Finding the right Path
Second installation. It is only the beginning and development may be slow
There will be a timeskip after this chapter but will show flashbacks for the training purposes
There are no pairings for now, that may change however
I do not own Naruto or any other aspects that reference people who could sue me...
Enjoy
Chapter 2
The academy was going to be blooming this year with young Shinobi 'wannabees' looking to have a career as a ninja of Konoha. The class was at its largest that they had to split them into two. Everything was going fine until a loud yell caused everyone to look in the direction of Menma.
"Why the hell am I not with my Aniki? Me and him were supposed to be in the same class?"
Iruka looked at the scene with a tick mark, trying to cover his concern. It wasn't good for Academy teachers to take a liking to one or more students. This would seem bias and affect those around. Iruka knew what it was like to be separated from another person so he sympathised with the young ninja in training. But being the head of the Academy, Iruka had a job to do… Separate the twins.
Everything was fine for the first week, when Iruka would resort to the conversation which the Sandaime had with the twins the day before the Academy began. He also threatened to get the Hokage on Menma if he kept misbehaving. That however didn't work so well so Iruka resorted to bribery to keep Menma happy.
This worked for the first week, but after that… nothing short of the Hokage visiting would keep Menma in his place long enough for the classes to end.
Naruto on the other hand was simply reading his book whilst observing those around. He had a feeling that not all of the students will make it to the graduation day and even less will make it to Genin. As he looked around, he noticed some ninja's in training that stood a chance at making it. First were the clan heirs, and although she looked like she was nothing but a gossiper, Naruto knew that Yamanaka Ino was a part of a clan renowned for their intelligence gathering. The young Yamanaka was dressed in a white shirt and denim shorts. Next to her stood one of her friends, a pink haired girl with whom he didn't know and who wasn't a part of any clan.
The other people he noticed were the heir to the Akimichi clan and the Nara Clan. Both boys were at the back of the class and although it looked like the Nara boy, Shikimaru, was dozing off, Naruto could see the way he was inspecting each of the young Ninjas in training. The Akimichi however, Chouji if he recalls correctly, was busy eating a bag of chips. Naruto knew about the two clans' alliance and that with the Yamanaka. The famous Ino-Shika-Cho trio would definitely be reunited as a Genin cell.
Looking around more, Naruto found the young Hyuuga Heiress which his twin had saved from bullies. The young girl was shyly shooting glances at Menma and turning slightly red in the face. Naruto knew that the girl was crushing on her brother, but knew nothing would come of it. Who would want a prestigious clan Heiress fall in love with some lowly clan-less orphan, who has no-one but his brother to watch his back. As harsh as it sounded, Naruto was a realist and knew that the current head of the Hyuuga would definitely dislike that idea very much.
Looking around further, Naruto found a boy wearing a hoodie covering his face staring at him intently. The Aburame clan Heir, Shino, gave him a nod and turned to look at another boy. This ninja in training was another boisterous boy who was laughing at his brothers' outburst. The dog on his head yapping along as well. Kiba of the Inuzuka clan. Technically Kiba was not an Heir to the clan, but only the son of the current Clan Head. The strongest Inuzuka was often regarded as the Clan Head; however, they did get help from each member of their clan. The young dog was called Akamaru and was sitting comfortably on Kiba's head.
He returned his look back to Shino and gave him a second nod before walking over to his brother, who was walking over to Kiba and looking to Neuter the dog-boy. That wouldn't be good for him nor his brother.
Just as he reached his brother, a young ninja in training walked right in the middle of Kiba and Menma causing most of the girls in the class to swoon. Kiba was infuriated and Menma was leaking little bouts of Killer Intent, not enough to cause a stir, but enough for Naruto to notice. Naruto walked and whispered into his brother's ear to forget about fighting. Kiba on the other hand didn't have someone who was level headed to get him to remain calm.
"Hey duck-butt, what is your problem?" Kiba asked in a loud enough voice to get everyone in the room to look in his direction. The other boy looked at him and scoffed without bothering to reply. Just as Kiba was about speak again, the same boy whispered from behind him… "Got a problem mutt?"
Kiba turned around with his arms outstretched ready to tear into the other boy, only to feel the Sensei stop him and seperate them before anything could happen. "Kiba, Sasuke, I'm very disappointed in you both" admonished Iruka, keeping them apart from each other. Sasuke had a smug smirk on his face whilst Kiba was turning slightly red from anger.
Naruto knew who Sasuke was, the young prodigy of the Uchiha clan. He was hailed as a second coming of his brother, Itachi, who left the Academy the same year that he entered. A fully matured Sharingan by the time he was eight. Sasuke on the other hand hadn't unlocked his clan's Kekkei Genkei and until he did, he knew he didn't match up to his brother.
The class got settled and split into two after the small altercation and although Menma wanted to be in the same class as Naruto, it didn't work out like that. All of the Heirs of the major clans in Konoha where in the same class as Naruto and this caused some suspicion to develop in his young mind, especially the method in which him and his brother got split up.
Menma on the other hand was bored out of his head. His only respite was talking to a friend of his he hadn't seen in a long time. That however got completely crushed when said friend didn't want to be associated with him. He still remembers how they met. Playing on the playground, her with her long pink hair tied into a ribbon… Til her mother came and took her away. He hadn't seen Sakura since then. And now she showed no interest in rekindling that old friendship. What a 'great' way to start at the Academy.
Later that night, after the twins completed their training, Menma asked Naruto if there were any peoples of Interest in the class, knowing full well that Naruto would have checked everyone out anyway.
"Well" came Naruto's soft reply. "There are a few Clan Heirs in the classroom that I'm in." Naruto recalled all the information and relayed it Menma. "However" Naruto continued. "The question to answer is why we really got split up? Like I said, I'm in the class with the Heirs and more than seventy per-cent of your class will most likely drop out before the second year."
Menma nodded, and considered the question before wishing his brother goodnight. Naruto found this situation to be a problem, and with all problems comes a solution. So he stayed up longer than Menma to ponder on the solution at hand. What he came up with wasn't good and he knew that someone at the Academy was going to mess with one of them. Being in the harder class, Naruto figured it could be him, but then again Menma barely shows his smart side. Unknowingly keeping it hidden, but Naruto knew that he had potential.
On the other scale it could be the Hokage testing them. He felt like he couldn't trust the Hokage and needed to find out why. The man spoke about the title of Hokage like people should strive to die like them. Naruto however knew that dying wouldn't solve anything. With that thought in mind he drifted off to sleep.
Unknown to both boys, the Hokage was watching and listening in on their conversation. He knew how skilled the twins were and he knew the potential Menma had. He just wasn't too sure what to do about Naruto.
The next few days were quiet and the academy progressed smoothly. Well almost.
"I'm so bored" complained Menma. At the exclamation, the teacher threw him out of the class. With nothing better to do, Menma roamed the Academy. He went to his brother's class and saw him sitting in silence reading a book. As if hearing his thoughts, Naruto turned to the door and saw Menma standing.
Quietly and with stealth, Naruto left the classroom and caught up with Menma. The twins went and trained together for the rest of the day until Menma came up with a brilliant idea. Well in his mind it was brilliant.
The idea came to him when he thought about getting revenge on one of the stall owners and decided that he and his brother should prank them. Naruto decided that he would agree with his twin, but decided to turn it into a training exercise. The objective was not to get caught. From that day on, everyone started to fear the pranking geniuses and even the Hokage had to be careful.
