Chapter Two: Sudden Realization

Naruto woke up to see himself tucked into his bed. He could only guess it was one of the Anbu that watches him. Getting up he also saw that his apartment was neat and tidy, completely different from the episode he had last night. He looked outside to see was slightly dark and the sun was rising. Getting up he went to take a shower and brush his teeth.

After doing his morning routine, he walks to his closet. Remembering that he threw away his jumpsuits, he looked at a dark blue hoodie with burnt orange trimming on the bottom and the end of the sleeves, it's slightly bigger on his small frame. He picks out a white teeshirt to go layer under the hoodie. Naruto also grabbed some black pants that stop at his ankles that fit him perfectly. To finish the outfit the 12-year-old grabbed his dark blue ninja sandals.

He looks in the mirror and couldn't recognize himself. Naruto had worn the jumpsuit for so long it's almost like it became him. The clothing seemed to define him, looking back on it, he hated that. He grabbed his hitai-ate which consist of a blue cloth with a piece of metal on it. The Konohagakure symbol on it, shining proudly. Ever since he was little he wanted to be a ninja. He wanted this so bad, and now it seems hopeless.

Wrapping it around his neck he went to the kitchen to make him breakfast. The meal was eggs, some toast, and milk. He wasn't that hungry, only taking slow small bites Naruto thought of last night again.

His eyes widen, as he forgot about Iruka. The man who was willing to risk it all for him last night. His heartache at the thought, he didn't even think of him at all. Swallowing that last of his food and taking a big gulp of milk, he grabs his keys and leaves the house. Locking the door Naruto turns around and walks to the academy.

He was in no rush to get there, in fact, he was all the more nervous. How would he apologize to Iruka-sensei? Would he forgive him? Shaking away the negative thoughts, Naruto made it to the academy. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he enters. Reaching his classroom Naruto saw all of the graduates. All of sudden this seemed more real. The blue-eyed boy decided that sitting in the back of the class was all the best option. He didn't want to be bothered.

He sat in the middle seat, patiently waiting. A boy with a feral grin walked up. He was two red marks on his cheeks. His coat had fur on it and was gray, and inside of the said coat, there was a puppy on top of his head in the hood. When he saw Naruto his grin widen.

"What are you doing here dobe, this is for graduates," The boy laughed as people turned around.

Naruto looked at the boy and tiredly says, "If you see the hitai-ate you would know that I also passed like you Kiba."

Kiba said nothing, he honestly didn't know what to say. Naruto would usually clap back and call him all sorts of names. Looking at Naruto he could see that he changed his outfit and he smelled different. Sadness hurt, and anger was the smell that radiated around the smaller boy. Turning around the brunette sat on the row next to Naruto not saying anything.

A loud crash could and yelling could be heard. Everyone turned to see two girls pushing each other trying to get through the door.

"Ha! Seems like I won forehead," A girl with platinum blonde hair smirked. The girl's hair was held in a neat ponytail with some hair left out covering one of the girl's cyan eyes. She was pale but not to the point where she looks sick. She was mostly wearing purple and she radiated confidence.

"You wish pig," Another girl grunted. She had nice long pink hair and nice emerald green eyes. She's wearing a red and white qipao that reaches her knees. Her face was slightly red due to all the running she did.

Everyone in the class groaned as they heard the girls argue, it was an everyday occurrence that they would not miss. The pink-haired girl looks over in Naruto's direction. Quickly walking over she noticed a boy with black hair with a blue undertone and eyes dark a night. The dark clothing he was wearing also heighten the color of his pale skin.

"Hey Sasuke, do you mind if I sit next to you," The green-eyed girl blushed as she fluttered her eyelashes.

Sasuke said nothing and continues to look forward. No matter how many times he ignores them, it seems to them he's playing hard to get. He didn't like that, he wanted to be left alone.

The girl then notice Naruto, he was sitting next to Sasuke and they weren't arguing. They sat in comfortable silence. The 12-year-old girl puffed her cheeks out and turned towards the blonde-haired boy.

"Move out of the way Naruto, I want to sit next to Sasuke," The girl tilts her nose up smugly. She expected Naruto to put up a fight, watching him fight for her affection with Sasuke. It brings her self esteem up, making her more confident.

Naruto got up and sat at the end seat. Sakura and everyone in the class gasp. This was new, Naruto would never back down from challenging Sasuke. Sakura recovered from her shock and quickly sat next to Sasuke.

A brown-haired man with a scar across his nose walked in. He wore the chuin vest which was green. Many could assume that he was Iruka. As he walked into the room he could see everyone there, though his eyes looking for a particular student. Once they meet Naruto's they lit up. He was worried about the young boy and wasn't able to see him last night. He saw that Naruto quickly looks down avoiding eye contact. He'll talk to them during the lunch break.

"Today is the day you are finally genin. Now you answer only to the Hokage and no one else," Iruka spoke to the class. His voice held seriousness showing these kids that being a ninja is no joking matter.

Naruto looked at the front and notice the writing behind his former sensei. He squinted and what he saw confused him.

See underneath the underneath

"Squad seven will consist of Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka's voice broke Naruto out of his train of thought.

Sakura glared to her left she hated that she was on the same team as Naruto. Naruto continued to ignore her as Sasuke grunted. Internally Naruto was not happy, being on the same team as Sasuke wasn't going to be good and he was having second thoughts about Sakura.

"Squad eight will consist of Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyūga, and Shino Abruame."

Naruto looked over to see Hinata pressing her two index fingers together. A nervous habit he notices the girl had. Hinata was a pale girl with black hair with a lavender undertone. Her eyes were a pale lavender that makes her looks blind an infamous trait of the Hyūga clan. The girl was known for being shy and didn't scream much, she also wasn't talkative.

He then looked over to Shino Abruame a boy who was also known for being quiet. He was very smart only being behind Sasuke in rookie of the year. The boy has dark black shades that cover his eyes. Naruto doesn't think he or any of his classmates had seen the boy's eyes. You could see Shino always near insects, the girls of the class are usually put off by it, but Naruto doesn't mind.

"Squad ten will be Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimich."

"What! Why do I have to be on the team with lazy and chubby," Ino shrieked in anger.

"We put what teams will work well with each due to skill sets. Now sit down Ino," Iruka stated calmly and stared the girl down.

Ino huffed and sat down, first Sakura gets to sit next to Sasuke, and now she's on the same squad as him. Today was not her day.

Naruto notice Ino had gotten Shikamaru and Choji on her team. Two boys that he would skip school with often. He wasn't as close to the two best friends, but he would always feel Shikamaru watching him. Almost like he was studying the boy. They had a few deep conversations. They weren't close friends but still friends.

Iruka dismissed them for lunch, and soon the genin was piling out of there. Naruto turned to Sakura and Sasuke, he was going to ask them to lunch. They had to work together maybe talking over some lunch would do them good.

"Hey Sasuke, Sakura would you two want to get lunch since we're a team," Naruto smiled at his team.

Sasuke looked, turned around, and walked away. Sakura looked at Naruto and glared at him. What makes him think he could change overnight and he'll be someone cool.

"Naruto you are annoying," Sakura spat out and walked behind Sasuke trying to grab his attention.

Iruka saw what happened and touched Naruto's shoulder. He smiled at the boy and held two bento's for them to eat lunch.

"I was hoping we could talk about last night," Iruka smiled.

Sakura raced behind Sasuke, "Sasuke wait up!"

The boy stopped and turned around to see Sakura. She was equally annoying as Naruto. Those two seem to live to make his life a living hell. From the love confessions to the one-sided rivalry, the taller boy couldn't deal with it.

"What, Sakura," Sasuke asked stoically.

"I was just checking on you. And maybe we could get lunch without Naruto. He's so annoying, maybe it's because he doesn't have any parents to teach him. He's also constantly asking me out knowing I have feelings for you. He's so selfish, but it's probably due to not having any parents."

As Sasuke was listening, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Does Sakura know he is also an orphan, "What you would know about being alone? Not having any parents."

Sakura tilted her head to the side in confusion. What does that have to do with anything, "Huh?"

"You make me sick," Sasuke glared, he was angry. He needed to leave before he couldn't control his actions.

The boy walked away leaving Sakura alone. The pink-haired girl sat down on the bench with her bento in her hand. The boy's words hurt a lot, she soon thought about Naruto. Is this what he feels like when she's constantly being mean to him. Thinking about what Sasuke said, he's right. She doesn't know what it's like to be an orphan. Sakura decided after lunch she'll apologize to Naruto.

The Sandaime Hokage(Third Hokage) walked with a tall man. He was 6'2, slightly above average height for most male ninja. The unknown man also walked with a slight slouch and was reading a book. The title was Icha Icha Paradise. The male had gravity-defying silver hair and a mask that covers the bottom half of his face. His hitai-ate was covering his left eye, he is also wearing the standard Jōnin uniform. A forest green vest with a black long sleeve undershirt, and black shinobi pants, with some black sandals to complete the outfit.

The duo walked into a familiar apartment. Looking around the taller male lifts an eyebrow in question.

"This is Naruto's apartment Kakashi," The Sandaime said with a smile. He looks around and notices something in the trashcan. It was Naruto's jumpsuits, the ones he tried to get Naruto out of buying.

"It's a lot neater than I thought it was going to be," Kakashi lazily said. He expected the young boy to be a total slob.

The silver-haired male looks in the fridge to see it full of nutritious foods. The cabinets had numerous ramen cups but he could tell they weren't eaten frequently. The boy's diet seems to be good, meaning he was naturally smaller than his teammates.

"His diet is good, and everything seems to be the complete opposite of what I was expecting," Kakashi looked towards his leader.

The old man looked towards Naruto's bookshelf, "There is a lot more to Naruto than meets the eyes. Speaking of that there is something I need to tell you."

"Naruto there is no need for you to apologize, I would do it all again," Iruka comforted the boy.

Naruto nodded and finished the last bite of his food, "Sensei I don't know what to do anymore. Everything I had thought-"

There was silence, Iruka knows what he was talking about. The Hokage told him all about it last night even about Naruto's parents. Which didn't shock him as much as he would've thought. It made complete sense.

"Sometimes, we make these discoveries that change certain things. It normal," Iruka said even though he knew this was not normal circumstances.

The twelve-year-old boy nodded and then remember his question, "Sensei I have a question? It's about what's written on the board."

The brown-haired male looked towards the board and say what was written on it.

See underneath the underneath

Nodding, he was surprised Naruto noticed it. Most students would have missed it being too excited about becoming a ninja today. Smiling proudly he looked at the boy next to him, "Not everything is always what it seem. So we have to look underneath, even then there is still more to the story."

Nodding Naruto got what his teacher was saying. Keeping that at the back of his mind, he saw that lunch was over. Thank Iruka for lunch he went back to his seat and waited for everyone to come back in.

Soon everyone came back and their sensei came. Even Iruka left for home and Squad Sevens teacher has yet to show. Naruto hated that he was now alone with Sakura and Sasuke.

Naruto started to think about what he liked about the girl. She was pretty, and when they were younger she was a lot nicer. Now she's mean and obsessive over Sasuke. Naruto even thinks he didn't like her after she rejected him the first two times. He just wanted to be friends, they could've understood each other since they were both bullied when they were younger. Now he didn't even want to be on the same team as her.

She was his main tormenter, she bullied him so she wouldn't get bullied also. Even when a majority of the kids stopped she continued. His leg started to shake as he thought more about it. Even now everything feels like it's changing for the worse, and all he could do is watch.

Sasuke notices Naruto's leg was shaking, he could tell the boy was nervous. There was something else about Naruto. He's been quieter almost like he wanted to blend into the background, something Sasuke tried way too often. Why though? Naruto tends to crave attention and now he doesn't want it. Something happened to the boy yesterday and he wants to find out.

Sakura looks to see Sasuke sparing glances at Naruto and the blonde-haired boy had his head down on the desk as if he was sleeping. She wanted to apologize but she didn't know-how. She hated who she had become. She remembered how nice Naruto was to her and she is constantly belittling him.

Soon the door opened and Kakashi entered the room. He looks over to see Naruto looking right at him. The older man turned to see Sasuke and Sakura studying the man also.

Kakashi cleared his throat, "Meet me on the roof." He then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

The three pre-teens made their way to the roof to see him sitting comfortably reading his favorite orange book. Sakura narrowed her eyes at the cover, it was the book her parents told her not to read. She had somewhat of an idea about what's in the book.

"Sit, we're going to be introducing ourselves," Kakashi ordered, as the genin followed his instruction.

They all sat down, Sakura being closer to the door following with Sasuke then Naruto.

"Who's going to go first," The Jōnin asked with a closed eye smile.

"Maybe you could go first, we need to know about our sensei," Sakura suggested.

Kakashi smiled but it seemed sarcastic, "My name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes and dislikes are none of your business. My hobbies, I don't have any. My dreams for the future are only for me to know."

"He didn't tell us anything, except his name," Sakura grumbled to her two teammates.

"Well, then you go first pinkie," Kakashi's smile seemed fake and he was angry.

"My name is Sakura Haruno, my likes are," The girl looks to her left to see Sasuke. She then giggled and continues, "My hobbies are," The green-eyed girl squealed happily. Sakura's blush became more apparent, "My dreams for the future are."

Kakashi coughed, "You're likes and dislikes?"

"My dislikes are Ino-Pig and Naruto," She then glared. Even if she was sorry for how she treated Naruto, she still disliked him.

Naruto flinched and turned to face their sensei. He was now certain that he wouldn't like being on a team with Sakura.

Kakashi saw Naruto's discomfort and turned to the girl frowning, "Maybe we'll need to work on that, ne?"

He then turned to Sasuke and pointed at him. Now, this would be interesting after the massacre of Sasuke's clan, he wants to see the boy's thinking process.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I don't particularly like anything. I don't have a lot of dislikes. My dream for the future, no ambition is to kill a certain man and restore my clan," Sasuke scowled, his anger showing at the end.

Kakashi hum shaking his head up and down, "Next blondie."

Naruto licked his lips and nodded almost shyly, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, my likes are ramen, um...reading and plants." Naruto could hear Sakura scoff and chose to ignore her. These we some of his likes he never admits out loud. People openly assume he didn't like to or he even couldn't read. As for plants he likes taking care of house plants.

"My dislikes are secrets and liars," The blue-eyed boy said passionately. Ever since the night of his exams, his dislikes have changed drastically.

"My hobbies are training and sometimes cooking I guess. My dreams for the future I don't know anymore," Naruto looked down as he felt his peers stares. Before today he would've loved the attention now, not so much.

Sakura and Sasuke shared a look of disbelief. Naruto normally screamed he was going to be Hokage and now he's not and he isn't even wearing his normal jumpsuit. This must be an imposter.

"Now that we got to know each other, I'm going to tell you three something. You're not official genin as of yet," Kakashi grinned underneath his mask, he loved this part when it came to team assessments.

"How come," Sasuke demanded an answer, the academy told them otherwise.

"Each team has a test to see if they're ready to be genin and they'll be sent back to the academy. Meet me at training ground seven at 9 o'clock. Oh and I advise you not to eat anything in case you throw up tomorrow. Ja'ne," Kakashi spoke all too cheerfully and then disappeared.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, the eating breakfast part didn't make sense. They were always told to eat something before doing anything strenuous, "I think he was lying, about the eating breakfast part."

Sasuke and Sakura turned towards the smaller boy. Sasuke rose a brow urging Naruto to continue.

"Why would he lie, he's going to be our sensei," Sakura asked looking slightly worried.

"Maybe it's apart of the test, but in the academy, we're always told to eat before going on missions and survival training. You can't work your hardest if we're low on energy," Naruto started feeling more confident at the end.

Sasuke 'hn'ed' and nodded in argument Naruto did bring up some valid points, "Good point." Sasuke then turned around walking towards the stairs, Sakura following after wanting to talk to Sasuke.

Naruto stayed behind and thought of his soon-to-be sensei. He looks familiar, well his hair and his body posture do. He couldn't put his finger on it but he already felt like he knew of this man before. One thing for sure, Naruto isn't as excited to be a genin anymore.

*a/n*

The second chapter, yay! I don't have a specific loading schedule so I don't know when I'll be able to post another. Um, I don't want people to assume that Naruto is going to be overpowered or become this genius person. The reason why he seems smarter is that he isn't acting out and trying to be a class clown. Naruto taking the time to think clearly because he's now trying to figure out how he acts. The Naruto we see in the show is a mask per say.

He made this facade to get attention and now that he doesn't want nor need it anymore, he's more calm and collected. Thinking before he does things because he is cautious. Also for his skill set, I want him to be proficient in fuinjutsu, and maybe another skill you could give me suggestions for. I want his whole team to be more skilled but not overpowered to the point where it makes the story ridiculous. I might push the timing for certain stuff to fit the story more but all of the major events will somewhat be the same, nothing too different.

I was also maybe thinking about his starting to train with the Kyuubi's chakra earlier because he finds out more about the night of his birth, I honestly don't know yet. Tell me what you think.

Have a good day/night! See you next time!