"Character Dialogue"

Character Thoughts

_ = Scene Break

Chapter 4 - Reality

Amid a sea of stone tablets, preserved and pristine under the morning sun, a bundle of red hair lay knelt in front of one. The boy's whiskered face smiled in sorrow as he looked at the name on the stone, as he washed the stone with the bucket of water he held in his hands. Placing a set of flowers on the tombstone he stood up in his black ANBU-style trousers and black tank-top vest, an Uzumaki swirl sown proudly onto its back.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to visit you." The boy began, his gaze facing toward the larger memorial at the cemetery. Looking back down, toward the grave, he sighed. "Today, I start the academy. I begin my journey in earnest, Naomi-san." He muttered, a tear rolling down his eye as they closed in pain. "I wished you were still here. I'm sure you'd be bouncing around at the occasion." He uttered, opening his watery eyes and chuckling, gazing at the reflective blue sky.

Taking a small step back, he gazed at the tombstone once more with a soft gaze. "I will visit you again soon. I hope you're enjoying your time up there." The Uzumaki spoke with an envious smile, as he turned to exit the cemetery, placing the bucket by the exit on his way out.

Now out of the area, he sighed painfully, turning his gaze toward the direction of the academy before silently disappearing, leaving a leaf as the only remnant of his presence there. Not noticing the grateful gaze of a hidden presence nearby and the blank stare of another.

Silently, the redhead appeared within a darkened alleyway, close to the academy, staring at the structure as he arrived. His glance, while short, showed nothing as his face turned blank and indifferent. Closing his eyes as breathed in heavily, he opened them again to reveal a brief glimpse of hope before returning to passive disinterest. Sighing, he began to exit the alleyway and walk to the crowded academy entrance.

With his footsteps silent, the crowd's attention remained at the academy's entrance. Amongst the many plain civilian attire, many clan symbols pronounced themselves among the mass, the Uchiha fan being the one to catch Naruto's ire the most. Noticing that, despite his much-appreciated lack of attention the parents and carers of the genin hopefuls weren't in a position to move, he had decided to jump the tall wooden wall that surrounded the academy's main training ground.

Landing softly on the grass beneath, he felt the attention of many, his eyes momentarily twitching as he looked at the gathered children, standing in front of the academy's building. Walking calmly and slowly, he made his way toward the amassed group, much to the poorly hidden detest of many now behind him. However, what had confused him was that among the many hateful glares and daggered stares, he felt sympathetic, sorrowful glances. Ignoring the burning urge to glance behind him, he continued forward, toward the amassed students and the empty stage in front of them all.

As Naruto got there, standing at the back behind many of the clan children, a chunin entered the stage. "I welcome you all to Konoha's academy, today you take your first steps into becoming a protector of our village and comrades in arms." He passionately proclaimed, eliciting a cheer of confidence from many within the gathered hopefuls. As their eyes made contact, however, the man's brown eyes scrunched up along with his scarred nose in slight disdain.

Immediately, Naruto turned his attention toward the academy's entrance, noticing the presence there, failing to hide amid the jubilation around him. "As Ninja of our village, you are the Hokage's will and as such, he is here to formally induct you all into our prestigious academy" He concluded, as the gasp of anticipation erupted from the people around the redhead, with the Hokage appearing on the stage at the same time as the presence within the academy disappearing.

Narrowing his eyes at the thought, he stared at the man's kind gaze toward him, his square white and red hat shielding him from the emerging sun. "I thank you all for your decision to help our home, you all are true testaments to the Will of Fire. I'm sure you'll continue to uphold this belief as a Ninja of Konoha." Hiruzen declared, his voice gentle yet subtly imposing, causing a great cheer among the children up and down the group.

"It is, therefore, my honour to induct you all into our academy. Serve your village and comrades with honour and respect." Hiruzen concluded as stepped back to allow the chunin beside him to finish this speech. Amongst the smothering jovial mood, he noticed the quiet nature of many of the clan children, particularly the Nara, Hyuuga and Uchiha.

As the instructor Iruka introduced himself and finished the speech, the children were divided into their respective classes under different instructors. Being told what room they were in and nothing more. Naruto not wanting to draw further ire, elected to retreat to the room as soon as humanly possible, deciding to shunshin to the room rather than walk there himself.

Arriving at the door he opened it and saw no one there, with a raised eyebrow he checked the room number and everything seemed in order. So, wanting to secure a seat, he made his way inside and sat in the back row, closest to the window. The classroom itself was a decent size, having four rows of seven spaces stretched across three wooden benches. Walking up the stairs leading to the desired seat, he noticed people approaching the door and quickly sat down.

In complete boredom, he observed his soon-to-be classmates enter the class at an obnoxiously slow pace, ignoring the weird stares and poorly concealed glares projected by the children. His daydreaming, which had started not too long after the first of the class arrived, was halted by someone sitting next to him. His pineapple ponytail and boring brown eyes immediately struck Naruto as the Nara glanced at him, analysing himself as much as he was him. "Naruto," Naruto spoke up, noticing the Akimichi sitting on the bench directly next to the Nara.

"Shikamaru, the guy next to us is Choji." He uttered in fatigue, which Naruto found amusing as he nodded his head turning to the door as he felt the presence of Iruka at the door. Narrowing his eyes at the door as it opened, revealing the kind-looking chunin. With a quick glance around the noise of the class, he quickly stood at the front of the classroom and cleared his throat.

"Quiet!" He bellowed, the chakra-infused shout causing the Uzumaki to pinch the bridge of his nose in discomfort, groaning at the class ignoring Iruka, as funny as it was to Naruto in his mind. It was only after another ear-piercing shout, did the class calmed and Iruka properly introduced himself. Within this, he explained the curriculum; the content, testing, expectations, and more.

At the end of this, Naruto was very tempted to walk out of the classroom, the minute Iruka finished talking. "This is such a waste of time." He muttered to himself, earning the raised eyebrow of the boy next to him but also the unwanted attention of the instructor. Immediately noticing this, he put his hands against his ears in anticipation of what was to come.

"Care to repeat that, over there?" He condescendingly questioned, his eyesight directed straight into Naruto's ocean-blue eyes. As the two stared at each other, Iruka could be seen subtly shuffling backwards at the myriad of emotions that lay concealed in the boy's eyes.

"I said this seems like a waste of time, Iruka-sensei," Naruto spoke with cynical honesty as Iruka, while momentarily offended, gestured to him to continue. "Why isn't this academy focused on the combative elements of being a ninja and more academics that we could learn in our own time," Naruto explained, his point earning some nods from the clan children especially.

Sighing, Iruka straightened up, "It's because this academy is designed to accommodate all backgrounds, more specifically, those who lack the resources of ninja parents or clans." The chunin answered, which caused the two of them to frown at the response the other gave but before either of them could reply or elaborate.

"That's right, monster!" A child near the front muttered for all to hear. Upon hearing that, Naruto made his mind up and stood up and began to walk to the door all the while Iruka constantly asked what he was doing. All the while the civilian who'd said that, grinned at the reaction he'd gotten.

When arriving at the door, Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder and saw the stern glare of his supposed instructor. "If this isn't going to get me anywhere and people here are as ignorant as outside, then I don't need to be here." Naruto coldly remarked, causing the grip on his shoulder to intensify. "So if you could let me go, Iruka-san. I'll let you get back to teaching." Upon Naruto uttering those words, Iruka relented as he quickly told the class to behave before body flickering to the Hokage's office.

Upon arriving at the reception, and being allowed to enter the office Naruto, finally released from the grip on his red hair, quickly distanced himself from the rough instructor. "Pardon my intrusion, Hokage-sama, but I require assistance in regards to this student in particular who seems to not be willing to partake in our curriculum," Iruka said in a tired, annoyed tone, watching as the Hokage hummed in acknowledgement to his words, glancing at Naruto when he finished.

"I see. What is it, Naruto? What troubles you about our academy?" Hiruzen asked with intrigue and getting slightly confused at the insulted face Naruto pulled. Iruka, meanwhile, stood by and observed the interaction with interest and growing warmth.

"Your law didn't work, Hokage-sama. And, respectfully, the curriculum is a waste of my time." Naruto said with a slight bitterness in his tone which had almost caused Iruka to jump out of his skin at both the hidden meaning behind his words and also the tone. Hiruzen, on the other hand, sighed and placed his hand on his face. "I can follow texts, scrolls, books, and regimes to get stronger in areas that I know without a doubt will help me save lives," Naruto uttered in subdued passion.

"You know the point of the academy is to build camaraderie and teamwork right?" Hiruzen began, as Naruto quickly nodded. "How are you going to work on teamwork without anyone else, Naruto? How are we going to build that trust with people?" He questioned, as the sharp second of anger alerted the instructor too far away from him, as his hand instinctively hovered over his shuriken pouch.

"Hiruzen, what point would there be in me being able to work with one or two of my classmates? That would not only tie me to them but also them to me. It wouldn't be flexible." Naruto critiqued in a heavily subdued anger, as his hands lay at his sides clenched. Hiruzen, noticing that this wasn't going to go anywhere he liked, sighed as he stared out of the window after standing from his seat.

"I won't order you to attend the academy, Naruto. But I would strongly reconsider this course of action. You can't rely solely on yourself outside the village walls." Hiruzen warned the Uzumaki in a grave, stern tone to which Naruto clicked his tongue in disgust.

"You're naïve, Hokage-sama. To believe that your people will change the way you want them to." Naruto spat as he walked to the door, as Iruka was about to stop the boy's retreat but was quickly ordered by the Hokage not to. Upon arriving at the door, he paused, "I'm not my father, Hiruzen. This village didn't give me the chance to." Naruto muttered as his body flickered out of the building entirely.

Regretfully staring out toward his village, the aged Hokage puffed at his pipe. All the while, the chunin instructor was still processing the encounter in both shock and anger. "Calm yourself, Iruka. He is justified in what he said. I should've done more." Hokage uttered in a soft bitterness, turning to return back to his seat and his arrays of paperwork. Iruka, on the other hand, was still frozen, only this time in utter confusion but eventually gathered himself, straightening up as he did.

"I believe you have a class still in session. I'd suggest you start teaching them, don't you?" Hiruzen spoke with a smile at the momentarily mortified Iruka, with said chunin quickly bowing and exiting the room. After the instructor had left the room, Hiruzen slumped in his chair, his hands covering his face in shame and slight disappointment. Glancing at the portrait of his successor, his eye twitched a little. "You've left quite the mess to clean up my friend. Quiet the mess indeed." He mused, puffing his pipe some more all the while.

Sitting at his desk, hands in his hair, flipping through countless pages of some of the books that he had been given by the Hokage as the start of his inheritance. Scoffing at the thought, he quickly lent back in his chair, staring up at the pasty-white ceiling. A lot of the class seemed cordial. It was only a matter of time, however, before their parents realised that I was in their class. Naruto affirmed to himself as he closed his eyes, the thoughts flowing through his mind rampant and rioting.

Suddenly, the front door echoed in a soft knock, snapping the boy out of his thoughts as he quickly stood up and exited his room. Approaching the door, he felt a shiver fall down his spine and the air grew stale and cold. Opening the door, he was met with the figure of a seemingly broken man, bandages rampant across his body specifically around his right arm and eye and around his forehead. The x-crossed scar on his chin solidifies the man's identity as the young Uzumaki.

"Danzo-sama, what can I help you with?" Naruto asked with respect, not knowing exactly what to expect from an Elder of Hiruzen's advisors. Danzo, meanwhile, gave nothing in his brown, cold eyes. Raising an eyebrow at the man's silence he quickly caught on, "Umm, please come inside." Naruto quickly ushered him as the two entered the apartment, with Naruto unaware of the dead ANBU laying directly above his apartment.

As they sat down in the kitchen, separated by a circle-top wooden table they stared at each other. "What is your goal, Uzumaki-san?" Danzo questioned, out of the blue, his tone as dead as his looks to the boy. Surprised by the question, Naruto raised an eyebrow but quickly broke eye contact for a moment, glancing at the table and then staring off into the sunset.

"Peace, Danzo-sama. Peace for us all." Naruto answered honestly, not noticing the slight twitch in the elder's eyes at the clear influence of his old friend on the boy. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes to achieve that, Danzo-sama. My life if I have to." Naruto affirmed his gaze now onto the man across from him, staring at the man's appreciative glance.

Sighing, he placed his hands together on the table, leaning onto it as he did. "What would you say if you were given an avenue to the strength you seek, that lay outside of conventional means?" Danzo asked sternly, watching the boy's every action, his emotions, gestures, and body language. Naruto, on the other hand, gazed at the table in thought.

"It would depend on the avenue, the price to short-term strength might not always end up in what was originally desired. Being unconventional, however, is not a problem." Naruto pondered, seeing out of the corner of his eye the quiet nod of the Shimura.

"I am inviting you to join my branch of the ANBU, where you'll receive the training you require and the combat experience you need," Danzo said in earnest, the boy's reaction was of shock and indecision.

"ROOT was shut down under the order of our current Hokage, Danzo-sama. This group shouldn't be in operation." Naruto carefully stated, Danzo giving the boy a warmer smile, breaking the cold exterior that he had presented since the beginning of their encounter.

"Hiruzen lacks the spine to do what is needed, you of all can attest to that." Danzo countered with a subtle bitterness, to which Naruto couldn't help but agree. Seeing the look in the boy's eyes, seeing the decision in his eyes already, Danzo smirked.

"Then I would join Danzo-sama. May we be successful in bringing peace to this world."

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

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Stay safe and I hope to see you in the next chapter and beyond.