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Walking through the gates of Konoha, a young boy with blond hair and whisker marks on his cheeks was given questioning stares and glances.
No one could ever recall having seen him before, yet he seemed to know where he was going, wherever it was.
Meanwhile, at the Academy, a chunin with a scar on his face addressed his pupils.
"Okay class, today we have a new student. This is his first time to Konoha for a long while, so I want you to show him some courtesy. It's also going to be his first day at an academy, so don't be too hard on him. He should be here in a couple of minutes or so, and his name is Naruto Namikaze."
A boy with black hair and eyes asked, "Iruka-sensei, if this is his first day at an academy, then shouldn't he be in a lower class?"
Nodding, Iruka said, "That's a very good question Sasuke, and I normally would agree with that. However, Naruto is supposedly as promising as your brother was when he was here."
Eyes widening at a potential rival, Sasuke eagerly awaited this 'Naruto' to arrive. And it was almost at that very moment, that, indeed, he did.
Now everyone had wide eyes—he didn't look like very much. He wore dress pants and a short-sleeved shirt that, put together, made it appear that he wanted to hide from the world. And in his startlingly azure eyes, there seemed to be a world of sadness so profound that none of the children were able to look for more than a moment.
It was a sadness that made you want to do something about it, yet made you feel completely helpless to do so.
When Iruka told him to introduce himself, the boy merely said, "My name is Naruto Namikaze."
He sounded dead for the moment.
For the entirety of the class, he spoke only when spoken to and expended as little energy as possible. But it wasn't quite laziness, more like… efficiency.
He answered questions perfectly, and indeed appeared to be a prodigy of some sort.
When the time for lunch came around, Naruto sat by himself at a corner table, eating a few rolls of makisushi. Nobody really tried to speak with him.
Seeing this, Sasuke walked over to Naruto's table and asked, "Hey Namikaze-san, do you mind if I sit here?"
Looking up at the Uchiha, Naruto shrugged and said, "No, I don't mind. Go ahead if you want."
Sitting down, Sasuke started eating his own lunch, before noticing that Naruto didn't have anything to drink.
And since he had two cups of grape juice…
Holding one out, Sasuke offered to share it—an offer that Naruto accepted.
"Thanks Uchiha-san. It must've slipped my mind this morning when I was getting ready."
Hoping to get more information out of the newcomer, Sasuke then said, "Well, since we'll probably be classmates for the next couple of years, I guess we should get to know each other."
Nodding in agreement, Naruto said, "I guess we should formally introduce ourselves then. My name is Naruto Namikaze. My father was Minato Namikaze, and I have been raised by my godfather Jiraiya since the night I was born. My favorite foods are cinnamon rolls, makisushi, and shrimp. My favorite drinks are milk and orange juice, my favorite color is slate grey, and… I'm allergic to ramen—I think it's something in the broth…."
Sasuke's eyes widened at three things: he was in the presence of the Yondaime's son, who was in fact the godson of one of the Legendary Sannin, and that Naruto had ramen allergies—something that had never been heard of in Konoha.
Blinking away his surprise, Sasuke began to introduce himself. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. My father, Fugaku Uchiha, is the Head of my Clan, and Itachi-neesan is already one of the strongest ninja in ANBU, even though he's only thirteen. My favorite foods are rice balls, peanut butter, and … pocky. My favorite drinks are grape juice and apple juice, followed by milk. My favorite color is black, and I have no allergies."
Nodding, Naruto then said something that surprised the young Uchiha once again.
"If anyone asks whether or not I'm related to the Fourth, please tell them that I'm not. I don't really want to stand out."
Finishing the rest of his juice in one gulp, Sasuke then said, "So then you don't want people to know who you are."
Shaking his head, Naruto corrected his new friend.
"I don't mind people knowing about me, but I want to be respected because of who I am, not because of who I'm related to."
To punctuate his statement, the bell rang for classes to resume.
Naruto had given Sasuke quite a bit to think about just then.
__________
Things continued in much the same way for the next couple of days. Naruto steadily became less introverted, and Sasuke steadily gained humility.
In addition, Sasuke started becoming stronger as well. The pair were fast friends and nearly inseparable—a stark contrast to their fathers (Sasuke's father, and Naruto's birth father), who had been bitter rivals—and often would play a game they came up with called "Make the groupies go away."
This is how it went: Sasuke and Naruto would try to think of a plan to make Sasuke's and/or Naruto's groupies go away—since they'd started hanging out, some of Sasuke's popularity seemed to be rubbing off on Naruto, and he absolutely hated it.
Also, it got leaked that Jiraiya was Naruto's godfather, which only made things worse.
However, even Naruto had to admit it was funny when you could torture elite Jonin—look at Kakashi for example.
"Naruto-kun, why haven't there been any new Icha Icha books for the past eight years?"
Shrugging, Naruto said, "When somebody else asked Dad the same question, he said that he'd been too focused on raising me to do any 'research'. Whatever that means."
Within the next week, half the men in Konoha were out for his blood because he had "taken away their porn."
Within the week after that, he was under the unofficial protection of nearly all the women in Konoha for "doing away with the goddamned porn."
When asked if Jiraiya was still a pervert, Naruto had said, "Well, I guess he's kind of perverted, but he's a lot less open about it. But don't tell him—I don't think he knows that I know he's still like that."
Academically, Naruto kept his paper grades on the upper side of average (about C+ to B-) but openly excelled in practical examinations.
After a couple of weeks, Sasuke asked Naruto to spar with him. To his surprise, Naruto agreed—but only if he (Naruto) were severely handicapped.
"How severe is severe?"
Shrugging, Naruto answered "Well, I'd have to have about three-hundred pounds of dead weight on each limb slowing me down, a Chakra Inhibitor Seal to screw up my control, and you'd need a Dragon Scale Seal to increase your body's resistance to injury. Plus, I'd have to restrict myself to Taijutsu-only, while you get to go all-out."
Eyes widening, Sasuke said, "There's no way you're that far ahead of me. I don't believe it."
Giving him a look that said, 'My Godfather is Jiraiya, who raised and trained me almost from birth. You expect me not to be advanced?' Verbally, however, he just shrugged again and said, "Believe it."
Deciding that he only wanted to fight Naruto at his best, Sasuke declined the offer to fight him handicapped.