I don't own anything related to the Naruto franchise


Chapter 4 - Introductions and Reunions


Naruto stood outside the classroom of class A1, as he took several deep and calming breaths, and prepared for his first day of ninja training. This, right here, was the hard part. Tomorrow would be easy. He just needed to get past this one hard moment in time... With a shake of his head, Naruto marched into the classroom and stood beside the teacher's desk exactly like he'd been asked to do by gramps. He was to meet a man by the name of Iruka Umino this morning, and that man was going to be his primary Sensei.

As it turns out, Naruto was early. For that reason, he was forced to stand at the front desk and wait for Umino to arrive, as the class slowly quieted down and commenced with the staring. Naruto wasn't embarrassed by his appearance, but maybe his extremely long and spiky hair was just a little tangled and wild? It was hard to say just by viewing the class around him, because right away he could see dozens of wildly different hair styles and colors. Either way, he was currently being stared at as if he was a particularly interesting bug, and it wasn't his favorite pastime...

"What's your name?"

Naruto smiled his gratitude at the boy with triangle shaped markings on his cheeks that had called out the question. Questions he could handle... Everyone's eyes quietly pressing down on his senses... not so much. Naruto stopped leaning on the desk, straightened out his posture and spoke in as clear a voice as he could. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Why are you here?" This time it was a somewhat forgettable boy with sandy brown hair.

"I'll be joining this class starting today." Naruto was struggling but succeeding to keep his voice both calm and unruffled.

"Well then... It's important that you understand just one thing... Slam! My name's Kiba and I'm the alpha here. Don't get in my way!" The triangle marked boy was standing on top of his desk now and beating his chest like a monkey.

Despite this Kiba boy's confrontational tone, Naruto was amused by his antics. He didn't appear to truly mean anything by it, he was just cocky in the extreme and oddly territorial like an animal. The boy might even be a member of the Inuzuka clan, in which case his odd behavior would make perfect sense. They were a clan of very animalistic trackers, and they'd given Naruto a Hell of a time when he'd first run away from Konoha. For weeks on end Naruto had ended up covered in his own piss because it was the only halfway decent way of throwing off their tracking animals and abilities. Thankfully for Naruto, their manhunt for him had eventually petered off, because he wasn't a fan of that particular odor and his sense of smell was acute.

Coming back to the here and now, Naruto looked the so-called "Alpha" boy in the eyes as he slowly nodded his understanding. "Duly noted," was all that he said in reply.

Kiba appeared to falter at Naruto's easy acceptance of his Alpha status, causing his mouth to bob open and closed several times. Then, all of the sudden, he rallied, smiled, pointed at Naruto and yelled out "so you're a coward then!"

Aiming to use the most effective body language that he could, Naruto cocked his head to the side as if he were a dog investigating a weird noise. He figured this pose would be especially meaningful for a boy from the Inuzuka clan. "Kiba... I can either give you what you want like I just did, or I can resist you to prove that I'm not a coward... Which one of those two options would you prefer that I do?"

Kiba had obviously never been just straight up asked that question before, because he was completely stunned into stillness by it. Finally, with no other option available to him, he loudly announced "you're weird," and then collapsed back into his seat.

Giggles erupted all around the room from boys and girls alike at the extremely odd confrontation.

Naruto had been called far worse things than "weird," so he just shrugged and leaned back against the desk again.

"Alright everyone, quiet down and go to your oh... Oh! Okay everyone, sit quickly and I'll introduce a new classmate." Iruka Umino looked ruffled by Naruto's very existence, but he was clearly trying to pull himself together. "This here is ninja trainee Naruto Uzumaki. He's a Konoha resident by birth, but he's been traveling for quite a while and only just recently returned to the village. Naruto, would you like to tell the class something about yourself?"

Naruto had been informed ahead of time that this question was likely to be asked, so he'd prepared an answer that might give him some leeway for odd behavior. "Yes... Thank you Sensei. My name, as you've heard twice now, is Naruto Uzumaki. I've been traveling for quite a while now, so I've never known any children my own age. I don't know much about playing around with friends, but I hope to get along with you all and enjoy being a trainee at this academy. My hobbies at the moment include training, hunting and eating. I look forward to getting to know you all." With that said, Naruto bowed to the class and then looked back towards Iruka Sensei.

"Well... There you have it everyone." Iruka was giving Naruto a sidelong look at this point, because the boy had delivered an extremely candid and mature variety of introduction. "When appropriate... Please approach and introduce yourself to Naruto. Naruto please take a seat anywhere that there's room."

Naruto was surprised that there wasn't a seating arrangement, so his eyes widened slightly as he quickly scanned the room. There were a lot of completely ambiguous faces, several eager female faces and then there were the heiresses Ino and Hinata. Naruto was going to assume that they were already aware of exactly who he is, due mostly to the way they both looked visibly ecstatic...

The pink haired girl to their left however, looked completely hostile.

For now at least, Naruto decided to keep his distance from the three of them. Turning his attention back towards the rest of the class, Naruto finally saw what he was looking for. He saw a boy sleeping on top of his desk and he knew that this could only be the lazy, genius Shikamaru Nara.

After nodding once again to Iruka Sensei, Naruto walked up the aisle to the sleeping boy, taking a seat on his right. When the sleeping boy cracked open an eye, Naruto nodded at him before doing the same for a chubby boy on Shikamaru's other side. Naruto's seat ended up being two rows in front of Ino and Hinata, so at this point he feared he'd feel their eyes on the back of his head for the entire duration of the class.

In the end though, the heiresses weren't Naruto's primary concern. Their pink haired friend was of several magnitudes worse… From this distance, the pink haired girl even smelled hostile, and Naruto just didn't get it. He was no stranger to scorn and hatred, but this girl didn't smell like that. Her scent was that of well behaved animosity, as if she were a well-trained and lethal hunting dog. After shrugging off both his backpack and his concerns, Naruto pulled out some writing utensils and waited for the lecture to begin.

One hundred and eighty mind numbingly boring minutes later...

Naruto was stunned... He was both shocked and appalled that this was the pace the class was moving at. Iruka was clearly a decent teacher and he tried, Kami help him, he tried, but his syllabus was... for imbeciles. The lengths that he'd gone to just to describe the simplest of things was absurd...

In the last hour and a half they'd learned the names and deeds of the first Four Hokage... and that was it. Oh there was a lot of talking and explaining in between, but that was the only thing of substance that had been touched upon. Naruto hoped to Kami that Alsea wasn't going to torture him in a similar fashion. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but by the Log he was not going to sit through this drivel more than once a day! It was so bad that Naruto had seriously considered drifting off like Shikamaru had... In the end however, Naruto decided to just tough it out for the rest of the day and then load up with self study for his classes in the future.

Either way it was time for lunch, so it was time for Naruto to make with the friendly...

Ino looked at Hinata, Hinata looked at Ino and then they both began to rise to their feet. Now was the time. They had some very pointed questions to ask the blond haired, whisker marked cutie, and they had zero intention of waiting to have them answered!

Unfortunately, they didn't move fast enough.

Before Ino and Hinata could even pick up their bags, they saw Sakura launch out of her chair to make a beeline in Naruto's direction. It happened so fast, they were left just standing there with twin shocked expressions upon their faces. Wait what?! Was Sakura already fangirling or something?

Rising out of his chair, Naruto pulled his backpack up onto his shoulder. Then, when he looked down at the sleeping boy, it was to find him waking up with perfect timing to eat his lunch. The chubby boy on the other side of Shikamaru was already smiling at him, so Naruto was all but certain that he was extremely kind. Naruto took a deep breath and turned towards the two boys. "Would you two care to join me..."

"I know who you are! My mom told me all about you!"

The voice was both loud and verging on shrill. It was obvious that the voice had the potential to be quite appealing, but not at the pitch and volume that it was currently reaching. Naruto flinched at the sound of it and then slowly turned his attention towards the pink haired girl. "Pardon me, but... Who are you?"

"My name's Sakura Haruno and I know exactly who you are! You're Naruto Uzumaki the troublemaker! My mom told me that you're both no good and dangerous! I've been told to stay far away from you and that everyone else should do the same!"

For several seconds in a row, Naruto just stared at this Sakura girl, because he had literally no idea how to react to anything that she'd just said. He'd never even met anyone named Haruno in his life, so he had no idea how he'd managed to piss her off... In the end however, Naruto was far too used to this variety of blanket animosity, so he calmed back down as he turned to square up with the girl.

When Naruto responded, it was in a medium volume and even-tempered voice, but his words appeared to echo around the shocked silent room regardless. "Sakura Haruno... You aren't doing a very good job of staying far away from me... Please do a better job of it in the future." With that said, Naruto abruptly decided that he was done with the whole 'smile and make nice' stuff for the day. He slowly and casually walked out of the room, aiming to look as if he was completely unbothered.

What Naruto missed as he exited the room, was the moment his new class broke out into hysterical laughter towards an open mouthed and shocked looking Sakura Haruno. Naruto's completely deadpan response to Sakura's over the top tirade ended up being comedy gold to all of the boys in the room. They howled with laughter and pounded on their tables, having a grand old time at Sakura's expense. Quite a few feminine giggles were mixed in with the laughter as well. Several of the girls were becoming fans of Naruto's due to his cool image and rare blond hair, so they didn't have much sympathy for the screaming pinkette.

Sakura was reduced to watching as she was made a mockery of by all of her classmates and her blood was boiling over with impotent rage. Who did that boy think he is?! It was only after she stormed back to her seat that Sakura noticed the angry looks on both of her friend's faces. "What now?"

"Why did you do any of that Sakura?!" Ino was completely incensed but her voice was glacial cold.

Sakura was extremely surprised by her friend's anger. "Because... my mom..."

"Naruto was right, Sakura!" Ino was heaving with rage by this point. "If your mom doesn't like him and you're being told to stay away from him, then just do that and keep your abuse to yourself! Instead, you just screamed at a boy joining a brand new school about how awful he apparently is, with no proof whatsoever, like a complete bitch!"

Shy and reserved Hinata was nodding along in complete agreement from Ino's other side.

"Let's go Hinata. I don't like the company in here." As Ino began marching out of the class, Hinata nodded and moved to follow.

Sakura's mouth bobbed open and shut as Ino and Hinata walked off without another word. She watched as her oldest friend... watched as Ino stormed off in a huff, and she bit her bottom lip in her rising concern. Her mom had spent hours telling her how awful and dangerous and evil this boy was and... Sakura had thought that she was doing the right thing just now! That boy Naruto had been doing a really convincing normal boy act. Sakura hadn't wanted some wolf in sheeps clothing terrorizing her classmates!

Of course, in retrospect Sakura could see what she'd just done from Ino's perspective... Sakura had just stormed up and blasted the new kid for no reason at all, so she could see how that would annoy her friend. Why were Ino and Hinata so pissed off about it though? They don't know this kid at all and shouldn't be that emotional about it. Sakura needed to properly explain how dangerous this Naruto boy was...

It was only in that moment that Sakura realized she couldn't explain anything at all, because she had no idea why Naruto was considered dangerous in the first place...

Shit…


Naruto sat on a branch within the foliage level of a tree as he ate his bento and waited for lunch period to end. He watched several dozen other children of different ages and classes sit around the lawn together, eating and talking, and he wondered for perhaps the millionth time in his life why it wasn't that way for him? He didn't understand the animosity he was receiving at all, and it was especially hard to take now, after the freedom of his self imposed exile. Life out in the forest had been hard, but it had also been a hundred percent judgment free...

When the bell for classes to resume finally went off, Naruto carefully dropped back to the ground exactly like a normal boy his age would. He didn't have the leg strength necessary to spring around right now and that weight seemed to add to the burden of his social isolation.

Ugh…

A very Loooooong three hours later…

Naruto was never going to sit through another class without forcing Alsea to give him homework to do. He didn't care if the homework was relevant to the syllabus or not, he just needed to not be bored anymore. Any more of this and Naruto was going to start doing something juvenile like pranking the people around himself, just to stay awake. On the other hand, Naruto thought it would be best that he know what the syllabus actually is, so that if he's asked a question he can answer it. As the other students packed up, Naruto approached Iruka Sensei.

"Yes? How can I... oh!" Iruka had turned around only to startle when he saw the student was Naruto. His demeanor looked normal enough, but he smelled like nerves and a very mild form of contempt. "How can I help you?"

"If possible, I'd like to know the books that we'll be studying from and the syllabus we'll be following," Naruto explained in a quiet voice. "I... I'm sorry but, I… was bored today. By no fault of your own, your classes are moving extremely slowly and aren't touching on much material during that time. I want to make good use of my time in your classes. I want to study ahead."

"Oh... I see. Yes, I am forced to go slowly." Iruka looked just as frustrated with that fact as Naruto was. "The syllabus was prepared by the civilian Council and caters to a level of... Anyway my classes are designed to be passed. If you want to learn ahead, get these books and use this syllabus. Iruka pulled a piece of paper out of his desk and began to write on it. "If you do study ahead in my classes, I expect good multitasking. I'll be asking you questions every now and then, just to make sure you're actually learning the material."

"I understand and I'll be listening." Naruto nodded at the nervous man, took the offered paper and walked back towards his bag. "Naruto Uzumaki," a quiet voice called out from Naruto's right. He looked up from his bag to see Shikamaru's eye cracked open and peering up at him.

"Yes, and I think I know who you are. You're Shikamaru Nara right?" Naruto sat down as he spoke because he could easily see that this was more the boy's speed.

"My mother asked me to find you at lunch today, but after the pinkette's little show, you disappeared. I also didn't look very hard because it was troublesome." Shikamaru shrugged as if there was just no helping it. "My mom wants me to take you to our home after school for tutoring and to see how your first day went. I also suspect she'll arrange a playdate of some kind between the two of us."

"All of that may be true," Naruto agreed, with a nod of his head. "I wouldn't worry about the playdate part however, because she's already explained the best way to entertain you. Care to teach me how to play chess at some point?"

"Well she is my mother. I suppose she would know the best approach," Shikamaru conceded. "You've never played?" The pineapple haired boy looked like teaching the game to someone might be a little beyond his energy threshold.

"I know the rules because I read about them last night," Naruto explained with a wry grin on his face. Your mother's a Nara, after all... She's been doing quite a bit of thinking ahead. Either way I know how the pieces move and some basic strategy. I imagine I won't be much of a challenge at first."

"That's fine. I don't mind easy victories," Shikamaru replied, with a small smile.

"No. It's me who'll find the situation less than ideal," Naruto admitted with a sigh. "I'm going to be taking notes as we play, if that's okay with you."

"I can already see why my mom wants me to spend time with you. She hopes some of your troublesome "try hard" will rub off on me." Shikamaru looked a little bemused by his mom's attempt at manipulation.

"Actually from what I've heard she's not really all that worried about you," Naruto quietly replied. "According to her, you'll pass when you need to pass, and even if you don't, it just means that failing was an important step in some elaborately drawn out plan."

Shikamaru scoffed and then grinned. "She really said that?"

"She's your mother... I imagine she knows you well enough to know what you're truly capable of." Naruto shrugged. "I don't think she's ever going to stop fussing over you though... I've only really known her for a day, and she's already given me a childish nickname and taken over my schedule."

"Yeah... she does that," Shikamaru agreed, as he seamlessly rose from sleep to his feet. "Besides... troublesome people tend to find troublesome people. I just hope you can keep her busy." Shikamaru began walking to the door at a very manageable pace.

Rather than following the boy towards the door, Naruto settled on his right hand side. "I don't think I'll have a problem keeping Alsea... your mother, occupied. Among other class subjects, she's promised to teach me Fuinjutsu."

"Are you good at Calligraphy Naruto?" Shikamaru looked interested now, despite himself.

"No, I've never done it before." Naruto shrugged helplessly because even he knew that his lack of penmanship was going to be a problem.

"Yeah... Unless you're a genius artist of some kind, this is going to suck for you, and I'll have a lot of free time." Shikamaru's grin was both wide and a little bit perverse at this point. "As far as I'm concerned, you can move in."

Then they were both grinning.


Ino and Hinata watched Naruto walk out of the room beside Shikamaru, both with wide and happy smiles upon their faces.

"Nar..uto made a..a friend," Hinata stuttered happily.

"Yeah that was really cute," Ino replied, while twirling her hair around a finger. "Shikamaru's kinda super boring, but he's a really nice guy."

Hinata nodded slowly in response.

Both girls were just glad that Sakura's blow up hadn't really affected their savior in the end.


As Naruto walked with Shikamaru down the Main Streets of Konoha village, he studiously ignored the fact that he was being glared at by almost all of the civilians that they passed. Under normal circumstances, Naruto would avoid the village's main thoroughfare like the plague for exactly this reason, but he hadn't had an excuse convincing enough to make energy conscious Shikamaru walk a far longer route.

"I've noticed several very weird things today," Shikamaru began, without any preamble.

"I think I know where this is going, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts," Naruto replied.

"The civilians hate you and that much is obvious." As if to prove his point, Shikamaru pointed at a grocer that had just spit on the street as they passed. "Sakura Haruno is civilian raised, and her mother, who is on the Civilian Council, has instructed her to isolate you. On the other hand, the ninja families all appear to like you just fine. Ino and Hinata are the heiresses of the Yamanaka and Hyuga families and they appear to be actively hero worshiping you. They never stopped staring at you even once the whole entire day. The divide is so strong that Sakura and Ino, formerly close friends, had a major falling out today. Factor in the fact that my mother likes you and it's pretty obvious that you're some kind of political and social lightning rod..." Shikamaru gave Naruto a sidelong look, inviting him to expand on that or share his thoughts.

Naruto nodded at Shikamaru's words. He had to hand it to the boy. He was sharp. Even Naruto hadn't noticed that he had an improved reputation with the ninja families yet. His increased regard with the military class was both new and welcome, but the stark contrast seemed to make the civilian's attitude stand out that much more sharply.

"Okay Shikamaru... You're obviously extremely sharp, so if you're going to be investigating me, I need you to understand something first," Naruto began. "If you ever manage to find out why I'm so disliked within this village, you'll officially know more about me than I do... Nobody's ever explained to me why I'm such a pariah within this village. No one's ever explained to me why most of the older generation ninjas and almost all of the civilians think I'm both "bad" and "dangerous". I've never hurt or mistreated anyone so far as I can remember, and I don't have a criminal record. That just leaves the circumstances of my birth or family. I'm an orphan and I don't know who my parents were. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that my parents were traitors of some kind. That would make a lot of sense considering the looks that we're currently receiving. The problem with that theory is that the Hokage says it's wrong. He says that my parents were both upstanding members of the village. Before you ask, no, he wouldn't tell me who my parents are.. Oh, and a few days ago I had a run in with Hinata and Ino, but my dealings with them have become a state secret that I'm not allowed to share. Now that you know as much as I'm allowed to offer, please feel free to sleuth around for me. I'm not trying to hide anything from you."

Shikamaru was staring at Naruto by the time he finished explaining. "You don't mind me snooping?"

"I welcome it," Naruto replied immediately, with an expansive arm wave. "In fact I'm going to tell you a secret." Naruto stopped walking and stepped closer to Shikamaru. He leaned in towards the boy and made his expression extremely serious. He needed Shikamaru to believe what he said next. "I was treated so poorly by this village growing up, shortly after I turned five, I ran away to live alone in the forest. I didn't run away due to some childish fit of temper. I was legitimately afraid for my life. I lived a hunter gatherer's existence until a little under a week ago, when I was found and brought back to the village. The Hokage has gone to great lengths to make me safer and far more comfortable this time around, despite the fact that I'm clearly still unwelcome. I'd be very interested to know why I'm being treated the way I am. Both good and bad, I'm the target of a lot of people's attention. While I want to know why, I'm also extremely afraid of what I'll find out, which is stopping me from pressing too hard for answers. If you were to do the investigating for me, I could relax because something was being done about it..."

"I… I see. That's very sad." Shikamaru looked both troubled and extremely curious about what he was hearing. "Is there any other information that might help me figure you out?"

Naruto had never been told to keep this next part to himself, but it also wasn't something he'd normally share. Shikamaru wasn't the type to take advantage of a person's secrets however, so Naruto decided to trust him. "I have a unique ability and without it I'd be dead several times over by now. I heal... I heal very, very quickly and thoroughly. I could cut open my arm right now and the wound would be gone by the time we arrive at your house."

"That sounds like a bloodline limit," Shikamaru replied immediately, and with an incredulous look upon his face.

"I don't know what that is," Naruto admitted immediately.

Bloodline limits, also known as Kekkai Genkai, are ninjutsu skills or traits that are passed down genetically through a bloodline. Sometimes it's a passive skill that isn't easily recognizable. My family the Nara for example are very clever and are essentially born tacticians. A bloodline power can also be quite overt and obvious. For instance my family are able to use their own shadows in very powerfully offensive jutsus. Both of these skills appear to be passed down through my family and are called a bloodline limit. Your healing sounds like the same kind of thing, but no clan has had rapid healing since the Senju clan died out a couple hundred years ago."

"Huh…" As it turns out, Naruto did know what a bloodline limit was, but he'd only ever heard it called Kekkai Genkai in Orochimaru's books. But then a thought suddenly struck Naruto and he tilted his head to the side in his confusion… "But rapid healing sounds like something that would be embraced in a ninja village, not scorned."

"Yeah. I'm legitimately surprised that the Council isn't trying to build a clan around you, if what you're saying is true... A population of fast recovering ninja would be invaluable. What is going on with you Naruto?... This is troublesome... I'm hooked." Shikamaru looked annoyed.

"Sorry, sorry. It looks like I found your weakness. You're the curious type. I wouldn't have lay all this on you all at once, but you were cutting into the heart of the issue in record time, and I didn't want to set myself up in opposition to you." Naruto couldn't help the grin that was forming on his face.

"That was very wise of you. With full disclosure, I can ask you questions and we'll both learn more. You know Naruto... You're oddly mature for your age..."

"So are you," Naruto pointed out.

"I'm a Nara, what's your excuse?"

"An extremely difficult upbringing to steal my naïveté and a full year spent hunting and living off the land to make me thoughtful." Naruto shrugged. "Oddly enough, I also had access to a lot of difficult books out in the forest and they helped improve my vocabulary."

"Huh... that sounds like a story I'd like to hear. Another time though..." Shikamaru gestured at some gates ahead on the street. "That's the entrance to the Nara compound."

"Wow... That's a lot of open space for being inside the village." Naruto saw that beyond the gates were rows of buildings surrounded by acres of open fields and trees.

"The Nara are the family that grow most of the medicinal herbs the village produces, and we raise special deer that have several health restoring properties." Shikamaru was pointing out different fields of herbs and animal pens as they walked towards the buildings.

"Peppermint and a hint of deer fur," murmured Naruto.

"What was that?" Shikamaru looked curious again.

"I think I now understand how your mother met your father and why she smells the way she does." Naruto was a little embarrassed by that slip up.

"That's an extremely acute sense of smell, Naruto..." Shikamaru looked like he expected an explanation.

"I developed very strong senses while hunting animals in the forest." Naruto shrugged. "I'm an accomplished woodsman and hunter."

"I suppose you would be if you can scent out people like a hunting dog can." Shikamaru had a wide grin upon his face.

As Naruto and Shikamaru walked up the stone pathway, they saw Alsea walking towards them.

"Shikakun, Narukun," Alsea called out, in an overly excited voice. "How'd it go? Is Narukun breaking hearts yet?"

Naruto and Shikamaru shared a moment of blushing solidarity at the childish nicknames.

"Moooom! Enough with the pet name! I'm a ninja trainee!" Shikamaru's face looked infinitely long-suffering.

"It was a mixed bag," Naruto answered Alsea candidly (he didn't mind the pet name). "The civilian raised kids will all hate me by tomorrow and the ninja kids are indifferent with the exception of Shikamaru here." Naruto belatedly gave Shikamaru a look asking him if he could use his first name and the boy nodded in response.

"The Yamanaka and Hyuga heiresses have hearts in their eyes when they look at Naruto," Shikamaru amended, with a grin in Naruto's direction. "Naruto can't tell me why..."

"Has my son been going all super sleuth on you Narukun? It's a habit of his." Alsea looked just a little bit peaked with her son.

"I'll admit that I'm impressed," Naruto agreed, with a nod. "Through conjecture alone, Shikamaru here knew as much about me as I do by the time classes let out for the day. I told him the things I could and explained what things I can't, so that he doesn't harass me."

Alsea nodded when Naruto finished his explanation and then turned to give her son a stern look. "I want you to come to me with your wild theories and we'll discuss them. Some secrets exist for a reason, Shikakun."

"That appeared to be the wrong thing to say, because although Shikamaru nodded, he also looked hungry for answers.

It was Alsea's turn to have a look of long suffering. "Come along then boys. Narukun you're committed to being tutored but Shikakun you're welcome to join as well. For today, I'm going to be testing you to see where you sit in terms of your education."

"I can answer that right now," Naruto said, as they walked towards Shikamaru's home. "I found out last night by reading that chess book that it's as you've said. For the most part, I'm completely literate. On the other hand, I'm completely ignorant about any and all village structure, politics, ninja doctrine or chakra manipulation. In the past, the books I've read were about large scale disaster jutsu and any successes I've ever had in training were through trial and repeated error."

"Can you explain that?" Shikamaru looked completely enthralled.

"Ummm yeah, I'll try." Naruto stuck a hand to his chin as he leaned against a waist high rock wall. "There was this one book I found that described turning rock into a flood of stones that can level hundreds of yards of village or enemies. It described the necessity of doing some very complicated elemental manipulation that I couldn't even begin to understand. What I did understand is if you want to survive activating your own rock wave attack you need to be able to water walk and wall walk, so that you can stand atop the flowing rock. After figuring that much out, I became interested in knowing how to wall walk or water walk because it seemed closer to my level of skill. In very general terms the book talked about releasing your chakra from your feet into the water or stone you want to cling to. It didn't explain how much chakra to use or how it should feel, just that it needs to be done if you want to use the jutsu. It also said that in order to use this jutsu you need comprehensive chakra conduits reaching your feet, both to stand on the boiling rock and to direct its movements with your chakra. What I picked up from all that was if I wanted to wall walk, I needed to develop chakra conduits to my feet. I began focusing on that because it was something I could do without either a Sensei or some kind of explanation. I was already in contact with my chakra core through a similar type of reverse engineering, so beginning to build chakra pathways was something that I could do. While forcefully creating chakra pathways is a painful process, it's also relatively simple and time consuming. I liked simple and time consuming activities while I was living out in the forest, because I was always either in a huge hurry or waiting around bored. When I succeeded in getting chakra to every inch of my feet, I just continued to work at it until I could channel it to every conceivable area of my body. I still haven't learned to wall walk, because I've always either burned my feet or destroyed the tree that I'm trying to stick to. On the other hand, due to that seemingly fruitless pastime, my strength and speed could be compared to that of a Genin's. So you see... trial and repeated error..."

Naruto shrugged at the two Nara that were currently staring at him because yeah… His learning process was chaotic...

"Shikamaru..." Alsea spoke in a slow, quiet voice. "Literally everything you just heard has become a Nara family secret. You are never to repeat any of that to anyone."

Shikamaru just nodded dumbly for the first time in his entire life.

"Naruto..." Alsea looked both surprised and bemused. "Both what you've learned and how you learned it is so out of the ordinary, I don't even know where to begin. You've put your entire focus on forcing open chakra pathways that would normally develop naturally as you grow and train. As a result, your pathways are more widespread than most Jonins end up needing. You Naruto... are officially years ahead of your peers at school, and yet you're very far behind at exactly the same time."

"I'm actually under the impression that getting ahead of my school peers isn't that amazing an achievement..." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck in chagrin before he continued. "In the six hours of classes that I sat through today, I took exactly one paragraph of useful notes. We also never trained physically even once all day. Even Iruka Sensei looked like he wanted to cry, because of how slowly the class was moving."

Shikamaru scoffed, then he started to giggle in a very out of character fashion. "I told you mom, I told you! Naruto's completely ignorant of literally everything, and even he looked ready to tear his hair out!"

"I'm never going to make it, Alsea. I'm being completely serious," Naruto added when Shikamaru was done laughing. "Load me up with extra homework or Fuinjutsu drills until I'm completely bogged down. Iruka already knows what I have in mind and he seems to sympathize. I need your help."

This time it was Alsea's turn to grin at her son, as Shikamaru turned towards Naruto with a completely betrayed look upon his face. A few moments later, when Alsea was done giving her son a nonverbal tongue lashing, she turned back towards Naruto with a full faced smile. "Okay... Here's the deal Narukun. You're a first year academy student and they don't do anything physical until next year. During that time, I'll have you doing comprehensive studies and Calligraphy drills in class. It'll be up to you to train physically, so that you don't get fat."

"That sounds ideal. I get bored easily, and I found myself wanting to get into mischief." Naruto shook the very thought off as asinine. Alienating himself as a class clown of some kind was literally the last thing that he should be doing."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru pointed out.

"I agree," Naruto responded. "I need to keep busy. I'm used to survival mode levels of productivity, so all of this sitting around is killing me."

"Well come inside then," Alsea replied happily. "I have some housewarming presents for you anyway."

"That's... very kind of you," Naruto pointed out with a blush. He followed the woman and his classmate into the normal sized wooden house and into their living room.

Alsea gestured at a large wrapped up box on the coffee table. "Go nuts, Narukun."

As Naruto approached the red wrapped box, he wasn't able to completely conceal the tidal wave of emotions that he was currently feeling... This was the very first... Well, the last few days had brought a lot of firsts. Naruto took a very deep breath as he ripped open the wrapping paper. Inside was a cardboard movers box.

"Don't ruin the box. You'll need it to get this stuff home." Alsea looked like she'd almost forgotten about that part.

Nodding his understanding, Naruto carefully pried open the four flaps at the top of the box. Inside was a light green blanket, a light green pillow set and a light green stuffed toad. On top of that we're two picture frames containing the photos taken earlier in the day.

"Is that the Hokage in that photo?" Shikamaru looked stunned.

"Uhh yeah. He was kind of a stand in grandpa of sorts in the past, and he checked up on me whenever he could." Naruto shrugged because he had no idea why. "Just add that fact to our growing list of questions. I'm well regarded by the Hokage, intensely disliked by the village, and the Hokage himself couldn't protect me from them..."

Shikamaru nodded at that, and he had a hand up to his chin again, a sure sign his brain was in overdrive.

When Naruto carefully pulled out the blanket and pillows, he revealed the scrolls of Calligraphy paper, ink and brushes that were sitting underneath. "Oh wow, Alsea... You really are a Nara... You've anticipated me so well."

"There's two things I want you to avoid in that apartment of yours, Narukun. I don't want you to be idle or lonely, together or seperate. Keep busy and keep in mind you aren't alone." Alsea looked emotional at this point, so Naruto placed a hand on her forearm in support.

"There's one more gift under the paper that Shikamaru will appreciate," Alsea explained, with a smile.

As Naruto pulled aside the paper scrolls, he saw a brand new wooden chess set, complete with dozens of strategy guides. Naruto gave Shikamaru a sideways glance, as they both took in the books. "You might not find me that easy to beat after all," Naruto pointed out, with a grin.

"Troublesome," was all Shikamaru had to say on the matter. His words weren't all that convincing, because he was grinning when he said them.


The next day in classes...

As Naruto suspected would happen, the civilian raised population of the class wouldn't even look in his direction when he arrived at school the next day. That was kind of a problem too, because civilian kids made up a little under two thirds of the student population. It was safe to say that Naruto wasn't going to be winning any popularity contests during his time at the academy.

Easy come, easy go…

For the most part, Naruto was fine with his class's attitude, mostly because Shikamaru was a solid, if unconscious, presence on his right side, and Choji Akamichi, Shikamaru's close childhood friend had introduced himself before classes without an ounce of hesitation. The boy seemed kind of simple and laid back, but as Naruto had suspected from the start, he was kind.

Naruto was also in much better shape when it came to surviving the classes today, because he was neck deep in extracurricular studies and homework via Alsea. He needed to work very diligently if he wanted to get it all done by the end of the school day, which was a huge help keeping him both sane and out of trouble. At one point, Iruka Sensei did call on him to answer a question, but when Naruto correctly answered that the original founders of the village were the Uchiha and the Senju clans, the man nodded and seemed assured.


Ino and Hinata sat in their seats two rows behind Naruto, where they discussed the odyssey of Uzumaki. The questions they wanted answered were many and varied. Where did he get the cute whisker marks? Where had all of his awesome clothing come from? Why was he studying like eleven textbooks that were unrelated to the subject they were currently taking? Was that Calligraphy that he was doing off to the side of his notes? Where did he live? Who was his family? For God's sakes, why had he been going all wild man in the forests of Konoha? Why was he suddenly enemy number one with all of the civilian kids? All of the girls who had stared at Naruto just the day before were back to staring at Sasuke Uchiha as if they'd never been distracted in the first place.

On the one hand, neither Ino nor Hinata wanted Naruto to be followed around by a flock of fangirls all the time. On the other hand, everyone's sudden and dramatic change in opinion was completely unsettling. It also pissed off both Ino and Hinata how vindicated Sakura looked today. The pinkette looked as if popular opinion was enough to prove her point without any other evidence being necessary. Ino knew right then and there that she wasn't going to respond anymore when Sakura tried to talk to her. It sucked, but Sakura was clearly just a braindead stooge for her mother...

"We need to get answers and we need to get them soon, or I'm going to have a heart attack," Ino whispered to Hinata… Then she waited ten seconds for the quiet girl's reply.

"I... I agree. I'll be re..lying on... you..." While Hinata had her arms bunched up in determination, she was also self-aware. The act of approaching Naruto alone and boldly asking him questions was so far beyond her it was the moon.

Ino patted Hinata on the shoulder consolingly as she whispered the words "baby steps Hinata. You're getting better every day."

Hinata smiled and nodded before a look of fierce determination grew across her face.


Across the room, Sasuke Uchiha wondered what the Hell was going on?

Yesterday had been really nice, what with his persistent stalkers giving him a day off. Now they were all back and crowding him until he couldn't breathe again. Every day that this happened, he was falling further behind his brother. By the end of this school term his brother had already become a genin after all, and yet Sasuke was nowhere near that gifted...

Oh sure, Sasuke was miles and miles ahead of all the fools that populated this academy, but still... He didn't have time for all this bullshit...

Looking around the room, Sasuke saw at least one other boy who didn't have time for this bullshit...

Naruto Uzumaki's popularity had skyrocketed yesterday and then plummeted through the floor overnight. While Sasuke had indeed been told to stay away from the boy, it hadn't been as if he was described as a murderer or anything, so he didn't understand the intensity of his classmate's reactions. Either way, as Sasuke watched the boy study as if he had the Chunin exams tomorrow, he knew that Naruto's lack of so-called "popularity" meant literally dick all to him. In fact, Sasuke thought that he might finally have a rival of sorts in this boy, and he hoped that when they finally trained physically, he'd be worth his weight.


At lunch, for the very first time, Naruto found himself sitting with classmates as he ate. Shikamaru and Choji knew each other very well, meaning the conversation wasn't all that active, but it was flowing and low pressure, and Naruto was pretty relaxed.

All of the sudden, the Yamanaka and Hyuuga heiresses arrived on the scene, causing both Choji and Shikamaru to straighten (well Shikamaru kind of just lay straighter, but the meaning was clear). Naruto wasn't sure if it was because they were future clan heads or girls, but he figured it was probably a mixture of both.

"Hello Choji, Shikamaru," Ino chirped cheerfully. "Hinata and I were wondering if we could join you and introduce ourselves to Naruto san."

"It would be troublesome to stop you, so go ahead," Shikamaru replied casually.

"The more the merrier," Choji replied in a friendly voice.

Naruto just sat with his legs crossed, while trying to act natural. He didn't really know what these girls wanted from him, but they smelled... very, very friendly.

Ino nodded happily at the two boys and then gestured for Hinata to take a seat.

The quiet bluenette girl nodded her blushing face and then daintily folded herself onto the ground a few feet from Naruto's right knee.

Ino sat down even closer to Naruto's left knee, giving him a smiling look that still managed to be predatory despite her obvious good will. "Hello Naruto Uzumaki. My name's Ino Yamanaka and this here is Hinata Hyuga. If you wait just ten seconds, she'll give you a hello."

Almost ten seconds went by before Hinata stuttered out her greeting. "He..llo Naruto... kun. Then Hinata blushed a very deep red at the relatively affectionate kun suffix that she'd added at the end of his name.

"See. As I thought, Hinata's an ironically fast worker if you give her enough time." Ino seemed happy with her friend. "If you don't mind, I think I might call you Naruto kun as well."

With the exception of Alsea this was yet another first for Naruto. "Hello, umm yes, I'm fine with what you just called me, although it might take some getting used to. If it'll make you happy, I'll call you Ino san and Hinata san in return."

Both girls nodded their understanding before pulling out their lunches.

Ino took just a single bite of her onigiri before she put it aside to look at Naruto again. "You know that we (Ino gestured at Hinata) both know why you're entering classes now, and we also know why you were brought back to Konoha. We have many questions we'd like to ask, but if you're not going to disappear on us, we'll try to take our time."

"I... I appear to be here to stay, for now," Naruto explained, in a quiet voice. "Even if I tried to repeat what I've done in the past, I'd be caught because the area of the forest containing my hideout's been revealed. Unless I want to run into the Land of Mist's swampland or even worse, Sand's endless desert, I'll be tracked down and collected sooner rather than later."

"That's true enough," Ino said, with a wide, wide smile upon her face. "I'm only surprised you were able to succeed in the first place. It would've been hard to accomplish, considering the tracker families in this village."

"I'm not a fan of the methods I had to use to mask my scent," Naruto allowed...

At Naruto's words, the girl's looked a little disturbed, while Shikamaru looked super interested. Choji was completely absorbed in several bags of chips and miles away mentally.

Ino gave Shikamaru a speculative glance before leaning in towards Naruto. "We wanted to thank you, Naruto. You were heroic and it was... it was amazing."

From beside Ino, Hinata began nodding her head so fast it looked like it might fall off."

Naruto also gave Shikamaru a glance, but then he just shrugged. "I... don't like bullies or people who abuse children. I couldn't just do nothing."

"Yes, you could have, but you didn't. That's why I said the word heroic." Ino gave Shikamaru another look and then shrugged. "Sorry Shikamaru. I'm literally not allowed to explain."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru said in response. "I don't like it, but I get it."

"I knew you would," Ino replied with a smile.

"Nar..uto... kun, why are you... at only our level? You are... gifted." Hinata had finally succeeded in asking a question, but only because of her burning desire to know.

"If possible, I'd like you ladies to keep my... abilities to yourselves," Naruto replied, in a very quiet voice. "I'm not a popular person in this village, which is a problem beyond just the fact that I desire acceptance. For example, if sometime next year, I were to become a Genin with a team full of strangers... I've been given even odds that I'd end up taking a Kunai to the back. I'm in this class so that over the next few years, I can garner some goodwill with my prospective teammates. I'm also extremely ignorant of any and all academy theory. I'm actually in the right class for my level of education."

"Why are you hated like you are in this village? We noticed the change that took place overnight and we just don't get it." Ino looked pissed off on Naruto's behalf and Hinata had her hands bunched into fists in her lap.

Naruto smiled at both Ino and Hinata, but then he just shrugged in answer. "I have no idea. Been like this for as long as I can remember. It's why I opted for alternative living arrangements in the first place."

Both girls looked furious on Naruto's behalf until suddenly Ino leaned in close and stared into Naruto's eyes. "And you really, truly don't intend to run away again? Don't get me wrong, I really want you to stay, but what's changed? Why are you okay with staying in the village now as opposed to a week ago?"

After thinking about Ino's question for several seconds in a row, Naruto nodded his head and then drew in a deep breath. "Several things have changed… I know I already said this, but the area of the forest that I was living in has been discovered now, which means I can't simply go back to my hideout. If I were to run away tonight, I'd have to keep running day and night for several days in a row in order to shake off Konoha's pursuit, only to settle down in a much less habitable environment... Then there's the fact that I can move as fast as a ninja trainee now, which means the civilians aren't a threat to me even in large numbers... Next, it seems I've learned how to scent out people's emotions to a certain extent, and this newfound ability is helping me figure out who I can trust. Shikamaru's mom, the Anbu tasked with keeping an eye on me, and the Hokage... I can sense that these people sincerely want to help me live within this village... Lastly... and I can't even believe how important this next part actually is... Someone's taken to hugging me... like... real, tight, warm, caring hugs... and I..."

It was at this point that Naruto's words trailed off, his face turned red, and he shrugged in a helpless manner.

"You were… lonely," Hinata slowly breathed out, all while inching closer and closer towards Naruto's right hand side. It appeared that the girl desperately wanted to hug Naruto, but she was much, much too shy to actually do it… Ino on the other hand, was curling into a sprinter's start, as if she was merely waiting for an opportunity.

Drawing in a very deep breath to reduce his sudden flush, Naruto waved his hands in front of his body and then attempted to change the subject. "While I do appreciate all of your support, there's really no need for you to remain angry on my behalf. I've been housed in a far safer and better location than where I used to live, and I'm being provided with everything that I need."

"I apologize if this next question's a little… indelicate," Ino hedged as she dropped back onto her butt in the grass. "The thing is… At this point I'm assuming you're an orphan, Naruto Kun. Why aren't you living in the orphanage? Where did you live before and where do you live now?"

While Ino may have been the one to actually ask the questions, Hinata was leaning closer and closer with every single one that left her mouth.

Naruto slowly took a bite out of his turkey sandwich, as he thought about how best to frame his answer. Then, at the girl's look of genuine concern, he suddenly decided it was best to just be honest. "Yes, I'm an orphan. One of my earliest memories is getting kicked out of the civilian orphanage for reasons that I didn't understand. I used to live in a low income housing apartment in the red light district. It wasn't... pleasant. Since my return, I've moved into a much nicer apartment near the Anbu complex."

"That's a career ninja neighborhood," Shikamaru pointed out. "How was that okayed by the Council?"

"Hokage's orders," Naruto answered simply. "It was decided that keeping me away from the civilian population was priority number one."

"I... hate this... all of it..." Hinata looked completely livid at this point and her knuckles were turning white. "You're good... kind."

"Thank you Hinata. I'll try my very best to live up to your opinion of me." Naruto smiled at the clearly very sweet girl.

Hinata looked like she might pass out at this point, causing Ino to start rubbing at her lower back.

"Can we visit your home at some point, Naruto?" Ino looked excited at the idea. "We can hang out and make your new home more inviting. My family owns a flower shop."

"Do you have vegetable seeds?" Ino's idea had Naruto's undivided attention.

At first Shikamaru snorted his amusement, until he realized that Naruto was being completely serious. "Oh come on, Naruto... You're not a hunter gatherer anymore..."

"I know that," Naruto defended with a grin. "I just like the idea of fresh produce. I wouldn't say no to a few normal flowers. I have a rooftop patio with plenty of sunlight."

"Sounds like the Hokage's going all out. Still... It begs the question doesn't it? why?" Shikamaru was neck deep in the mystery of it all.

"I wouldn't mind knowing why, but I'm more relieved that they're finally trying to fix the situation." Ino leaned back on her hands and looked up at the sky.

"Well, personally, I neither want nor need to be super popular. I'll have all I need with just a few people that I can rely on." Naruto's face became thoughtful as he said those words, because that was a truth he'd just discovered for himself.

"Hinata and I've got your back Naruto." Ino's eyes were burning with conviction.

Shikamaru just nodded his agreement.

"I'll be your friend, Naruto," Choji piped in, from far off in right field. "I didn't understand even half of what you all just talked about just now, but I can do friends easily enough."

Both of the girls looked like they just might hug Choji for that super sweet statement.

Choji blushed in response and then dove back into his bag of chips as an escape.

"I study at the Nara compound every afternoon and then find an empty training field to train in until it gets dark." Naruto polished off his sandwich in one large bite and then wiped his hands on the grass. "I'm not used to juggling a social life... Does anyone have any ideas?"

"Simple. We can tag along for the training in the evening off and on and then force you to slow down on the weekends." Ino crossed her arms with the utmost levels of authority. "It's only you who's imposing this marathon of self improvement after all. Taking a day off every once in a while is good for you."

"Hear, hear," Shikamaru enthused lazily.

At first Naruto nodded but then he waved a hand in the air noncommittally. "I haven't been told this in so many words, but I've been given the impression that I need to become strong like ASAP, if I want to make it in this, or any, village. I don't think a normal level of diligence is ever going to cut it for me."

"But... you're not normal, Naruto kun. Surely you know this? You're like... super cool and capable and you're so damned calm under pressure..." Ino was flabbergasted by Naruto's lack of self-confidence.

Hinata was nodding along once again as if Ino were channeling her every thought.

Naruto smiled at both Ino and Hinata again, but then he shook his head. "It's true that I'm physically stronger than most of the people in the academy... However... I have no idea how to reliably mold chakra yet. In terms of chakra control, I'm a complete amateur, and I need to change that fact as soon as possible. Then there's also this." Naruto pulled at his clothing to reveal his wrists and ankles. There were skin-tight, inch thick, engraved, metal bands on all of his limbs. "These are called resistance and gravity seals. They increase my personal gravity and resist my movements to slow me down. One of the reasons I'm wearing them is so that I'll always appear completely ordinary. The plan is to progress along with the class, while increasing the strength of these bands over time. By the time I graduate, I hope to have become quite a bit faster than normal, but in the meantime I'm always going to look completely mediocre."

"But that sucks!" Ino looked completely pained. "You're going to let the likes of Kiba beat you in stuff, when you're by far the strongest?!"

"Being a ninja means utilizing misdirection, Shikamaru pointed out." Won't you enjoy knowing Naruto's secrets, while all of his other fangirls don't?"

"There is that," Ino admitted easily.

"Wait... fangirls?" Naruto was confused. "I'm hated by almost every parent in the village. I'm apparently a boogieman of some kind."

Ino just shook her head at Naruto's naiveté. "Naruto, your bad boy image is super contrary to the amount of studying and diligent training that you plan on doing. At some point, those two completely opposing facts are going to become mysterious to the girls in our class, so they'll start stalking you to figure you out. At that point, Hinata and I will take perverse enjoyment in knowing whatever secrets about you we end up learning." Ino's nose was high up in the air, by the time she was done explaining all of that.

"That last part was a very self-aware statement, Ino." Shikamaru's face was split in a wide grin.

After a few seconds of confusion, Ino suddenly blushed and yelled out "you wretch! Only girls are allowed to call other girls perverts!"

After the dust settled they were all laughing and carrying on.


To Be Continued...


Author's Note:

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