Authors Note: Don't own anything. Image from wallpapersafari - do not own.

First story ever written, let me know what you think. Enjoy

Hopefully.

Chapter 1: What A Headache

Friday

Huge pressure in his head was the first sensation to greet Naruto in the morning. It was what had woken him up in fact. Next was the glare from the sun that peeked through the curtains and made sure to miss everywhere else in his apartment, but for his face! Felt like the universe was telling him to get out of bed but he just wanted to sleep damnit! Deciding to ignore the universal calling he turned his back to the sun and fell back into blissful, sweet unconsciousness.

When he did decide to rise from the bed, the pressure in his head remained. Pulsating within his skull, forcing his eyes to shut with a grimace of pain. Moaning to himself about the unfairness of a headache he began the morning by relieving himself. After washing his hands and face, then brushing his teeth he wanted to make sure he had time for a quick shower. Walking a few paces from his bathroom to his bedroom. Barely lifting his feet, they slapped and scraped across the floor. It took him a couple of moments, but he found his alarm clock, it had fallen under his bed. He felt like he was missing something important. The time read 10:04. Tilting his head as if doing so would somehow help him to remember things, he caught a glimpse on his calendar hanging up on one of his walls. Head still throbbing and eyes still heavy from sleep he made no rush to try and answer his suspicions.

Looking at his calendar did give him some clue as to what the fogginess in his brain was leaving out. Last week he had finally become a gennin of Konoha. If that was a week ago. Then that would mean. That today is. It took him a moment. Naruto's eyes lost their heaviness. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. Looking back to his clock it now read 10:08. Back to the calendar. Back to the clock. Back to the calendar.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. I'm LATE! STUPID NARUTO" scolded himself and instantly regretting it. The loudness of his voice causing him pain. Turning quickly on his heel he ran into his closet. Grabbed whatever he had clean which was just a pair of green shorts and a plain white t-shirt. Not bothering to shower he ran outside his apartment and down the stairs. Tripping over his own feet in his haste caused him to fall down the last flight in an undignified roll. The result. The back of his head slamming against the concrete floor. Causing his already bad headache to explode. Blackness tinted at the edges of his vision, and he felt like he was going to violently throw up.

Eventually the world stopped spinning enough that he could attempt to move. Getting up gingerly and holding the back of his head he checked for blood. None to be found was a blessing. Beginning to run to his destination made the young boy stop immediately. His head pounding, back in pain, and any movement more than a walk causing him even more pain. He decided he was already late. The walk was slow and silent. He paid no mind to the occasional glare he was receiving as he did so. It had been a while since he had walked the streets to the academy, he usually took the high road – the rooftops of Konoha. Knowing why he received such looks didn't lessen any of the loneliness he felt for being disliked by so many in the village.

What hurt the most was the lack of friends he had. That is to say, he didn't have any. Sure, he'd pull the occasional prank with Kiba. Spend some time in detention with Shikamaru. Choji would always say hi, but that was the extent of his friendly interaction with all his classmates. They weren't friends. He'd not once been invited around their houses or asked to hang out. Outside the academy they wouldn't meet each other intentionally. Not liking the negative thoughts his head was taking him he put them back to the recesses of his mind.

The day was a beautiful one he had decided. The sky was pretty much clear of clouds, with the few in sight a nice fluffy white. Zero chances of rain. A nice breeze made him glad he didn't have his customary jacket with him as that got quite stuffy on a warm day like this. The bright colours of the shops and the sharp green of the leaves of the trees put a smile on his face. All of a sudden, another surge of pain had gone to his head. Crying out in pain he ended up on his knees holding his head right in the middle of the street. There wasn't anyone around him when it happened thankfully. They might have thought him insane when he started telling his brain to shut up.

With the academy entrance now in sight, he did wonder what being late meant for his future. Would they take away his headband? Shinobi were meant to be on time for missions – he knew that much.

His good mood was officially gone, now he could only wait for what was to come. As the old man used to say: - his actions have consequences. Hoping that the pain he was feeling right now was a sign of karma, hoping that he was to be treated with mercy. "Please oh Ramen Gods, grant me this wish. I know now that I ignored your signs this morning for my own selfish needs and deserve punishment. But please be merciful. I don't know how but give me a sign that my dream hasn't ended just as it has begun." With his prayer to the gods done, Naruto pushes through the academy doors. Finding his classroom – former classroom he corrects himself – his anxiousness rises as he can't hear any sounds coming from the other side.

Bravely pushing through into the unknown he is greeted by two sets of eyes staring at him in anticipation. Which quickly turns to disappointment. And anger in one pair of sparkling green orbs.

"Naruto you idiot. You're LATE!" shouted an irate Sakura. She was glad at first; thinking that their sensei would fire him and then she would have even more one on one time with the boy of her dreams. And while he wasn't in the class, she had just that. It was just a shame that Sasuke was so shy around girls that he never opened up to anyone, but she was determined. Still, they had been here for over 2 hours! Waiting. Everyone else had been seen to by their new sensei and had left – even Iruka sensei had left after fifteen minutes had passed.

Covering his head as waves made themselves known throughout his skull he was groaning while making his way to a seat in the back row. Sakura seeing him in pain stopped her ranting and lowered he voice marginally. However, that didn't stop her from questioning the blond.

"How exactly did you get a headband Naruto? We all saw you fail the exam. We tried asking Iruka sensei, but he refused to answer"

"Look I have had a really, really crappy morning Sakura. My head is pounding, and I have no idea who my new team is. Where the hell is everyone anyway?" he spoke softly and slowly, now rubbing his temples. Feeling the back of his head he now had an incredibly tender and rather sizable lump. "Oh wait – this is it, ain't it? We are a team… where's our new sensei then?" really hoping he hadn't already shown up.

"He's late as well! Later than you! Everyone else's teachers came and picked them up straight away! Urgh!" the frustration built up had caused her voice to rise by several decibels again. She saw Naruto moan in pain and didn't think he deserved an apology. In all rights, their sensei could refuse to take all of them if he had been on time. Being a squad sensei was voluntary she remembered from the academy texts.

Deciding to recuperate his strength he saved his words and tried to rest in his former classroom. Giving thanks to the gods above that had made his sensei later than he was. Now that he was sitting down, he could feel his other injuries properly. His back, side, and hip were giving him some trouble. He had a stiff neck but now his left elbow was throbbing something fierce as well. He could see some bruising on the elbow in question, then lifting his shirt to his chest, he could see some red marks around his side that stretched to part of his abdomen. I was fortunate that he was sitting behind his new teammates when he did so. The seal on his stomach was on full display. The third had shown him this last week and said when he channelled chakra that it would show itself. Not thinking he was channelling chakra he decided to feel out his chakra to see if he could find the answer.

Whilst he did this the noise around him dimmed and the pains he was experiencing seemed to fade. They remained but the sensation was lessened while he focused on his chakra. Feeling the flowing energies within him - that he had only learned how to pronounce correctly this week – his mind monitoring the flow. It twisted and turned throughout his body like a three-dimensional sphere encompassing him. Starting from his core it spread into so many directions. Likening it to a river flowing into channels, but the current flows at varying speeds, and some channels feel like they would be overflowing. Whereas other parts of him felt calmed. The flow went in both directions through his chakra pathways. Spiralling and twisting about like the calm before a storm. He'd never been so immersed in his chakra before.

When he was rudely shouted at by Sakura his connection cut off, his senses went back to reality. It felt like a switch had been pulled and his mind screamed at him from the now sensitive feedback he was getting from the surroundings. Head pressure returned with a vengeance and a scowl on his face he demanded why she couldn't leave him be. He was shocked to find out that his sense was here; they were to meet him on the roof in 5 minutes or they failed.

"You should be thanking me that I got you up in the first place. Sheesh, do you a favour and this is the thanks I get! Well forget it, next time you need help I'm not giving you any." She had stormed off. Sasuke had made his way out the door without either of them. She was trying to catch up with him.

Now fully aware he went after Sakura himself – he didn't even know how to get up to the roof of the academy building. Turns out none of them did. Now running with them his headache was starting to put him in a bad mood. He didn't know the academy layout as well as he thought he did. Not attending anywhere nearly as much as both his teammates he followed their lead. They were going up some stairs so that was a good sign. Bursting through the doors they had made it up to the roof.

Naruto quickly sat down when instructed by his sensei – he hadn't even got the guy's name! Now paying attention – all three were asked to introduce themselves.

The man gave them an example when asked by Sakura.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi, my likes and my hates, hm, … I don't feel like telling you. As for my dreams? Huh, I never really thought about it. As for hobbies …." He just trails off.

All of which was said with a relaxed posture whilst he lent against the railing. And if you thought his posture was relaxed then his speech went above and beyond that. Coming out in a slow drawl, borderline bored tone with very little emotional infliction.

"Well, that was totally useless. All we learned was his name." Sakura was not impressed by the sounds of it.

"You first blondie" even his finger that pointed at him felt lazy somehow.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, my likes and my hates, well… I'm not sure. As for my dreams, well, I don't feel like telling you. 'Ha take that! Two can play at this game.' As for my hobbies hmm… well I do like to look after my plants, so I guess gardening?"

He was receiving looks all-around. Not what they were expecting. To be honest, if he said what he felt, he would have ended up hurting his head even more from the noise, so that's all they were getting. He had been shouting his dream out to the village almost daily for years to any who had ears to listen.

"Ok. Pinkie you're up"

"My name is Haruno Sakura. What I like … well the person I like is …." Like Kakashi, she just trailed off, probably off in her little fictional world where she and Sasuke were married.

"Any Hates?"

"Naruto!"

Grimacing for what felt like the millionth time today. The noise wasn't the root of his pain this time though. 'She just said that she hates me?' he knew she felt annoyed and she had told him as much on multiple occasions in the past. She never said that she hated him. Not before today. 'At least not right in front of me.'

Moving on Sasuke made his introduction

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't particularly like anything. But my dream. No - my ambition is to restore my clan and kill a certain someone"

"Great, you all have very different personalities. Now that's out of the way. I'm here to tell you about the real gennin exam." The first part about introductions was said which such obvious fake enthusiasm as if he had not a single care what any of them had to say but had to listen to them because he was ordered to do so.

Wait, real gennin exam? Oh no, it had taken him 3 attempts to pass the academy exam! Visions of him failing coming back to mind. He quickly paid attention when he realized that his sensei was talking once more.

"-nlike any survival training you did at the academy. This test has a 66% failure rate. Those who fail go back to another year of the academy!" The nervous looks on all their faces make Kakashi chuckle. The first real bit of emotion that they had seen from the man so far. "Meet me at training ground 7 at 5 am." He turned to leave before throwing out, "Oh, and I wouldn't eat any breakfast if I were you – you'll only be throwing it up anyway. Ja ne." And with a small whisp of chakra smoke and leaves, he was gone.

Since their new potential sensei was gone, they all started to leave the academy roof for their homes. Sasuke had left first after refusing a date from Sakura. She turned around and out of habit had already started to form the words to refuse a date from Naruto – but didn't need to. He sat there still as a rock, head in his hands. Thinking he was afraid of going back to the academy – in all likelihood he would – she left him there without so much as a goodbye. After all, he was late today, even when it was the start of their careers, showing he wasn't serious about being a shinobi. He was the class clown and called dead-last for a reason after all. He was only going to get in the way. If he failed tomorrow, he shouldn't go back to the academy – he should be dropped from the program entirely in her opinion.

While Naruto was delighted to get away scot-free from being late that happiness was short-lived with this new development. Thinking about how he had to pass another test made his head hurt. "Training ground 7 at 5 am. I need to get some rest so I can be at 100 percent tomorrow." He would need to be to have any hope of passing whatever Kakashi sensei threw at them.

Leaving the roof, he walked the streets back the way he had come. Arriving at his apartment steps he could see a crack at the bottom of the stairs from where he had smashed his head earlier. His head had cracked concrete. No wonder it hurt so much. Usually, any injuries or aches he had vanished after a good night's sleep. Closing his curtains fully to darken his apartment as much as possible, he set an alarm for 4 am. Looking at his clock the time was nearing 1 pm already.

It didn't feel as if roughly 3 hours had passed to him. It got him thinking. He left at just gone 10, arrived at the academy probably 10:30ish. He didn't wait long for his sensei to show up as Sakura shook his from his chakra observations. He wasn't with Kakashi for that long. All in all, it probably took half an hour to get to the roof, do the introduction, and for Kakashi to leave. He walked back to his apartment so that was another 30 minutes.

"10:30 at the academy– Kakashi sensei arrived shortly after I did. Say 10:40, about 30 minutes for him to leave and another 30 for me to get back here… it shouldn't be even 12 yet." Scratching the back of his head caused him to knock his bump. His bump! Was he unconscious for an hour? Is that where that time was lost. Was that why his head was hurting so damn much? Or was his clock simply wrong? Setting his alarm to 3 am just to be on the safe side. He couldn't afford to be late again. Not tomorrow.

Feeling rather tired despite the time, he decided to lie down on his mattress. While a lot of the springs were damaged, he knew exactly where to lay to avoid them. His mattress was quite comfortable despite its wear and tear, so he was fast asleep in no time.

Saturday

Waking up to the sound of his stomach growling at him angrily. Looking at the time he saw he had enough to feed the beast that was his gut. He had slept for a full 12 hours. A new personal record as far as he could know, he only ever really slept for 8 hours max.

Naruto didn't consider 1 am being morning time, so he wasn't going to eat breakfast. As he plodded along to his kitchen area to fix himself something to eat, he couldn't help but notice all the crap littering his apartment. Dirty clothes littered the floor everywhere he looked. Not only on the floor but thrown over the tops of the doors and on some sides. He noticed the filthy dishes that he had left in his sink piling up.

Now Naruto was an orphan, one who had been living by himself since he was 7 years of age. He also didn't have the social skills or knowledge to know what sociable hours were. What actions were or were not acceptable to do at certain hours of the day. Fortunately, he had two things going for him in his favour. One – he didn't care if he was loud, he prided himself on it in fact. Two – he had no neighbours. So never worrying about making a racket he was free to be as loud as he wanted.

Every person from this complex had moved out within a year of him moving in. Plus, the neighbourhood that he lived in wasn't in the highest social standing within their community. There wasn't a day that went by that Naruto couldn't hear some commotion happening from outside that he could hear from his place all the way on the top floor.

Prioritizing food above all else he began making some food. Banging and clanking of utensils made a fair amount noise. Threw some chicken meat in the oven, prepped the rice and stuck that on. Next, he started steaming some veggies that were soon to go bad if not eaten in a few days. That taken care of he gathered all his clothes and put them in the washing machine. He would be able to hang them out to dry whilst he was doing his test later. He started to wash up enough things so he could eat of and would do the rest after eating.

Naruto had many skills that people didn't know about because they weren't written down in his academy reports. He was quite the confident cook, was good with his money and actively searched for the best deals to save as much as he could so he could treat himself to some Ichiruku ramen – the best in the village. He also did in fact eat vegetables. Not a lot of the time but he loved carrots and broccoli the most. He was tidy most of the time, contrary to popular belief.

This was the exception – he had given himself a week of laziness as congratulations to himself for finally becoming a ninja of Konoha. As they say third time's the charm. Which was fortunate because if you fail the academy exam 3 times, they don't let you become a ninja.

So now with a full belly and his apartment back up to regular hygiene standards, Naruto went to take a shower. His alarm had blared at him telling him it was 3 am. Still not sure whether his alarm was an hour out he got a quick shower just in case. Whilst he was washing his hair, he didn't feel a huge bump anymore. This also made him realise that his head wasn't pounding like yesterday. Abashed at his own lack of memory he finished up and went to his room to get dressed in his ninja attire.

Quickly dressed in his 'orange clothes of awesome', as he referred to them, he went through his ninja supply chest. Most items in here were his practice kunai and shuriken. Not thinking of needing the practice stuff for a survival test he moved them outside of the chest. Getting his real throwing weapons out felt good and put a smile on his face. He got the set when he first started the academy, but they were forbidden to be used on the grounds. He had tucked them away and now had a chance to use them. One set consisted of 5 kunai and 10 shuriken, they also came with a handy holster that could be strapped on his legs, arms, hip or around the chest. He preferred the legs and so that's where they went.

"These feel a lot heavier than the practice stuff" and they were. Realising that he would have to practice with these at least a little before his test caused even less time for him to get prepared. "I should have done this yesterday -dattebayo" kicking himself for not planning ahead of time – which was yet another skill he had that people didn't realise; he needed to for his more outlandish pranks!

Face scrunched up in concentration as he quickly completes his prep work by gathering up some ninja wire from his spool and cut about 10 meters worth. A couple of smoke bombs and with survival in mind – some ration bars. He had no idea how long this test was supposed to take. He was as ready as he could be.

"3:35 which means it could also be 4:35, ok now to training ground 7…" realisation had set in. "Crap! I don't even know where that is! Oh man, I really hope my alarm isn't out at least then I have some time to find it." All training grounds were just inside the village walls, but they weren't lined up in numerical order. Or any real order for that matter. It was a security issue that Naruto didn't know about yet. Deciding to just try his luck he left his apartment and headed straight for the roofs.

Running aimlessly for about 5 minutes he stopped. "I need to get to higher ground…. I could always go the Hokage monument that's pretty high up" mind made up that's what he did. Looking out from the head of the fourth Hokage was not something new to Naruto. Doing so when it was dark and trying to look for a training field was. This was where he would practice when he trained. It was open but no one came up here, and the trees made for decent practice – be it fist or weapon.

He could see the residential districts easily from his vantage point. They surrounded the commercial district in almost a circular design. With the gap between the three leading to the Hokage tower and residence. Not far from the Hokage tower stood the academy and its grounds. Which happened to be almost directly beneath the Hokage heads.

Past the residential districts came the clan compounds and their varying lands and even further than that were the training fields. "It almost feels unfair that the training grounds are so close to the clan kids when they've got their own space to train in right next to their homes" he grumbled. It also meant that he was likely the furthest point away from them at his position right now. Cursing his misfortune, he turns around to make his way towards one of the grounds and hopes he lucks out.

"Ah! Holy crap where did you come from?!" startled he nearly jumped out of his skin. In front of Naruto stood a very tall and muscular man in 'a green leotard?' he asked himself. Weirder than the clothing was that it seemed to work on him. He thought it looked quite cool, especially the orange leg warmers.

"Aha, apologies my young friend, I never meant to startle you" he seemed friendly. But it was probably not even 4 o'clock yet. He knew why he was here, why was –

"I come up here early to do some of my own training before I meet with my students. I have never seen you here at this time before so was going to ask if you too were stoking your Flames of Youth!" this guy's voice was slowly getting louder, but his enthusiasm was contagious. A smile appeared on Naruto's face. What the man had said registered with the blond knucklehead. His smile widened even further.

Guy Might felt glad seeing his smile, thinking perhaps he had found another determined soul that would release his passion through rigorous physical training.

"You're a ninja! A sensei? Perhaps you can help me? I'm looking for training ground 7. I'd really appreciate it if you'd tell me where it is", he couldn't believe his luck! The man took on a thinking pose. Arms crossed over his chest and one hand on his chin. Not wanting to interrupt the man - who once again he hadn't gotten the name of, he had to stop doing that– it seemed he didn't have to.

"You are a shinobi correct? Then you should know that information is crucial to any situation and should not be given freely" half remembering that from the academy so nodding his head to the man in the affirmative he carried on "I know the location you seek, but I want something in return from you".

'Huh. What the hell could he want from me?' Nodding his head again the man continued. Time was running out.

"I want you to meet me at training ground 9 at 6 am in a weeks' time. I see a determination in your eyes and want to know how hard you are willing to work. One session with me so I can see your worth"

He wanted to train him? No, to test him. See his worth. Kami, he thought that once he became a gennin that he would be done with all these tests. He also wasn't technically a gennin, he had to pass Kakashi sensei's test first.

He told the man this much but he brushed the issue away. He said gennin or not he wanted him to keep his word if he agreed to this deal. It wasn't exactly hard to refuse, this man thought he would be worth enough to teach from just looking at him – it probably didn't hurt that he was out so early in the man's eyes as he was clearly an early bird kind of guy. And that meant something to Naruto. It meant a lot. Not many believed him deserving of becoming a shinobi and he was out to prove them wrong.

"I agree! … Err, sorry I never got your name. Mines Naruto by the way"

"Might Gai. I knew who you were already young man. But nice to meet you. You may want to get a move on, it's some distance away", Gai was glad to have met the boy. He had heard tales from Kakashi and other ANBU about the boys daring exploits, but also his abysmal academy report.

He wanted to see if he had the fortitude and willpower necessary to succeed against such setbacks. Almost everyone had written the boy off as hopeless. They had done the same thing with one of his students. He was turning out to be a splendid shinobi.

Gai looked forward to testing him. If he failed Kakashi's bell test and was sent back to the academy he'd consider sponsoring him depending on the outcome a week from now.

"Thanks, Gai sensei. I'll find that training ground and see you in a week. Bye!" He shouted from over his shoulder, quickly dashing off to his meeting place. That was a massive help, it turns out that the training ground was pretty much slap bang in the middle of them all, he just had to follow the main path through the clan district until he found some training grounds and then take a right. He said there was a memorial stone next to the grounds, and if he saw that then he was close.

Seeing it gave him hope. And just in time too as he saw Sasuke approach from the right. Sakura had approached from his left. They all met up at the same time. Naruto was out of breath from running but the other two looked like they just rolled out of bed.

Wondering how they found this place so easily he voiced his thoughts to them.

"Naruto you idiot. It's in our textbooks from the academy! Don't you know anything? Sheesh, I can't believe they let you become a ninja" Sakura's words were harsh but if he had looked, she was right. He wouldn't have wasted well over an hour running about the village. Feeling dejected and not in as good a mood now he just sat away from his new teammates and leaned next to a tree. Sasuke stood on the bridge leaning against the rails looking into the waters and Sakura stood off to the side of him – staring at Sasuke.

Internally sighing to himself about his possible team and their feelings towards him. He wanted to be friends with them both. Sasuke was alone like him so they might have been able to bond but he was such a teme! Gets all the attention and doesn't do anything for it! Constantly praised but doesn't acknowledge any of it as if the whole world was beneath him.

Sakura constantly putting him down with her words and oftentimes her fists, she was his friend before he joined the academy, but she refused to remember that time – asking her for dates to spend time with her and be friends once more. Never realising that a date was between two people who were trying for a romantic relationship, not friendship.

He had to stop these negative thoughts. He had a test to prepare for. Kakashi would be here any minute and he had to be ready.

Grrrrr-

Crap all that running around made him hungry again. He had those ration bars, but he was told not to eat breakfast. He also didn't know when this test was supposed to end either.

He waited for 10 minutes.

Then 20, soon 30 minutes had passed. He snuck away and ate one bar. He couldn't help it. Neither of his teammates noticed he was gone. He didn't think they would care if he left.

He debated whether to just leave altogether. Iruka sensei always said your team is like your family. His sensei was late, Sasuke doesn't care about him or his one-sided rivalry. Sakura had stated that she actively hated him. Hated. Naruto didn't hate anyone! Gai sensei's words came back to him. He wanted to see if he was determined enough to pass his test. He was determined to pass Kakashi's test not 30 minutes ago. He could do this-dattebayo! He sat back down at the same tree and waited.