Six years later...

"Alright, now its time to start practicing the shuriken jutsu." Iruka announced, leading the class of students out of the academy and near the side of the building. Three large wooden posts, obviously used as targets due to the many nicks and indentations of past students, were near the brown fence that separated the academy from the outside world of civilians. Iruka looked down at his clipboard, trying to see who would be a good guinea pig to test the new training out on.

"Uchiha Sasuke!" Sasuke stepped forward as his name was being called, ignoring the squeals of the girls behind him and Naruto's mumbling, taking out some shuriken from his pouch. Everyone gaped at which the speed of the shuriken was thrown, clapping when they saw that Sasuke had hit every mark perfectly. Naruto just scowled, his arms crossed over the other, and walked past the snobby Uchiha.

"Big deal! I can do better."

Grinning, Naruto took out three shuriken and placed them in his hands, each in-between the folds of his fingers. He closed his eyes to focus, remember the training Kakashi had taught him. Visualize the target in your mind, keep it in the center of your thoughts and let the shuriken fly towards it. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Naruto threw the shuriken, his eyes still closed. Several of students chuckled and mumbled to themselves; How could anyone throw shuriken without using their sight? Their chuckles all turned to gasps as they saw that Naruto had gotten almost all of the target spots, sans one, a confident grin his whiskered face. Going to pick up the shuriken, Naruto looked up on the fence to see a pair of sandaled feet hanging in front of his face. Smirking, the twelve year old just stared at the face of his mentor and father, who gave a small grin in return. Kakashi had been watching the boy since after they moved in to the apartment, not wanting to leave the child's side. He wasn't sure if it was from worry or something else, but he had a feeling he should stay by Naruto in case something happened to him at the academy. So far nothing was amiss, besides Naruto's pranks on the teachers or outbursts against Uchiha Sasuke, which were soon becoming less and less frequent.

The kids no longer called Naruto "dead-last", one of his old nicknames from when he was six years old. In fact, Naruto was in the top five of his class, only two ranks below Uchiha Sasuke, who was the best. The children were starting to show a little more respect for the whiskered boy now, although they still whispered behind his back every now and then. Seems the lies their parents told them were still keeping them cautious of the "demon fox" and his "otherworldly" companion. When Kakashi had confronted the boy about this, Naruto surprised him by saying he'd rather have an odd parent the kids made fun of than no one at all to help him. He watched Naruto go back to the spot he was previously at, the shurikens in his hands again. Just as he was about to throw them, Iruka sensei put a hand on his wrist, telling him it was time to go. The boy sighed; He was hoping he could one-up Sasuke today and be the cool kid for once. Kakashi waited once they were out of view, debating whether he should follow the group or not. A movement from the leaves of the tree to his upper right stole away his attention.

A small squirrel dashed down the tree, a pile of nuts in its mouth as it scurried across the courtyard. Kakashi sighed, thinking he was getting too overprotective of Naruto over the past few years they had been together. He momentarily wondered if his father had been that way after he was born, though he wasn't sure of it. Sakumo had always been on lengthy missions, not coming home until after the young Kakashi and his mother were already asleep. When his mother died, things remained mostly the same, though Kakashi was learning to strive on his own then. By the time his father committed seppuku, Kakashi could even prepare hot meals using the stove and tend to the gardens and fish pond outside the house. Naruto was already making his own breakfast in the morning and setting his own bath, so he wasn't too far off. Just a few more years and Naruto might even be ready to live on his own, but Kakashi knew he wouldn't let that happen. It seemed he had indeed grew quite fond of the boy over the last six years, and wouldn't let anything separate the two. Following after the group which had long since departed, he failed to notice the shine of glasses in the deep branches of the tree, a malicious smile poking out from underneath silver bangs.

Kabuto licked his dry lips, taking out a small water skin and drinking deeply for a few seconds, then going back to his notes. Uchiha Sasuke was becoming a fine shinobi, all they needed was for him to awaken the Sharingan and Orochimaru could steal his body. Naruto however, was a different matter. Unlike when he was six years old, his progress at the academy had started to grow slowly after a few years, surprising Kabuto. He was sure this no talent ninja would be at the bottom of the class; His info cards hadn't ranked Naruto as anything special besides being a Jinchuriki and his skills were decent, if a little lacking in the ninjutsu department. Watching the boy over the past few years, Kabuto had indeed begun to feel an aura around the boy, as if something was shielding or protecting him. It was almost like chakra, but without the manifestation of physical energy; It was entirely spiritual. He knew the energy felt familiar though, but he had no idea what or who it could be from? Maybe the Yoindaime, watching over his handiwork from the world beyond? No...That didn't seem right to Kabuto; People who used the Death God seal were trapped in a cycle of constant hatred and fighting for eternity. It had to be something else then. He sighed, pushing up his glasses as usual and using a camouflage jutsu to leap onto the roof of the building. He still had more info to gather, and it wasn't going to get done by pondering to himself. That could wait for later, when he had more time to think alone.

"Uhm, how should I start out? I'm no good at introductions really." Naruto's new sensei stroked his black beard, his hazel eyes darting to and fro at his newest team members. Tch, all the people in the world and I get stuck with Sasuke and his fangirl Sakura. Guess it's not so bad; Sakura's here at least, but she'll probably ignore me for Sasuke. Naruto thought, yawning while waiting for their new teacher to introduce himself. He was supposed to their new instructor, but Naruto wasn't so sure about him. He seemed a little too laid back for a Jonin,

"Well...My name's Sarutobi Asuma. I like playing Shogi and having a drink or smoke with friends once in awhile. Hmm...now how about you three introduce yourselves?:"

Their new teacher mumble,d taking a smoke out of his pack and puffing on it. Naruto grinned as this reminded him of Sandaime, who also smoked often, but with a pipe. If this guy was anything like the Third, Naruto reasoned he could have good time with his new team, despite the fact that Sasuke was also a member. After everyone had finally finished introducing themselves, Asuma gave out slips of paper telling them that they had to prepare of a genin exam. Naruto and Sakura were distraught with this, but Sasuke didn't seem to mind much. Asuma sighed, answering to their dumbfounded stares

"This is a test to see if you really are ready to become genin. If you fail, you'll go back to the academy. It's eight o'clock tomorrow morning at the training field; Don't be late."

With that, he poofed away in a cloud of smoke, leaving the three genin to their devices. Sakura naturally tried to ask out Sasuke, who obviously declined. Naruto ignored her antics, figuring if she was already into Sasuke she wouldn't want to spend any time with him, and started to run home, as he was excited since Kakashi was going to teach him a new technique for passing the academy. Panting and out of breath, Naruto reached for the key to his apartment lock just in time to see the door handle turn on its own, the green wood swinging inward with a soft clang as it landed against the hardwood wall. Naruto smiled enthusiastically as it could only mean one thing: Kakashi was home!

Walking inside Naruto saw that food had already been laid out for him, and it was his favorite: ramen, though it was laced with a few vegetables. Taking off his sandals and jacket, he began to chow into the meal, vegetable ramen or not. He grinned even further as he saw something else inside the soup: small portions of barbecue pork were floating in the thick miso broth. He was so busy that he nearly jumped out of his chair when he felt a familiar hand rub his hair. Looking up, noodles stuffing his whiskered cheeks, Naruto grinned. Swallowing the ramen and quickly gulping down the bowl, Naruto washed it as fast as he could, Kakashi sighed as he knew what was up.

"You just can't wait, huh?" He chuckled, causing Naruto to look his way with an expression of pure excitement. Sighing, Kakashi lazily floated over to Naruto, pulling a regular green scroll out of his transparent pocket. Handing it to Naruto, he said

"Since you graduated from the academy, though you just barely made it, I'm going to give you a helpful technique. It'll come in handy if I'm not around at the moment and you need serious help. That scroll is no ordinary scroll; It's a summoning contract. I'll show you how to use it..."

A/N: I think that's a good cut off point of now. Get ready for the next one. Though school has started for me, so it may be a while and I apologize ahead of time. XD ` KF727