The following morning was a bit of a mess, for a number of reasons- mostly stemming from the fact Naruto's previous, incomplete registry as a shinobi of the Leaf.
So the blond had to show up bright and early to get his ninja profile picture taken, as well as filing the confounded paper itself. It was a bit of a hassle to negotiate being allowed to wear his headgear for the photograph, but in the end he managed.
After that, it was more bureaucratic wonderfulness in the form of filing his taxes, which took a fair chunk of time and left the poor preteen feeling terribly drained.
So Naruto went for a pickmeup in the form of meat skewers from a stand, savoring the half dozen he'd purchased on the way to the Academy.
~xxx
The orientation was far enough along that the boy walked in just as his team was being called.
"Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Saku- oh, thanks for joining us at long last, Naruto!"
"Hey, hey," the blond replied, lazily waving, going to lean back against one of the front row desks, seeing no point in climbing up to his seat.
Iruka-sensei smiled, eyebrow twitching, looking back toward the general congregation. "Alright, so Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, you're on Team Seven with Uzumaki Naruto, under the auspicious tutelage of Jōnin Hatake Kakashi."
When none of the present instructors stepped forward, Mr. Umino sighed, sharing a look with each of the three students. "…eventually."
Naruto decided to take a proper seat, right next to his new teammate, Sakura, nodding in her general direction and then ignoring her. The longer he could put off getting to know women- after last time- the better.
~xxx
Sakura was indecisive as to who to pay attention to: Naruto, who was so mysterious and different from all the other boys, or Sasuke, who was just so mysterious, so different from the other boys
The one girl of the newly minted Team 7 was at a loss.
On the one hand, Sasuke was a familiar face- and a cute one at that- strong, competent, and very eligible as a bachelor. He was obviously in need of somebody in his life, but never seemed to have much regard for anybody, as if they needed to get on his level in order for him to see eye to eye with them. This was fine with Sakura- she'd be there for Sasuke through thick and thin. Over time, they'd grow close…find things in common…get to know each other…
Squealing to herself, Sakura blushed, shaking her head to clear it before looking over at Naruto, contrasting Sasuke's contemplative posture with a more laidback, maturely confident one.
Uzumaki Naruto was the opposite of the Uchiha, exuding a calmer, more down-to-earth feeling. The yellow-haired boy was an enigma to everybody, coming from nothing and surpassing everyone here…yet coming back to graduate with them.
There were all sorts of rumors, surrounding his origins, from being an escaped slave to being some pirate captain's bastard get. His exotic yellow hair, much different from the starker Yamanaka blonde, and his rough, manly features struck a chord in several girls in the class, earning him some secret admirers. Other rumors had it that he was popular with older girls, and that he had some rather H dalliances with those that caught his eye.
The rosette bit her bottom lip, clenching her fists against her skirt at the images appearing in her head, featuring Uzumaki and some prominently buxom beauty. She near about slammed her forehead into the desk when the face of the beauty turned into hers, pressing the sun-tanned face of her imagined lover into her-
She took three calming breaths before continuing with her less perverse train of thought.
Sakura loved her gossip as much as the next girl, but most of the talk about Naruto was all the conjecture and wild stories people came up with, guessing at who he was and what he did. What was certain was very little.
He lived in probably the worst part of the village, by himself. He had nobody but himself to depend on, and was seen working various jobs around the Hidden Leaf.
What was insane was that he didn't seem down at all, never tired, never sad, never lonely. The last one bugged everyone the most, as he didn't push anybody away, but he never really cared. With Sasuke, it was just a matter of being up to par, but with Naruto, what he wanted from people was a mystery, and he seemed perfectly happy to be left by himself.
So Uzumaki was a frustrating person to get to know for generally everybody- although Ino was obviously undeterred, saying that Naruto was interested in her and that he blah blah blah
Who cares what the Pig thinks? Sakura huffed, crossing her arms and shooting the Yamanaka a look, who made a face right back at her.
Time passed rather arduously for the three, as nobody really talked to each other, although Sakura certainly tried.
It was some ridiculous hour when a new face walked through the door- although you couldn't see much of it. Naruto immediately slapped his hands on the desk, pushing himself up and walking up to the man without a word.
"Hatake Kakashi, I presume?"
The tall, silvery-haired man blinked. "Er, yes?"
Naruto bowed humbly to the newly identified instructor. "I am honored to finally meet your acquaintance, sensei."
The Jōnin blinked again. "My first impression of you guys is-"
He pointed at Naruto, who remained bowed. "-I like this guy."
~~xxx