_._

The Story of Us

'For those who never gave up'

Naruto x OC

Friendship, Adventure, Romance

Chapter 5: The Academy

Meeting new people is hard, and it never gets easier.

Daughtry: Home

My meeting with the Hokage went swimmingly.

He informed me that since both Kakashi and Iruka had vouched for me my test was waved. This was great to hear, especially since Naruto told me he was returning to the Academy as well.

The greatest part of this meeting was when he handed me an envelope filled with cash and a key. My apartment was right next door to Naruto's. I imagined just putting a door in between one day in the back of my head. The money part was extremely exciting though, as the first thing that popped into my head was buying some new clothes.

Up until now I had always worn hand-me-downs from days at the orphanage. Naruto was given clothing by the Hokage, but even some of those weren't great. I was especially excited at the prospect of saving up for a kunai set. Up until now it was a pipe dream, but now…..

I went through the market and passed by a clothing shop before slamming on the breaks and looking inside. There were a lot of pretty colours, but nothing that really jumped out at me immediately. Which made sense, considering this was a shop that sold ninja quality clothing. After a short white I found a nice looking black bodysuit my size. It would go to my knees and had a basic top and back zip. After that I found some new ninja sandals and an off the shoulder loose green long sleeve shirt. With my spoils, I went to the front of the store where the shopkeeper was staring at me from.

"Excuse me, may I try these on please?" I asked politely despite the look the guy was giving me. He slammed his hand down on the desk in front of him, which made me flinch.

"Oh? So you can run off with them? I don't think so kid." He snapped. I frowned.

"I just want to make sure they fit." I justified, but he scoffed.

"I've seen you hanging with that boy, you're both trouble. You should be grateful I even let you in this shop. Where are your parents? I should tell them what you're doing." The man ranted, my mood getting more and more sour.

"They're dead, actually." I said while slapping some money on the table. The man sneered.

"Well, makes sense why you have no damn manners." He tossed the coins on the table instead of my waiting hand. I narrowed my eyes at him, grabbed my money, and made to leave. After a moment of hesitation I stared at the man from the corner of my eye.

"I don't have parents. So obviously I have no manners. What's your excuse?"

"Why you-" The man was turning red as he picked up a stick to hit me with. I took off out the store, holding tight to my clothing while bolting away. "Get back here! Stop that kid!"

I made it to the corner of the street before someone grabbed my shoulder. The momentum I had swung me around to face the man that caught me. He had scars across his face and looked oddly familiar. After a moment it made sense to me, seeing his doppelgänger son standing next to him.

This was Shikaku Nara, Shikamaru's father. I had seen him a few times taking Shikamaru and Choji home from the park. His son and Choji were with him now too. I glanced at them, before the shop owner caught up and roughly grabbed my other arm. I winced.

"You brat! I guess I'll have to teach you a lesson!" He said, but right before he could whack me with the stick Shikaku pulled me aside and out of the man's grasp.

"My apologies, but did she steal something?" Shikaku asked. I shocked my head.

"No! I paid for this, I swear!" I insisted, being met with a sneer as the man whacked his stick on his thigh in threat.

"Ha! This little snot needs to be taught some manners." He said while reaching for me, but Shikaku pulled me behind him then.

"I think that should be left up to her parents, don't you agree?" Shikaku's voice lowered slightly.

"The brat doesn't have any! And she's been hanging around that freak. Not surprised she has no manners." The man said as he glared past Shikaku's shoulder and right at me. I felt my body stiffen again as I stepped out and snarled to the man.

"Don't you ever speak about Naruto like that! You filthy old man!" I yelled. The man gawked at me before aiming straight for my face. I tensed in preparation, but with lightning fast moves I couldn't follow Shikaku grabbed the stick from the man, broke it, and held it out for him. He paled while Shikaku sighed.

"So troublesome," he sighed before grabbing my shoulder. "Come on, let's get going."

I let him guide me away, doing my best not to look back at the rude shop owner.

"I am very sorry about all of that." I said while bowing to the three.

"Don't worry, it's more troublesome if you bring it up again." Shikaku said. I looked up at him then, trying my best to be respectful. He looked down at me, tilting his head. "It's not any of my business, but maybe you should keep away from the shops for a few days kid."

I nodded, feeling a bit guilty still that he had to stand up for me. My eyes slid over to the two boys, both were staring at me with different looks. Shikamaru was frowning, and Choji was just looking at me with mild surprise.

"Anyway, we have to get going for dinner. It is Shikamaru's birthday after all." Shikaku commented. At the mention of food my stomach growled. Choji looked at me, stunned.

"No way! We can't leave her hungry, can we, Shikamaru? Shikaku sir?" Choji exclaimed. My face turned pink when I realized he was indirectly inviting me for dinner.

"What a drag, but I guess we can make room for one more." Shikamaru said. I felt a bit guilty then, thinking of Naruto…. And my lack of extra funds. I could bring him food….. oh but if I did that he would probably eat all that ramen without me. Along with my favourite beef flavoured ramen…..

"Thank you, that's really kind of you, but I can't. I don't have the money, and I have to meet up with Naruto still." Shikaku looked at me for a moment before smiling.

"Well, you shouldn't keep your friend waiting." He patted Shikamaru once. The boy grumbled.

"If you change your mind I guess you both could stop by." The boy said between his teeth. I knew it was more a formality though and didn't get too excited about it. I did smile, which seemed to catch both Shikamaru and Choji off guard.

"Again, thank you." I turned to leave before pausing. "Ah, Shikamaru, happy birthday. Please enjoy your meals! And thank you again!" I said before turning back to bow properly. With that said, they all nodded to me as I ran off.

The clothing fit, thank goodness, and with a handy pair of scissors I made a few other over shirts from the baggy clothes I had too. My new strappy ninja sandals look cute too. I finished my look by tying my longer hair at the base of my neck with a white ribbon.

I looked at my image in my apartment's mirror. The girl looking back at me looked kind of pretty, though a lot of people often felt unnerved by my eyes. I had never seen someone else with gold eyes before. Though I had seen plenty of blondes as pale as me. My eyes, however, really stood out. Especially against my tanned skin that was several shades darker than Naruto's. My pale blonde hair gently framed my face, the pieces no collected at the nape of neck hanging loosely down just past my jaw.

Since my shirt sagged off my left shoulder, the left sleeve also bunched and fell over my left hand, making the sleeve look long than the right. That bodysuit fit like a dream, and I was very pleased with it.

The rest of my apartment practically mirrored Naruto's, save for the lack of posters and plants. I was definitely getting plants in here.

I met Naruto in his apartment, where he was already tapping his fingers on the table waiting for me. I narrowed my eyes from the door while he was still staring down my beef ramen that was being prepared.

"You weren't going to eat that, were you?" I guess my tone scared him since he jumped into the air.

"Ah! KarI, I was just uhhh…. Eying it to make sure it didn't get cold." He was caught and sucked at lying when I raised a brow at him like I was now. I smirked, popping into the chair across from him and in front of my bowl.

"Well aren't you thoughtful. Next time don't drool in it." I said while breaking apart my chopsticks and rubbing them for splinters. Naruto looks indignant for a moment, before he narrowed his eyes right back.

"Hey, you realize you also have a bad habit of stealing my food, y'know?" He muttered. I grinned.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Let's eat!" I said while blowing softly on my noodles and slurping them down. Naruto muttered his thanks for the meal all while giving me a deadpan expression. I watched him, also slurping my noodles at an alarmingly quick rate. He cottoned on quickly, and soon both of us were finishing our meals in record time. My mouth felt hot, the back of my throat burning, but then it got worse as a small burp erupted from my mouth. I covered my mouth with both hands, stunned I actually burped. Naruto looked at me, then let out the most aggressive burp I'd ever heard from such a small body.

We sat in silence for a moment, before both of us started laughing.

"Naruto that was gross!" I said through laughter. Said blond just grinned across the table.

"Yeah well, was worth it! You should've seen your face!" He then made a face of discomfort before covering his mouth and turning to the side. My laughter faded as a similar feeling fell over me.

"Ate too fast!" We said in unison.

We both ended up laying on the floor, rubbing our sore and swollen bellies.

"Hey, Kari, can I ask you something?" Naruto asked. I muttered a 'sure' while still nursing my aching belly. He glanced over at me. "I noticed on the roster, you wrote your last name as Koissui. Where's that from?"

I paused, remembering the day I decided to name myself. I remembered sitting in the grove, watching the stream flow by us, our feet sitting in the cool liquid. Naruto laughing at something I said, and my heart was so full in that moment when I looked over to him….

I had never seen something so beautiful and bright as those eyes in that exact moment.

"It means 'beautiful water'," I began, looking over to those eyes again. Even without the stream reflecting in them, those eyes were endless pools. I smiled at him. "I wanted to have something that was mine. So I decided to name myself."

I shifted, leaning my head against his shoulder.

"And when the day comes that I'm ready to belong to someone else, I'll take their last name, but for now….. This is a name that is mine and mine alone. The one thing that only I can have."

"Well….. I would've shared my last name with you…. If you wanted." Naruto said, turning a light shade of pink when I looked up at him. "I mean, it's nothing fancy or anything, but….. what's mine is yours, y'know?"

I regarded him for a moment, before resting my head against him again.

"You deserve something that's only yours too. We can't share everything." I said, noting the lines on the ceiling. Naruto scoffed.

"Why not? I'd share whatever you wanted." Naruto tried to justify, bringing a grin to my lips.

"Okay, I want half of all your ramen and pork fillets for the rest of your life, and I'll use the name Uzumaki." I said slyly, feeling Naruto tense up.

"Kari….. you really drive a hard bargain." He started to count on his fingers how many bowls he would need to buy in order to feed us both. I started laughing again, Naruto complained, but finally we both broke into giggles before settling again due to stomach aches.

Hikari Uzumaki…..

It did have a nice ring to it.

"Everyone, please meet Hikari Koissui. She will be joining us in this year. Hikari, why don't you introduce yourself?" Iruka-sensei said. I glanced at the class, seeing Naruto sitting quietly at the back by Shikamaru. Choji was in the seat below them, and the stupid bastard Hibachi was sitting near the front. I glanced at him and he braced himself.

"Well, you've heard my name. I'm born October 10th, I really like Okonomiyaki, but I'm not a huge fan of plain fish. My hobbies include reading, talking walks, and finding the best places for a good nap."

"Good, why don't you go take a seat? We'll begin our first lesson of the day." I nodded to Iruka-sensei and made my way up the steps. Several kids looked at me while I walked up to sit beside Naruto. Said boy had an ear-splitting grin on his face. I smiled back, and we both sat quietly for my first day at the academy.

While I couldn't say it was quite as boring as school for civilians, it was definitely not enthralling or entertaining. I had asked Naruto to stay off the pranks for the day, so that I could at least adjust enough to figure out what was going on before he got people mad at us. Us because I fully intended to be part of said pranks.

Lunch came soon enough. Naruto and I ate the lunch I prepared for us and sat with Shikamaru and Choji at lunch. Naruto was gawking at the speed Choji was eating, which both the others noticed.

"Easy Choji, you might eat your hand if you're not careful." Naruto sniggered, I frowned at him. Choji paused, looking a bit struck by what Naruto said. I was immediately brought back to the look Naruto had when the shop keeper pushed him over. I scoffed at Naruto.

"Says the boy who keeled over yesterday because he ate his ramen too fast." I countered with a smirk. Naruto glared, shoving his chopsticks at me.

"Says the girl that did the same!" I laughed, crossing my chopsticks with his as though a sword.

"Ah please, I could eat twice as much as you and you know it." Naruto went to argue, but instead stuffed his face with some food. I grinned, knowing I had won. My eyes slipped over to the other boys and I smiled when I saw their puzzled faces. I looked directly at Choji. "Sorry for this one's manners. We're both still working on it."

Choji looked at me, really looked at me. I smiled politely, not sure why he was looking at me like that. Naruto knocked my head, I winced.

"What was that for?" Naruto frowned, but his lip was twitched in the same way it was whenever he was trying to put up a strong front. What was his problem?

"Don't apologize for me! I'm not sorry about anything." Naruto pouted. I narrowed my eyes, and after a moment he looked over and saw it. His face paled. "O-Okay, maybe I'm a little sorry."

I dropped the glared immediately and grinned, taking a rice ball from Naruto's lunch. He complained, but conceded when I offered to grab him more instant ramen on the way home.

"Oh yeah, Shikamaru, did you enjoy your birthday?" I asked. The boy had been dead quiet, but was brought out of his thought by my question.

"Hm? Oh yeah, it was good I guess." He said while continuing to eat. Naruto had a questioning look, so I turned to fill him in. "I saw them the other day while in the market."

"Oh right, you went to buy some clothes….." Naruto was staring at the other two now, and frankly I couldn't figure out why they all seemed to be off in their own thoughts. I left them be though, and instead opted to enjoy what little time I had for my meal.

After lunch Kunoichi had special classes to attend. It was there we needed to learn how to be useful during espionage missions. Adopting the culture of different lands, learning down to how we tied our obi on a kimono and what sort of flowers were acceptable arrangements in different countries.

It was here that I was utterly lost. Without Naruto beside me I wasn't sure how to act, and was left alone as the girls wandered off across the meadow to grab flowers for an arrangement. For a few moments I simply stood, not having a clue where to start, until a girl came up to me.

"Hi Hikari…. Did you need some help?" She asked softly. I scratched the back of my head.

"Am I that obvious?" I asked, embarrassed. "I've never really even put together a bouquet before… well…."

Except when I put one on my parents grave, but that wasn't exactly a conversation starter. I looked to the girl, whose hair was pulled back with a red ribbon.

"By the way, that's a cute ribbon. I really like the colour red." I confessed, thinking to how I already planned my ninja headband to have a red sash when I finally graduated The only reason I didn't have an aggressively red outfit was because I didn't want to be a walking target for attention. Naruto's orange was more than enough for the both of us.

The girl blushed.

"Thank you..! My name is Sakura Haruno." She introduced, I smiled back.

"Well Sakura, would you mind giving me a hand?"

That was how I first met Sakura and Ino. Ino was a girl with nearly the exact same shade of blonde hair as me, and pretty gentle eyes. A very pretty girl. I could tell immediately Sakura looked up to the much more confident Ino. It was cute to see.

After class, Naruto and I would walk to the park with Choji and Shikamaru to play a bit more. Once Shikaku picked up those two boys, he would wave at us both. I waved back, grabbed Naruto's hand, and yanked him to come home.

Training was wedged into there, with me getting up extra early some days to go jogging, and fit in a quick training session. Then I would go and train with Naruto after class or play in the park. Whichever we felt like.

I didn't see Kakashi for a while, but during that time I noticed Naruto was having trouble with the clone jutsu and gave my two cents on what Kakashi said to me. Naruto regarded this, and while I think it struck a chord he was still quick to get frustrated when it didn't go perfectly.

That was how two months of school went. Wedge in there was Naruto's and my own birthday. We shared it as the day the demon fox wrecked the village, and quickly it became obvious that was the day we should hide from the villagers as they were extra hostile those days.

The only place we could go was Ichiraku Ramen, as the old man there didn't care who we were, so long as we paid for our meals and were polite. I stuck a sparkler in Naruto's pork fillet, wishing him a happy birthday. I always did, every year. We would save up our monthly allowance for Ichiraku Ramen and go wild for that one day. Naruto would then follow up trying to make Okonomiyaki for us, which never went as planned, but that was always the funniest part. Seeing the monstrosity he would create with a sparkler shoved into it.

I always laughed at it.

The academy was pretty fun, and the kids there had way more fun running and playing than the civilians did. Shikamaru and Choji quickly became friends of ours, a third boy named Kiba self inserted into the group at one time though I couldn't remember exactly when. Although I didn't really like him that much at first since he was super overruling with the 'girls have cooties' attitude. Choji and Naruto both stood up to that, opting to kick Kiba out before me. Shikamaru would always comment how troublesome it was, but was also the first to sit out with me while Naruto and Kiba would go at it over who was better.

The girls were nice too, though there was an obvious separation when they saw how close I was to several guys. I also didn't really care about cutting my hair a certain way, or painting my nails, or using special creams to make my skin soft. As a shinobi, those things came secondary to training.

Speaking of, I had developed a lot as a ninja. Well, my stamina did. I could run a few dozen laps around the training grounds now, and my focus on my chakra was getting there. I could perform all the jutsu expected of an Academy student, but maintaining things like a clone was still not easy for me.

Today I was practicing maintaining my clone. I was up to thirty three seconds-

"Well, you've certainly improved."

I screeched, jumped, and destroyed my clone. A glower was sent to the person behind me, but was surprised to see Kakashi standing there. He was still reading the same book from before.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Oh he definitely did!

"I wasn't scared, I just didn't want you to feel bad." I failed horribly trying not to sound pouty. Kakashi chuckled, his one eye smiling at me.

"Well, let's see if you can do all those jutsu I asked for a few months ago. You should be able to now that you're so far past my original deadline." I felt a tick on my head from that comment.

"I told you I can do it! I just didn't do it well!" I defended, but Kakashi just shut his book and glanced at me.

"Well? Are you just going to stand there?"

This guy…

I prepared myself, making a clone quickly, then transforming into Naruto quickly. Kakashi tilted his head, watching me, while my clone threw a rock at me and I used the substitution jutsu to replace myself with a log.

That little effort made me. Bit tired though, so I steadied myself and looked up at Kakashi. He stared for a moment.

"Your clones have substance, well done. Most academy students can't enhance them past illusions." He said, and while I was perfectly aware it was a passing comment more than a compliment, I couldn't help but feel pride swell in my chest. "As promise, I'm going to teach you something special."

I lit up.

"Really? What is it?" He looked down at me then.

"Before we get started, you have to know. I don't intend to teach other people, so anything you learn from me is strictly between us." I froze, stared up at him, then did a full one-eighty turn away while waving.

"Goodbye Kakashi."

That seemed to surprise him as he called after me.

"You're serious?" He asked, so I stopped and turned to look at him. He was regarding me a bit differently than before, so I looked to the ground.

"You know, every adult I meet has told me what to do. Even when they have no business in it…." I looked up at him. "I appreciate you offering to teach me, but I became a ninja to help someone else fulfill their goals, and if I can't help him, well then what's the point?"

"I thought you had something to protect?" He countered, catching me a bit off guard. I frowned.

"Well yeah, but something's easier to protect when they're strong too."

Kakashi rubbed his face, faintly I heard "stubborn as an ox" being muttered while I watched. He took a breath and dropped his hand.

"Alright, maybe I wasn't very clear. I don't want you telling anyone where you've learned all this from, is that clear?" He was already quite annoyed. Why was he teaching me in the first place? I nodded anyways. "Good, that also means that should I teach you a skill and forbid you from revealing it, you are under no circumstances allowed to show off to your classmates. A ninja must have self-restraint."

"I… I understand, but why would you want to teach someone like me?" I asked, but he suddenly got a faraway look in his eyes before resurfacing. He walked up to me and patted my head.

"I'll explain it someday, but you remind me of someone."

I looked up at him, and to his one smiling eye. He dropped his hand and stepped away.

"So, shall we begin?" He asked. I nodded, ready to learn. Kakashi glanced at me over his shoulder with a grin. "Great, let's run laps."

What?!

"B-But I already….." I felt the blood leave my face. Kakashi turned back to me.

"What's that? A complaint?" I blushed, embarrassed.

"N-No! I was just-uhhhhhhh preparing myself!" I said while pretending to stretch. In truth I was doing my best to shake the soreness from my legs and trying not to imagine how dead I would soon be. I took off after Kakashi informed me I had three hours to run ten laps. And each time I walked I would have to perform a jutsu.

Heaven help me, I may not make it to eight years old.

Hey guys!

Hikari named herself after Naruto's eyes. I never figured out how to tie it back in that she named herself when she was younger. I think they're super cute btw. And no, Hikari and Naruto aren't talking about marriage when saying they'll share last names. They're talking about being a family. They're both kids for crying out loud!

I felt this chapter rambled a bit, but I had a few things to get out of the way right off the bat. Writing about gold eyes and blonde hair immediately brings up Edward Elric from FMA, and at one point there will be short jokes shoved in too!

Can anyone name a Naruto character with natural gold eyes? I couldn't think of any...

Well, here you go! Next chapter will possibly be tomorrow? I have no idea. I'm just letting it all spill out. Fully disclosure, I am 100000% a fan of nostalgia feels, which is what Naruto really hits well. I love that look back moment where everyone finally sees Naruto and how far he's come. And I can guarantee there will be lots of feels! I've already jumped ahead and planned out some very fluffy scenes that sadly won't come to pass in a while.

Oh, and Hikari is gunna have some words about this 'prophecy' business. She is also going to affect some key points in the series that I'm hoping really make a good impact. No this is not going to be a 'OC saves everyone who orginally died' story or anything, but I can say there will be big differences in several arcs.

Also check your inboxes if you reviewed! I'm replying to every new review to this story!

Anyway, hope you're all doing well! Wash your hands, and stay safe!

Iland Girl