The dawning sun's rays glittered across his sandy blonde hair, the pale
highlights glittered from each individual strand, causing his hair to look
almost white at times. The shine upon his cheeks warmed his lightly tanned
skin in a pleasurable manner, and he couldn't help but smile at the
feeling.
Through squinted blue eyes, he spotted his target, leapt high into the air, and through the kunai-knife head had in his hand. The blade sailed and struck the bulls-eye perfectly, just as the last 20 or so knives he had thrown had struck.
He was getting pretty good at shuriken and kunai-knife training, in fact, even Sasuke had allowed Naruto a bit of pride and complimented a few of his extraordinary throws.
Yes, Uzumaki Naruto was in his prime this early in the morning. He had been up extra early this morning so he could be sure he was at his best when Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, and the beautiful Haruna Sakura arrived.
Yup, Naruto was the type to show off, and who better to show off in front of then the prettiest girl in all of Konoha?
Naruto presumed that nobody was better to show off in front of, and therefore continued to train. Already sweat was glazing his skin, adding an extra sheen in the dawning light. It didn't help that Naruto was wearing a heavy jacket, but he wore it every day and would never stop wearing it. He loved this jacket, perhaps it was because he was wearing this jacket when he first became a Gennin when the days were still cold.
He looked up from his training into the blinding light, his already squinted eyes squinted further.
"Naruto?"
"Oro?"
He turned and spotted the illuminated figures of Sakura and Sasuke coming from the treeline.
"You're early, even for you." Sakura said, smiling despite herself.
Naruto was her friend as well, and though her love was only for Sasuke, she now found herself enjoying Naruto's company. His smile with the slightly pointed teeth, and his laughter were just priceless. Nobody was like Naruto, he was one in a million, and she was happy they were friends.
Naruto smiled his trademark smile at that, and then tossed an azure glance at Sasuke who was smirking at him.
"Training, Naruto? You're still never going to be as good as me, dunce."
Naruto glared, but he knew by now that Sasuke was joking with him. Everyone had seen Naruto in action, and where Sasuke could not defeat the mighty Gaara, Naruto the fox-demon boy DID. Sasuke respected Naruto more than he respected most people. He held Naruto, Sakura, Lee, Neji, Gaara, and his sensei- Kakashi, in the highest respect. They all had proven themselves to be very talented Ninjas of Konoha at some point or another, and it meant a lot to Sasuke to know that they respected him as more than just an Uchiha as well.
They respected him as Sasuke, Chuunin-to-be, not Sasuke survivor of the Uchiha massacre.
Naruto crossed his arms over his puffed-out chest.
"And what exactly is THAT supposed to mean?"
"It means exactly how it sounds, dunce, you will never be as good as me."
Naruto glared, and Sasuke glared back.
Just when Sakura thought they might go at each other like rabid dogs, they both began to laugh, this was their thing.
They were like brothers now, Naruto trusted Sasuke and Sasuke trusted Naruto. Maybe they didn't tell each other the BIG secrets, like the fact that Sasuke DID consider Naruto a brother, one like Itaachi had once been a long time ago.
And Naruto never told Sasuke that he, Kakashi, Sakura, and Iruka were the only ones that made life worth living initially.
The small group practiced, using dulled Shuriken to throw at each other to practice their aim. Sakura had excellent aim, as usual, Sasuke had impressive aim, almost always hitting his target, but Naruto's was the most astounding. So much extra training allowed him to hit even Sasuke running, Sakura and Sasuek were both greatly impressed.
"Naruto-kun, when did you learn to do that?" Asked Sakura as she inspected the bruise from one of Naruto's perfect throws.
"He's been practicing, at least an extra 5 hours a day with Shuriken and Kunai knives, more than either of you."
The 3 youths turned to face their teacher, Kakashi- Who was late as usual (I got lost on the road of life! ). His wind-swept silver hair flowed casually off to one side, his hitai-ate positioned just enough to completely cover his left eye, but tilted so the right one remained uncovered. A flimsy stretchy masked covered the bottom half of his face, so the only thing truly uncovered was his right eye. The teacher, with his tall stature commanded respect no matter what he was doing, even reading his favourite books: Icha Icha Paradise (Make-out Paradise, Come-Come Paradise, etc). He was Konoha's pride Copy Ninja Genius, and assigned to teach the only NOT evil Uchiha left alive, and the Kyuubi boy.
Sasuke blinked, he hadn't expected Naruto to be training so extensively! Oh well, not that he couldn't beat Naruto even at this in just a few extra days of training!
"Anyway... We teachers have been talking, and we think it's about time you got to know each other a bit better..."
"Uh oh. We're not switching teams, are we?"
"No, but all of the students will be spending a week together on a retreat, and the teachers will be there as well. None of you need worry about not seeing little old me." Kakashi winked happily, a smile could be barely seen through the mask and just the way he crouched and seemed to be bouncing on the balls of his feet screamed that this would be fun.
Sasuke groaned, that would mean spending more time with Tenten and Ino? Two more girls who would try to latch themselves on to him wherever he went...
Sakura groaned, that would mean Sasuke spending time with Tenten and Ino? Two girls who would try and steal Sasuke away from her?
Naruto smiled. He liked the other kids. Dog-brows was funny in an odd way, Kiba liked the same things he did, Shikamaru was pretty cool, he held nothing against Shino or Chouji. And even though he didn't like Neji, Tenten or Ino all that much (especially Neji.. stupid self-centred jerk!), Hinata was such a nice girl... Actually... She was kind of... Pretty too. It was so nice of her to give him that ointment after he fought Kiba in the last Chunnin exam, after all...
The others noticed the slight blush across Naruto's cheeks, but didn't even both asking. The last time anything that had to do with Hinata had been mentioned, he had begun blushing as well... It was obvious that he liked her, even if he wasn't so sure about it yet.
"Anyway, we'll continue training for now, but we're off to my special training spot around 8:00 tonight to meet the others..."
Through squinted blue eyes, he spotted his target, leapt high into the air, and through the kunai-knife head had in his hand. The blade sailed and struck the bulls-eye perfectly, just as the last 20 or so knives he had thrown had struck.
He was getting pretty good at shuriken and kunai-knife training, in fact, even Sasuke had allowed Naruto a bit of pride and complimented a few of his extraordinary throws.
Yes, Uzumaki Naruto was in his prime this early in the morning. He had been up extra early this morning so he could be sure he was at his best when Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, and the beautiful Haruna Sakura arrived.
Yup, Naruto was the type to show off, and who better to show off in front of then the prettiest girl in all of Konoha?
Naruto presumed that nobody was better to show off in front of, and therefore continued to train. Already sweat was glazing his skin, adding an extra sheen in the dawning light. It didn't help that Naruto was wearing a heavy jacket, but he wore it every day and would never stop wearing it. He loved this jacket, perhaps it was because he was wearing this jacket when he first became a Gennin when the days were still cold.
He looked up from his training into the blinding light, his already squinted eyes squinted further.
"Naruto?"
"Oro?"
He turned and spotted the illuminated figures of Sakura and Sasuke coming from the treeline.
"You're early, even for you." Sakura said, smiling despite herself.
Naruto was her friend as well, and though her love was only for Sasuke, she now found herself enjoying Naruto's company. His smile with the slightly pointed teeth, and his laughter were just priceless. Nobody was like Naruto, he was one in a million, and she was happy they were friends.
Naruto smiled his trademark smile at that, and then tossed an azure glance at Sasuke who was smirking at him.
"Training, Naruto? You're still never going to be as good as me, dunce."
Naruto glared, but he knew by now that Sasuke was joking with him. Everyone had seen Naruto in action, and where Sasuke could not defeat the mighty Gaara, Naruto the fox-demon boy DID. Sasuke respected Naruto more than he respected most people. He held Naruto, Sakura, Lee, Neji, Gaara, and his sensei- Kakashi, in the highest respect. They all had proven themselves to be very talented Ninjas of Konoha at some point or another, and it meant a lot to Sasuke to know that they respected him as more than just an Uchiha as well.
They respected him as Sasuke, Chuunin-to-be, not Sasuke survivor of the Uchiha massacre.
Naruto crossed his arms over his puffed-out chest.
"And what exactly is THAT supposed to mean?"
"It means exactly how it sounds, dunce, you will never be as good as me."
Naruto glared, and Sasuke glared back.
Just when Sakura thought they might go at each other like rabid dogs, they both began to laugh, this was their thing.
They were like brothers now, Naruto trusted Sasuke and Sasuke trusted Naruto. Maybe they didn't tell each other the BIG secrets, like the fact that Sasuke DID consider Naruto a brother, one like Itaachi had once been a long time ago.
And Naruto never told Sasuke that he, Kakashi, Sakura, and Iruka were the only ones that made life worth living initially.
The small group practiced, using dulled Shuriken to throw at each other to practice their aim. Sakura had excellent aim, as usual, Sasuke had impressive aim, almost always hitting his target, but Naruto's was the most astounding. So much extra training allowed him to hit even Sasuke running, Sakura and Sasuek were both greatly impressed.
"Naruto-kun, when did you learn to do that?" Asked Sakura as she inspected the bruise from one of Naruto's perfect throws.
"He's been practicing, at least an extra 5 hours a day with Shuriken and Kunai knives, more than either of you."
The 3 youths turned to face their teacher, Kakashi- Who was late as usual (I got lost on the road of life! ). His wind-swept silver hair flowed casually off to one side, his hitai-ate positioned just enough to completely cover his left eye, but tilted so the right one remained uncovered. A flimsy stretchy masked covered the bottom half of his face, so the only thing truly uncovered was his right eye. The teacher, with his tall stature commanded respect no matter what he was doing, even reading his favourite books: Icha Icha Paradise (Make-out Paradise, Come-Come Paradise, etc). He was Konoha's pride Copy Ninja Genius, and assigned to teach the only NOT evil Uchiha left alive, and the Kyuubi boy.
Sasuke blinked, he hadn't expected Naruto to be training so extensively! Oh well, not that he couldn't beat Naruto even at this in just a few extra days of training!
"Anyway... We teachers have been talking, and we think it's about time you got to know each other a bit better..."
"Uh oh. We're not switching teams, are we?"
"No, but all of the students will be spending a week together on a retreat, and the teachers will be there as well. None of you need worry about not seeing little old me." Kakashi winked happily, a smile could be barely seen through the mask and just the way he crouched and seemed to be bouncing on the balls of his feet screamed that this would be fun.
Sasuke groaned, that would mean spending more time with Tenten and Ino? Two more girls who would try to latch themselves on to him wherever he went...
Sakura groaned, that would mean Sasuke spending time with Tenten and Ino? Two girls who would try and steal Sasuke away from her?
Naruto smiled. He liked the other kids. Dog-brows was funny in an odd way, Kiba liked the same things he did, Shikamaru was pretty cool, he held nothing against Shino or Chouji. And even though he didn't like Neji, Tenten or Ino all that much (especially Neji.. stupid self-centred jerk!), Hinata was such a nice girl... Actually... She was kind of... Pretty too. It was so nice of her to give him that ointment after he fought Kiba in the last Chunnin exam, after all...
The others noticed the slight blush across Naruto's cheeks, but didn't even both asking. The last time anything that had to do with Hinata had been mentioned, he had begun blushing as well... It was obvious that he liked her, even if he wasn't so sure about it yet.
"Anyway, we'll continue training for now, but we're off to my special training spot around 8:00 tonight to meet the others..."