Disclaimer: Not mine.
~Story, Start!~
-5 Days Later-
"5654, 5655, 5656..."
Naruto's voice sounded throughout his living room as he went through a set of vertical pushups, his feet balanced perfectly over him.
'The one with the best balance never has to worry about being forced out of position. Uneven footing, shifting floors, heavy strikes, sudden lands, if your balance is superior, you can recover fast enough for those not to matter' Kurama had told Naruto, before forcing him to run along various fences, treebranches, clothe lines and narrow ledges. The blonde fell on his head more than once doing it, but he had eventually gotten things down.
'I've been doing some work on your bones, kid.'
'Mhm?'
'I've been trying to figure out the best ratio between size and density so that your bones don't snap with your first kick thrown, but so that they don't make you too heavy and make it harder to jump, move fast and float in water. I think I've found the right point, but you'll need good amounts of calcium. Sesame, Cellery, seeds and milk are going to factor more into your diet. Orange in the fruit slot.'
'My clones are going to take care of it. So, what am I doing after this?'
'Reading. This time, a book on interpersonal relationships. You need to know how to pick up social cues, it helps both in your personal affairs, and in information gathering from civillians.'
'Okay...'
'You can stop now.'
"6580!"
The blonde jumped back to his feet, instinctively bending his knees for a lowered center of gravity, before standing back upright.
Toweling off his sweat, Naruto sat down at his table, picking up a hardback, black cover book.
'Tsunderes, Yanderes and traps: The do's and dont's of Romance. Sounds interesting...'
Shelving away his thoughts, Naruto opened the book and started readin the first chapter.
'Love. One of the most intense emotions a person can ever feel, love is an emotion that has much impact in history. When you read about military conflicts and wars, you usually read about clanheads vying for territory, seeking power, or the blood of their enemies out of sheer savagery.
Well, those that write the history books would most certainly dislike everyone knowing that they caused a mass genocide just because a certain member of the x-clan refused their advances. It would, in their minds, pass the image of weakness. After all, isn't being stoic the hallmark of a strong person, and leader?
NO! WRONG! The strongest people are those that allow themselves to feel, and the best leaders are those that are capable of dealing with the consequences of their actions without forcing themselves to not feel emotions. Running away from your emotions is the biggest and most innefective form of cowardice, as, in the end, they shall catch up with you regardless.
That being said, while it is difficult for one to know why they feel something, knowing what one they are feeling is usually easier. That might not mean much, however. After all, lifting one ocean is easier than lifting 5, and yet both are borderline impossible undertakings.
(I say borderline because as long as people exist, there also exists the possibility.)
The relative difficulty in identifying both the how's and the why's of emotions are varied, and depend completely on the individual's willingness to look within themselves with a critical eye, with no justifications, excuses or biases shaping their perception of themselves, and the final results...'
-Hokage's Office-
Sarutobi Hiruzen leaned away from his desk even as he stopped the chakra flow to his crystal ball, cutting off the remote viewing jutsu he tended to occasionally use to check up on the blond.
'Naruto truly is working hard to better himself... Heh, he's putting this old man to shame, tackling all of his tasks with enthusiasm and timeliness. I bet he likes reading as much as I like doing paperwork... Well, that changes today. I was chosen as the Third Hokage, and hold the title of The God of Shinobi for a reason! It's time for this old monkey to get back to swinging!'
Pressing the button on his intercom, Hiruzen spoke to his secretary.
"Janai-san, clear my schedule for the rest of the day. If any new matters are brought up, tell them to wait until tomorrow."
"Hai, Hokage-sama!"
Nodding at the response, Hiruzen stood up from his seat and stretched, taking care of a creak in his back from sitting in the same position for an extended time period. Crossing his fingers together the man cried out "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" , before signaling his ANBU guard away, enjoying the feeling of a less cramped room after the shadows in the room lightened lightly.
As he moved towards the records office, Hiruzen sensed something. Very faint it might have been, but the chakra signature was still there. In a speed beffiting the God of Shinobi, Hiruzen's hand shot towards the throat of the blankly masked young man that had hidden himself within the plaster wall. Before Hiruzen could do a thing, he heard a small 'Crunch' before the ninja started spasming, with foam flowing down the bottom of his mask.
'A suicide pill...' Hiruzen thought in disgust, before another thought went through his mind 'Something smells rotten here... This M.O definitely screams Danzo, and for him to be able to plant an agent in here means that either my ANBU are getting sloppy, or there're holes in my forces. None of those options are satisfactory in the least... I'll get Inoichi, Ibiki, Anko and Dragon to screen my ANBU to make sure I have no leaks, after that I'll have to keep people on Danzo watch...'
Disgusted at the thought that Danzo would restart the loathsome ROOT program, the knowledge that the man had gotten enough political backing that his execution for treason without definitive evidence would lead to intense backlash despite the weight of the Hokage's word, and that all of that had happened right under the nose of 'The God of Shinobi', Hiruzen's resolve to get control of things in his village back doubled. He would start with going back through the various archived documents, policies and motions passed ever since Minato's death...
-Team selection day, Academy-
"I-is that... Naruto?"
Kiba's incredulous tone had everyone looking towards the door, jaws falling as they saw the athletic figure clad in a maroon, long-sleeved shirt with orange accents, olive-colored Khaki cargo pants and blue sandals. His hair was spiked on top, and slightly smoother in the back, reaching his neck.
His face was neutral, but it wasn't any attempt at conveying stoicity, or anything of the sort.
'That sounds absolutely disgusting.'
'I know, right? Why would you collect someone's hair for a shrine?'
He was simply talking to Kurama. After having a conversation with Kurama while brushing his teeth, Naruto had noticed that he tended to make the odd facial expression. Not wanting to seem crazy, or give his detractors more fuel on the 'demon' front, he forcibly trained himself to stay expressionless whenever talking to Kurama.
Nowadays, with his attempts at getting the attention of random people in the street through speaking at a screaming volume and pulling pranks stopping, and with Kurama taking an instructional role in his life, this happened to be more often than not.
So about 90% of the time Naruto could actually be seen in public, his face was always expressionless. The other 10% were just him walking around his peaceful smile, his sunny disposition never leaving him.
"What're you doing here, Naruto? This is for graduates only."
Despite the fact that Shikamaru said this not mockingly or recriminatingly, but simply out of honest curiosity, the majority of the class took the opportunity to laugh uproariously at that. The blonde's unfocused gaze sharpened and fell straight on Shikamaru, before he answered teasingly.
"Not very good for a genin if you can miss this gleaming, reflective slab of metal on my forehead, Shikamaru."
The laughs of the class were halted by that observation, their eyes travelling towards his forehead and seeing the protector tied around it.
"I know for sure that you didn't have that when we left the academy last week. Mind explaining how this happened?"
"Now now, Shikamaru. We're Shinobi now, you didn't really expect me to give information so easily, did you?"
The pineapple-haired lazy boy mumbled out a 'troublesome' before laying his head back on top of his arms and snoozing. Shrugging past a sweatdrop, Naruto made his way towards his usual seat besides Sasuke, not mindful of the various curious and interested looks turned towards him.
Sitting down with nary a fuss, Naruto pulled an apple out of... Somewhere... Before ravenously munching on it. Then, he followed with an orange.
At first, no one really paid attention, but everyone was soon watching when he whipped out a full-sized pineapple at the 15 minute mark, peeled it with a Kunai, and tossed the peel towards the waste basket in the corner of the classroom, before biting into it.
Due to this, no-one was really in a state of mind to notice the sudden entrance, and argument between Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino about who was first and who got to sit next to Sasuke, despite the fact that that was Naruto's seat.
Noticing that everyone was looking towards a specific direction, the two girls halted their argument in favor of seeking the source of interest, Ino especially with her status as a known gossiper.
The blonde's tongue almost fell out of her mouth at the sight of the blonde hottie that sat in Naruto's place...
"What the hell!?"
"I know, right!" came the distracted response from Ami, a classmate of theirs "Where does he keep pulling this fruit from?"
Trading looks, Sakura and Ino silently mouthed "Fuit?" before turning their full atention not just on the blonde's clothes and body, but on what he was doing.
That's how they witnessed the boy shoving a whole peach into his mouth, then somehow spitting out the pit, before repeating the process with a whole Apricot, spitting out it's kernel. Catching a glimpse of the pale-skinned, raven-haired Uchiha, though, broke Sakura's trance in the scene.
After all, it was 'just Naruto', and nothing related to him was worth paying attention to.
Dashing up the steps, she stood next to Naruto, before shrieking.
"Get out of my seat, Naruto-Baka!"
The loud volume caused to blonde to choke on an avocado seed as he attempted to repeat the process, before he managed to spit it out...
Right onto Sakura's dress.
As the pinkette stood stock still in shock, Naruto let out relieved breaths, before turning to the stunned pinkette and frowning at her, speaking in an angry, admonishing tone.
"Are you crazy!? What the hell would make you screech that loud next to an eating person? I could have choked!"
The shocks in the classroom built as Naruto actually spoke up against his 'Sakura-chan', with a certain blue-haired girl cheering inwardly, though outwardly she could do nothing more than poke her fingers together.
Sakura, having gotten over her shock, clenched her her hand into a fist and raised it to punch Naruto in the head, as usual.
Everyone was expecting the usual scene to pass... Which is why they all gaped openly when Naruto blocked said punch with his palm, before wrapping his fingers around the fist, and squeezing.
Sakura winced visibly, the pressure around her fist being more than just slightly uncomfortable.
"First, you nearly make me choke. Then you try to order me to vacate my seat as if you had any authority over me. And, not content with that, you try to hit me."
Then, Naruto actually scowled, before speaking up.
"You know, looking at our previous interactions logically, I cannot really see any reason for me to have ever been infatuated with you. Luckily for you, since you actually always made your thoughts about me known despite my persistence, this one is going to slide. But keep in mind Haruno-san, if you try to hit me again, I'll retaliate in kind. We're no longer just children playing around, talking to our friends and worried about social cliques.
The moment we put on these headbands we were automatically considered adults, and part of being an adult is gaining maturity, and assuming the responsibility and consequences of your actions. Keep this in mind."
"I couldn't have said it better myself."
Everyone else turned towards the classroom door, seeing the figure of their chunin instructor, Iruka, except for Naruto who kept his gaze on Sakura before raising an eyebrow. When the girl clenched her other fist, Naruto squeezed, causing her to cry out in pain and try to pry the blonde's hand away with her own.
"Let go! Let go!"
Shaking his head, Naruto gave her a further squeeze, before retracting to his initial strength.
"Not until you apologize. You just tried to hit me, this sort of thing doesn't just disappear because people's attention has gone elsewhere. Until you apologize, I won't release your hand."
Sakura gave Naruto a defiant look, causing the blonde to sigh in exasperation, before squeezing even tighter. As her hand started turning red, Sakura finally called out.
"OK!OK! I'M SORRY, PLEASE LET GO!"
Naruto released Sakura's hand, allowing her to fall back onto her behind as she tried to shake life back into her hand. Giving a genuine smile, the blonde spoke up.
"See, that wasn't difficult! You did something you shouldn't, you apologize. Now we can move past this as better people!"
The pinkette shot him a moist-eyed glare, causing him to sweatdrop.
'Jeez, why's she glaring at me like that, for? It's not like I didn't give her the chance to apologize without the use of strength.'
Turning away from the glarind Sakura, Naruto focused on his bemused, surprised and proud teacher, Iruka, before speaking.
"Iruka-sensei, you're late."
The man sweatdropped at that, a thought of 'Well isn't that ironic' passing through his mind as he thought of the team assignments.
"Well, yes, erm, sorry, but I was a bit busy. I have just left a meeting with Hokage-sama about a certain subject, so..."
Naruto blinked lightly, before asking in a serious tone.
"Was it about that?"
Everyone's attention was peaked automatically, even as Iruka answered.
"No, Naruto, nothing of the sort. It was just regular chunin things."
"Ne, Iruka-sensei" started Ino, not even waiting for her hand in the air to be acknowledged "What did Naruto-baka mean by 'That'?"
Naruto frowned at the form of address, even as Iruka sighed inwardly. Before the teacher could respond, Naruto spoke up.
"It's none of your business, Yamanaka-san."
Sniffing contemptuously, Ino tossed her hair back before speaking.
"Stop trying to act so cool just because you changed your clothes, you're still the same dead last as you were last week. Just because you got Sakura to apologize to you doesn't mean I'm afraid of you. If things come to it, I can simply kick your ass. After all, I did better in the shinobi-program after all."
An honest-to-god scowl came over Naruto's face, surprising many that the boy could even do so, before he answered.
"I'm not 'trying to act cool', Yamanaka-san, I am simply telling you to stay out of other people's business, as it's a subject that has nothing to do with you. And if you feel so confident about your chances against me, I invite you to try to attack me. I won't be half as lenient with you as I was towards Haruno-san."
Ino glared visibly at the blonde, but as she made to stand up to walk towards him, Iruka's voice sounded around the classroom.
"ENOUGH, THE TWO OF YOU!"
His scowl shifting to a neutral expression, Naruto turned his focus back towards Iruka, dismissing Ino completely and causing her to seethe silently, swearing to herself to get back at the dead last for this.
Not much wanting to watch his student's drama, Iruka pushed forward.
"I had a whole speech prepared to praise you on your progress and maturity, but it seems that it would be undeserved by you kids."
The man directed his gaze towards the blonde female, before adressing the rest of the class again.
"So I'll just go directly to team assignments. Team 1..."
As Iruka starting firing off the squads, everyone else in the room focused on the figure of Uzumaki Naruto. From the goofy, orange-clad dead-last, to an assertive, serious shinobi, it seemed that he mature great-oh there he goes, pulling out a whole watermelon out of... somewhere... and cutting it into slices with a kunai.
A vein throbbing in his forehead, Iruka spoke up.
"Naruto, give me a good reason for why you are eating in the classroom as I assign teams!"
"Well" the blonde said between munches "I'm hungry."
Seeing Iruka's angry look, the blonde decided to be more thorough in his explanation.
"Seriously, I'm really hungry Iruka-sensei. I've gone through a few changes, and my metabolism sped up to stupid degrees. I'll be constantly eating for a while, until my body settles down. Has to do with that."
Choji looked at Naruto with stars in his eyes, envious of a ready-made proper excuse to eat wherever, whenever, and of the ability to seemingly pull food out of thin air, while Iruka seemed alert and worried.
"Naruto, are you alright? Should I contact Hokage-sama?"
Waving his instructor off, Naruto swallowed the last of the watermelon, before biting into a mango.
"Nah, it's okay. I'd contact him myself if there were any problems."
Letting out a sigh in relief, Iruka focused back on the team assignments.
"...Team 7 is Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura..."
Sakura jumped to her feet, ready to start firing off rockets and let out exclamations of success and happiness...
"...and Uzumaki Naruto, under Hatake Kakashi."
Only to blink, spare the blonde a scared look, and sitting back down. Said blonde, noticing this action, let out a sigh, before focusing on the plum he had in his hand.
"Team 8 will be composed by Aburame Shino, Hyuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba, under Yuuhi Kurenai. Team 9 is still in rotation, and Team 10 will be Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino, under Sarutobi Asuma. Your sensei will be here shortly to pick you up."
As he finished saying this, a bearded man with a cigarette in his mouth walked into the classroom.
"Team 10, with me."
And just like that, he turned around and left.
"Troublesome."
With that declaration Shikamaru got up, followed after by Chouji. Ino stood up, sparing Naruto another glare, before walking outside the classroom.
That started a mass exodus, with most other sensei dropping in and getting their charges. A red-eyed, black-haired woman clad in what seemed to be clad in a handful of bandages fashioned into a dress called out for "Team 8".
Soon enough, only Iruka and Team 7 remained, before Iruka eventually had to leave, with only Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura remaining in the classroom.
Naruto seemed to be perfectly content with eating his way through what was the equivalent of 15 fruitbaskets, Sasuke stared out of the window, brooding as always, and Sakura seemed to not have decided on whether she'd stare at Sasuke adoringly, or glare at Naruto.
-2 Hours Later-
Hatake Kakashi sighed loudly, standing up from his position perched on a treebranch watching over the classroom.
'2 Hours, and they haven't said as much as a word to eachother. Well, Haruno yapped at the Uchiha, but he didn't respond, so it doesn't count. I expected Naruto to have tried to comunicate with his teammates, though... Oh well. Guess I'll finally put in an appearance.'
Making a single half-ram handsing, Kakashi was deposited on the other side of the classroom doors in a cloud of smoke, pocketing his dear book. Sliding the door open and taking a step in, Kakashi waited for the shouts of indignation to head his way, as usual...
"YOU'RE LATE!"
"..."
"..."
Only to receive a single shout coming from Sakura. Sasuke seemed to be doing his best to become the embodiment of silent brooding, and Naruto seemed to be leagues beyond them, his eyes slightly glassy as he stared unseeingly at a wall, still powering through pieces of fruit with utmost precision regardless.
"My first impression of you three... You're weird as hell. Meet me on the roof."
And like that, Kakashi vanished in a cloud of smoke. A vein throbbed visibly on Sakura's forehead, and as she reflexively turned around to shout at Naruto to aleviate her frustration, she was surprised by the blonde silently and skillfully manouvering around her, and leaving the classroom.
Sasuke followed suit, his hands within his short pockets and a frown permanently etched on his face, before the pinkette recovered enough to run after him.
-Academy Roof-
"Well, aren't you a fast one. Less than 5 minutes to make it here."
Shrugging lightly, Naruto sat himself on a step across from Kakashi, before a pineapple appeared in his hand as if by magic. He was about to reach for a Kunai to peel it, before raising his right eyebrow.
'So you're saying that the peel has great nutritional value, as well as fiber?'
'Yes, but I don't intend to make you eat peels all the time. It's just this once, I need a fiber boost for what I'm about to do.'
'...Sure, screw it, I'll try it.'
Lowering his hand again, the blonde, in view of Kakashi, and the newly arrived duo of Sasuke and Sakura, bit into the side of the unpeeled pineapple, not caring about the spikes as he swallowed it. Lowering his book a bit, and seeing the stupified looks in his two other students, the man reiterated.
"As I said, weird. Now, I want the three of you to introduce yourselves. Likes, dislikes, hopes and dreams for the future, that sort of thing. You start, pinkie."
Scowling for an instant, Sakura's demeanor smoothed over as she started speaking.
"My name is Haruno Sakura, I like..." she punctuated by looking towards Sasuke and blushing, before resuming "My dislikes, Ino-pig and Naruto-baka!"
Kakashi looked towards the blonde, expecting some sort of reaction, only to find him giving the sky a thousand yard stare, a half-eaten starfruit in his hand. Sakura, so absorbed in her speech, didn't even notice.
"My dream for the future..." she said, before looking at Sasuke and squealing, causing Kakashi to sweatdrop, before looking towards the Uchiha. Sasuke, having an intellect beyond that of a toddler, understood his cue when it was given.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like much, and I dislike many things. I don't have a dream, but an ambition, and that is to kill a certain man..."
Not even willing to open that can of worms, Kakashi turned towards Naruto, before calling out.
"Now you, blondie."
Naruto blinked, the focus returning to his eyes, before he met his would-be sensei's gaze.
"Ah... I'm sorry, what were we doing? And who were you again?"
Kakashi felt like crying at that moment.
'So this is how Gai feels...'
Ignoring the amused looks in the eyes of his other would-be students, he decided to introduce himself.
"My name is Hatake Kakashi, I have some likes, and a few dislikes as well. My hopes and dreams... I have a lot of hobbies."
While Sasuke and Sakura sweatdropped at the lackluster introduction, Naruto's eyes lit up with realization, before he started speaking.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto."
"..."
"..."
His gaze meeting Naruto's unfaltering gaze, the cyclops managed to drawl out a "And?" despite his agitation.
"And what?"
"Don't you have any likes? Dislikes? Hopes and dreams? Nothing of the sort?"
Shrugging, Naruto inhaled a pear and spat out the core, before continuing.
"I like eating fruit and training. I dislike jerks and people who are condescending. My hopes and dreams... get really strong, for now. Later on... who knows?"
'What happened to wanting to be Hokage?' were the simultaneous thoughts of Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke.
Ignoring that, Kakashi spoke up.
"Okay, now let's talk about your test. You will-"
"Wait, test?"
Not even looking at Sakura, the cyclops continued speaking as if he hadn't been interrupted.
"You will meet me tomorrow, on training ground 7, at 7AM. Oh, and don't eat breakfast, or you'll puke! Ta-ta!"
With that, the man vanished in a cloud of smoke. Naruto shrugged, standing up and jumping off the side of the building to the shock of Sakura and Sasuke, who ran to the edge to see what happened, only to watch the blonde kick away from a windowsill towards a tree, swinging around the branch and landing on top of it on his feet, before hopping towards the lower branches.
Landing firmly on the ground, Naruto made his way back home, preparing for a spontaneous test, with no explanations given.
Managing to click her jaw shut, Sakura turned towards Sasuke to question whether what she saw was truly real or not, but was met only with empty air. Her shoulders slumping, the girl could only drag herself to her home, and do her best in studying for their test the following day.
~Chapter, End~