Chapter 2

If there was one thing Uzumaki Naruto hated more than being disrespected, it was the sound of his alarm clock waking him up at (for him) very early morning. In other words, he wasn't a morning person.

Naruto, annoyed at the sudden interruption of his sleep, attacked the now heavily battered alarm clock to stop the noise and fell back into slumber muttering something about banning faulty alarm clocks when he became the Hokage. It was a while before he stirred again.

'Huh. What time is it?'

Looking up at the alarm clock, a weary looking Naruto saw that the traitorous clock showed 10 minutes till 9.

'Kuso! I'll be late for my first day at the Ninja Academy-I only have 10 minutes to spare!'

He leaped up, grabbing his clothes off the foot of his bed all the while continuing his preset trajectory towards the bathroom. In less than 10 seconds Uzumaki Naruto was already out the door of his small, rundown apartment, fully dressed, teeth brushed and almost forgot to lock the door on the way out. Quite a feat to say the least.

Naruto at the ripe age of 5, despite having no parental guidance while he grew up (being an orphan), was more intelligent than people gave him credit for. He learned to walk at the age of 1 and could speak fluently by the time he was 2 and a half. He would spy on the local schools for civilians and that was how he had grasped his grammar and reading skills well by the time he was only 4.

Naruto had always been thrilled at the idea of being a ninja. He thought that at least the life of a ninja wasn't as boring as being a civilian. So naturally he had given in to his eagerness to learn and his curiosity and started spying on the classes of the ninja academy. He had started this practice when he was 4. After a year of spying Naruto's stealth was on par of that of an exceptional genin level ninja. He had also picked up on a few of the academy level jutsus-namely Henge, Bunshin, Kawarimi, Kakuremino, and Nawanuke-which were pretty much all the jutsus Naruto had seen taught in the academy. Naruto now also wore 50 pounds of weight on each limb.

Start of Flashback

Naruto had been spying on the academy for a couple of weeks now. He had noticed a young boy who had been called Rock Lee by the other students of his class. When the first jutsu test came, Lee had sadly told his sensei that he could not perform jutsus because of a rare condition that did not allow him to mold charka. He also seemed to be an orphan like Naruto because no one ever picked him up in the afternoons and he walked off into the forest alone.

Rock Lee was a year older than Naruto. He had a horrible fashion sense. He wore a baggy Karate suit and he had long girly hair. All the other academy students made jokes about him and called him 'thick-brows' because he had large caterpillar shaped eyebrows that looked like they were alive! As future Hokage of Konoha, Naruto swore he would help Lee get a better fashion sense. Little did he know, Lee was going to adopt an even more atrocious dress (green spandex) when he became a Genin.

In the third week of spying on the academy, Naruto decided to see where Lee went everyday in the forest. Naruto trailed Lee to a clearing with many beaten and battered trees. There, Naruto saw an extremely gruesome sight that would etched into his mind till the day he died.

In the middle of the clearing stood Lee and a strange Jounin level Ninja clad in green spandex and wearing orange leg warmers (he also had Lee's trademark eyebrows) giving each other a 'manly' hug.

"Lee! The Springtime of Youth burns brightly in you!"

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee. Show me the power of the Springtime of Youth by kicking this tree 2000 times without stopping."

"Yosh! Gai Sensei, I will prove to you that I am full of the Burning Passion of Youth by kicking the tree you showed me 3000 times and punching it 3000 times as well. If I fail, then I will do 50 laps around Konoha on my hands. I will make you proud and become the Mighty Azure Beast of Konoha."

"Lee. After I show you how strong this Youthful training will make you, you can start your exercise. When you are done show me your weights so I can increase their Fiery Power of Youth! Now watch me Lee, and make me proud."

Maito Gai then punched a tree and it was blown in half by the single, powerful strike. Lee observed the display with morbid fascination and noted everything down on his notepad.

"Yosh, Gai-Sensei! I will make you proud of my power of youth. Then I will decide who will be my Eternal Rival and prove that I can become a great shinobi without being able to mold charka because of my Springtime of Youth"

And with that Lee started his training. (And then Naruto decided to prank them.)

End of Flashback

Rock Lee had been wearing weights on his arms and legs and when Naruto saw Lee move much faster without his weights, naturally he became interested in them.

As Naruto dashed towards the ninja academy he passed by Ichiraku ramen stand, leaving a very happy Old Man Teuchi behind. Although there were very few who probably saw it happen, Naruto had just eaten 5 bowls of miso ramen and left a rather generous tip on the counter.

On the way to the academy many glares were sent at Naruto and his selective hearing tuned out the sounds of the many insults the villagers sent his way including 'demon brat' and 'hell spawn'.

The moment Naruto set foot in the academy, the bell signifying the beginning of class rang. After a moment of looking around, Naruto found his class and dashed in. Today was his first day at the Ninja Academy.