Is there only one road to life?
5 years and 7 months later
Iruka walked in to the classroom after unlocking it in the morning. Today was hopefully not going to be as chaotic as he thought but with his new student nothing ever happened quietly. In the last seven years, a boy had become a large part of his life. This little boy had reminded him what it was to have a family and more importantly a younger sibling, something he never had even when his parents were alive. The academy teacher sighed as he sat down in the chair behind his desk. Now that the Chuunin thought about it he hadn't seen the blonde as often as he used to in the last three years. He would only catch the blonde if he came over to have dinner with the Hokage and his favorite 'aunty' as he liked to call Sandaime Hokage's daughter-in-law, and the grumpy 'uncle' which usually meant Asuma Sarutobi. Konohamaru has also become a second Naruto as his attitude to life and his behavior was a perfect copy of the young Jinchuuriki's and the boy would only listen to his 'Boss', as he liked call Naruto.
"HEY IRUKA SENSEI!" came a very loud shout that made Iruka land on the tiled floor of the class as he toppled from his chair.
"Wha…," he looked in the direction the shout had come from. "Naruto, how are you doing today?" asked the academy instructor politely as he regained his seat. He had learned a long time ago not to mess with the blonde, if you did; there was a hundred percent chance that you had made it to his 'people to prank on' list.
"Amazing," responded the blonde excitedly. Finally, after so long, finally the Hokage had allowed him to come to the village without any restrictions. "So what do I have to know?" he asked as he looked at Iruka expectantly, the blonde knew that there were rules and regulations in the academy and he did not want to break any that would get him expelled but the rest he could forget quite easily. Naruto soon realized it was a big mistake as Iruka happily launched into a forty minute tirade about how a young man should act properly in the academy and show respect to his teachers and elders while behaving appropriately with classmates and peers. By the time he was done, there was only twenty or so minutes left before classes started and a boy with raven black hair walked into the classroom. He was the only student besides the blonde but he showed no signs of acknowledging his presence as he took his seat in his usual spot and started brooding about something.
"Who's he?" whispered Naruto as he indicated towards the only other student in the class.
"That is Sasuke Uchiha, the rookie of the year, but Naruto I warn you stay clear of that boy. His mental stability had been off balance since he had seen his parents being murdered in front of him and his only goal in life is to take the life of the one who massacred his clan. As a result he is slowly but definitely becoming obsessed with becoming as powerful as he can and challenges anyone who he thinks is strong. Only me and you in this whole academy knows about your true abilities and let's keep it that way okay?" replied Iruka in a similar hushed tone so that everything he had said stayed out of the Uchiha's ears. Naruto nodded but to Iruka's disappointment took the seat that was just next to Sasuke's.
Iruka might not have realized it but the spot next to Sasuke's was the second-best spot in the whole room strategically to have a ready escape and full view of the class room along with the windows. Sasuke had a lot of practice in choosing a good spot in the classroom because he had to avoid fan girls since he had turned nine. He had the best position in the classroom to escape as unnoticeably as possible and also the seat that had the quickest escape if he ever needed to get away in a hurry. Since Sasuke had showed no interest whatsoever in Naruto and the blonde has been keeping it to himself, Iruka relaxed in his chair while the first bell rang. Students poured into the classroom and soon enough it was nearly full.
"Yo you are new here right?" asked a lazy voice and Naruto turned to see a boy with a spiky ponytail looking at him.
"Yeah, what's up?" asked Naruto with a smile that made the lazy Nara instantly like the laid back blonde boy.
"Name's Shikamaru Nara, what's yours?" he asked as he took the seat behind the blonde boy.
"Naruto Uzumaki," the blonde replied as a plump boy came and sat next to the Nara before pulling out a bag of chips.
"Uzumaki? Never heard that name before, but it sounds cool," he commented as he tore open the bag and offered to share it with Naruto and Shikamaru. Both declined but Naruto liked the plump boy's want to share his food and befriend someone he had never met before.
"Thanks, what's your name?"
"Choji Akimichi," he replied between bites but did give the blonde a friendly smile.
"Hey Akamaru, look we have a newbie!" shouted a boy from the doorway with a smirk on his face.
"Kiba please try not to pick a fight with him," said Shikamaru with a pleading tone but Kiba just gave him a smirk before turning back to the Blondie. Naruto stood up and Kiba took a step back.
"Holy Kami, the dude is buff," thought Kiba as Naruto came to his full height, and he suddenly noticed how ripped the boy's arms looked. He wasn't the only one, many in the room looked at their new classmate in awe, and some just gawked openly, especially the females in the room. The sleeves of his simple orange t-shirt were stretched due to the muscles in his arms and standing at five feet, six inches, he was taller than most of the students in the class.
"Hey Akamaru is a nice name," he said giving a bright smile to Kiba and the dog that was looking at him from the top of his partner's head. Akamaru gave an approving bark before jumping on Naruto's shoulder and giving his cheek a quick lick.
"Good dog," said Naruto as he patted Akamaru's head, much to the amazement of the rest of the class. Many of the people in the class disliked the dog because he usually acted feral and fierce to others in the room, and that was expected since he was nin-dog. But with this new student he behaved more like a pet dog.
"Well, if Akamaru likes ya, then I guess we can be friends too," said Kiba as Akamaru retook his original position and Kiba extended his hand. Naruto took it and gave it a firm shake.
"Sure dude," he said flashing the boy another grin before retaking his seat. The Inuzuka took his seat behind Shikamaru as another bell rang indicating that it was time for the class to start.
"I GOT HERE FIRST FORHEAD!" screeched a voice from the doorway and many flinched at its extremely high pitch.
"OUT OF MY WAY INO-PIG!" screeched a second voice as Naruto turned to look at the people who were screaming names at each other and froze. No way, he couldn't believe it. Blonde hair, light-blue eyes? Check. Pink hair, green eyes? Check. These two were the same girls that he had seen in the park all those years ago and he thought that they would have become the best of friends after the way they met, yet here these two were fighting, but over what? He suddenly realized that they were fighting to take the only seat that was left next to his silent neighbor Sasuke Uchiha. They were fighting over a boy?
"Hey is Sasuke that amazing?" he whispered as he turned to talk to Shikamaru who had his head in his hands and a look of supreme boredom on his face.
"Huh? Why would you think he is amazing?" asked the Nara slightly confused.
"Well because two of the most beautiful girls in this class are fighting for the seat next to Sasuke," replied Naruto like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh, yeah that's because he is really popular," clarified Shikamaru.
"But why is he so popular, did he do something amazing?" asked Naruto because he knew that popularity only came with deeds of equal measure. He had never lived in a society where popularity might come because of looks or attitude or persona, he had lived among hard core shinobis and in that world popularity and status was gained through hard work and even harder deeds accomplished in the field.
"Uhh, not really," said Shikamaru looking at the blue-eyed newcomer strangely. "He is popular because he acts cool, and is really smart, and is I guess handsome because Ino does not ever stop about how good looking he is."
"That's it?" asked Naruto completely confused.
"Dude where the heck did you come from? What else makes someone as popular as Sasuke?" asked Kiba sarcastically.
"What about being strong, having the will to never give up, never going back on their word?" asked Naruto as Shikamaru's head slumped and Choji started eating his chips faster.
"Man, no offense, but you sound like the Hokage," laughed Kiba as he rolled his eyes.
"Is that a bad thing?" asked Naruto as his eyes hardened and his voice became cold. Nobody insulted his teacher without having a good reason or else they pay for every insult and this boy had just done that. Iruka noticed the killer intent that Naruto was releasing and instantly red bells went off in his head, he knew Kiba was casual with his words but Naruto took no bullshit when it came to people he cared about.
"Crap," muttered Iruka as he grabbed Naruto's shoulder before sushining out of the classroom.
"What the hell did you do that for?" growled Naruto as soon as Iruka released him.
"Naruto calm down!" Iruka said as he frantically waved his hands in front of the twelve year old's face.
"And why should I, he insulted my teacher, and therefore indirectly me, this village's leader and pride, and the Hokage name!" said Naruto indignantly.
"Naruto," Iruka took a long breath, this was going to be tough. "I know you feel strongly about this because you are so close to Hokage-sama and you know the true value of someone who is a Hokage. Not everyone, especially academy students like Kiba, is as familiar with the idea of what the Hokage represents or stands for. You know very well that as a shinobi you are far above than any student in this school and have a very good idea of what it means to be a ninja and what responsibilities they have. These academy students don't know a fourth of what you have learned and they lack the understanding of what a Shinobi is. Be patient and try not to attack someone just because their arrogance gets the better of them. You have to remember that in comparison to you they are very…inexperienced." The blonde stood there stock still as he soaked in everything that the academy instructor said. "Naruto please promise me that you will at least hold back. Look there is only one week left before you all graduate and then you will be under your Jounin senseis and you know they will teach the proper meaning of a shinobi to all their students."
"Fine Iruka sensei, I will keep my cool but only for you," said the blonde as he regained most of his composure.
"Thank you Naruto, that is all I ask," said Iruka as they walked back to the classroom. Everybody in the room stared at the blonde because of his and their teacher's sudden disappearance from the class. Iruka suddenly remembered that he had completely forgotten to introduce his new student to the rest of the class.
"Class we have a new student joining us today," he announce as he indicated Naruto with his hand. "Please welcome Naruto Uzumaki."
"Wow, I didn't realize he was that tall," said a girl's voice in the back somewhere.
"And cute too," came a snarky comment and again nobody could tell who it was but many of the girls booed at that because they were obviously fans of the dark and mysterious Sasuke.
"Well he is ripped," came another comment and Iruka had to hold back the smile that would have otherwise split his face in half, looks like Sasuke has some competition.
"Alright, alright, settle down," said their instructor. It was time for class to begin. "Now listen up, since we have the graduation test coming up we will have a practice day today. As you already know there will be four parts to the exam, we will first practice our genjutsu and ninjutsu before moving onto target practice. Then we will pair off against each other with partners against taijutsu. Is that understood?" he asked and heard choruses of 'yes' and 'understand'. "Alright let's head to the eastern field, form a single line please."
"Hey this sounds fun," said Naruto as they headed out but Shikamaru looked annoyed. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it just means that Sasuke will wipe the floor with someone and then his fan-girls will swoon over him some more. That is what it usually means when we practice," replied Shikamaru in a bored tone as he quoted 'practice' with his fingers.
"Well that does suck," thought the young jinchuuriki as he headed out to the field along with his new friends Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba.
The genjutsu test went over and most of the class performed the transformation jutsu quite easily. The ninjutsu section also went well and many showed off more than just the two techniques that would be tested on, which was quite entertaining and impressive in some cases. Sasuke's grand fireball and Kiba's fang over fang took the top on the list, with Choji's human-meatball a close second. It was with target practice that everything started going south.
"Sasuke Uchiha," called Iruka and Sasuke sauntered forwards to the fifteen feet line from which he had to throw all the shurikens into the post. As far as Naruto could deduce, the class in general was not very good with targets. Not a single one had managed to get all the shurikens they were given in the post what they were supposed to put it in. The best at target up till now was a boy named Shino Aburame, and he had managed to get six of the eight on the indicated post.
"Go Sasuke-kun," shouted a few girls and many more joined in until it became a full blown chant. "Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke."
"See I told you," said Shikamaru and all Naruto could do was stare. Really? How could one boy be the favorite of so many people, it was unreal. And that too because he just looked cool? Unbelievable, what did he possess that none of the other boys in this class did? Yes he was an Uchiha, in fact the last Uchiha, but still. The only girl that he had seen not cheer for the black eyed boy was a purple haired girl named Hinata Hyuuga. Sasuke took the shurikens that Iruka had offered and threw them in swift motions. He turned around coolly before his last shuriken even hit the post, but all eight of them had hit the intended target. At least his skill was undeniable.
"Naruto Uzumaki," called Iruka and Naruto went forward.
"Really? You are going to test me on this?" asked Naruto in a hushed tone as he took the shurikens from Iruka.
"I know but for appearance's sake just do it," Iruka whispered back and Naruto nodded. He looked back at the rest of the class, which was in the opposite direction of the post and threw the shurikens, all eight of them together. He did not have to look back to know his shurikens had hit the mark because eyes had gown wide, and many mouths hung open.
"Good job Naruto," said Iruka giving him a pat on the back when Kiba spoke up.
"Good job?" he echoed hollowly. "That was freakin' AMAZING!" shouted the Inuzuka and many more boys instantly agreed.
"Now now class, don't get too excited, but I agree that was quite impressive Naruto," said Iruka in a pleased voice.
"Thanks Sensei," said Naruto with a nod.
"No way did you see that?" asked Ino as she looked from the blonde haired boy to her ex-friend and now rival, Sakura.
"Yeah, that was almost unreal," she replied, also impressed by his skills. "But I bet that my Sasuke-kun will kick his ass in taijutsu," she said and Ino did not miss the remark's hidden message, directed at her.
"Your Sasuke-kun? Forehead, he's mine!" shot back Ino making Sakura turn on her rival.
"No he is mine!"
"Mine!"
"Mine!"
"There they go again," said Kiba in an annoyed voice and Naruto had to agree, he was at the school only a few hours and this battle for Sasuke was already getting on his nerves.
"How long have they been like this?" asked Naruto, he knew that something like this did not take too long to fester and grow. These girls had to break out of their infatuation before it turned into obsession. They had already broken their friendship over the boy, who knew what they would do next. Naruto's thoughts were interrupted as another bell rang.
"Alright students, lunchtime, we will pick up after lunch," announced Iruka and all the students obediently filed out into the cafeteria.
"Finally," said Choji and Kiba barked out laughing.
"Dude how can you be hungry, you have been eating constantly?" Kiba said making Choji blush a little in embarrassment.
"Kiba, the same comment everyday is not funny anymore," said Shikamaru as they found an empty table to sit on.
"So Naruto, what made you join the ninja academy, and that too only a week before graduation?" asked the Nara heir as he bit into his apple.
"Oh you know, I changed my mind about becoming…an artist and I had a really good sensei that taught me everything I needed to know to do well in the academy," lied Naruto as he had no idea what would sound like a good and convincing reason.
"Yea good choice, being an artist is hard," agreed Kiba, and surprisingly he was neither joking nor being sarcastic about it.
"What do you know anything about being an artist?" asked Choji and Kiba chewed his food thoughtfully before answering.
"You know my sister Hana?" asked Kiba and both Choji and Shikamaru nodded. She was one of the best vets out there and her nin-dog trio was famous because they had the best tracking skills in the whole Inuzuka clan. "She is also a really great painter. When I was young, I asked her about her painting because I thought it was awesome how she could make pictures out of blank paper like that. And she said that to become a good painter someone needs to practice a lot and needed to give it time and dedication. I didn't believe her at first and thought about giving it a try myself; it came out horrible so I gave up." Naruto frowned, why he had to give up, if he had kept on trying, he would have become just as good as his sister. The blonde was about to give his two-cents on the matter when Shikamaru spoke up.
"I totally get where you are coming from dude, sometimes things are just too troublesome to bother with," he said sagely and Kiba nodded in agreement. The young jinchuuriki was about to argue, when his senses started going off and he jumped sideways out of his seat. A kunai thunked into the wooden chair where he had been sitting less than a second ago. There was note tied to it. A stream of curses flew from Kiba's mouth and Naruto picked it up, someone was playing a dangerous game. He opened the note and read it out loud to the people sitting with him.
Listen up new boy, I don't know who you are or where you came from but you are strong. I want to test you and see just how strong I have become. Request me as your taijutsu partner and I will do the same.
Sasuke Uchiha.
"That little…" Shikamaru was about to curse when Naruto held up his hand and he closed his mouth. Naruto was thinking hard about what he should do, his teacher had told him to hide his true skills in the academy, that meant that he would have to lose to the rookie of the year, but this kind of behavior was unacceptable. Naruto quickly tabulated the pros and cons of this in his mind and came to a decision. "Is he always this demanding?" the blonde finally asked, surprising his new friends that he was not in the least bit fazed by the daring stunt that the Uchiha heir had pulled on him.
"Hey, you can't be serious about this," said Kiba a little bit worried about his new friend. That Sasuke had learned the basics of the Uchiha style of taijutsu, and even though he did not have the Sharingan, their style was brutal and unrelenting. Nobody in his class could stand up to the Uchiha in taijutsu for that reason.
"I know that this is dangerous but he is leaving me no choice," replied the young jinchuuriki with a blank face.
"Well, it's your call finally but be careful of him, he is after all the strongest one among us," said Kiba, and got a silent nod before the blonde got up.
"What do you think he is going to do?" asked Kiba as he looked at Naruto who throwing his plate and the empty juice cartons away.
"He is a lost cause, he is going to take on Sasuke, but I am not sure who will win this time," replied Shikamaru mysteriously before getting up himself.
Fifteen minutes later everyone was back outside in the grounds as they were being paired off against their taijutsu partners. Naruto and Sasuke did not have to ask for partners since they were paired against each other because their names were one right after the other on the roster.
"Well good luck man," said Kiba and Choji gave him a pat on the shoulder while Shikamaru just looked at him worriedly. The fights were fairly good but most lasted only three to four minutes. Kiba, and Choji won easily, and even Shikamaru did, though his taijutsu was weak. Ino and Sakura fought to a draw. The rest of the fights weren't that interesting to Naruto but most of them ended quickly and without too much happening. Finally it came down to the last one.
"You know the rules: no weapons, or techniques other than taijutsu. Begin!"
Sasuke and Naruto both faced each other cautiously as they circled one another slowly. There was small twitch in Sasuke's leg and Naruto's senses went off. The black haired boy charged, and Naruto was ready. He waited with a nonchalant look on his face and Sasuke smirked, the blonde wouldn't know what hit him, at least that's what he thought until he reached Naruto. As Sasuke gave a powerful kick to the seemingly uncaring blonde, he suddenly lost sight of his opponent. "What? Where did he go?" thought Sasuke as he whirled around to see him standing there with an expressionless look on his face as he scratched the back of his head. Sasuke's anger flared and he attacked his opponent again in a flurry of combinations, punches, and kicks but the blonde dodged each and every attack fluidly and without even trying.
"Holy…how is he doing that?" wondered Kiba out loud and many nodded, what the blonde was doing was…well something they had never seen before.
"What kind of katas are those?" thought Iruka silently.
AT THE HOKAGE TOWER
The Sandaime Hokage stood in front of three of the most capable Jounins that will become the instructors for the graduating Genins in the next week. He had a list of all the genins along with their abilities filed in front of them and he was just listening to them as they discussed about the teams and what combinations would make a good team. "I believe that recreating the Ino-Shika-Cho trio would be ideal," suggested Asuma as he had instantly noticed that all three clan heirs were of the same age and would be graduating this year.
"Yes that does seem like the ideal combination seeing the original Ino-Shika-Cho's success rate," agreed Kurenai Yuuhi. "What about you Kakashi, would you like to teach that team?"
"I can't," replied the stoic Jounin in an annoyed voice and the Sandaime could guess that the Council was involved somehow as they were talking to the former ANBU captain before he came to this meeting.
"What' the matter Kakashi?" asked Asuma as he looked at his friend with a raised eye-brow.
"The council pretty much just ordered me to take the team that has Uchiha Sasuke in it," replied the Jounin, his annoyed countenance spreading to all the members that were present in the room.
"But how can they do that? Isn't it strictly ninja matters?" asked Kurenai, being a Jounin for only a few months, she was not aware of the council's eternal warfare against the Hokage in stealing his power over the ninjas and making it their own.
"Yes, looks like I have to deal with them again," said the Hokage in an exasperated voice, wasn't life hard enough as it is?
"Wait, Naruto's name is on the list," said Kurenai with a small smile and Asuma went to look at it over her shoulder.
"I want the boy in my team," stated the bearded Jounin flatly much to the dislike of the two other Jounins in the room.
"Wait, no, I want him in my team," countered the crimson eyed kunoichi, also known as the 'Genjutsu Mistress' of Konoha.
"What makes you think that he will go into the teams with either of you as his Sensei?" asked Kakashi with a smug look on his face, yes he knew the boy the longest and had the strongest bond with him out of all the three Jounins in the room. Hiruzen looked on in amusement as the Jounins argued about why they should be Naruto's teacher since each of them had been the boy's instructor in one thing or another in the past. Kurenai had been invaluable in teaching Naruto how to detect and break out of genjutsus. The boy had very little talent to perform them, but he had become excellent at detecting genjutsus and breaking them, making him a very fearsome ninja indeed. Asuma had been a great help in teaching the boy about Nature manipulation and also taught him many exercises that helped him gain an amazing amount of control over his wind affinity. The boy had learned quite a few strong wind-based jutsus from the chain-smoker. Last, but definitely not least, was Kakashi Hatake, an ex-ANBU captain and a master at stealth, espionage, and assassination techniques. He had taught Naruto everything he knew about being an ANBU and more about how to avoid being detected in even the worst case scenarios. The boy's aptitude towards stealth and avoiding getting detected was surprisingly strong and Kakashi had found a very enthusiastic and energetic little protégé of his own in the hyper-active blonde.
"Please calm down, all this noise is making me feel un-well," said the Hokage in a raised voice and immediately made the argument that the Jounins were having come to an end.
"Is your symptoms acting up again?" asked Asuma, he was worried about the failing health of his father in the recent years. He had returned to Konoha about four years ago and had immediately joined in active duty as a Jounin to be with his ailing father. There were still major family issues among them, but Asuma respected and loved his Father enough to be with him when he was needed the most. It had also given him a chance to meet his nephew, Konohamaru, and give him a father-figure to look at when it was required.
"No, no nothing like that," said the Hokage with a dismissive wave of his hand before settling down. "To tell the truth, even I don't know whose team to place him on. He has history with each of you, and has formed a unique relationship with every sensei he has had. Even Gai had requested Naruto to be on his team but I denied him because his team members were older than Naruto and he hadn't entered the academy when Gai became the Jounin sensei for Team Nine. It all comes down to the real reason for which he entered the academy in the first place." The Hokage sighed before noticing the slip of his tongue. Now all the Jounins look at him with a questioning face that demanded an answer. "Iruka suspects that a teacher in the academy intends to leave the village to join a dangerous missing-nin and he intends to steal the Scroll of Seals by any means necessary before he departs and Iruka suspects that it will happen sometime this week," the Hokage explained making the Jounins nod, yes clever strategy on their Hokage's part indeed. Sending in Naruto to find out a mole was smart because nobody will suspect an academy student to be able to do anything about it.
"I still want him on my team," muttered Kurenai silently and it did not go unnoticed by the three others in the room. The argument resumed in full heat.
"Wait, wait ,wait!" said the Hokage in panic as he held his hand up, he knew he did not want another argument in his office this soon, he already had a head ache. "Before you start arguing, do the three of you know at what level Naruto's skills are at right now, and what he needs most improvement on?"
"Not exactly," said Asuma as he scratched his head, and the other two Jounins concurred with nods. It would help them better judge whose group the blonde should go in, after all they still wanted what was best for the boy.
"Hmm, I don't either," said Sarutobi with a long sigh and the others sweat-dropped.
"Well, Hokage-sama, if we don't how will we know which sensei will benefit him the most?" asked Kurenai in a concerned voice.
"But you are his sensei, you should know what his level of skill is," said Asuma in a bored tone making the Hokage sigh.
"Asuma, I am not his only sensei and you know that. He has been spending time with you learning about wind jutsus. He has also been going to Kurenai who has helped him a lot with his genjutsu training. Kakashi has been teaching him how to control his secondary affinities and also helping him with his stealth, espionage, and assassination training with Anko. Maito Gai has also been giving him intense conditioning and strength training, but I have a pretty good idea of what level Naruto has reached with that. So you can tell me how well he is doing with everything, and I will be able to gauge at what level he is in after I add in his taijutsu, perception, and Fuuinjutsu skills," said the Hokage. Even though all the Jounins knew just how much Naruto trained, every time they heard it being said out loud, they were always surprised.
"I will tell you how far he has gone under my tutelage," began Asuma and continued when nobody interrupted. "He started with C-level wind jutsus, but his dedication is unbelievable. Then he added his clones and his training progressed exponentially. In a year he had moved onto B-level jutsus and by the end of the second year, he had a quite a few A-level ones under his belt. He started on some S-class jutsus but there aren't much wind-jutsus that are that strong in Konoha. So he is currently working on two and has mastered only one." The Hokage nodded and looked towards Kurenai for her to continue.
"Naruto has come a long way from where he started. He has began to detect almost any genjutsus as soon as they are thrown at him, his perception at detecting them are amazing. At breaking them we had to work for quite a bit but his chakra control is pretty good so he did not take too long to understand the concept of disrupting his chakra. Ones he got the hang of it he quickly progressed and is now what I would consider a genjutsu-counter expert," at the Kunoichi's description, the Hokage raised his eyebrows but did not contradict her, only noted it down mentally before turning to the last Jounin in his office.
"Well you know Naruto…" said Kakashi with a chuckle but was cut off rudely.
"Give a straight answer Hatake," said Asuma, his voice sounded like the cold crack of a whip in the silent office.
"Maa, maa no need to get hostile Asuma," said Kakashi with an eye smile but noticed the Hokage's steady glare on him and gulped. He better starts talking, and fast, realized the silver haired Jounin. "His stealth training is going great; he is picking up things quite quickly and the way I, Anko, and even Tenzo who sometimes join us, have started training him, he has advanced much more than we thought but we are extremely pleased with his performance and advancement in this field. I would say he is in the level of a top ANBU operative, not yet on the level of a squad leader, but a good enough agent that can infiltrate, collect information, and assassinate any obstacle when needed and use his skills appropriately enough that no one will know who is behind it unless he wants them to." Kakashi paused, and he knew that he had not fabricated the boy's skills at all. Yes the blonde boy was a prodigy like he had never seen before, but one whose level will never grace the minds and the history of Konoha. "As for his secondary affinities, he has quite a few Katon and Suiton jutsus that he has mastered. He is currently working on an S-level water jutsus and two A-level fire jutsus."
"By all accounts, it looks like he is a high level Jounin already," answered Hokage after mulling over all the things he had learned from the teachers of Naruto for a few minutes.
"A very impressive profile, should he not be in the field then?" asked Kurenai a bit hesitantly, she was well aware just how protective their Hokage was when Naruto was concerned.
"Yes, but he has no field experience, none whatsoever," said the Hokage and nobody could really argue with his thoughts, Asuma and Kakashi were pretty sure that Naruto had never gotten out of the walls of Konoha in his entire life.
"Well, that still does not tell us in whose team he should be," said Kakashi as he looked at the Hokage with a questioning look.
"True," replied the Hokage.
IN THE NINJA ACADEMY SCHOOL GROUNDS
Sasuke panted heavily frustrated and impressed by his blonde opponent. The boy seemed to disappear every time he got close enough to attack but acted like he did nothing at all as he just kept looking back at the Uchiha with an innocent look on his face. Sasuke hasn't been able to land a single hit on Naruto, and the blue-eyed boy hadn't attempted to fight back either, he had just kept on dodging making the Uchiha get more and more impatient and flustered. It had been more than twenty minutes and nothing had happened except Sasuke charging again and again and his opponent dodging or evading him every time. But where the Uchiha looked tired and worn out, it looked like his opponent hadn't even broken a sweat.
"Alright, that's enough," said Iruka bringing the match to an end.
"But nobody has even landed a hit yet Iruka-sensei," protested Sakura and many seemed to agree that the match was stopped before it even began.
"I know that Sakura, but I have to say that it is a draw. Neither opponent had landed a hit on the other in the last twenty minutes; I think that makes it clear that both of them are on the same level in taijutsu capabilities," said the Chuunin, though he knew that was a complete lie, and many groans were heard in coming from the gathered students. Finally, they had seen a boy that could match the Uchiha in skill but their teacher had stopped the fight before it even got intense.
"I guess you are right," muttered the pink haired Kunoichi. She might have been an avid fan-girl for Sasuke but she was not blind or stupid. She could see that her crush's opponent had not even tried to hit Sasuke and had dodged all his attacks.
"You know that new student might be better than Sasuke," whispered a voice in her ears and she turned to see Ino.
"Hmm, it was surprising," replied Sakura with a nod, nobody in their class could touch Sasuke when it came to ninja skills and yet a new student had made him look inferior that had to say something about the blonde boy's skills as a shinobi.
"Hey man that was awesome!" shouted Kiba as they headed back to the classroom; many were now looking at their blonde classmate with different eyes now that he had proven that he was equal if not better than their class's top student.
"I know, I have never even seen those kinds of taijutsu moves," said Choji as he crumpled an empty chips bag and threw it in the trash before pulling out a new one.
"Oh that was nothing," said Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head. He looked a little embarrassed at all the attention he was suddenly getting from his classmates. Soon they were all back in class and there were only a few minutes left before school day ended, so Iruka let them just talk the last few minutes.
"So Naruto, what are you going to do after school," asked Shikamaru, he and Choji planned to go by the lake and watch clouds.
"I haven't really thought about it but I know I don't have much to do," replied Naruto and Shikamaru nodded.
"You know, you could come with us, we are going to go to the lake and relax," said the Nara.
"You and who else?" asked Naruto curiously.
"Hmm, oh it's just me and Choji, sometimes Kiba comes along but today he has to help his sister in the kennels," said Shikamaru earning a laugh from Choji.
"Yea, he and his sister has to clean it," he said and everybody knew what that meant.
"Sure why not," muttered Naruto as the bell rang, indicating that classes were over for the day.
AT THE LAKESIDE
"Isn't it a relaxing place?" asked Shikamaru contentedly as he made himself comfortable by lying down on grass and gazing lazily at the sky.
"Mm-hmm," replied Choji, he was happily munching on chips as he sat down next to Shikamaru and Naruto sat down next to Choji.
"This place is so calm, I like it," said Naruto. There were no one there except for the three of them, and the weather was great. Naruto felt another chakra signature moving towards them, fast. He did not need to look to know that a certain Uchiha was moving, and at quite good speed. He also felt another chakra signature, someone was following him.
"Man, what a drag," muttered Shikamaru as raised voices reached them it sounded like a heated argument was going on between two people and Naruto's curiosity got the best of him so he stood up and went to see what was going on. He was not surprised when nobody followed him. Naruto took to the trees and quickly arrived to the place where Sasuke and Sakura were talking. He kept himself hidden and looked on from his perch on the branch.
"What is it Sakura?" asked Sasuke as he turned and glared at the pink haired girl.
"But…but if we became friends—" Sakura started but was cut off by Sasuke.
"Then what, that I would like you?" he asked in a tone that said he despised the idea of befriending the kunoichi in front of him.
"But Sasuke-kun, why don't you at least give me a chance?" pleaded Sakura, and Naruto could tell from his spot in the tree that tears had gathered in her eyes.
"Why would I? You are just like everyone else, always trying to get me to like you. It's the same every day, why don't you just leave me alone!" the Uchiha's voice was going higher and higher in volume with each word, and Sakura visibly winced at his words as tears streaked down her eyes.
"Damn," thought Naruto, now concerned for the pink haired girl. "It's almost exactly the same situation as the time when we were seven, but back then she had Ino, now they behave like bitter enemies against each other when the Uchiha is concerned." He continued to look as Sakura sat down on the nearby bench. She wiped her tears fiercely but they kept spilling over again and again. Sasuke had already left, not caring for his classmate one bit. Naruto was about to jump, when Ino landed in front of Sakura and looked every direction before her eyes landed on Sakura.
"Darn it, I bet she talked to Sasuke-kun and I completely missed my chance," thought the blonde haired kunoichi angrily until she noticed that Sakura was crying but was trying to hide her tears from her rival. Ino's eyes softened, a girl never took rejection as easily as boy did, or got over them as quickly. She slowly walked to the bench and sat down next to her, quietly.
"I assume you talked to him," she asked as Sakura seemed to have stopped shedding tears and was regaining her composure slowly. She nodded but kept her gaze firmly fixed at her feet. "And he left like he always does," Ino concluded to herself loudly, annoyed at her crush's behavior, but then again that was one of his charms, she supposed. There was movement to her right and she turned to see Naruto, standing there leaning against a tree. "What do you want?" Ino asked rudely, she was in no mood to listen to snarky comments from other boys. He slowly walked towards them but stopped when he was about three feet away from them looked at them with something akin to…sympathy? Sadness?
"Why do you do this to yourselves?" he asked and even Sakura looked up at this, confusion written on the faces of both the girls.
"What do you mean?" asked Ino, now curious to hear what the blonde in front of her was talking about.
"I mean, you both were like the best friends and then you broke that just because of one boy?" he said taking a blind stab in the dark, he never knew if Sakura and Ino had become good friends at all.
"Well he is special," said Sakura in a small voice, she had to defend her crush right?
"How is he special?" asked Naruto completely confused, were these two blind or did they live in a fantasy world?
"He just is okay? And why the hell do you care anyway?" said Ino angrily, she did not like it when someone talked like this boy was to Sakura.
"I care because I understand what it feels like when you want someone to accept you and acknowledge you, and how much it hurts when that does not happen," replied Naruto, his voice dark, and his eyes shadowed. It scared the girls to hear the amount of emotion just in the boy's voice. Ino was to first to recover.
"Y-you do?" she asked uncertainly and got a silent nod.
"Do you truly believe that he is worth it?" asked the young jinchuuriki as he looked at both the girls, but they avoided his gaze.
"Ino, Sakura, please look at me," he said as he took a step closer towards them. The obeyed and looked at his eyes, it showed he was worried and concerned for them. But why, he did not even know them, yet here he was trying to make them feel a little better. "I don't know or understand why you like Sasuke so much, but let me tell you this. No boy is worth more than the relationship you two had forged that day in the park." Shocked pair of green and blue eyes stared at him.
"How do you know?" asked Sakura, he was not one of the boys that had said all those hurtful things to her that day.
"I was at the park that day," replied Naruto but left it at that. He was studying the girls carefully now as they looked like they were thinking about the times that they had spent together. "You know, if you choose one road in life, it doesn't mean you have to abandon all the others," commented Naruto and forced the girls to think even harder about their friendship. Sakura remembered how she and Ino used to play together and how Ino had raised her confidence and self-esteem whenever people talked about her forehead. Ino was one of the best things that happened to her and she broke their friendship over Sasuke who did not even care for her. Ino on the other hand was thinking about how much loved Sakura when they were younger, almost like a little sister. She used to save her from bullies and played together. She also remembered the time when Sakura broke their relationship because of Sasuke and how much it hurt her. Was it possible that they were wrong and this boy might be right? Both Ino and Sakura broke out of their thoughts at the same time before looking at each other, really looking at each other.
"Is it…too late?" asked Ino, her eyes locking with Sakura's and staying there.
"I am sorry," said Sakura suddenly as all the walls between them came crashing down and they both hugged each other fiercely. They said comforting things to one another for a long time after that and finally broke the hug. They were surprised to see Naruto was still there, but he was sitting against a tree so that they could have some privacy. Sakura and Ino both walked up to the blonde and Ino offered him her hand which he took with a smile.
"So…" he said as he hopefully looked from one girl to the other.
"So we think you are right. It was kind of stupid of us that the strong bond we had formed all those years ago was broken because of a crush," said Ino and Sakura nodded her head in agreement.
"That's good to hear," said the blonde boy. "So what about Sasuke?"
"I don't know," said Ino but Sakura spoke up.
"We still like him, but we are never going to let it affect our friendship, ever again," she said with a smile to Naruto who couldn't help but smile back.
"So do you guys have any plans?" he asked the girls and Ino looked at the time before sighing loudly.
"I have a shift in the shop in an hour," she replied, Ino totally lost track of time with all the things that happened today.
"Hey, I wanna go and help you. I haven't talked to Mr. and Mrs. Yamanaka in a long time," said Sakura and Ino nodded happily, work always got done faster when Sakura used to help her before. They turned and started to walk away when Naruto's voice reached them.
"Hey Ino, you look a lot better when you don't have your hair covering your face!" The blonde girl blushed redder than a tomato to the roots of her hair, but when they turned around, Naruto was nowhere in sight.
Hey guys, I hope you liked it. Yes, Naruto might have the same nature as he did before, but he is not as dumb as he used to be. Anyway, I have been thinking about the teams, and I still don't know if I am going to keep the original ones or make new ones because this story will have a 'not-so-common' pairing. That means no Naruto/Hinata for sure. Sorry all Naru/Hina fans but try to keep an open mind and continue reading, I promise I will make this story as amazing as possible. Poll about Zabuza's sword still stands. Please, please, please don't forget to review. I have been getting a lot of alerts and favorites, but the lack of reviews is kind of makes me not want to write anymore.
Thanks,
Tanneal.