Next morning
Marcus woke up in his bedroom. The rays of the sun fell on his bed from the side window, while the scent of the flowers on his bedside table filled the air. His bedroom was made up of a bed, a lamp, and many shelves filled with books and memoirs. Marcus got out of bed, he was an early riser, as his time in the army had taught him, and went straight to the washroom to ready himself for the day. In about an hour, he was standing at the gates of his residence, dressed in a black suit, shoes, and a white undershirt, as was his usual outfit, which he rarely changed.
The governor glanced over his wristwatch, it was eight o'clock in the morning. Marcus was expecting the Konoha ninjas, who were coming to fetch his nephew. Last night had been spent packing his things and telling him of the situation, and today he'd be going away to Konoha. Thus did Marcus think, and waited upon his nephew who was getting ready, the Konoha shinobi could be here any minute now. Maximus finally came out, dressed in casual clothes, with Marcus' housekeeper behind, bringing the luggage and other things. The shinobi slightly bowed to Marcus, the latter returned a nod, and the Konoha Ninja took Maximus and his luggage with them.
In Konoha
Maximus quietly walked alongside the shinobi. They were inside the village, in the residential area where flats and houses were lined in a row. The marketplace was bustling with activity, vendors calling out customers, shopkeepers busy in their daily routine, and possible customers chatting among themselves. Maximus and the shinobi walked past the marketplace, towards the Hokage tower at the center of the village. They walked into the Hokage Tower, where Maximus was led into the Hokage's office after a short briefing between the shinobi escorting him, and the receptionist.
Maximus met the Hokage, an old man with white hair, no beard, wrinkles all over his face and around his eyes, and the Hokage's hat on his head. The Hokage casually smoked a cigar, and started speaking,
"So, you're Julius Maximus, young man?" Maximus gave a nod, Hiruzen smiled and continued,
"You'll be staying in this village from now on, you know that?" Maximus again gave a nod, Hiruzen continued,
"We will provide you with a decent flat, and a helper for some time, if you are comfortable with it. Moreover, you will be attending the Ninja Academy in a month, is that clear?"
Maximus nodded and replied,
"There will be no need for a helper, lord Hokage. I am accustomed to living by myself."
Hiruzen gave a puff from his cigar, and laughed softly,
"Very well then, young man, you may do as you wish. But remember, if you need any help just come to me. This shinobi here will now escort you to your new flat."
Maximus gave a nod and started to follow the shinobi escorting him. Maximus and the shinobi soon reached a decent building on the outskirts of the village. The shinobi took out some keys from his pocket and opened the lock of one of the flats.
The door opened, and inside was a decent, clean, and spacious home. The entry opened into what could be called a living room, then there were separate rooms for the kitchen and bedroom and a bathroom. All the furniture was already in place, a dining table with chairs, a single bed, a sofa, three cupboards, one empty shelf, and a desk. The kitchen was filled with cooking items. Now, the only thing Maximus needed to do was organize his luggage and settle down, the shinobi who had come with him helped him with that and then left after giving him the keys.
After having organized everything, Maximus finally sat down to rest. His new home was quite spacious, and it was comfortable enough. But it still couldn't feel like home, at least for now.
The next day at the Konoha Academy
The academy was a quite large property, with separate lecture rooms for every grade, a training field, and a store room filled with spare furniture, tools, weapons for demonstration purposes, etc. And at the entrance of the academy was painted the symbol of the Land of Fire.
The students appeared at the academy as usual. After some fifteen minutes, the gates of the academy were opened and all students walked into their respective lecture rooms. Every lecture room had its accessories and was customized. For example, the lecture room of the six-year-old first graders was decorated with charts explaining chakra flow, manipulation, and Taijutsu exercises; while that of the twelve-year-old seventh graders, who would soon take the graduation exam, was filled with articles explaining or related to elemental chakra, genjutsu, Taijutsu, and some very basic sealing techniques.
The sixth graders weren't much in numbers, 30 in total, they didn't even fill the lecture room. The majority of these 30 students were from civilian backgrounds, but you could find children belonging to shinobi clans here and there. They each sat in their chosen place, chatting amongst themselves until Iruka Umino entered the lecture room.
"Everyone, please maintain discipline." Iruka's voice was not very loud or commanding, but still authoritative enough to get the attention of the students. Iruka first turned on a few lights in the room, and checked through some files, before speaking again,
"Today, there is a new face among us here, a new student. His name is Julius Maximus."
The children's attention was quickly grasped with this. For the past month the whole village had been talking of 'the Roman kid' who was gonna live here, and mentioning him quickly started a whole conversation. Iruka continued,
"Yes I know, you may know about him. And from today onwards he'd also be studying here, alongside you. I expect you to welcome him, and be friendly with him."
When Iruka had ended, Maximus entered the lecture room. He didn't look at the rest of the class, only talking with Iruka over some things, but he could feel the entire class' eyes on him. After that, Maximus quietly went and sat in one of the middle rows. After another announcement regarding this year's graduates, Iruka started teaching the students about chakra manipulation.
Maximus paid close attention, his eyes were concentrated on the blackboard and the flow of the chalk in Iruka's hands, creating a new letter or figure each passing second. Perhaps Maximus was too concentrated because he didn't even notice the girl sitting beside him. Maximus only became aware of her presence only when she tapped on his shoulders. Maximus glanced to his right, seeing a girl with bright red hair, blue eyes, a lean body, and three whisker marks on either of her cheeks resembling a fox.
"Are you okay?" She asked, Maximus cleared his throat and answered,
"Yes, why are you asking?"
"Oh, it's just that, you were looking over so blankly, I thought something had happened to you." Maximus gave a slight smile,
"No, I'm fine. Who are you, by the way?" Maximus asked with a curious look, the girl replied,
"Well, I am Naruko Uzumaki, and you're Julius Maximus?"
Maximus gave a nod but then saw a piece of chalk land on his desk.
"You two, pay attention, you can chat after class." With this Iruka resumed writing with another chalk. Naruko and Maximus heeded him, and focused their attention on class.
In the afternoon
The classes had ended, and all the students were going home. Maximus sat on a bench in the nearby park, thinking over the lessons today. The power of chakra fascinated him, it granted the user such powers as he had only heard of in tales and legends of ancient heroes. Thus did Maximus ponder over the lessons, when Naruko came and sat beside him. Maximus glanced at her.
"You noticed me quickly this time." Maximus chuckled and replied,
"Well, yes." Naruko smiled, and started,
"So, who are you living with here?"
"Me? I live alone. What about you?" Naruko replied,
"Well, I have a younger brother called Naruto, who's four years younger than me. We also have a caretaker, she's very friendly." Maximus smiled, and then briefly looked over the Hokage monuments. Soon he left, after bidding Naruko goodbye. As Maximus walked down the streets, he glanced over the Hokage monuments, where he saw the fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze portrait. Immediately, the image of Naruko appeared in his mind. For some reason, She looked strikingly similar to the fourth Hokage, what could be the reason? But as Maximus walked down the street, the thought quickly faded from his mind.
Author's notes
Yeah, I decided to give Naruto an elder sister. The reason is that it helps develop the story, and I also concluded that Naruto's mental health wouldn't have been so good after all he didn't have any sort of friends until he was 12 or something. She also has another purpose, but much, much later on in the story. ;)