The Copy Ninja and The Snake Mistress

Naruto groaned as he slammed his fist into the log again. It was part of his morning workout, which consisted of 300 pushups, 200 punches on the tree with each arm, 200 kicks on the tree with each leg, and 50 laps around the entire training area. It was insane quite honestly, especially because he wore weights throughout the entirety of the practice. By the end of the workout he was dead tired.

To rest his body, not his mind, he studied chakra theory, politics, and fuinjutsu afterward. The only time he wasn't bored during this period was when he studied fuinjutsu, however that was because he was strangely attracted to it, as if its topics were hypnotizing. While it didn't scare him, it actually gave him a strange comforting feeling, although a strange feeling of hatred arose whenever he studied it, he wasn't sure what it meant either.

The last part of the day was probably the most hectic. He practiced his taijutsu style, worked on improving his chakra control, trained on his kunai and shuriken accuracy, and practiced his fuinjutsu. While fuinjutsu was much easier it was also more complicated, and while it wasn't hard, it took the most time, not including chakra control, as he had to make sure every stroke was perfect. Jiraiya, the writer of the book he was reading, hadn't gone into detail about what happened when a fuinjutsu was improperly, or sloppily, written but he had said that it was something no one, not even the Shinigami himself, deserved to encounter.

However, his training and academic aspects of life were not the only things that had improved. His relationship with Hinata had sky-rocketed. While he hadn't been over to her house he had learned more about her and her clan. To be honest he liked her, but disliked the policies of her clan. While he didn't know much about it, she had told him there was a wedge between the main and branch families, although he did not know what caused it or what that wedge was. He had taken to calling her Hina-chan now, which made her blush every time he did so. She stilled called him Naruto-kun, but he wasn't opposed to the name, he rather liked it. She was his second friend, first in his age range, anyway.

He also had made friends with Shikamaru and Chouji. Well, friend was a strong word, more like very good colleague. He hung out with them a lot, and had taken to their habit of cloud-watching. It was interesting, seeing how the clouds moved. It was actually a good way of stress relief for him.

However, if anything hadn't changed over the course of a week it was his relationship with his crush, a pink haired girl named Sakura. He had had a crush on her since they were in the third year in the academy, and it wasn't a one week type of crush. No, it was on a deeper level. It was not love, although Naruto, being as dense and unintelligent in the ways of dating as he was, thought it was. He still called her Sakura-chan, much to the girl's dismay, and still asked her out on dates.

Needless to say he was rebuffed every time.

The girl was a die-hard Uchiha fangirl. It was the one thing he didn't like about her. She never noticed him, and even while he had improved and was by no means the idiot he once was she still considered him to be one. Her insulting nickname of Naruto-baka, was still what she called him. He had been told by Chouji and Shikamaru that he should quit while he was ahead, but he just couldn't. She was alluring, and he was a novice to feminine attraction, as Tenten was more like a sister and Hinata was to shy to be anything more than a friend, although he would not deny the Hyuga wasn't ugly.

Sakura had taken to physically rebuffing his dates now. Whenever he asked her out she screamed at him and punched him, hard. It broke a little bit of him every time she did so, but he was never a quitter, and swore that he could change her train of thought about him eventually.

However, Naruto no longer had time to practice. It was time for school, the hell spawn that it was, and he had to go. He had woken up particularly early today to train briefly. He sighed as he looked at the goggles he had begun to wear in public. They Hokage had given them to him when he was still very young, and they had been his only companion through his many years of hardship. They were something of a memento of how is old life was, as it was beginning to change very rapidly.

XxX

Naruto burst into his class, nearly late. Villagers had tried to stop him from reaching the Academy today, forcing him to make an arc around the village to avoid them. He smiled as the bell rang the second he busted in. His devilish luck was still active, and he definitely was making use of it.

"You made it on time Naruto, barely," Iruka said, smiling at the blonde.

Naruto smiled back, although he felt a distinct chill spread through his body as Mizuki, Iruka's helper, nodded at him with a small smile. Something about that man had always set Naruto off, although he took that as a sign that he may rig his grades as the majority of the academy teachers did.

"Take your seat."

Naruto did as told, and sat next to his closest friend, Hinata.

"N-N-Naruto-kun, w-where were you, y-y-you were almost late?" She asked.

Naruto smiled sheepishly at the girl, rubbing the back of his neck. "I ran into some problems on the way here."

"Troublesome," he heard Shikamaru mumble in front of him.

XxX

"Okay kids, time for the taijutsu sparing portion of the day," Mizuki said. "As Parents Day is coming up you all will be sparing with each other, as to get ready to show off everything you have learned we will have you spar each other, to make it more interesting."

Naruto nodded. Today was his chance. His chance to finally beat the Uchiha. For the past week all they had done was spar with Mizuki, but now he was going to be able to spar Sasuke, as long Mizuki called him out to spar Sasuke, he just had to rely on his luck again.

"Okay, as per usual, ladies first. I want Sakura and Hinata to spar."

Naruto frowned as Mizuki called that out. He didn't know who to cheer for. On one hand he had his childhood crush, while on the other he had the person who had become one of his most precious people; it was truly a hard choice. He had no idea which one to pick.

However, it seemed it was not needed as the fight ended relatively quickly. Out of all the girls, Hinata was the best at taijutsu. While it may be she was the only clan girl, who trained, who didn't fast for the Uchiha, or the fact that she was slightly harder on the majority of the girls for hurting Naruto, especially Sakura, it didn't matter. She could undoubtedly beat all of them, even if she was shy.

And so the fights continued, all the girls being pathetic at taijutsu. They had the capability of being good in taijutsu, but it was the fact that, with the exception of Hinata, ALL of the girls in the class were undoubtedly fangirls, which hindered their growth.

"Well that was…great," Mizuki said, forcing out the word great however it only sounded guttural. "Boys next. Kiba and Chouji, you're first."

Chouji had spiky, brown hair, swirl marks on his cheeks, and had a more robust physique. He wore black shorts, a long white scarf, a short-sleeved, green haori over a white shirt with his clan's obligatory kanji for "food" on it, small, hoop earrings, and his legs and forearms were wrapped in bandages.

Kiba had messy brown hair, sharp black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils, pronounced canine teeth, and nails. He also had distinctive red fang markings on his cheeks, as per his clan's rules. He wore dark grayish pants that reached his calves and a grey, hooded fur-lined coat, with the hood usually placed on his head, over an apparent plate of armor and fishnet undershirt.

"Sensei," Kiba began, "can we use chakra in our fight?"

Mizuki actually took time to think this over. The girls didn't use it, but then again the girls didn't have enough experience to use it as the majority never trained. The boys however, they trained. And they all had clans that helped them train; therefore it would not be to dangerous.

"I will allow it, however if I deem it to dangerous I will stop the match."

Kiba nodded and glared at Chouji who was eating a bag of chips. Kiba growled. "Begin."

Kiba's body was enveloped by a large cloud of chakra and he crouched on the ground, as if he were a canine. His teeth elongated even further, his fingers and toenails grew to claw-like length, and his eyes became wilder with his slit-like pupils thinning.

A dog barked behind Kiba. It was a small puppy with white fur and resembled a Great Pyrenees. Its eyes were squinted, appearing closed, and he had a dark brown nose, as well as dark brown patches on his ears and a dark outline around his mouth.

"Don't worry Akamaru. This will be over quickly."

Kiba charged Chouji, his claws raised. Chouji ducked under the swipe, barely dodging it, before stumbling backwards.

"W-wait Kiba, there is no need for violence."

"Yes there is Chouji!"

Kiba charged again, however this time Chouji was prepared. His arm began to enlarge, growing to gargantuan sizes.

"Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Multi-Size Technique)!"

Kiba dodged the overgrown fist partially, only allowing it to clip his side. However, the force of the blow was great and sent him to the ground. Chouji looked hesitant but still charged the downed Kiba. Kiba looked up, determination in his eyes, before he raised his claws again. He charged Chouji in response, before lashing out with his claws. He was faster than Chouji and because of that, when Chouji dodged his shirt had two diagonal slash marks on it. Chouji fell backwards as Kiba rushed in and put his claws to his neck.

"Yield," Kiba said.

Chouji nodded and looked at Mizuki. "I-I yield."

Mizuki nodded. "Kiba wins."

Chouji walked away from the circle looking down in shame, while Kiba sauntered off cockily.

"It's okay Chouji, you'll get him next time," Naruto said patting his friend on the back.

"Y-y-you did g-g-great out t-t-there C-Chouji-san," Hinata said, hiding behind Naruto slightly.

"Its fine Chouji, winning is too troublesome."

Chouji nodded as his friends comforted him. It made him feel better about the loss. Still, next time he would rather win.

"Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki," Mizuki said with a calm face, however inside he was grinning like a madman.

'Show him up Uchiha,' Mizuki thought his thoughts filled with unreasonable hatred.

Sasuke walked into the circle as did Naruto. They glared at each other, their dislike for the other, or anger at the other for showing them up all the time, being revealed.

"Prepare to lose, Sasuke," Naruto said, crouching into his fighting stance.

"Hn. Dobe," Sasuke responded also falling into his own fighting stance.

"Begin!" Mizuki ordered.

Naruto rushed Sasuke immediately, his punch ready to be thrown. However, Sasuke swatted his fist to the side and tried to punch him in the gut. Naruto grabbed his fist and pulled Sasuke in for a knee to the stomach, which was blocked by Sasuke's free hand. The two growled at each other before breaking apart to gain more clarity.

That moment quickly ended as Naruto rushed forward, his hand clearly wanting to strike the Uchiha in the chest. Sasuke twirled to the side, getting behind Naruto and attempting to lash out with a spinning hook kick, however Naruto turned in time and caught the kick with both of his hands, although it hurt.

Naruto growled. He was on the back foot. While after only a week of seriously training he knew he wouldn't be on Sasuke's level he thought he would be doing better than this. The Uchiha was toying with him to try and make him look like a fool. While it wasn't exactly working as he had hoped, in fact it was helping Naruto as a few of the girls were wondering when he got that good, it was still showing the fact that Sasuke was a great fighter, as Naruto had defeated some of the more capable boys in the class before.

Sasuke jumped and span in midair, twirling his caught leg around in Naruto's grasp as he came in with a sweeping kick to the head. Both of Naruto's hands were preoccupied, and he was to close to dodge. Naruto was hit straight in the face, spitting out blood, and making him stumble. He got his equilibrium back and glared at Sasuke.

"Nice one teme, let's see if you can stop this!"

Naruto charged Sasuke, cocking both of his fists back. Sasuke dodged both strikes, however Naruto wanted this. He clasped his hands on the back of the Uchiha's neck and brought him down into his knee, snapping Sasuke's head back, and forcing blood from his nose.

Sasuke stumbled and Naruto took advantage of it. Naruto grabbed his chin and pushed back on it, forcing Sasuke to the ground, however the young Uchiha span and kicked Naruto in the side, forcing him off of him. Naruto stood as Sasuke did, both looking at each other with in a new light.

'Sasuke isn't invincible,' Naruto thought. While he didn't think he was, compared to all the other Academy students Sasuke seemed invincible.

'The dobe is good! You've earned a bit of my respect Naruto,' Sasuke thought, before he crouched preparing to strike.

However, they were not the only two looking at this battle.

"These two kids are amazing," Mizuki said, looking at them in awe. "When I was an Academy student I wasn't near this level."

"How is Naruto-baka keeping up with my Sasuke-kun," Sakura screeched.

Sakura had bright pink hair, large green eyes, and fair skin. She had a rather large forehead and wore bags to cover it, which helped. She wore a red qipao dress with white circular designs, with short sleeves, with a zipper, and tight dark green shorts.

"What do you mean your Sasuke-kun Billboard Brow," said a blonde haired girl.

The girl was fair-skinned, and average in height with blue eyes. She had long, blonde, waist-length hair, which was worn in a high-ponytail with bangs covering the right side of her face. She wore a pair of small silver hoop-earrings and purple, fairly revealing clothing. She wore a short purple vest like blouse with a raised collar, a purple apron skirt that was cut off at the sides and bandages on her stomach and legs. She also wore purple and white elbow warmers.

"You heard me Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted back at the girl.

The two butted heads before everyone muted them out.

XxX

"Hokage-sama, you want us to train the blonde," a woman said.

The woman had light brown, pupil-less eyes, and violet hair, which was styled in a short, spiky, fanned-ponytail. She wore a tan overcoat with a purple in-seam, which had a pocket on both sides, and complete with a fitted mesh body suit that stretches from her neck down to her thighs. She wore a dark orange mini-skirt as well as a Konoha forehead protector, a small pendant that looked like a snake fang on a thick cord rather than a chain to prevent it from being easily torn off in combat, a wrist watch, and pale grey shin guards. She wore a dark blue belt around her waist that connects to her skirt that has an appendage-like sash.

"Yes, he has much potential. Possibly more than any of the other prospects, with his only competitor being Uchiha Sasuke."

"Hokage-sama," said a man. "While I am all for teaching the boy-" 'Especially as he is my sensei's son.' "Wouldn't the counsel get angry as they want me to train the Uchiha."

The man was fit and relatively tall, with spiky silver hair and dark-colored eyes. He wore a blue face mask that covered his from his chin up to the bright of his nose. He wore the standard attire for a Jonin with short metal-plated gloves. He wore his forehead protector on a simple blue band that was titled to the left to cover his left eye. He also wore a chain necklace.

"That is when it is time for them to graduate. Besides, the boy is already spoiled, he doesn't need private tutoring. Also, he's the top of the class."

"But, Hokage-sama, the blonde seems to be doing well without any help," the woman said.

"Anko, you see how many holes the blonde, and the Uchiha, have in their stances. I'm specifically requesting you two as you can help the blonde fix his mistakes. However, Sasuke-kun will be going to Kakashi anyway as he is the only one who can teach him about the Sharingan, therefore there is no reason for me to rush things with the boy, especially as he hasn't even activated his Sharingan."

Anko, the female ninja, nodded. She may not like it, but she was a ninja, and ninja's were supposed to follow orders. Kakashi on the other hand, the male ninja, was jumping for joy…mentally of course. He got to train his sensei's son. It would be great, for him, Naruto on the other hand; he may not like Kakashi's training from slacker hell.

That's why he had Anko.

XxX

Naruto blocked Sasuke's punch before attempting to slam his elbow into Sasuke's face. However, the raven haired boy avoided the blow and lashed out with a pushing front kick in attempt to push Naruto out of the circle. Naruto latched onto his leg as he was hit in the chest, dragging Sasuke along with him.

"Break it up!" Mizuki ordered.

The two let go of each other, surprise written on both of their faces.

"There was no winner, it's a draw."

While the girls in the class seemed to have problems with this, the boys were happy. Now Sasuke may not act like a stuck up asshole to everyone.

"Tch," Sasuke mumbled before stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking away.

Or not.

XxX

It had been five hours since today's class had ended, and Naruto was exhausted. He was still punching the tree, trying to finish up his morning workout even thought it was well past the time he should have finished it. He had already studied fuinjutsu and politics, and practiced his chakra control. As of now, all he wanted to do was sleep, but he had to finish his physical exercises first.

He continued until he heard two voices behind him.

"Hey gaki, you okay?"

"Looks like he's gonna pass out."

He turned to see Anko walking up to him, a smile on her attractive features, and Kakashi walking up behind her.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, dropping into his fighting stance.

"Woah, Woah, come down gaki, we're here because we want to help you."

Naruto looked at Anko strangely.

"I'm Anko, and the scarecrow behind me is Kakashi, we want to train you. We saw you training for the past couple of days, and you pushed hard. You have determination and potential. I wouldn't mind training a brat with a fire like you have, and neither would Kakashi."

Naruto looked at them pointedly. He highly doubted they just randomly saw him and decided to train him, but who was he to refuse? They were part of the village, he could tell from their headbands, and they were offering to train him. It would be idiotic not to accept.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the man who's gonna become Hokage, BELIEVE IT!"

Hey guys it's Kuma Akuma. FIRST AUTHOR'S NOTE FOR THIS STORY. Anyway, I want to thank all of you who reviewed, as it really made me want to do this chapter. Also, if you want, for all you high achievers out there, you can check my profile if you want to send in OCs. Anyways. The way Naruto met Kakashi and Anko may not be what you guys wanted, but I had already planned it out beforehand, and this was the way that I wanted to do it. It isn't as great as it could be, but hey I was pressed for time here. Anyways, Sasuke isn't as much of an asshole...for now. Also, I have a question. If you guys have a question do you want me to add it in before the chapter or do you want me to just PM you the answers. I know either or could annoy some people, so please give me answers. And send in OCs, as they will be used in this story often as I will diverge from Naruto canon. Well, that's it, see you guys later and avoid the Earl.