Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.
So here's chapter two. It isn't as long as chapter one was, because I got through everything that needed to be said in fewer words. As was mentioned at the top of this chapter, this fic was inspired by the fanfics of Shawny Wong, particularly One Small Step. These can be accessed through my favourite authors page, and any NaruHina fans who haven't read it really should. Also, thank you to all of you who left reviews. It's nice to know I'm not just shouting into a void!
Chapter Two
It was tradition that parents came to the Academy's entrance ceremony to watch their child be formally accepted into Konoha's ninja training programme. No-one came to watch Naruto. Even director Hozuki was supposedly busy. There were dozens of other students, and even more parents watching their children, but no-one had come to watch him.
Not that they weren't. He could hear them even now, whispering about him as always. Whispering that he shouldn't be there, that he should never be a ninja, that he was a delinquent, that the village would be better without him. He wondered if they thought he couldn't hear them, or if they simply didn't care. He scanned the crowed, and his eyes met those of the woman he'd bumped into the week before, the woman who shouted at him for talking to her daughter. Did that mean…
Sure enough, the girl was there, in the crowd of new students not too far away from him. He considered going and talking to her after the ceremony was over, just to see the reaction of her parents. But then, maybe her mother hadn't been joking when she threatened to kill him.
Naruto was wearing his best clothes, a black shirt and trousers, but they were still old, ragged-looking hand-me-downs, and he stood out from the rest of the students in their immaculate formal ninja garb, much of which was no doubt purchased specially for the occasion.
Old man Hokage was making a tiresome speech about honour, dedication and justice, or some such. Naruto drifted in and out. He liked the old man, who often took the time to come and visit him in the orphanage to see how he was doing, but he couldn't really focus on the speech, he was too busy scanning the faces in the crowd to see if there was anyone he recognised.
There wasn't of course. Well, some of them he'd seen around. They were the ones whose parents took them to the park when he left. Sometimes he passed them on the way, seeing them smiling and laughing, and wished he could join them.
Eventually the speeches all finished, and they were all officially Academy Students. The Hokage and the instructors all began to circulate around, talking to parents, introducing themselves to pupils, asking after former students and networking. Naruto had no-one there for him, so no-one spoke to him.
Over in the corner, hanging from a huge tree, there was a simple swing made from nothing more than a rope and a bit of wood. It was out of the crowd, and Naruto sat down on it, thankful not to have all of those people around him. How long he was sat there, he had no idea. Eventually though, none other than the old man appeared suddenly before him, bending down on one knee to see eye-to-eye.
"How are you today, Naruto?" He asked. Naruto grinned in spite of himself.
"Hey hey old man!" Naruto "I'm a trainee ninja now, you shouldn't address me in such a familiar fashion!" The old man laughed an uproarious laugh.
"When you get to be my age, and also the Hokage, then you can address people however you like!" He spluttered.
"Well it just so happens that I AM going to be Hokage someday!" Naruto replied.
"Well good luck. There are a lot of promising looking people here. You'd better train hard if you want to beat them!" The Hokage said, straightening up. Someone had appeared behind him, trying to get his attention. Naruto looked up. It was a tall man, with long dark hair and the same white eyes without pupils. Naruto could see that the cruel woman was standing nearby, although neither of them seemed to have noticed him.
"Sandaime Hokage-sama." The man said. The old man nodded his approval "I would like to introduce you to my daughter. Hinata, this is the Hokage." Naruto suddenly noticed the girl he'd seen the other day at the park, standing behind the man as if she was trying to hide herself. She did, however, give the Hokage a very stiff looking bow and mumble that she was pleased to meet him. The Hokage smiled warmly.
"I'm very pleased to meet you also, Hinata-san. I'm sure you will become a proud addition to this academy. And if I may ask, Hiashi-sama, how is Hanabi doing?" To Naruto's eyes it seemed that there was some part of this question that irritated the man, but he couldn't be sure, or even begin to guess why it might be.
"She is fine, Hokage-sama." The man replied. "Her chakra network has developed nicely, and she shows signs already that suggest that she will also be a powerful ninja when she comes of age." His voice carried the faintest hint of disappointment that Naruto, always adept at noticing small emotional cues (the better to know when to leave a situation alone) could not help but pick up on. He was clearly comparing Hanabi, whoever she was, to someone else. Naruto's eyes fell on the girl, who was looking down on the ground with evident misery. That must be it.
After some tedious-sounding (to Naruto anyway) small talk, the Hokage turned to the girl and spoke. "Hinata-san, I would like to introduce you to a soon-to-be classmate of yours. This," he said, indicating Naruto, "Is Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto, this is Hinata of the Hyuuga clan." Naruto heard a sharp intake of breath from both the man and his wife, and a mischievous grin spread across his face. The old hag could hardly fault him for talking to her daughter if he had been introduced by old man Hokage, could she? He leaped off the swing to land in front of Hinata, causing her to draw back slightly.
"Pleased to meetcha, Hinata-chan!" He said, striving to make it as informal as he could get away with. He grinned his widest grin and stuck his hand out instead of bowing. Hinata gasped, and her face turned red. Her father's eyebrow twitched fractionally, and even out of the corner of his eye Naruto could see her mother's lips purse so thin that they might have been pink noodles.
"Y-y-yes. It is a pleasure to meet you as well…. N-Naruto-san." She replied, bowing instead of taking his hand. Naruto glanced to her parents. Could he get away with it? Ah, what the hell. What's the old coot and his hag wife gonna do with the Hokage standing right here?
"Jeez, Hinata-chan. That's too much!" He said, grinning a sweetly devilish grin. "You should say 'How are you doing, Naruto-kun' or 'what's up, Naruto?' We're gonna be classmates after all!"
"Ah." Hinata squeaked, looking up at her parents, both of whom were doing an excellent job of staying composed.
"Well, come on Hinata." The man said. "We should introduce you to the teacher."
"Yes father." The girl said. As the man led her away, she turned back to look at Naruto, who swore that he could see the faintest flicker of a smile cross her lips. He looked up at the Hokage, who was trying, and failing, not to chuckle at Naruto's antics.
"Who's the family with the funny eyes, old man?" He asked, innocently. The Hokage surpressed another smile.
"That's the main family of the Hyuuga clan." He replied. "They are one of the most powerful, and certainly the richest, clans in Konoha."
"Jeez." Naruto said. "Maybe that old lady was telling the truth when she said she'd kill me." He muttered to himself. If the Hokage heard he didn't say anything. It was far from the first death threat that Naruto had had, and the boy was pretty sure most of them weren't meant seriously, although that was small comfort.
"You shouldn't have done that, Naruto." The old man said.
"Ah, come on old man!" Naruto replied. "It was just a bit of fun."
"It may be harmless fun to you, but did you think about her?" The Hokage asked him, bending down to look him in the eye again.
"Whaddaya mean?" Naruto asked.
"Well you put her on the spot." The Hokage pointed out. "You made it so she either had to be rude by ignoring you, or say something in front of her parents that she knew they wouldn't like her to say." All of a sudden Naruto felt very guilty. The old man was right. Why was it that his pranks were so much less fun when the Hokage reasoned with him than they were when he just got shouted at?
"It's ok, Naruto. You can apologise to her later on, in class. I'm sure she'll forgive you." Naruto smiled again, but inwardly he doubted it.
Hinata sat at dinner with her parents and some of the Uchiha family in the most exclusive restaurant in Konoha. They were not that close to the Uchiha family, but as the two largest and most powerful clans in Konoha, both famed for their eye-based bloodline jutsu, it was important to maintain at least some links. Besides, the younger Uchiha boy was entering the academy at the same time as Hinata, and great things were expected of him already. Both families had gathered to hold a celebration in honour of their children's new status.
Even at the tender age of six Hinata knew that she would be measured against Uchiha Sasuke. Both of them were scions of major clans, and both clans were famed for producing incredibly strong shinobi. Hinata's cousin Neji, who had only been an Academy student for a year, was already capable of sparring with genin level ninja and coming off best. Sasuke's older brother, Itachi, on the other hand, was way beyond even that. Perhaps the most promising prospect in Konoha, he was widely tipped to be Hokage someday.
Sasuke already seemed like he would be able to live up to his family's expectations. Hinata wished she was as sure about herself. And if he turned out to be a genius ninja like his brother, it would only reinforce her father's perception of her as a weakling.
She ate silently, watching as Sasuke bickered good-naturedly with Itachi, who was holding Sasuke's chopsticks out of reach above his head. A sharp look from their father caused the two of them to start shaking with silent laughter. Hinata didn't even need to look to know that her father strongly disapproved of such raucous behaviour, but she envied the two of them their easy humour. All she could feel was a tightening knot of fear and shame growing in her stomach, which hadn't been helped by her introduction to Uzumaki Naruto earlier that day.
He had leaped off the swing and immediately addressed her in the most familiar way he could think of. She wouldn't have minded if her parents weren't there. She could tell that they were outraged that the situation had come about at all, but they couldn't very well ignore the Hokage. The boy's rudeness had only made the situation worse.
All she could think to do was to mumble the politest greeting she could muster and then keep her mouth shut, lest she accidentally say or do anything to incur the wrath of her father later on. She was shaken from her thoughts when she heard Naruto's name mentioned by her father.
"I can't believe that they allowed the boy in. Uzumaki Naruto is a danger to this village." He was saying. Hinata looked at Uchiha Fugaku. He was nodding his agreement, but he didn't seem entirely convinced.
"I suppose it was inevitable though." Her mother said. "He has the favour of the Hokage, which seems to overrule any common sense or logic where he is concerned."
"Well I can't see the harm in it myself." Sasuke's mother Mikoto said. "He's only six years old. I don't think you can claim that someone no older than Sasuke or Hinata-chan presents a clear or present danger to the entire village just through learning a few basic jutsu."
"How can you say that?" Hiashi asked. "You know very well what he is. And even if you're right, which I'm far from willing to admit, the boy is still a delinquent trouble-maker. For some reason the Hokage saw fit to introduce Hinata and he to each other, and he was so rude to her that I thought I might have to deal with him right there."
Hinata was absorbed in the conversation. She noticed that even Sasuke had broken off from trying to steal his brother's forehead protector and was paying close attention to what was being said.
"Well I suppose that he simply hasn't been taught proper etiquette yet." Mikoto offered. "No doubt after a term at the Academy someone will see fit to give him a few pointers."
"It wasn't just a lack of etiquette." Her mother replied. "It was quite deliberate. I think he was trying to offend or embarrass her. Actually, I'm very proud of the way she handled the situation. She utterly refused to stoop to his level." Her mother smiled warmly at Hinata, who perked up a little.
"Thank you." She replied, softly.
"And what was your impression of Uzumaki Naruto, Hinata-san." Fugaku asked. Suddenly all eyes were on her.
"Oh…w-w-well…that is…" She stammered. Her father cut her off.
"Speak properly when someone asks you a question, Hinata." He barked sharply.
"S-sorry father. W-well, I thought he looked very sad, all by himself on that swing. I hope Hokage-sama noticed too." She said after a few seconds thought. It was not the answer her father had been looking for. She wilted under his gaze. "But I thought he was very rude as well, of course." That seemed to pacify him a little.
"You're to stay away from him, Hinata." Hiashi said. "That boy is dangerous, and nothing but trouble. I won't have you being swayed from your path by him." She was astounded by the vitriol in her father's usually level voice.
"Yes, father." She replied. The conversation turned to less confrontational matters, but every so often Hinata noticed Uchiha Mikoto giving her a sympathetic glance.
Could Naruto really be so bad? Her parents were so adamant that he was that there must be something to it. She was curious to know what it might be. She could understand if it was just rudeness, her parents wouldn't want her to pick up bad habits or manners, but how could a six-year-old child be as dangerous as they said he was? It just didn't make any sense at all.
Perhaps she would try and get to know him after all, she thought with a tiny, illicit thrill of rebellion.
A/N: So there's chapter two. From next chapter Academy based hijinks will begin to ensue, so stick around!
