Naruto gripped two locks of his hair tightly, staring worriedly at the test that lay directly in front of him. Equations, strategies, history; what the hell had happened to sparring?
"Five minutes left," the proctor for the exam, Iruka Umino, announced with a smile, distractingly rolling a kunai between his fingertips. Naruto violently shook his head, exhaling loudly and sniffling. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his chest as his classmate elbowed him in the rib cage. Despite Naruto assuming they'd been broken the day before, he noticed that the pain was, at most, bearable.
"Stop moving so much!" Sakura snapped at whisper, rolling her emerald eyes and returning her gaze to her own mistake-riddled paper, a large bead of sweat forming on her hot pink eyebrows. Although he would normally lose his temper and hit anybody with the balls to say something of that nature to him, it was somehow...different with Sakura. Despite the malice behind her words, they gave him a sort of morale boost. Naruto exhaled deeply, held his pencil, and took another quick glance at the first question on the test.
"Who were the four honored Knights of the Sage?"
Almost instantaneously, Naruto's burst of courage wound down, leaving him in the depths of despair yet again.
"Ugh. We never went over this in class!" Naruto screamed in his head. He was completely out of options.
He had to cheat.
The young blonde carefully rested his chin on his hand and took a brief gander to his left, where Sakura's pencil appeared to be locked in perpetual motion. Naruto prayed to the five kage as he steeled his gaze on the test's first question, waiting for her to stop moving. Of course, being the borderline genius of the Academy, she didn't do that for what felt like hours. Thankfully, as she attempted to tackle the last question, an essay, Naruto was finally able to catch a long glimpse at her answer.
"The Honored Four are mentioned throughout history as Hawkeye Kalos, captain of the guard, Kirin, whose voice could do unspeakable things, Raiton, wielder of the lightning bolt, and Kassymir the Planeswalker, who notably disappeared without a trace."
"Wow, that's pretty dark stuff," Naruto accidentally said aloud, not surprisingly earning him a particularly bone-crushing elbow from the pink-haired beauty at his left.
Suddenly, before he even had a chance to write one word of his answer, the tests in front of the students disappeared in a puff of smoke, much to the their dismay.
"Just give it a second," Iruka once again called out, licking his finger in order to turn the page of an erotic-looking novel with a strong blush in his deep tan complexion. Reluctantly obeying his sensei's orders, Naruto dug his fingernails into the desk, drawing small shavings of wood. The silence in the room only built upon Naruto's ever-growing worry. He could almost hear the beating of their hearts. One massive, uniform drum.
After a few long-drawn, suspenseful minutes, there was a small wisp of smoke as the tests of everyone in the room reappeared before them, large numbered grades scrawled across their tops in bold, crimson ink.
"Yes! Yes! Shannaro!" Sakura screamed, planting a fat, lipstick-ridden kiss on her paper's grade. Naruto, however, didn't even care to look at his paper. Even someone without an iota of logic could deduce that he'd failed. Crumpling his test in his fist with what little strength he possessed in his trembling body, Naruto held his breath as he forcefully shoved the wad of questions into his jacket pocket, expecting to burn it when he got home. Of course, some people were a bit luckier than he was.
"Ha, Ino pig, one hundred!" Sakura shouted to the air, lifting her paper to the row behind her.
"Whatever, you flat-chested bitch!" Ino yelped as she threw her fist against Sakura's test, crudely splitting the paper in half.
Naruto quickly excused himself as Sakura lunged at her rival, quietly walking up the steps and setting course for the door to the classroom, wishing more than ever he could become invisible.
"Quiet down, class!" Iruka interjected loudly, thrusting his palm outward. Surprised, the class followed his instructions. "Naruto-kun!" he continued, "why are you leaving? We have info about the graduation ceremony!" Iruka's words, despite their comforting tone, only kicked Naruto while he was down. His sensei was so sure he'd passed the test, and he'd failed him. Again.
"Uh...I don't think I did that good, Iruka-sensei," Naruto calmly replied, feeling the embarrassing gazes of every other student.
"Impossible! You only needed a sixty to pass, and this test was word-for-word from the study guide!" Naruto didn't need to look to know he didn't get a sixty.
"What an idiot! If he can't pass this test, he'll stay in the Academy till he's got a long white beard!" a boy in the front row of students called out, making the entire class let out a little giggle. Turning to meet his insulter's stare, Naruto was more creeped out than offended. The boy had a short, thin form, a rat's nest of chocolate hair, and wore a simple black t-shirt with matching track pants and deep blue sandals. With that, one would assume him to be a regular person, easily forgotten among the many faces one sees in a day. But his eyes were something Naruto would never forget.
The boy's orbits contained only a solid white sphere, devoid of all color.
Trapped in the other student's petrifying gaze, Naruto felt a knot grow in his throat as he attempted to hurl a crude comeback, only for his words to die on his tongue. "What," the boy continued with a devilish grin, "cat got your tongue?"
"Obviously. I wish it'd get yours too, you loud-mouthed teme," Naruto's best friend, Shikamaru, dully chimed from the back row. "What an annoying douche," he continued, though at a hushed level.
"Excuse me! That's enough! Teams will be assigned tomorrow at noon! You're dismissed!" Iruka shouted, slamming his calloused palms onto his desk and knocking its contents onto the floor.
"How is it that you didn't know a single answer?" Nagato asked in his quiet, polite tone. When Naruto had come back to his apartment, Nagato had been reading one of his textbooks, specifically an article regarding the Yondaime Hokage. He had been able to logically deduce that Naruto had not passed the exam when he'd trudged over to him, stolen the book from his hands, and hurled it violently across the room.
"I was studying for Ninjutsu and stuff, not random knowledge! How will knowing the Honored Four save me from getting stabbed in the face?!" Naruto retorted at a considerably higher volume, feeling his throat swell as he fought back tears of frustration. He wanted to be the greatest ninja in recorded history. How was he going to do that with a few fun facts?
"Please, Naruto-kun, there is no reason to yell."
"Yeah, whatever, I'm going for a walk. You comin'?" Naruto snapped, latching his Nintools packet to his track pants. You know, just in case. Although Nagato accepted jauntily, Naruto doubted that he would be able to maintain his mien for an extended period of time.
As the duo casually strolled along the winding, maze-like streets of Konoha, Nagato continually asked about different people and things, from restaurants to a black-haired woman holding a teacup pig.
"I actually can't answer that one."
"That is understandable. I can only assume that people carrying pigs is an odd occurrence."
"You're damn right," Naruto replied, sighing as the view of his friends, the other "dead lasts," wearing their honorary Konoha headbands with pride, came into sight. He could feel himself baring his teeth, his anger like a hurricane growing on the ocean.
Semi-thankfully, Naruto was forced to divert his attention when an all too familiar voice forced him to return to reality.
"That's the kid from yesterday! Get him!" Naruto's bully ordered, his cronies mindlessly following in his footsteps as he took up a sprint, weaving through a crowd of innocent shoppers crudely. Naruto, despite his normal cocky, come-at-me attitude, knew that fighting would only mean less training, and he, above all, knew that he couldn't afford that. Slapping Nagato on the shoulder and commanding him to follow, Naruto turned tail and ran, hoping to lose his pursuers amidst the many dark, dank alleyways that plagued the Leaf. Unfortunately, Nagato had other plans.
"Are those children chasing somebody?" he calmly asked, soaking in the environment like a sieve, occasionally acknowledging the many bright, neon lights of nighttime Konoha.
"RUN!" Naruto shouted into his ear, yet again turning and trying to run. Trying.
"I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable with this."
"Fine. Go ahead and get the shit beat out of you," Naruto growled, finally taking off. He first disappeared behind a bridal dress store, followed by scurrying up and over a small marble wall, and crossing a cobblestone bridge that hovered over a calm, serene river that actually caught his attention. Although the moon normally only faintly lit the ground and lightly reflected small puddles, the surface of the river below him was a brilliant ray of light, illuminating everything around it. Squinting his eyes, Naruto could have sworn he'd seen something gleaming on the bottom of the river.
The blonde was called back into the world of the living when his assailants finally caught up with him, their faces masked by the darkness. Dropping into a readied stance and leaning his weight onto his left foot, Naruto prepared for a vicious encounter, one that he would most likely come out of beaten and bruised. Surprisingly, the boys, even the chubby one with jet black hair, whizzed past him at Mach Two, screaming for their mothers.
"Huh?" Naruto grunted, returning to his normal posture. His perplexity mounted when Nagato calmly strolled onto the bridge, a small cut oozing warm blood on his cheek.
"Naruto-kun, I think I frightened some people," he just about whispered, tears falling from underneath his crimson hair. Shaking his head in order to break his static trance, Naruto ran forward and couldn't stop himself from asking,
"What the hell happened back there?"
"Well, I saw they were angrily chasing after you, so I asked them to stop. People looked at me like I was insane. The other boys tried to push and shove me away, but I held firm." Nagato's voice cracked as he continued, as if he had done something horribly wrong. "Then, the heavy-set boy removed a kunai from his Ninja Tools packet and slashed me across my cheek."
Naruto could feel another storm of fury brewing in his chest, enraged that someone had hurt his only real family. Still, curiosity made him set aside the anger.
"So what did you do?" In response to his question, Nagato opened his mouth to speak, but closed it just as fast, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his plain white t-shirt.
Before he could answer, there was a puff of smoke directly behind Nagato, revealing a man of about twenty-five brandishing a lengthy, black carbon steel blade with a metal rectangular hand guard, trapping him effortlessly in a half-nelson.
"Child," the man began in a subtle, deep tone, stopping only to lightly cough, "you have ten seconds to explain what you did back there and how you did it. Your time starts now," he continued. Naruto wasn't normally frightened by anything, even Sakura's rage, but this man emitted an aura of dire seriousness, as if light and happiness were fatal allergies to him. Although he was only standing about ten feet away from him, Naruto could just barely make out his features. The man had cold, steel gray eyes and short, sandy brown hair. He wore a complete Konoha-nin uniform, forehead protector included, as well as a peculiar ring on his left hand, though Naruto couldn't quite make out the intricacies etched into it.
"I was defending myself!" Nagato shouted, squirming in pain. Unsatisfied, the ninja forced his downward more downward, coughing,
"Nine."
"Hey, leave him al-"
"Eight."
"Let me talk, you cu-"
"Seven." Naruto lunged at the ninja, only to crash face-first into the cobblestone ground, feeling someone's foot press his face into the gravel. Unable to fight back, Naruto fruitlessly tried to stand up, only for what he assumed to be the man's foot bearing down on him like a massive boulder.
"I used my eyes!" Nagato screamed, capitulating to the pain. With that, the man removed his foot from Naruto's head and allowed him to stand up. He could feel his face bleeding as he rose to his feet, feeling light-headed and lost.
"Explain," the duo's assailant commanded, holding his blade about six inches away from Naruto's face.
"The one boy hurt me, and my eyes tingled, then...they just flew backward! I swear!" the young redhead wailed, falling to his knees. The man stood in contemplation, seemingly deciding whether or not Nagato was telling the truth.
"Does it...really look...like he's lying?" Naruto groaned, rubbing his forehead and smearing a small amount of blood. Thankfully, the man did not kill or maim either of them, although he did firmly grasp each of their shoulders. All that was able to escape from Naruto's mouth before they disappeared into the thin air was, "Hey! What the-"
Naruto and Nagato suddenly found themselves tumbling through the Hokage's simple office, hitting their heads on the legs of the Third's leather love seats.
"You know, you really ought to just walk, Hayate-san," the Third's mellow tone groaned, as if he were more disappointed by the fact that his chairs had been nicked rather than the two boys writhing in pain on the floor, their eyes watering.
"My apologies, Hokage-sama, but this is urgent."
"What could possibly be so urgent that you had to bust into my office, especially on my break?" The Hokage seemed more amused than perplexed.
"Hokage-sama, this child," the man named Hayate gripped Nagato's collar and yanked him to his feet, using his other hand to push his scarlet bangs out of his face, "possesses the Rinnegan."
Nearly instantly, the Third Hokage's expression went from playful to gravely serious. Rocketing out of his seat, the Hokage stalked over to Nagato and began to investigate his eyes, apparently searching for something. Rising to his feet with tears of pain rolling down his cheeks, Naruto inquired disdainfully,
"Just what the hell are you looking for?" Staring coldly in Naruto's direction, Hayate sharply jerked Nagato's neck, as if he were trying to kill him.
Naruto screamed.
His brother's eyes were purple, and not like the oddly-pleasant lavender of the Hyūga, but a deep, saturated amethyst, with jet black concentric circles rippling from the pupil. "What the hell, Nagato-kun?!"
"I'm sorry-"
"Don't apologize!" Hayate suddenly interjected, his voice as stern as ever. "You have been blessed with the greatest dōjutsu of the age, child. You best put it to good use." With that remark, there was eerie silence for a solid five minutes, allowing Naruto to collect his thoughts and recuperate. Staring out of the Hokage's bay window, which sat directly behind his desk, Naruto admired the dim moon. He was jealous of the way it stood there so peacefully, never having a care in the world.
"Am I really jealous of the moon?"
After a long, drawn-out quiet, Hayate slowly spoke,
"Hokage-sama, I believe we should assign this child to a Genin team." The Hokage ignored Hayate's suggestion for a moment, his eyes bearing the look of an old man that had seen and done far too much in his lifetime to be dealing with something of this magnitude.
"I," he began, stopping to listen to Hayate's inconsistent, chronic cough, "do not agree."
"Why not?"
"The child has had no formal schooling, I assume, and does not withhold any knowledge of combat or espionage-related tactics."
"We just have to show him once! His eyes will retain the knowledge!" Hayate retorted quickly, apparently very eager for something he wouldn't have a part in. The Third appeared as though he wished to argue, but didn't have a valid reason as to why he opposed. With a disappointed sigh, and a small smile in Naruto's direction, the Hokage spoke,
"Both Naruto-kun and this child will be appointed as Genin tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, Hokage-jiji!" Naruto chanted, thrusting his fist in that air and jumping out of the comfortable seat, "Trust me, I'll be where you're sitting one day!" The Hokage let out a hearty laugh, and continued,
"However, I order you, Hayate, to train with both of them, every day excluding Saturday's, for reasons of honing their skills."
Hayate let out a low, disappointed sigh and grabbed the bridge of his small nose, his elbow propped on his sword's sheath.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"Then you are all dismissed."
As the golden sun arose just over the horizon, Naruto eagerly shook Nagato awake, ruffling his already unkempt crimson hair. Nagato wordlessly sat up and groaned, pressing his balled fists into his eye sockets.
"Nagato-kun! Get up! Our teams are gonna be assigned at noon!" Naruto exclaimed, gripping Nagato's ear and pulling him out of the bed.
"Erm..." the redhead moaned, shaking his head and rising to his feet. "They're assigning Genin teams at dawn?"
"No, stupid. Noon," Naruto calmly answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Then why are we-"
"Just get ready."
About an hour later, Naruto still sat feverishly at his apartment's door, waiting for Nagato to get his shoes on. "You are the slowest person in the world, I swear!" Naruto cried, kicking his brother in his bony back.
"I have already apologized," Nagato replied, finally connecting the final two velcro straps on his sandals. As soon as the material met, Naruto pried open the door and ran outside, leaping onto the railing of his floor and kicking off toward the opposite, a clear fifty foot jump. However, Naruto was only able to enjoy the cool wind ruffling his hair for a second before Nagato's voice rang, "Hey! How do you do that?" Naruto turned tail and jumped backward, landing gracefully on the railing yet again. Unfortunately, he had forgotten that Nagato didn't know anything about being a ninja. Anything.
"Just focus Chakra in your feet for a second and kick off. Like so." Naruto rocketed off into the air and landed softly on the other building's rooftop, like a feather gliding on the wind and landing on a bench.
"Could you perhaps do that again?" Naruto growled in frustration, bounding backward to his original position for the third time.
"Pay close attention this time!" Naruto snapped angrily, staring into Nagato's eyes just in time to see his pupils dilate until they were about as wide as a thumb nail.
"I am prepared." Envisioning Chakra being forced into his feet, Naruto kicked his right foot back, like a bull preparing to charge, and launched forward, calmly landing on the smooth gravel of the opposite rooftop.
"Now, you may not...huh?" Naruto utter, bewildered as Nagato stood next to him, a small scrape on his knee.
"I did not land as gracefully as you did."
"How did you do it that fast?" By now, Nagato's pupils had returned to normal size.
"I watched you push your Chakra into your feet, and I copied." The answer Naruto received confused him even more. How could he watch him mold Chakra once, and then do it as if he'd done it his whole life? Then again, how could he watch him mold Chakra?
About ten minutes later, the boys were just passing Ichiraku, the Academy building well within their sight. Naruto excitedly picked up his pace, kicking off of buildings harder and harder.
"Naruto-kun! Slow down! I can't keep up!" Nagato's voice chimed, though Naruto was barely able to hear it over the wind. He reluctantly slowed down, allowing Nagato to catch up. Looking back at the Academy building eagerly, Naruto noticed something he hadn't before. Normally, doors to the Academy opened at nine o'clock sharp. However, it was about eight o'clock, and the doors were ajar.
"Nagato-kun! Faster!" Naruto shouted above the wind, pushing harder than ever before, much to his brother's dismay.
The two stumbled tiredly into the Academy's "team assignment room," which was basically an empty, extra classroom, and were greeted by a number of jeers, questions, and blatantly unrelated comments.
"Get the hell out, demon boy!"
"Who's this kid?"
"Ino-chan is pretty hot, yeah?" The last person's statement was unsettling, considering it had come from Choji, who, like Kiba and Shikamaru, was seated in the very last row in the back of the classroom. Naruto, followed by Nagato, walked toward his friends, and sat on the edge of the desk.
"I thought you didn't pass the test!" Kiba exclaimed, fist bumping Naruto, followed by everyone else.
"Yeah, but Nagato-kun did this crazy thing and now I'm here."
"Am I correct in assuming that Nagato-kun is this kid?" Shikamaru dryly asked, gesturing toward the redhead at Naruto's right, who stood perfectly still.
"Yeah," Naruto confirmed.
After introductions, there was only enough time for Akamaru to bark a few times before a Jōnin with a spiky purple ponytail and a tan trench coat appeared at the front of the classroom and ordered silence, to which all complied.
"Good! It's nice to know children get when to shut up, huh?" the woman laughed in a high voice, taking a seat on the teacher's desk, removing a piece of paper from her coat's right pocket. "I'm Anko Mitarashi, and I'll be assigning your teams today. Let's try to get this over with quickly. I will say each person's name one, and I will say where you and your teammates will meet after this ceremony...once." Naruto admired the woman's straight-to-business attitude, though he doubted he would be able to keep up with her. "Due to an overabundance of Genin this year, there will now be six-man cells. Five Genin, one Jōnin. Team One will be led by Sarutobi Asuma." Naruto vaguely recognized the name Asuma. From what he could recollect, the man was the Third Hokage's son, and the best close-combat fighter in Konoha. "It will consist of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Yamanaka Ino, Rock Lee, and Aburame Shino. You will meet at Training Ground Three."
For the next fifteen minutes or so, the woman named Anko rattled off names and places, leaving Naruto in suspense to know his team for what felt like a millennium. Unfortunately, Choji had been placed on Team Three, led by genjutsu mistress Yuhi Kurenai. "And finally, Team Twelve will be led by Hatake Kakashi. It will consist of Uzumaki Nagato, Uzumaki Naruto, Hyūga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru, and Inuzuka Kiba. They will meet atop of the Hokage monument. See ya!" Just like that, the woman disappeared, leaving everyone in the classroom to stampede through the doors, eager to meet their new senseis.
Naruto trailed at the back of the group, with the rest of his group standing behind him.
"Let's wait for Hinata-chan," Shikamaru noted. In all honesty, Naruto had forgotten about the young Hyūga. When the dust settled, and every other student was gone, Naruto and his group looked around and saw a young girl with deep blue hair and a cream-colored jacket sitting at the front of the classroom, in the seat farthest to the left.
"Hey, are you Hyūga Hinata?" Naruto shouted to the other side of the room, to which the girl jumped in her seat and turned around, staring at Naruto with crimson cheeks.
"Y-Y-Yes," she responded in a polite tone, incessantly tapping her index fingers together.
"Well come on! We've got a sensei to meet!" Hinata slowly stood up and walked over the group, standing next to Nagato, whose head also hung in timidity. "Rock and roll!" Naruto shouted as he ran through the open classroom doors, the disgruntled groans and complaints of his teammates just barely audible.
Naruto was the first person to reach the top of the mountain, with Akamaru and Kiba at his heels.
"Ha, I won!" Kiba shouted triumphantly, thrusting his fist in the air.
"What are you talking about? I got here first!" Naruto retorted, angered by the fact that his victory had been stolen from him.
"Do you have anyone here to prove that?" Kiba asked. At that time, the rest of the group was finally arriving at their destination.
"No, but you don't...Akamaru doesn't count."
"Yes he does! Akamaru has thoughts and feelings just like you and me, as well as a memory!" Kiba exclaimed, petting his ninken behind its left ear.
Just then, out of the thin air, the form of a man appeared before them all, startling only Nagato. The man, whom Naruto presumed to be Hatake Kakashi, had spiky silver hair that jutted out to one side, a forehead protector that covered his left eye, and wore a complete Konoha-nin uniform, identical the one Hayate had worn at their first meeting.
"Let's see what we've got here," Kakashi mumbled, examining the group with one eye, "I see a Hyūga, an Uzumaki, a Nara, and an Inuzuka, as well as a ninken. Tell me," Kakashi gestured, poking Nagato in his bony rib cage, "who are you?"
"Uzumaki Nagato, Kakashi-sensei," Nagato worriedly responded, as if anything he said was a vicious insult.
"And what is special about you, hmm?" Naruto was stunned by how forthright his sensei was with his words.
"Umm...I'm an Uzumaki."
"Yeah, I get that much."
"And Hokage-sama said I have this thing called 'Rin...ne...gan."
Like the Hokage, Kakashi's mien went from aloof to gravely serious.
"You must be kidding," Naruto's sensei muttered, pushing Nagato's bangs aside, only for Nagato's purple eyes to stare right back into his own. "Well then." Naruto prepared for a word of wisdom, some insane training regimen, or at least a question of his own. What he received instead was a rather startling order. "Well, let's start with some sparring matches, shall we? Naruto-kun and Nagato-kun first."