Okay, so this took a little longer to get out seeing as I was working most of the time and just didn't have enough time to write. However, I found time to write it out in my notebook while on lunch at work! Yay! Meaning I got to finish it and just had to type it up on my laptop with a few minor adjustments. Anywho, this chapter marks the end of the academy days as leads straight into the story of twists and turns like never before.

"Oomph!"

"Again, Kagome?"

"Sorry!"

A sigh was heard before slight giggling was heard. Shikamaru looked at the girl in front of him. They were to be sparring and practicing their taijutsu but for some reason, Kagome just wasn't paying attention. It's almost been a year since she joined the academy and he could honestly say that she changed everything about the academy.

With her around, it got more competitive. The girls were all determined to be just as good, if not better, than Kagome while the guys tried to not allow the female to surpass them in any way. In short, Kagome was rising through the ranks much more quickly than Shikamaru first imagined.

"Again!" Kagome yelled from her side of the field as she fell back into a more defensive stance than her last.

'Hmm, is she expecting me to make the first move? Surely she knows better than that,' Shikamaru thought as he stood there analyzing Kagome's next moves. "Either way you go about it Kagome, I won't ever make the first move," He yelled out to her from the other side of the field.

He watched as she smirked, her eyes hardening as she twitched slightly in her spot. "But, Shikamaru-kun," She teased before tensing her body, "you already did."

The next thing he knew, Kagome had disappeared from her spot and just as he switched to the basic academy taught defensive stance, she reappeared behind him with a kunai at his neck.

Kagome smiled happily at what she did before gasping in shock as her head swam dizzily.

Her vision swam and she watched as the large clearing morphed into a meadow surrounded by the dense trees of an unknown forest.

"...Or behind?" Kagome finished before turning around and placing a kunai right at her opponents carotid artery as well as a green chakra infused palm at the heart. "Kabuto," Kagome said with a slight smile.

"-gome?"

She snapped back into reality and found herself staring right into Shikamaru's dark, calculating eyes. His eyes were boring into hers and she found that she was on the ground, on her knees with her head in her hands.

Pushing off the ground, she watched as Shikamaru's eyes followed her every move. "I'm okay," Kagome told him without having to be prompted. "It was just…" She trailed off as she tried to put the vision - or was it a memory? - into words.

Thankfully, she didn't have to. "Was it memory, Kagome? Did something trigger it?"

"I- I think so," She answered slowly as she raised her gaze off her hands and towards her worried friend.

"What was it of?"

That one question caused Kagome to tense up. 'Should I tell him? I mean, maybe he could help me remember more, right? But...' Kagome thought back to the past couple of years since she awoke with no recollection of her past. The first few months of everyone being wary of her and this memory might cause them to go back to their doubts and treat her like she was some sort of threat.

"...It was nothing. Just a vague memory of a forest," Kagome answered as she decided to at least tell half the truth.

Shikamaru saw her slight hesitation in answering him but figured it was only because of how unimportant the memory might seem to her. "Don't worry, Kagome. You'll get your memory soon. This is proof of that," Shikamaru said in hopes of getting his friend to be a little more optimistic about what returning memories mean for her.

Kagome, however, did not know whether or not she wanted to remember. 'Just what on earth was I up to before?'

Kagome's eyebrows lifted in shock as she watched Iruka-sensei bring in Naruto all tied up. She wanted to laugh at what could have possibly happened.

"Alright class, because this knucklehead missed it, you all will review the Transformation Jutsu once more!" Iruka yelled caused the class to groan in annoyance.

One by one, the class filed in a line and awaited for their name to be called. Kagome stood in between Shikamaru and Naruto as she watched Sakura walk up as her name was called.

"Alright, a piece of cake! Transform," Sakura called out as she transformed into a perfect image of Iruka-sensei.

Kagome's face betrayed no sense of excitement as she watched the Uchiha heir walk up next and perform the same one. She knows of the girls fangirling ways - Hell, Sakura had just asked if Sasuke had seen what she did. Now, she has nothing against the girl but seriously? She could do better.

"Kagome Higurashi," Iruka called out.

Kagome looked up in slight surprise before nodding to herself and stepping up next.

'Well, he didn't say that we had to transform into him, right?' Kagome thought to herself before her eyes hardened as she focused.

A poof was heard and as the smoke cleared out, there stood a mirror image of known Jounin, Asuma Sarutobi.

"I should have known you would choose him to transform into, Kagome," Iruka stated as he marked something down on the sheet.

'Asuma' smirked before poofing and in his place, stood Kagome once more with a grin on her face. "But of course," Kagome said as she stepped back to stand next to Shikamaru.

"Alright, Naruto, you're up," Iruka sighed out as he waited for Naruto to step up.

"Man, what a drag," Shikamaru said and Kagome had to hold in her laugh.

Naruto just grumbled as he stepped up. Kagome smirked as she saw the gleam in her friend's eye.

"Alright, transform!"

Poof. Smoke. And wow…

Kagome burst out laughing at Iruka-sensei's reaction to Naruto's famed 'Sexy Jutsu.' "I can't believe he actually did it!"

Shikamaru just sighed as Naruto transformed back and Iruka began yelling once more.

"Graduation is almost here, Asuma-nii! Can you believe it?" Kagome exclaimed with the largest grin on her face as she waited for the barbecue to finish. The smell was already causing her stomach to grumble and Kagome had to keep herself from drooling right on the table.

"Geez," Shikamaru sighed out from his spot in front of her, "You sound like Naruto." A grunted as Kagome sent a swift kick to his leg from under the table. "Ow," He deadpanned as he looked at her.

Kagome did nothing but smile at him as Asuma exhaled the smoke from his cigarette. He watched as Kagome and Shikamaru joked around and tease the other and hoped that they continued to stay that way even after becoming genins.

"I hope you're my Genin sensei, Asuma-nii," Kagome said suddenly as her eyes stayed averted.

He looked at her in surprise as he thought of what she said. "How did you know I was going to take on a Genin team this year, Kagome?"

Shikamaru decided to answer that question himself. "Iruka-sensei thought it would be okay to tell the class about who their possible sensei will be when we graduate. He had a list of all the Jounins who were participating in the Genin squads this year."

Asuma hummed in thought as he wondered who would be on his team. He sincerely hoped he had Kagome but he knew that the Hokage might just put her on someone else's team due to her increasing skill as well as the fact that he and Kagome share too close of a bond.

He sighed as the thoughts clouded his mind, the sound of his two favored children bickering falling to the back of his focus.

'Just who will be the instructor of Kagome Higurashi, then?'

The whispers started up once more and Naruto tried his hardest to ignore it. Today happens to decide whether or not he becomes a genin. Of course, the test happens to be the one thing he fails horribly at.

Sighing, Naruto warily looked straight ahead as he walked closer to the academy. He wasn't slow; he knew that as long as the exam to pass was to create two perfect clones, he would never pass.

'However,' Naruto thought gravely, 'if I were anything like Sasuke Uchiha, I would probably be allowed to pass even without taking the test.'

Yes, even the happy-go-lucky knucklehead ninja thought highly of the Uchiha. Who wouldn't when he is who everyone believes to be the next greatest shinobi even with his dreams of becoming the next Hokage.

Looking up at the academy in front of him, Naruto sighed once more. "Might as well get over it…"

"As you well know, today is the day you find out whether you graduate or not," Iruka said to the class. For once, they were quiet and listening closely, their eyes watching him intently with determination burning within each gaze. He skimmed his eyes over his students before they rested on one Naruto Uzumaki. Sighing, he tore his gaze away and continued, "Of course, should you not pass, this does not mean you are never to be a shinobi, it simply means you may choose to go through the last year of the academy once more."

As Iruka spoke, Naruto had lowered his eyes to the desk in front of him as he felt the weight of his classmates' stares. He clenched his fists and jaw as he knew that his favorite teacher only stated the last part for his benefit. Feeling a slight weight on his hand, he opened his eyes and saw a slender, more feminine hand laying on his own. Traveling up the arm, his gaze met with that of Kagome's.

Blinking, he watched as her eyes closed into that of an eye smile before she opened them again. He almost allowed her to reassure him until he realized that she is one of the few who is sure to graduate and in turn, leave him in the dust.

In a rare show of anger and resentment, Naruto tore his gaze away and snatched his hand back from under Kagome's, never seeing the hurt that settled in her eyes.

"Next, Kagome Higurashi," Iruka sensei called.

Kagome stood at the call of her name and, with one last look to her friend, she descended the stairs to head to the other room.

As she stepped outside of the classroom, Kagome turned and started walking down the hall only to come to pass with the Uchiha himself. Time seemed to slow down as their eyes locked. To Kagome, Sasuke was just someone who gained his standing because of his name and backstory. She never knew the torment he went through each and every night.

Sasuke Uchiha's life was a well kept secret. No one knew what he did when he went home. No one knew of the loneliness he felt as he entered the dead compound each day after training. They all see a cold, vengeful being with the skills to become as great as his brother once was. It's all they want to see.

As he left the examination room, his newly gained Konoha headband signifying his new status, he took notice of the girl that no one knows anything about. Even her surname was a mystery as there are no known Higurashi clans within Konoha or the Fire Country for that matter, leading the students of the academy to believe she was like him - an orphan.

Naturally, he is above that of gossip, that does not mean he isn't curious. So, any ounce of knowledge he can gain about the girl, he will listen.

He watched her walk towards the room he was just in with confidence oozing from every step she took. As they passed each other, he gaze into her stormy eyes and saw that, like everyone else, she judged him too quickly.

Pulling his gaze away, he continued walking without so much as an acknowledgement to the kunoichi. He had better things to worry about.

Pushing past the bushes and trees, Naruto gasped. Hiding behind one of the larger tree trunks, he pulled the scroll into his arms as he listened to Iruka and Mizuki talk. He wasn't sure what it was they spoke of but he did know that it had everything to do with him.

'The nine-tailed fox?' He thought as he clenched his eyes shut, 'It can't be. Why - why would someone do that to a child? All the hate, the whispers, the loneliness - and they knew! All of them!'

"Naruto… he is not the fox. He is a member of Konohagakure!" He heard Iruka-sensei say in his defense and could not stop the feeling of elation he got from his sensei's words.

Steeling his eyes, Naruto placed the scroll onto his back once more. Thinking back, he thought of all the people who looked at him with hate and anger; however, only a few accepted him as who he was and one of them was there protecting him with everything he had.

Just as Mizuki charged at Iruka, poised for an attack, Naruto attacked out of nowhere. Sending Mizuki a few feet back, Naruto stood in place, his gaze down and his hands balled into fists. "Nobody attacks Iruka-sensei," Naruto told Mizuki, his voice raising to a near scream at the end of his sentence.

Kagome was happily celebrating her graduation with both Genma and Asuma when a couple of shinobi showed up with news about Naruto. Kagome was shocked as both Genma and Asuma tensed up at what they heard.

"It's Naruto! He stole the Sacred Scroll!"

'Sacred scroll? What is that? Why would Naruto even bother stealing it?' Kagome was lost in thought when Asuma placed a hand on her shoulder.

Looking up, Kagome was startled out of her thoughts by the seriousness she saw within Asuma's gaze. "I'm sorry, Kagome," He told her as Genma nodded to the other shinobi and sending them off ahead of them, "but something has come up. Something important."

"It's Naruto, right? Go easy on him; I doubt he had any ill thoughts, Asuma-nii," Kagome said quietly looking at her lap.

"Go home, Kagome," Asuma responded without truly acknowledging what she said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Kagome watched as Asuma took off with Genma in a cloud of smoke using their teleportation jutsu, her eyes dulling as she got up to trudge back to her empty home.

As the morning rose, the occupants of Konohagakure awoke to start their day. However, none were more excited as the newly graduated shinobi awoke to head to the academy one last time.