The Lone Fox REDUX

by Dzero9

Naruto is a loner, who has let very little people into his circle. But when Ino loses her seat and sits next to him, well... :Remake of my first story:

2. Teams

Lone Fox: Chapter 2

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Naruto awoke the next day feeling refreshed. He had to go to the Hokage's office to get his registration done and his I.D. picture, but that wasn't for a while; the loner quickly got up and ate before he left the place he called home. The loner found himself at the old training grounds behind his house, Naruto had a forlorn expression across his features—this was where Aka had trained him. Naruto was caught up in the memories of Aka... he remembered when they first met...

-Flashback-

A seven year old Naruto swung sadly on the lone swing outside of the ninja academy. He had just failed the graduation exams for the first time—and he took it rather harshly. Naruto was a troublemaker and school dunce by choice, it wasn't his fault—he just wanted attention, for people to acknowledge his existence, but...

"Well, well, well. Looks who's here, girls!"

Naruto looked up part way to see a group of girls in front of him, a purple haired girl, a blond, and his crush, Sakura.

"Uh... H-hiya ladies! What's going on!?" Naruto happily asked. The violet haired girl scoffed and pushed him off the swing. The blond boy hit his head on the tree, he put his hand on the back of his head and hissed in pain. "Oww... what was that for!?"

Sakura and the purple haired girl laughed. "Don't you get it? This is called a beat down, this is what you get for acting so high and mighty by trying to take the graduation exams!" The purple girl kicked him in the stomach. Sakura laughed as Naruto coughed.

"Haha! Serves you right! This is what you get for trying to one up Sasuke-kun!" Naruto couldn't believe what was happening. His crush was beating him! And he couldn't fight back—cause it would cause a commotion. The blond girl however didn't lay a finger on him, strangely.

"Ugh... Tell me, why are you attacking me? This isn't just the graduation exams!!" Naruto questioned.

Sakura grinned. "Bingo. My momma told me to after I told her about you. She said you were a monster that killed Papa, so she sent me to go teach you a lesson! Now here!!" Sakura kicked him again in the jaw. Naruto bit his tongue, and he was bleeding, the girls picked him up by his arms and motioned the blond girl. "Hey, Ino! Throw that rock at him!"

Ino looked down at the rock at her foot. She visibly shook, they wanted her to throw that at him?

The purple haired girl got mad. "Throw it at him or we'll tell your mommy that your not being mean to him!" Ino thought the girl was insane. He may be a troublemaker, but he... he didn't deserve this! The purple haired girl sighed. "Fine, I'll do it—move!!" She pushed Ino on the ground and picked up the rock. She was prepared to throw when a strong hand grabbed her wrist tightly. The girls looked up to see a woman wearing a black robe and hood that hid her face.

The woman glared. "It's not nice to throw rocks at boys, isn't it? You three had better leave this boy alone, or I'll be forced to dispose of you children..." Her voice sounded sickeningly sweet and her killing intent was enough to send all three girls running terrified.

Naruto coughed up blood as the woman leaned forward to check up on him. "You're hurt... Can you stand?" The blond blushed a bit when he heard her voice, it was angelic and beautiful. The boy tried to stand; but he clenched his ribs in pain.

"Those girls did a number on me. How weak am I... can't even fight girls." Naruto said between spitting out blood.

The woman shook her head. "No, no. You did the right thing. They probably wanted you to fight back—it's okay, kid. Now then, let's patch you up; I'll carry you." The boy weakly nodded.

Later after the hooded woman fixed him up, Naruto found himself looking at the village from the Fourth's head that was carved on the mountainside with the rest of the Hokage's.

The boy leaped up in joy. "Thanks, miss! That was medical ninjutsu wasn't it?"

The woman looked off into the distance. "Yeah, I was taught some medical jutsu by someone, it's not important."

Naruto grinned. "It was cool, anyways, I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Future Hokage!"

The woman tensed at his name, but then she calmed. "...Aka is my name."

Naruto laughed. "Aka? That means red!"

Aka smirked and giggled a bit. "So, tell me about yourself."

-End Flashback-

Naruto looked around at the old kunai and shuriken scattered across the field. He picked up one of them.

-Flashback-

Naruto, now nine, has gotten a complete overhaul of his personality. He dropped his mask completely, and now he's more quiet and reserved. Aka has been training him in secret for a while now, his skills are now mid-genin level.

Two blurs crossed kunai as they landed. Naruto fell to the ground exhausted as Aka dusted off her robe.

"Naruto-kun, your still having trouble with the Clone Jutsu?"

Naruto huffed. "Yeah... I just can't do it, my chakra reserves are too large..."

Aka strode up to him. "Would it be better if you learn a more advanced technique? Because honestly, at this level of chakra control—you should be able to make a perfect clone. I guess you're just special then, Naruto-kun." The boy disliked being called special. Special meant he would be spat at, or hit.

Aka smiled at Naruto's displeasure. "Then I'll teach you the Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"Huh? What's that?"

Aka crossed her arms under her breasts. "Well..."

-End Flashback-

Naruto sighed to himself. He felt the will to train just empty out of his system, he was too upset about Aka to do anything. He looked up at the sky and realized the sun was high up in the sky,

"Crap! I need to get my photo I.D. And registration!"

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The Loner ran through the streets, not paying attention who was there. Naruto wore his newer clothes, an orange scarf across his neck, a black jacket with a dark orange shirt, and matching pants. The blond loved the color orange, even Aka couldn't take it off him. When he arrived outside the tower, he notice someone else there. "Huh? Ino?"

Ino waved as the loner approached. "Hi, Naruto. Gonna get your photo I.D.? Well you better hurry up." Naruto nodded and ran inside.

After his photo, The Third Hokage gave Naruto a lofty smile. "Naruto, it's a fine picture but... You should try smiling more, you know?"

The blond boy shrugged. "I dunno... I mean, I can't find what to smile about these days."

The Third took a smoke from his pipe. "All right then, I won't force you. You can leave—"

"ALL RIGHT OLD MAN! TODAY'S THE DAY I DEFEAT YOU AND BECOME HOKAGE!!!" Naruto and Sarutobi looked towards the door to see a small child charge into the room with a toy shuriken, sadly, the kid tripped over his own scarf; Konohamaru fell with a thud. He got up with a flustered look on his face and pointed at Naruto. "Heey!! You tripped me!!"

The blond was immediately annoyed. "You brat you tripped yourself. Get a smaller scarf."

Konohamru stomped the ground in mock anger. "You can't talk to me like that! Don't you know who I am? I'm the Third Hokage's Grandson!!"

Naruto scoffed. "Tch, I don't care if you were the Third's mother. Your title means nothing if you don't have the respect and ability to back it up."

The younger boy re-adjusted his scarf. "Well that's why I wanna be Hokage! So that way, people will have to respect me! Even you!"

The loner looked at the Third with a suspicious look. "Kid... Konohamaru, do you know what being Hokage entitles? If you don't know, ask your grandfather."

Naruto walked passed Konohamaru on his way out, then the boy turned to him. "Did you ask him?"

The loner half turned to him. "Yeah... but I didn't like his answer."

Later that day, the blond loner wondered aimlessly through town with no apparent destination in mind. He had nothing to steal, and no one to meet, so he was basically free—but one thing bothered him:

"What's that rock doing following me?"

Naruto turned around and the square rock jumped and looked away. The blond put his hands on his hips. "Konohamaru! Get out of there!"

In a poof of smoke, the boy in question appeared. "You saw through my disguise... you're pret-ty clever, rival." He said with an approving grin.

Naruto shook his head. "Not really... Rocks aren't square, and they don't follow people; and plus—w-wait, RIVAL??"

The young academy student grinned even more. "Yup! I've made you my rival! We'll see who achieves their goals first!"

The new genin put a hand under his chin. "Really now? What do you know about my goals? How do you know I haven't already achieved them?"

Konohamaru shook his head. "No way! Someone who dreamed about becoming Hokage doesn't have any small goals!"

Satisfied, Naruto sighed. "Okay... My goal is, to surpass the Fourth Hokage. He is everything I look for in a leader and a role model, and I want to be that and more. I don't know why, but I feel a sense of duty to surpass him, like how a son wants to surpass his father... Anyway, did you ask the Third what it meant to be Hokage?"

Konohamaru nodded. "Yeah! To protect the village and her people with your life, sacrificing everything for Konoha's stability... You may not get acknowledged, people may not approve of it, but as long as there's someone in the village you want to protect, your doing the right thing. That's what it means to be Hokage... and I'll strive for it!"

Naruto grinned. "Good, then may the best man win."

The two shook hands and went there separate ways.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next week Naruto found himself arriving a little late to the academy. He was tense and nervous about Team Selections, he wanted to be on a good team that worked together but that doesn't seem very likely. Heck, with his luck—he'd be stuck on that prick Sasuke's team. Regardless, Naruto shakily went inside, it was there he noticed that everyone graduated is here—he looked up to his seat to notice the spot next to it was occupied, Ino waved as the loner coolly went up to his seat.

"Hey, Naruto." Ino started. "I lost my seat to forehead again...." Ino stared as Sakura tried to desperately ask Sasuke out on a date, only to have him ignore her.

Naruto watched with intense eyes. "So it seems..."

"So, ya nervous?" Ino asked.

The loner tore away from his dark thoughts and buried his face in his scarf. "A little, I don't wanna be on Sasuke's team."

The blond girl looked surprised. "Wh-what? Why not?"

The blond boy sighed. "Don't like him. Our pasts and personalities will clash, thus not making the team suffer, and our odds of success will dwindle."

Ino sighed as Iruka made his presence known. "BE QUIET!!!" He roared using his comical Big Head Jutsu. When the class was muted, Iruka continued on. "Ahem, today is the day you all become full fledged genin, I'm proud of you all. Now then, Team 1—"

Naruto turned him out until Team 7 was called. "Team 7 will be Sasuke Uchiha." The class emo looked up. "Sakura Haruno." Ino put her head down as Sakura shouted true love conquers all at all of Sasuke's fangirls. "...And Chouji Akimichi." The boy just continued eating his chips. "Team 8 will be Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka."

The blond loner lazily looked over where Hinata was. She caught sight of him and blushed whilst twiddling her index finger. Naruto knew she liked him a lot, but he wasn't interested—he didn't like the quiet types. He preferred the outgoing, fun having types, like—

"--Ino Yamanaka." The girl looked up as her name was called. "Shikamaru Nara." Shikamaru grunted in his sleep. "...And Naruto Uzumaki will make up Team 10." Iruka finished. Ino looked relativley happy that Naruto was on her team. "Everyone, you are now dismissed to lunch. Take this time to know your teammates." Iruka said as the new genin left for lunch.

At lunch, the two blonds found themselves looking around for their third teammate. They found him under a tree, watching clouds. Shikamaru was so absorbed that he didn't notice Ino call him. "Shikamaru... hey, Shika... grr... SHIKAMARU!!"

The pineapple haired genin was jolted back into reality, he looked up at the two and sighed. "Whaddya you want you troublesome blond? I'm trying to concentrate."

Ino put her hands on her hips. "I figured since we're teammates an all, we'd eat together, right Naruto?"

The boy shrugged. "I guess... I mean, if he doesn't want to..."

Shikamaru grunted. "Nah, that's fine. Next time be subtle when your trying to get someone's attention, Ino. Blowing out someone's eardrum isn't subtle." Ino blushed in embarrassment as they sat down to eat.

Naruto noticed a brown box next to Shikamaru. "A shogi board?"

The pineapple genin nodded. "Yeah... you play?"

Naruto smirked. "Perhaps... wanna see?"

Shikamaru smirked as well and they started playing. In the middle of their match, Naruto got that strange feeling in his stomach again, even tinglier than before. Playing shogi with Shikamaru, conversing with his first friend all the while, made him feel giddy inside. He didn't quite know what it was, but it felt good. Shikamaru was impressed that Naruto was such a good player, he thought of him as an idiot and a troublemaker in the past—but ever since then, the boy changed. Shika found him to be a lot less troublesome than ever before. Ino was having a good time cheering both boys on, it looked like to her that their brains were smoking trying to find a decisive strategy to win. She felt like she belonged on this new team, and it was the start of something beautiful—heck, the platinum blond knew the boys were thinking that to. She even forgot about Sasuke, until—

"Hey guys, mind if I sit with you? I'd sit with my team but Pinky and Sunshine want to be left alone..."

Shikamaru laughed as he looked up. "Sure Chouji, I'm pretty sure Ino and Naruto wouldn't mind, right?" Ino was a bit miffed at the chubby genin calling Sasuke 'Sunshine', but when she thought about it, this was the first time she ever thought about Sasuke since sitting with her team. Weird... The genin conversed lightly until the bell rang, Chouji went back to his team as the new Team 10 went inside.

The new genin went with their teammates as they were called down to meet their new jonin sensei. Team 10 watched as a man walked in, he wore a jonin vest with a sash around his waist with the fire kanji on it, he had spiky black hair and a beard to match. "Team 10?"

The genin looked at him and nodded, the man smiled. "Meet me in the hallway." And with that he coolly walked out and took out a cigarette. When Team 10 arrived to meet their new sensei, they were bombarded by cigarette smoke, the genin coughed and wheezed as the bearded sensei apologized. "Whoops! Sorry about that... Anyway how about we break the ice by introducing ourselves?"

Shikamaru hacked. "You show us how it's done since you took off 10 minutes of our lives with your second hand smoke."

The sensei shrugged. "Ok... I'm Asuma Sarutobi—yeah, the Third's son. I like my cancer sticks, taking naps, and playing shogi. My dislikes are people who think I'll die from this, and butting heads with my father. My goal is to be a family man with a certain lady..." Ino sighed, he was basically an adult Shikamaru! "All right, the girl can go next."

Ino looked up. "I'm Ino Yamanaka! I like Sasuke-kun, and tending to the flower shop. I dislike forehead, and any other girl who's after Sasuke-kun! My goal is to be in the A.N.B.U torture department!" Naruto looked on impressed. The A.N.B.U. Torture department was the last think he'd expect Ino to say.

Asuma was also impressed. "Big dream, but you'll do it someday... Now the pineapple head."

Shikamaru grunted. "I'm Shikamaru Nara, I like napping, watching clouds, and playing shogi. I dislike troublesome people and all things troublesome. My goal is to be an average ninja and have an average career."

Asuma laughed. "But a ninja's life isn't average. There's twists and turns everywhere that can knock you off your feet—sometimes literately. Now then... you."

Naruto shifted in his seat. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki... I like ramen, my first friend, and training. I dislike the villagers, and a certain woman. My goal is to surpass the Fourth."

Asuma took a smoke and tucked the burnt out cigarette in his pocket. This kid is the Kyubi Jinchuriki—no question about that. It was expected he disliked the villagers, but what about this woman? "...You really think you can surpass the Fourth? That won't be easy, Naruto. But if you do, I'll go down in history as the man who taught the person who would surpass that guy!"

Ino blushed a bit when Naruto, whether he wanted to say it or not, liked her. 'I mean, he isn't ugly or anything, he's rather cute. But I want to be with Sasuke-kun... At least that what my mom tells me...' The platinum blond also took note of his dislike of the villagers. If she were abused by them too—she'd hate them as well, maybe even more.

Team 10's sensei clapped his hands. "Well then, tomorrow we'll meet at Training Ground 16 for the genin exams..."

"WHAT? Genin Exams? But we already took those!!" Ino exclaimed, she looked at Naruto and Shika for support, but they had 'I knew it' expressions on their faces.

"That's right, Ino. But those were just to weed out the weak, and to pick those who have potential to be genin. We're the only nation that does this—that's why our survival rate is so high, if we send out those who aren't ready to be ninja on missions, their likelihood of them surviving is slim. It's survival of the fittest out there. Anyway the true Genin Exams are created by their supervising jonin to see if they really are genin material. Of the twenty seven graduates, we'll only accept nine. Now then, get some rest, and prepare yourselves for tomorrow... See ya!" Asuma was gone in a poof of smoke before the genin could ask questions.

"Hmph! ...Well, what now?" Ino asked.

"How about we go home and sleep?" Shikamaru suggested, Ino glared at him, and the lazy boy sighed.

"...How about ramen? My treat." Ino and Shikamaru agreed to Naruto's suggestion, and they all left for the ramen stand.

XXXXXXXXXX

Through out their walk, Shikamaru and Ino noticed the spiteful and confused glances and whispers sent towards them, so this is what it's like in Naruto's world... funny thing is—Naruto didn't even notice, or rather, he didn't care. Ino glared back at the civilians and walked closer to Naruto, causing the boy to raise an eyebrow. Regardless, the made it to Ichiraku ramen, the proprietor greeted them.

"Hey there, Naruto! Who are they, your new teammates, and where's that Aka at, anyways?" Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku, asked.

Naruto frowned. "Aka's gone."

Ayame, Teuchi's daughter, looked surprised. "What? Really?"

The blond boy nodded. "I'd rather not talk about it, anyway can you fix us up? I'll have the usual."

Ino smiled at the owner. "I'll have that new diet ramen!"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Gimme beef, and that'll do."

Teuchi and Ayame quickly got to work. Ino wanted to ask Naruto about this 'Aka' person, but instead she said: "You come here often?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, they gave me food when no one else did. I think they did it just because they didn't want to see a kid starve. But now... maybe they're doing this out of the goodness of their hearts?"

Ino grinned as she peered into the back, where Teuchi and his daughter were working hastily, yet skillfully. "I think it's because of the latter, more so than the former."

Naruto 'hmmed' as the father daughter duo walked out with fresh ramen in their hands. "Eat up!" Teuchi said. Naruto dug right in, Shikamaru and Ino were astounded on how much ramen Naruto inhaled—it was a side of him the two never saw before. Team 10 had several bowls of ramen (well, Naruto made up the several bowls) and called it a day.

The blond loner put the money on the table. "Your ramen is as good as always, take care." The Ichiraku family smiled and waved as team 10 left.

Ino whistled over at Naruto. "You sure know how to eat, Naruto! Who knew?"

The loner shrugged, a little embarrassed. "I dunno. There's a lot you don't know about me."

Shikamaru stretched, satisfied that he didn't have to eat dinner. "Welp, I'm going. This is where we part." And with that, he left.

The platinum blond put her hands on her hips. "Jeeze, without even saying good-bye!" She turned to Naruto. "Well, Naruto I'm going home, too. We got a big day tomorrow so get some rest! Okay, bye!" Ino ran off towards the flower shop. Naruto waved good-bye and sighed. He was alone, it was then, walking home in the cold night, he realized something.

He hated his solitude.

He knew that Shikamaru and Ino were having a good time with their families, how he wished to be like that. He hated the Kyubi even more for taking his parents away. The Third always told him that the Kyubi killed his parents, because they never gave up protecting the village, Naruto had no choice but to believe this—but somewhere in his gut, there's more to that story than the Third let on. With a shaky sigh, Naruto walked up to his home, and went inside. He had a big day, tomorrow—best to be in top form.

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A/N: Well, there's Chapter 2 for y'all! Some questions have been raised:

How will the Genin Exams go for Team 10?

How will Team 7's dynamics change with Chouji on the team?

When will the NaruIno-ness start?

Who knows? I know! See you next time!

-Dzero9, out.