Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Madman Entertainment, Viz Media and Manga Entertainment. Please support the official release.
2 years later, Konoha Academy...
"Naruto Uzumaki!" A young Chunin instructor named Iruka Umino called out as a young boy, aged 10, with short, spiky, unkempt, sunny blonde hair, blue eyes and olive tone skin, stepped out from the crowd of students when he was called.
"Alright, Naruto. Take one of these kunai here and throw it at the target. You know what to do." The Chunin instructor, Iruka, said to the boy as he pointed at a table that had countless kunai knives on top.
"Naruto-kun... do your best." Thought a young timid girl with short, dark purplish hair, pale purple eyes and fair skin, while she pressed her fingertips together.
Naruto, with a determined look, nodded his head and picked up one of the kunai before taking a few steps forward then stopped as he began to concentrate before he threw his kunai.
THWACK!
The entire class burst out laughing when they saw where Naruto had hit with the kunai knife. It didn't even hit the target.
It hit the post.
Naruto groaned as the whole class continued to laugh at his expense. "What?! Oh, come on! I was really trying this time, Iruka Sensei! Honest!" He said with a defeated look as he turned to look at Iruka, who nodded his head with a slight smile. "I know, Naruto. Look at it this way, you may not have hit the target like you were supposed to, but you hit the post. That's a sign of improvement in my opinion." He said, which made Naruto smile brightly.
"Improvement?! Hah! Come on, Iruka Sensei! We all know that Naruto couldn't even hold a candlestick to any one of us and you're saying that he's improving?! Hahahaha!" One of the students called out from the back of the crowd of students which made all of them laugh even harder.
Except for a few.
Naruto just hung his head down as he gritted his teeth and tried to keep himself from doing something stupid. "Alright, alright, shut up! Enough!" Iruka shouted, which caused all the students to quiet down, but not without a few snickers and giggles as Naruto walked back into the crowd and crossed his arms.
Iruka sighed before shaking his head. "Unfortunately, Naruto, where you failed to hit the target, I'm going to have to fail you for this class, yet again." He said sadly while looking at Naruto, who pouted, but Iruka continued.
"However, you at least hit the post this time. That's a sign of a slight improvement. Just keep practicing, alright? You'll get better before you know it." He finished with a smile. This made Naruto smile as well, but the boy was still a little ticked off that the class laughed at him again.
"Alright, now... let's see. Ah, next up... is Sasuke Uchiha!" Iruka called out as many of the girls suddenly had hearts in their eyes as Sasuke Uchiha, a young boy with long jet black hair, dark eyes and pale skin, stepped out from the crowd towards the table and Iruka with a gloomy and brooding look.
"Kyaaah! Sasuke-kun!" The girls shouted as some of the boys in the crowd covered their ears to keep themselves from going deaf. Sasuke stopped at the table and barely looked up at Iruka.
"Alright, Sasuke, you know the drill. Take one of these kunai here, and throw it at the target." Iruka instructed as Sasuke nodded and picked up one of the kunai knives, walked over to his spot and began to concentrate.
The fangirls in the crowd suddenly developed a small crowd and whispered amongst themselves. "Ooh, Sasuke-kun is going to get the best score out of everyone, I just know it!" Said a young girl with long bubblegum pink hair and pale green eyes.
"Are you kidding me, Forehead? He's going to get the best scores in all the classes, period! No one can outmatch him!" Said another young girl with long pale blonde hair, that was up in a ponytail, and bright pale blue eyes.
They soon quieted down and watched as Sasuke suddenly threw his kunai at the target and hit the bullseye.
"Oooh! Sasuke-kun!" The girls squealed as they and the rest of the class applauded as Sasuke flipped his hair and walked back into the crowd.
"Well done, Sasuke! A perfect bullseye! Very well done! Excellent marks!" Iruka exclaimed as he wrote on his notepad and gave Sasuke a passing grade.
The class got quiet again as Iruka called out the next student. "Hmm... Kogeki Hyuga!" He called out and another young boy with dark bown hair, pale purple eyes and tanned skin walked up to the table.
"Oh! Kogeki is up next! Do your best, Itoko..." Thought the young girl again as she held her hands together and held her breath.
Kogeki walked up to the table, grabbed one of the kunai and walked towards his spot and stopped to look at the target. "Ok, here we go." The boy thought before throwing the kunai at the target himself.
THWACK!
Kogeki's kunai hit the target on the bullseye, right next to Sasuke's and the entire class looked shocked.
"Aw! Hardcore! That's a statement!" Shouted out one of the young boys from the crowd as Kogeki walked away from the target post and back into the crowd. "Great job, Itoko..." Thought the young girl with a smile as Kogeki moved to stand right beside her before looking at her with a smile. Although Sasuke didn't look too happy that someone in the class was keeping up with him and neither were his fangirls, who all had looks of outrage on their faces.
"Great job, Kogeki! Very well done!" Iruka declared as he wrote on his notepad and gave Kogeki a passing grade of his own before looking at the next/last name on the list.
"Ok, next up is Raiden Ryujin!" Iruka called as the young boy with slightly longer silver hair with light blue tips, jade green eyes and tanned skin, stepped out from the crowd of students and approached the table. "Onichan is up next. Do your best too, Raiden-kun..." Thought the young girl again as Raiden reached the table.
Iruka just watched the boy as he picked up one of the kunai on the table. "This should be good. Lord Hokage told me to keep an eye on this kid, but is this kid really as good as the Hokage says? He's got some of the best scores on his written tests, but actual training is another thing entirely." Iruka thought to himself.
The Uchiha fangirls gathered in a small crowd again and began to whisper. "Ryujin? No way will he do better than Sasuke-kun or the Hyuga. He may as well be worse than Naruto. All he's got in good grades is the written tests. I've never even seen him practice." Whispered the bubblegum pink haired girl to the other girls.
"Yeah, what does that loser have that Sasuke-kun doesn't? Nothing, that's what. He's probably going to do worse than Naruto and miss the target." The girl with pale blonde hair whispered before they dispersed to watch Raiden.
Raiden had just walked up to his spot and began to concentrate, but he didn't long like most of the rest of his class.
THWACK! CHING!
The entire class looked amazed, for most, and shocked, for others, as they saw where Raiden threw his kunai.
Smack dab in the middle of the target. A perfect bullseye. And he had split Sasuke's kunai in half.
"HOLY SHIT!!! Now THAT was a statement!" Exclaimed a young boy with short spikey, dark brown hair and red triangular markings on his cheeks while Iruka was dumbfounded as he looked at the spot where Raiden threw his kunai.
Not believing what he saw, he walked up to the target post and examined Raiden's kunai while also examining Sasuke's kunai that had been split in half.
"A perfect bullseye. A perfect kunai split. No chips, warps or damage to either kunai except the the one that was split." He looked away from the kunai and looked back at Raiden in astonishment. "Jeez. I guess Lord Hokage wasn't lying after all. This kid is something else." He thought before clearing his throat and stood back up to walk back over to the crowd of students with Raiden, who looked nervous.
"Vey well done, Raiden. A perfect bullseye. Not many students can do what you just did. You pass." Iruka said with a smile, making Raiden beam with a smile of his own before walking back into the crowd, but the Uchiha fangirls were outraged.
"What?! No! That's impossible! No one is better than Sasuke-kun! Raiden cheated! He must have!" One of the girls shouted before the rest of the fangirls began to shout and scream while saying that Raiden should fail for cheating.
Raiden, Kogeki, Naruto and many others looked annoyed at the fangirls as they watched Iruka getting irritated and impatient with the girls.
Iruka inhaled deeply before shouting. "ENOUGH!!! YOU CANNOT CHEAT WITH KUNAI THROWING!!!SO SHUT YOUR WHINING!!!" He shouted, making all the fangirls jump in surprise and quickly keep quiet before Iruka cleared his throat again.
"Now, I'll say again. Raiden, excellent job with the kunai. You pass." He said, making Raiden nod his head as the rest of the class continued to wait.
"Alright, now that everyone here has had their turn with target practice, class is dismissed for today. All of you head home and get ready for tomorrow." Iruka finished before walking back into the academy while writing on his notepad, but one of the students called out to him.
"Wait, Iruka Sensei! What are we doing tomorrow?" The bubblegum pink haired girl asked, making Iruka stop at the door of the academy before turning his head to look at the students and smiled. "The good stuff, Sakura. That's what we're doing." He answered before walking into the building.
Moments later, outside the academy...
Outside the Konoha Academy, the sun was beginning to set and the students walked out of the building and headed home.
Along the way, Raiden stopped and looked over at the swing that was hanging from a tree branch to see Naruto sitting on with an almost depressed look on his face. "Raiden?" Kogeki called out to him, making Raiden look over at him and the timid girl, who were both waiting for him.
Raiden looked back at Naruto then back at Kogeki and the young girl with a smile. "You two go on ahead. I'll catch up with you later." He said before walking over to Naruto.
Kogeki didn't look too sure when he saw Raiden walking over to Naruto, but he shrugged and took the young girls hand, who jumped slightly and looked up at him. "Come on, Hinata. Let's go home." He said, before she smiled brightly and nodded. "Ok, Itoko." She said sweetly before turning her head back to Raiden and called out to him. "See you at home, Onichan!"
Raiden turned around again and looked at Hinata with a smile. "See you at home, Hinata-chan. Bye!" He said as Kogeki and Hinata both walked down the street away from the academy to their home.
Raiden walked up to Naruto and stopped just in front of him, but Naruto didn't seem to notice him. "Ahem." Raiden cleared his throat, which made Naruto jump from the sudden sound and look up to see who made it.
To his surprise, it was Raiden. "Can I... can I help you?" He asked, but Raiden just smiled. "You're Naruto, right? Naruto Uzumaki?" He asked, to which Naruto nodded his head slowly. "Yeahhh? Why?" Naruto asked cautiously. Raiden just shook his head and reached his hand out to him.
"No reason. You just looked lonely on the swing. You need a hand?" He asked him politely. Naruto looked at Raiden's hand then back at him before he hesitatingly reached out and took hold of his hand, which Raiden then pulled him back up to his feet and smiled.
"Um... thanks." Naruto thanked Raiden, before looking nervous and scratched the back of his head. "Uh... what did you... what did you want?" He asked Raiden, unsure of what he wanted, but Raiden just shook his head. "Nothing. Just thought I'd keep you company is all. Like I said, you looked lonely." He answered.
Naruto nodded as they both stood quietly in front of the academy in an awkward silence, more so Naruto than Raiden.
Raiden then decided to break the silence. "So, you hungry? I know I am." He asked Naruto who slowly nodded his head without looking at Raiden. Then Raiden placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder and smiled when Naruto looked up at him at the sudden contact. "You ever ate at the Ichiraku Ramen stand? It's a small place, but they've got the best ramen I've ever had in my life." He said to him.
Naruto smiled brightly with his eyes lighting up like fireworks at the mention of his favorite ramen stand. "Absolutely! Are you kidding me? I've been saying that since my first visit, but no one believes me! Ichiraku Ramen is the best ramen in Konoha! Believe it!" He suddenly declared as Raiden's eyes widened at the sudden change of the boy's personality, but he laughed and smiled with a nod.
"I agree. So, you want a bowl? It's my treat. I want spend some time away from the Hyuga compound before I have to head back." Raiden offered and Naruto accepted immediately. "Of course I'd like to go! I'd never turn down a chance to get a bowl of Ichiraku's ramen! Especially with a... with a friend..." Naruto began enthusiastically, before he paused and finished his sentence sadly.
Raiden noticed the pause and pieced together why Naruto didn't have many friends. It obviously explained why he was sitting alone on the swing and why the entire class laughed at him during target practice, but that wouldn't stop him from making friends with Naruto. Especially when he knows what it feels like to have no friends in your own home. He knew what it felt like to be an outcast. An outsider.
A loser.
Raiden smiled and patted Naruto's shoulder, who looked up at him curiously. "Well, don't worry, Naruto. I have a feeling that you and I are going to be great friends from here on out." He declared to the boy with a bright smile.
Naruto's eyes teared up for a moment and his lips trembled, but stopped when he wiped away his tears and just smiled.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go grab a bowl of ramen!" He shouted as he and Raiden put an arm around each other's shoulders and made their way to Ichiraku Ramen.
Later that night, Hyuga Compound...
Raiden was walking back to the Hyuga compound just as the sun had set after hanging out with Naruto at the Ichiraku Ramen stand. They both had conversations about the future and what their dreams were.
Raiden was specifically surprised when Naruto declared that he was not just going to be the next Hokage, but the greatest Hokage of them all. However, Raiden was ashamed to admit that considering Naruto's reputation and his scores and grades at the academy, he had some doubts. But he understood Naruto's determination to not let his rank as dead last define who he is, what he can do and what his future will be.
Naruto's determination to define himself as a Shinobi was almost the same as his. Everyone in Kumo initially thought that just because he was Jiko Ryujin's legitimate son he was going to go on a trailblazing road to success, like his father. But when people saw that he hadn't done anything noteworthy, at least to their knowledge, they lost faith and treated him like he had the plague. Even the kids. Raiden, after moving to Konoha, had then decided to show the Shinobi world, especially those in Kumo, that he wasn't going to let other people that didn't really know him, define him. And he was going to let people define him because of who he was related to.
He was going to define himself, his future and he was going to show all of the Shinobi in the world what he was capable of.
"ARRRGH!!!"
His thoughts were suddenly broken when he heard a scream in the distance that came from the Hyuga compound.
He rushed towards the compound and entered to see multiple Hyuga clan members rushing to the back of clan heads house. He rushed towards the back as well to see a body that was clutching its face and writhing around in pain.
Raiden pushed and struggled through the crowd to get a closer look before stopping to see that the body writhing in pain was Kogeki.
Raiden paled when he saw that Kogeki's right eye had been slashed and he had begun to feel a stinging pain in his eyes that he tried to ignore due to the shock of his friend on the ground with a missing eye.
Kogeki continued to writhe in pain as some of the Hyuga clan members noticed Raiden and pushed him down to the ground making him look up in confusion. "Somebody get get this Kumo filth out of our compound and away from our people! He doesn't deserve to be here!" One of the men yelled.
"Let's kill him and send his head to the Raikage and his father! He should pay for what his village has done!" A woman yelled as they all shouted in agreement which only made Raiden even more confused, but also scared for his life.
"What are you talking about?! What happened?! Who attacked Kogeki?!" He shouted at them to get some answers, but before anyone answered, they continued to shout and yell while threatening to kill him. "The Hyuga heiress has been kidnapped, you Kumo slime! Kidnapped by people from your village!" A woman shouted at him, but by that point Raiden stopped listening and took off running away from the compound while holding his head in pain and tried to squint his eyes to see where he was going.
As soon as Raiden took off running, the Hyuga clan members all tried to follow him and bring back to the compound, but stopped. "THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" A voice thundered behind them which made them jump in shock before they turned around to see the Hyuga clan head, Hiashi Hyuga and Kabe Hyuga, Kogeki's mother.
"Lord Hiashi, why did you stop us? That filthy child from Kumo has gotten away." One of male clan members questioned, but Hiashi scoffed as Kabe ran over to her son and tend to him. "Raiden may be from Kumo, but he had nothing to do with what happened you idiot!" Kabe shouted as she picked up her son to take him to the Konoha Hospital, but she stopped and turned her head towards the crowd. "And the fact that all of you threatened a frightened little child makes me sick to call a single one of you my family. You all should be ashamed of what you said to him." She said sternly.
"You all better hope that nothing has happened to him, because if so, than there is NOTHING any of you can do to protect yourselves from me." She threatened before teleporting out of the compound and towards the hospital.
The clan members all turned back towards Hiashi and waited to hear what he had to say. "You all heard what she said and I agree. Raiden may be from Kumo, but he is just as much a resident of Konoha than every one of you here. You should all be ashamed." He also said sternly before inhaling deeply to say something else.
"Now, if all of you are done pointing fingers and laying blame on others, then move all your asses and help me find my daughter! While the rest of you go and report this incident to the Hokage! We need all the help we can get to find Hinata before it's too late! Go!" He ordered loudly.
"Hai!" The clan members shouted as one group ran off in search of Hinata, while the other ran to report to the Hokage.
Later that night, with Raiden...
Raiden ran deep into a forest with tears in his eyes, both from the feeling of betrayal from the Hyuga clan members and from the growing pain he felt in his head and his eyes before it eventually became too much until he collapsed to the ground while clutching his head.
"ARRRGH!!!" He shouted into the night as the pain grew.
He continued screaming and shouting until he could feel his tears getting thicker and thicker for some reason. He opened one of his eyes to peek and wiped away a tear to see why it had become so thick. That's when he saw that it was tears.
His tears had become blood.
He instantly closed his eyes and continued to clutch his head in pain, but he stopped screaming, he just moaned and groaned in pain while trying to figure out how to stop his head and eyes from hurting.
"KYAAAH!!! LET GO OF ME!!!" He suddenly heard in the distance. He pried open one of his eyes to see where the screaming was coming from, but when he did, he suddenly saw that there were 3 people standing right in front of him which startled him and caused him to back up into a tree before his sight suddenly "zoomed out" and went back to normal.
He blinked before his sight suddenly "zoomed in" and he could barely make out the 3 figures. Two of them were large and bulky looking figures while the third was small and had a petite frame.
Raiden quickly figured it out.
"Hinata..." He whispered before he struggled to stand back up and run towards them to help his friend.
With Hinata...
"KYAAAH! LET GO OF ME!!!" Hinata shouted as she pounded and hit the Kumo Shinobi's back before he roughly threw her to the ground which made her gasp and wince in pain. "Look here, little princess, we're both trying to be nice here. But could you do us both a favor and SHUT UP?!" The Kumo Jonin shouted which made her squeak as she backed up away from the men.
"Now, if you don't mind, my friend and I both have a tight schedule to keep. So, if you keep quiet during the rest of our little trip, maybe, just MAYBE, you will get-URGH!!!" The other Kumo Jonin grunted in pain and was sent flying through the trees in the woods when a shadow with sliver hair body slammed into him and sent him flying.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" The second Kumo Jonin exclaimed in shock as he looked at who attacked his comrade. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU, KID?!" He shouted as the attacker breathed heavily with his hair covering his eyes.
The Shinobi could see blood on the childs cheeks, but didn't know why until the kid lifted his head to show his face.
"O-Onichan...?" Hinata whispered quietly when she saw Raiden with blood on his cheeks, but that's not what frightened her or the Kumo Jonin. What frightened them was Raiden's eyes. They weren't their usual jade green color, they were now a golden amber color with frightening slits where the pupils should be.
"Let. Her. Go." Raiden demanded menacingly, but the Kumo Shinobi didn't hear a word from him. He was currently shaking in his sandals because he knew who this kid was. This was the head of the Ryujin Clans son.
"LET HER GO OR I'LL KILL YOU!!!" Raiden suddenly shouted making both Hinata and the Kumo Shinobi jump with fear before the second Kumo Shinobi reappeared and tried to attack Raiden from behind.
Raiden ducked his head before the attack could land and quickly delivered a spinning heel kick. His counter landed on the Shinobi's head and it sent him spinning while flying, once again, through the trees of the woods before an old large tree stopped him from flying any further than he already had.
The Shinobi groaned and struggled to get back up to attack Raiden again, but soon fell unconscious from the pain that was shooting through his body.
Raiden let out a deep breath as he looked at the fallen Shinobi in the distance before turning his head back towards the remaining Kumo Shinobi, who by now was trembling with fear at what he had just witnessed.
"This-This kid just defeated a high ranking Shinobi like he was an academy graduate! What is with him?!" The Trembling Shinobi thought to himself as he began to back away from Raiden, but he made a quick move that would soon seal his fate.
The Shinobi suddenly grabbed Hinata, who cried out in pain and shock, before taking out a kunai knife and held to her throat. "Now, listen here, runt! I'm taking this little girl with me back to Kumo! And there is not a damn thing you can do about it unless you want her blood on your hands! AND I DON'T CARE WHO YOUR FATHER IS!!! YOU'RE A TRAITOR AND YOU WILL LET US LEAVE HERE OR SHE DIES TONIGHT!!!" He threatened as he pressed the kunai against Hinata's throat threateningly.
"O-Onichan." She whispered pleadingly with tears in her eyes.
Raiden narrowed his eyes at the Shinobi. "You don't care who my father is? Good. Because as of now, all of Kumo is my enemy." He said as he slowly slipped out a kunai knife from his shirt sleeve and held it in his hand before looking at Hinata and winked at her with a smile.
"Don't worry, Hinata-chan. You'll be fine." He promised her. She nodded her head with a trembling smile. "Ok, Onichan. I-I trust you." She whispered with a trembling voice making Raiden smile before he looked back at the Shinobi that was holding her hostage.
The Shinobi just scoffed and smirked. "She'll be just fine? Don't make promises you can't keep kid. This is only going one way. Either you die or she-"
THWACK!
Raiden threw the kunai at the Shinobi's head and it went straight through his head and into the tree behind him. "You're right. This was only going one way. With your death." He said coldly as he walked up to embrace Hinata, who had collapsed to the ground and began to sob as she held onto Raiden like a lifeline.
Raiden said nothing and just let Hinata cry and scream to let out her stress and frustrations as he held her and whispered to her soothingly while rubbing her back gently.
She held him tightly before looking up at him then remembered that his eyes, which by now returned back to their natural green color, had been bleeding. She gasped and quickly wiped away her tears before trying to tend to him while asking questions.
"O-Onichan! Why were your eyes bleeding? Are you ok? Were you attacked like Kogeki-kun?" Then she paused when she remembered her cousin. "OH! Kogeki-kun! Onichan, is he alright? He was attacked before those kidnappers took me! Is he ok? Answer me, Onichan!" She said rapidly before Raiden placed his hands on her cheeks to calm her down.
"Hinata-chan, I wasn't attacked. I had just arrived at the compound before I found out you were kidnapped. Although, I can't explain what happened to my eyes, because I honestly don't know." He answered first before continuing. "As for Kogeki, I don't know. The last I saw him before I left the compound he was still bleeding on the ground." He answered, which made Hinata worried, but he managed to calm her down again before she panicked.
"However, I'm confident that Kabe-san has taken him to the hospital by now. She would never abandon her son or let him suffer." He told her with a smile. She nodded before leaning her head against his chest. "Onichan...?" She said quietly.
"Hmm?" Raiden hummed while rubbing her back. Hinata looked up at him with a smile. "Let's go home." She said sweetly, but Raiden hesitated. "I'm... I'm not going back to the compound, Hinata-chan." He told her, making her confused. "Why not? It's your home until Hikari-san comes back to Konoha." She said while grabbing one of his hands.
He went on to explain what had happened when he returned to the compound and how the clan members blamed and threatened to kill him because of the Kumo Shinobi when they attacked Kogeki and kidnapped Hinata.
She gasped and held her trembling hands up to her mouth at what Raiden had just told her. She felt ashamed and frightened that her clan members, her own family would even consider killing a child all because he was from Kumo even though he had nothing to do with what had happened.
They both sat in an uncomfortable silence before Hinata suddenly embraced him in a tight hug before grabbing one of his hands and stood up. She had a look of conviction and determination on her face as she looked down at him. "Let's go home, Onichan." She said to him with a bright smile.
Raiden just looked up at her stunned with astonishment before she suddenly lost her look of determination when she felt she had done something wrong. "Um... please, Onichan?" She said quietly, which made Raiden smile and nod his head before he stood up to walk with her back to the compound.
"She grows confident every day, but she still retains her innocence. She's going to be a great Kunoichi one day. Fierce and determined, but also kind and gentle. There aren't that many Kunoichi like that in this age. I'm sure she'll be the first of many in our generation." He thought happily as they walked through the woods back to the compound.
Later, back at the Hyuga Compound...
Hinata and Raiden walked back through the gates of the Hyuga compound as some of the clan members and guards rushed both of them to try and separate Raiden from her, but Hinata held onto him tightly as he glared at all of them.
They backed away when they saw that his eyes were bloody and kept away from them as both children walked to the clan heads house where Hiashi and Kabe brought them both into the home to clean them up, tend to any wounds and let them rest for the rest of the night.
Raiden, Hinata and Kabe all went to the hospital and visited Kogeki the next morning while the Kumo Shinobi that survived the night before was brought in for questioning and interrogation.