Chapter One

Author's Note: Hey readers! Here is Chapter One of the newly rebooted The Truth about Forever! Be sure to review, that way we know how we're doing! And, if you want, check out kyu15 and his Naruto story. It's titled Why So Serious, and it's pretty good!

Disclaimer: My co-writer and I do not own anything, except my OC (Megumi Hokkaido) and kyu15 owns his OC (Akito Tenuchi)

Naruto's Graduation

There was a light breeze flowing through the air, which caught my ponytail and tickled the back of my neck. I scanned the crowd for a familiar little blond head, but my search turned up fruitless. I sighed, internally kicking myself for not telling Naruto that I would be there. He must have thought no one would come, and this made me feel even worse. Where could he have gone? I took another look around, and still turned up empty. If anyone knew where he would be, it would be Iruka. I turned around, hoping to see him somewhere in the courtyard. I spotted him just over by the gates, talking animatedly to the Nara family. I crept up behind him and tapped him lightly on the shoulder, causing him to jump five feet in the air.

"Oh, Megumi! I didn't know you were going to be here," Iruka nervously said with a very faint blush. I scratched the back of my head with a sheepish grin.

"I was going to surprise Naruto, but I was doing some research for an upcoming mission, and I lost track of time. Do you know where he might be?"

Iruka scratched his chin thinking.

"He's probably around the other side of the building, on the tire swing. That's where I usually find him."

As I made my way around the Academy, I caught wind of a familiar musky scent.

"I knew you would be here. I'm surprised you didn't come get me from the Hokage's library," I told my best friend as he jumped down from the balcony directly above me.

"It's an important mission for you, and I was already here," Akito said lazily.

When we rounded the corner, I nudged my friend in the ribs.

"There's our little Genin. Let's go cheer him up."

We approached Naruto, but the look on his face killed me a little inside. He looked so upset, and I realized that being at the library for so long was a horrible idea.

"Hey, Naruto, are you okay?" I asked the little blond.

He looked very surprised to see us, but his face lit up after a second.

"Did you guys see me get my hitai-ate?! I did it!"

I smiled at Naruto as he flashed us his new headband, "I wasn't here to see it, but Akito did. We're so proud of you, Naruto."

There was a brief flash of disappointment on Naruto's face, but it quickly changed to delight.

"Akito-san, you were at the ceremony?!" Akito nodded.

A sudden realization hit me; there was something I was forgetting.

"Oh, shit. I have to go! I'm supposed to be scouting my team right now, and taking my first look at the brats I'm about to be stuck with. Naruto, Akito and I will take you out for ramen later. See you then!"

I disappeared, leaving a puff of smoke behind me.

.

.

I spotted my first new student, Kiyoshi Ishida, talking with his parents. I studied him carefully, noting his body type. I already had a few jutsus in mind that would be perfect for him, considering his tall stature. I took a few notes in my journal before scanning the crowd for the other male student, Satoshi Kogo. I saw him chatting up a girl, and I inwardly sighed.

Just what I needed, a lady's man. I jotted down a few more notes next to his name. I pulled out the next profile paper, taking a peek at the picture of my female student before glancing around. Junko Terada was hanging out with another female student on the stairs. They were laughing and pointing at Satoshi. I shook my head wearily, "This bunch is going to be a handful."

I turned to leave, but found a green vest blocking my vision.

"Hello, Megumi. Did you already take a look at your team?"

The sound of that voice caused a shiver to go down my spine. Goosebumps popped up on my arms and legs.

"Kakashi, I didn't know you were scouting today" I said as calmly as I could. He smiled, and my heart started to pound.

"I figured I would get a head start." I was caught off guard by his comment.

A head start was unusual for Kakashi Hatake.

"What has got you in a rush? Did you get a particularly good set of students this time around?"

He didn't say anything, and instead disappeared.

"I hate when he does that," I huffed as I put my papers in my pocket.

"Hate when he does what?" I turned on my heel and threw a punch, but a strong hand grabbed my fist.

"Dammit, Akito. I hate it when you sneak up on me like that," I told my best friend as I wrenched my fist from his grip.

"What did Kakashi do this time?" He inquired.

I scoffed, "How did you know I was talking about that silver-haired fox? Spying on me again?"

Akito raised his eyebrow coolly, "I don't call it "spying," just so you know."

I raised my eyebrow in return, "Then what would you call it?"

He paused for a moment, "Selective observation, perhaps."

I fought the urge to crack a smile. Akito was such a smartass, sometimes.

"You ready to go get ramen with Naruto?"

He simply nodded, "I invited Iruka to go with us, by the way."

I choked on some saliva.

"You did what?"

He cleared his throat, "You heard me."

I whined a little, "Why did you do that? Wait, don't tell me. Let me guess… You have a newfound respect for him after he saved Naruto from Mizuki last week. You want to set me up with him."

Akito shrugged and started walking towards the Academy doors.

"You know I don't like Kakashi that much. Iruka would be a better fit for you. I'm just trying to help you out."

I frowned at my best friend, "Thanks, but no thanks. Iruka is too shy for my tastes."

Akito stared me straight in the eyes.

"You're kidding, right? Do you see yourself when Kakashi is around? You act just like Iruka does when he is around you. Think about it," He said with a hint of irritation in his voice.

The thought struck me, and I realized he was right.

"Man, I feel like a douchebag."

Akito nodded, "Yep. I'm sure you do."

I stared him down, "Don't even start, Akito. You know that I don't notice these things."

I received another shrug from my best friend as we ascended the stairs of the Academy.

"Whether you notice it or not, Iruka definitely has a crush on you. Throw him a bone, will you? He's a decent guy."

I shook my head in response, "You know I can't do that."

Akito mimicked me, and I gently punched him in the shoulder. We passed through the double doors, tapping the top of the door jamb with the palms of our hands. I giggled at the thought of Akito and me, once as little kids, jumping as high as we could to touch the top threshold. Everything back then seemed so big and out of reach. Now, everything seemed the exact opposite. My mind instantly took a stroll down memory lane as we passed by classrooms that we had once occupied.

"I can't believe it's been almost thirteen years since we were here. Can you?" I asked Akito as we made our way down the long corridor.

He shook his head, "Not at all."

I noticed that there were drawings on the wall from some of the much younger classes. I stopped in my tracks, and took a closer look at a few of them. I found a crude rendition of a very familiar face staring back at me on one of the pages.

"Akito, look! There's a drawing of me on here!" I pointed to the paper and we both inched closer to look at it.

"It's me, and I'm their sensei. Oh my god, that's adorable!"

A huge smile was beaming from my face. My eyes darted to another picture, and I saw Akito's cloak drawn in crayon.

"Akito, there's you!" I stared at it for a minute, taking in the amount of detail that young child put into their work. My eyes darted up, and I saw the title of the project. I gasped, catching Akito off guard and causing him to tense up.

"The title of the project is, "My Hero." Akito, these kids. We're their heroes." I turned to look at him, and his eyes immediately softened.

"We're their heroes?" I slowly nodded my head, fumbling over my feelings of disbelief.

"They look up to us. We're their role models. We are the people that they want to be like when they grow up," I teared up a bit at the thought of being a hero to a kid I had never even met, "The instructors must talk about us a lot."

I stared at the pictures for another minute before I saw Akito heading out the back door to the playground. After taking one last glance, I tore myself away from the wall to follow Akito out the door. We reached the swing set, and I was immediately taken back to the day Akito and I met. I imagined a much younger version of myself running around the playground and laughing alongside other children. Those were the days before the pain that came with the reality of my father's death. The days before the constant grieving or the agony that my mother suffered. It was almost difficult to imagine that there had been a time before all of that. My eyes shifted to the slide, which was the exact spot where I had met my best friend.

The scene flashed before my eyes like an old movie. We were only five, still wet behind the ears. We had the whole world before us. At least, I knew I did. Akito had already experienced the ultimate tragedy by then, watching his parents die in front of his very eyes. But something about him sitting under the slide all alone made me want to talk to him that day. I watched a younger version of myself approach a little Akito, similar to the way that someone would approach a wounded animal. I remember him looking up from his toy while I talked to him, but he never said a word to me, and instead just stared blankly into my eyes. I tried to make small talk, as much as a five year-old could, but Akito didn't respond to a single thing I said. Right as I thought about giving up, he stood up and held out his hand as if to shake mine. As I watched him with a confused look, he asked me if we could be friends. I happily agreed. That was the day that both of our lives changed. The younger version of Akito slowly faded, and I noticed my best friend standing right in front of me.

"Were you thinking about the day we met?" He asked me quietly.

I nodded, "It doesn't seem like it was twenty years ago, does it?"

Akito simply shook his head.

I sighed quietly, and pushed the nostalgic thoughts into the deep furrows of my mind.

"We should get going. Don't want to keep Naruto waiting for too long."