Disclaimer: If only I owned Naruto and could stop the atrocity that is Boruto...But sadly I own nothing except my OC. Enjoy.

2 weeks prior to Academy Graduation.

"-maybe you can help us out? Kenji?"

"Hmm?" The ninja in training replied, "what was the question sensei?"

Iruka sighed loudly, for all the Academy class- who were laughing, to see.

"For your information, you brat, we were covering the Bunshin technique. Do you know the handsigns?"

"Ram, Tiger, Snake." Everyone knew that. Kenji looked to Naruto, sitting beside him, and realised the boy was noting it down with a look of concentration on his face. Well, besides Naruto maybe. He caught Sakura and Ino staring at him in wonder from opposite sides of the class, despite the two of them being top of the class behind him in their theory tests. They obviously knew the answer too, but it appeared all Kenji had to do was breathe to excite them. He ignored the two and looked straight ahead.

"Good. For those of you who don't know by now, your final exam involves you using at least 2 quality Bunshin. I expect you all to pass, understand?"

The class issued their agreement, and Kenji settled back into watching the trees outside the window. Just a few more weeks, a few more weeks and he could take his first step toward being a real ninja. He liked the Academy. He had met Naruto here, and some others of course. But honestly? He had learned things his classmates couldn't even fathom on his own. The content they were taught, once wondrous to him, had grown dull as he took his education into his own hands. Well, that was thanks to the fact that he had a lot of hands when he needed them.

He had learned the Kage Bunshin, a variation of the Bunshin technique commonly used by Jonin, some time ago. It was from a mysterious scroll that had been left in his apartment, but he had tried many times to follow that particular trail, and it had never come to anything. Normally, it would probably have killed him to try the technique, but he found he had been born with unusually large chakra reserves. Anyway, the key part was that when you dispelled these clones, everything they learned would be absorbed by the original caster when they were dispelled. Obviously, that meant his progress had grown at insane rates. He would've told Naruto about his method, but the guy was reckless. Even with his above average chakra, he'd probably go overboard and harm himself. It was the same for his classmates, who had the chakra of a low-genin shinobi. More importantly, he didn't know if he could deal with multiple Narutos. Besides, if the village learned he'd been using forbidden jutsu to train, he'd be in big trouble. Whoever had left him the scroll had resources and clearly didn't care what the village thought.

That said, his current thoughts about the Academy weren't as favourable as they used to be. He found himself bored more and more often. It was partly his own fault. He never showed more than he needed to in class, during target practice, or even when they all sparred against the Chuunin sensei. He was top of the class sure, with stellar scores, but if he really tried, he figured he'd have graduated 2 years ago. Too bad they eliminated that opportunity after the Uchiha massacre.

At this, Kenji looked over at Sasuke, not quite someone he could call a friend, but definitely someone he was on amicable terms with. It was crass of him to complain about not being able to take shortcuts in his career because his classmate's entire clan had been slaughtered by his own brother. Maybe he should be glad, if Itachi Uchiha had turned out that way because the village was too hasty with him, he didn't want to follow his lead.

Noticing he was being stared at, Sasuke turned in Kenji's direction, confused when he met his eyes. Yeah, Kenji thought, Sasuke was alright in his books. The two of them shared the trauma of being stalked by a majority of the girls and the two demons in this class. Kenji just gave a light nod to Sasuke with this in mind, received a hesitant one for himself, and turned back to look at the trees. Well, he would have, but Naruto had caught the interaction.

"What was that about Ken?" The blonde asked.

"Nothing, just happened to look at him is all, Naruto."

"Oh." Naruto replied. "Hmph, arrogant ass, I dont know how you can stand him!"

"You know, I think you forget sometimes, but we all have a lot in common," Kenji replied in hushed tones, before letting out a small laugh. "We're the Academy Orphan Trio."

Naruto didn't laugh, he seemed a little frustrated. "I'd never forget something like that." He said. "But that doesn't mean he's allowed to be an asshole, y'know?"

"He's fine with me. Maybe its because you're so...loud."

"Loud?!" Naruto questioned, crossing his arms petulantly, "...well, maybe I am a little loud, but he's still an a-"

"NARUTO!" Screeched their teacher. Man, Iruka sensei sure had a set of pipes on him. He could probably turn that into a combat technique. "YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD BE PAYING ATTENTION!"

As the class laughed, Naruto sank deeper into his seat and muttered an apology. As their eyes turned away from him, the boy started grumbling under his breath, but didn't distract himself further. Sensei did have a point. Naruto wasn't dead last in class- Kenji had made sure of that. But, he still had a long way to go. He hoped Naruto would make it through the final exams. Like him, his friend had abnormal amounts of chakra. At first glance he had figured it was an Uzumaki thing, after reading that they had huge chakra reserves. However, the village gave that name to its orphans as a tribute to the Uzumaki Clan. This clan was wiped out along with Whirlpool village some time before Kenji and Naruto were born. It was fitting, he thought, he had never known what it meant to have a family, but he was proud to share a name with Naruto. For all he knew, neither of them actually belonged to it. Kenji's chances were greater since he had red hair, but he decided it wasn't worth mulling over. What mattered was the problem their chakra levels had caused them both. For Kenji, it was easier to manage. He had just been born with a better understanding of how to control his chakra, which he used regularly in his personal hobby of Fuuinjutsu. But Naruto? The guy had it rough. Kenji had found a chakra control training technique in one of his books involving a leaf, which Naruto had practised daily since he had told him about it. While he was miles better than before, the oncoming Ninjutsu exams still worried Kenji a bit. He would meet Naruto later and work on it with him after his own training. It was no sweat: his fellow Uzumaki worked harder than anyone he had ever known when he put his mind to it.

"Alright!" Iruka sensei cut through his thoughts. "Good work everyone! Meet me outside in the field in 5 minutes for your last Taijutsu training session." Apparently, class was over.

He and Naruto left their seats and began making their way to the field with everyone else.

While still pretty boring, Taijutsu class was more interesting than lectures because he could see how everyone else fought. It's not like they fought each other, but they did spar with the Chuunin who gauged their abilities. Most of his classmates used the standard Konoha Academy style. However, there were always the clan kids who were taught cooler, more advanced stuff. Not to discount his classmates like Naruto who could be pretty unpredictable. Kenji would be surprised if any of them could lay a hand on him, regularly beating even the Academy Chuunin with ease, but he still enjoyed watching the others have at it.

Looking to his side, he saw Naruto was eager as he had expected. Naruto wasn't a match for Kenji, but he had improved considerably over their bouts. This was where he really showed off his talent. His friend had a knack for crazy strategies, and when combined with his stubborn head, he could be a real menace in a fight. They had practiced together for a while now, having no other real options, but that was fine. Kenji liked it that way. The less people knew about his skill, the better. That was a key to success as a Shinobi. Not that he expected his classmates to betray him or anything. Still, you never knew.

"Did you need something?" A voice called from behind them. Kenji turned alongside Naruto, letting the other students pass them by and finding Sasuke lagging behind with his hands in his pockets. He was alone, well as alone as he or Sasuke could get here (Sakura and Ino were probably hiding behind a pillar somewhere staring at their "graceful and confident strides" as they walked to the field).

"Huh?" asked Kenji. "What do you mean?"

"You were looking at me earlier. But I see I read into it when there was no need." Sasuke had ended the conversation as suddenly as he had started it. The Uchiha began to pick up his pace, planning to pass them and head out on his own, before Kenji called out to him.

"Wait. Why not walk with us? I think we're headed the same way." He said with a light laugh. Predicting an outburst from Naruto, he had clamped a hand on his friend's shoulder. Pressing down in a threatening manner, Naruto, still wearing an irritated frown, seemed to get the message and stayed quiet. If there was a plus to regularly beating the living daylights out of your friend as a training exercise, Kenji supposed it was moments like these.

Sasuke, probably lacking a valid reason to say no, joined them in silence. He had noticed Naruto's frown and incoherent grumbles, but didn't seem to care. To be honest, Sasuke didn't really seem to care about anything at all. He was attentive enough in classes, but never displayed interest, only talking when called upon. Well, aside from when he fought in Taijutsu exercises. That was when he got this intense look on his face, especially when fighting Kenji, as if he had something to prove. Well, Kenji would take what he could get. He had meant it earlier. The three of them had a lot in common. He might as well make a small effort.

As the trio reached the field- Sakura and Ino arriving shortly after (yep, definitely doing some weird shit), the entire class was now present. Before he knew it, Sasuke had isolated himself again somewhere. Ah well.

With extensive experience, Kenji tuned out Iruka-Sensei's speech about how this was their last Taijusu practice as a class with...wait, were those tears in his eyes? He watched, dumbfounded, as the man tried using his Chuunin-level Shinobi training to wipe his tears away before anyone noticed (we all did), and began an explanation about the last session.

Apparently, contradicting his earlier thoughts, Kenji learned they would be sparring each other within a painted circle on the ground. If you were pushed out of bounds, you were eliminated, unless you surrendered first. Usually they just performed drills with Academy Chuunin watching over them. It wouldn't completely determine their Academy grades for Taijutsu- those would mostly be based on their performance throughout the year. However, this would still count, and as a direct indicator of their progress against their peers, Sensei explained that it might improve their results if they gave it their all.

"How is that fair sensei?" One of the students piped up, "Kenji's unbeatable!"

"Yeah! Even the Chuunin can't land a hit on him!"

Well, they had a point, but their sensei held up a hand and squashed the complaints. "This isn't a tournament, you won't be judged on whether you come out the winner. Shinobi hand to hand combat is an honored tradition here at the Academy." He said. The class accepted their fate and stayed quiet, some of them shooting Kenji furtive looks. Its not like they had anything to worry about, Kenji wouldn't hurt his classmates. Well, too much anyway.

"Okay, everyone! Form a line and walk up when your names are called. Remember: no Ninjutsu or Genjutsu allowed!" Sensei said, "The first match will be between..." pausing to look at his clipboard, Sensei looked up again and said, "Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara!"

"Who do you think will win Ken?" Asked Naruto from beside him, excited to see the match.

"Probably Choji." Kenji stated.

"Hmph, I think it'll be Shikamaru, he's cool!"

"You only say that because he skips class with you, Naruto," Kenji drawled.

Boring. All his classmates, besides Naruto, knew Shikamaru as the laziest being to have ever lived. Kenji wouldn't normally count him out, he knew his clan were prized for their knowledge and genius intellects. If he was correct, Shikamaru's father- the current leader of the Nara Clan, was the Jonin Commander. The guy had potential. The problem was, he seemed more bored than Kenji himself at the Academy, and more importantly, completely unmotivated. Either he was a sleeping dragon, or he was hopeless. Kenji had bets on the former, but it didn't matter what he thought, he didn't have Shikamaru pegged as the type to give more than his minimum in an exam like this. Coupled with the fact that Choji had a massive advantage in size, even if he was too minimalist with his Taijutsu in his opinion, Kenji saw the outcome of this battle from a mile away.

"Form the Seal of Confrontation, as I explained," The sensei commanded. The pair obeyed, but before they could begin the match, Choji spoke up.

"Sensei," he said, "I don't wanna fight my friend."

"Well look Choji," sensei said, "this isn't like a real fight, its just traditional shinobi hand to hand combat. Even our Hokage did these drills as a student and became stronger through sparring with his comrades."

Kenji caught the frown on Choji's face as Iruka sensei gave his speech. He watched as Shikamaru gave a sigh and put his hands in his pockets, before...turning and walking out of bounds.

"He- Hey!" Iruka sensei sputtered.

"Yeah, uh, look sensei, just go ahead and put down that I went out of bounds, okay? Then we can move on to the next pair."

"Now just wait a minu-"

"You might be calling this training or whatever, but if there's gonna be a winner, then it's actually a fight. Since that's the case, wouldn't it save you some trouble to decide who wins from the start?" He finished.

Their Sensei just dropped his head, giving a defeated sigh.

Well, Kenji thought, that was one way to go about it. He was right, Shikamaru really had no motivation. He figured the only thing keeping him from being dead last in their class was his written exam scores. He could do much more if he tried. Whatever, it was none of his business. The guy had time to sort himself out.

"Come on, Shikamaru!" A girl's voice yelled from where Kenji and the others were standing. "You are the laziest person I've ever met!" Ah, it was Ino, she probably knew him. "Choji, you too!" She continued, "You're just a coward!"

"Just forget it," Iruka sensei mediated, his head still dropped. "Shikamaru. Choji. Give the Seal of Unification."

"Oh yeah, I forgot," said Shikamaru, turning and walking over to Choji who hadn't moved. They formed the seal with smiles on their faces and exchanged a few words.

As they walked back to the line, their sensei spoke up once more.

"Next up, Naruto Uzumaki-" he began.

"Yeah!" His friend yelled next to him, "about damn time! You just watch Kenji, I'll win this thing!" Kenji just smiled and nodded, ushering his friend towards the combat area.

"Ugh" a girl Kenji didn't know piped up, "out of everyone here I'd want to be paired up with that loser the least!"

"Quiet!" Their sensei yelled, before Kenji could. He didn't know why this village seemed to have a grudge against the two of them, but he was glad Iruka sensei was fair. At least with Kenji their classmates in the Academy weren't as rude as they were with Naruto. He was popular here. But he had seen the looks on the faces of adults his entire life, just like his fellow Uzumaki. "Naruto, your opponent is Sasuke Uchiha." Sensei finished.

"Yeah, Sasuke! Get him!" One of the demon spawn duo said, "I wish I could do the unison sign with Sasuke!" Kenji shuddered. These girls were a problem.

He saw Naruto begin to frown as the girls continued to borderline sexually harass his opponent. "Let's go already! I'm going to win this for sure!" At this, Kenji heard the Hyuuga girl begin to say something softly, before it was drowned out by another "Get his ass, Sasuke!" Kenji would have cheered for his friend too, but he'd have to raise his voice to painful levels to get past all this clamour.

"Hey! Stop that!" Their sensei called, before turning back to the pair about to spar. "Come on, you two, form the Seal of Unification- its simple etique-."

Naruto evidently heard the beginning of the word "etiquette," and saw this as the perfect time to interrupt his teacher. "I don't care about any of that stuff! Just let me hurry up and defeat this jerk already! Its time for a new Mr. Popular around here, y'know!" His friend shouted. Kenji cringed inwardly at this. Be careful what you wish for, he thought, still feeling their stares from his peripherals. This would be trouble, he thought, but at least Sasuke wasn't reciprocating Naruto's behaviour.

"Whatever, loser." The Uchiha said, and Kenji cursed himself for jinxing it. "I'll make it quick if that's what you want."

"Enough! Both of you!" Said their sensei, before sighing. "Good grief. Shinobi hand to hand combat is a traditional drill passed down from generation to generation. You might think its stuffy to be so formal," looking at Naruto briefly, before addressing the class again. "But here at the Academy, we have respect for tradition. This stuff matters! Since you've forgotten, why don't I remind you?" Kenji saw Naruto groan. "First you face and make this one handed sign toward your opponent before starting," He began, while demonstrating, it looked like a half Tiger/Ram handsign. "It represents one-half of the two hands used to activate a jutsu and indicates your intention to fight! This is the Seal of Confrontation!" He sighed, before calming himself. "Once you're done, I expect you to form the Seal of Reconciliation, linking two fingers together. This indicates that you recognise each other as comrades, thus concluding the etiquette of shinobi hand to hand combat."

Having finished his speech, Iruka sensei- satisfied with himself, made to proceed with the exam, when he looked at Naruto again. "NARUTO! WERE YOU EVEN LISTENING? I'VE EXPLAINED THIS TWICE NOW!" Kenji's friend had stopped paying attention halfway through, looking up at the clouds in a fit of boredom. Seriously though, Iruka had a killer voice.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, "I get it okay?" His friend looked at Sasuke, who had remained mercifully silent since his verbal jab, and made one half of the Seal of Confrontation with a serious look on his face. Sasuke reciprocated, and the seal was completed. Iruka sensei nodded in approval.

"Begin!" Commanded their sensei, and Kenji watched as the battle commenced.

A/N: Cliffhanger! Well haha you guys finally got to meet the new character kenji, hope you liked him so far hehe. Hes a pretty chill dude so we'll see how his presence affects the story. As always follow/favourite if you enjoyed. :)