Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, go figure.
Posted: 12/1/08
A/N: Well, here's chapter two of Wild World. Maybe a few more people will be able to figure out what's going on here, because I'm not going to tell you.
Where's the fun in that?
Chapter Title: Walk Of Life by Dire Straights.
Naruto's eyes cracked open the next morning before his alarm woke him – a rare occurrence to be sure. It was still dark outside, though the eastern skies were beginning to light up with a stunning orange glow that always preceded the sunrise. Naruto lay in bed, staring out of his open window for a few moments taking in the sight. Despite the early hour and the events of the previous night, Naruto felt well rested upon waking for the first time in, well, a very long time.
His room bore proof of how tired he had been the night before. He hadn't even bothered to draw the curtains over his window – instead falling right asleep. Rolling over to turn off his alarm clock lest it go off while he wasn't nearby, he scowled upon noticing that he hadn't bothered to set his alarm either.
Now that was stupid.
It was five-thirty, and Naruto had no desire to go back to sleep. After a few minutes of staring at the plain white ceiling of his bedroom, he resolved to get up and do something with the extra time he had been gifted with this morning. Leisurely contemplating his options, Naruto once again turned his attention to the brightening eastern sky. He couldn't remember the last time he had watched a proper sunrise. Maybe that was just what he needed.
Naruto quickly slid open his window and climbed up to the roof of his apartment complex still clad in his soiled clothing from the day before. He would need to do laundry later today, though it would have to be after the genin orientation.
He lived on the top floor of his three-story complex, so there was no real need to worry about waking neighbors. Finding a comfortable perch on the sloped roof, he spent the next thirty minutes watching the sky slowly light up in a cacophony of reds, oranges, and yellows. When the sun finally showed itself over the massive heads of the Hokages, Naruto climbed back into his apartment through his window and dug out some clean clothes. As a ninja, he kept multiple sets of his preferred orange jumpsuit for occasions like this.
He headed to the shower with his fresh clothes in hand and was pleasantly surprised to find an abundance of hot water. Apparently there were advantages to being an early riser.
As he washed his face, he came to realize that the head-splitting migraine he had been afflicted with last night was gone. He hadn't even remembered it until just now.
Oh.
That's right. Last night.
Last night he had killed Mizuki-sensei.
Naruto stopped what he was doing and leaned against the side of the shower stall – allowing the warm water wash over his back.
Last night he had killed Mizuki-sensei, and he didn't care. The man had been trying to kill him – had been trying to kill Iruka-sensei. And for what? A silly scroll with some advanced ninjutsu in it?
The old man had told Naruto very sternly that the jutsu within the scroll were forbidden for a reason, and that he was not to teach any of his peers the technique that he had learned. From the sound of things, Mizuki would most likely not have been able to properly use any of the jutsu to begin with or gotten himself killed in the attempt.
How stupid was that?
No, Naruto didn't care that Mizuki was dead. He had a serious problem about how it came about though. The old man had told him that most jinchuuriki manifested their prisoner's power in times of great need or stress. So it had finally taken Mizuki's attack on his person to set him off.
Naruto had been treated like crap for his entire life. Looking back, it was almost a shock that something like this had never happened before. While Naruto had never been in a life-threatening situation like this had been, that didn't change the fact that the villagers were none too gentle with him, nor did they ever spare a kind word – with few exceptions.
So this is what it came down to? Who would beat the poor jinchuuriki until he snapped?
It had been inevitable, hadn't it? No matter how hard he tried, Naruto couldn't change the angry glares the villagers gave him or the cruel words and harsh treatment that he had grown to expect every day of his life.
Mizuki had just been the unlucky one – drawing the short straw and setting off Konoha's little time bomb.
It made Naruto sick.
For so long he had thought that if he just tried a little harder – acted a little nicer – the people would begin to treat him like everyone else. He hoped that he could earn their respect by becoming a strong ninja – a Hokage.
But these people legitimately hated him for something he had no control over. Because of who he was – what he was. The old Hokage had told Naruto that the Fourth Hokage's final wish was for Naruto to be seen as a hero who saved the village of Konoha from the monster Kyuubi and protected it day in and day out.
If the villagers didn't even respect the dying wish of a true legend like the Fourth, then why would they ever respect Naruto for anything he did?
Maybe he didn't care about earning their respect any more.
Naruto shook himself out of his depressing train of thought. He was going to be a ninja today. He'd take the rest as it came.
He finished washing himself slowly – he was savoring the hot water that generally eluded him when he woke up later – and stepped out of the shower. Dressing quickly he used his hand to wipe away the condensation on the steamed up mirror of his small washroom in order to brush his teeth.
At least now he knew where the whisker scars had come from.
Then he noticed his eyes. He rubbed them hard with his hands and looked again.
"Crap. That has to be an infection or something."
He pulled down his right eyelid with his finger and rolled his eyes around a few times. That was really odd.
And the weirdest part of all was that Naruto couldn't ever remember being sick. Now that he thought about it that may have been due to the damn fox inside him. The old man had confirmed that Naruto's quick healing was certainly due to the powers of the bijuu. Maybe the resistance to disease was the same?
But that didn't explain why his eyes were infected right now.
Naruto poked and prodded around each of his eyes, but everything felt normal to him. He could see just fine.
Maybe it was just a symptom of whatever disease the fox was trying to heal him of. No doubt they'd be set right in a few days' time. It was probably best to just leave them be.
Naruto finished dressing and headed out the door, the cool morning air rustling his wild hair. He had left his headband on his dresser next to his goggles. He had plenty of time to come back to pick it up before heading off to the academy.
Right now he just wanted to see a friendly face, and the only person he knew would be available this early in the morning was old man Teuchi down at Ichiraku Ramen. He usually opened his stand early to catch some business from the other merchants as they went off to work. Instead of ramen – which wasn't much of a morning food – he offered an assortment of breakfast rolls and tea to help wake up his patrons. It didn't bring in much business, but the old man had told Naruto that it helped him get by.
Maybe Naruto would buy a roll.
The sun was peaking over the rooftops now and the hustle and bustle of the city was picking up. Naruto was rarely awake this early, but appreciated the quiet yet lively streets as the people went on their various ways.
The pleasant atmosphere was shattered as Naruto received his first vicious glare of the day.
Naruto was sick of this. He was tired of giving a damn about the villagers' opinions of him. Who the hell were they to judge him?
He glared right back.
The middle-aged woman caught his defiant gaze and blinked in confusion. She averted her eyes from his, seemingly determined to look away. Naruto kept on walking, but caught the frown on the woman's face when she sent him a puzzled glance at him as he moved past. The woman almost looked a bit afraid.
Naruto found it strange that - though he was considered a terrible monster by many - this was the first inkling of the fear he should expect to evoke from the villagers he had encountered. Was he a whipping boy or a dangerous monster? These stupid people couldn't seem to reach a conclusion.
As he continued on, Naruto made a point to meet the cold glances and angry stares of the villagers. It was strange, though, that today his own cold eyes made them turn away in bewilderment, uncertainty, and that same small glimpse of fear that the first woman had shown.
Was this all it took to cow these people? Just a defiant glare in the face of their hypocritical judgements?
What had he been doing all these years?
He'd been making a fool of himself, doing anything he could think of to seem as carefree, harmless, and approachable as possible for years, and it had changed nothing. Now just one morning of exhibiting a backbone and the glares all turned away?
It was almost unbelievable.
And it made him furious.
By the time he reached Ichiraku's he was fuming. So much time wasted trying to make people who'd never give a damn about him impressed. The only way he could get any recognition was as a weapon, and while Naruto had always dreamed of becoming a great and powerful ninja he hadn't wanted to do it for the sake of that power. He wanted to become that hero for the good he could do and the respect he could earn.
These people didn't deserve him.
He must have been wearing his emotions on his sleeve when he stomped under the cloth hangings separating the ramen stand from the busy street just beyond, because Teuchi started in surprise at his appearance.
"Naruto! What happened? Is something wrong?"
Naruto took a moment to calm down. He hadn't really meant what he'd been thinking just a moment ago – not all of it anyways. He'd just been building up a head of steam. What was it that Iruka had said? A ninja must be calm and disciplined at all times.
The ninja he was talking about most assuredly wasn't Naruto, because the blond boy knew he'd never reach that level of emotional control, but it was still something to strive for. Naruto had no interest in becoming an emotionless stick in the mud like Uchiha Sasuke anyways.
Having regained his composure, Naruto spoke up. "Nothing's wrong, old man. I just had a rough night."
Teuchi gave him an appraising look before nodding slowly. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Naruto just shook his head, eyes staring out of focus down at the counter. "I can't, actually. It was pretty bad though… I found out some things." He shrugged.
Teuchi's eyes widened a bit and he nodded slowly again. "Alright Naruto. I just want you to know that if you need to get anything off your chest, I'm always here."
Naruto finally looked up at the ramen chef. "Thanks for that, old man."
Teuchi cocked his head strangely as he met Naruto's gaze. "Naruto… what happened to your eyes?"
Naruto rubbed his face with his hands again. He hoped they got better soon. "Not sure. They were like this when I woke up. I think they must be infected or something…" He looked down at the hands he had just been rubbing at them with sheepishly.
Teuchi jerked his head, indicating that Naruto should come around back while he wiped down the now contaminated countertop.
The blond scurried off of the stool and around the side of the stand into the kitchen area where he found the sink and washed his hands. When he was younger the old man would let him come back and watch him make the ramen when he was particularly downtrodden by the constant anger of the villagers.
"Sorry about that, old man!"
Finishing up he walked back around the side and collapsed onto his previously occupied stool. "Hopefully it'll pass soon."
Teuchi gave him an odd look as he diced ingredients for the ramen he would make later in the day. "I thought that your eyes were supposed to get red when they were infected? Are you sure you weren't sniffing glue or something?" He chuckled at his own joke.
Naruto blinked a few times at the strange question. "Why would I be sniffing glue?"
The older man cut his laugh short before lowering his head quickly and continuing to chop with renewed vigor. "No reason. Look, I think you should probably see a medic about your eyes, Naruto. You wouldn't want to damage them or get any sicker."
"I feel fine, old man. They're working just great. And they don't look that bad either. It shouldn't be a big deal so long as they get better quickly."
Teuchi stopped chopping before giving Naruto a stern look. "Naruto, they look downright creepy."
Naruto was taken aback by the older man's deadpanned response for a moment before voicing an indignant reply. "They're not that bad!"
"They've got no whites in them! That's pretty creepy from where I'm standing."
"You think these are bad? You should see this girl in my class. She's got eyes that are pretty much all white. Now that's creepy."
"Sounds like a Hyuuga to me, Naruto. Their whole clan has eyes like that. It's not that strange to see them around town – they do live here after all."
"Well what's the big deal then?"
Teuchi straightened up before releasing a long-suffering breath. "Look, all I'm saying is that your eyes look a little strange right now and it might be a good idea to cover them up until they get better. You still have those tinted goggles, right?" Receiving a nod from Naruto, he continued. "Why don't you just wear those for the next few days until they go back to normal? That way you won't have to answer twenty questions every time you run into someone new."
Naruto could see the logic in that. Thinking back, his strange infection may have contributed to the unwillingness of the villagers to meet his gaze that morning. "Alright, I'll do it. I was going to swing by my apartment again before heading to the Tower to get my paperwork filled out anyways."
Teuchi stopped chopping for a moment. "Damn, I can't believe I forgot all about that after the racket you've been making for the last few weeks. You passed the exam this time then?"
Naruto shook his head. "Nope, screwed up the exam again. But I got promoted anyways. It has to do with the thing that happened last night that I can't talk about."
Teuchi furrowed his brows at that before nodding and going back to chopping. "Well I won't pry then, but congratulations! If you have a break for lunch why don't you swing by for a bowl on me? You can even bring your teammates if you like."
Naruto looked up at that. "Teammates?"
"Oops. I probably shouldn't have said anything. Just remember to look surprised when they put you on a three man squad, alright?"
A wide grin spread across the blond's face. "Alright old man, I won't rat you out. I should probably get going though, we're meeting at nine."
Teuchi looked at the clock, which read quarter after eight. "You'd better get along then. See you at lunch, Naruto."
The boy dropped off of his stool and gave a wave over his shoulder as he walked out through the storefront curtain.
He made sure to return all of the unpleasant glares he received on his way back home.
Naruto wandered into his academy classroom a few minutes before eleven - when the genin orientation was set to start - with his goggles pulled firmly over his eyes and his headband – which wouldn't sit properly on his forehead due to the position of his eyewear – tied loosely around his neck. The goggles were tinted a light red color – apparently to combat the sun's brightness. It only took a few minutes before Naruto's eyes had adjusted to the odd filtering and he could see in full color once again. Best of all the red coloration of the lenses made Naruto's off-color eyes impossible to make out.
Still pondering the plethora of information he had received last night from the Hokage and this morning from Teuchi, Naruto found an empty seat in the back row of the class to observe from. He wasn't in the mood to stare down the Uchiha and try to impress the kunoichi in the class. It's not as though his efforts had ever netted any positive responses in the past anyways.
He was pulled away from his musing as Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino stormed through the classroom door – apparently in an effort claim the seat next to Sasuke. Naruto didn't even bother to call out to Sakura this morning. He had always found her cute, and the fact that she was one of the most popular girls in class and a good student to boot had painted her as the perfect target to lavish his affections on in order to gain some recognition from the students as a whole. His new melancholy attitude deterred him, however.
What was the point of trying to impress these kids when their parents were probably telling them horror stories about him every night over dinner? He wished that he could forge some real friendships with his peers – he really did – but after last night's revelations it seemed as though the whole world was working against him ever being normal – or happy.
He was just tired of trying so hard to be liked. Looking back on it, he'd probably done more damage to his image than good with his antics, but he'd always foolishly assumed that he just wasn't pleasant enough for people to be nice to when in fact niceness had nothing to do with it.
The mask he wore for everyone – for that was what it was – was simply a caricature of his real personality that had grown over time. At first he simply built on his playful and carefree nature, but having had no success at softening the hearts of those around him he'd kept falling further and further into the role of the village idiot.
It was pathetic, and it wasn't him.
Not really.
No more mask then. Naruto didn't have anything to prove to these people. He didn't have a reason to pander to their fickle sensibilities. If nothing would ever be good enough for them then nothing was what they would get.
It was a liberating thought, actually.
"What are you doing here, Naruto? This meeting is only for those who passed the test." It was Shikamaru.
Naruto just looked down at the forehead protector hanging around his neck and then back up to the Nara standing over him. "Oh yeah?"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes before sitting down beside Naruto. "I suppose there's a story behind how you got that."
"Maybe some other time Shikamaru, I wouldn't want to interrupt your nap."
The dark haired boy grunted as he rested his head on top of his folded arms, eyes already closing.
Iruka walked through the door at the front of the classroom - looking none the worse for wear after the previous night's ordeal - and began taking role.
"Alright. Now that everyone's here I have to explain how your genin squads will be set up. You'll be placed in a team with two of your classmates led by a jounin instructor that I'll be assigning to you now. First off…"
Naruto was surprised – the old man had been right. Then again, he'd been running that ramen stand for who knows how long and had to have picked up a few things. Actually, now that Naruto thought about it, the old man probably knew more about ninja than Naruto did. Spending all that time making a nuisance of himself had severely cut into study time, and his grades reflected it.
As much as he hated sitting still and reading long-winded explanations, Naruto knew perfectly well that being a good ninja took smarts as well as… well… whatever the hell it was that he had.
The real question was where to start with that. He didn't give a damn about memorizing dates, people, or places. He'd need to find out what it took to become a better ninja.
It was a task for another time.
Naruto was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of his name.
"…Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke. Team Eight is…"
So he was with Sakura and Sasuke? He supposed it could be worse. At least Sakura was easy on the eyes. The Uchiha though… well, he wouldn't have to talk to him much if Sasuke's strong but silent persona held true outside of the academy. Maybe he'd pick up some tricks from the arrogant bastard along the way.
Naruto wasn't too proud to admit that the bastard knew what he was doing. To himself, of course. Silently.
Sasuke gave hardly a reaction at the team placement. He was probably brooding in that duck's ass head of his. Sakura, on the other hand, turned in her seat and sent a nasty glare Naruto's way. He almost gave her one right back before he remembered that he was still wearing his goggles – and probably would be for the foreseeable future.
To be fair, it was probably Sakura more than anyone else that he had put off through his clownish behavior. He'd have to do a lot of work to salvage whatever was left of their relationship. Then again, maybe he wouldn't. Mellowing out and giving her some space would probably do more than anything else he could manage.
So his plan was to give one teammate her space while talking to the other as little as possible.
On second thought, that sounded like a shit plan.
He hoped their instructor was one to help mend fences. God knows he had his work cut out for him. Come to think of it, Sasuke and Sakura didn't have the best working relationship either, despite what the pink haired girl might imagine.
Splendid.
Naruto stood up as the last team was announced and the group was given a long break for lunch. They wouldn't have to return to the academy until the afternoon to meet with their instructors.
Well, there was no time like the present to extend the olive branch, and he did have an open invitation for a free lunch. Naruto stood next to the doorway as his classmates filed out and waited for his teammates to pass through. They had been seated together near the front of the classroom, so it took a few moments for them to reach the back of the room and the door.
Sakura, as usual, was fawning all over the Uchiha to his obvious annoyance. He would have snickered had he not been in her place only a day ago. It was strange that she would reject him so strongly for the same type of behavior that she herself displayed, but he couldn't really fault her. They were all idiots, it seemed.
As they reached the door, Sakura finally acknowledged Naruto. Loudly. "What do you want, Naruto? Can't you see that Sasuke and I are busy?"
Naruto just nodded. He didn't want to blow this first attempt at turning over a new leaf. "I was just wondering if you two would like to grab some lunch with me. I know the cook over at Ichiraku's and he promised me and some friends a free meal today, so I was wondering…"
Sasuke had walked out the door before he could even finish.
"Why would we want to eat with you? Just leave us alone, Naruto. It's bad enough that we're stuck on a team with the dead last in our class. We don't want to see you more than we have to."
Naruto took a deep breath to calm down as the girl followed her crush out into the hallway. That had hurt. It really was that bad though, wasn't it? Would he ever be able to dig himself out of the veritable abyss he had sunk himself into? He spoke quietly and dejectedly. "Thanks, Sakura."
He thought he heard the pounding of feet in the hallway stop for a moment before continuing on. It didn't really matter though, did it?
"Hey, don't worry about her, Naruto. Now tell me about this free lunch!"
"Chouji! We were supposed to eat together as a team so that we could get to know each other better!"
"We've known each other since we were infants, Ino. What good is one lunch going to do us?"
Naruto turned to find Chouji, Shikamaru, and Ino arguing behind him. He afforded the heavyset boy a small smile before speaking up. "You guys want to come? I'm sure old man Teuchi wouldn't mind. It's not like my team is interested."
"You shouldn't get so down about those two, Naruto. I can't think of a more troublesome pair to get stuck with."
"Is that supposed to be a complement, Shika? And what about our team meeting?"
Naruto turned to the blond kunoichi. "You guys can have your meeting or whatever when we get there."
Ino looked him up and down, carefully taking in his mismatched and obnoxiously loud clothing before meeting his gaze through his goggles. "I suppose we could. Where was it we're going?"
"Ichiraku Ramen. It's great, trust me."
"Definitely! Let's go!" Chouji was already out the door.
Shikamaru grabbed Ino's wrist and began dragging her behind their teammate.
"Wait! I don't eat ramen. That stuff is terrible for you."
"Relax, Ino. I'm sure the old man can whip you up some rabbit food version. It's not like one bowl is going to kill you." Naruto stopped for a moment in thought. "Come to think of it, if it's your figure you're worried about then maybe you should go nuts. It's not like Sasuke has shown any interest in the kunoichi in our class. Maybe you don't have the right body type for him, if you know what I mean." Shikamaru and Chouji let out chuckles at that, while Ino turned an angry shade of red. "Or maybe he just isn't into girls."
That sent the two boys into hysterical fits of laughter that halted their progress for a good two minutes. They weren't even out of the academy yet!
"Naruto…" Ino apparently took it personally, though Naruto couldn't for the life of him figure out why.
"Relax, Ino. I was just making a joke."
"The only joke around here, Naruto, is you."
Naruto nodded slowly. "I've been figuring that out lately."
That stopped Ino in her tracks. "What?"
The other two boys had regained their composure and turned to listen in on the conversation.
"I figure I've been trying so hard to be liked for so long that I turned into a person that even I don't particularly like. I've decided to just stop trying."
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "So all those pranks were just to get people to like you? Doesn't make much sense to me."
Naruto laughed lightly. "Me neither, when you put it like that. Let's just say that people didn't much like me long before I started trying to get their attention and leave it at that."
The three nodded and set off to the ramen bar - quietly at first in light of Naruto's confession. After a few minutes of awkward silence Naruto managed to start up a conversation that finally got them talking again. It was surprisingly easy when he didn't have to try to be the center of attention.
"Hey old man! I'm taking you up on that offer and brought some friends from the academy!"
"Hello again, Naruto. You get an extra teammate?"
"Nah, my teammates bailed on me so I invited a different team. I hope you don't mind."
The old chef smiled and shook his head. It was the first time he could remember Naruto coming by the stand with anyone beside the Hokage and the instructor from the academy. "Not at all. You want to introduce me to your friends?"
Naruto looked to be at a loss for a moment before catching on. "Oh, sorry. This is Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, and Yamanaka Ino. They're all members of Team…"
"Team Ten." Thanks, Ino.
"Ah, that's right. Your fathers come by here about once a month together, and I think I've seen you and your father here together as well - Chouji, was it?"
"Yep! I keep telling Ino here, this is the best ramen place around!"
Teuchi laughed. "I always appreciate the show of support. Now, what can I get you four?"
"Ah, do you by chance have anything, well, healthy?" Ino seemed to realize the rudeness of her question a moment too late. "Not that ramen is unhealthy!"
The older man just smiled. "One vegetable coming right up. And don't worry about it. Even I don't eat this stuff every day. It does have a whole bunch of calories, but that's what makes it so good!"
"The calorie is simply a measure of flavor," Naruto added sagely.
"Good one, Naruto! That's one for the books. I'll have two bowls of pork, please."
"Two miso for me, old man."
Shikamaru furrowed his brows as he stared down the menu and let out a long-suffering sigh. "So many choices… it's just too…"
"He'll have a bowl of miso to start." Naruto ripped the menu from the lazy boy's grip. He just couldn't bear to see someone so unenthusiastic about ramen.
"Troublesome."
Ino joined Naruto in rolling her eyes at him.
"So, what do you think our sensei is going to be like?" Ino still hadn't forgotten her lunch agenda and wouldn't be deterred.
"You guys would probably know better than I would about the jounin instructors. Your dads are all jounin, right?"
Chouji nodded as a first steaming bowl was set in front of him. Naruto could tell it was hard to resist diving in for the large boy, but who could blame him? "Our dads were all on the same genin team when they were our age. They actually became sort of famous."
"Wow, that's really cool. So you guys probably knew all about the whole three man team thing before you got here."
"Well yeah, but I can't get my dad to spill the details on any of the stuff we're expected to do as genin. He says we'll have to learn as we go, though I did manage to figure out that there's some sort of test we still have to complete that our sensei will give us." Ino was perfectly content to talk before sinking her chopsticks into her own bowl, though after the initial taste seemed happy with her fare.
"Are you serious? What sort of test is it?" This was unwelcome news to Naruto, who was still on a high from having finally obtained his forehead protector.
"Each jounin comes up with his or her own test," Shikamaru offered between mouthfuls. "Dad said it's a test to make sure that we're ready to start missions."
"But we already passed the academy exam! Our skills are supposed to be good enough!" Panic was beginning to set in for Naruto.
"Maybe the test isn't about skills."
Naruto, Ino, and Shikamaru turned to Chouji as he slurped through his second bowl of ramen.
"What?"
Naruto rubbed his chin. "Huh. Maybe that does make sense – in a strange sort of way. After all, Iruka-sensei did always tell us that there was more to being ninja than shuriken tricks and ninjutsu."
"Haha, isn't that the truth! Dad's barely better than I am at throwing shuriken and he's a jounin. He told me that's why he always dragged Shikaku around with him." Ino noticed Naruto's far away look and decided to elaborate. "That's Shika's father."
Naruto shook himself from his thoughts. "Yeah, I got that. Did anyone want anything else? I think it's about time we got back to the academy."
Three shaking heads were his reply. After thanking Teuchi the group wandered back to the academy to await their instructors. Overall, Naruto would consider the lunch a success, despite not making any progress with his own teammates.
As the four walked back into the classroom, a familiar voice called out towards the group. "What's with the goggles, Naruto? I thought you'd ditch them after you got your headband. And how did you get your headband, anyways?"
Naruto turned and headed over towards Kiba, who was sitting on the edge of his table with his teammates – Shino and Hinata – seated beside him.
"Well the goggles are to keep things out of my eyes, obviously."
Kiba gave him a sideways glance before speaking. "Like what?"
Naruto let a small grin grace his face. "Fleas, mostly."
The dog trainer scowled before joining the blond in a wide smile. "Very funny."
"And I got the headband for completing an absolutely super-secret mission. Sorry, but if I say any more I'll have to kill you." Naruto's attention was drawn to the small puppy resting inside Kiba's fur-lined jacket, which gave a loud yip in response to Naruto's comment. "Oh, sorry boy." Naruto looked up to Kiba before continuing. "And your little dog, too."
Kiba huffed in mock outrage, the puppy yipped once again, and the shy, dark haired girl who sat nearby – Hyuuga Hinata - let out a light laugh. Now that was rare to hear.
"You could try, Naruto, but me and Akamaru aren't so easy to take down."
"Well let's just leave it at that so we won't have to go there, yeah?"
Naruto was having fun with this idle banter. No more posturing or absurd declarations. No more defending his imagined honor and dignity. Life was so much better when you didn't sweat the small things.
"I'd better get over to Romeo and Juliet before Sasuke has an aneurysm. See you around, Kiba."
"Later, Naruto."
The blond wandered over to the row in front of Sasuke and Sakura's own before pulling out a chair in front of them and straddling it facing backwards so that the chair's back rose up between his legs. "So how was lunch?"
Sakura turned around to glare at Naruto for interrupting her one-sided conversation with Sasuke before looking away abruptly. Naruto thought he saw her expression soften a bit, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. "It was alright. Pretty quiet, actually."
"And you, bastard?"
"Fine. And what do you care about it, moron? Your goggles look as retarded as always, by the way."
"I like these goggles, and I'll take that as a compliment coming from a guy who wears an ugly red and white stain on all of his clothes."
So much for mending fences. Naruto just couldn't help himself – the guy rubbed him wrong all over.
Sakura's glare was back again. "That's rich coming from a guy who wears a bright orange clown costume."
Naruto nodded. "You have a point. I was actually thinking of changing my wardrobe pretty soon. No better time to do it than now that we're actually ninja, right?"
"I heard that, Naruto, and I'm holding you to it! I'll see you this weekend! It's the least I can do after lunch today!"
Naruto winced slightly as Ino's voice drowned out all conversation in the room. Damn.
Sakura turned in her seat to find her one time friend and current rival. "So what did you end up doing for lunch, Naruto?"
"Well, since you two didn't seem interested I invited Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji to come along. It was pretty fun, and they let me in on a little of what to expect now that we're genin. Their fathers are part of a pretty successful team, actually. They're all jounin now, of course."
Sakura nodded slowly. She seemed honestly surprised. "Well what kind of things did they tell you?"
Naruto answered with a smile on his face. "Nothing too important, I don't think. I'll let you know if any of it comes up though. I wouldn't want to get their dads in trouble over nothing, and the best way to do that is to keep my mouth shut for now."
Again, Sakura seemed to agree with him. Go figure.
Naruto turned around to face the front of the class. Time ticked by and one by one the genin teams were led away by their respective jounin. Team Ten was taken by Sarutobi Asuma – a man Naruto had met a few times over the years due to the fact that he was the Hokage's own son. Ino and Chouji had given him waves on their way out, while Shikamaru had settled for a nod. Naruto supposed it was more than he should have hoped for from the lazy boy.
A few minutes later Kiba's team was led away by a very curvy kunoichi. Catching Naruto's eye as he followed her out the door, the dog tamer stopped to give the blond two enthusiastic thumbs up. Damn that kid was a pervert.
Then again, Naruto wouldn't mind having an instructor with the kind of body that the centerfolds he used to stare at while creating his infamous perverted jutsu had. Nowadays he relegated his magazine "reading" – which was the only real reading he did on a regular basis – to only a half an hour before bed each day. He was trying to cut back, honestly.
No, he wouldn't mind that sort of sensei at all. Come to think of it, he may have actually paid attention in class if the academy administration had cottoned on to that strategy. Maybe he'd bring it up with the Hokage.
Time slipped by as he spent the next hour and a half imagining one of his centerfold ladies helping him correct his taijutsu with a distinctly "hands on" approach. It was only when Sakura started an angry rant against the non-descript ninja who had just walked into the room that he was pulled from his fantasy world.
Naruto died a little inside at the sight of him. Oh well, he could still dream.
The man sported a thick stalk of straight, white hair that stuck out at an angle from the crooked forehead protector he wore – which covered his left eye completely. The rest of his face was obscured by a navy blue mask, which melded with the standard jounin uniform he wore over the rest of his body. The man didn't look particularly impressive, but perhaps that was because he was a particularly good ninja. Naruto didn't want to trap himself by making any false judgments. God knows he'd been the victim of more than enough of those himself.
Naruto glanced at the wall clock before turning back to the jounin. "Ever heard of a watch?"
The man just stared at him before closing his visible eye in a way that could only be interpreted as a smile. "No, perhaps you'll be able to explain it to me on the roof."
Naruto was about to retort when the jounin disappeared in a puff of smoke. The blond boy frowned and blinked his eyes owlishly behind his goggles. The thin, white aura he had seen around the man before he disappeared had just been a trick of the light, right?
Five minutes later found the three graduates sitting on the roof of the academy facing their instructor, who was leaning back against the railing along the side of the rooftop.
"I thought we'd start out by introducing ourselves to one another. Now who wants to go first?"
At Sakura's suggestion, their sensei – Hatake Kakashi – had led off and told them a whole lot of nothing. The man was rather infuriating. Sakura had gone next, stating her undying love for all things Uchiha and her rather poignant distaste for Naruto. It was nothing the blond didn't already know. Sasuke apparently liked nothing and was living solely for the purpose of killing someone and rebuilding his defunct clan – which explained a lot, actually. Naruto came to the conclusion that so far the Uchiha was shooting zero for one - which was rather amazing considering how many girls he had hanging all over him. He didn't share that sentiment with the others, however.
When Naruto's turn finally came, he had to think a bit. Likes and dislikes? Well he liked a handful of people, so they were on the good list. He disliked a whole bunch of other people, but wisely decided to leave them off of the second list. Ramen was good. Waiting for anything - including ramen - was generally bad. Dreams for the future? Damned if he knew. Just yesterday he'd probably say his dream was to become Hokage, but now that he had rethought his motivations, he wasn't so sure about that one.
"I want to become more powerful."
Kakashi's visible eyebrow rose. "And why is that?"
"So that I can use that power when I need it, obviously."
"And what would you use that power for?"
Naruto shrugged. "Anything I want, really."
Naruto groaned at his predicament. He really was a moron. He found himself hanging upside down from a tree with a rope wrapped tightly around his ankle.
How had he fallen for such a simple trap? Twice?
Kakashi had beaten the tar out of him – that was no question. Simply put, there was no way that he was getting a bell off of the strange man. Then again, hadn't he decided that this test wasn't about skills yesterday at lunch?
One thing that had come from his failed skirmish with the jounin was confirmation that he was indeed not seeing things in the classroom the day before. When Kakashi had used the substitution jutsu against his shadow clone assault and Sasuke's surprise shuriken barrage, Naruto had again seen the strange white aura surround the man before the jutsu was activated.
That had never happened before yesterday, but then again it was unique to Kakashi as far as he knew. Strange, that.
If only he could get either Sasuke or Sakura to grab the bells while he and his clones distracted Kakashi. After all, hadn't Ino said her father liked to pair with Shikamaru's dad because of their different strengths?
Naruto froze at that thought. He'd just stumbled upon the secret to this exam. As Chouji had pointed out, the test wasn't to gauge their skill level. It was obviously meant to test their other qualifications as a ninja, and as part of a three-man team, teamwork would be paramount!
That had been a rather easy conclusion to come to, actually. Now he just needed to find Sasuke and Sakura and beg their help. As if that would be an easy task.
Crap! Kakashi had just kicked him out of the tree where he was watching Sasuke fight the jounin. At least the bastard had gotten beaten almost as badly as Naruto had – he was now stuck wholly in the ground with only his head free to breath.
Naruto blinked. He was still upside down in the tree Kakashi had left him in.
He was a real idiot! He hadn't read the whole damn analysis of the shadow clone jutsu that had been written in the Scroll of Forbidden Seals! This must have been one of the abilities of the shadow clone!
The Hokage had told him the other night that using the shadow clone technique could kill a person with low chakra reserves and that Naruto had been lucky to stumble upon that particular jutsu first because he had such high reserves to fall back on.
Never again would Naruto skip the fine print regarding a jutsu. What had he been thinking?
Well at least he knew now, and he was incredibly happy that he had taken the time to send shadow clones after Sasuke and Sakura to report on their progress. He had thought the clones would make their way back to him and deliver their reports in person, but apparently that was unnecessary. Any memories that the clones gained would revert to him when the clone disappeared.
The possibilities that this development offered were endless, but he couldn't think on that now. He had to get down and find his so-called teammates.
As he regained his feet on the ground, he paused again at another realization. Sasuke had used a fire jutsu against Kakashi, and the jounin had countered with an earth technique. What was strange, though, was that when Sasuke gathered his chakra for the attack, his body had been enveloped in a thin aura of deep red that danced like flickering flames. So it wasn't just Kakashi, then. Even stranger was the aura that surrounded Kakashi – for even though it was still the color of purest white it now looked bumpy and solid, as if the aura had taken on the properties of hard stone.
That was weird. And sort of cool.
It also meant that his clones could see the auras too. Naruto decided that he would experiment with this. Crossing the index and middle finger of each hand before him, he created a single shadow clone. Now with the clone watching he formed another clone in the same manner.
"Did it work?"
The first clone grinned. "Wait and see."
"Can you dispel yourself?"
With that the clone was gone in a puff of white smoke. The second clone quickly followed suit.
Naruto immediately felt the memory come to him. As the memory of himself gathered chakra for the technique, he saw himself become surrounded in an aura of brightest yellow that took no shape or defining characteristic – just as Kakashi's aura had looked when he used the substitution technique.
Very cool.
Did the characteristics of the aura depend on the type of jutsu that was being used? It certainly made sense. The color of the aura was probably determined by the individual, then, since Kakashi's had been the same pure white in every circumstance.
So caught up in his musings was he that Naruto lost all track of time. He was brought back to his senses by the sound of an alarm sounding over the treetops.
Crap.
Naruto trudged into his bedroom late that evening.
Team Seven had passed their exam – though that hadn't done much to diminish the shame Naruto felt for being the only one tied to a stump. Apparently "being the first to fail" counted for something. Secretly Naruto thought that Kakashi just needed an excuse to tie one of them to the tree so that the real test could begin. It had been pretty easy to explain his theory to his teammates while they started into their lunches, and after only a bite of Sakura's rice the white haired man had appeared to congratulate them on their success.
The rest of the day had been spent experimenting with his shadow clones. He now knew their limitations and their applications, as well as the fact that trying to assimilate too many memories at once was a distinctly bad idea.
Next on the agenda would be trying to get Kakashi to teach him a few of the jutsu he knew. The earth move used on Sasuke and the genjutsu he had taken down Sakura with had both looked appealing to the young man.
He had a lot of catching up to do in his mind, having spent so much time slacking in the academy. He knew that he wouldn't be content until he had grown into the best ninja he could be – and damn what anyone else thought. Naruto was out for himself from here on out, and the only expectations he cared about measuring up to were his own.
He would be a very harsh taskmaster.
The blond moved to his dresser before setting his forehead – now neck – protector and goggles on the smooth surface. Wandering into the bathroom he began to brush his teeth, but stopped when he caught sight of his discolored eyes once again.
There hadn't been any change in them for the last two days, and Naruto was beginning to worry.
He was also beginning to sympathize with old man Teuchi.
They were creepy.
Metallic blue orbs stared back at Naruto from under his wild blond locks – their only distinguishing feature being the ever widening concentric circles that spread from the pupils outwards.
Like ripples in a mercury pond.
A/N: This chapter practically wrote itself. I wrote the whole thing in one day with no outline whatsoever. Every word of this chapter came to me at a whim, just like the first chapter of this story. It was fun to write. This is my fun story, so that's okay.
Before you send me any questions – if you're inclined to do so – I want to make absolutely clear that I have no idea where this story is headed.
No idea.
Stuff like pairings I plan to leave open for now. That sort of decision won't be left up to you readers, but if you have a preference feel free to make your case. Like I said I'm open to pretty much anything at this point.
The one and only thing I want to make sure I put in this story is the concept of Antichrist!Sage of the Six Paths.
Yeah.
Did you think I was kidding when I said this story would be my screwed up little sandbox?
I hope you all enjoyed the somewhat random chapter. I think I did a decent job – though unintentionally – of introducing enough new elements that this fic has the potential to deviate very far from canon. Not sure if it will go that route, but there you have it.
I don't think that Naruto is going to turn out to be some evil bastard. I just think he'll be a bit more selfish than he is in canon – not nearly as magnanimous and incorruptible.
Hopefully it will prove to be a fun project. I hope you agree.