"Normal Speech"
'Normal Thought'
'"Talking within mindscape"'

"Tenant Speech"
'Tenant Thought (rare?)'
*"Tenant Outside Speech (probably never, just setting precedent)"*

September...

School. Ninja school. The Ninja Academy of Konoha. Naruto didn't know what to think. It had been his dream for as long as he could remember to become a ninja - ever since the Hokage had told him that his parents were ninjas. Ever since it was always ninjas who adopted the kids in the orphanage. Ever since he'd seen how fast they moved, how they traveled free as birds along the rooftops, skirting weightlessly over the power cables and clotheslines of Konoha's busy urban sprawl.

He'd miss home - the house he'd shared with Kiba and his family over the Summer could be called nothing else, despite his short stay there. He'd miss Tsume and Kiba, missed Hana already. The smells that had become familiar and comforting would be replaced by new, unfamiliar ones - moving out and moving on was a scary time for anyone, child or not. But as he approached his new room in the Academy dormitories, some of his concerns could be placed on the backburner.

'Hokage-jiji... you sure pulled out all the stops on this one!' Naruto looked around the room in awe, bright orange and blue lining the walls, almost alive in what he would later brag to the other kids as 'A sick, sweet-ass fire pattern!' Though it was a one-room dorm, there was a small kitchen; the bedroom was separated by a curtain divider, and most importantly, there was a view of the Hokage Monument from the room's single window - visible from bed. It was everything the young blonde could have dreamed of.

Searching the room, a card that the Hokage had left caught his eye. It read:

"To my favourite hyperactive, knuckle-headed ball of energy, Naruto,

A reminder of your goals every morning can help motivate far more than harsh words, or the promise of great reward.
Remember that I'll always believe in you, and remember to believe in yourself.

The hat is waiting,"

It was signed, 'Sarutobi Hiruzen', with a picture of them inside - Naruto was sitting on the Hokage's lap, a grin splitting his face from ear to ear as he used both hands to steady Sarutobi's hat on his head.

BZZT BZZT BZZT BZZT. An alarm vibrated and screeched, shouting the arrival of 4 A.M. Unfortunately for the Alarm, it happened to be Naruto's - which meant that today, a new and inventive way to turn it off would be discovered. For posterity.

'P. O. S. T. E. R. I. T. Y. Posterity. For the benefit of future generations.' Mizuki was still drilling him after hours, and he'd assured Naruto that the drills would continue 'during detentions' - whatever that meant. Today, the Alarm would be used to test if he could break the sound barrier with small objects.

It was a test he would later revisit on occasion, as his strength and other skills improved. For today, the alarm sailed out the open window, disappearing into the distance. It was his first actual day of school; he hadn't believed supply officer's warning about the damned alarms - they would wake him up, and there was no way to shut them off without getting out of bed. 'Sorry Chunin-san, I'll try not to toss anymore of them, I promise!' As Naruto approached the window, he swore he could still hear it ringing in the distance - the damned things were sturdy!

It wasn't uncommon for students to go through their alarms, in one way or another. The early classes started early, mostly to weed-out any children who relied on parents to keep them motivated. Classes often didn't allow students much downtime to rest, either. For the most part, those enrolled in The Academy were granted an allowance of the simple electronics - Alarms and communications devices that were easy to produce cheaply and en-mass.

It might not have seemed intuitive to the budget committee at first, but when hundreds of new children each year were expanding their capabilities in strength, agility, endurance, and automatic reactions to stimuli, well, anything that deprived them of their much-needed rest was going to pay the price. Academy tardinesshad fallen after the trial run, after all - and with it, the graduating Genin had increased in number. That alone had been enough to keep the alarm clocks rolling out.

Naruto eventually tore his eyes from the window's view - Sarutobi had been right when he said it'd be a motivator. Naruto had hardly stopped training during the week, except to go over what would be expected of him during his stay at the Academy, and to eat and sleep. He'd eaten mechanically, downing whatever his senseis put in front of him. He'd woken up when they asked him to, and for the past week, he'd hardly had any outbursts. Needless to say, the focus - and lack of mischief - had drawn some attention.

Of course, there were the usual standing bets on when Naruto would snap out of it and return to his normal, attention-deficit self - but any adequate ninja with some cash and a basic knowledge of the intricate betting circles Konoha had to offer could also lay money on who he'd prank first, who'd catch him, and even some farfetched ones; the odds on "Naruto goes crazy, steals a forbidden technique, and beats Mizuki to a bloody pulp" had began at over a million to one, but fell at an alarming rate as the week went by, standing at a mere 1000:1 by the time the blonde's classes started.

Someone was either pulling a fast one - in which case they'd be beaten to a pulp by the ninja police (who kept an eye on the consistency of Konoha's betting, unofficially, and for a fee) - or possessed an eerily accurate clairvoyance. Either way, bored ninjas would bet on almost anything. Iruka and Mizuki's training had become something of a standing gag in that regard. The Chunin instructors were subject to scrutiny and observation by almost all of their peers; they had told no one their reasons for teaching the jinchuriki, and the Hokage hadn't released any official information - to most of the standing Ninja forces, they were simply two Chunin instructors that were training Naruto, just because.

Naruto had simply kept his focus throughout the week, oblivious to the flurry of activity he'd caused; interest began to die down as he showed no signs of stopping. The blonde shivered in the brisk morning air, sighed one last time, and began the morning routine Bull drilled into him. Whatever thoughts had been behind his large, cerulean eyes as he gazed upon the Hokage Monument were inscrutable.

Naruto learned early on in his week of habit forming that the only way he'd get through the entire routine in time for class was with multitasking - something he was surprisingly good at, to his fortune. There was too much to do sequentially, and the dorms were too far from the buildings where his classes were. Besides, if he didn't limber up with a bit of training before he left, he'd strain something on the way into class. 'They want me to wake up early, and stay up all day without a nap. It's not fair.' No one said being the future Hokage would be easy - but he wasn't prepared for it to be this hard, either.

The blonde sulked, chin on windowframe as he overlooked the grounds. With a final yawn, he started a potful of water boiling on his small stove. The heat put off quickly warmed his room; though Konoha was situated in a temperate location, the September morning held a chill edge.

Iruka had been skeptical of his routine, when told of it. Though he admired the blonde's gumption, he warned Naruto of the consequences; being late would not be tolerated, nor would showing up in a rough state. Naruto paid the Chunin's cautions some mind, at least so far. They made sense to him, from an immediately practical standpoint. 'If I end up hurting myself in the morning, I'll drag behind during the day, and then I'll be given "remedial exercises", which means I'll wake up later the next day and not get to class at all...'

Naruto didn't know what remedial exercises were, but he sure as hell didn't want to do any - and he definitely didn't want to miss anything at The Academy! He began doing his standing cardio, and when the water began to boil, he paused to empty the water into his cup noodles. Muscle groups came next, and he dipped into deep squats, in between throwing on pants and a shirt.

As his noodles cooled enough to eat, he'd do burpies, and then a mixture of Chakra control and hand-eye coordination would finish the routine - in the form of running to class at top speed while trying to eat an entire cup of near-boiling ramen. He ran swiftly along the beaten trail towards his morning class. The entire routine had taken less than ten minutes, but it had let him grab breakfast and get dressed during his workout; it was structure, and he needed it in his life at this age.

'Why is The Academy's physical conditioning even in the morning? 'Because Iruka-sensei says so' is a terrible answer, 'ttebayo.' He'd learned - during the first week of orientation and evaluation - not to talk back. 'Iruka-the-Academy-Instructor is a lot scarier than Iruka-the-Summer-Sensei, especially with his big-head jutsu.'

It was nearly six in the morning, and if Iruka hadn't already altered his entire curriculum to suit Naruto, the blonde might have been doing rounds on the obstacle course all morning.

In The Academy, there was no standard for anything done in regards to physical exercise and performance. The children were worked until they dropped, and then the instructors made sure they worked harder. Naruto, despite having stamina and endurance beyond his years, was no exception. Iruka already knew he'd have his work cut out for him when it came to making the small blonde sweat - even through the Chakra inhibiting seals, even with what weights they'd deemed safe for his age and physique. His dilemma was simple - students were graded on improvement, as well as overall performance.

If Naruto couldn't show improvement, in some form that others could review and find acceptable, he wouldn't pass. The Chunin had moped, at first. 'It's not like my life depends on the jinchuriki passing or failing. No, just give me the boy that can run this damn course for an hour straight without slowing down, oh, and what, he's our jinchuriki, too? That's greaaaat, I'm sure there'll be plenty of leeway during his academic review.' Palm planted firmly on face, Iruka had wracked his brain for something to put a damper on the living battery that was Naruto.

The answer hadn't been too hard to find, when he posed his problem to Bull "...So you're telling me that you're just going to stand back and let me slam the kid with killing intent until he can barely move?" The Chunin didn't know exactly how it would affect the blonde in the long run, but Bull was fine with it. He even recommended it for the other children. "It's been a while since we've had a good crop, no offense to you as a teacher. You remember how the last batch turned out..."

Iruka did, and palmed his face at the thought of the debacle. "Two Genin out of over a hundred students in the graduating class, and one of them managed to stab himself half to death. On a D-rank. At least it wasn't one of my students." The Chunin wasn't worried about anything that far down the line, in any case. Once the year was over, he was home free - which is to say, despite his growing fondness for the brat, he'd be damned if he spent another ounce of energy, another iota of time trying to think up ways to game the system for him.

'Speaking of which, I might have overdone it there...' In his retrospection, Iruka had been increasing his killing intent - the subtle genjutsu precursor was an on-or-off affair, and took concentration to heighten or lower, to focus or to expand. Without his conscious discretion it simply radiated out from him, and nearby students had began to shake in fear. 'Great first day, Iruka. Maybe I'll take Bull-dog's advice, and roll with it after all.'

He quickly recaptured his Chakra, lowering the children's stress and fear a considerable amount. "Everyone still awake? Back to class them, come on! If you see someone lying down, help them up. It's okay to puke, just try to keep walking. You all did good for your first day!" Many hadn't, but the positive reinforcement worked wonders. Those still standing managed to hobble over towards the indicated path, some leaning against each other, others on all fours.

No one stood anywhere near Naruto, who still looked as if he'd wet himself at any moment; the blonde could try to blame it on the fact that Iruka's Killing Intent had been sharpest around him - the closer they got, the worse they'd felt. He hadn't even made his way twice around the course himself. Even some of the civilian kids had outdone him, and Naruto knew he tried harder - trained harder - than any of them.

It wasn't completely Iruka's fault, he knew - the Chunin's Killing Intent had been almost unbearable, constricting his breathing and granting him visions of his death at every hurdle, every rope, every pit and wall - but he'd seen the glares, heard the whispers, felt the hatred and fear. Someone in the class had known who he was, known to stay away from him. And they'd told the others, who'd connected his face with 'that boy' their parents told them boogeyman stories about.

'Even here I'm all alone. I thought it would be different, a new chance to play with friends, without all the adults...' The blonde cried silently on the walk back to Iruka's classroom, thankful he was at the back where no one would see his tears. Few students took notice of him as he entered through the double-wide doors of the first-years' hall, shambling pathetically towards his destination. Those that did quickly looked away, or ducked into their own classes.

Naruto burst into the room, a smile stretched across his face. His entrance slammed the door loudly against its stop, startling many of his classmates who'd just settled themselves into a circle around Iruka. "Sorry I'm late, I got lost on th-"

"No, Naruto," Iruka had heard the blonde's excuses before, from another source, and knew he had to nip them in the bud before they infected the rest of his class. He left the boy to gape like a fish for a moment longer, before finding him a spot in the aforementioned circle. "You can sit between Hinata and Sasuke," he reasoned, as they seemed to be least loathing of Naruto's presence.

As quickly as that, Naruto's smile was back in place, as he tried to learn everything he could about his circle-mates in a series of rapid-fire questions. "Hi I'm Naruto, nice to meet you Sasuke, Hinata! Do you guys want to be friends? I like ramen, what's your favourite food? Why are you gonna be a ninja? I wanna be a ninja because they get to do anything they want, and no one can tell them to stop, except for the Hokage - jiji is so cool! I wish I was that strong. Have you guys met him? Isn't the hat amazing?"

He was silenced again by Iruka, so that the irked Chunin could continue his lesson. The two stunned children merely stared a moment, first at Naruto, then at each other. Sasuke raised an eyebrow curiously - something he was rather proud of being able to do at his age. 'He barely did anything out there, and now he comes into class like a fireball, full of energy? Is he holding back? Is he just lazy? Nii-san said not to make any friends that would hold me back, but he also told me not to judge people too quickly...' In the end, he decided to play the 'I'm an Elite Uchiha and you'll have to earn my time' card.

"Hn, dobe." The Uchiha turned his nose up, before diverting his attention to the adult speaking. Hinata, too, decided to approach cautiously. She could never be friends with one so below her station, a thought that saddened her. But she had also kept her Byakugan active all morning, and was still somewhat confused at the blonde's actions... and his Chakra.

'He's got a bunch of Chakra-laced kanji all over him, and... something... on his stomach.' It hurt to look at, however, so she didn't focus on it for long. 'And the way he was acting until he got into the classroom, it's as if he was sad before. Why would he be sad? Did he not do as well as he'd hoped on the obstacle course? It was to be expected for a civilian, even if his Chakra is wrong.' It couldn't be her eyes deceiving her about the amount of life energy the blonde had, after all. And no one had that much Chakra, except maybe the Hokage, and he was... well, old. So Naruto's Chakra must just be wrong.

She herself had held back, would continue to hold back, as instructed by her father. Unlike the Uchiha scion, Sasuke, it would not do to have the Hyuuga heiress in the spotlight with her position so tentative. "Hinata?" Iruka's voice pulled the violette from her thoughts. "Uhm... y-yes sensei?" The Chunin rolled his eyes, plastering a practiced smile that came off as condescending to the well-cultured girl.

'Ah... I have failed already!' Her cheeks went red from embarrassment, which Iruka mistook as shyness. "Go on, tell us about yourself! What do you like to do, your favourite colour, if you like flowers or if there's a certain style of fighting you're good at?' His prompted implication finally provided a path away from the shame she had brought upon herself. "Ah, uhm, I - I'm good at... making tea. And I like... purple." 'Nothing is coming out right! I... I must not associate myself with my clan until I have redeemed some form of composure. Father will be furious when he finds out...' Her fingers poked at each other, until she noticed Naruto looking at them curiously.

"I bet you fight a lot!" He interrupted her shocked silence, prompting a swat from Iruka. "No one interrupts anyone else in this class, Naruto. If you have a question, raise your hand and ask it when you're called upon." His voice was calm, but the Chunin was obviously irate. The blonde looked about to respond angrily, but Hinata chimed in. "Ah, it's... okay, Iruka-sensei. Y-yes, Naruto, I practice my clan's style... The Gentle Fist." The Hyuuga's blush was threatening her entire face now, combined anger and embarrassment at being outed. 'If I'd just told them from the beginning, none of this would have happened. Why am I such a failure?'

She answered a couple of questions about her clan and the Gentle Fist style, before Iruka finally gave up on trying to coax more from her. "Alright, Naruto - try to keep it short..." His words went unheeded as Naruto babbled like an open faucet. Iruka was disappointed at the blonde's boasting, and his willingness to tell everyone about his training - it would make his year much harder, as well as his graduation. At least the Hyuuga had managed to keep a few secrets to herself, after the blonde had outed her.

Many of the students, however, had tuned out entirely, or began fidgeting nervously as Naruto spoke. It was obvious that the blonde would have a lot of social pressure to overcome, if he wanted to make more friends - however, the Academy was just the place to do it. 'Without their parents around all the time to tell them I'm bad, some of them will have to like me!' He noticed Sasuke and Hinata keeping their eyes on him, as well as a few other students he had yet to meet - and even some Inuzuka!

The Uchiha was indeed paying attention, and had begun to memorize details about the blonde. He knew from his brother that his time in the Academy would entail fighting with his classmates repeatedly over the years. 'There's no way he's done half this crap, not with his times on the course - unless he's holding back. But if he was holding back, why would he tell everyone now?' He noticed how many of his classmates were ignoring the blonde, or paying only token attention.

'Only the clan children are really watching, observing their surroundings and their potential opponents... Nii-san was right, I'm stuck with a bunch of losers.' Being an Uchiha enabled him a few special advantages over many of the students in his class. His eyesight, regardless of Sharingan, was better than any of the others - even the Hyuuga girl - could hope to achieve without expensive modifications.

His training for the police force, and eventually the ANBU, allowed him to pick up on much of Naruto's facial nuances. 'He's not lying... but he is hiding something.' Sasuke resolved to corner the boy after class and get the full story from him - Itachi's many rivalries with other strong opponents had allowed him to graduate from the Academy not only earlier than most, but stronger. He would not dishonour his clan by doing any less.

He noticed that some of the other Uchiha - his cousins, many older than him - were also noting the boy's story as inconsistent. He flashed his eyes at them, claiming first dibs on the blonde. 'Sometimes clan superiority comes in handy.'

A/N: Sorry for such a late chapter. Chapters are going to continue to come in a bit faster now that I'm done work for the summer, and have more of an idea of how I want this to feel and go.