Chapter 1:
Changing Seasons
Today marked the start of the first step of many to conquering what he set out to do. Become Hokage was his ultimate goal, but everyone had minor goals and dreams alongside the major one to accomplish. Whether he did it before or after accomplishing his life-long dream did not matter, he would accomplish all his goals. Every single last one...
However, first things first! Gotta make it to school on time or else his teacher wasn't going to be impressed if he showed up late on the first day of classes.
Racing down the crowded morning streets, Naruto hurried to get to the academy. He was finally six, old enough to attend the ninja academy and he wasn't going to mess up his only chance to get on the road to becoming Hokage. Not even all the sneers that the people gave him as he rushed by could take away his excitement for the day.
In his hurry, he didn't notice a tall man reading a book casually down the street right in front of the academy until he crashed right into him.
"Oaf! Ugh, my head!" Naruto cried out as he grabbed his throbbing skull with his hands. Realizing that he ran into someone, Naruto hastily picked himself up and saw that he collided into a shinobi. Oh no... Shinobi were sometimes the worst.
"Oh gosh! Sorry I was in hurry to get to class and I didn't see you there mister promise!" Naruto began apologizing profusely to the down shinobi with a daze in his eyes.
Shaking off the momentary headache, the shinobi looked up to see a blond boy wearing a black shirt with the Uzumaki symbol colored white in the middle and wearing dark blue shorts. Standing up and patting away the dust that managed to cling to him from his fall, the shinobi picked up his orange colored book and smiled at the boy, yet it wasn't visible to him.
"It's alright. I should have been paying more attention. Say aren't you Naruto?" The shinobi said with a carefree tone.
Immediately tensing up had become a reflexive motion, when strangers knew who he was. Ever since Dog disappeared and other ANBU ninja started watching over him, Naruto had became very distrusting of others.
"Uh-yeah. Have we met mister?" Naruto asked cautiously pretending to be oblivious.
"No can't say we have, but the Hokage sure has told me a lot about you little one." The man continued to say in a cheerful attitude.
Naruto would have been at slightly more at eased with the man since he was nice enough, but the dark mask he wore to cover half his face kinda freaked him out. Yet, hearing that the old man had talked about him to this stranger must have meant that this guy was a friend of the Hokage. So for now he would be nice.
"Really? The old man told you about me?" Naruto said a bit shocked.
"Yup, he told me you wanted to be Hokage someday. I think you got it in ya kid. So train hard."
Wide-eyed, Naruto stared at the silver-haired, one-eyed shinobi with stars in his eyes. He was the first person besides the old man to tell him he had a chance to become Hokage. No one ever believed in him...
"You really think so? Oh man this is so awesome! Thanks mister you just made my day!"
Chuckling, the shinobi just looked at the boy with a small fond smile. When he looked in the little boys eye's all he could see was his sensei looking back at him with that same bright, cheerful blue gleam.
A loud, annoying bell rang suddenly pierced the air from a building behind him and the older man just looked curiously down at the blond boy who had turned into a statue of petrified shock at the sound.
"Well looks like your class just started I surmise, so I suggest you hurry before you're late even more."
With a depressed sigh, the boy just looked with dread at the academy. Well there went his great day...
"Since it was kinda my fault for detaining you, how about I meet you here once your classes are done for the day and treat you to lunch?" The shinobi continued to say with a smile at seeing how sad the little boy looked.
It seemed that did the trick and Naruto was once again looking up at him with a large hopeful smile and cheerful gaze.
"Yeah if we can get ramen?"
Laughing, the shinobi nodded in agreement.
As Naruto started to run off towards the building, he suddenly stopped to look at the man who returned the gaze at him with a questioning look in his eye.
"Say what's your name mister? I've been talking to ya, but I don't know your name." Naruto said with a bright laugh.
With faint indistinguishable smile on his cloth covered face, gravity defying the silver haired, one-eyed shinobi answered, "Hatake Kakashi".
"Nice to meet ya, Kakashi. See ya after school!" Naruto waved as he started to run again.
"Yeah see ya later." Kakashi waved back with a smile that could only be seen if you looked at his only visible eye.
With a large grin on his face, Naruto didn't care that he was late on the first day of school anymore. Now he had someone waiting for him to go eat ramen with once he got done with his classes. He could definitely tell that today was going to be a fantastic day.
As he approached the door, he could hear the teacher calling roll. Swallowing his nerves, Naruto pushed open the door and walked awkwardly into the large classroom. He felt like an animal in a zoo as all eyes were on him.
"Ahem. Naruto Uzumaki I presume?" A brown haired shinobi called out as he looked at the boy with slight annoyance. There always had to be one kid and it just had to be him...
Nodding, Naruto stayed quiet and waited for the teacher to tell him something. Thankfully his good luck hadn't run out yet and the teacher didn't say anything else, but simply motioned for him to take a seat.
Since he had been the last one to arrive, most of the seats had been taken. Only a couple remained and the closes one was next to a blond haired girl who looked slightly peeved about something. With a quiet sigh, Naruto made his way toward her.
"Um, is this seat taken?"
Not bothering looking at him, the blond shook her head and moved her bag so he could sit down.
"Thanks." Naruto said with a smile, but the girl didn't look his way.
"No problem." The platinum blond haired girl said with a sad sigh as she looked off towards something.
Confused, Naruto turned his attention to the front towards the pair of teachers who looked annoyed at him for some reason.
"Now that you're all here. My name is Umino Iruka and shall be addressed as Iruka-Sensei. This fellow next to me is my assistant teacher Mizuki and the two of us will be teaching you guys for the next six years to be the best ninja's you can be."
He said it with such dedication in his voice that Naruto couldn't help, but grin at the nose scarred shinobi. He was definitely the type of person he could get along with.
"Now class open your books with the title History on it and we will begin our first lesson for the day."
Naruto moved towards his side and looked down onto the backpack-less empty wooden floor by his desk. A sudden realization dawned on him...
"Books... Backpack... On the Table..."
A light thump followed by a slight groan could be heard toward the back corner of the room where a certain tardy student was mentally berating himself for forgetting his stuff at home in his hurry. At hearing the noise, the short, platinum blond haired girl with a red clip in her hair looked at the boy next to her with confusion when she realized why he was hitting himself in the head. He had forgotten his books.
With a sigh, she tapped his shoulder and was surprised to see such beautiful and bright blue eyes look at her when the boy turned his head. Fighting down a blush, the girl swallowed her sudden nerves and steeled herself.
"Hey Naruto right?"
Nodding, Naruto tilted his head slightly in confusion at being addressed by the girl.
"You forgot your books didn't you?" The girl whispered as she tried to avoid getting caught talking.
"Uh-Yeah... I was in hurry to get here and forgot them on the table." Naruto whispered back feeling embarrassed at being found out.
" Well you can share mine, I don't mind." The girl said with smile and placed the large book between their two seats.
Shocked once again for a second time that day, Naruto simply nodded and tried to follow the lecture from glancing on the friendly girl's book. However, he couldn't help but realize how cute she was and was soon having to fight a blush that threaten to consume his face. This day was just getting better and better.
Thankfully, Iruka-sensei soon stopped the class and told them to follow him outside. As they all filed in behind him, Naruto found himself walking next to the girl who had offered to share her books with him. He wanted to thank her properly, but realized he didn't know her name.
"Say I wanted to thank you for sharing your books with me. It was very nice of you um? Sorry but I don't know your name." Naruto said to her sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand.
Smiling back at him, the girl replied with a smile to match his.
"I'm Ino Yamanaka. Nice to meet you Naruto."
"Nice to meet you Ino-chan. Lets be friends okay?" He said with a happy grin as they followed the class outside towards what appeared to be a training field behind the school building.
"Sounds good. I'll introduce you to my other friends later."
"Okay." Before Naruto could say anything else, Iruka-sensei began to speak and instructed the students to split up into two groups.
"Alright to make it fair how about I have two students be team captains and they can pick their teams." Iruka explained as he scanned the crowd of children.
"How about Shikamaru and Sasuke? You two come up here and take turns picking your team-mates."
Two identical sighs could be heard as the corresponding boys walked to the front and turned around to face their fellow classmates.
"This is such a drag. You go first Uchiha." Shikamaru said in a lazy voice. The boy had a short black ponytail and was slouching as he walked.
"Alright then, I choose the guy with the glasses. Sorry don't know your name. Your turn Nara." Sasuke, the boy with black, spiked in the back short hair, replied with a small smirk on his face.
"Chouji." Shikamaru called out bored and totally uncaring. Said boy came up with a bag of chips in his hands and took his spot next to him.
"Guy with the red shirt."
"Kiba."
"Umm..." Sasuke stop momentarily to scan the crowd for anyone that wasn't fawning over him. Sadly the majority of the girls were blocking his view as most were jumping up and down trying to get his attention. Two girls, one with pink hair and the other with blond hair, in particular were enthusiastically raising their hands hoping to get picked.
"Hyuuga-san" He finally decided on as he saw that she was the only one not wanting to catch his attention. Plus her family jutsu could come in handy for whatever the sensei had planned.
Once the Hyuuga girl shuffled to stand behind Sasuke after sensing the death glares on her persona, Shikamaru called out the next person on his team.
" no."
With a small smile to her new friend, Ino left Naruto's side huffing about not being on Sasuke's team and walked to stand next to Chouji.
"Aburame-san." Sasuke saw that Shikamaru was just calling out his friends and knew that all his friends were losers, except Shino. That guy wasn't annoying.
Before Shikamaru called out the next person he had in mind. He felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to gaze at the pale blue eyes of Ino.
"Pick Naruto. He's my new friend." She said with a grin.
Not caring one way or another, Shikamaru merely shrugged.
"Naruto, you're on my team."
Surprised at not being picked last like normally, Naruto's face broke into a large smile as he bounded up to stand next to his newest friend. Both blonds smiled at each other, happy to be on the same team.
Suddenly a light chuckling could be heard and the whole group turned to see that Sasuke was smirking, while looking very smug.
"Something funny Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked while wondering why he was even bothering.
"No just that you happened to pick the loser of the class. Blondie doesn't know anything about being a ninja. No one's ever trained with him." Sasuke replied with a smirk.
"Well isn't that why we're all at the academy for? To be taught how to be ninja's." Shikamaru retorted with his quick wit.
Smirk vanishing from his face, Sasuke tried to come up with a good comeback, but gave up after too much time passed. Now if he answered back it would look foolish.
"Whatever. You there. You're on my team."
With a smirk, Shikamaru turned to his team-mates and saw the look of pride on his closes friends eyes. When he faced Naruto, he could see that the boys eye's held a grateful look and couldn't help, but feel like patting himself on the back if it wasn't too much of an effort to do so in the first place.
"Alright, hey Ino there's only few people left, want me to pick Sakura?"
Ino froze at the mention of her once best friend. She turned to see her standing there by herself and felt that familiar ache in her chest whenever she saw her like that. However, Sakura chose to end their friendship so it was her job to make amends.
"I'd rather you didn't Shika." Ino replied as she turned her head so no one could see the tears well up in her eyes. However, one blond boy did notice, but chose to not say anything. " I wonder what's up with Ino-chan?"
"Fine, hey guy with the mohawk you're on my team."
A minute later and there was only two people remaining and Sasuke felt the beginning of a headache forming when he saw who was left. He prayed that Shikamaru picked that pink haired stalker. He didn't know if he could deal with her today.
"Girl with the..." Shikamaru drawled out and Sasuke could almost be seen on the verge of pulling his hair out in frustration. That damn Nara was doing this on purpose.
"the... black hair, you're on my team."
As if a cold chill blew over him, Sasuke froze as looked at his final team mate with eye's of pure despair. Shikamaru was going to pay dearly for this.
"Sasuke-kun we're on the same team isn't that wonderful. Now we can get to know each other better." The pink hair stalker said.
"I don't care. Leave me alone." Sasuke replied in a cool tone recovering quickly from his shock as he turned to face his teacher.
"You're so cool Sasuke! I just love that about you!" The pinkie continued as if he hadn't said a word.
"Kill me now..." Sasuke thought as stood sulking in front of Iruka.
"Well now that you're all in teams, we're going to play a game. It is based off what the majority of your assignments will be as a shinobi. I will hand the captains either a red or blue flag. The captains will chose an area to hide their flag and that will become their home base. The objective of the game is to capture the flag of the opposing team. First team to return the enemy's flag to their home base will win. You are allowed to guard your flag as you see fit. I'll give you guys five minutes to come up with a strategy, and once I blow this whistle the game begins. Understood?"
A chorus of "Yes, Iruka-sensei" could be heard in answer.
"Alright off with you. Good luck."
The two teams took to opposite sides and used the cover of the trees to hide from enemy eyes. Once he felt that they were far away enough, Shikamaru stopped his team and sat down in a meditative pose which he would in the coming future become famous for.
"Um... What's he doing?" Naruto questioned outloud to no one in particular as he saw the captain just sit down.
"Shikamaru is really smart, but when he really needs to think about something he'll sit down like that and think until he has whatever is on his mind figured out." The guy named Chouji answered as he munched away on his chips.
"Yeah, we're sure to win with whatever strategy Shika comes up with." Ino boasted as she started to climb up a tree.
"Whatcha doing Ino-chan?" Naruto inquired as he saw her scramble up the wooden trunk.
"I'm on look out to see if I can see Sasuke's team... I can see them!" Ino exclaimed in joy and then gasped in outrage. " Those cheaters they're burying their red flag."
"Can you see where Ino?" Shikamaru asked still in his meditative position.
" Yeah, Sasuke-kun just made a mark on the bark so they can tell where it is. Oh shoot!" Just as she scrambled up, Ino scrambled back down.
"What happened?" Naruto asked alarmed once Ino was on the ground.
"One of the guys on the other team was starting to climb up a tree and I didn't want to be caught so I got down."
"Smart move Ino, and I have a plan. Listen closely." Shikamaru suddenly said as he stood up with a determined gleam in his eyes.
"Hey Sasuke-san do you think this will really work?" A random guy asked as everyone got into their respective positions.
"Yeah, Shikamaru picked a bunch of dumb idiots and I doubt any of them will be able to come up with a decent plan. By burying the flag alone we've got an advantage over them." Sasuke smirked as he waited for the whistle to blow. He couldn't wait to show Shikamaru up for that humiliating moment earlier.
The loud clear sound of a whistle could be heard followed shortly by the sounds of various feet moving quickly.
"Alright everyone get into position." Sasuke's voice could be heard ring throughout the entire training field.
"Naruto, Ino, Kiba. You guy's know what to do. Everyone else get ready they'll be here soon." Shikamaru's calm voice resounded and everyone bounded off to do their designated roles.
"Team Shikamaru wins!" Iruka exclaimed as he clapped for the victors.
"They cheated!" Came the shrieking voice of Sakura as she stomped to yell at Ino.
"Ino-pig, dog guy and blondie here cheated. They were spying on us! That's how they knew where Sasuke-kun buried our flag!"
"Shut it Forehead! Iruka-sensei never said anything about spying on the other team or did you sensei?" The undignified platinum blond turned to the highly amused shinobi.
"Well that is true and I must congratulate Team Shikamaru for a nice job done. You managed to spy on the opposing team without being caught. A wise team always tries to gather as much information as they can without getting caught before attacking an enemy."
"Yeah that point aside, the loser here had the flag in his pocket. That must have been cheating. You said to hide it an area that would be the home base." Sasuke interjected as he silently fumed about losing to Shikamaru and the blond ninja wanna-be.
"That's right. Iruka-sensei said where ever the captain hides the flag will become home base. I hid it in Naruto's pocket because his blue shorts would camouflage our blue flag. Since I did that, Naruto became our home base. Once Ino handed Naruto your flag, we won because we brought the enemy flag unto our home base." Shikamaru explained with a smirk on his face as he came to stand next to the grinning pair of blonds and feral looking, brown haired boy.
Iruka could just tell that Shikamaru would turn out to be an outstanding shinobi in the future. He managed to plan a strategy within the rules of the game in less than three minutes.
He had observed their whole plan making while Mizuki watched Sasuke's team. Ino had been wise to think about spying on the other team and even smarter to avoid detection.
Although what surprised him the most was the fact that Naruto could fight and make such effective quick decisions on his feet so well. He out maneuvered all his opponents and managed to cover both Ino and Kiba as they headed for the flag. All and all these generation would make great shinobi in the future.
"Shikamaru is correct. They won fair and square. Remember students that one of the best things to learn is how to outsmart your opponent. You do this by gathering information, observing your surroundings, and being able to make quick second decisions. Now it's time for lunch so head back inside the classroom and gather your lunches. You have thirty minutes before the next class begins. Once again good job today guys." Iruka waved as he poofed out of their sight.
Once the smoke cleared, the students raced back toward the building. They were famished.
As he saw all the kids step outside to eat out on the designated eating areas, Naruto felt his stomach growl painfully. It really sucked living alone by yourself sometimes. He hadn't even thought about making himself a lunch this morning. With a sigh, Naruto walked off to find a quiet place to spend his time before the next class started.
"Yo! Naruto where you going?" Shikamaru's drawl voice suddenly resounded behind him.
Turning around, Naruto began to laugh sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head with his right hand.
"Well I was going to take a nap until class started."
With a raised brow, Shikamaru narrowed his eye's at the chuckling blond.
"You forgot to bring lunch didn't you?"
Sighing in defeat, Naruto nodded as his head hung in shame.
"Well my mom packed me some extra stuff, I'll share with ya." Shikamaru yawned as he started to walk off toward a pair of tables.
Surprised, Naruto followed as he stared at the boy as if he had grown two heads.
Seeing the look the blond was giving him, Shikamaru sighed as he slumped down on a wooden chair and took out his lunch.
"Don't look at me like that. Here eat up, I'm sure your hungry especially since you did all that running."
Not wanting to be rude Naruto sat down next to him and eyed the food with suspicion. No one had ever been so nice to him as had Shikamaru been that day. First he picked him for his team and later he had defended him against the rude comments from Sasuke. Now he was sharing his lunch with him.
He could understand when Ino was just being nice when she offered to share her scrolls with him, but food was a sacred thing and not many people openly shared their food with strangers.
"Ugh troublesome blond..." Shikamaru groaned as he placed before Naruto a rice ball and a dango stick. " Here eat. It isn't poisoned or something."
An immense surge of happiness flowed through Naruto at Shikamaru's simple gesture. He was simply being that nice.
"Thank you Shikamaru. I really appreciate this." He exclaimed before enveloping Shikamaru in a tight bear hug.
"Ugh can't breathe... air..." Shikamaru gasped for precious air once Naruto released him.
"Sorry Shikamaru didn't mean to hug you so tight." Naruto laughed sheepishly.
"Yeah yeah you got some crazy strength there Naruto. Anyway's I'm hungry so let's eat."
And so the two munch away on their respective foods when a familiar trio appeared before them.
"Shika-kun, Naruto-kun you guys didn't wait for us!" Ino pouted as she took the chair next to Naruto. Chouji and Kiba took the other two open seats and began to eat their lunch.
"Sorry." Came a pair of mumbled replies as the two boys kept on eating.
Ino opened up her lunch box and sighed as she realized her mom gave her way too much... again...
Eyeing Naruto's lunch or rather how small his lunch was Ino began to take out all the extra stuff she wasn't going to eat.
"Here Naruto have this. My mom gave me way too much. I swear she thinks I eat a ton or something. I get that a shinobi has to have more calories, but the amount she gives me is ridiculous. I can't get fat!" She exclaimed as she shoved all the food in front of her new blond friend.
Once again struck incredulous, Naruto saw that Ino wasn't kidding. There was at least two large lunches in her lunch box. Still quite hungry, Naruto accepted the food.
"Gee thanks Ino-chan, I didn't bring a lunch and Shikamaru shared with me what he had so really thank you. You guys are the best." Naruto grinned brightly at her and Shikamaru.
"No problem Naruto-kun. You know what you don't have to bring a lunch. I know my mom will always give me this much so you can share with me. It'll save me having to explain to my mom why I have so much food left over." Ino smiled back before taking a bite out of her food.
"Problem solved Naruto. Now all you have to do is remember to bring your books." Shikamaru mused as he continued to eat.
Suddenly, Ino began to giggle as she recalled that Naruto had forgotten his books also. Naruto on the other hand laughed sheepishly at Shikamaru.
"Uh yeah..."
Quickly putting two and two together. Shikamaru smirked before shaking his head incredulously at just how troublesome his new friend turned out to be.
"It seems you and Kiba are cut from the same yarn Naruto." Shikamaru chuckled before glancing away from the dark glare from said Inuzuka.
"What was that Nara?" Kiba barked out once he swallowed his food.
"Oh nothing just saying that you and Naruto both forgot to bring your books today."
"Hey I was in a hurry alright. Geez a guy makes one mistake everyone hounds him for it." Naruto sulked.
"Yeah I'm with Naruto on this one." Kiba replied as resumed his eating.
Seeing the similar pouting looks on both the boys faces had the group of friends laughing, until a new voice sounded before them.
"Well well if it isn't a bunch of losers sitting together."
The laughter having abruptly stopped the group looked at the young Uchiha who stood coolly in front of them.
"Whatcha want Sasuke?" Kiba growled. This guy really got on his bad side today.
"Nothing just walking back to class when I thought I'd stop and say hello."
"Hello Sasuke-kun." Ino greeted happily.
"Hn. Anyway, don't think you're so great Shikamaru just because you won today. I'll still be the number one." Sasuke retorted with an arrogant smirk, blatantly ignoring the fawning blonde girl right in front of him.
"Hey it isn't nice to ignore someone when their being nice to you. That's just being rude." Naruto quickly interjected at seeing the hurt look on his new friend's face at the black haired boy's obvious rejection.
"What do you know about manners? You don't have parents to teach you them." Sasuke smirk grew wider at seeing the shocked look on the spiky blonde boy.
Ino, who had at that moment been rendered speechless by Sasuke's harsh comment, had snapped out of it after hearing that her new friend was an orphan.
Now it all made sense. Why he had been such a hurry that he forgot his scrolls and his lunch. Naruto had no one to wake him up on time and help him get ready for school like her mom did that morning. Soon the rest at the table caught on to what she was thinking as well as they turned with disbelieving eyes toward the spiky blonde in question.
With sheer rage on her face, Ino stood up and pushed the unsuspecting Sasuke to the ground.
"Don't say such hurtful things to my friend. Naruto-kun is much nicer than you!" Ino exploded as she shed bitter sweet tears. She lost her best friend for this guy!
"I think it's best you leave Uchiha." Shikamaru growled out as he saw how much damage the boy had caused.
Shikamaru, Chouji, and Kiba rose from their chairs and approached Sasuke. Willing to beat the boy if he didn't leave.
Picking himself up, Sasuke with his head held high and nose up-lifted strolled away from the enraged trio.
"Whatever."
Once he was no longer visible, the three boys turned to see their new blonde friend fighting back tears and the platinum blond crying her heart out. The two were clinging to each other in a tight hug. Seeing this the trio of boys approached the distraught blonds and join into a big group hug.
In the mist of his struggle, Naruto realized he had accomplished his first goal today...
To find loyal, trustworthy friends who he would want to have by his side for the rest of his life...
Once everyone had calmed down and had returned to their seats. The group of friends sat there simply looking at their lunches. Their appetite slowly returning to them. One by one they resumed eating in a quiet comfortable silence. Each with too much on their mind to really want to start up a conversation.
Eventually Naruto's optimistic nature took over and the image of Ino pushing down Sasuke kept replying in his mind until a small smirk appeared on his whisker marked face.
"Did you guys see the look on Sasuke's face whenever Ino-chan pushed him down? He looked so dumb!" He suddenly mused aloud with a laugh.
The group consisting of four boys and one girl looked at the chuckling golden haired boy like he was a rare sight to behold. They couldn't understand how he could be so cheerful after how Sasuke had treated him.
Liking the boy even more, Kiba couldn't help but join in on the joke. He always liked people who were optimistic.
"Yeah, he was so surprised! You're really strong Ino to have taken down that stuck up jerk."
The said girl in question blushed lightly at their praises and eventually laughed alongside them. Soon they were all laughing. Before they knew it they were making more jokes and the bad moment was soon far from their minds.
As they walked into the classroom, the group could feel what felt like a killing intent as a large majority of the girls were smoldering them with heated glares. Ignoring them, they all resumed to their seats and Naruto realized that they were sitting together. Ino was sitting beside Shikamaru who in front of him sat Chouji who was next to Kiba. A smile appeared on his face as he realized this. He liked having his new best friends so close by.
As they all took their seats, one by one they all had similar frowns appear on their faces except for Naruto who looked confused as he saw their expressions.
"Hey, what's the matter guys?"
"Someone took my stuff. I can't find my backpack." Ino fumed as she searched all over her desk area.
"Yeah same here." Chouji and Shikamaru said together. The latter later groaned as he realized he made an enemy on the first day of school. How troublesome...
"My stuffs gone too." Kiba added on as he tried to scent out his stuff. After a couple of expert sniffs, Kiba narrowed his eyes dangerously at a pink haired girl that sat a couple of rows ahead of them obviously trying to act oblivious.
"Guys, that girl Sakura took our stuff. I can smell them in that cabinet next to her row. Her scents all over them." Kiba whispered quietly to them trying to avoid alerting the girl who was dumb enough to take their stuff. You don't fool an Inuzuka's nose.
Ino could feel a headache forming as she glared at the girl that was starting to be the bane of her existence. They use to be such close friends. Ino use to know her so well and now she was acting like a total jerk.
Sakura took their stuff because she knew that they wouldn't want to cause a scene and tell the teacher. When Ino voiced this aloud, Shikamaru got a gleam in his eyes.
"Alright guys, this is what we'll do to get some payback. So pay close attention..." Shikamaru whispered conspiratorially to the others
As they listened to him, the grins on their faces grew larger and larger by the minute. They were about to kill two birds with one stone.
"Settle down students and open your book titled Chakra. We're about to go over a very important concept that comes with using ninjutsu's." Iruka ordered as he strolled over to his desk.
Seeing her opportunity to set the plan in motion, Ino raised her hand.
"Um, Iruka-Sensei. I don't have any of my books. Someone took my backpack and I can't find it." Ino voiced with annoyance.
"My stuff's gone too." Shikamaru added on as did Chouji and Kiba.
Seeing a pattern, Iruka looked slightly annoyed at the students before him. However, before he could say anything Ino interrupted. Apparently she had thought of the same thing he had.
"I think Sasuke did it. He's probably still upset that we beat him in the game earlier."
A gasp of outrage could be heard coming from the accused and his followers.
"I wouldn't stoop so low to something so childish. If I did I would have taken the loser's stuff too." Sasuke retorted.
"Well Ino has a point Sasuke. Everyone who's stuff was taken was from Shikamaru's team. It may not have been you, but someone from your team did. As captain of the team, you were the leader and squad leaders will always shoulder the blame for their teammates actions. As such, Sasuke you will be punished unless the guilty party confesses." Iruka said with a firm voice.
Naruto and the others had been watching Sakura as Iruka reprimanded Sasuke. The look of horror on her face at seeing her crush get in trouble was priceless. They could all tell that she was going to cave and confess. As if on cue, the pink haired girl stood up and had the gall to start crying.
"Sensei don't punish Sasuke. I did it. I hid their stuff in the cabinet. I'm sorry I didn't Sasuke would get in trouble."
Various gasps could be heard from all over the room as the six year cherry blossom named girl confessed to the act. While five identical grins grew on the faces of the victims in question.
"I am very disappointed in you Sakura. As punishment you will remain after class and clean the board after you have written a hundred sentences telling how wrong your actions were today." Iruka sighed as he gathered the bags from the cabinet and handed them back to their respective owners.
"Now class open your books..."
The final bell rang and the students were released from their first day of classes minus one Kunoichi in training who was to stay later.
Today had marked the start of a routine for the next six years of their lives.
"Wow Shikamaru I can't believe how great your plan worked. I feel kinda bad for Sakura though. I would hate to have to clean a chalkboard." Naruto praised as he walked with Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru out of the school building.
"Serves her right for being such a meanie. I'm glad Sasuke was put on the spot too though. That good looking jerk deserved it just as much as forehead!" Ino exclaimed as she raised her small fist into the air.
Sighing deeply, Shikamaru shook his head at their antics. He and Chouji muttered a goodbye as they saw their fathers waiting for them by the entrance. Ino, having seen that her father was with theirs, also said a cheerful goodbye as she raced after Shikamaru and Chouji and together walked to their parents.
Naruto halted in his steps as he saw how affectionate his new friends parents greeted them and walked with them to their respective homes.
With a downcast expression on his face, Naruto continued on his way out of the academy when he was stopped by a certain young Uchiha with a smirk on his face.
"Hey there loser." Sasuke greeted with a smirk as he walked alongside Naruto once he had resumed moving.
"What do you want Sasuke?"
"Nothing just saying hello."
"You really like saying hello or something?" Naruto questioned with a raised brow.
Annoyed by the innocence in his question, Sasuke's smirk turned into a frown as the boys approached the edge of the large yard of the academy.
"Not really, but I have to go now my father is waiting for me." Sasuke retorted as his smirk returned. He walked away with a half-hearted backwards wave.
However, before he got a couple of feet away from the irritated blond, a tall silver-haired shinobi with his hands in his pockets walked passed him. Intrigued by the man, Sasuke stopped in his tracks and watched as he approached the academy gates and seemed to wait for someone.
"Naruto! Hurry up, I'm starving!" The one-eyed man suddenly yelled as he waved to a familiar blond haired boy.
Having heard his name, Naruto glanced up and his former mood disappeared as he saw his new friend, Kakashi, calling him. He raced towards the man with a large joyous smile.
"Hey Kakashi! I almost forgot you were waiting for me!" Naruto laughed sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
Chuckling, Kakashi picked up the boy and placed him on his shoulder's much like his sensei did for him when he was younger. His actions stunned the small boy who had never had someone place him on their shoulders before.
Sasuke watched the exchange between the two with a look of disbelief and confusion on his face. How did the loser know a guy like that? Kakashi was it?
Distracted, the small Uchiha didn't notice when the pair he had been observing stop in their tracks and watch him curiously.
"Bye Sasuke!" A loud annoying voice suddenly broke through his inquiring mind.
Glancing up, the small Uchiha could only stare at the strange pair strolled away at a leisurely pace. All while having to restrain himself from throwing something at the blond who was smiling at him with that stupid grin of his.
Resuming his walk home, Sasuke vowed to find out who that man was because he was obviously a shinobi. From what he heard from his father, Naruto didn't have any relatives, much less shinobi relatives.
"Thanks again for this Kakashi! I love ramen!" Naruto exclaimed through a slurping of food.
Kakashi was feeling pretty thankful at that moment that he had such a high paying job or else he didn't know if he was going to able to afford just how expensive Naruto was when it came to ramen.
"Sure thing Naruto! Say are you friends with that Uchiha boy?"
After swallowing his noodles, Naruto looked up at the one-eyed Shinobi and frowned whenever he heard mention of Sasuke.
"Well... I don't think I'm his friend..." the blond muttered as he picked at his food.
Seeing such the sudden change in mood, Kakashi figured that something must have occurred today with Itachi's little brother.
"I see... So something happened right?" At seeing the boy shake his head yes, Kakashi continued. " Do you want to tell me about it?"
Sighing, Naruto began the long detailed process of explaining his first day at the ninja academy. He even mentioned how Ino-chan became his first friend. He told his new buddy Kakashi about everything even what Sasuke told him as they were leaving the academy.
Frowning, the silver haired shinobi was upset with the current events. No one was going to belittle his sensei's son if he had anything to say about it.
"It seems like Sasuke sees in you a rival Naruto."
"Rival? I hadn't done anything to him though."
"Well all those kids in your class who you became friends with today have been together or at have been least around each other since they are all from famous shinobi clans. I'm pretty sure that the reason Sasuke picked on you was because he wanted to prove he was better. The Uchiha's aren't very well know for having a friendly disposition. I wouldn't worry too much about it though Naruto. I'm sure he'll eventually come around." Kakashi said with a smile of his eye.
"I guess..." The blond muttered before he resumed eating.
As they sat there in a content silence, the jonin realized just how hated the young boy was. Even in the small restaurant he could feel the hate filled glares from all the people who would walk by and see Naruto sitting in there eating.
He had been gone far too long in his opinion. The Hokage had actually sent him on a mission for an entire year and he had returned about a week or so ago. He hadn't been able to think of a way to approach the boy without seeming like some creepy stranger. So he had resulted in hoping to run in with the boy at some point and to his surprise he didn't think it would work out so well. The small child had actually ran into him whether or not Kakashi had planned standing on purpose in front of the academy gates that day.
Once they had finished their dinner and Kakashi had paid a rather large sum of money, he and Naruto had decided to walk around for a bit.
"You know Naruto you remind me of someone I knew a long time ago." Kakashi suddenly said with a wistful sigh effectively gaining the attention of his younger counterpart.
"I do?" Naruto inquired with a tilt of his head.
"Yeah, he was just like you. Always full of energy and in a bright cheerful mood."
"Oh, is he your friend?"
With a sad far away look in his eye, Kakashi slowly nodded his head.
"Yes he was my friend. I wouldn't be here today if it hadn't been for him."
"What's his name?" Naruto asked enraptured by his tale.
"Believe it or not he was an Uchiha. Obito Uchiha. The complete opposite of Sasuke Uchiha and well almost every Uchiha." Kakashi said with a small chuckle at the memories of his genin time.
"Really?" Naruto said with disbelief that someone like that was related to the stick-in-mud Sasuke.
"Yes, you could say he was the black sheep of the family. When I was a few years older than you, Obito and I would constantly fight much like you and Sasuke do."
"Huh... I wanna meet this Obito. He sounds like my kinda person."
"Oh, I have no doubt about that, but sadly I can't introduce you guys. You see Naruto, Obito died saving my life a long time ago." Kakashi confessed with nostalgia.
Sensing the morbid mood that had fallen upon them, Naruto averted his eyes from the tall man and noticed that they had ended up walking in front of a large stone memorial. Looking up to it, he could see the names of various people engraved on it.
One name in particular stood out to him. He immediately recognized it as the name his new friend had been telling him about.
"Don't be sad. Old man Hokage told me once that we should be grateful for the sacrifices others make for us. We should live happy because they wouldn't want us to be sad. That's why I want to be great ninja just like the Fourth Hokage. He died so that everyone in the village could live and be happy."
"Every time I feel sad I remember what he did for me and the whole village, and smile because that's what he would have wanted right?" Naruto turned his intense blue eye's to the sorrowful man who looked shocked at his words.
Kakashi couldn't believe how such a young boy could hold such wisdom far beyond his years. Then the images of the bitter villagers flashed through his eyes and he remembered that such treatment probably forced his sensei's son to mature much quicker in some aspects than he ever needed to.
It was ironic to him that the boy who everyone hated was the only one who truly understood what the Yondaime wished for this village. For them to prosper and live for many more happy years. Naruto was indeed Minato's great legacy who he left behind in his death. Anger coursed through him as he realized that had Minato lived this bright boy would have been cherished and beloved by all, the complete opposite of how they treated him now.
At time's he couldn't believe how idiotic people could be. If they took the veil of hate off their eyes, they'd see that their hated demon container was the spiting image of their beloved Fourth Hokage. Right down to the letter, Naruto shared his fathers golden hair, intensive blue eye's, and undying determination. Not to mention the other features he acquired from his mother. She was a fierce strong woman of the Uzumaki Clan, famous for their stamina and sealing abilities.
It was such a shame that such a powerful clan had been decimated and now only one heir remained who also so happen to be the only known or unknown living Namikaze heir as well. Even though the Namikaze's aren't as very well re-known as the Uzumaki's, they were still some quite skilled shinobi.
Shaking off his somber thoughts, Kakashi smiled at the small boy.
"You're very right Naruto. The Yondaime and Obito would have wanted us to live happy lives."
Smiling brightly back at him, Naruto was relieved that the earlier gloom had passed.
"So big brother, Kakashi, wanna keep walking?"
"Big brother? Never thought the kid would ever call me that. It seems that at least one of sensei's wishes came true." Kakashi mused, but answered the boy with a nod and the two strolled back into the village.
Kakashi led them through the outskirts where the majority of the clan compounds stood. One in particular Naruto recognized as the one that he use to pass by as a kid.
"Hey big brother what's that symbol mean up on top of that gate?" Naruto pointed to a familiar balloon figure that had always puzzled him.
"Oh that? It represents the Uchiha Clan. It's their family crest."
"They sure do have a really big family don't they?" Naruto gasped as he saw so many people walking about in the very large compound.
Chuckling, Kakashi couldn't help but agree. The Uchiha's were very numerous and quite strong.
"Yeah they sure do."
At hearing the man's wistful sigh, Naruto turned his blue gaze to the man he now regarded as a brother.
"Do you have a big family too?"
Frozen in shock by his innocent question, Kakashi stopped moving as his traitorous memory flashed the final moments he had with his father before he became the last Hatake.
"Hey, are you okay?"
The concern in the boy's voice snapped the silver-haired shinobi out of his haunting memories.
"Uh... yeah sorry spaced out a bit. But no I don't have a family. I'm actually like you. I'm all by myself." Kakashi said with a light chuckle and smile to mask the melancholy he was feeling.
"Really? Well then how about we become a family. You can be the big brother and I'll be the little brother. It might be a small family, but someday it'll be as big as the Uchiha's." Naruto said gleefully at his plan. His young age shined brightly at his simplistic solution for their problem.
In a way, Kakashi was tempted to agree with the boy. However, he knew that if he was seen too often with Naruto then it would arise suspicions about the boy's heritage and not to mention all the bad blood he had with a lot of people.
"Well that would definitely solve the problem, but it wouldn't be very safe for you if we just do that. You see little one, I have a lot enemies and if they find out I have someone that they could use against me it would leave you in serious danger." Kakashi said sternly as he crouched down to be eye-leveled with the golden haired boy.
"Oh... I see..." Naruto responded sadly with his head slumped over.
Kakashi fought back a sigh at seeing the boy so distressed. How was he going to cheer him up now. However before he could say anything, the blue eyed wonder left him awestruck at his next proclamation.
"Well then I have to get stronger, so that I won't be in danger and we can be a family that everyone will be afraid of. Believe it!"
Wide-eyed and left speechless, Kakashi just stared at the mighty pose the young boy was performing. He was about to shut down the idea when he realized that it might just motivate him to train harder. It wouldn't hurt to have some motivation.
"Alright Naruto I'll make a promise with you. When you are older and a fearsome shinobi, I vow that you and I will restore a clan name that was thought to have died and make it feared by all the shinobi nations once again. How does that sound?" He said with an eye-smile at the determined faced boy.
"Yeah! It's a promise Kakashi and I never break a promise because that's my ninja way! Believe it!" Naruto exclaimed with a fierce passion and conviction as he hugged tackled the laughing silver-haired man.
And with this vow, Naruto was a large step closer to his greatest dream besides becoming Hokage. Having a family...
A/N:
Oh well, until next time dear readers! Don't forget to review and follow!
