***

I don't own Naruto, but I do own the Leopard Gecko that bit my fingernail the other day…that's what happens when you paint your fingernails shiny.... I also own this story, so NO STICKY FINGERS!

***

A/N: I did a little time skip since nothing super special happens.

"Naruto-kun! Wake up! You overslept!" Asami yelled, pounding on her brother's bedroom door. She heard sounds of someone slipping through the window and messing up the bed like it had been slept in before footsteps approached and the door opened to reveal a wide-awake seven year old. Asami frowned. "You're supposed to take me to my first day at the academy today! And here you are sneaking out to train with Kane! By the way," she called in the direction of Naruto's window. "I know you're there, Kane. Come on out."

Kane jumped through the window, a black eye in the process of swelling up. "Sorry we're a little late, Asami-chan. Today's sparring session went a little too well."

Naruto gave a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah…sorry about that, Asami-chan. We've been working on the Kitsune Kari and I went a little overboard." He stepped out of his room and followed Asami down the hall to the kitchen, where Junko was preparing their lunches.

Junko paused to look at the clock as the three of them traipsed into the room. "You'll have to run if you want time to mingle with the other kids before school starts. I wish I could be there, Asami-chan. I'm so proud of you!" She gave Naruto and Asami a hug. "Unfortunately, I'm needed on an important mission. Naruto, you'll have to enjoy her opening ceremony for me."

Naruto grinned and grabbed their bentos before dashing out the door. Asami paused to give Junko one more hug before running after him. Kane started to follow them, but was captured by Junko, who gave him a hug as well. Kane stiffened and turned red. "Um…yeah. See you later." He sprinted out the door. Junko watched him and sighed. Kane never got used to the way humans displayed affection. It was rather amusing to watch.

As Naruto and Asami ran past the Uchiha compound, they were intercepted by Sasuke, who ran out at the same time. Naruto and the young Uchiha collided, falling to the ground in a heap.

Naruto coughed, inhaling a plume of dust. Sasuke jumped up and brushed off his pants. "Sorry! Are you all right?" He brushed off Naruto's sleeve and noticed it had a rip in it. "Sorry about that, Naruto. I wasn't watching where I was going. Did I…"

"Rip my sleeve? Nah, it's been like that forever. Don't sweat it! And it's kind of my fault, too. Are you all right, Sasuke?" Naruto grinned and chuckled while trying to spit dusty grit out of his mouth.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Sasuke noticed Asami. "Hi there. You must be Naruto's imoutosan. Asami, right?" he extended his hand. Asami turned red and took it without looking at Sasuke.

Naruto smiled at the exchange. "Asami is a little shy around people she doesn't know very well." Asami took her hand back and stared at the ground.

Sasuke looked around. "Hey…where's Kane? Isn't he usually following you guys everywhere?"

Kane appeared around the corner of the street and bolted past them, yelling a quick greeting as he breezed by. Naruto heard the academy bell ringing to tell kids to get ready to start the opening ceremony. "We have to run. Come on, Asami-chan!" Naruto and Asami took off, shortly followed by Sasuke.

As the kids milled around, Naruto's classmates greeted them and laughed at Kane's new black eye. Kane tried to ignore them and failed, finally whacking the ever-teasing Kiba in the head. Asami was meeting some kids who would be in her class, and senseis mingled with kids and parents.

Naruto's first day of his second academy year reminded him of the first day of his first year. His senseis talked, introduced people– which was quite pointless since everyone had the same classmates as last year— and handed out forms. One thing that was different was that they had a new sensei, who was student-teaching the class with Iruka. He had silvery hair that went to his shoulders and a skinny build. The minute Naruto saw Mizuki-sensei he could tell that they shared mutual hatred for one another. Mizuki sent cold glances Naruto's way and before the day was out Naruto had made Mizuki fall into an exploding paint trap that had been set up in the teacher's lounge. Kyuubi had Naruto pranking people regularly. He said it was a good way to practice stealth, sneaking around and trying not to get caught. He also said it would give Naruto more of the title of 'idiot'. Kyuubi also enjoyed watching Naruto humiliate other people. Naruto couldn't blame him. He got a kick out of bringing embarrassment to any shinobi he didn't like.

After Naruto picked Asami up from her class, he and Kane went to the seventh training zone to spar and work on jutsu. Naruto was beginning to move to nature manipulation. Right now he was stuck on trying to cut a leaf with his wind chakra. He kept going overboard and setting them on fire. After a while of burning helpless foliage and putting scorch marks in the ground he sat down to rest. Takeru slunk out of the bushes and settled himself in Naruto's lap. Kane was leaning against a log, napping.

What's troubling you, Kit? I can tell you want to ask me something. Takeru thought, nudging Naruto's hand.

Naruto looked at the horizon over the trees. "I'd rather talk in the mindscape, Takeru." The fox nodded in understanding. Naruto went into his meditative trance and appeared in the mindscape. A fox the size of a Great Dane greeted him. "All right, kit. What's on your mind?"

Naruto looked Kyuubi in the eyes. "Remember when we met almost two years ago? You said it was really possible that I could become a Hanyou, a half-demon."

"Yes, I said it was more than a fifty percent chance since the seal is almost completely gone. We're almost completely merged. Why are you asking me this?"

"Well, if I was to become a Hanyou, when would the change take place?"

Kyuubi pondered this for quite some time. "I honestly don't know, kit. It might happen tomorrow, it might happen when you're twenty. I simply can't answer that."

Naruto frowned. "At least guess, Kyuubi-sama! You've got to have some idea of when it's most likely."

Kyuubi's eyes narrowed in concentration. "Well, let me think…since human bodies go through the most intense changes when certain chemicals, called hormones, are produced, it seems that the most likely time for you to unlock your Hanyou form is when your body produces those chemicals. What do you humans call it?" Kyuubi paused for a second before dismissing it with one of his tails. "Anyway, the term is not important. Humans usually start producing those hormones around the age of ten or fourteen, I think. Still, this is not entirely affirmative, so you could get the form earlier or later than that as well."

Naruto frowned. "Can I control when I change?"

"I think so, with enough self-discipline and training. However, you might not be expecting the change when you get your Hanyou form the first time. You might not be able to control it at the beginning."

Naruto pondered that for a moment. "I guess I'll have to be extra careful if I start feeling strange while I'm still at the Academy. People might panic if I go to my Hanyou form in class."

"It might bring some excitement. The academy is boring! You should pull more pranks on the teachers. That paint bomb you used on Mizuki was fantastic!" The fox chuckled. His smile faded as he looked down at Naruto. "Now get back to your training! I want to see two halves of a leaf by the end of the day! Make Kage Bunshin do the training with you, if you want to." Kyuubi ejected Naruto out of the mindscape, leaving him blinking in the early afternoon sunlight. Naruto picked himself up and approached a tree. He made twenty Kage Bunshin and they resumed the nature manipulation.

Eventually Naruto succeeded in slicing the leaf in half. By that time it was close to eleven at night -Kyuubi wasn't kidding when he said he wanted Naruto to be done by the end of the day; he wouldn't let Naruto go home- As Naruto dragged himself down the street, he didn't see the person walking there until it was too late. He collided with the boy and landed on the ground. His first thought was a memory of the last time he collided with someone. "Oh, no, not this again!" He braced himself for harsh words.

The teenager knelt down and held out his hand. "I'm sorry, forgive me. I wasn't watching where I was going."

Naruto was shocked when he heard that. No adult other than a select few ever directed kind words to him. He looked up, recognition dawning on his face. "Aren't you…Sasuke-kun's Ani?"

The fifteen year old smiled, but the lines under his eyes made him look too serious. "That's right. My name is Uchiha Itachi. And you are Uzumaki Naruto, are you not?"

Naruto smiled. "Yeah. Sorry I bumped into you, Itachi-san. I was really tired."

"Is that so?" Itachi pulled Naruto into a standing position. "Well then, let's take you home, Naruto-kun." They walked down the silent, dark streets together. Naruto could not explain it, but somehow the presence of Itachi made him feel safer; more comfortable. It was like he could feel that Itachi had no ill thoughts towards him. He didn't think of Naruto as a demon, as almost everyone else did. Yet…Itachi seemed so serious. The lines under his eyes made him look sad, somehow. Naruto couldn't help wondering what was going through his mind.

Itachi had heard people talking about the little blond boy. It astounded him at how many people, who couldn't possibly know anything about the child, could already have such a negative opinion on him. He had to admit that he didn't know much about the boy himself, even though he had been assigned to watch him along with Kakashi. Still, the boy made him feel…warm. Being a young prodigy, Itachi had never had the chance to simply 'be a kid'. He wanted to make sure his little brother had an easier life than he did.

He closed his eyes, holding his face up to the moon. He could remember the Kyuubi attack; he had been eight years old and he—being stupidly naïve in his opinion—had tried to go to the frontlines. His mother had to seek him out with the three-month old Sasuke in her arms and drag him away. The memory was a little fuzzy, but he could remember one thing clearly: In the Kyuubi's eyes, there had been Sharingan. From that moment on, all hate Itachi had for the Fox disappeared. It had not been the foxes' actions, but the puppet work of an Uchiha. His opinion of his family would be tarnished forever.

About two weeks later Naruto woke up late again. Kane had to punch him in the gut to make him get up. Asami had already left, so Naruto jumped out the window and took the opportunity to try out his sprinting. He rocketed around the corner with Kane following close behind. He focused chakra into his feet and exploded from the ground, flying one hundred feet before crash landing in a bush close to the academy. As Naruto picked himself out of the thorns Kane jogged up to him. "That was impressive Naruto-kun. I would not recommend using the chakra jump too often, though, as it attracts attention. Your speed has definitely improved, however."

Naruto gave a small laugh and winced as he pulled a thorn out of his side. "Thank you, Kane-sama." He entered the academy yard and ran to class, entering just as the bell rang.

Iruka looked up and shook his head. "That was close, Naruto. You need to try harder in getting here on time."

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Sorry Iruka-sensei! I was up late last night and slept past my alarm!"

Mizuki stood up at the desk. "That's no excuse, Naruto-kun. If you were that tired, you shouldn't have been up that late." His tone was carefully neutral, but Naruto could detect a small amount of coldness in his voice.

Naruto sat down in the back next to Kane, who had somehow gotten to class on time even though Naruto had gotten a head start. The class was pretty boring for the first half, so Naruto decided to take Kyuubi up on the suggestion to pull more pranks. After lunch, all the kids were waiting at their desks for their senseis to come in. Mizuki entered first, noticing a small capsule on the floor. Mizuki picked it up and looked at the class. "It is not a good idea to leave things on the ground where others can trip." He said with the smallest snide tone to his voice. Naruto plugged his ears and squeezed his eyes shut.

Then the capsule exploded.

It was a small explosion followed by a huge flash of light and a horrendous BOOM that rattled the windows and vibrated the floor up to the back row. Everyone was momentarily blinded while Naruto opened his eyes and ran to the front of the room, scrawling a rude message on the chalkboard. By the time everyone had their sight back, Mizuki was covered in soot and very red in the face. Everyone stared at the chalkboard and burst into laughter. Mizuki whipped around, grinding his teeth, staring wildly around the room as if looking at someone could tell him if they were the ones who did this. His eyes landed on Naruto

Naruto was sitting in his seat, back straight, staring down at Mizuki with an innocent look as if to say, "Who, me?"

Kane pulled his fingers out of his ears with a smile. He whispered out of the corner of his mouth, "That was a little overkill, Naruto. Excellent job."

Naruto's mouth quirked up at the corners. He was careful not to laugh since Mizuki was still staring at him. Iruka burst into the room with a concerned look on his face. "I heard an explosion! Is everything all right, Mizuki-san?"

Mizuki's eyes narrowed. "Why don't you ask the punk who decided to combine a flash bomb with a diversion explosive?" Mizuki stormed out of the room, attempting to scrub soot off of his face. Iruka looked at Naruto, who busied himself with rearranging the pencils on his desk.

After school, Iruka pulled Naruto aside. Kane shot him a look that said, 'I'll meet you at the training zone,' before leaving the room with Takeru on his shoulder.

Naruto gave a small frown at Kane's retreating form before averting his attention to his sensei. "What's wrong, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking exasperated. "Naruto…you need to stop pulling these pranks on people, especially Mizuki-sensei. He is still new, and you're making him feel humiliated in front of all his students."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Then tell him to stop punishing me for little things! He lets Chouji eat in class all the time, but when I had to skip breakfast and tried to eat it here he gave me detention!"

Iruka's eyebrows quirked. "He told me that you had refused to clean up after yourself and was being disrespectful when he asked you to."

Naruto snorted. "Yeah, because I didn't make a mess! I was going to throw away my wrapper during break since it was individual study time and I didn't want to disturb others, but he came over and started yelling at me for making a mess!"

"You…didn't want to disturb others??" Iruka repeated, looking dumbfounded and amused. "Who are you and what have you done with Naruto??" he joked.

Naruto took a few seconds to realize his teacher was joking. His frown faded and was replaced by a genuine smile. "Heehee…I don't look it, but I do take my studies seriously some of the time!"

After Naruto had left, Iruka sighed and set about scrubbing the soot from the area where Naruto's prank had exploded. He had to admit, the boy did have a very clever streak. The idea of combining a flash bomb with a diversionary explosion was a good one…he would have to tell the Hokage about this. Naruto might have invented a useful ninja tool. However…he couldn't have Mizuki and Naruto constantly going for each other's throats. He couldn't help but wonder what had started the whole feud between them. Iruka gave a small chuckle that held no amusement. "If anyone, I should be the person to harbor the hate…I just can't do it, though. I can't bring myself to hate anyone." Iruka smiled to himself as he began sorting through papers.

A/N: Here we are! Next chapter! ^_^

I'm really, REALLY not proud with this chapter. It seems like too much of a filler chapter, but hey, I had to put student-teacher development in here some time or another.

Yes, I had to put a flash bang in there somewhere, although instead of the high-pitched sound the real one makes I thought the earlier ones would have had a loud BOOM. I think they're very useful and I'm planning on having it in here again.

Also, I feel the need to say something very important here. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT!!

*sigh* This story is going to be long. All of the fanfictions that I have thought of are going to be rather long, like actual novels almost. I have a very hard time concentrating on just one thing for a prolonged period of time, so here's what I've decided to do: I'm going to divide Entertwined Fates into three parts, the first being the Academy years, which despite taking place over about six years will be the shortest of the three. Then there are the Genin years, which take place in the original Naruto time period. And finally, the Shippuden years, which will probably be the longest. I will try to finish the Academy years before the end of this year, but anyone who's been keeping an eye on me since the beginning knows that I am a terrible slow worker. In between chapters of this, I want to work on other fanfictions too; that means I might start a new story while I'm still working on this one. ALSO!! Due to my growing intrest in new things, I have changed around the priority of some of my fanfiction ideas, so some people who have me on author alert may either find themselves pleasently surprised...or just ticked off. Can't please everyone, ya know. :)

Questions? Comments? Please call at: REVIEWS XD