Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...there would be much SasuNaru action if I did!
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Chapter Three
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It had taken her several hours to get over the loss of her hair. She had taken a kunai when she got home and evened it out as best she could. It seemed to naturally stand in spikes at this length, no matter what she did with it. She'd spent over an hour trying to tame it, to no avail. She stared at herself in the mirror, tears still giving her bright blue eyes that watery look. She hated crying, but the shock of her loss had driven all thought from her for quite a while.
She looked over at the clock on her nightstand. She was going to have to go out soon…the old man had promised to take her out for a bowl of ramen today, to celebrate his earlier news. She couldn't just skip out…even she understood how difficult it was for the old Hokage to take time out of his schedule for something like ramen.
She cleaned herself up, washing her puffy face and putting on clean clothing. The old man was going to ask enough questions as it was without her showing up all dirty. She didn't like telling him how the other kids treated her. He had enough problems, and she didn't really feel right bringing it up. She'd decided very early that she was going to handle as much as she possibly could herself.
The old man was already waiting when she made it to Ichiraku. She sat down on the stool beside him, the smell of her favorite treat cheering her up. "Miso ramen please, old man!"
The elderly Hokage looked over at her, his expression becoming one of surprise. "Child, what happened to your hair?"
Tears threatened again, but she pushed them down firmly as she scratched the back of her head and replied sheepishly, "It was getting in my way! I'm gonna be a real ninja some day, so I can't have it in my way." She turned to the bowl that was put in front of her with evident delight. She caught the look of sadness on the old man's face, but it was gone so quickly she figured it must have been her imagination.
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Naruto blinked sleepily as her alarm clock started buzzing. She had set her alarm…why had she set her alarm? She had a vague feeling that it was for something important, so she shut it off with a groan and dragged herself out of bed. She padded sleepily over to her calendar to take in the red circled, boldly marked day on the calendar. Orientation day! Never a morning person, she went about her morning routine quietly as she attempted to wake up. It wasn't that she wasn't excited…she just hated mornings.
A cup of ramen and a glass of milk later, she was almost feeling ready to face the day. She stared at herself in the mirror as she brushed her teeth, and wondered for the first time in a very long time what things would have been like if she hadn't decided to let it slip the villagers' minds that she was a girl. So many things had made the decision all too easy for her…
Her hand reached unconsciously up to her brutally short, spiky hair. She shook her head to clear the memory away, walking over to put on her forehead protector. That alone was worth it all. Now wasn't the time to be questioning her past decisions…she'd have plenty of time to think when she was finished her orientation later.
She looked up at her face in the mirror again, startled for a moment by her own grim expression. But then she looked at the way the band of engraved metal looked on her…and she couldn't help grinning. She was officially a Konoha genin! She was one step closer to her dream! And…as she looked at her clock through the reflection in the mirror, she realized she was going to be late!
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She wasn't even close to late, and as she looked around the classroom she realized that she'd outsmarted herself. She had set her clock forward, to offset her tendency to oversleep, and then promptly forgotten that she'd done so. Only about half the graduates had arrived, so she heaved a silent sigh of relief and made her way to an empty seat in the middle of the room to keep a better eye on the door.
Several minutes later, Shikamaru was heading for a spot at the back of the room when he caught sight of her. He stopped in front of her, frowning. "Naruto, this orientation is only for graduates."
She gave him her biggest, foxiest grin as she pointed at her forehead protector. "Check it out! I'm supposed to be here, Shikamaru! So there!" She wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue at him, then started laughing at his vaguely offended expression. He walked off with a shake of his head and a muttered, "Troublesome."
Ino and Sakura came racing in the door at that point, practically neck and neck. They promptly got into a fight about who arrived first, and therefore got to sit beside 'Sasuke-kun'. She was putting her head down and preparing to tune them out, when suddenly the fighting turned on her. She looked up quickly as Sakura was suddenly next to her desk, snapping, "Naruto! What are you doing sitting there? You're not worthy to sit beside Sasuke-kun!"
Wait, what? She turned her head quickly, only to find the previously unnoticed Sasuke sitting beside her, in all his brooding glory. She scowled…had he been sitting there when she sat down? She really couldn't remember. She turned back to Sakura, still scowling. "Sasuke, Sasuke, what's so great about this jerk? I'm a way better ninja than he is!" She jumped up on the desk, crouching in front of him and leaning into his face, growling softly. "Broody bastard!" He glared at her, and she really couldn't see what other girls saw in him…but then, that could be said about many things. She was just about to turn back to address the fit that Ino and Sakura were throwing over her comment, when suddenly an elbow rammed right into her ass…pushing her right into the Uchiha bastard's lips.
The world stopped for a moment…but not because she was enjoying it. You know that moment of absolute shock that takes you when unexpected disaster hits? Yeah, that's what it was. And, judging by the absolute silence of her peers in general, and the stiff, unmoving form of a certain bastard in particular…she wasn't the only one hit by that shock. The moment she recovered, she yanked herself back, nearly falling off the desk in her need to get away and start gagging. Apparently the feeling was mutual…she could hear the Uchiha gagging too. The silence of her peers continued for another moment, before being broken by the sudden screech of a delicate, pink-haired kunoichi. "Naruto!"
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She wasn't entirely sure when she'd come up with the idea of pretending to be a boy. Maybe the fact that the villagers now frequently mistook her for one, with her short, spiky hair, was what prompted the idea to foster that image. It didn't really matter though; she found that being mistaken for a boy immediately reduced the number of people looking for a little…fun. The beatings she could take. The attempts at other things…well, without Weasel-nii-san there to protect her it was difficult to get away on her own. It was obvious that the military population of the village was confused by her seeming change of gender, but no one questioned her about it.
So, she spent her time watching. She was getting very good at hiding now, which helped reduce her encounters with those that wanted to take their frustrations out on her. There were few in the village that seemed to look at her without the fear and loathing that she really didn't understand, but those that did seemed to push people to forget she was ever a girl. Most people were hard pressed to recall her name anyways.
It was the week before she was about to enter the Academy that the Hokage finally sat down to talk to her about it. They were having cookies in his office when he attempted to broach the topic with some delicacy. "Hotaru? Why…"
She interrupted him with a shrewd look in her big, blue eyes. "Naruto."
He blinked as she went back to calmly nibbling on her cookie, looking as though she hadn't interrupted him. "Excuse me?"
She gave him a foxy grin. "Not Hotaru…Naruto. My name is Uzumaki Naruto." She waved a cookie airily. "I know you're getting old, but I didn't think you were that old, old man."
He watched her for a moment with a bemused look. "Really…I could have sworn there was a little girl named Hotaru in here with me. She's the one I invited for cookies, after all." He laced his fingers together, leaning forward on his desk as he went along with the girl's little game. "So, Naruto, can you tell me what happened to Hotaru, then?"
The blond pinned the elderly leader with a look that was entirely too mature for her age. Heartrendingly so, in his opinion. "Naruto doesn't get chased and hit as much as Hotaru did. People see boys differently, you know. And there were…" She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Other things. Things that they won't do to a little boy." She shrugged and nibbled on her cookie. She was remarkably astute for a girl her age. She had to be."Sorry, old man, after I cut my hair it just made things…easier."
Sarutobi looked at the little girl with dismay. He had known things weren't easy for the girl, Weasel had briefed him, but he didn't realize that gender made it that much harder. He wished there was more that he could do for her, and cursed the council for tying his hands in all matters concerning her. "Surely, there is a better way…"
She pouted at him. "Nah…I like it this way. I don't wanna do the girly stuff in the Academy anyways." She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "I wanna learn to be a better ninja, not all that girly stuff."
He chuckled softly at that. "The kunoichi use 'that girly stuff' for infiltration, Ho…ah, Naruto. And for…well, things you'll learn about when you're older." He coughed.
She rolled her eyes and gagged. "I can't be like that. So I'll just do the boy stuff!"
He sighed. "Is there no way that I can change your mind, Hotaru? This really isn't a very good idea…" She crossed her arms and glared at him, her jaw taking on that stubborn tilt that always meant he was about to lose an argument because she simply wouldn't budge. "Fine. Naruto it is."
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Sarutobi looked at the gathering of jounin in front of his desk gravely. "All of you have been chosen to test a team of potential genin. This is a special responsibility, and an incredible trust. These children are our future. Through them, we will pass on our Will of Fire. It is completely up to you, whether you pass or fail the team you are given. You are all experienced, seasoned ninja. You are all capable of telling if a team has the ability required to be true genin. And I trust the judgment of every one of you. Iruka is briefing the class of graduates now, and giving out team assignments. Please attend the class after the Academy lunch break to meet your team and start getting your measure of them. Dismissed."
He indicated to a certain silver-haired jounin that he wanted him to remain, studying the man as the remaining jounin cleared out of the room. He was proud of how he had turned out, and had picked him as best suited to evaluate and lead a very special team. Kakashi had turned out as both a force to be reckoned with, and a fine example of Konoha's Will of Fire. Sarutobi had been saddened by the events that had tempered him into the man he had become, but satisfied with how he had handled it, despite his seemingly bad habits. And really, who was he to quibble? He'd been known to indulge in a certain former student's books occasionally himself…
When it was finally just him and Kakashi left in the room, he gestured for the jounin to have a seat. "I have given you a very specific team, Kakashi. I have assigned to you the three of the class of graduates with the greatest potential. You will have Team 7…Uchiha Sasuke, this class's Rookie of the Year. Highest grades in the class, passed in the top percentile. There are the obvious reasons that he would benefit best from your instruction over that of any other jounin. I also trust that you'll see the less obvious reasons when you meet him." The masked man nodded, and Sarutobi continued on, "The second in your team is one Haruno Sakura. Also passed in the top percentile, second only to Sasuke. Her grasp of theory and her chakra control are well above the average genin level, but her practical skills leave something to be desired. You would be the best one to help bring her along in that area. She is the mid-level genin in your group. Your final student is…" He hesitated for a moment while he mentally debated whether he had the right to tell Kakashi Naruto's secret, which earned him a raised eyebrow from Kakashi. It had been so long that no one really remembered the quiet little girl as anything but the boisterous boy she was pretending to be. He finally decided that telling him would probably unforgivably alienate the girl. "…Uzumaki Naruto."
Kakashi's interest seemed to peak at that one. "The Kyuubi vessel?" The curiosity was evident in his normally indifferent tone.
The old man nodded. "Yes. Naruto is something of a…frustration at times. He has the lowest marks in the class, ranking last among his peers. His grasp of theory is abysmal, and his chakra control is erratic. That was why I was able to team him with the other two without comment; very few see what he'll be capable of, one day. Despite his poor control, his chakra reserves are at an unheard of level for a genin. He also has an ability to take incredibly complex concepts and instinctively translate them into terms that he can understand. Some of the simplest ideas elude him at times, and his attention span can be woefully short, but his ability to think on his feet will make him a great field strategist, if channeled properly."
Kakashi looked thoughtful at that. "They may not pass, Hokage-sama. If they don't see it, I won't pass them…no matter how talented they are. I think this village has had enough of talent."
Sarutobi nodded. "I know. That's another reason I chose you. Any of the others may have passed them, simply because of that potential. If you say they're not ready though, your decision will stand."
The masked jounin looked satisfied by that answer. "I'd like to see where they live first, before I meet them."
The elderly Hokage nodded. "I expected that. We have plenty of time before you're supposed to meet them…and we both know you wouldn't have been on time anyways."
Sarutobi showed Kakashi to Sakura's place first, where her mother was overjoyed to welcome the Hokage and her beloved daughter's new teacher. She showed them up to Sakura's room, and was almost disappointed when the elderly leader gently shooed her off back to her interrupted work, with the firm assurance that they could show themselves out.
The girl's room was tidy, well kept, and well organized. There wasn't a lot of clutter, but there were many books on ninja theory. Her weapons were all neatly put away. Kakashi approved for the most part, though he did raise an eyebrow at the full length mirror against one wall. Vanity was a normal trait in a young girl, but it was one that most dedicated kunoichi grew out of. He wondered how long it would take Sakura to grow out of it.
Sasuke's apartment was obsessively neat, and full of nothing but ninja gear and books. The furniture was sparse, and there was no real sign of a lived-in look in it at all. Kakashi frowned a little at that. "Hokage-sama, is training all he does?"
The old man nodded. "He is quite obsessed with becoming stronger. I think we can both guess why. I'm hoping that Naruto's prankster nature will help pull him out of that shell somewhat. No shinobi is ever really stable, but Sasuke is the last remaining Uchiha, and a precious child of Konoha besides. It wouldn't do to have him snap, and it would be nice to see him enjoy himself sometimes. The child is far too serious."
Naruto's apartment wasn't tidy, nor was it particularly empty. Battered furniture, clutter on the kitchen table, and many nick-knacks and homey objects were scattered about the small apartment. Kakashi looked quite pleased by it. "What an interesting place. The boy has certainly turned into an interesting person. Reminds me of a certain person I used to know…" He stared at the ramen poster on one wall with a chuckle.
Sarutobi smiled, though he just wanted to hit the jounin over the head with the facts that he was obviously missing, the things that he had forgotten with everyone else. "Yes, Naruto has certainly turned out well. He'll be an outstanding shinobi, some day. He's going to be a handful though…do you think you can handle the three of them, Kakashi?"
The silver-haired jounin nodded, his visible eye getting that smiley look. "Of course, Hokage-sama. I've always liked a challenge. It will certainly be a challenge to keep up to these three."
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Her first day at the Academy had been terrible. The kids all either shunned her or picked on her, and the sensei all seemed to hold that mysterious grudge against her. It was frustrating! Despite the time that the old man had taken to teach her the basics, she was far behind the others already.
The weeks that followed didn't get any better. She worked and struggled to learn what the sensei was teaching, but he just wouldn't help her when she asked for it. Question after question went ignored, and she didn't have the money to get the scrolls for extra study like the other children did.
The first month was nearly over when she had her first odd encounter with her sensei. Her sensei, Iruka, had been giving her odd looks for the last week. He'd been watching her struggle with a blank expression since the beginning, but this week his expression had seemed…hesitant.
She was sitting on what had become 'her' swing in the front yard, watching the other children leave with a somewhat dejected feeling, when he finally approached her. He once again got that hesitant expression. "Naruto? I noticed you haven't been getting the homework done…"
She eyed him warily before replying in an indignant tone, "I don't understand it, and no one will help me, Iruka-sensei. I can't finish it!"
She saw his expression harden a fraction, and knew it had been the wrong thing to say. "You need to spend more time studying, Naruto!"
She groaned in frustration, and then took a deep breath and said stiffly, "What do ya think I'm doing! Not like I got anything else to do…" She threw herself off of the swing and fled, leaving her sensei with a bewildered expression behind her.
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Naruto almost felt sorry for Sakura as she watch the Uchiha brush her off with casual callousness when they all went off the eat lunch. He lost the pair of them quickly enough, and Sakura just wasn't adept enough to follow him. She decided to approach her new teammate after watching the girl call Sasuke as though she expected him to answer. "Hey Sakura, wanna eat lunch together?"
The kunoichi turned on her with an angry expression. "Why would I want to eat lunch with you?"
Naruto gave her a bright, foxy grin. "Because we're teammates now, and this is a good time to get to know each other?"
The other girl stared at her for a moment, clearly digesting that. She took one last look around for her beloved Sasuke, and then sighed and nodded. "Yeah, okay. Maybe Sasuke will join us later!"
Naruto resisted the urge to give the girl a disbelieving look, instead turning to lead the way to one of the stone benches along the Academy walkway. They both sat down, digging out their various lunches. Sakura had a beautiful bento, lovingly created and artfully perfect. It kind of made the messy sandwich that Naruto pulled out look….squashed. And pathetic. Naruto didn't care though…she couldn't bring ramen with her for lunch, so she'd pretty much just thrown whatever together. Sakura looked a little disgusted by her sandwich, but didn't comment. They both ate in silence for a bit, before Sakura finally spoke up hesitantly. "Hey…do you not know how to cook or something?"
The blond shrugged indifferently. "I can make stuff…mostly. But if it's not ramen, it's not worth much time!" She grinned brightly at Sakura's surprised expression. "Who needs to cook when they could have a ramen cup?"
Sakura gaped for a moment. "But…you live alone! How can you not know how to cook?"
She shrugged again. "I dunno…does 'Sasuke-kun' know how to cook? He lives alone too, you know."
Sakura lapsed into that dreamy look. "I'm sure Sasuke-kun knows how. He's so perfect, how could he not?" She giggled in the most disgustingly girlish way Naruto had ever heard.
The blond snorted. "Whatever. You know, this was a bad idea…see you in class." She was scowling as she got up and left, leaving Sakura gaping in surprise yet again. She just couldn't take the fangirl…fawning over Sasuke like that was something she just didn't understand.
Sakura was still trying to digesting Naruto abandoning her several minutes later, when Sasuke passed her on his way to class. He was rather startled when she fell in beside him without as much as a squeal. She asked quietly, "Sasuke-kun…what do you think of Naruto?"
He managed to hide his surprise well, thinking about it for a moment. "He is…different. Weak. Spends too much time fooling around, and not enough training. He's…annoying."
He was once again surprised by Sakura's frown as she replied in a neutral tone, "I'm beginning to think we've all missed something about him, then." She sped up, actually leaving him behind for a change. He wondered just what they had done over lunch to make Sakura start reconsidering the dead last.
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It was in her second month of school that she discovered the joy of pranking. Her very first prank was on Iruka-sensei, slipping into the classroom early to fill his desk with frogs and tadpoles. She had been infuriated by his attempt to accuse her of not studying, and quickly discovered that pranking was an easy, harmless way to let off steam and get back at those adults that bothered her most. Her pranking also had the side effect of getting her into the good books of the other delinquents of the class, like Inuzuka Kiba and Nara Shikamaru. They weren't exactly friends, but she found that she wasn't ignored quite so much, and some of the bullying attempts stopped.
Another event happened that month that helped her greatly. She came home about a week after the frog incident, still loaded down with extra homework as punishment for the prank, to find that her battered little table had been loaded down with those study scrolls that she couldn't afford. In fact, there were many more scrolls there than just those, scrolls for subjects that she wouldn't study for years yet. There was still no guarantee that she would understand it all, but they would definitely help. A thorough search of the table revealed nothing about the giver of the scrolls, leading her to believe that they must be from Weasel-nii-san. It was disappointing that he couldn't stop to see her, but she was touched by the gift all the same.
The following month finally saw a real breakthrough with Iruka-sensei. He had taken to watching her during study time and subtly correcting her whenever he walked by, but during the second week of the month he finally started answering her questions during class. It was the first of many leaps in their relationship. He seemed to be warming to her slowly.
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Naruto was bored…and a bored Naruto was a dangerous Naruto. The rest of the teams had already been collected by their jounin-sensei, but Team 7 was still waiting for theirs. He was over an hour late now. Even Iruka had left. Contemplating all of the tricks available to her, she startled her teammates when she sprung up, dashing to the chalkboard to grab a chalk brush. She dragged Iruka's desk chair over to the door with her, and ignored the disbelief of her teammates as she wedged the brush with the chalk side down in the top of the door.
Sakura looked at the brush uncertainly. "Naruto, our teacher is a jounin level ninja…they're never going to fall for that!"
Sasuke opted to remain silent, and the three of them tensed as they heard footsteps in the hallway. Naruto was practically dancing in anticipation. A hand slipped in the crack of the open door, and a head came forward as the person pushed the door open…and Naruto practically stopped breathing, she was laughing so hard at the cloud of chalk dust around the jounin's head. Her other two teammates seemed stunned that the supposed jounin had actually fallen for Naruto's prank.
The silver-haired man looked annoyed as he stepped into the room…well, as annoyed as one can look when so little of their face is visible. Sakura started babbling about how it had all been Naruto's idea, and she had 'tried to stop him'. The jounin held up his hand, cutting off Sakura's babbling. He looked them over and drawled, "My first impression of you is…I hate you all. Meet me on the roof." And with that, he poofed, disappearing with a teleportation jutsu.
