Disclaimer: It's really simple, I don't own Naruto, and I write only for fun.
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Author Notice: Read more on the end of the chapter.
Warning: English is not my native language, so I write it very slowly. Can't without a dictionary and I'm really happy with the spellings corrector.
Have fun…
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Chapter 3: Red eyes.
Naruto left the office of the Hokage and sighed. Then she transformed herself back to her boy form without a hand seal.
"Too many questions indeed," the boy muttered, while he walked through the hall. "The old man talked a lot, but he had no real answers. Now I'm not even sure anymore if I was born a boy or a girl to begin with."
Naruto passed a strange ninja that hided his left eye with his forehead protector. Even with his grey hair colour, the odd man reminded him of a bird, a crow. He didn't like him, because his smell reminded him of a dog, just like Kiba Inuzuka. A crow and a dog, it was really a strange combination when you would think about it. Naruto hated dogs.
The black right eye of the ninja followed him suspicious, but Naruto just ignored it. After years he was used to it.
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The Hokage stood before a window that had a view over the village. "Iruka, what do you think?"
"It's too weird," the teacher replied. "You said that it was a possibility that Naruto was changed in a boy after birth by the Yondaime Hokage himself, and with the transformation the change was undone. It still doesn't explain why Naruto is older. Than there is the possibility that Kyuubi was a female fox. And the last option is really strange; a final prank!"
"Yes," the old man said serious. "Don't forget that it is a kitsune, even if it was evil. But I'm more worried about the possibility that Kyuubi has escaped by loosing his power. An old fox can be very smart, you know."
The teacher frowned. "We are not sure. Maybe the Shinigami took the fox or there is the possibility that Kyuubi had committed suicide. But I don't even like the idea that the fox could have merged with Naruto. I can't see a trace of the evil youkai in the boy's personality!"
"Just as I said earlier, there are too many questions," the Hokage said, and blew some unhealthy smoke of his pipe.
"Hmm, I forgot to ask, if she wanted a new identity as a girl…"
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It was almost evening when Naruto walked home. The blond boy looked at the sky and watched the evening glow.
"I wanted to be a ninja, huh? It seems that I got my wish after all. And then I wanted to become the next Hokage. But that is impossible now, isn't it?"
He looked at his hands. They were the hands of a boy, not even his real hands. He growled with an inhuman sound and made a fist with his right hand.
"I'm an idiot!"
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The next morning, the awakened blond boy opened his eyes and stretched his body while yawning. He scratched behind his head and looked out the window. There were no curtains but the sun was a good replacement for an alarm clock and a nice way to wake up.
Naruto had no longer a bed, since he slept on the floor. Yes, he had a nest like sleeping spot with a lot of pillows and a woollen blanket and don't ask; a white soft rabbit doll.
It was the day for the explanatory meeting at school. Yes, he was graduated now, and it was important to attend the meeting.
He took a simple breakfast, a tasty sandwich and some milk. He did understand that he could not live of ramen only. But when he wanted to drink out of the milk carton, he halted. Naruto frowned and sniffed at the opening, and then he looked at the date.
"Ugh, the milk has gone bad. It's good to have a good nose, saved me a stomach pain today," Naruto said while he turned up his nose at the milk carton.
After that little incident he put his head protector on his forehead and left his home.
"I'm still asking myself, why I am going to the stupid meeting. I have such a bad gut feeling about it, and it's not the milk, that is for sure! I wish that I never had taken the offer from that traitor Mizuki."
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"Huh? What the heck are you doing here?" one classmate asked Naruto, "You failed, or did you forget it?"
Naruto pointed with his thumb to his head protector. "Iruka graduated me, happy now?"
"How? I can't believe it!"
"Bah. I did beat up a stupid lying traitor, and I got my head protector as a thank you," the blond boy explained.
But before the classmate could ask who the traitor was, a girl voice interrupted him. "Hey, will you let me through?"
It was Sakura Haruno, a girl with a pink hair colour, green eyes and she was dressed in a red cheongsam. She smelled even like her namesake, like the blossoms of the sakura tree.
Naruto stood up, and the other boy moved aside. The blond boy knew where she wanted to sit. At his left side sat a brooding boy with dark hair and eyes, Sasuke Uchiha. He was clothed in white shorts and a blue shirt with his clan logo on his back. Sasuke was a boy that always acted cool, but Naruto didn't like him. The feeling of death was strong around him, but he couldn't deny it that he somehow smelled… for girls he smelled nice. It was saying like 'Take me! I'm free!' Maybe it was that reason why so many girls desired him. Naruto could pick up the scent that humans couldn't smell; pheromones.
The blonde boy could only shake his head when he saw how Sasuke was trying to ignore the amorous Sakura when she sat beside him.
"You know, these two are asking for a good prank, but I'm not really in the mood for it…"
Five minutes later, Iruka entered the classroom, and before he began his introduction he glanced at Naruto for a moment.
"Today, all of you are real ninjas. But don't forget that you are still a rookie Genin. Everybody in this room has to face the next part. You all will be divided in a three man team, and each team will have a Jounin sensei. When you complete the assigned duties, the sensei will give you the next instructions."
Everybody was hoping for the best, when the teacher had explained about the three man teams.
"A three man team? Ugh, everybody is okay, but not Sasuke and Kiba…" Naruto thought hopefully.
The teacher resumed his explanation. "We tried to balance each team's strength; the weakest, the strongest and the balanced person."
Now everybody was surprised and not happy. That means no strong teams and an unwanted third wheel in your group.
Iruka ignored the unhappy students and began to read aloud, until team seven.
"Hokage, what were you thinking," the teacher thought. "Next, team 7; Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha."
"Yes!!" Sakura yelled.
Sasuku didn't say anything. But reading his thoughts… "A fan girl and the 'dead last'. The worst people that could come in my way…"
The blond boy smacked with his forehead on his desk. "Why me… I'm with the gloomy boy… I must be the avatar of Bad Luck or something!"
"Hey, I heard that," yelled Sakura. "He's cool! And don't call him gloomy boy!"
"Bah, just don't get in my way, you both," the Uchiha boy said unemotional without even looking at them.
"Just great, this is my team, a stupid girl in love and a loner gloomy boy!" Naruto became angry and shook his head. He was maybe disguised as a twelve year old kid, but still an older kitsune and wasn't that stupid.
Naruto stood up and glared at Iruka. "Sensei! Who put our team together?! It cannot work with a love struck girl and a loner that don't believe in others!"
The pink haired girl looked at Naruto with murderous eyes while Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
Many girls had an outcry of unbelief. How could he criticize the Uchiha boy?!
Iruka was a little upset. "It seems that she is not too happy about it. Naruto, believe me, I have my doubts too, but…"
"A little out of character, isn't he?" someone whispered.
The sharp ears of Naruto picked it up, and he went beet red. "Ah, forget it," Naruto said with a sigh and was sitting again. "It's not that I really care… I just wish that…" The blond boy said nothing more and began to sulk.
The teacher shook his head. "Listen, Sasuke's grades were the best, but you Naruto, you were the dead last. We have to balance the teams, understand? And for your question, it was the Hokage who put the teams together. Don't you trust the Hokage?"
Naruto frowned and looked away. "Yeah yeah. He's great." He didn't want to tell his truth feelings anymore.
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"This is Naruto's house?" a one eyed masked ninja asked the Hokage. It was a real poor place in a bad condition and everything was second-hand.
"Yes, but what would you expect from a lonely orphan. But that aside, she can be very troublesome, but I think you can handle her. You did read Naruto's files, didn't you?"
Kakashi Hataka nodded and he still shuddered when he thought about it. And then the rumour he heard about Mizuki. He could only phantom the idea what could have happened to break the mind of that man completely. She was indeed a girl with dangerous eyes…
He crouched down at Naruto's sleeping spot and picked up a few long strands of red hair. It was a little proof that she sometimes slept as a girl. Then his eyes fell on the rabbit doll and smiled when he pictured an image of a big girl, sleeping and curled up with the doll in her arms.
"Maybe she is not as dangerous as I thought…"
He stood up and shook his head. How would he handle the disguised girl?
"Oh, and I almost forgot, your team will also have Sasuke of the Uchiha Clan. Good luck," the Hokage said with a little pity.
"This is asking for trouble…" the now sweating Kakashi thought.
"Yes, sir, and thank you," the ninja replied dryly.
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Almost everybody was gone, but there were still three students in the classroom. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were still waiting for a teacher, a very late teacher.
After a half an hour restless walking around, Naruto began to sleep with his head on a school desk. Waiting was boring…
Sakura could only shrug her shoulders when she saw that Naruto took a nap.
"How is it possible? I can't believe it that he still had graduated," the pink haired girl said with a sigh. "Just ignore the idiot, we still have Sasuke!" a voice responded in her head. You could tell that the girl wasn't really lonesome with an inner mind that was talking back in your head.
"It's not mine problem, and he's just lucky," the Uchiha boy replied. "I'm not interested and it will not make any difference."
"The sensei is really late," she said tiredly and leaned against a desk, ignoring the cold answer of Sasuke. Sooner or later she would get the attention of the boy, she was sure of it.
The patience of the two was almost at an end after a half an hour more when Naruto suddenly awakened and looked up.
The door opened and their new teacher appeared at the doorway. The only strange thing was, he didn't move a finger after that. It was like he was petrified.
"Sensei?" Sakura asked uncertainly.
"This is really a Jounin? Just freezing up like that?" the Uchiha boy asked himself.
They didn't notice that behind them, Naruto was looking with glowing red eyes to the very late teacher with pure killing intent; a Nine Tailed Kyuubi worthy.
After a few seconds, the killing intent disappeared when Naruto began softly to laugh. It seems that the new teacher wasn't as great as he thought.
"I take my words back," Kakashi thought nervously. "She's a bitch."
He recovered fast and smiled, at least you could see it at his eyes. "Hmm, I was just surprised, because my first impression… I don't have a high opinion about you guys!"
The mood was dropping fast for the three students.
"Smart guy. I remember him… It's the crow that smells like a dog." Naruto was peeved.
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They took a place in a terrace on some building, and they sat on the ground in front of their new teacher.
"Okay, let's begin with some introductions," Kakashi started. "I want to know your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies. Just things like that."
Naruto said nothing, and somehow affected the other two classmates who didn't say a word.
The ninja sighed and shrugged. "Let me start then. My name is Kakashi Hatake. Don't want to tell you about my likes or dislikes. For my dreams? I'm still thinking about them, and I have a lot of hobbies. Your turn, foxy redhead." Payback is a Bitch.
You could almost see the question marks around Sakura and Sasuke, and Sakura wanted to protest that she wasn't a redhead, but the ninja had his eyes on somebody else. Everybody looked at Naruto when he began to grumble.
"Hey, don't look at me; I'm a blonde. And the only thing we learned about him, is his name," Naruto yelled. The crow was really trying to blow her cover. "Feh, but fine. My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I like ramen and sleeping. I dislike… dogs… and you! My dream, I don't really know anymore. Maybe a great ramen chef, that is better than a Hokage or a lifelong ninja."
"She's somewhat realistic. But why a ramen chef? It's true that she lost the fire for a shinobi. That's really troublesome; we must keep her on a lash, because we can't leave her alone anymore." Kakashi could still remember the conversation with the Hokage.
"And my hobbies… Pranks, I guess." Naruto ended with a shrug.
"Okay, next you girl on the left," the ninja sighed.
The girl nodded. "I'm Sakura Haruno, and the thing I like is…" She was blushing when she glanced at Sasuke. "The person I like…" She was still glancing at the brooding dark haired boy. A loud happy scream was her answer for her future dream, and her hobby was no different with Sasuke still as her subject. She only disliked idiots. Great, Sasuke must be happy now, he wasn't an idiot, at least.
Kakashi was regretting his decision to take this team; an unmotivated disguised fox girl and a fan girl who was only interested in love. He was almost afraid for the last person of team seven.
"You are the last boy. Let's hear what you have."
The Uchiha boy didn't move a finger when he began to talk. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There is too much I dislike and don't really like anything. My dream… no, it's not a dream. I want to find my missing brother. He's probably still hunting that red eyed man… And I have an ambition; the resurrection of my clan."
The eyes of Naruto were fixed on Sasuke now, and he couldn't suppress a shiver. Red eyes; he had the feeling that it somehow had to do with him.
"That was almost three years ago, but that you don't know Naruto, it was before your transformation," the ninja thought, while he looked at the blond. "And you Sasuke, what are your plans? Don't grow in an avenger boy; don't follow your brother's path."
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Author Notice: And now we have a path set for this story. But I'm not sure for the pairings. Sasuke and Sakura are still young, but I have no idea what to do with Naruto, because she is free game. She will mature fast, because it is in her nature as a kitsune youkai. Even if I will decide for a pairing, it will be a normal one. To think about it; Iruka and Naruto share the same pain… just an idea. I'm open for suggestions...
To T.E. Rankin: thanks for pointing out the mistakes.
And thanks to the reviewers and hidden supporters.
DWM
