My alarm clock blared. Getting dressed I ran, out of the orphanage and towards the academy. In my earlier years I would often get lost on the way, that was the case until they taught us to climb and jump. I started using the rooftop highway then. Today was the first day of, hopefully, my last year at the academy.

Our new teacher, Iruka-sensei, introduced himself and stated explaining today's lesson. We would be sparring, my worst topic.

The students would be separated into pairs, then each pair would spar. They would each be scored according to how well they fought.

The boy I was pared with. Shino, I think his name was. He wore round black sunglasses and a long closed cloak, other than the traditional sandals I couldn't see any other notable traits. Though as our match began I noticed a chittering sound, it was distracting and I couldn't tell where it came from.

Our match didn't last long, while I could evade some of his blows, he dodged or blocked all of mine. I lost quite quickly.

The rest of the day went by quickly until our last lesson of the day. We where reviewing and practicing the transformation jutsu. I was terrible at the technique, I could never get the eyes right. They would always come out the same as mine. White with no pupal.

"You all did quite well. Though, Kuro you need to practice a bit more on the eyes" where the parting words Iruka-sensei said before dismissing us.

As I walked out from the entrance, something caught my eye. Aside from the other kids getting picked up, there was one sat across from the group on a swing facing towards us.

The first noticeable trait, his bright orange jacket, seems designed to make him stand out. A poor choice for a ninja. Odd, I feel like I've seem him before... Right! He's in my class. I think his name was... Naruto? His face is kind of unsettling, a deep sadness. All together hidden and at the same time plain to see. I, along with all the other children at the orphanage, had been told to stay away from him. That rule was completely forgotten once I looked into his eyes.

"Hello! Where in the same class aren't we?" he was startled by my sudden approach and took a bit to respond. "yeah?" He squinted at me, a suspicious expression on his face. "I was wondering if you had plans today, cause I'd like your help with transformation." The look of surprise and joy on his face was impressive.

The next thing I new we where out in a clearing of the forest. I performed the jutsu, turning into a replica of Naruto. Almost, again I messed up the eyes. "I keep having trouble with the eyes." Naruto nodded, doing his best to look sagely, then tried to help me fix my issue.

Over the next several days, Naruto and I would meet up in that clearing and work together on our jutsu. I took roughly a week until "Finally! We did it!" We kept the routine meeting up after lessons to train together, it was a lot of fun. We would spar then study our homework and jutsu.

As the year went on we eventually reached graduation. With our training sessions Naruto has improved a lot. He could now produce a functional clone, though multiple was still tricky for him. I could swear it's like Iruka-sensei was the first person to actually try and teach him something useful. The final test was on the shadow clone jutsu. Though we did have a pop quiz earlier in the day due to Naruto vandalising the great stone faces. It was pretty funny to be honest.

After making three clones, while they barely held themselves together, they where good enough to pass. Naruto was not as lucky, my older friend had failed, for the third time in a row. I almost said sorry, except he had a steely look of determination in his eye.

I ended up watching Naruto clean off the great stone faces. "Naruto, how bout after your done we go get ramen?" after those words from Iruka-sensei Naruto had the faces clean in fifteen minutes. I ended up tagging along, though instead of ramen I was given my namesake, sukiyaki. I didn't even get a chance to order! My disappointment aside, the conversation was pleasant. After a while we parted ways and I went back to the orphanage to get some rest. After all, now I was a fully fledged ninja I would need all the strength I can get.

The next morning, I was pleasantly surprised. Strutting into the classroom with a smirk, Naruto. Another student tried to stop him, saying that only those that passed where supposed to be here, but Naruto simply pointed his thumb to his headband. He had passed.


AN: amma leave these here. Mainly just responses to any reviews I get or questions. As stated in the summary I will be mostly following cannon for the most part. At least up to bridge arc since that's where I'm up to reading the manga.