June 27th - Morning - Sarutobi Compound
Today was the day. Today she would finally become a full fledged kunoichi and after today she would never have to deal with those stupid wannabe kunoichi's of her class. Haku Yuki was a very happy thirteen year old girl.
On this day, she along with her friends would pass the graduation exam and become ninjas of the hidden leaf. She couldn't wait till the exam started. Normally she wouldn't look forward to an exam, who would, but this was different. Never again would she need to spend hours that were wasted in a lecture that she didn't need. Soon she would go on missions, see the world and become a medic greater than Tsunade-sensei.
There was nothing that could stop their graduation in her mind. She was the highest rated kunoichi in the class, the number two student with Kimimaro of the class. Only Naruto was ahead of them, but that was expected. Even if the blond slept during most of their classes, his tests always had a perfect score.
The only one of her friends she worried for, was Kiba. The boy wasn't the most intelligent but she hoped he somehow manages to scrape enough points to pass the written exam, as the practical test wouldn't be a problem for him. Shikamaru might be ranked worse than Kiba, but the Nara heir didn't try. He would pass, barely but pass regardless.
As she stood up, she hummed a happy tone. There were few instances in her life where she was as happy as she was right now. Meeting Master Jiraiya is one of those few instances. As much as the man was pervert and she hated perverts, the girl still adored her savior. Without him she wouldn't have met Naruto. She wondered if he or Kimimaro were already up. Gazing outside of her window she got her answer. 'Oh Naruto,' she giggled like the young girl she was, while gazing at the Hokage monument.
June 27th - Hokage Office
Hiruzen Sarutobi was tired. More than usual. That damn paperwork did keep him from his sleep, but it was expected. After all today was the graduation exam which meant that the village soon would have new promising ninjas in their ranks. Despite that he still wondered how his sensei and Minato managed to deal with it so quickly. Lord Hashirama also never had trouble with paperwork, but that was more due to his brother doing it for him. Tobirama made sure to not let Hashirama do something stupid like establishing a civilian council.
But he was finished now and could enjoy a little time of peace. As he lit his pipe he thought 'Life is good.' He wondered if Naruto, Haku and Kimimaro were already on their way to the academy. He sadly couldn't wish them luck for their exam. As he puffed out some smoke from his mouth, the old man decided to use his crystal ball to locate his surrogate grandchildren.
After he channeled his crystal ball, he wondered why a laughing Naruto was apparently on top of a rooftop, near the Hokage tower. 'What does he do there?' he asked himself till he got an answer. "Lord Hokage! You won't believe what he did this time!" Sarutobi sighed 'Of course he would do something again. I wonder what he did this time?' The old man stood up and left towards Naruto's location. At least he would get to wish him luck.
June 27th - The mentioned rooftop
"Naruto surely outdid himself this time."
"How did no one manage to stop him this time."
"Naruto is so cool."
Those were just a few reactions of the residents of Konoha. Naruto's latest prank most certainly brightened the mood of everyone. If you would look towards the Hokage monument, you could see Naruto's art piece.
The carved faces of the Hokage were painted in classical Kabuki-warrior style. On either one of their foreheads, Naruto gave them fitting nicknames. On Hashirama's forehead were the words "Tree Hugger" painted, while on Tobirama's stood "Mr. No Fun". Sarutobi was named "Old Ape" and his father had "Whipped Toad" on his forehead.
Next to his father's head, the blond painted his own face, with "The Greatest" painted across his brow. Neither the civilians nor the ninjas of the village could explain it to themselves, how the Senju heir managed to do it without getting caught. But safe to say, Naruto outdid himself. He also was quite the artist.
Naruto proudly looked from his position on the rooftop at his work. He was rather proud of himself. This was by far his masterpiece. He didn't worry about being discovered now. He finished his art and he doubted he would be caught now. Hiding in plain sight almost always worked.
"Naruto!" Almost. 'Damn Iruka-sensei always manages to find me,' Thought the blond. And this was true. His scarred teacher was the only shinobi, aside from the Hokage or Kakashi, that managed to find him after his pranks. "Good morning Iruka-sensei. Did you like my newest art piece?"
"Yeah very funny Naruto. Today is the graduation exam and you play some childish prank. I thought the chance of being a ninja would give some sense of duty."
"Don't be so harsh on him Iruka," came a third old voice.
"Lord Hokage," the surprised Iruka replied before bowing, who nodded in return.
"You really outdid yourself this time my boy," the Hokage kindly told his surrogate grandson. "Your drawing arts have really improved over the years."
"Thanks grandpa. I always strive to be the best. Do you like it?" Naruto smiled at his grandfather figure. He knew he wouldn't really get punished by him. The professor quite enjoyed Naruto's stunts. He liked to use them for training his new Anbu's to detect intruders.
"I have seen worse from you. But sadly I think the Hokage monument is not the place for your art to be displayed. Why don't you clean it and go to the academy. I doubt you want to fail your graduation do you?" the Hokage kindly ordered his future shinobi.
"I guess I should. Wish me luck grandpa. See you at the academy sensei," Naruto conceded and jumped off the rooftop and moved towards the top of the Hokage tower.
"You are too soft Lord Hokage. If you don't punish him, he won't learn his lesson," Iruka told his superior. He didn't dislike Naruto, in some way the young blond is one of his favorite students, but the blond had a problem with rules.
"Don't worry Iruka. Naruto knows his limit," as the Hokage replied, Naruto began cleaning off his art, using a Water-Style ninjutsu. "See? It will be gone in no time. Naruto's antics cheer up the village."
'Yeah that's true,' thought Iruka. Since Naruto arrived the mood of the village has noticeably risen. The morale of their shinobi also went up. No wonder if you consider that the lost son of the village's greatest hero returned. Iruka would also swear that the flora looked healthier and bloomed brighter since Naruto's arrival.
As Naruto finished his cleaning, the two older men looked how the blond joined Kimimaro on the streets. They saw him getting congratulated and praised about his latest stunt. He was without a doubt the village's golden boy. "As nice as it was to speak with my boy, I sadly have to return to my duties. Good luck for the exams," and with that the Hokage returned to his office, leaving Iruka alone.
'You're truly something else Naruto,' with those thoughts Iruka decided to head towards the academy. No reason for him to be late to the exam of the most promising class in over a decade.
June 27th - Academy - Naruto's classroom
Haku just couldn't believe what Naruto did and neither did the rest of the class. Painting the Hokage monument was without a doubt the greatest stunt he pulled since being here. Sitting next to her was her best friend Hinata. Ever since that day on the training grounds, the two were inseparable, always spending time together.
Despite both having crushes on the blond Senju, Hinata and Haku didn't fight over him. They agreed to not let a boy get in their friendship. Regardless who got Naruto in the end, their friendship would continue. 'As long as Naruto ends up with either one of us, I don't mind. As long as those pathetic excuses for a kunoichi doesn't get him,' were the thoughts of the Yuki, as she looked outside of the open window.
And in that open window, the person of her affection appeared, wearing the biggest smile in the world. "Ara Naruto, you surely outdid yourself this time," she praised him as everyone else noticed the blonde.
"Of course the last one needed to be the biggest one," he replied before his classmates excitedly praised him for his work.
"I never knew you were that good as an artist, mate," Kiba told Naruto, "You can't imagine how much I laughed once I saw it." Kiba was always the one most entertained by Naruto's antics.
"What can I say Kiba, I'm just awesome," the blonde replied before laughing with his friend. As he jumped from the window sill onto the desk of the sleeping Shikamaru, he decided to wake up his sleeping friend. "Wake up Shika! Today is the day we become Ninja's!"
"Troublesome blondes. Why do you always have to be so damn loud Naruto?" his lazy friend sleepingly told him. As he rubbed his eyes he continued, "Did you not learn how to use a door?"
"Pff. Who needs a door, when you can use a window," the blond replied before the freshly arrived Kimimaro, from his place on the window sill continued.
"Doors are for losers," one of the most important lessons Jiraiya gave the three kids during their childhood, was to always use the window, if available. According to the toad sage, using a window made you look cool.
"Sometimes you are as troublesome as the idiot, Kimimaro," Shikamaru replied while rubbing his temples. Naruto would be the death of him, he just knew it. Shikamaru noticed that Naruto didn't look at him anymore. The Senjus gaze was on Sasuke.
No one truly could say what the two were. The only person Sasuke really spoke to on a regular basis, was Naruto. He began opening up a little bit to his fellow classmates, but was still the arrogant asshole the Nara knew. Naruto would say that Sasuke was his friend, but Shikamaru didn't see it the same way. From his point of view, Sasuke used the blond as a stepping stone to increase his power. If Naruto just wouldn't be as stubborn in his belief, that Sasuke was his friend. The blonde was too much of a dreamer in his opinion.
The Uchiha stared at Naruto with his usual brooding look, but if you looked closer, you would notice a joyful sparkle in his eyes. "Impressive wasn't it, Sasuke? Imagine painting something as the Hokage monument in a shinobi village. I'm just the best," the blonde bragged. He wasn't arrogant by any means, on the contrary he was pretty humble. Unless it concerned his stunts and pranks.
"The best of wasting your talent perhaps, Senju," came the light scolding of Sasuke. It was always like that. Naruto did something like that and would in turn be scolded by the Uchiha for wasting his time and talent. And like always, Sasuke would let a cocky smirk on his face, "I enjoyed it tho. Pretty impressive, although I would have done a much better job," of course Sasuke would never do something similar, it would be a waste of time in the avengers opinion.
"That was so cool Naruto. You have to tell me all about your latest stunt. Let's grab something to eat, after we two become ninjas," Ino told her fellow blonde, while grabbing his arm to her chest. Ever since the arrival of Naruto and his friends, the Sasuke Uchiha fanclub split into two, with the majority of Sasuke's fangirls switched onto Naruto. His friendly persona, skills and looks made him even more appealing to the girls than the ice block Sasuke, not that the Uchiha minded it too much.
Ino Yamanaka was without a doubt his most persistent fangirl, with Sakura staying with her 'true love' Sasuke. The blonde madly fell in love with the blond, after he visited her family's flower shop. She never thought that she would meet a boy that loved flowers so much like Naruto did. Coupled with his personality and his looks, the blond hair made him perfect in Ino's eyes, Naruto was her goal in life now.
"Thanks Ino. But I already…, " Naruto tried to turn the girl down, kind like usual. And like usual, the puppy eyes of a girl always made it impossible to turn down requests from girls. 'Damn you grandma. Why did you raise me to be always polite to girls? Sometimes I wish, I could be an asshole like Sasuke,' the blonde cursed Tsunade. Ever since he was born, the sannin and her apprentice drilled it into his head, to always be nice to girls.
"Ara, Ino," the temperature of the room dropped noticeably, "I sadly have to decline for Naruto here. I think he forgot that we already have something planned after the exam," the normally kind Haku spoke from her place next to Hinata in a sickly sweet voice. This scared nearly the entire class, especially the girls interested in Naruto. They all knew how protective she was of Naruto. Aside from Hinata, she didn't let any girl approach him.
Ino wisely let go off Naruto, remembering the beating she received from Haku on her first day. Since then Haku defeated every single girl of the class, one more humiliating than the other. The only one spared of humiliation was Hinata. 'Damn that Bitch. If only I would get to meet him without anyone around.'
With that Naruto and Kimimaro moved over to Hinata and Haku. Like usual the two girls saved them two seats in their row and like usual, Kimimaru sat on Haku's right with Naruto sitting in between the two girls.
"Thanks for the safe Haku, I'm really grateful," the Senju voiced his thanks.
"Think of nothing Naruto. I just wished you would learn how to say no to them."
"Hey that's not my fault. You girls are just so weird to deal with sometimes," came his reply, before noticing the mistake he made, as Haku looked at him with a very dangerous smile.
"Ara, do you think I'm weird now?"
"Of course not!" came his hasty reply, as clutched onto Hinata. Sometimes he truly wished his oldest friend could be more like the sweet Hyuga in his arms.
Said Hyuga was in a dreamstate. 'Naruto-kun hugs me,' she thought with a flush. If it weren't for her friendship with Haku, she would surely have passed out by now. Deciding to help the boy of her affection, the one her clan wanted her to marry, she decided to save him. "I don't think he meant you by that Haku-chan. Naruto-kun just badly expressed himself."
"Yeah that's right Haku. I meant the other girls are weird. You and Hinata are the best," he quickly followed Hinata's explanation. As he saw Haku relax a little, he gave Hinata's hand a short squeeze to thank her, which deepened her flush. After that Naruto grabbed Haku in a hug. "I could never think badly about either one of my girls."
Haku, while enjoying the closeness with her crush, blushed deeply at his comments. 'I can't stay mad at him.' "Your girls?" she began, before giving her teasing smile to Hinata, who blushed even more at being called Naruto's girl. "Say why isn't she included into the hug?"
"There is no need for that Haku-chan. I' perfectly…" before she could manage to stutter a reply, her crush also pulled her to him. 'Naruto-kun is so warm,' if Hinata could be even redder, it wasn't humanly possible, especially after the smirk Haku gave her.
All the while Kimimaro sat next to the three and asked himself, 'Is he so dumb, or just obvious to their feelings?' Not too long ago, he thought that the behavior of his two friends were just weird. But after reading Master Jiraiya's phenomenal Icha-Icha books and several other romantic novels, his guilty pleasure, he was sure. Haku and Hinata had obvious crushes on his friend, who in turn was too obvious to notice it. He wondered 'Is there someone out there for me?'
Naruto saw the longing gaze of his friend, thinking he felt uninvited, he began "Do you also want to join in?"
Kimimaro looked at his friend, as if he was stupid. The death glares from both girls also didn't help to ease his mind. "I'm fine," came his short reply.
Before Naruto could dig further, the door opened and his two teachers entered the room. He quickly gave Iruka-sensei a big smile, which was kinda returned by the older man. As boring as his lessons were, he liked the scarred chunin. He looked like a decent person. Plus they shared a like for ramen, especially the one from Ichirakus. The two met up more than once at said ramen stand and formed a sort of friendship.
His other sensei, Mizuki, was another story. Something bothered the Senju about the white haired man. He couldn't point it out, but he just didn't trust him. Jiraiya-sensei told him repeatedly, that the ninja world was a dark place and people who had a slightly dark aura around them, could be a good person. Kakashi was a great example of that, but still Naruto just didn't trust the other chunin.
As Iruka-sensei did not so kindly wake up the once again sleeping Shikamaru, Naruto focused on the upcoming graduation exam. Mizuki could wait till after them, but he would keep an eye on him. But now it was time to focus. His exam will begin shortly.
June 27th - Academy Grounds - Afternoon
The emblem of the hidden leaf shined brightly on Naruto's forehead protector, which he wore the standard way. Of course he passed and with flying colors too. He finished the written exam with a perfect score, finishing it mere 10 minutes after it started. His accuracy test got another 10/10 scoreline and he was the only one, aside from Kimimaro, to actually defeat Mizuki.
He also passed the ninjutsu part of the exam with ease. His Transformation Jutsu was perfect. He chose to transform into his granduncle Tobirama. This surprised both of his teachers. They expected either Lord Minato or Lord Hashirama and not the second Hokage. Lord Tobirama, despite being the Hokage responsible for most of the infrastructure of the village and being the primary reason that Konoha didn't destroy itself in the first years of existence, he was often overlooked.
The Body Replacement Jutsu was easily performed by the blond. The only noticeable thing about this, was the fact that the blonde didn't need to perform a single hand sign. Naruto got extra points for his clone jutsu. He performed the Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu instead of the normal one. What neither proctor knew, was that Naruto just didn't know how to perform normal clone jutsu. Neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade ever felt the need to teach him the useless technique.
He currently was proudly smiling at his success, standing with both Kimimaro and Haku. Haku, like him, smiled her biggest smile possible and also wore her forehead protector around her forehead. Kimimaro also had the faintest smile on his lips. Unlike his two friends, he didn't have a classical forehead protector but rather a bandana like one. He chose this version to cover his Kaguya markings and the style of his hair. Not wanting to give away the fact to which clan he belonged.
With them stood Kakashi and the Hokage's son Asuma. Asuma was a tall man, with brown eyes, short black spiky hair, and a beard. He wore the standard Konoha ninja uniform with the sleeves rolled up halfway, flak jacket, regular shinobi sandals and forehead protector. He also wore a sash that had the kanji for "Fire" marked on it around his waist, a pair of black bangles, and bandages wrapped around the arms of his sleeves.
The three children met the Sarutobi during his time as one of "Twelve Guardian Ninja". If Kakashi was the cool older brother figure of the three, Asuma was the cool uncle who did all the cool stuff with the children. Since they moved to Konoha, Asuma took them fishing and built a treehouse with children. He also began to teach both Naruto and Haku the basics of Wind-Transformation, as well as the basics of Fire-Transformation to Kimimaro. The three loved Asuma and Asuma loved them.
As Asuma and Kakashi praised the children, the Senju heir turned his gaze towards his classmates. He saw how proud Choji's, Ino's and Sakura's parents were, at the graduation of their children. He also noticed how bored Shikamaru was when he was scolded by his mother for his poor score. His father just smiled at his son, obviously proud of his son. Shino also stood with his parent's and like always he couldn't read the Aburame's. But he was sure that Shibi was proud of his son.
He also noticed and was a little bit surprised that Hinata's father was here, alongside little Hanabi. He met the Hyuga head a few times during the last year and it was safe to say that he didn't like him one bit. How cruel must someone be, to treat someone as sweet and gentle as Hinata so harshly. But what truly surprised him, was the fact that Hiashi smiled slightly at his daughter, even praising her a bit.
He sadly didn't see Sasuke. Seems like the Uchiha already left. What a pity. He intended to invite his friend to the celebration. The avenger didn't take it in a good way, that he was just ranked fourth among the class, behind Naruto, Haku and Kimimaro. What also didn't sit so well, was the fact that the gap between him and both Shino and Hinata wasn't as big as he expected it.
Naruto always noticed how Kiba got scolded by his mother for his poor performance. The Inuzuka just barely scraped a passing grade and his mother wasn't amused. Naruto would have laughed at the misfortune of his friend, if he wouldn't have noticed that Mizuki-sensei approached his friend.
"Earth to Naruto," Haku's voice took him back to reality. She was waving her hand in front of his face, trying to get his attention. He now noticed that Iruka-sensei arrived. They would now be complete for the celebration.
"Sorry Haku. I just spaced out," he quickly replied.
"Mah Mah, little brother. A shinobi can't be so easily distracted," Kakashi teasingly scolded the blond.
"Let him be Kakashi," Asuma joined in on the teasing as he lit up a cigarette, "he's still a child after all."
"Watch who you call a child Asuma. I'm a shinobi now just like you. I'm essentially an adult now," Naruto quickly replied. He hated it when the older shinobi called him a child. He was nearly thirteen now.
"Adult's don't paint the Hokage monument Naruto," Iruka too decided to tease his favorite student. To be honest Iruka and Naruto developed a brotherlike relationship during the last year. It wasn't as deep of a connection as the one between Naruto and Kakashi, the blond still trusted Iruka more than most. "Vandalising something important as the monument is something a child would do. Not fitting for someone who wants to become Hokage."
"He got you there Naruto," Kimimaro voiced his thoughts.
Before Naruto could defend himself, the group heard a loud growl. "Could we please go to Yakiniku Q? I'm starving," a clearly embarrassed Haku chipped in.
"I guess we should," Asuma agreed with her. As they turned to leave he saw Naruto smirking evilly at him and Kakashi.
Seeing the confused look of Asuma, Naruto explained it to the Jonin, "It might not be Ichirakus, but Yakiniku is still pretty good. I hope you and Kakashi have enough money on you. Neither Kimimaro nor me really ate today and painting the Hokage monument makes me hungry," with that being said, the blonde grabbed the hands of his friends and walked towards the BBQ restaurant.
As both Kakashi and Asuma noticeably gulped in fear for the money, Iruka merely smiled, 'Never change Naruto, never change.' As he and the superior Jonin left, Iruka could have sworn that he saw a little toad hopping towards Kiba. 'Must be my imagination.'
AN: And that's it for Naruto's childhood. Nothing much happened beside a little bit of interaction between our cast and the graduation itself. Next time we find out what Mizuki planned to do with Kiba and the team placements will happen.
A lot has happened since the last chapter. Work was kinda tough and I had the urge to replay The Witcher 3 again so writing did take a backseat. But I'm already working on the next chapter so it most likely won't take nearly 2 months for an update. Till then drop a review if you want to and stay tuned.