Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything else that may be metioned in this story, only my characters.

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A Shadow in the Dark

Chapter 1: The Teams

Shadow sighed to himself, staring up at the sky without much interest. Today, was a pretty normal day, nothing out of the ordinary. He was standing outside of the Ninja Academy with his two friends, Zero and Kazuki, as class had just let out for a break. Zero was staring at the ground, bored, and sighed and put his arms behind his head, closing his eyes. Kazuki, who was not paid attention to by his two friends, was planning a trick on Shadow.

'Heh...Maybe i can get Shadow with this...', Kazuki thought as he pulled out a balloon that was filled with Red paint and slowly creeped towards Shadow.

Kazuki creeped over towards Shadow quietly with a smirk on his face. But as he was about to reach Shadow, a hand had grabbed his wrist and held it firmly. Kazuki looked behind him and saw Shadow standing there, smiling.

"Now that isn't a good idea is it.", Shadow said as he took the balloon out of Kazuki's hands. He then saw Sakura walking by and had an idea. "Hey Kazuki, do you have another of these?", Shadow asked in a low tone. "Um...yeah here...", Kazuki said as he took another balloon out of his pocket and handed it to Shadow. Shadow then threw a balloon at Sakura quickly and when it hit her, he quickly slipped a balloon near Zero, who was sitting on the ground, not really paying attention. Sakura wiped the red paint off her eyes and looked over at Zero in a way of pure rage and anger. Zero looked over at Sakura and waved, "Hey Sakura!", he said as he smiled, but then suddenly, Sakura punched him in the face hard, making his nose bleed. Zero clenched his nose and yelled in pain. Shadow laughed as he saw Sakura take the balloon on the ground and smashed it on Zero's head.

Shadow brushed a bit of his hair out of his face as he walked over to Sakura and smiled. "Hey Sakura-Chan.", he said as he stood by her. "Sh-Shadow-Kun...Hey", she said, with a blush on her face. Shadow smiled and walked into the Academy as the bell rung to come back inside. The others got up and followed into the classroom.

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"Ok students, now we will be taking the exam to see which ones of you pass and witch don't pass," Iruka said, turning his glance directly at Naruto, who was messing around as usual.

"Tch...How annoying...," remarked a rather unamused Shadow.

"Ok, next up, hm...Uzaki Shadow.," Iruka said, checking something off a piece of paper.

Shadow walked up to the front of the classroom, sighing slightly.

"All you have to do is make as many clones as you can, Shadow-san," said Iruka.

"Really? Well I don't think many people would be able to pass by having to do that but ok...," Shadow said, as he formed several hand seals.

"Wait! Shadow! I...oh...," Iruka sighed as Shadow had already started.

Shadow unwrapped his handwraps and yelled, " Shadow Blood Clones," as blood started to seep out from his handwraps and slither on the ground, forming complete replicas of Shadow.

"Wow...this is...so this must be one of the sacred powerful techniques of the Uzaki clan...Um...go along Shadow, you pass.," Iruka said amazed, checking his name off the list.

The clones formed back into blood and seeped back up into his handwraps, as Shadow smirked and walked over to the desk and picked up a Black Headband with the Leaf symbol, then walked outside the classroom.

As Shadow walked outside, he put his headband on and sighed, looking around for someone. He walked around and saw Natsumi and walked over to her.

"Hey Natsumi-Chan! Did you pass," Shadow asked with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, of course Shadow-kun," she said happily as she hugged him. "You?"

Shadow just smirked and pointed at his headband, and Natsumi smiled.

Just then, a yellowish, bluish blur tackled Shadow from behind, making him fall to the ground.

"Shadow-kun! Do you want to go out with me? Huh? Please," yelled a squeeling Ino.

Shadow growled and threw her off him, "Go away. You're annoying.," Shadow said coldly and walked away, over to his friends to see if they passed.

Ino sat on the ground shocked, and growled, 'i will make you mine Shadow-kun!'

Shadow walked over to Kazuki and Zero, who both were wearing their headbands, Zero wearing it on his arm, Kazuki's wrapped around his neck.

"Hey guys, so i see you passed.," Shadow said, smirking slightly.

"Yeah..whatever...im bored out here...," Zero said dryly, walking around and staring at the sky.

"Feh. Guess he's still pissed off about the balloon thing.," Shadow said, laughing.

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Shadow and Zero walked along the road, staring into nothingness."So what's up? You ok," Shadow asked."Feh...Im fine...but Sakura-chan...," Zero sighed and looked at the ground."She probably hates me now or something...," he said quietly.Shadow smiled slightly and laughed. "Don't worry about it ok? She'll be o-," But Shadow was caught off as a figure hugged him from behind."Hey Natsumi-chan.," Shadow said smiling."Oi, Natsumi-ch-," Zero tried to say, but Sakura knocked him over and he fell on the side of the street as Sakura ran to Shadow."Hey Shadow-kun," Sakura squeeled as she peeled Natsumi off him and hugged him tightly.

"Hey Sakura-chan...," Shadow said dryly, pulling her off and going over to Zero."You alright," he asked, smiling and offering a hand to Zero.Zero grabbed his hand and stood up, dusting himself off. " I'm fine...," Zero said as he walked father ahead.Shadow sighed and walked over to Natsumi, who was sitting under a tree, staring at the sky."Oi, Natsumi-chan," He said, smiling and joining her under the tree."Hey Shadow-kun," she said, smiling and hugging him.Shadow smiled and grabbed her hand and picked her up. "Do you want to go do something? Are you hungry," Shadow asked her."Um...Yeah..I-I guess.," She said, blushing slightly. Shadow smiled and the two went and ate happily.

Afterwards, Shadow walked Natsumi home, and then walked off towards his own house. When he arrived, he washed up quickly, and got into to bed, staring at the ceiling. 'Hmm...sigh...i hope tomorrow is exciting...' and with that, he sighed and fell asleep.

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Shadow woke up, and washed up, then put on his Black pants, Black shirt, and wrapped on his hand wraps. He then slid on his scarf and put it around his neck and face, then took his headband, tied it on his head, and walked off into the kitchen.He looked over to the clock on the wall, which read 7:43 AM. 'Ok...i have a while to eat some ramen...good,' He thought as he quickly made some instant ramen and began to eat.Later, after he ate, he walked out side, turned on his CD player, and put on his headphones, turning the volume up high. He jumped down and landed on the ground, then began to walk towards the Ninja Academy. When Shadow arrived, he walked into the classroom and took a seat near his friends, Kazuki and Zero, and looked down at Naruto. "Naruto-kun?I thought you failed.," Shadow said, puzzled. Naruto pointed at his headband and had a wide smile on his face, "Well look at this, of course I Passed," Naruto said. Shadow laughed slightly and smiled, " Calm down Naruto-kun, I'm sure whatever you did was great enough to make you pass, whatever that was.," Shadow said. "Ayi, what's that suppose to mean?" Naruto asked looking at Shadow angrily.
"Nothing. Naruto-kun congratulations on passing." Shadow bowed his head to Naruto. Naruto did the same back and then looked over to see Ino and Sakura running into the class room.
"GOAL!" They both yelled at the same time.
"What!" Ino yelled, looking at Sakura.
"I beat you forehead girl!" Ino yelled. At this time Shadow had turned his attention to the two girls.
"Shut up Ino-pig I won!" Sakura yelled looking around; she focused her attention on Shadow, who was just staring back. She began to smile at him for a moment, before examine that the seats near him were taken. DAMN! she yelled in her head still staring at Shadow. Shadow smiled back and turned his attention to the front of the class again.
"You're, unusually early." Zero said suddenly. Shadow turned to him and waited a moment before replying.
"I've been here for ten minutes and you're just now pointing this out?" Shadow asked him. Kazuki began laughing as Shadow turned down his CD player.
"That's just how Zero-san is, slower than slow." Kazuki said still laughing.
"Whatever." Zero said looking down at the desk.
"Good morning Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled standing up waving at her. Sakura quickly ran by and knocked Naruto over.
"Out of my way!" She yelled. She quickly folded her hands together staring at Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun. May I sit with you?" She asked, Sasuke looked over at her for only a moment and didn't bother to respond.
"Might as well sit next to him, Sakura-chan." Shadow suddenly said. She looked over at Shadow who was staring intently at Sasuke. "I'm sure it would be organized that way, besides, Iruka-sensei will be here in a moment." Shadow then turned his attention to Naruto who was now in front of Sasuke on his desk staring directly into his eyes.
"I don't get what so great about him." Naruto said as Sasuke began to grow angry. Shadow just slightly smirked and began to enjoy this tension that filled the air so suddenly. "He's not that great." Naruto continued.
"Oh really?" A boy underneath Naruto asked, talking to his class mate that sat in front of him. His elbow nudged Naruto when he turned slightly knocking him forward causing Naruto to fall into Sasuke. Shadow's eyes widened, as he stared at Naruto and Sasuke, who were now kissing each other. They quickly pulled back and began coughing and spiting towards the ground.
"That was disgusting!" Naruto yelled still spiting at the ground. He then suddenly stopped and looked up at the wall. "I sense… danger." He said under his breath. He slowly turned around to see a mob of angry girls staring at him. At this Shadow began to laugh. Everyone quickly turned there attention to him.
"Sasuke-kun, I didn't know you were that kind of guy." He said looking at Sasuke. Sasuke turned back at him with a dirty look.
"Shut up Shadow-san." Sasuke said beginning to turn away.
"What's the matter Sasuke-san, want to fight me now? Or shall we wait. until a point where I can finally end that pathetic existence, you call a life?" Shadow asked standing up. Everyone looked over at Shadow surprised by his words, and anger they sensed from him. Sasuke also stood up and stared at Shadow with cold eyes.
"What the hell is your problem?" Sasuke asked clenching a fist.
"Shadow-kun…" Zero said suddenly becoming a bit afraid of what was happening. Shadow looked at the corner of his eye at Shadow then to the mob of girls who stood next to him.
"Shadow-kun, and Sasuke-kun fighting..." One of them said slowly. Shadow noticed that more then half the girls began to have stressed out looks on there faces. Shadow then smiled at Sasuke and laughed.
"You're too serious Sasuke-kun." He said laughing and sitting back down. "I was only kidding." He then returned his attention to the front of the room. After several moments a few of the girls began to disperse and the voices of the class room returned. Sasuke had sat back down and Naruto as well, with Sakura sitting in-between them. Shadow placed his hands together in front of him as he rested his mouth against them focusing his attention to the back of Sakura's head.
"That was a bit uncalled for." Kazuki said suddenly in a whispering tone. Shadow just shot him and look and returned his attention to Sakura's head again.
"I don't care…" Shadow replied. Zero looked over at Shadow as well.
"I don't get why you hate him so much. Don't you both share a similar past?" Zero asked. Shadow looked over at Zero with a cold stare and for several moments he didn't speak.
"Two people, look threw the same bars. One sees mud, the other sees stars." Shadow said as he turned his attention to Iruka who had just walked into the class room. Iruka began his explanation of how the teams would be divided into groups of three, but Shadow wasn't paying much attention to this.
"What team do you think you will be on?" Kazuki asked Shadow. Shadow shook his head and waited a moment before replaying.
"Most likely, yours and Zero's, but if you asked me whose team I'd rather be on…" Shadow said staring at Natsumi who was sitting on the opposite side of the room. Kazuki just smiled as he watched Shadow stare off.
"I see. No need to finish that sentence." Kazuki said. Iruka had begun calling out the team numbers.
"Team Six!" He announced. "Seika Kazuki, Zenhi Zero, and Uzaki Shadow." At the sound of Shadow's name a few sad sighs were let out. Zero just rolled his eyes and began twiddling his fingers. "Team seven." Iruka continued. Shadow laid down his head and began to go off into a meditated state.
"How annoying…" Zero's voice could be heard as he fell into a light sleep.

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-End Of Chapter-