Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto if I did Naruto would have learned seals and used them more

An Uzumaki Tale

Arc 5: The Path of a Ninja

Chapter 26: End of the First Week

Author's Note:

Well I usually answer guest reviews, but don't remember any so I will just put down one of answers I gave about Shunshin being a D rank jutsu in case anyone else was confused about it.

For Shunshin Naruto wiki stated D rank so I used, my explanation for this which is that at short distances it similar to substitution, but academy students lack the chakra, control, coordination and reflex to control it so for me it is D rank that gets harder to do the more proficient it is. I may add a bit in where it states the jutsu is taught at the academy as D rank to prep them for developing it in the future at higher levels due to how widely used it is.

But yeah nothing more to say so enjoy the chapter.

1 Week Later

It was an early morning, the sun just starting to rise in the east. Black eyes as dark as the abyss opened peering at the wall where a symbol of a white and red fan was standing proudly. It reminded the person of a goal, of his revenge and all he lost to the one who betray him and his clan.

The last Uchiha got up, taking off his grey night shirt and pants, putting on his trade mark blue shirt and white pants, the mark of his clan standing proudly on his back.

The room was spacious and empty except for the necessities. The whole apartment seemed to scream loneliness and that was how he liked it. Sure, it was a hard life, but he didn't deserve the comfort of others. It would only make him weak and he couldn't have that. He could only rely on himself and no one else to get his revenge.

He stopped by the kitchen for breakfast. Making some bacon and eggs with a tomato salad. Yes, he couldn't forget the tomatoes. It was the only thing besides his revenge that kept him going. Taking a slice of tomato, Sasuke's whole faced lit up as he savoured the sweet taste that drove his usual emo self away until they were all gone and returned to his brooding self.

He lived in a lone building near the Uchiha sector, there were no other buildings due to the fact that it was located near the very edge of the Uchiha sector. In order to get anywhere, he would have to walk straight through the Uchiha sector or take the long route around, which for ninja wouldn't be much of a detour especially with his chronically late sensei.

Despite the Hokage and several other upper ninja discouraging the idea of him living so isolated and close to the scene of his trauma, Sasuke insisted to living close by to his old home. So, he was given a building of his request and like the loner he was, he chose the most isolated place he could find.

There were three reasons why he lived where he lived. One, so he could train without distraction. Two, he found out quickly that fan girls won't trespass in his old home and are too lazy to walk around the long way and last but not least, to remind himself. Every day, he would walk through his old home, scenes of that night overlapping the present this was a reminder and a punishment, to keep his goal firmly in mind and to remind him that he was helpless to stop the tragedy that happened.

Exiting the compound, the last Uchiha took one last look at his past, living with the burning hatred for the one who took it all away. This was his ritual, one he performed to stoke the fire of vengeance and keep them raging on until they burned his target.

"Morning Sasuke-Kun!" The minute the feminine voice was heard, Sasuke froze in his tracks as if a cold breeze blew past him, his fire of revenge dying down. He used to make the mistake of greeting for his fan girls, but he long adjusted and knew it wasn't them, but someone that the Uchiha couldn't get rid of. His emo instincts told him to ignore it and keep going, but before he knew it, he returned the greeting.

"Morning…" He said the words on impulse, looking at the brown-haired woman that somewhat wormed her way into the cold Uchiha's heart.

"Sasuke-Nii!" A brown-haired boy came out of nowhere, clinging to the aloof boy and even as an Uchiha, Sasuke didn't have the heart to push him away.

These were his neighbours for the past few years and the only people that Sasuke actually got along with since his late family's demise.

"Just in time. Could you take Taichi to the academy, please Sasuke-Kun." Sasuke looked at the boy whose eyes lit up, staring pleadingly at the Genin Uchiha. Has it really been two years already? It was hard to believe that the boy was now 5 years old and starting the academy himself.

"I have to get to my team." Sasuke stated, ignoring Taichi's downcast face.

"Don't worry, you will have plenty of time and your sensei is always late anyway." The last Uchiha looked away, this last week his sensei has never shown up on time once and he ends up blabbing about it to her quite often.

Starting to walk away Sasuke stopped, turning to Taichi. "Come on…"

Taichi quickly ran to his Nii's side, his mother watching as he did. "Right, time to get to work." Mizui got ready to leave, knowing her son was in good hands.

A few minutes later

Mizui arrived at Shimizu Tabemono to chamise (Shimizu Food and Teahouse). She worked at greeting the owner and waitress with a smile. "Morning!"

"Morning Mizui, you're a bit early today." Her co-worker said.

She looked at the woman with grey/brownish hair, she was young, around 19-years-old with a womanly figure, wearing a red waitress kimono with a white apron. Her hair was done in pig tails, her brown eyes looking at Mizui with a hint of amusement.

"Yeah. Sasuke-Kun was kind enough to take Taichi to the academy." She said, putting on her apron.

"Wow, you really have the Uchiha tamed don't you?" The woman giggled.

"Come on. Sasuke-Kun has always been a sweet child." Mizui spoke up in defence.

"Sure he has, but only to you. Oh, if only you were a few years younger…" Teasing the poor woman who blushed at the comment.

"I don't see Sasuke-Kun like that!" Mizui shouted in response before going silent. "Besides…" The sad look in her eyes spoke louder than any words.

"It's hard to believe it's really been five years since then. Taichi is so big and already starting the academy. It's scary how much he looks like his Tou-san."

"Yeah, he looks just like him." Mizui stated, a wistful look in her eyes at times gone past.

"Hey, Shinko?" The waitress known as Shinko looked to her long-time friend.

"Thanks for everything."

Giving a big grin, she said. "Of course, you guys are like family. I will always help you out."

Sasuke dropped Taichi off at the academy, handing him to his new teacher who he didn't really know, but the same could not be said about the teacher knowing Sasuke.

"Well, if it isn't the genius Sasuke Uchiha." The Chunin smiled before looking at the little boy who griped Sasuke's shorts, glaring slightly at the man. "And who may this be."

Sasuke tapped the boy's back. "Taichi, Taichi Sensu."

"Well good to have you, Taichi."

The Chunin started talking with Sasuke, but he paid no mind knowing the Chunin was just sucking up to his family's name.

"You just watch. I'm going to be Hokage!" For a second Sasuke was sure Naruto failed his test and was sent back, only for him to see a boy wearing Naruto's trade mark goggles.

'Oh no, the dobes are multiplying.' Was his worrying thought when the brown-haired boy boasted just like his old classmate. Luckily the boy was in Iruka's class two years ahead of Taichi. The last thing the boy needed was an annoying dobe challenging him all the time.

Leaving Taichi on his own, Sasuke went to join his teammates, memories of his own starting days at the academy in his head.

"Sasuke-Kun!" Despite his earlier words of hate, the day they were made a team did nothing to stop the pink hair's affection for him and their genin test only made it worse as he was forced to feed her to pass.

"You're late!" Kiba barked and the Uchiha realised the dog ninja was right and he was late by 10 minutes.

"Shut up dog breath, I'm sure Sasuke-Kun had something important to do!" The fan girl shouts in her chalkboard voice.

"Yeah, like everything Sasuke-Kun does is important." Kiba responded with sarcasm dripping from every word.

Giving him look for such a stupid question, she responded. "Well, yeah of course it is."

Tuning out his teammates, Sasuke went to his own thoughts on how he can get stronger, all they got was D rank missions. A waste of his time and superior talents. How was he supposed to get the strength to take revenge if he was chasing cats and picking up trash? It was beneath the Uchiha to do such tasks.

3 Hours Later

"You're late!" His teammates called like they do every day when they greet their sensei.

"Well, I did arrive on time, but had to leave without so much of greeting due to an Obaa-san needing help with her bags." Another lame excuse for the books, with all the excuses they had, they could write a book called 'Kakashi-Sensei's Excuses for Getting Out of Work'.

"Well now before we begin with training, Sasuke, give me a thousand push-ups." He ordered, much to the surprise of the Uchiha. Kakashi answered the last Uchiha before he could even complain. "A hundred for every minute you were late."

Processing his words, filled the Uchiha with rage because those words could only mean one thing. Their sensei was there at the start and it would be a cold day in hell when he believed his sensei's excuses. He glared at his sensei, who was reading his beloved orange book. He was positive that was the real excuse for not being on time.

Several Hours Later

The brooding Uchiha was walking down the street with his team after another tedious D rank mission. When was the Hokage going to get it through his head that these kinds of missions were beneath him. He was an Uchiha. The greatness and talent was in his blood. He could easily do a C rank no problem. But despite his thoughts, the Uchiha kept his mouth shut instead of openly complaining about like his dog of a teammate or a certain hyperactive blond would do and there was no way in hell the prideful Uchiha would lower himself to their level. So, he kept quiet, waiting for his chance to shine and show the world that the Uchiha clan was alive and as strong as ever.

"What?! Ramen is the food of the gods!" The odd phrase and booming voice could only come from one person. Seeing a flash of orange in the corner of his vision Sasuke looked away, far from in the mood to deal with Naruto of all people. It was bad enough that he was loud and obnoxious, but he dared to call ramen the food of the goods when it was obviously tomatoes.

Team 8

Team 8 had just finished reporting to the Hokage for their 10th D rank mission complete and had completed the most out the rookie teams so far. And with 10 missions under their belt, they now met the minimum requirements for the next rank, but Kurenai didn't think they were ready for one of those just yet.

"Alright team, with this you have officially completed your first week as genin and I think that deserves a celebration." Kurenai stated, her team giving her a happy look, especially Naruto, who was starting to jump up and down.

"Yeah ramen!" The blond Jinchuuriki shouted, everyone smiling from his antics. To the blond, celebration meant ramen and it was always a great day someone else paid for it. This week may have started bumpy, but he really was starting to like his team. Him and Kurenai have been getting along better and he nearly got the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Jutsu) …well he can at least stop himself from crashing face first into trees now. He and Shino haven't really changed much, but Naruto found out he can talk to the bug nin as much as he wants and he won't tell him to buzz off and if he was really lucky, Shino may even say something. But the biggest change of team 8's dynamics was Naruto and Hinata's relationship. While neither knew it, the two were inseparable, with Naruto always hovering within a meter of Hinata. Something which Hinata recuperated. While Hinata was still shy, the two end up talking together all the time as if making up for the lack of conversation from their other teammate. Naruto was happy, feeling more accepted among his peers than he has ever been and to Hinata, just spending time with her beloved was heaven.

As Naruto was having his own mini celebration at the thought of free ramen, Kurenai had to pop his bubble. "Sorry Naruto, but ramen is not healthy for you and I know for a fact you that have too much, so we will be going somewhere else." The words shocked Naruto as if they were electrifying, the boy quickly whirled around, facing his sensei.

"What?! Ramen is the food of the gods!" He exclaimed with religious fervor, causing Kurenai to twitch slightly.

"Sorry to say, but there are much better things out there than ramen."

"HUH!" The words were blasphemy against the ramen gods to Naruto, quickly causing the boy to ask for help from the one person he knew he could count on to defend his precious ramen.

"Hinata did you hear that?! Kurenai-Sensei thinks there's something better then ramen, the holy food." Naruto got closer to the girl, his attention almost hypnotic to the lovely Hyuga.

"Well…" Now anyone in the know of Hinata's private life knew the only food she worshiped was cinnamon rolls but staring at her beloved's wonderful oceanic eyes was enough to change her mind. She's already eaten at Ichiraku several times over the week and Teuchi agreed to teach her how to make Naruto's favourite food on the condition that she brings Naruto over once a week once they get together. The last thought made her blush, which only got worse as Naruto got closer.

"Well…ramen does make a good treat." The perfect answer that someone from a noble clan would give, neither denying or accepting both party's words.

"See! There is nothing better than ramen." The ramen loving ninja told his sensei.

"Not even Hinata's cooking?" Kurenai teased and much to the shock of the tailed beasts worldwide, they sensed a disturbance in nature itself as Naruto actually went quiet and thought about it. Looking like his brain was going to burst from over thinking, Hinata was secretly really happy that Naruto actually considered her cooking enough to debate over ramen. While she knew it wouldn't be number one yet, once she learned how to make ramen, her cooking will be Naruto's favourite.

"Aaaaah it's too hard to choose.. both ramen and Hinata's cooking is really good." For the second time that day all the tailed beasts sensed something disturbing in the universe, all simultaneously looking in Konoha's direction.

"Right…" Kurenai said, obviously not expecting that answer. Maybe the boy wasn't lost to ramenism yet. "Well we can have ramen another time, but this time we will be celebrating at a normal restaurant that doesn't sell ramen."

Naruto looked ready to argue, but a crimsoned glare stopped him in his tracks and he begrudgingly followed behind his team, Hinata keeping the sad boy company.

Shimizu Tabemono to Chamise

They arrived at the comfy sized teahouse called Shimizu Tabemono to Chamise, the building itself was small and could only fit a couple of people, but by the looks of the tables with covers hanging over them, the restaurant spilled outside, allowing for more people to sit. The sign outside was emerald green, not quite blue, but not quite a green either. It was pretty traditional looking, but with a tiny hint of modern that most other places don't have. It seems the place was designed to generate a calm and welcoming aura for all.

As team 8 enters the teahouse, Naruto prayed he wouldn't get kicked out in front of his team as they took a free table outside and sat down.

"Right, before we order, Naruto, there's something I feel I should say for the team going forward." The teen eyed his sensei suspiciously. Yes, their relationship had improved, but he was still wary of his sensei and her next words proved him right to be.

"The orange clothes need to go." The orange loving ninja looked ready to bolt as his blue eyes widened, even Hinata's eyes widened in shock. A Naruto without orange just didn't seem right to the girl.

"No way!" Naruto shouted, drawing the stares of the other patriots which Kurenai quickly apologised for.

"Yes way. Naruto, it's orange and you're a ninja. You're literally screaming kill me with what your wearing. Orange is not a colour for a ninja, it's too noticeable." Kurenai argued, her crimsoned eyes challenging Naruto whose own eyes returned the glare, accepting the challenge.

"I've had no problems so far, just ask all the people I've pranked over the years." Was the orange Hokage to be's retort.

"Luck and civilians, your clothes may blend into our villages colourful surroundings, but in the field and against really ninja they won't." The experienced Jonin said. While her own outfit had white on it, it also had black and crimson that helped her blend into the shade, plus she had her Genjutsu. But even she changed her outfit if the mission required true stealth. Naruto didn't have genjutsu as an option and the boy's talent for pulling pranks would blossom in the field if she could just get him out of orange.

"Well a tiger is orange and they have no problems hiding and hunting." The boy gave an arrogant smirk, surprising his team by referring to one of nature's most dangerous predators.

However, that was not going to help. "Tigers have strips that let them blend into the environment and makes them look like shadows by breaking up their orange fur, but they can get away with it as most animals can't see colours as well as humans can, so bright orange means absolutely nothing to wildlife." Kurenai gave her own smirk of victory. Naruto's face telling her he was oblivious to why tigers had stripes. Luckily, her best friend was in charge of one of Konoha's most dangerous and diverse training grounds that had plenty of tigers and the question of why they had stripes came up before.

Before Naruto could offer another complaint, Kurenai turned to Hinata. "Hinata, I know it's your day off tomorrow, but could you please accompany this knucklehead so he won't come back with something even more outrageous than orange." Kurenai was already well aware of what the answer would be before the girl even nodded furiously yes.

Naruto pouted, crossing both his arms that made both females of the team think him cute.

"Don't worry Naruto, you can have a bit of orange, but your mission clothes need to be darker." The boy kept pouting, his clothes may have not been the greatest, but they were all he had for years. More than enough time to form an emotional attachment to them.

"Awe how cute. Don't worry little boy, I'm sure that when you have some food, it will turn that frown upside down." The feminine voice called out right next to Naruto. He looked up to the waitress with a blush of embarrassment colouring his face. What was worse he remembered seeing this woman at the graduation with Sasuke.

The waitress couldn't help but giggle. The boy looked so cute with those whisker marks on his face so she couldn't help teasing him.

"Your menus." The woman added, handing them each a menu before she left to serve other customers.

Team 8 looked the menus, finding the dish they would like to have; Naruto's brows were furrowed, concentrating hard on the menu in his hands.

Minutes later the waitress arrived to get their orders and for the exception of Naruto, all of them gave their orders. Kurenai saw Naruto struggling. "Naruto?"

"Yeah I know!" The boy responded with an angry tone, quickly showing the menu to the waitress, he pointed to something that made his team raise an eyebrow.

"Naruto, are sure do you even know what it is?" Kurenai asked, her eyes focused on Naruto's body language.

"I can read, it's chicken." Naruto responded with a smile as the waitress took the order.

"I'll be back with your meals in a minute." The waitress said, leaving the group behind.

"Naruto please tell me exactly what it was you ordered" His sensei's eyes narrowed, causing the boy to begin to sweat at her gaze.

"I told you, chicken." His blue eyes shifted to the side, avoiding eye contact. Hinata own eyes looked worryingly at her beloved, knowing something just wasn't right.

Minutes went by Kurenai holding Naruto under her stare yet the boy refused to give up.

"Your orders." The waitress puts down three plates, calling the dishes as she did and a bowl in front of Naruto.

"And one chicken salad."

Naruto looked at it in disgust as he saw nothing but vegetables in the bowl. 'Where', the chicken?' Naruto asked himself.

"Naruto do you want to order something else?" Kurenai asked, far from amused.

"No, No… I'm alright." Naruto panicked, scooping a big pile of salad and shoving it into his mouth with a cringe like smile.

Kurenai's eyes didn't let up and Naruto finally relented, somewhat. "Naruto, you can't read can you." Hinata gasped. Shino dropped his fork.

"I can read..." His sensei's stare continued burrowing into him "…I just can't read very well."

Kurenai's hand came up to smack her face, the anger radiating off of her. Pulling out a notebook Kurenai wrote something down before ripping the page out. "Hinata please go over reading with Naruto and buy the things on this list tomorrow."

"I told you I can read!" Naruto yelled as Hinata took the list that had new clothes, a book on tactics for beginners and a book of her choice to determine Naruto's reading ability. Hinata nodded with a determined and worried look. She knew Naruto had problems in class, but could this be the reason why. Her beloved couldn't read.

Hinata swapped her plate of Dango with Naruto's, not minding the salad and Naruto was happy he got to eat something edible for him.

Team 8 was left shocked at the new discovery and was left questioning just how bad Naruto's life really was if he couldn't even read properly.

Author's Note

Ok, done, now first off, yes Naruto can't read at least not completely, he can read out the list of Ichiraku menus, his name as well as several other words with no problems. But his knowledge is incomplete with a mix up between kanji, hiragana and several other writing systems. The reason for this is that Naruto is based on feudal Japan in culture and in those times reading and writing were reserved for the high class and middle-class members. If you didn't belong to one of them you wouldn't learn to read at all. Now Konoha is a fairly more modern village and reading and writing is more common besides from the poorest section. Normally orphans like Naruto would be taught by the caretaker the basics for reading and writing, but as I said most villagers don't like him so he was excluded. Ayame and Teuchi helped fill in some gaps in his knowledge, but Naruto got by with his limited vocabulary and the two nor Iruka noticed how bad it really was. Please keep in mind that you don't need to read and write to live though life and the number of people who interact with Naruto was very limited which made it harder for anyone to notice as he was never put into a situation where his reading skills were put into question.

Well that is my explanation for that, I mentioned it in earlier chapters so I couldn't just leave it and it gives Naruto and Hinata some alone time.

Shimizu Tabemono to Chamise the name of the teahouse Mizui works at is literally food and teahouse according to google translate (so please correct me if I'm wrong) and the surname Shimizu which in Japanese means 清 (shi) meaning "clear, pure, clean" and 水 (mizu) meaning "water". If you can't tell I chose the name since both Mizui and Shimizu have the kanji for water in them.

Just a reminder Taichi is 5 years old and born 7 years after Kyuubi also him and Konohamaru aren't in the same class, if you remember I had Sasuke start two years later since the first few years are mostly normal learning with ninja training on the side but after age 7 is proper ninja training. Since Konohamaru had a private tutor he didn't do the first two years.

Now should I have Hanabi be in his class, in manga/anime it is never shown she goes to the academy and seems to imply she was privately taught at home.

Final words I was hoping this would be longer or at least I would get to do another chapter, but I am finishing this at the very last day of the month. I am on Easter break now so hopefully more writing time, but I still have lots of works to do for my projects so we will see. Hopefully two more chapters until the C rank mission starts and both should be interesting.

Please Review:)

Naruto and Hinata Forever:)