Chapter 2

"A clever imagination can open closed doors and closed minds."

5/8/6

The bird happily sang its song on its perch in the windowsill. Suddenly it stopped and quickly turned its head to the ground. It blinked and tilted its head at the worm that was making its way across the dirt under a tree. As it let out a tweet it jumped off the sill and swooped down catching the worm in its beak gobbling it up and flying into a tree in the distance.

Naruto sat with his head on his fist staring at this phenomenon. It was the most action he had seen all day, to his dismay. 'Isn't this supposed to be a school for ninja?' he thought, yawning and putting his head down on his arms in an attempt to take a nap.

The class was filled with ninja hopefuls. Some of them were the children of prestigious clans, and others were children whose parents pushed them to get a career to get some money for the household. Either way a majority of the people who were there was paying attention, give or take a few students. One chicken butt haired * ahem *, raven haired, dumb as shit emo * ahem *, 10 year old boy was propped up by his hand and was also staring out the window. A pineapple headed boy could also be seen taking a nap, and the low rhythmic crunching sound of a boy and his endless bag of chips. Along with the blonde boy who seemed to be the pineapple headed child's' twin.These were the students who paid the least amount of attention on average.

"Alright children class dismiss—" Iruka started before he was interrupted.

" WOOOOOOOH! FINALLY!" Naruto yelled pumping both fists into the air while is lips formed an O.

" Kami! SHUT UP NARUTO!" could be heard from a pink haired bitch * ahem *, girl sitting in the front row.

"Im sorry Sakura-chan…" he said tilting his head down walking towards her, "I couldn't hear you over that ENOURMOUS forehead. Or should I say Five head." He chuckled placing his entire hand on her forehead. The whole class went silent knowing what would happen next. This was almost a daily thing, and it was right on schedule. 2:47:17 pm, as always it happened on the 17th second. Sakura hung her head covering her face with her bangs while gritting her teeth.

"NARUTOOOO!" She said throwing a punch that he apparently ducked by accident. He bent down and picked up a pen with a frog on it.

"Oh would you look at that I found my pen." he said standing back up while pocketing it. "Oh shi-" he said turning toward Sakura and going wide eyed, before a second punch connected to his cheek and sent him flying across the classroom. He flew over a few desks and landed on the ground before he rolled a few times and eventually into the wall.

"4.25 seconds." Shikamaru muttered awaking from his nap due to the yelling duo. "Eh, she's done better." He said scratching the back of his neck with his usual pout looking down at everything from the middle seat in the top row.

"Yeah." Chouji said still munching on his everlasting chips. He was, as always sitting next to his best friend, Shikamaru.

"That is still a long time for someone to remain airborne after being punched." Shino stated under his collar. "Her strength… is most frightening." He muttered pushing up his glasses, from his position he was exactly one row under Shikamaru's.

"Punched? Yeah right. More like launched!" Kiba laughed pointing at the blonde. He was sitting to Shino's right. "Who gets hit like that and calls themselves a ninja?" he chuckled, earning a yelp in agreement from a white dog sitting on his head. They both watched as Naruto got smacked around some more to their amusement.

"K-Kiba-kun, be n-nice. "Hinata stammered sitting to the left of shino, while looking down at her index fingers, which she pushed together while avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"You'd think he'd learn by now. It's a good thing he's cute, cause he's obviously brain dead." Ino said flipping her ponytail with a huff. She was sitting exactly one row above Hinata.

"You think it's from the steady decrease in brain cells he's had since he started picking fights with Sakura?" Shino stated again. Everyone stopped and went wide-eyed. And in one unified motion, they each slowly turned their heads to face Shino, each in astonishment. Some chips could be heard dropping from Chouji's mouth in the process.

"Y-You?…" Kiba said pointing at him shivering.

"T-Two s-sentences… In 5 m-minutes?.." Ino stammered.

"Joke?... Y-you?" Chouji said dropping his bag of chips all together.

Shino just raised his eyebrow and looked forward without another sound.

"GET OFF ME DOBE!" Sasuke shouted at the dazed blonde sprawled across his lap.

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star…" Naruto sang in a dazed voice with swirls for eyes. Sakura then grabbed Naruto and jerked him off of Sasuke by the ankle. She, in one fluid motion, began spinning him in a massive circle until they were a blur, they went so fast the two resembled a pink and yellow spinning top.

"ChyaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAA!" she yelled in rising intensity before he let him go. The poor boy went spiraling through one of the windows with a loud crash. Throughout that day a rumor was said that a shooting star flew right above Konohagakure.

"Team Rockets blasting off agaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiinnnnn." Naruto whispered making his voice sound farther away with each word. The class turned to see him sitting in the empty back row his feet crossed on the desk. He was completely unscathed. "My clones are getting better at taking attacks," he said looking down at Sakura, "who knew pumping chakra into the area of attack creates that much of a cushion… I wonder if that applies to me as well… Ill have to try it sometime." He said walking toward the broken window, he put his foot on the ledge ready to jump out before he stopped in his tracks. "Oh and Sakura. You hit like a girl." He said over his shoulder before disappearing from everyone's sight. Most of the girls in the class let out a content sigh, with hearts in their eyes. These girls were known as the Naruto division, led by Yamanaka Ino. The other half of the girls rolled their eyes and returned to staring at Sasuke, this division was known as the Sasuke division, which was of course led by our pink friend Haruno Sakura.

"THAT'S BECAUSE I AM A GIRL YOU IDIOT!" She screamed out the window.

"Could have fooled us." Someone muttered from the back of the class.

"WHO SAID THAT?"

Iruka shook his head at the whole scene. He would have stopped the unexpected, scratch that, the inevitable violence at the end of the day if it wasn't for the promise he made.

Ripple effect into flashback sequence initiating in 5…4…3…2…1.

4/11/2 Konoha Academy

Iruka was baffled at the appearance of the short scruffy blonde boy. But what caught his attention the most was the look on his face. The air around the child made him feel completely inferior to him. Iruka felt that instead of ruffling his hair and calling him kid, he should shake his hand as if he was an equal. "Hokage-dono, what brings you here today?"

"Ah yes, well this here is Naruto. He will be joining your class as of Monday. I trust that you will take care of him Iruka." Sarutobi stated. Iruka's eyes immediately went wide. He cleared his throat and regained his composure.

"That Naruto?..." Iruka asked eyeing the Hokage. Iruka had heard about the little blonde boy who was harboring the beast that single-handedly destroyed Konohagakure not even a decade ago. He also heard about the hard-knock life Naruto had, even though calling it "hard-knock" was sugar coating it. He also knew that the boy had been living in the Forest of Death for about half a year. He squatted down, again taken aback by the expression the boy had. He could see in his eyes a dull loneliness that no person should have to endure. Especially at his age. While the Hokage answered with a nod Naruto decided to make himself heard.

"Do you hate me?" Naruto said even toned and expressionless. Iruka once again was taken back by how adult like this child was. He could see if a child asked him this question if he had caught them in a lie, or if they had broken something. All children ask this question atleast once in their life after they've done something they think is irrecoverably wrong. But Naruto had done nothing wrong and Iruka knew that. That wasn't all that struck him about the boy, it was the way the boy said it. He said it as if it were rhetorical. The boy obviously thought he knew the answer and just wanted closure so everyone was on the same page.

"No Naruto. I don't hate you." Iruka said with his sincere smile. Naruto, surprised, did a double take.

"Come again?" He said with a look of disbelief on his face.

"I said I don't hate you Naruto." He said again looking the boy in the eyes, his face still gentle as can be.

Naruto looked at the Hokage as if he just got Punk'd and immediately started looking around the room for ANBU to jump out and yell, "Supriiise! We got ya you little fucker!" and proceed to beat him to death. After a few minutes of Naruto looking around the room in fright, much to Iruka and Sarutobi's entertainment, he once again looked at Iruka, nodding to himself in conviction. "Ok then, can I ask you a favor Iruka-sensei?"

"Sure Naruto, anything." Iruka asked tilting his head.

"Don't get in my way." The boy said with an air so tense it almost caused Iruka to falter. All he could do was nod and watch the boy shunshin out of the room. He then looked over to the Hokage who put a hand on his shoulder and looked Iruka in the eyes. Iruka nodded, understanding the situation. Sarutobi then sighed and shunshinned out of the room as well.

Iruka sighed and went to his desk. He sighed and plopped himself down

on the chair and looked out the window. He saw a bird fly past his window towards the ground and sighed. "This is gonna be a long 4 years…"

Flashback sequence ending in 5…4…3…2…1

Iruka looked at the now broken window where the blonde boy once stood. He blinked realizing the boy had just mastered his cushioning idea for the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. He wasn't surprised to say the least, he knew the boy was way beyond his level. He felt the boy was High Chuunin to Sp. Jonin at this point. The only thing he lacked was experience and a fully developed body. The Chunin smiled, he was immensely proud of his student. He then face faulted when he realized he was going to have to pay for that window.

As the minutes passed on the class filed out grouping up with their friends/fanclubs, audibly planning what fun they would have that day. The Graduation Exam was in a week and they wanted to enjoy their last days as students. However, two boys remained. Sasuke looked straight ahead, his head resting on his laced fingers. All he could think about was how Naruto got so strong. He somehow pulled off an A rank jutsu, somehow got it to stay intact through various attacks even though it was supposed to die on contact. Sasuke bit his lip in anger. Naruto was the top of the class. No matter how hard he trained he just couldn't seem to catch up, and that bothered him to no end. He had to figure out his secret. "I will. I will so that I can kill him!" he muttered with malice. With that he got up and walked out of the room.

The last boy raised his dazed head to find that he was the last boy there and class was over. He wiped some drool off his face and scratched the back of his head ruffling his black spiky hair. The boy yawned and got up to leave tripping over his shoelace and fell flat on his face. He was wearing a black t-shirt with black cargo pants and black ninja sandals. The boy groaned and proceeded to stand up. "Come on Tak get yourself together." He mumbled and walked to the window, looking at the damage. He just shrugged and hopped out without even taking a glance at Iruka who was looking at him, confusion plain on his face.

"Borizu Takahashi…" Iruka said to himself looking at the window. "Never could get a read on him." Iruka sighed and went to do some paperwork for the exams.

Later That Day

Naruto was walking across a random training ground on his way to the Forest of Death when suddenly he heard a kunai fly towards him. He turned around and caught the kunai by sticking his finger through the hole at the end. He then proceeded to flick it back by spinning it on his finger twice and flicking his wrist in the direction in which it came. Sasuke came into the clearing having caught the kunai as well.

"Dobe how did you get so strong?" Sasuke said even-toned.

"Ok. Sure. Ill tell you, because I just love people who attack me first and ask questions later. They tend to be the more awesome people the world has to offer." Naruto said with a tired face then turned to walk away.

"Shut it. Just tell me your secret! Or Ill beat it out of you!" Sasuke shouted before crouching low into a battle position.

"Right. Because threatening me is an even better approach." Naruto deadpanned rolling his eyes, now halfway through the clearing. Sasuke was about to charge until another figure appeared in the clearing.

"…" Tak said intelligently. He looked between the two and sighed, "I'm just passing through." He then began to walk through the clearing passing inbetween Sasuke and Naruto.

"Ah. That's it," the blonde boy said punding his fist into his open hand. "Ok Sasugay. If you can beat Tak here, then I'll tell you my secret to getting strong." He then plopped down on the grass and leaned against the trunk of a tree.

Tak looked at Sasuke then Naruto and sighed. "Do I really have to get involved in your lovers quarrel?" He then turned to Sasuke and charged without further delay.

Sasuke looked at Tak as if he'd grown a second head. "What the hell? Why would yo-" he didn't get the chance to finish his sentence before he had to duck and weave through a barrage of kicks. He then caught one of Tak's many punches and smirked. He twisted Tak's wrist and shifted his weight so that it was right under Tak's center of gravity, and proceeded to pull down causing Tak to fly over his shoulder. Tak quickly recovered by landing on one hand and pushing off of it propelling himself in the air while doing a series of hand-signs. Sasuke stood his ground and waited for the attack. He was surprised when Tak landed without anything noticeably changing. "Uh…" was all Sasuke uttered before he saw Tak charge in again.

Tak closed in at a high speed. He then made a kick towards Sasuke's head, which Sasukr promptly put his hand up to block, that was until his kick curved downward at an impossible angle and slapped him in the side like a whip with a loud crack. Sasuke flew across the clearing, knocked out as he flew through the air due to the immense pain. Tak watched Sasuke finally reach the ground and roll a few feet before muttering. "Hyōryū Kikku." He then turned to Naruto and the two exchanged looks.

Naruto had always been extremely aware of Tak. He didn't like the feeling he gave off and his senses were telling him to avoid Tak if he could. Now he completely understood why. "Your from that new clan right? What was it called… Borizu?" Naruto asked without taking his eyes off him.

"Watch your back, Uzumaki Naruto. Minato Namikaze's Son." With that he jumped into the woods leaving a shocked Naruto in his stead. Naruto bit his lip and got up quickly. He then sighed, he didn't think going to the Hokage would solve this situation. He would just wait and watch to see what the tide brought him. He took out a piece of paper and began writing on it as he walked toward an unconscious Sasuke. He then stuck the paper on Sasukes forehead and shunshinned away from the clearing to go train.

"Interesting. Very… Interesting." A hooded figure said from somewhere inside the forest. It then backed away into the shadows going unnoticed by everyone.

Sasuke woke with a start. he then grabbed his side, feeling around he sighed thankful that no ribs were broken. He slammed his fists on the ground and gritted his teeth in anger. How could he, an Uchiha, lose! It was simply unprecedented. He then noticed a piece of paper fluttering down from his forehead.

"Go to the Hokage and tell him to get Kakashi Hatake to train you. It's a Code N. Oh and tell him Naruto said he was right about the Borizo Clan, and to start plan 11. Get stronger. Your going to need to be when shit goes down."

Scene. R&R please. Fuel. ThNX

Thanks to jfslkajfl for the one review I received. It has been taken to heart. Please R&R Favs/Alerts are nice but I need crticism and maybe even… compliments? Who knows.

Jutsu List

Ha Imochi-Byō! (Chapter 1): Leaf Blast, self explainatory

Hyōryū Kikku (Chapter 2): Drifting Kick, will be explained in later chapters.