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Long author's note, so feel free to skip to the next xxx!
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Sorry about the wait! I was actually not going to start posting again until I had up to chapter 5 done, but I'm going to go ahead and start posting now since I've been taking so long (I am very sorry!). I have three ready to go and will post them weekly and I should have chapter 5 ready by then.
Just a reminder that the rest of my chapters will not be as long as the first chapter. I purposely had the first chapter longer because it was the first chapter.
Thank you to those of you who read Namikaze Naruto and are continuing to support this fic as well as everyone who reviewed. I'm going to try to reply to every review from here on out if I can.
And I had a few people ask why I didn't have Naruto miraculously turn into a genius. I personally don't like those stories plus I believe that Naruto- like Ashura- would still struggle until he had something more to fight for. But to each their own.
I don't think I missed any mistakes or anything that needs translating, but feel free to tell me if I missed anything!
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"Sakura! You're going to be late!"
"I'll be down in a moment!" the girl yelled back. Sakura grumbled to herself and she walked over to her dresser and picked up her hitai-ate. She looked at her reflection in the mirror next to the dresser. The girl was fair-skinned and had pink hair that fell shy of her waist. She wore a short-sleeved, red qipao dress with circle designs on her shoulders and tight, green biker shorts accompanied by standard blue shinobi sandals. Her emerald eyes betrayed her apprehension. Anyone else would be happy on this day. In fact she was certain that everyone else was nearly bursting with joy.
But not her.
She brought her hitai-ate up and tied it onto her head to hold her hair back and out of her face. She looked at herself again with the symbol of a shinobi now resting on her head.
This is not the life I wanted, Sakura thought.
"Sakura!"
Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes.
"I'M COMING!"
Sakura left the room and walked down the stairs. Her mother was at the bottom of the stairs with a proud smile on her face. Sakura smiled back.
"We're so proud of you," her mother said.
"Thank you," Sakura replied politely. "Where's dad?"
"He had to leave early this morning," she sighed. "He was very upset, but he'll be here when you get home."
Sakura nodded.
"SAKURA!"
"That's Ino," Sakura said. "I better go."
"Good luck, sweetie!" her mother called after her as Sakura left. Sakura opened the door and was almost tackled to the ground. A pair of arms were wrapped around her neck and threatened to suffocate her.
"Can't… breathe!"
"Ah! Sorry, sorry!" The blonde girl apologized as she released Sakura. She was wearing her usual purple, high-collared shirt that exposed her bandage-covered midriff accompanied by an apron-skirt slit up the sides to reveal her legs, which were also covered by bandages to her knees. Her arms were covered by white warmers with purple trim. She had her hair tied back into a ponytail that fell to her waist and her bangs partially covered the right side of her face. Her hitai-ate was tied around her waist like a belt.
"Come on! We're going to be late!" Ino said as she dragged Sakura from the front door.
"I can walk on my own!" Sakura told her.
"Than hurry up! I want to get a seat next to Sasuke-kun!"
Sakura rolled her eyes.
"Oh, come on, you used to have a crush on him, too," Ino pointed out.
"When I was 8! It doesn't count!"
"Oh come on, you have to admit he's cute," Ino said.
"Until he started hanging out with Naruto," Sakura grumbled.
"Whatever. Your loss!" Ino shrugged.
"I am so sad," Sakura said sarcastically.
"You will be, when I'm getting married to the coolest guy in Konoha," Ino said confidently.
"Uh-huh. Sure."
xxx
Sakura could hear the noise of the classroom before Ino even opened the door. The sound of new genin excitedly chatting as they awaited their first assignments filled the entire room. Sakura couldn't help but feel jealous of their enthusiasm. A part of her even resented them for it.
"Aww, Sasuke-kun isn't here yet," Ino whined.
"Let's just find a seat. You can molest him later," Sakura said as she started down the aisle.
"What? I don't molest him!" Ino yelled after her much too loudly. Several heads turned to look at her in alarm.
"I WON, DATTEBAYO!"
"No, I won!"
"I said 'I won' first, so I win, dattebayo!"
"That's not how that works!"
"It is now!"
"You don't get to decide that!"
"Sasuke-kun's here!" Ino squealed.
Even from halfway across the room, Sakura could see the Uchiha flinch. Two boys were arguing next to the door. One of them was the famous Sasuke, or at least in their class he was. He wore a blue, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar and the Uchiha crest on his back: a red fan with a white handle. He wore white shorts and the traditional blue shinobi sandals. His hitai-ate was on his forehead, as was the norm. Sakura would never admit to the fact that part of her still liked him. If he hadn't allowed himself to be corrupted by one of the most annoying boys in all of Konoha, things might have been different.
Said boy was the very one Sasuke was arguing with. Namikaze Naruto, the Hokage's son and Konoha's Number 1 Troublemaker. He was wearing a orange, sleeveless, high collared vest over a blue, short-sleeved shirt and orange shorts, as well as blue shinobi sandals. His wore his hitai-ate proudly on his forehead.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Another boy approached Konoha's infamous duo. He was wearing a gray, fur-lined coat with the hood pulled up over his head and dark gray pants. He had dark, animalistic eyes and red triangles tattooed onto his cheeks. On his head sat a small, white puppy with black ears. Naruto glared at the boy before smirking confidently.
"I mastered a high-level jutsu so they let me graduate," Naruto said.
"Yeah, right! I bet you got your dad to pull some strings!" the boy scoffed.
"I did not!" Naruto snapped.
"Please! Everyone knows you can't do anything without his help, or Sasuke's," the boy said. "I bet the only reason you even managed to last a year in the academy was because of your dad!"
Naruto raised his first to attack, but Sasuke caught him by the wrist.
"Don't. He's not worth getting in trouble for," Sasuke said. "I suggest you turn and walk away, Kiba."
"Or what? You gonna beat me up?" Kiba asked.
"Maybe not right now," Sasuke said. "But I'd want to avoid any alleyways going home tonight."
"I am sooo scared," Kiba said mockingly. "I can kick your ass any time."
"So? What's stopping you?" Sasuke asked.
"Right now? Nothing," Kiba grinned as he advanced. Sasuke didn't so much as move to defend himself. He just smirked as Kiba's fist came towards his face.
"Alright, everyone! Take your seats!"
Kiba withdrew. Sasuke frowned in disappointment as the dog-boy made his way to a seat on the opposite end of the classroom.
"N-Naruto-kun."
The quiet voice drew the two boys attention to a girl sitting in back corner of the room. The two boys went to sit next to the blue-haired girl who blushed and looked down shyly when Naruto sat down next to her. Her hair was in a short hime-style with chin-length strands of hair framing her face. She was wearing a cream colored hoodie with the fire symbol on the shoulders and navy blue pants. She had her hitai-ate tied around her neck.
"There you are, Hinata!"
"You made it," Hinata said softly. "I-I'm glad. C-congratulations."
"I'll have to tell you all about it later!" Naruto grinned. "By the way, Sasuke! What was that? I thought you said he wasn't worth it?"
"He isn't," Sasuke said. "Which is why I was going to let him hit me all he liked so he'd get in trouble instead. Starting a fight on the first day with a fellow shinobi? That's bound to get you kicked out, or at least sent back to the academy."
"T-that's horrible!" Hinata looked and sounded genuinely upset.
"Dude," Naruto said. "You are evil."
xxx
"... Starting today you, all of you will be shinobi. But you are all still only genin. Your journey has just begun. You will soon receive your first missions. In order to help you successfully complete these missions, you will be placed into three men teams under the supervision of a jounin."
"Did you hear that?" Ino whispered excitedly. "Teams! I hope I'm with Sasuke-kun!"
"So long as I'm not," Sakura said. "With him or Naruto. That would be a nightmare."
"Getting stuck with Naruto would totally suck," Ino said. "But it wouldn't be so bad if you hadn't gone and started your little war with them."
"You know, if by some miracle, you did end up with Sasuke, you would have to deal with Naruto hanging around all the time," Sakura said. "I highly doubt either of them would give up their friendship for any girl."
"I could handle that. I'd put up anything to be with Sasuke-kun," Ino said dreamily.
"Next is Team 7. Haruno Sakura. Uzumaki Naruto. Uchiha Sasuke."
Sakura slammed her head against the table. You have got to be kidding!
"Seriously? So not fair!" Ino whined. "Of all the girls in the class, one of the only two who didn't have a crush on Sasuke-kun ends up on his team?"
"Wanna trade?" Sakura asked.
"Do you think we can?" Ino asked excitedly.
Sakura sighed.
xxx
"Which Jounin do you think we'll end up with?" Naruto asked.
"Who knows?" Sasuke said. "It'll probably depend on who they think we can learn the most from."
"Ehhh," Naruto leaned back against the bench. The two boys were seated outside the academy along with
"I'm more worried about the kunoichi on our team," Sasuke said.
"Huh? Why?" Naruto asked.
"She doesn't put forth any effort in her training beyond reading. She does just enough in the physical and ninjutsu parts of her training to pass. It's like she doesn't even want to be a shinobi at all!"
"Hmmm… I don't think she's that bad," Naruto said. "It's never stopped her from going after us. Remember how she reacted after that prank in Suna?"
"That's not exactly a good memory," Sasuke blanched.
"Yeah, well, I like her," Naruto said. "Besides, it could be worse. She could be one of your crazed fangirls, like Ino."
Sasuke shuddered in disgust.
"Well, they could have put us with Hinata instead," Sasuke said. "You'd think they would want to put an Uchiha with a Hyuga."
"Well, it's too late now," Naruto said. "It'll be fine. You'll see."
Sasuke didn't look so sure.
"I'm more worried about Hinata," Naruto said. "Are you going to be okay with those guys? Kiba is bad enough, but you're also stuck with that weirdo, Shino! Does he even talk?"
"I-I'll be fine," Hinata assured him. "I'm sure they aren't as bad as they seem."
"Yeah, right. I don't know about Shino, but Kiba an asshole. If he gives you a hard time, let me and Sasuke know and we'll beat him up for you, dattebayo!"
"Please don't."