Story Title: LEARNING CURVE

Series: The Way of Shadows, The Way of Shinobi (1/3)

Warnings: OC Children being jerks? Don't worry they only appear for convenience and plot and likely won't hear from them again later. Naruto being a little disrespectful, so basic Naruto.

"Speech"

'Thought'

Chapter Four: Naruto's Jiji

It had been awhile since Naruto had felt that prickly feeling at the back of his neck that let him know he was being watched. Plenty of people still stared but it wasn't the same as when that ninja – it had to be a ninja- watched and followed him. That didn't mean that the Uzuamki had stopped trying to find whoever it was nor did it stop him from feeling a bit disappointed when he couldn't find him anywhere in the village. He hoped that the ninja was just on a mission and hadn't decided he didn't like him anymore. He tried to keep practicing with the rubber kunai he'd scavenged and was sure that had been given to him by the ninja. When he'd thrown them at him he'd never asked for them back nor did he collect them when he left. So Naruto felt confident that they were now his. He had painstakingly made sure he'd gotten every single one.

It was hard to practice though because the other kids at the orphanage had tried to take them when they had seen them. The older kids and the adults tried to say that he needed to share and that they weren't really his. It wasn't fair because they never had to share with him! Naruto had tried to hide them after he stole them back and snuck them out of the orphanage. Unfortunately, they were found because he hadn't dug his hole deep enough and another time because he hadn't realized he was being followed by some of the older kids who once again decided that Naruto needed to share. They had waited until he was busy trying to repeatedly hit the same spot on a tree – more like trying to hit the same tree or even the same branch – when the group of three made their move.

"That wasn't very nice, Uzumaki."

Naruto turned to see three of the meanest boys in the orphanage. They were all a few years older than him and attended the Academy. The oldest one, Asuka, was the one that had bragged that if you were going to the Academy and were an orphan than you could apply for an apartment and live by yourself just like a grown up! Except, he had failed the first two times he applied for the academy. Naruto had seen one of the Carers comforting him and telling him that he just wasn't ready and he would surely get it next time. He had, but he was still at the orphanage and meaner than ever. If what the blond had overheard the bully hadn't been able to get a placement outside.

Itsuki and Jun weren't as bad as Asuka but still mean and liked to push the younger kids around. They hadn't moved out either. Naruto didn't know why since as soon as he was going to the Academy he would want away from the orphanage so he wouldn't have to worry anymore about 'sharing'. If it had been anyone else but these three, Naruto might have hesitantly asked if they wanted to practice too. As it was both Itsuki and Jun were crouched over the pile of rubber kunai busily stuffing them into their pockets and waistbands. Asuka was gripping one in his hand as he glared at the Uzumaki.

"You shouldn't take what doesn't belong to you."

"I didn't. Those are mine dattebayo!"

A mean smile crossed the older boy's face as he scoffed. "No. They're ours now. We're the ones at the Academy. We're the ones that are going to be shinobi."

"Yeah, you're not even close to starting there." Jun had decided to add to the conversation. He had failed the entrance exam only once while Itsuki had gotten in on the first try. All three of the boys didn't believe that Naruto had a chance of ever attending or at least not on his first try. They were also old enough to realize and take advantage of the fact that the grown up seemed to not like the blond very much.

"Give those back."

"Or what?" Itsuki demanded not believing that the short little blond could do anything about it just like at the orphanage.

Naruto didn't waste anymore words as he ran and tackled the still crouching boy causing him to fall. They rolled around in the dirt for awhile before the blond was overwhelmed. It might have been a dirty move, but Naruto was angry and didn't care as he threw dirt into the eyes of the nearest boy before he took off running into the woods. He hadn't wanted those boys to see him cry. He had vowed that when all tears brought was more confusion and hurt.

When he got back to the orphanage the carers there liked that he had come back filthy. Naruto got a scolding then after he was washed up and brought before the matron was questioned about his earlier activities.

"Uzumaki-kun?" the matron pressed when he stayed silent.

"Walking," he sullenly replied not looking up from where his gaze stayed on his toes and a knot in the floor.

"Did you trip?"

He shrugged and the matron sighed. That was one thing he learned early on, you didn't tattle unless you wanted the ones you tattled on to mess with you more. When asked if the other three had been with him, Naruto shook his head and was happy to be dismissed with only a scolding. His luck only held out until the next day when he was once more in front of the matron who demanded he tell the truth this time. Asuka, Jun, and Itsuki were also in the office with varying expressions of disgruntlement.

"You will not leave your shinobi equipment where younger children can get their hands on them and possibly hurt themselves. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Hiyashi-san," all three petulant children answered nearly in sync with anotehr.

Giving the three a stern look and a nod, the woman than turned to Naruto expression unchanging. "Uzumaki-kun, these three say that you have stolen some of their shinobi training equipment. You know that stealing is against the rules not to mention you could have hurt yourself or someone else."

"They stole from me, dattebayo!"

The woman gave a put upon sigh as if she really regretted her life choices that had her put up with disrespectful children day after day without a word of thanks. "Is that why you stole from them? To get even?"

"What?" Naruo wasn't quite sure what the woman was getting at but thought he understood that she was asking if he stole back what was his. "They took the kunai shinobi-san gave me so I took them back?"

Asuka snorted in disbelief while Jun and Itsuki stared with puzzled expression before glancing to the matron and back to Naruto. The matron had paused and gave the blond a searching look before she sighed again. Her expression changed to that of one humoring a child, but Naruto didn't pick up on that only happy to have a chance at being believed when asked, "And what is the name of the shinobi who gave them to you?"

"Uh..." Deflating, he admitted, "I don't know."

"That's 'cause there was no shinobi," Asuka sneered. "As if someone would trust you with anything like a kunai. Even a rubber one."

"He did too! He was going to treat me to ramen when I could hit him with one, believe it!"

This time all three boys snickered but quickly went silent as they quailed under the matron's look. "Watanabe-kun, Minami-kun, Tanabe-kun, you can leave now."

There was another chorus of "Yes, Hiyashi-san," as the trio shuffled out with Asuka pausing at the doorway. "Does this mean we can have our gear back?"

"We will discuss that later, Minami-kun."

Recognizing the danger from the matron's tone of voice, Asuka quickly fled after his friends.

"Now, Uzumaki-kun," she started to say before Naruto interrupted her.

"You're not going to give them my kunai are you?"

The matron believed the older boys more for the fact that she knew the rumors circulating about the blond child. She didn't like him anymore than the others, but she also would do her duty to the children under her care. If she more inclined to believe the other boys, it was because it made more sense to her. No one liked the Uzumaki, so she didn't see why anyone would give him anything resembling training equipment to become a ninja. She had never attended the Academy so believed the boys when they said they had checked them out from a teacher and were supposed to return them. She also knew that Naruto very much kept claiming that he was going to be a ninja and wanted to enter the academy as soon as he could. She would have put it past him to have taken the toys to play with and once caught decided to try and shift blame.

"Can you prove that they are yours?"

"We can ask, shinobi-san."

"And do you know where we can find him?"

Naruto's shoulders slumped further. "No. I think he's on a mission."

'Convenient.' Sighing the matron shook her head. Opening her drawer, she pulled out one of the rubber kunai and after making sure it was locked, stood and headed for the door."Come with me, Uzumaki-kun."

Full of curiosity and hoping that he was believed, Naruto began to follow her. "Where are we going? Do you know where shinobi-san lives?"

"No. We're going to see the Hokage."

As the blond tried to bolt, the woman's hand snaked out faster than the boy could escape and soon had his ear captured between two fingers.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow." Naruto complained as he had no choice but to follow the woman unless he wanted her to tear off his ear and have only one ear. Along the way, he could feel his face becoming hotter and hotter as they walked through the village. Naruto kept his eyes down to keep from tripping, so he wouldn't see the stares, and so they wouldn't see him fighting not to cry.

The only upside that the blond could see was that it wasn't a school day so the Academy was mostly empty of children. On their way through through the administrative building, Naruto's gaze lifted to see Genin teams, Chuunin, and Jounin, as they either came to get their missions or left having obtained a mission scroll. The blond wanted to peek into the room, but was pulled along causing the boy to mutter, "Hag," under his breath.

The secretary was quick about seeing if the Hokage would see them after a brief explanation of what the two were doing there. Once escorted inside, the matron had finally let go of his ear and Naruto quickly moved out of arms reach and rubbed his aching ear with a pout on his face.

"Hokage-sama," the woman bowed respectfully and went to make sure the Uzumaki bowed as well, but saw that he wasn't within reach. The boy stubbornly refused to be polite and was looking around at everything he could see. At least he wasn't moving to touch anything he shouldn't!

There was a thoughtful hum before the Hokage replied, "Hiyashi-san, if I am not mistaken?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama. I am the current Matron of the orphanage."

"Hmm." All the reports he'd received from the ANBU as well as the woman's background came back as clean. She didn't coddle the Uzumaki in her charge but she didn't really coddle any of the children under her care. She was excellent had her job ensuring that all the children had food and clothing, that the orphanage's upkeep was seen to. The one that was most important in Hiruzen's book was that the woman to date hadn't hired anyone that wouldn't care for the children's basic needs; including Naruto's. There had only been one slip up which wasn't entirely the woman's fault and she had immediately reported to the Hokage after quickly getting Naruto's ANBU's attention. While it was clear she had no love for the Uzumaki, she didn't actively hate the child either.

Sarutobi's gaze went to Naruto who was looking at the photos on the wall of the Hokages. At one particular picture his young face screwed up in confusion. Pointing he turned to look at Hiruzen. "Hey, gramps, is that really you?"

"Indeed, it is."

"That must have been taken ages ago!"

"Uzumaki-kun!" The incensed matron felt her fingers twitch wanting to twist the boy's ear. As if sensing that, the boy flinched and took another large, very unsubtle step away from her.

The Hokage on the other hand laughed causing both relief and confusion in the small boy. Grown ups were weird. Since he wasn't being yelled at, he wanted to know, "How come your picture isn't after the Yondaime?"

Even he knew who the Yondaime was. It was hard not to when it had only been almost four years since he died.

"Because that place is for the Godaime's picture."

"Who's that?"

"We don't have one yet."

"Why not? You're really old, gramps." Naruto squinted at the old man as if waiting for him to either keel over any second or if he was trying to trick him with a henge.

"Uzumaki-kun!"

"It's true, dattebayo. The rest of them are old but not ancient."

"Uzumaki-kun!" This time the matron's voice sounded scandalized embarrassment. Her mortified expression pleaded with the Hokage to forgive the impudent child.

Laughter drowned out the woman's indignation. Sarutobi enjoyed the child's refreshing honesty. Children's honesty was one of the reasons the man liked to wander the streets when he was on his breaks. He would from time to time descend down to the Academy grounds or classrooms to talk with the students and on occasion give a lesson. Oh, they would try and be polite notably those children from a clan who were expected to uphold the etiquette lessons drilled into them. There would be those that would forget or become comfortable and act like the children they were and blurt things out such as the Uzumaki did unconscious of the rules of rudeness.

"I suppose to a child any adult is old," he mused aloud than he cleared his throat and stated, "What was this about Naruto-kun and stealing?"

"I didn't steal, dattebayo!" Naruto puffed up in righteous indignation.

"You admitted you stole these from Minami-kun," the matron deadpanned as she presented the rubber kunai whose ownership was in dispute. She set it on the Hokage's desk when it looked as if Naruto was debating trying to snatch it from her hand uncaring who else was present.

A scowl that would look fierce if it were on adult only came across as a pout. "Only 'cause he stole them from me first."

That was when the matron told what had happened about the three boys accusing the Uzuamki from stealing, the boys' statements that they would get into trouble with the Academy teacher they'd borrowed them from. How neither side was admitting who the real owner was, Naruto's claim of them being a present from a shinobi. At the mention of that, Sarutobi sighed and felt like massaging his temples. What he really wanted to do was take a walk or relax with some nice calligraphy and not have to think of the headache that was Shiro. He'd gotten the reports that the man still stalked their jinchuuriki and the incident with the rubber kunai. According to the Yamanka he had assigned to the traveler, it was done to try and teach Naruto had to dodge or at the very least be able to sense someone who was at least five meters away.

"It appears that Naruto-kun was the one telling the truth." Sarutobi internally winced at the small jerk that Naruto's body did as he gaped at the Hokage in astonishment. Those blue eyes lit up and a mouth that had been scowling seconds earlier spread wide in a happy grin. He shouldn't have been so surprised that he would be believed, his honesty doubted. He continued on as if the boy's reaction didn't make him feel guilty. "The Academy doesn't carry these type of kunai. Nor do they allow a student to 'borrow' any equipment."

"I see." Hiyashi didn't look at all happy at having been deceived. She was in fact embarrassed to have wasted the Hokage's time but also that she had fooled so easily.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Hiyahsi-san. You are civilian born. Anyone that has attended the Academy would have known that that the other boys were lying." She also didn't have the ANBU reports of a certain shinobi who like to throw these things at the Uzumaki.

"If you'll excuse me, Hokage-sama, I have some miscreants to discipline."

"Of course. Naruto-kun, stay behind, please."

To the woman's credit she at least glanced at the blond to check the blond's expression before leaving the office. Naruto hadn't stopped smiling, but it had dimmed a little and a bit of hesitation began to show in his body language. To try and put the boy back at ease, Hiruzen smiled and that immediately caused the other's to increase back to where it had been. He hadn't planned on getting involved in the boy's life until he was at least in the Academy, but it seems that the incident that Shiro had unknowingly instigated threw a wrench in that. Hiruzen wouldn't have put it past him to have done exactly what he had done for this very purpose. To put the Uzumaki in the Hokage's path.

"Does this mean I can have my kunai back? I gotta practice so I can hit shinobi-san next time he shows up...Is he on a mission, Gramps?"

"Who is your shinobi-san?"

The blond scuffed one foot along the wooden floor as he shrugged. "He won't tell me. He hides. But I'll know after I get him with the kunai, believe it! So, can I have it back?"

Knowing he was going to regret this, Hiruzen went to hand the weighted toy back to him, but then pulled back as he got an idea. Naruto who'd been reaching for it, felt a bit betrayed and thought that the Hokage had changed his mind. Instead, he watched curious as the man took out a brush and began to make squiggles on it.

"What are you doing?"

"Just a moment, Naruto-kun."

The boy huffed but then decided that since he wasn't being shooed away, to look around the office again and frowned at all the papers and scrolls. He was drawn to the windows where he gazed out with an open mouth. You can see the whole village from here!"

Hiruzen's mouth quirked as he stood and joined the boy at the windows. "Almost. Here."

When he turned, Naruto saw that his kunai was being held out to him again, and this time before the old man could change his mind again, he snatched it. Inspecting it, he squinted at the inked lines on the hilt. "What's that mean?"

"That, Naruto-kun, is your name."

"Now they can't say I stole it! You're the best, Gramps!" Impulsively he hugged the old man who believed and helped him so that Asuka and the others couldn't take it now! A hand patted his head.

"Would you like to learn to write it for yourself?"

Moving his head back to stare wide eyes at the man, Naruto gaped before he grinned and nodded eagerly. He spent the rest of the afternoon happily if at times filled with frustration, practicing how to write his name. The few shinobi who came through would blink, glance at the blond bent diligently over his paper on the floor, then would act as if he wasn't there.

That settled a precedent. Naruto, whenever he was bored and couldn't search out his shinobi, would go see the Hokage. The receptionist had come to realize that the blond wouldn't budge until she'd gone into the office to let the Hokage know he was there. If he was busy, the Uzumaki would squint at her as if he could tell if she was lying and she'd roll her eyes, escort him out and go back to work. On days that he was let in, he would continue to practice his name or ask about the Hokage's paperwork. Of course most of the time upon getting his answer, Naruto would whine that it sounded boring!

-To Be Continued-

(うずまき ナルト) – Uzumaki Naruto in hiragana which is what it seems to be commonly written out as.

A.N. - I know this chapter is short but I believe I should have the next chapter out next weekend.