Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and I am making no profit from this story, it is only for entertainment.
Chapter Summary: In which Naruto goes to the academy and makes one (1) friend
Chapter 3: Is this… Friendship?
"Now remember to be good for Jiji, okay? I don't want to come back to find out that you have been causing trouble for him," Naruto reminded his brother, kneeling beside the toddler.
He wasn't sure how many times he had recycled this phrase since they had left the orphanage that morning, but he felt the need to repeat it one more time, his hand fidgeting with straightening out his brother's clothes. He looked up at the Hokage as a low chuckle reached his ears. He could practically feel the amusement coming from the old man and the hidden guards and he blushed deeply as he rose to his feet.
"I am sure we will be fine, Naruto-kun. Now don't you have a class to get to?" Jiji prompted, the edges of his mouth twitching.
He couldn't help his nervousness though; his desire to start his training warred with his reluctance to leave his brother. Logically he knew that the toddler would be the safest in Konoha with not only the Hokage but the ANBU surrounding them, but it was a fear he could not seem to quench.
"Nii-san?"
He looked down at his brother to see a frown and he internally shook himself. Instead he smiled, ruffling the Rio's hair and turned to the door, focusing his sensor abilities so he could keep track of his brother. The further away he was the less control he had and so far he could only sense chakra in a 30 metre radius but the presence of the excitable, blue chakra soothed him somewhat.
"Be good. I'll see you later, Sunshine."
He walked out and was soon out the front doors, now only able to feel the faint familiar warmth of Rio's untrained chakra. He continued until he reached the academy, Rio's signature gone, making his way between the new students that were heading to their first class. Naruto could feel the nerves and excitement around him and could feel his own stirring in his gut.
Coming to his class's doorway, the room was already half-filled and he searched for a quiet corner to settle into. He could feel the stares from the older students as he made his way to the back, the puzzlement and anger directed straight at him. Naruto tried not to think about it and sat at the furthest back window. They were only three years older; it wasn't that big of a deal.
He felt a weak signature sit beside him; Naruto looked beside him to see a grinning boy staring back at him. A mop of messy brown hair almost covered unusual dark-pink eyes and there was a small scar on his left ear. He wore a long purple shirt paired with a worn, brown leather waistcoat, black trousers and sandals.
"Hi there," the boy said.
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"Hi," Naruto answered hesitantly, the reply almost sounding like question.
"I'm Arai Kazuya and you're a bit young to be starting the academy. Mind you, I can't talk since I'm a year younger than the entry age. We gotta stick together against these older kids, right?"
"Uzumaki Naruto," the redhead supplied, unsure of what exactly was happening.
The only people he really interacted with were Jiji, Kakashi, Rio and occasionally the matron and the librarian when the need arose. He never really talked to anyone outside of that; he was either too busy preparing to be a shinobi or looking after Rio. Most of the village children had been told to stay away from them, so he wasn't entirely sure how to go about whatever this was.
"So what's with the scar? And why is your arm bandaged up?" Arai continued, leaning to rest his head on his fist.
"Kyūbi attack; some of the rubble hit me and it didn't really heal well," Naruto said slowly, watching the boy.
At the mention of the attack, he could feel Arai's chakra dim slightly and the once grinning face was replaced by a grimace.
"Yeah, that was a bad day for everyone."
The two boys looked to the front as they heard the clap of a hand, spotting the chunin instructor. She wore the plain outfit that most of the higher ranks did and her honey-blonde hair paired well with her chocolate brown eyes, but there was a stern line to her features.
"Alright, my name is Aiko-sensei and you will be mine for the next four years. Have a good look around because you are stuck with these people; they may be your teammates and comrades in the future but first, you need to survive this class."
Naruto jolted when her eyes turned to him and he pulled back his chakra as far as possible as he slouched back into the bench, the weak signatures surrounding him fading as he tried to put Neko's teachings to use.
"Now, we will begin our morning with physical training and continue the day with history, geography and other subjects that will vary depending on the day of the week. After lunch, we will focus on taijutsu and weapon-handling before finishing the day with the shinobi rules and general knowledge you will need to know."
"This will be your life for the next year, so I suggest you get familiar with it quickly. Any questions?" she finished, surveying the new students.
A hand rose in the air and the class collectively looked at the Uchiha, his pale features firm.
"What about chakra?" he asked, the class turning back to look at their sensei.
The chunin looked carefully around the room, her sharp gaze causing some to join Naruto in his poor attempt to sink into his seat.
"Chakra will not be discussed nor taught until second year; first we need to ingrain the basics into you so it will become instinct. Not only that, but you need to have a decent level of fitness to use chakra to any extent so most of you will not be ready until then. Those from clans will be the exception to this and you are free to work on it at home, however, everyone here will follow the same timetable. Any other questions?"
No one moved.
"Good, now everyone outside to start their two laps around the playground. Go!" Aiko-sensei ordered, leading the children out the door.
Naruto and Arai stood to follow, last to exit the room.
"She's kind of intense, right?" Arai spoke up, walking alongside Naruto with his arms behind his head.
"Yeah, plus it sucks that we can't really train in chakra for another year," Naruto replied sullenly.
The leaf exercise he had started two weeks ago was becoming second nature to him; he could now control up to four leaves with his chakra, keeping them attached to his skin. There were places on his body that was easier to do so than others, and after some research and pestering of Kashi he learned these were his tenketsu points. He knew he had a long while to go before he could move onto rocks but it seemed that he would have to continue practicing on his own. Books were a good source about learning shinobi techniques, but he still got stuck on too many words for his liking and he had always preferred learning hands on.
"I heard there was a kid that just graduated who's only a couple years older than us. So maybe the academy can't be that hard," Arai commented quietly, beginning to jog as they left the building.
Naruto picked up his pace until he was beside the older boy. Arai didn't seem so bad plus he couldn't detect any underlying dislike from talking to him like he could with other kids; he seemed like he was genuinely hoping they could be friends. It was kind of surreal.
"Well, the faster I'm out of here the better," Naruto shrugged.
He saw a flicker of confusion cross Arai's face and felt as though he should explain.
"When I become a genin, me and my brother can move out the orphanage; the sooner the better."
Understanding washed over the brunet's features, a shadow briefly appearing in his eyes.
"Yeah, I can't wait to get away from home either. Four years is way too long."
Naruto nodded and they both continued to jog. At the end of the laps, the class reentered their room, harsh breathing filling the air. Though he was the youngest and the smallest, Naruto was proud to note that he was not the worst out of the class. Arai was one of the better ones.
Aiko-sensei stood at the front of the class, already turning to write topics on the blackboard behind her.
"Alright then, everyone enjoy that? Get used to it; that kind of thing will be happening every day for the rest of your lives should you graduate. We'll also be adding stretches as the distance increases. Now, I am going to ask some basic questions to the class to get a feel for the level of knowledge that you all have at this point. Don't think you can escape by not answering, you're going to have to learn it anyway."
Arai nudged Naruto gently, bringing the redhead's attention to him.
"What do you think crawled up her butt?" he whispered, gaining a small smile from Naruto.
He felt the sensei's chakra flare slightly and quickly leaned away from the piece of chalk that had been aimed at his head. Arai hadn't been so lucky and he yelped as the object hit the side of his head. The pair looked to the front to see their sensei glaring at them.
"I do not allow interruptions. Raise your hands if you wish to share anything with the class."
The two boys shrunk back into their seats. Clapping her hands, Aiko-sensei brought the class's attention back to her.
"When you answer a question for the first time, say your name first. Who can name any of the five major shinobi villages?" she demanded.
Naruto watched her survey the class, both his hand and Arai's in the air. There were a few others, none of them really standing out. One brunette girl had three puppies at her feet, with the red markings of the Inuzuka on her face. Her hood was lined with white fur and Naruto couldn't help but wonder how she coped with the hot Konoha summers.
"You, chatterbox."
Naruto could feel Arai's annoyance without even looking at him.
"Arai Kazuya. Sunagakure is one," he answered glumly.
"Good, not usually the first one to come to mind though. You, next," Aiko-sensei pointed at the Inuzuka girl.
"Inuzuka Hana. Konohagakure," she replied, smiling slightly to show her canines.
"You, redhead."
"Uzumaki Naruto. Iwagakure," he responded, his face scrunching up as he caught a jolt of surprise and what could have been anger flashing across his sensei's face.
Aiko-sensei continued to pick hands as she went through the questions, finishing the shinobi villages and continuing onto which country they were located in. Making her way through the names of the previous Hokage, the class were stumbling the more questions were asked. Within five minutes of the start of the questions, the answers were limited to Arai, the Inuzuka and Naruto, with the odd student chiming in.
"Your collective knowledge is pretty good for a beginning class. We will see if you know about the different disciplines before we stop for lunch. Can anyone name one?"
Naruto raised his hand once more, joining Arai's in the air. Overall, all the questions had been pretty easy so far. Some of them he had read about over the years and others he had picked up from Jiji and Kashi.
"Arai, name one."
"Genjutsu, using chakra to turn the enemy's brain against them." he droned, thoroughly bored.
"Inuzuka."
"Taijutsu, using different fighting styles to fight hand-to-hand," she answered, equally bored.
"Aburame."
"Ninjutsu, using jutsu to fight."
"Very good, now-"
"Wait, sensei!" Naruto blurted out, nervous as the teacher turned her gaze on him.
"Uzumaki?"
Naruto swallowed; he hadn't meant to interrupt but it was a reaction he couldn't help.
"Uh… it's just that…aren't there more? Like fūinjutsu?" he mumbled nervously.
He remember it mentioned in one of the chakra books from the library; he had had to get Jiji to explain it to him but once simplified he had absorbed it, even becoming curious about the art.
"At this level, you just need to know about the main three. Do not worry about any of the others," Aiko-sensei retorted, continuing to explain what would be happening after lunch.
Naruto huffed, plonking his head in his arms, shoving away some of the red locks that had dropped into his face. The academy was not what he wanted it to be at all; it felt like they were limiting his knowledge rather than adding to it. Not only that but the majority of the class couldn't answer anything, which meant several weeks of boredom while they learnt it. Naruto knew he wasn't the smartest but this was basic stuff.
When they were dismissed for lunch, he trudged out the class, the excitement he had felt completely gone. He sensed Arai come up beside him, the older boy just as enthused as himself. They made their way to a free spot under one of the trees, sitting and pulling out their respective lunches.
"That stunk," Arai sighed.
"It did," Naruto agreed.
Naruto turned his head to the side as he sensed the Inuzuka walking up to them. Up close, she was pretty; dark brown hair pulled into a low ponytail, with two strands framing her face and almost black eyes staring at them. She had red upside down triangles on her cheeks which he'd seen on others around Konoha.
"Can I sit here, Uzumaki, Arai?"
Naruto and Arai exchanged a glance and collectively nodded. She sat, the puppies following her settling themselves around her.
"Don't call me Arai, just Kazuya is fine," Kazuya quickly added.
"Same, Naruto is fine."
"Then call me Hana and these guys are the Haimaru brothers."
Silence settled around the tree as they tucked into their lunches. Naruto had managed to save an apple from breakfast since the matron wasn't the lunch giving type and he saw that Kazuya wasn't much better, with some stale onigiri. Hana was the best off with thick slices of meat and some rice, which she shared with her pups.
The taijutsu that followed wasn't much better and the three picked it up quickly. Naruto struggled a bit with his arm being much weaker than the other but even he performed the simple katas correctly before the end. Most of the clan children had already been taught the foundations of taijutsu, but the civilian children were struggling.
The weapon-handling was merely the students being taught how to hold the equipment correctly and the lesson on shinobi rules was just an introduction to the code of conduct within the classroom.
The final bell went off and the three exited the academy, thoroughly disappointed. The other children ran to their waiting parents, delighted after their first day. No one was awaiting Naruto, since he had to go collect Rio from Jiji and he noticed that Kazuya too was on his own.
When he had first announced to his parents that he was going to be a ninja, they had both smiled, hugging Naruto and chattering about what they could do to get him ready. They never had been able to teach him anything but the basics of reading and handling toy kunai before they died.
"You too?" Naruto asked, watching Kazuya stare at the other parents.
"Yeah, my uncle's sure as hell not going to bother," he responded bitterly.
"Do you wanna hang out with me then? I have to go pick up my brother but you can come," Naruto suggested, unwilling to leave the older boy on his own. He reminded him of himself too much to do nothing; he was only lucky that he still had Rio.
Naruto could see the emotions twisting on Kazuya's face before the boy nodded, silently following Naruto to the Hokage Tower. Kazuya's eyes widened in shock as Naruto greeted the chunin standing by the sides of the door, the boy darting forward and grabbing Naruto's good arm, yanking him back.
"I thought we were getting your brother. Why are we here?" Kazuya demanded, floods of nerves coming from him.
"Jiji was looking after Rio since I was at the academy; this is where he works," Naruto explained, giving the older boy a strange look.
Kazuya let go and continued to follow Naruto up through the tower.
"Jiji? I thought you were an orphan?" he remarked, watching Naruto's shoulders tense.
"He kinda looks out for us and he's really old so 'Jiji' fit. He can't look after us all the time so we stay in the orphanage and visit him every once in a while."
Finally, they reached the large oak doors of his office and the secretary let them in, informing the Hokage of their arrival. The pair entered the room and Naruto grinned, holding out his arm as a blond bundle launched himself into his chest. He stepped back slightly at the weight but kept his footing, kneeling down to get a proper hug from the toddler.
"Nii-san!" squealed Rio, gripping as tight as his little arms would allow.
"Hey Sunshine, were you good for Jiji?" Naruto smiled up at the old man.
Sarutobi chuckled, gazing fondly at the two boys.
"He was indeed and he was very helpful today."
After watching Rio's head bob up and down in agreement, Naruto glanced up at his friend to find him frozen, staring at the Hokage.
"H-Hokage-sama!" he squeaked, dropping into a low bow.
"Now, who might this be?" chuckled Jiji, raising a brow at Naruto.
"This is Arai Kazuya from the academy. He's in my class. By the way, Jiji, the academy sucks," Naruto announced, stilling kneeling next to his brother.
Hiruzen smiled at the young brunet in front of him, attempting to make him feel more at ease, when he frowned at Naruto's comment.
"In what way?"
Naruto stood, keeping one hand on his brother's head. Hiruzen noted that the young redhead kept his bandaged arm close to his side, trying to keep it still.
"It was too easy. I mean, sure it was the first day and all, but tell me that that is not going to be the next four years of my life," Naruto whined, trying to get across how truly awful it had been. He was all for learning how to be a shinobi but they weren't even talking about chakra yet.
The Hokage sat back in his chair, leveling his chiding gaze at the boy.
"It was only the first day, Naruto-kun. Give it some time and I believe it was not as easy as you are making it out to be." He glanced pointedly at the boy's arm.
Naruto shifted uncomfortably, catching a curious look from Kazuya.
"It only hurts 'cause I moved it so much, I'll get used to it."
Jiji sighed defeatedly.
"Very well, Naruto-kun. Remember to go and get it checked out when it becomes too much and there will be no discussion on that matter. Now I have some things to finish up here so why don't you two go and take Norio-chan for some dinner?"
"Thanks, Jiji. We'll see you tomorrow," Naruto yelled behind him, already haven taken his brother's hand and turned to leave the office.
His arm really wasn't that bad; it just ached. A lot. Not that he would admit that and risk his chance at becoming a ninja. He would get used to it eventually; he just had to get through this rough patch first. Everyone had aches and pains, right? He didn't see any of them complaining.
"Nii-san?" he heard and looked down into the violet eyes of his brother.
"Rio?"
"Who's that? And why were you gone?" the toddler demanded, pointing at Kazuya.
Naruto's eyes softened at the last question. This was the first day he had really been away from his brother since he was born; he had explained before they arrived at Jiji's but his brother didn't have the greatest attention span.
"This is Kazuya; he goes to the academy with me. That's where I was today, learning to be a ninja like Tou-s…like Kashi," Naruto caught himself, breathing a small sigh of relief when the toddler missed his slip up.
The young blond didn't have any memories of Tou-san and Kaa-chan since they had died the day he was born. Naruto couldn't really talk about them since Rio didn't really know about them yet, but he still struggled to replace their names with Kashi's and Jiji's when talking about some stuff. It wasn't really a secret between them but Jiji had made him agree to wait until Rio was a bit older for the full story.
"Can I come?" Rio's eyes were shining at the prospect.
Naruto grinned at his brother, ruffling his hair.
"Not yet, otouto; when you're older."
"So..."
Naruto looked up, meeting curious pink eyes.
"The Hokage is your grandfather," Kazuya stated.
"Yeah… not really but he's family…" Naruto trailed off, waiting to see where the older boy was going with this.
"The Professor, the longest-standing Hokage, the trainer of the Sannin, is your adopted grandfather."
Naruto looked at him in surprise; it looked like he wasn't the only one who had done their research before entering the academy.
"Yeah."
There was a pause.
The boy then grinned at him, his pink eyes sparking with mirth.
"Not bad, Aka-chan."
The boy then continued to walk down the corridor, leaving the small redhead standing in place, staring after him. Rio looked up at his brother and tugged on his hand, asking why he had stopped.
"Don't call me Aka-chan, Pinku-baka!" Naruto bellowed, leading his brother to catch up with his first friend.
I'll be real with you all, I love Kazuya with all my heart. I really wanted to use him in a story and so here he is! Hope you grow to like him as much as I do!
Thanks for reading!