Naruto didn't know what to do for the rest of the day. He should've been at the Academy taking some class (he hadn't paid enough attention to remember which one) but like usual, he had been kicked out of it. He hadn't done anything dattebayo! The blond should've seen it coming though. Whenever Iruka-sensei wasn't there, the sensei who replaced the scarred man would always make him leave; it didn't even matter he hadn't pulled a prank on the replacement! It was frustrating how much they seemed to hate him for no reason. Okay, so he wasn't the perfect student like Sakura-chan or Sasuke-teme, and he had pulled a few pranks on the sensei's lounge over the years, but that didn't give them a reason to look at him with those eyes. Eyes filled with so much hate as if telling him to disappear or die. He hadn't done anything to deserve it dattebayo! The other kids had done worse - and on the sensei's face too! -, but they had never once been made to leave the classroom. Instead, they only got a warning to 'settle down' and 'don't do that again'. It wasn't fair -ttebayo. It didn't just happen at the Academy either, but everywhere he went, to the point that he spent most of the time alone away from both civilians and ninja just to get away from the stares and name calling - except for when he pulled pranks. He would make them regret treating him like that. He didn't know how but Uzumaki Naruto was going to make them acknowledge him as more than the 'Demon Child'; he would become the greatest ninja ever and everyone in the village would look up to him -ttebayo!

The sudden excitement he felt at the thought of been recognized by everyone was soon replaced by dread when he remembered the one -and very obvious- flaw in his plans: how was he going to become Hokage if he couldn't do a single bunshin to graduate?

No, no, he would get it right this time around; there was no reason to panic. He had to pass. Passing the exam meant the start of the road to make his dream come true and no one, not even Sasuke-teme, would dare to look down on him once he achieved it.

With newfound resolution, Naruto made his way to the training grounds. He only had three days before the test to get the Bunshin no Jutsu right. In his mind, he could already see the shocked expression on Iruka-sensei's face when the man called the blond's name and Naruto made an exact copy of the chunin.

Snickering at the image, the kid came to an abrupt stop when he saw the place where he usually trained (or planned his pranks) was already occupied. He didn't know how he hadn't heard the noise from the fight, especially as one of the redheads called out.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)"

A massive ball of fire, bigger than anything Naruto had ever seen, was blown at the other ninja.

"Fuuton Diatoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)" The wind was so strong that even though he was behind the guy who used the jutsu it still made him land on his butt. However, he didn't take his wide eyes from the fight (he had never seen anything like it!), not even when the second wind jutsu was thrown. Though his eyes were screaming at him to blink, Naruto was sure he would miss something if he looked away for even a second. Sure enough, less than thirty seconds later, redhead #1 had redhead #2 at kunai point, who disappeared in a puff of smoke, making Naruto realize the ninja had been fighting against a Bunshin the whole time. Now the blond really wanted to master that technique; he didn't know he could use the jutsu like that!

First thing's first though, he had never seen that ninja before. Ever. And here Naruto thought he had had every single ninja from the village chasing after him because of his pranks (hehe). It was kind of a let down for the kid to be honest; he was proud of his accomplishment and now this guy came out of nowhere and completely messed up his score! But, he had to admit the redhead was pretty cool using jutsu like that. Without another though Naruto stepped into the training ground, bent on telling the stranger exactly what he thought about the fight and discover who he was - heck, maybe the guy could train him!

"WOW! THAT WAS AWESOME DATTEBAYO!"

Slowly, the man turned, giving Naruto the first good look at his face. The redhead was young with hair that reached just above his shoulders; he was handsome, Naruto had to give him, but the deep purplish bags under his eyes made him look older and wary. He was wearing the same clothes Naruto had seen every other ninja wear except the man didn't have a flack jacket or hitai-ate, but that didn't stop the kid. For some reason he needed this stranger to know whom he was.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to be the next Hokage dattebayo!" He exclaimed, pumping a fist up in the air.

Something passed over the ninja's eyes, but it was gone in a second, changed by another emotion making it hard for the kid to decipher.

"Say, I've never seen you around here. Who are you?" Naruto asked after a few seconds, letting his hands fall to his sides. Surely, if the guy was from the village he would've seen the redhead before, but he didn't remember ever meeting him.

The man's eyes - blue, Naruto noticed, like his own - focused back on the blond, who was taken aback by the sudden chuckle the ninja let out.

"You haven't seen me before cause I haven't been here before," The guy's voice was deep and smooth, he noticed. However, what truly shocked the kid was the extended hand. "Name's Harada Kazuki. Pleasure to meet you, Naruto"

Was the guy - Kazuki- expecting him to touch his hand? Naruto couldn't believe his eyes. No one had ever extended a hand to greet him; no one wanted anything to do with him once they saw the blond hair and marks on his face. He was hallucinating, right? There was no way this stranger was offering to touch him willingly and it wasn't a punch or a slap! He couldn't remember the last time someone, other than Jiji, had touched him. But here was this man, extending his hand to shake as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

Kazuki must have felt as if Naruto didn't want to shake his hand because he started to let it fall back to his side. In a bout of nerves, the kid the hand up with both of his, holding onto them for dear life, not wanting to give the man a reason not to like him, like the rest of the village. If Kazuki found him weird in any way or the hands that were grabbing his holding on too tightly, he didn't say anything. Instead, he gave a nervous chuckle, making Naruto's heart soar. He hadn't done anything wrong after all! However, that feeling turned to disappointment when he registered what Kazuki had said.

"Does that mean you aren't from here, Kazuki-san?" The sadness in his voice was unmistakable; though he did his best to hide it, the redhead noticed the small shoulders drop.

At the curt nod the ninja gave him, Naruto felt the friend he thought he would have here in the village slip away. He would be alone again as soon as the man returned home-

"But, if the Hokage accepts me, I'll be living in Konoha from now on."

Hope like he had never felt before soared in his chest, "Yatta! Kazuki-san, we got to convince Jiji to let you stay!"

Eyes alight, the redhead laughed, "I'll be meeting with him to talk about it. You've got nothing to worry about, Naruto."

"I'll go with you and we can convince him together -ttebayo!"

The redhead shock his head, giving the kid an apologetic smile, "Sorry, Naruto, but this is a meeting where important people will be at and they'll need to hear my story without any interruptions or they won't let me stay."

That discouraged Naruto, but he didn't let that get him down. It was only for the redhead's good that he would stay away from that meeting; after all, he wanted his new friend to stay.

"Kazuki-san?" Naruto started, receiving an 'hm' from the man, "Can you teach me jutsu?"

Unblinking, Naruto met Kazuki's eyes trying to convey to the ninja how badly he wanted to learn, to be taught. A moment passed, during which the redhead's gaze narrowed, as if deciding whether or not the twelve-year-old meant what he said. In the end (and after Naruto's nerves had been fried from the wait), Kazuki nodded, a smile stretching across his lips.

"Sure kid, I'll teach you some stuff."

Naruto thought his heart stopped before it started beating at an incredibly fast rate. This was a dream come true! And if it was a dream, he didn't want to ever wake up!

"YATTA! Kazuki-sensei, can we start now?"

"Not right now, no. I have things to take care of," That was a bummer, "but we can meet here again tomorrow after you get out of the Academy."

The muscles in his face started hurting from the smile the kid was sporting as he nodded enthusiastically.

"And you can just call me Kazuki. I'm only twenty-one, you know." The redhead muttered the last part, his free hand rubbing the back of his neck.

Naruto snickered at that, earning a mock glare from the ninja, "Okay, Kazuki-sensei." He barely made out the muttered "Brat" sent his way.

Reaching out, his new sensei ruffled his hair, receiving a spluttering protest from the blond. Though Naruto didn't mean it; it actually felt good. Chuckling, Kazuki pulled back his hand, "You should get back to class, kid. Your sensei must be wondering where you are."

"Eck!" Naruto exclaimed realizing his sensei was right. The class he had been kicked out of had probably already ended and the next one was already starting… but he didn't want to let go of Kazuki's hand. Even though he had just met him, the man made him feel like he could trust him.

Giving the blind a gentle smile, the redhead placed his hand on top of the blond spikes, squashing them momentarily. "It's okay, kid. I'll be here tomorrow." As if those were the magic words, Naruto let go of the man's hand, smiling his biggest smile yet. Kazuki let his hand drop before the blond turned and sprinted out of the training ground with a "SEE YOU TOMORROW, KAZUKI-SENSEI!"

Making his way back to the Academy, Naruto never noticed the citizens' stares nor the insults thrown at him; just navigated the streets in a daze. Finally, he had met someone who didn't hate him and would teach him cool jutsus. This had to be the best day of his life, dattebayo!

Not once did he wonder how his new sensei knew he had class to go to.


Luck wasn't something Kazuki relied on very often. Instead of thinking that everything would go his way if he worked hard enough, he believed in the power of strategies. It was bound to happen after so many years around one Nara Shikamaru; he learned to appreciate the art and beauty of them (that didn't mean he had stopped doing unpredictable stuff, hehe)… But come on! First Kakashi then Naruto! It wasn't that he was kidding himself, far from it. Living in the same village as they were, it was only a matter of time before they crossed paths; was it really that much to ask not to encountered them so soon, though? Seriously, not even a day back (he didn't count the time he spent in the Hospital) and he had encountered them already. On top of that- and the cream of the crop, in his opinion-, his younger self had snuck up and caught him completely by surprise. He was supposed to be the Rokudaime Hokage (after Tsunade-baachan's death) and former ANBU general (during the Fifth's reign) for crying out loud; yet here he was: bested by a twelve-year-old brat. Oh he could see the irony, alright. How many times had he evaded and escaped from elite shinobi? In the end, he got caught by his past self. It was a blow to his pride that was for sure; then again, it made him feel uncharacteristically proud of the kid. He was glad, however, that the old fox was still sleeping inside of him, recovering from the ordeal, otherwise Kurama would have laughed silly at him.

To be truthful, he had not expected to see the kid today or for the next couple of days. It was a struck of luck that he had though as now he had a good reason to be around the kid and teach him everything he knew. Not only would the training prepare Naruto for the future, but he could also keep the blond company. The kid wouldn't be lonely, like Kazuki had been at that time. As he thought that, something uncomfortable crawled up his spine. Shaking his head, he tried to get rid of the slight jealousy he felt. It wasn't the kid's fault the redhead hadn't had someone to guide him and be his friend at that age, which was one of the reasons why he had come back in time, besides saving everyone. Getting rid of the awful emotion, he focused on Naruto's smile. Even though the villagers had treated him horribly, the kid could still smile from the bottom of his heart. It wasn't something Kazuki thought he could still do, but interacting with his younger self had brought out something inside of him he thought he had lost a long time ago. Oh, he felt rage first as he surveyed the blond's worn, loose-fitting orange jumpsuit and underdeveloped frame. He had resisted the urge to scowl, reigning in his killer intent (he didn't want to scare the kid away); however, it had proven difficult as long forgotten memories resurfaced. Memories filled with pain, loneliness, and hate- things Naruto would never have to experience again, Kazuki clarified in his mind. This kid, with so much to give, would not go through what the redhead had had to, not if he could help it and he definitely could. He had already taken the first step to change it, after all.

A spike of chakra brought him out of his musings, in time to see an ANBU appear in front of him.

Raising an eyebrow, Kazuki asked, "Enjoyed the show?"

The man with a cat mask on didn't reply, but went to the point instead, "Hokage-sama requests your presence." After giving a stiff nod in acknowledgement to the way-too-uptight ninja, Cat disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Kazuki resisted the urge to chuckle for half a second before he gave in to the urge. He had felt Yamato-taichou watching him from the trees since he started sparring, which should make the ANBU operative feel ashamed since Naruto won the stealth competition, but hadn't said anything and neither did Yamato, just let him get it out of his system. What confused Kazuki was the fact that the brunette didn't do anything to stop either the kid or him from interacting with each other. He would have to ask the man later, he guessed.

Well, this day just keeps getting better and better, he though drily before he, too, executed a shunshin.

Appearing in front of the Hokage tower, he strode casually inside, as if he had all the time in the world. Truthfully, the last thing he wanted was to stand in front of his friend's parents, but it was something he had to do if he wanted legal access to the village.

Stopping in front of the Hokage's office door, he steeled himself. Well, time to get this show en the road.


Hi everyone! Thanks for reading and for the great reviews!

So, I'm currently looking for a beta. If anyone is interested, please let me know.

Again, thank you so much for the reviews. They mean a lot to me :)