A/N
Just some quick answers as to where I've been for a few months. In short, I've moved to a new apartment. There was no Internet for roughly half the time, and the other half saw me working to meet some early payments on the place. Sorry about both the short chapter and the disappearing act, but I'm back and getting back in the groove.
An Arrow Among the Flame Chapter 6
"It's nice to finally meet you Naruto." Sasuke's Mother replied. "I'm Mikoto Uchiha, and this is my husband, Fugaku." Her husband nodded and put in his word.
"It's nice to meet you, son. I've heard a lot about you from Sasuke. I'm glad he finally has a friend." Fugaku said before turning to his wife, "Sorry I can't stay for dinner honey, but the Hokage has called a meeting."
Fugaku got up and crossed through the door before turning toward the two kids. "When I get the chance, I'll show ya'll something that might help in the academy test."
After meeting Sasuke's parents they went back to the small training area in the backyard. After practicing the basics, they started sparring. It was obvious that Sasuke had practiced little more than the basics. Naruto decided to keep his strengths hidden for now and kept to the same.
It was soon time to eat and then head home. After thanking Mikoto for the meal, Naruto waved to Sasuke and started for his home.
The next morning came and Naruto just decided to send a shadow clone to school for him. He gave it enough chakra to get through till lunch while he slept in. After waking up around 10:30, he cleaned himself up and got dressed. When he felt the clone dismiss itself he was surprised by the classes subject. "They teach sex-ed in the academy? That had to feel awkward."
Naruto decided to be discrete and sunshined to the same tree that he had met Sasuke in. The raven haired boy jumped at his friends arrival but relaxed when he saw his blond haired partner. "Kami, you scared the shit outta me." Sasuke breathed out.
"Yo teme, why are you up in the tree again? Is Sakura chasing you again?" Naruto quizzed.
"Worse, ever since this morning, the whole fan club's been chasing me." Sasuke shuddered at the memory.
"Ouch," Naruto didn't respond for a second. "Hey, at least the sparring exam is today."
"Great, I get to fight one of those losers." Sasuke muttered as he looked at a group of kids sitting at the lone picnic table. They were the class bullies led by Hideki Demura. His clan was one of the few lesser clans granted a council seat. Hideki had some idea that it made him stronger than those below him. He never messed with the higher ranked clans kids, but he sickened Sasuke with his constant crap about superiority. "If you happened to go against him, do me a favor and go all out. Rules be damned."
"I'll do my best." Naruto agreed. 'Sorry Sasuke,but if I went all out, he'd be just a bloody smear in the dirt.'
The class had assembled in the gym after lunch for spars. As Iruka called out contestants, Naruto decided early to join the Nara heir in a quick nap on the bleachers till his name was called. He figured he wouldn't miss much. As he woke up and heard his match partner, he couldn't help but groan.
Hideki Demura vs. Naruto Uzumaki
He dragged himself to the circle and waited for his opponent. He didn't have to wait long before the brash preteen made his way over.
"Why don't you just give up now?" Hideki said aloud, "Everyone knows that you don't have a clan. Without a clan, you're practically worthless."
Naruto let out a yawn and feigned ignorance. "Sensei, can I start now?"
"I'm not finished you clanless nobody!" Hideki shouted. "I'm the heir to the Demura clan of the Fist! If you want to fight me go ahead, but you're nothing compared to me! Hell, your sensei is probably a nobody like you."
Iruka decided to end it there. "Enough Hideki. Now, You both know the rules. No weapons, No techniques, No killing. Let's have a fun match." He brought up his hand and began the countdown.
'Level six should do it.' Naruto though as he deactivated several hidden weight seals. His body felt light as his posture corrected itself for the lessened strain Nasu had told him no showing off, but Naruto wouldn't let anyone insult his teacher.
"3...2...1... Go!" Said Iruka as he brought his hand down.
Naruto didn't give Hideki time to move into his stance before rocketing forward. In three steps he reached the bully and landed a right underhand punch to the boys gut. As Hideki doubled over, Naruto clenched his left fist and brought it down on the small of the bully's back. Hideki let a small whimper of pain out as he hit the ground. After two seconds, he slowly rose with indignant flames in his eyes. "You... You're dead!"
Naruto instinctively dodged every sloppy punch and kick the the larger boy threw. He wanted to show how 'superior' a clan's heir was to some one who spent nearly every waking moment training for the past seven years. As Hideki began to tire, his punched looked no more than mere arm waves. "Pathetic" was all Naruto said before grabbing the boy's extended arm and throwing him off the sparring platform. The once proud bully landed with a loud crash as his supporters gathered around him. "Call it, Iruka," Naruto said loudly.
After gathering his senses, Iruka raised his hand again. "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto."
That night, he expected Nasu to be mad at him. Nasu was going to put him through hell. Probably make him even clean and polish every single weapon in the house. What Naruto saw however was his brother putting the finishing touches on a cake. "Hey Naruto, heard about your spar today. Good job."Nasu looked up from his pastry project, "By the way, I t been wanting to say this for nearly seven years..." Turning the cake toward his student, Nasu read the words on the confection to his new brother. "Welcome to my family, Naruto Uzumaki no Soreya."
"What?" was the only intelligent word that Naruto let out. His mind went into overdrive at the sight of the cake in front of him. It was as though he was five again and wanting a family.
After seeing the emotions on his students face, he explained. "When we got back I submitted the official documents for your adoption. You now have access to the name of Soreya, the clan of stray arrows, and all that it entails. Although it's not much, considering we're the only two."
It took Naruto all of five seconds to piece together what just happened. His sensei just told him they were now family. He hadn't hadn't had much time to think about it during their training trip, but he really did look up to the man as a brother. Now it was a reality. He barely choked out a sob. Nasu saw his new little brother start crying and smirked a little bit.
"Now now, it's not the time for crying. After all, there's nothing to be sad about!" A small frown marred his features. Naruto's tears continued to fall as Nasu wound his arms around the boy. "Geez, I was expecting you to be bouncing off the walls right now. Now go get yourself cleaned up. We've gotta get some dinner and I have a massive craving for ramen."
The rest of the week passed quickly and the basic tests for genin were taken and passed. Those unlucky enough to fail had been sent home, and there were rumors of a chuunin caught trying to break into the hokage tower. 'What an idiot,' Naruto mused as he looked over the other passing students. It seemed as though only half the class had passed, all but one belonging to a Konoha clan. As he mused over who might be on his team, he noticed Sasuke was fidgeting like he was on the wrong side of a lightning technique. "What's wrong Sasuke? You already passed the test."
Sasuke looked toward his friend with a distant look in his eyes. "Everyone in my fan club passed. If the team layout is the same as past years, there's a..." pausing to count on his fingers he grew even paler, "sixty-eight percent chance that I'll be teamed up with at least one of them."
Naruto saw the dilemma and added, "It could be worse, at least you won't be with two of them."
Sasuke looked as thought the thought made him physically ill. He didn't know what to expect as Iruka walked in with a determined face. "Alright everyone, it's time to get your team listings."