.

"Ugh. I'll bet Naruto will explode again!" A girl whispered to another.

"Doesn't he always do that?"

"Yeah, but it's so annoying! He's so annoying!"

"He's not proving anything when he shouts, he's just embarrassing himself!"

They all whispered. Naruto grinned mischievously as he took glances at his fellow classmates. Boy wouldn't they all be in for a surprise today! The blonde Uzumaki couldn't wait to pull out his trick on them.

HA! I can't wait to see the looks on their faces! It'll be classic! The boy snickered at the thought. As his cerulean gaze started to scan the faces of his classmates, his eyes caught some other familiar ones.

It's that girl, Hyuuga Hinata! He thought, a little happy that she was looking at him again. But then he frowned. I bet she's also cheering for Sasuke-teme too…

But then Naruto saw that she was hesitantly looking at him. He watched as she slowly and shyly lifted up her hands to form two thumbs up for him. Him! The Leaf Village's troublemaker, the pariah! Now Naruto was definitely sure that he was going to make this day the most memorable day in the Ninja Academy's history!

"Naruto… Naruto… OI NARUTO!" Iruka yelled at the blonde.

"GAH!" Naruto jumped in surprise, resulting the class to erupt with laughter.

"I said bow!"

"R-Right…" Naruto then bowed towards Sasuke respectively.

This act resulted in a chain reaction of events. The whole class gasped, Iruka's mouth hung open, Sasuke's eyes widened, Hinata covered her mouth with her hands, Kiba looked incredulously at the blonde, Akamaru whimpered, Shino's eyebrows became visible over his shades, Choji munched louder on his chips, Shikamaru stared at Naruto with shock, and Naruto just grinned inwardly.

It took a moment for Iruka to gather his bearings before continuing again. "O-Okay… Now please take your position."

"Oi Iruka-sensei, I wanna say something to Sasuke-teme," Naruto asked his teacher, "it won't take long."

Iruka sighed at the Kyuubi jailers reestablished antics. "Naruto, we've already been over this…!"

"Aw c'mon, puh-please?" Naruto gave his sensei the best puppy eyes he could muster.

"No, I—"

"I'll use the Sexy Jutsu again." Naruto said with an impassive face.

"Make it quick." Iruka stated while pretending to busy himself amongst his papers.

Naruto turned towards Sasuke with his famous foxy grin stretched upon his lips. Sasuke in turn braced himself for whatever insults Naruto would do with narrowed eyes.

"I've only got one thing and one thing only to say to you, teme…" Naruto said while pointing a finger accusingly at the Uchiha. "And that is…"

Here it comes… Sasuke, along with everyone else, was getting ready for the blonde's words.

Naruto's grin suddenly diminished into a small genuine smile, with his blue eyes smiling with kindness towards the Uchiha. "… Let's make this a friendly spar, ne?"

Everyone stared at Uzumaki Naruto in silence.

A second passed…

Then ten…

"Eh…?" Sasuke said staring at the Uzumaki with wide eyes.

"Eh?" Iruka also stated while he became slack jawed at Naruto's words also.

"EHH?!" Everyone then screamed in a big chorus of confusion. Naruto just stared at them with confusion written all over his face.

"What? What did I say?"

"H-Hey dobe." Sasuke addressed the young blonde buck.

"Mm?" Naruto turned to look at Sasuke, shocking everyone not of his dense obliviousness, but not exploding at Sasuke for being insulted.

"Say that again."

"Say what?"

"The thing you last said."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion before pounding his fist into his hand. "Oh, that! Yeah I said, 'let's make this a friendly spar'. What, what's up with that?"

"OI BAKA! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!" Kiba yelled at Naruto, pointing at him.

"THAT'S ENOUGH KIBA!" Iruka shouted using is Big Head no Jutsu. The chūnin then returned to normal and coughed to restore order. "Now then, will the two combatants please get into their battle stances."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, eliciting squeals from his flock of fanclub girls. The Uchiha spread his feet wide apart and expertly held up his fists; he then looked at his fellow blonde classmate with narrowed black pearled eyes.

"Okay then, now Naruto if you would—" Iruka started only to be silence by his favored pupil yet again.

"YOSH! Let's get this party started!" Naruto then relaxed his pose and got into his own position. The blonde stomped his right foot way out in front of his left, effectively sliding his left foot at 9 O'clock; then the blonde boy put both of his fists out in front, only turning his left hand into a single chop.

Yet again, Naruto managed to surprise everyone today by his sudden behavior. Everyone knew that the dead-last was also sloppy in his fighting style, but right now he was displaying how refined his battle position was.

Naruto sure is surprising today… Iruka thought, staring at the Kyuubi jailer intently. I wonder… Could it have been something I said…?

"Alright then. Ready…"

The two boys suddenly stiffened, getting ready for combat.

"Begin!" Iruka shouted.

Almost immediately, the two rivals launched at each other. Naruto first threw a punch, only to be blocked by the last Uchiha. Sasuke in turn, threw a punch with his free hand, predicting, just like everyone else, to end the match immediately.

A loud thump sounded, and everyone expected to see Naruto to fall on the ground to be defeated, only to see…

That Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto, had for once, blocked Uchiha Sasuke's punch.

The spectators were awed into silence, and Naruto just grinned into Sasuke's face as they were at a stalemate, pushing into one another.

"Not this time, Sasuke-teme!" Naruto chuckled loudly, making the Uchiha growl in annoyance.

Then the two boys sprang apart, sliding on the ground until they were only a few inches away from the boundary. Sasuke regained his posture, watching Naruto as the blonde started to bounce on his feet, with his fists loosely clutched.

"Whoo! Good rebound Sasuke-teme! I'd expect no less from the Rookie of the Year, 'ttebayo!" Naruto said as he actually complimented on the Uchiha.

Yet again, Naruto has managed to single-handedly paralyze his entire class and his sensei with only his words.

"Is Naruto okay?" A student said to another.

"He's acting weird…"

"Is he on some sort of medication or something?"

"I dunno, he probably ate some bad food."

"Whatever it was, it's actually making him… nice…"

Yatta! It's actually working! Iruka-sensei was right! Naruto grinned at his success. He then started to stretch to get serious with Sasuke. If this is the reaction of me being nice, I wonder what would happen if the whole village got wind of this?

As he stretched, Naruto caught sight of Hinata again. He smiled at her reaction. She was staring at him with wide lavender eyes, one of her hands covering her slightly agape mouth, and her constant blush looked darker than usual.

Heh! She seems to notice too! Naruto stopped stretching and started to shake out his muscles. Alright! Let's get this show on the road!

"Are you ready Sasuke-teme? 'Cause I'm gonna get serious now!" Naruto yelled at his opponent.


Sasuke stared at his blonde counterpart with spite and confusion. Never before had the Uchiha experienced this sort of surprising growth from the dead-last of the Ninja Academy.

How did this happen…? Sasuke thought, narrowing his eyes at the blonde. What could have caused such a reaction from Naruto…? Was he always like this or… Has he been toying with me all this time…?

Sasuke growled at the last thought. No way would he, the last Uchiha her of the prestige Uchiha clan, be dooped by some wannabe ninja.

"Are you ready Sasuke-teme?" Sasuke growled at the insulting nickname Naruto has had the gracious liberty of giving him. "'Cause I'm gonna get serious now!"

Sasuke scoffed. "When have you ever been serious, Naruto?"

The only response he got from the Jinchuriki was a friendly smile, which irked the Rookie of the Year.

"Oh just right…" Naruto suddenly sprinted towards Sasuke with such speed, it greatly surprised everyone. As Naruto jumped towards Sasuke to deliver a right hook, the Uchiha only had seconds to put up his arms to block. "NOW!"

And Naruto gave Sasuke a devastating punch at the midsection of his crossed arms. The result was surprising. Naruto had managed to force back Sasuke all the way to the border line of the circle, only to stop once Sasuke pushed Naruto back with a harder force. They separated, and Sasuke ran in the circle more but also kept a safe distance from Naruto.

Sasuke glared at Naruto with his teeth grounding together slightly. Since when did Naruto become this powerful?! Is he messing with— Sasuke suddenly took a deep breath. No, I shouldn't let him get to me, rather I should get to him. Seems easy.

"Hey, Naruto." The blonde blinked at the raven haired boy. "You're not proving anything to anyone you know." Sasuke grinned. "Even though you think you may be displaying chivalry, a dead-last idiot, such as yourself, can never outmatch someone like me."

Sasuke watched with triumphant eyes as he saw Naruto glare at him while grounding his teeth loudly. His fist clenched hard until his knuckles became white, and he hunched over as if ready to spring.

Heh. How typical. But something else caught the arrogant Uchiha's eyes. He saw Naruto's blue eyes shift over to look at something. Curious, Sasuke followed his gaze, only to come across a lone girl with big lavender eyes and shine dark blue hair almost in the same style as his.

One of those obnoxious girls? Why is he so interested in her? But then the Uchiha suddenly understood the Uzumaki's curiosity. That lone girl, was actually looking straight at the Uzumaki. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and saw that she looked… worried for Naruto?

The raven haired boy tilted his head a fraction of an inch in curiosity. How peculiar… But Sasuke was rudely brought out of his thoughts but a fist to his cheek.

Naruto had managed to attack during Sasuke's moment of distraction. The result was devastating for the spectators and for Sasuke himself.

"Rule no.1 of a shinobi's guide, Sasuke-teme," Naruto yelled as they slowly started to plummet onto the ground, "never let your guard down!"

Sasuke growled for one, being hit by the dobe; and two, being lecture by him. If Sasuke knew one thing, it was he was having none of this!

Before they hit the ground, with Sasuke looking defeated, the Uchiha did an impossible maneuver where in the few seconds, he managed to flip himself on top, and Naruto on the bottom. Naruto hit the ground first with a heavy thud, and with Sasuke pinning him down with a sly grin plastered on his face.

"Like I have stated before dobe," Sasuke said while wiping away the blood dripping down the corner of his mouth, "an idiot like you can never outmatch someone like me."

Naruto just grinned at him, setting the arrogant boy off again. "We'll see teme, we'll see…"

"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke." Iruka said, offsetting loud cheers from the girls as they screamed the Uchiha's name. Sasuke glared at Naruto one more time before getting up and walking over to Iruka.


Naruto sat up and coughed as dirt started to cascade around him. Sure he was angry from losing, to Sasuke no doubt, but he was also happy that he had managed to surprise and land a punch on the teme for once. So all in all, it was a win-win, for him that is.

He got up and made his way over to Iruka and Sasuke, standing in front of the Uchiha with a big smile on his face.

Iruka lifted an eyebrow at Naruto's behavior, but brushed it aside. "Alright, now please show the unison sign of friendship towards your fellow classmate." Without strangling each other… Iruka added inwardly.

The duo then looked at each other, Sasuke glaring while Naruto smiled; they both lifted up two fingers and crossed it. Either one not daring to grab onto the other.

"Alright then," Iruka sighed in relief, "please move off of the ring for the next two—"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Naruto shouted as he ran over to Hinata.

"OI NARUTO, YOU BRAT! I WASN'T FINISHED!" Iruka yelled angrily at the spiky haired boy.

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto said boredly as he looked away while sticking a finger into his ear.

Iruka cringed and started to shake with anger. That brat…! He then sighed and continued on with class, although the whole time he had a vein bursting on his head.

Naruto looked at Iruka and then sighed. "What a killjoy, ne?" He said as he nudged Hinata.

Naruto blinked when she didn't respond. He turned towards he only to see her look at the ground and poke her fingers together.

He leaned in closer. "Hey are you okay?"

He watched her jump slightly and squeak with surprise. She looked at him like she was a dear trapped in some headlights. Naruto stared at her for a few moments before realizing he was making her uncomfortable.

"Oh my bad. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." He said sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

"I-It's o-okay…" She stammered.

They stayed silent for a few seconds before Naruto started the conversation again.

"Oh where are my manners," Naruto suddenly held out a hand towards the girl, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, pleasure to meetcha!"

Naruto looked at her nervously as she looked at his hand, then him, then back again. He was inwardly pleading her to take his hand.

C'mon please, please, please!

He suddenly smiled once he saw her hesitantly reach out towards his hand, and took it shakily. Naruto couldn't help but feel surprised by Hinata's hand as they shook. It was very small in his own, it was soft, and even though it pale and cold, it wasn't. It was… warm…

Weird… He thought as he let go off her hand. But since the boy we know and love is very dense even to his own emotions, Naruto brutally shoved those thoughts down the darkest resources of his mind.

"So Hinata," Naruto bounced, eager to finally strike up a conversation with someone new, "you looked pretty awesome out there on the ring!"


Hyuuga Hinata couldn't believe that she was actually talking with her crush. It was like a dream come true. He just suddenly ran over here, and started to talk to her. She didn't know though, but if this was a dream, she didn't want to wake up.

And the best part was, he was actually complimenting her fight! So of course she couldn't help but blush. And it took every ounce of her willpower not to faint right there on the spot.

I-I can't believe it…! It's Naruto-kun…! H-He's actually talking to me… Hinata inwardly sighed as she felt her vision started to have black spots floating around.

"Hinata… Hinata. HINATA!" A voice screamed.

"A-Ah! Wh-What?" Hinata shook her head and started to look around with panic showing in her eyes.

She heard snickering and turned to see Naruto holding his stomache with one hand, while the other ball into a fist against his laughing mouth.

"I… I'm sorry! It's just that…!" He chuckled again. "It's really funny when you look like that!"

He chuckled again, making the Hyuuga blush in embarrassment. She gripped tightly at the end of her vest-like jacket as she shuffled her feet nervously against the ground, trying hard to maintain the scorching blush that appeared across her face.

"S-Sorry… Na-Naruto-kun…" She mumbled out.

She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at the spiky hair boy. Albeit reluctantly.

"Hey c'mon," He smiled gently at her, "lighten up a bit. I just said you looked funny, I wasn't insulting you." He suddenly stopped and looked thoroughly out into space. "Err… Wait… I might have…"

Hinata blinked a few times in surprise. After a few moments, she suddenly started to giggle lowly until those giggles escalated in volume.

Naruto stared at her in surprise before chuckling along with her.

"Okay everyone," Iruka's voice boomed, effectively cutting the duo's merriment. "It's time to go inside so I can give you your report cards." The class groaned. "And to inform you since summer is tomorrow, that you'll have no school over the summer break!" The class then cheered.

Everyone then rushed inside with happiness etched on their features.

"Oh wait everyone! I forgot to tell you that when you get back, The Genin Exams will begin!" Iruka shouted after them, only for it to backfire against himself.

"Well that's our cue!" Naruto grinned as he stared down at Hinata with his eyes smiling.

"H-Hai." She nodded hesitantly.

"Hey Hinata."

Said Hyuuga heiress turned to look at her crush with a dark blush appearing on her cheeks. "Y-Yes, N-Naruto-kun?"

She watched in confusion as his demeanor suddenly became nervous. He opened his mouth only to shut it again; this process repeated several times before he sighed in defeat.

"Would you… like to.. you know just you and me talk sometimes?" The blonde boy spoke really fast with one eye closed in anticipation.

Hinata blinked.

10 seconds passed…

20 passed…

All of a sudden Hinata's face erupted into a dark crimson color. She staggered back and promptly stared to fall backwards towards the ground if not Naruto was there and caught her.

"EH?! Hinata! Are you okay?! HINATA?!" Naruto shouted as he tried to shake her awake.

Iruka sighed as he watched his best female student faint into Naruto's arms. Some things… I will never understand…

OH YEAH! MY FIRST YOUNG NARUHINA FANFICTION! I feel like I shouldv'e done better... Ah well, tomato tamato! Well anyway I hope you dudes and dudettes enjoyed! If you've sneezed through this whole thing, THEN BLESS YOUR FACE! Anyway, see ya dudes later!