| INTRODUCTION ARC |

Who is Naruto Uzumaki?

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A New Dawn

0~o~0

The light shone through the window, brightening the dim room and striking the face of a small girl who slept soundly on her bed. She slowly opened her jade green eyes trying to register the familiar room with a huge wooden dresser, a small television, a dirty desk with books piled up on top of it.

After a long sigh she groggily got up and sat on the edge of the bed, her rose pink hair spread across it. She stood up slowly and walked towards the foggy glass window. As she looked down at the busy city streets; a familiar chill crawled up her spine. As much as she loved the city, it was nothing compared to feel of the crisp clean air of the countryside.

"It has everything a young girl needs, anyway." She claimed.

Yeah, right.

The eldest daughter, Sakura Haruno (16) thought on her first glance of the city. There were malls, cinemas, hair salons and beauty parlors galore. It should have made any girl happy to be there. Just not her.

Well it's not like I was into those things anyway.

Sakura sighed. As much as she would love to be more 'girly', her usual interests and personality simply wouldn't allow it. She never fit in with 'crowd' because she always stood out for one reason or the other. 'An unreachable beauty' as the boys would address her and a 'Ugly treacherous she-whore' by the girls. Those were the names she used to be called (Still called by a few).

I never asked for any of that.

She just wished she could have a least one guy friend that wasn't constantly hitting on her or one girlfriend that wouldn't backstab her. School wasn't exactly the most comfortable place for her before Konohagakure High.

At first she was scared to move to a new school but she soon found that the people were amazing. They were saints people compared to her last batch of friends in middle school who constantly tried ruin her already bad reputation. She could actually hold a conversation with her new friends and they actually seemed to care about what she thought and felt. They actually gave her school and social life meaning.

Well better get to school.

She made her way to her overly sized closet and got into her school uniform as quickly as she could. In no time flat she made her way down the stairs, completely dressed.

"Bed head." Her sister Hana (12) mocked as she ran out the front door. Sakura glanced over to see her mother in the car outside. In the corner of her eye, she could see Hana stick her tongue out at Sakura as she got into the car.

"Breakfast is on the table dear. Hurry before you're late for school! Love you Hun!" Her mother shouted as she smiled widely. She blew a kiss before she sped off onto the road.

"Always busy that woman." Sakura chuckled to herself as she headed to the kitchen.

After she finished her breakfast she made her way to her car, a cherry pink Toyota Paseo convertible. She parked at her usual spot once she got to school. Making sure she had her stuff, and her car locked she made her way in. Sakura noticed the lack of attention she was getting today.

People finally stopped staring at me! It took 2 months for that to happen.

Today was so much different than the first day she came to the school. Everyone stared when she parked her car for the first time. Maybe it was the fact that her newish Toyota stood out from the old cars that the other teens had.

Maybe the fact that her plain and depressed demeanor contrasted with everyone else's lively faces. Whatever it was it attracted a lot of attention. Something she hated.

As she made her way through the school for the first time, people talked. Not to her, but about her. Eventually as time pasted they talked to her but only a few made a lasting impression on her. She ignored the guys who were trying to hit on her and the so called "hot" girls of the school that had practically every boy pining after them…just so happened to be her best friends.

"Sakura! Did you hear the news?" Sakura jumped. She hadn't noticed the girl at all when she entered the classroom.

It was then that she noticed that three girls were seated on the desks just next to the classroom door. The taller of the three, Ino Yamanaka was famous around the school campus as miss popular 'the princess of the school'. That was probably because she was filthy rich but she wasn't snobby like the other rich girls she knew. Underneath the princess, there was a caring and lovable girl who earnestly wanted to make people happy.

"What news?" Sakura replied nervously; taken aback by the girl's sudden appearance.

"There is new student in the school!" the other girl, Tenten was literally jumping in her seat "And guess what: it's a guy and they say he is H-O-T!"

Very much unlike Ino, Tenten's brunette hair was short (and tied into twin ponytails). However, Tenten was just as famous around the school not solely on her looks but her personality. To put it bluntly, Tenten was a 'raging feminist' as defined by the boys. She was a firm believer that anything a man could do a girl could do as well which gained her a lot of admiration from the girls (which were usually in the form of love letters). Though she didn't want to become as 'fierce' as Tenten, but she wanted that vigor that she seemed to emit every few seconds.

"Aren't you going to tell her about that?" The third and final member of the trio spoke up. Hinata Hyuga, wasn't a girl of much words but a girl of meaning. She was meek and inward with mostly everything she did but she was a kind girl at heart. She was closest thing to a female friend Sakura had (next to Ino). They did everything together. Whether it be homework or talking about boys (something Sakura rarely does).

"That?" Sakura asked.

"Well…there is a rumor going around that he is bad news. You know, the bad boy tough guy who wants to prove to the world how strong he is." Ino replied with a shrug.

"Oh, that's great." Sakura replied lacking the excitement shown by the other girls.

"Oh come on! Show more enthusiasm than that!" Tenten grabbed Sakura's hands and began shaking her. Sakura giggled and returned the favor until TenTen admitted defeat.

It was there that the chatter in the classroom got to her ears.

The room was crowded with chit-chat about the new student. The guys seemed to be frustrated that there was more competition for the girls and the girls seemed positively ecstatic over the whole idea. Sakura didn't really care about the new student.

It's not like he will notice me. He will probably be all over Ino or Tenten or Hinata in a heartbeat.

Everyone in the class seemed rowdier than the next. They all seemed to be in one giant circle talking about the same thing.

'I heard he beat down an entire biker gang for looking at him wrong!'

'Doesn't that mean that he is like totally buff?'

'I heard he got rid of an entire gang without taking even a scratch.'

'Isn't he kind of dangerous?"

"Will all of you just be quiet?" A cool voice retorted from the back of the class.

"Jealousy? I would have never guessed coming from you." Ino replied with a sly grin on her face.

"Don't waste your breath." The boy looked away clearly disinterested in anything the class had to offer "You're all too loud. Simple as that."

Everyone glared at him but he shrugged it off like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"You could stand to me a little nicer, Uchiha." Sakura spoke out "Who knows? People might actually start to like you."

"I don't need you or anyone else's affection."

Sasuke Uchiha was the frozen tundra of Konohagakure High. He was as cold as they could possibly get. He never showed emotion and he never seemed interested in anything but himself. But even still, the girls were fawning over him night and day because (even Sakura had to admit) that he was handsome. She could have sworn that even the female teachers felt woozy when he glared at them.

Sakura didn't know much else about him. He never spoke about his personal life. Quite frankly, he barely spoke at all. He just kept to himself most of the time. The only thing else she knew about him as that he dated half the girls in the school (including Ino) only to break up with them a week later. Ino insisted (begged) Sakura not to date him because she would be the one getting hurt. Since Ino was crying at the time she listened.

"Ok! Ok! Settle down!" The teacher, Iruka Umino barked after coming into the class "Everyone get to your seats!" The crowd broke up as everyone scattered to their seats.

"Now I assume you all must have heard of the new student." The class' spirit had mixed feelings at the mention of 'new student'. Whether he was a scary gangster or a brawling freak show.

"He transferred out of his last school and had difficulties finding another one. So I want all of you to make him feel as comfortable as possible." He broke off looking towards the door.

"Now would come in and please introduce yourself?"

"Oh here he comes!" Ino whispered.

I bet all those rumors were just rumors. I bet he isn't even buff maybe. Just a nerd or something. Life just plays that kind of trick on you sometimes.

When the person entered the room, the entire class became silent. It was a boy, no older than Sakura. He faced the class with indifferent look on his face as he waved shortly.

"Hey, name's Naruto Uzumaki."

He had creamy white skin which was complemented by six whiskers (scars?) on either side of his face. His blonde hair, short and spike seemed to meld well with his amazing complexion and eyes. His eyes were deep blue to the point of being exactly similar to a sapphire. These cerulean orbs captured most of the classes' attention with their indifferent gaze. He wasn't as good looking as Sasuke but he came to a close second. He was lean and had a height that was similar to Sasuke's. On his face, Sakura could have seen a small bandage probably to cover up some bruise of his.

"Iruka-sensei, can I take my seat now?" he asked in a tired tone, his deep, lazy voice rang through Sakura's ears. "Or should I stay here and be stared at?"

"Yes you can. Take your seat in the back class has started." The teacher replied.

"Hai."

He began walking to his seat ignoring the intense stares of indifference and confusion. All the teens gazed at him in pure stupor; they were shocked at his visage while others seemed entranced. He glanced to the corner of his eyes and there he stood in place with an indescribable smile on his face. But once his eyes fell onto a certain person a scowl appeared before he walked to his seat.

"Sasuke."

"Naruto."

The classes' collective eyes opened wide with shock. Sasuke actually had people he addressed by their first name? They were that close already? And the way he called their teacher, Iruka-sensei had an air of familiarity behind it. They knew each other. In their minds, the class exploded with questions about the new kid and his relationship with Sasuke. The class followed his every movement until the teacher shouted 'Look at the board!'

The atmosphere during class was different; everyone sneaked a peak at the new kid at any little chance they got regardless of what the teacher said. Naruto seemed lost in thought during the entire class and occasionally glanced towards the teacher. Every so often he would stare at the object that caught his attention before he got in his seat; Sakura.

She was well aware of the look he gave her; she couldn't help but feel a shiver crawl up her spine. But no matter how much she thought of it, she couldn't understand why she blushed pink at that moment. Throughout the rest of class she tried to ignore the fact that she was being stared at.

"Well that's it for today." The teacher spoke out after the bell rang. "Remember the paper due on Friday." He added before he left the classroom.

As soon as the teacher left, the entire class crowded around Naruto's desk as if it was an automatic reaction. They shot a barrage of questions and he took his time answering each one nonchalantly.

"Hey how much to you bench?"

"About 200 lbs."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Nope."

"Would you like to join the baseball team?"

"Nah."

"How did you get those scars?"

"They aren't scars. It's a birth mark."

"Seriously?"

"Pretty awesome, I know." He grinned.

'How old are you?'

"17."

"How do you know Uchiha?" Everyone wanted to ask that question first but they hesitated. This brave boy did what no one else could. But still his answer would forever go unanswered.

"That is none of your business. It's between me and him." From the corner of the room, Sasuke gave out an aura of pure frozen malice.

"You don't have to be so rude about it." Naruto defended.

"I do. Otherwise he and the others who want to know would get the idea that it's none of their business."

"Maybe but you could have done it without the harshness."

"And here I thought you knew me."

"I do know you. I know more about you than anyone here."

"Whatever." Sasuke shrugged. Arguing would have been too troublesome anyway.

"Well." A shrill voice stood out from the rest. Oh here we go again. She is getting her princess on. Sakura inwardly sighed.

"It's nice to meet you Naruto. My name's Ino." She smiled sweetly, extending her hand to him.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too," He said as he gave her a blank stare ignoring her hand completely. The classroom grew cold for a second. This single boy had done what no other boy had done in the class (besides Sasuke). Ino hid her disappointment with a small smile as she pulled her hand back. That wasn't enough to keep her down.

"Would you like me to show you around the school?"

She wanted you to kiss it I suppose…every other boy has. Sakura thought to herself, sinking back into her chair.

"That would be useful." Ino's face lit up like a Christmas tree "But not with you. I want her." He pointed to the only girl who wasn't in the crowd. Ino's smile turned into a frown. Naruto was pointing at no other than Sakura, who just sat there with her jaw dropped slightly.

"...what?"

Not much of a cliffhanger but it does it's job.

Edit: Fixed a few plot holes.