Author Notes- Hello fellow readers! I had been really lazy past few days and put off much of writing this chapter for later. Hence, the late upload of this chapter.
This chapter talks about Naruto entering the academy, meeting new people and trying to feel normal. He knows due to what he is, he can never be. He wants to feel normal and he found her to be the only one with whom he could share her darkest thoughts. Thoughts his mind started to form after hearing those Iwa shinobi's words and seeing his actions. Despite all of his inner feelings, Naruto has found some good friends. He loves them greatly and would go to any lengths to protect them.
I know I have shown certain scenarios like the kidnapping of Kushina by Iwagakure instead of Kumo in the first chapter, and that is intentional. It plays an important part in the story in Minato's life.
[Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.]
Anyway let the story continue
Chapter 5: Changes
Four Months Later
Almost four months had passed since the intended attack on Naruto and many people's lives had changed undesirably. The populace of Konoha had become aware of the attack and the news had spread swiftly amongst everyone. The revelation that the Hokage's son, Naruto Namikaze, killed two Jounin level shinobi and incapacitated another while saving a civilian girl and the Hyuuga Clan Heiress had become the talk of the town within the village. Several of the villagers who glared at the young boy because of the demon in him changed their views of him upon learning of his actions.
The news of Naruto's actions had spread to other villages as well, despite Minato trying to keep it hidden. The relations between Konoha and Iwagakure had further deteriorated after the event. Konoha had closed off all their trade routes within Amegakure and Kusagakure, the only two viable paths for the rock shinobi to get to Hi no Kuni (Fire Nation). The fact that a village was willing to send their own shinobi to another for the assassination of a Kage's family during these times had caused tension between the villages. The temporary peace which had settled over the Elemental Nations after the Third Shinobi War looked fragile and the slightest of friction between the villages had the possibility of igniting another war.
However, the only solace for Minato among all this disarray was that neither Kirigakure nor Sunagakure were ready for another war, either financially or in terms of their military assets. The rumors of an uprising within Kirigakure had made the other nations steer away from the Water Country and cut off all business trades with them.
Despite appearing moderately well to the other great four nations in the Elemental Nations, Sunagakure had started to struggle in the past few years financially. The Land of Wind's Daimyo started outsourcing missions previously given to Sunagakure to Konoha instead. The Yondaime Kazekage began selling gold dust to try to make up for the loss of funding. Even so, the situation did not look well for Sunagakure.
Sakura and Hinata had been awfully appalled by what they had gone through that night.
Sakura had not stepped out of the house much in the following months. Being a civilian girl, she did not have much knowledge in the obscure events that often took place in the shinobi world. Minato had provided intensive medical care for Sakura, in hopes that she could move past these events. Hinata too had been extremely horrified, despite being taught about such activities from a young age. She had been looked after by Hiashi, Hitomi and by the personal medics of the Hyuuga Clan. Hinata's escorts outside the compound had been doubled for her protection in case of any unforeseen situations.
However, Naruto's life had transformed the most from the experience of that night. Ever since he awakened the sharingan, his demeanor had somewhat changed. He was now more reserved and only showed his normal self to the people he trusted. He still smiled around people and engaged in conversations with to others if he was approached. But the change was visible to those who knew Naruto on a more personal level.
It was different for him to hear tales about the horrors of the shinobi world compared to going through it himself.
Taking a life.
But he understood why he had to do it. He had no qualms about what he did. He felt rather content that he could protect his two precious friends. However, he started to develop doubts in his mind about the current shinobi world. He knew from the anecdotes told by his father that the current period was a time of temporary peace. Albeit, one that Naruto believed would last. He wanted it to last. He just wanted to stay happy in his home with his father and talk with his friends.
Why couldn't people stay happy with what they have?
Naruto questioned himself of the enigma on several occasions. All he received was a profound emptiness of thoughts in his mind and dropped the question every time.
"It's time to go home now Naruto. You have been sitting here for far too long." Said Kurama. The fox understood the doubts Naruto had in his mind. He, himself, held immense hatred towards humans for how they treated the bijuu and the misguided use of Rikudo's religion. However, he also dreaded what would happen if Naruto ever lost himself in the darkness. The boy held power in himself, far greater than anything comprehensible by human minds.
'I know… Just a few more minutes.' Naruto told his partner as he stared at the moon from the edge of the river. He had always felt a strange connection to the moon. Like it was beckoning him to observe it more carefully.
Lately, he had been visiting the Naka river quite often. Every evening, Naruto would come here after his training and relax in the warm embrace of his ancestors' land. The Naka River, also known as the River of Southern Joy ,is where the Uchiha Clan once lived and prospered.
A couple of months back, the Uchiha Clan had been moved from their ancestral grounds to the far west side of the village, against the wishes of the Yondaime. Danzo had met with the Fire Daimyo without Minato's knowledge and argued to relocate the Uchiha. He had convinced the Daimyo of this course of action with the help of one of Daimyo's grandsons, Senzo.
Ever since Danzo's unknown visit to the Fire Daimyo, Minato had highly restricted his movements within the village, reduced his personal bodyguards and stripped him of his rights as a shinobi. He knew he could not take further actions against Danzo right now, as it may lead to a revolt within the village. Danzo had highly objected to Minato's decisions and had said that he had no hand in it, but was threatened by Minato to be put in a high security prison.
Minato knew he had every reason to put the old war hawk in prison or just kill him, but he was still useful to Konoha. He may be a conniving old man who wished for Konoha to rule over everyone else, but he wished for Konoha's safety. So, Minato had decided to keep him in play for as long as he didn't pose any outward threat to Konoha.
Even though the Uchiha were given the reason as property enhancement within several of the Clan compounds for their relocation, the Uchiha Clan were aware of the fact of why they were relocated. Even almost eight years after the grisly night, they were still suspected behind the Kyubi attack. The fact that the Uchiha can control the bijuu with their sharingan and were nowhere to be seen during the attack did not bode well with their case.
"You say that every time Naruto. You should go home. You're starting the academy tomorrow... You should stop thinking about those shinobis Naruto..." Replied the Kyubi as he sighed.
'I know Kurama. I'm trying.' Naruto thought calmly. He got up from the ground and wiped his shirt of the grass that stuck to it.
As he turned around to walk up the steep ground, his eyes landed on Sasuke who was walking all alone. Judging from the minor burnt scratches on his face, Naruto presumed he must have been training to perform the jutsu for the coming of age rite, which every member of the clan must go through to be able to wear the Uchiha Clan symbol on their back.
Sasuke saw Naruto stare at him calmly and it vexed him somewhat. They both were of the same age, but the difference in their skill was far too vast.
Flashback Two Months Ago
Sasuke was practicing a Katon Jutsu on the edge of the Naka River. He had been pestering his father to teach him the Katon: Gokayaku no Jutsu for a few weeks now. He knew Itachi could perform the jutsu when he was only six years old. Sasuke had noticed how his father looked at Itachi, like he was the only one that mattered. He had asked Itachi on several occasions to teach him, but he always received the same answer.
'Forgive me Sasuke. Maybe next time.'
Today, his father had finally agreed to teach him the Katon Jutsu and he was extremely delighted.
"Sasuke, are you listening?" Fugaku asked sternly.
He had been so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice his father speak. He gave a sheepish grin and shook his head.
"Listen to me intently. I'm not going to repeat myself again." Fugaku said.
After receiving a silent nod, Fugaku went on to explain the fundamentals of the basics regarding the simple Katon jutsu.
Just as Fugaku was about to show Sasuke the hand seals to perform the jutsu, he felt a presence of chakra behind him. He turned behind to find Naruto standing there with a smile and a note in his hand.
"Naruto, what brings you here?" Fugaku asked politely.
Naruto bowed before the man, to show his respect to the Uchiha Clan leader.
"Fugaku-sama, tou-chan wishes to speak to you regarding an important matter." Naruto replied as he handed the letter to Fugaku.
Taking the letter from the young blonde, Fugaku went through the contents of the letter cautiously. His face became serious as he finished reading it and put the letter inside one of his pockets. He was about to leave when he remembered about Sasuke.
He turned back to face his son and saw him ideally standing there. He knew he did not give much attention to Sasuke compared to Itachi and did feel guilty about it. But the situation within the Uchiha Clan was getting grave with every passing minute and most of his time passed in thinking of a way out of the mess the elders in the Clan were suggesting regarding their course of action about their future in the village.
"Sasuke, do you want to learn the jutsu today?" Fugaku asked.
"Hai tou-san!" Sasuke said eagerly.
Closing his eyes for a second, he turned back to Naruto and asked him to come forward.
"Naruto, would you help Sasuke in teaching the Katon jutsu. You know which one I'm talking about." Requested Fugaku. Having already felt what the man was feeling, Naruto accepted gladly as he had nothing much to do right now. He figured he could also become friends with Sasuke while they were training together.
"But, tou-san! You said you would teach me the jutsu! How can he even perform the jutsu? We both are the same age." Sasuke argued childishly. Fugaku sighed as he heard his youngest son's words. While Itachi was calm and collected, Sasuke was more prone to act on his emotions.
Feeling slightly irked that his abilities were being doubted, Naruto walked to the edge of the Naka river, gaining Sasuke's and Fugaku's attention. Making the Tora hand seal, he kneaded Katon chakra into his lungs and said "Katon: Gokayaku no Jutsu (Fire style: Fire Ball Jutsu)" breathing a large ball of fire towards the lake. Due to the extreme heat of the fireball, much of the water got evaporated in the process.
Sasuke's eyes widened on seeing Naruto execute the technique perfectly. He turned to his father and saw the same look on his face he had when he was with Itachi. It made him frown.
Satisfied with his work, Naruto turned around to look at Sasuke.
"I can perform the jutsu perfectly Sasuke. If you wish, I could help you in learning it. We could become friends also, you know." Naruto said kindly. Deciding to let the two kids settle their argument, Fugaku sunshined to the Namikaze Compound to speak with Minato.
Sasuke had his arms folded over his chest and a small frown on his face as he saw his father disappear in a swirl of leaves. He had seen several ninjas perform the technique and found it to be intriguing.
"So, what do you say Sasuke?" Naruto asked again as he extended his right hand forward. Glaring at the blonde, Sasuke puffed his cheeks and walked away, intent on returning to his home and looking for Itachi.
Confused by Sasuke's demeanor, Naruto shrugged his shoulders, looked to his left in the corner of the trees once and sunshined to his house.
In the corner of the trees stood Itachi as he stared at the spot where Naruto and Sasuke once stood.
'You didn't have to turn out like this, foolish little brother.'
Flashback End
The entire Uchiha Clan knew how gifted Naruto was and Sasuke envied him for that. Naruto was the youngest within the Uchiha Clan to have a fully matured sharingan. Sasuke, too, wished to be proficient enough to be noticed. To be something in his brother's eyes, for his father to be proud of him. He glared at Naruto for a few seconds and walked away without a word.
Seeing as he did not have anything else to do, Naruto walked to his home so he could rest for tomorrow.
Next Morning
The following day Naruto woke up groggily to the ringing of his alarm. Last night after he got home, Naruto had a decent dinner with his father and went off to his room to immerse himself into his books till late night. Naruto had found a little interest in fuinjutsu which led him to learning a bit on the rare shinobi art. He knew he couldn't hope to be as elegant as his father in the art, but he wished to be proficient enough in it.
These were some of the recent interests which Naruto had delved into. He realized that being only strong was not good enough in the shinobi world. He was aware he was excessively strong. But if he wasn't smart enough to understand a situation he was in, where his power alone could not help him out, he would be as useless as a rookie; which ironically, he was, in terms of experience.
Getting up from his bed, he walked to the washroom to fresh himself up. A half an hour later, Naruto exited, after having a bath. He was a little anxious about today. He did not have many friends of his own age group apart from Sakura and Hinata. He briefly wondered how the other children in his class would be. Deciding not to put too much thought into it right now, he dressed himself quickly and went downstairs to meet his father. He wore his usual grey t-shirt and black pants accompanied with his black gloves. He had decided to wear his maroon colored kimono tied with a black sash around his waist today which had the Uchiha Clan symbol at the back.
Getting downstairs, Naruto saw his father sitting on the dining table going through a few papers. He had a cup beside him, which Naruto guessed was coffee. A smile formed on his face seeing his father so busy with his work. Even though he was the Hokage, he always found time for him and never made him feel alone.
"Tou-chan! Hurry up! We have to go to the academy in a few minutes." Naruto said as he walked towards the table and sat beside his father.
Minato smiled watching his son, dressed up for his first day at academy. He knew there wasn't anything much Naruto would learn which he doesn't already know. But that wasn't the main reason he wanted Naruto to join the academy. No matter how powerful one may be, life never feels complete if there's no one to share it with. Minato wanted him to get to know more people. To make friends. He wanted Naruto to feel that there are more people he could always rely on.
"I know, Naru. We'll be going in a few minutes. Eat your breakfast and then we'll walk there." Minato said as he ruffled Naruto's hair playfully.
Nodding his head happily, Naruto filled his bowl with some milk and cereal. Finishing it quickly, he had a banana and a glass of orange juice. He had learned to eat healthy for the past few years, although a few times a week he still went to his favorite Ramen stand in Konoha, Ichiraku Ramen. He would never in his life give up ramen for anything. After the breakfast was done with, Naruto and Minato walked out of the Namikaze Compound to go to the Konoha Academy.
As Naruto and Minato headed to the academy, many people greeted their Yondaime and waved at young Naruto. The young blond was surprised by the sudden change in people's behavior. Ever since he could remember, these very people glared at him and spoke behind his back. And now, the very same villagers smiled at him as if nothing had ever happened. He knew it was mainly because he had saved Hinata, the heiress of the Hyuuga Clan. But it still made him wonder at how shallow can people be.
However, he also understood their feelings. Their inner conflicts. To the civilians of Konohagakure, he is the living reminder of what they lost on that fateful night of the Kyubi attack. The people did not hate him. They despised the Kyubi for taking away their loved ones. But, he wanted to change that. He wanted people to understand the bijuu. That they too are the victims here. The victims of the viscous cycle of hate and greed.
Minato felt relieved that the people of Konoha had started to accept Naruto. He knew what Naruto did change him in some ways. There is no greater pain for a parent to watch their child suffer and be helpless about it. In a way, he was thankful to Onohki. He knew it was wrong for him to think that, but it made him glad to see the villagers finally viewing Naruto as a hero. Something which his son was meant to be.
Both the Namikaze's were minutes away from the academy when an aged woman outside of a grocery store greeted Naruto with a warm smile.
"Hello Naruto-sama. It is good to see you this morning with Hokage-sama. Today's the day you're joining the academy, right?" She asked kindly.
"You don't have to call me 'Naruto-sama'. You are older than me and it wouldn't suit you well. Please call me Naruto." Naruto replied with a happy smile as the woman nodded. He could feel that the lady wished for him to do well and it elated him.
"Hai! I will be joining the academy today. I am really excited." Naruto said with a big smile. Minato couldn't help but notice the bright smile that was etched on Naruto's face.
"That's good to hear Naruto-kun. Well good luck and do your best. I will be rooting for you." Said the woman as she waved goodbye with a smile. Naruto smiled and waved back as he held on to his father's hand and continued towards the academy. Things had definitely taken a turn for everyone within the village since the Iwa incident.
At the Academy
Every shinobi village in the Elemental nations houses an academy where young children are sent to prosper into shinobi. In the academy, the prospective students are taught the history of the shinobi world, the fundamentals of shinobi arts such taijutsu- hand to hand combat-, weapons handling- kunai and shuriken throwing- and rudimentary exercises to help control one's chakra. The teachers in the academy hold timely examinations to assess the student's progress and determine whether they are qualified to lead the life of a shinobi.
The Konoha Academy is quite large and is comprised of several buildings which were erected over time since the reign of the Shodai Hokage. The building can be commonly identified by the tree which has a swing in front of it and more so by the giant sign with the kanji for 'Fire' on it. Along with being a school, the academy is also the area where the Hokage's office is located, which is where the missions are dispatched and the day-to-day running of the village takes place.
Soon enough, Naruto and Minato reached the academy and Naruto was becoming anxious each passing second, wondering if Sakura and Hinata too would be joining. He remembered them telling him that they would, but he wasn't sure after the incident involving Iwa shinobis. He wanted them to join so he would at least know someone in the classroom.
Minato felt his son's hand shake slightly and knew what he was feeling. The nervousness of being able to make friends. He chuckled as he too had similar thoughts on his first day.
He knelt and asked turned Naruto so they would be facing each other. He looked him in the eyes warmly and said.
"It's going to be okay Naru. It's your first day in the academy, and it is okay to be nervous. Trust me, even I was." Naruto chuckled as he heard his father's words.
"What's so funny huh?" Minato asked as he eyed him.
"Nothing. It's just hard to find you nervous about anything. You are so brave and confident all the time!" Naruto replied innocently.
"You have no idea how many times I have been nervous in my life Naru. Now come on, get going. You don't want to be late on your first day now, do you?" Minato said as he let out a small laugh, seeing Naruto's slight panicked reaction.
Naruto nodded and quickly ran off inside the academy building as he waved goodbye to his father. Minato smiled as he watched his son go off inside the building.
'If only you could see him now Kushina. Our son has grown so much.' Minato thought. He waited outside the building for few more minutes and then disappeared to the Hokage's office using the Hiraishin seal placed on the desk.
As Naruto knocked and walked into the room he was assigned, he found a man who he guessed was his teacher to be standing near his desk and many students sitting on his right side staring at him. The classroom was large and had high ceilings. It even had a blackboard facing opposite to the students' desk and a podium in front of it. The podium was situated in a position such that the teacher could view everyone in the class at once.
Naruto's sharp eyes scanned though the students quickly and found Sakura to be sitting on the second row and Hinata to be sitting in the last one. He smiled inwardly.
"Who might you be?" asked the man.
"I'm Naruto Namikaze. I'm also a student who entered the academy this year." Naruto said politely. The man stared at the boy impassively for a few seconds, but smiled the very next.
Naruto could hear many of the students whispering in their seats about him and the fact that the Hokage's son is going to be studying in their class.
"Namikaze!?"
"Yondaime Hokage's son!?"
"I heard he is really strong...!"
"He looks so good… His long hair and whisker marks make him look adorable!" muttered some of the girls.
Naruto didn't know what to think about those, so he waited for the man to say something.
"I'm Iruka Umino. I will be your teacher for the next four years. You may take any free seat available Naruto." Iruka said. Iruka was a man of average height and build. He had black hair that he kept in a ponytail and a horizontal scar across his nose. He wore the standard chunin outfit of Konoha with a blue headband tied around his forehead. He knew about the Kyubi being sealed into the Hokage's son and despised the fox for killing his parents and in a way, held Naruto responsible for it too. However, his beliefs about the child began to change when he heard about the Hokage's son killing two jounins and saving a civilian girl along with the Hyuuga Clan heiress. He had decided to keep his views on the boy unbiased until he saw him with his own eyes.
Naruto nodded his head as he turned to his right to look for any empty seats. He saw many of the girls looking at him strangely and felt slightly uneasy. He quickly found an empty seat on the far right in the last row and quickly walked up there and took his seat.
Looking to his right, Naruto found a strange boy. He had short black hair and black eyes in contrast to his translucent looking pale skin. His face showed no signs of emotion and he looked to be staring at Iruka blankly. Getting a feel of his chakra, Naruto was shocked, as it felt to be troubled. Deep down within the boy, Naruto felt the boy held a lot of pain.
"I'm Naruto." Said the blond as he extended his hand to the boy. The boy in question looked at Naruto for a good while impassively. He was surprised by Naruto's actions and wondered why the Hokage's son would want anything to do with him. However, none of that surprise was displayed on his face. It was as plain as a blank canvas.
"Sai…" said the boy as he held Naruto's hand. Naruto smiled faintly at the thought of making new friend.
Seeing as everyone had taken their seats, Iruka viewed everyone in his class with a critical eye. 'This would be first time that so many clan heirs are present in one class. Not to mention the clan heirs of the Uchiha, Hyuuga and Namikaze Clans. The three most influential clans within Konoha. This will be an interesting class.' Iruka thought.
"Alright class, as you already know, my name is Iruka Umino. You may call me Iruka-sensei. I will be your teacher for the next four years. Another teacher, Mizuki, will also be assisting me with teaching you. Since today's only our first class, we will begin with some history lessons and then move on to taijutsu lessons outside. After that, we will begin with theory on chakra." Iruka announced. So, he began with the history of Konohagakure No Sato, accounting the tales of Shodai Hokage and how the village was formed.
Even though Naruto knew this part extremely well, he listened to it intently. Some of the students groaned at the fact of learning history lessons, claiming it to be uncool. Again, Naruto seemed confused at other students' behavior. He had always been taught that history was an important part for any shinobi to know and he loved the subject. It was also a significant task for a shinobi to know the history of any area that they would be travelling to for their missions.
After an hour had passed, Naruto looked around the class and found many of the student's to be uninterested in what Iruka was saying. He saw a boy with pineapple shaped hair to be sleeping, while another chubby boy was eating a bag of chips without a care in the world. He found the sight to be hilarious and had to hold in his laughter. He looked at Sakura, who was sitting next to a platinum blond haired girl. Hinata was sitting next to a boy with a puppy on his head. Judging by her face, Naruto guessed that Hinata, too, knew the topic Iruka was talking about currently. His eyes finally landed on Sasuke, who was sitting in the same row as him, a few seats below him. He couldn't see his face, but he was sure he had a little scowl on his face.
After the theory about the history of Shodai Hokage had ended, Iruka ordered everyone to form a que and follow him outside to the training ground. Naruto was personally excited now, as it was time for the taijutsu exercises and he wanted to see how everyone faired in hand to hand combat. He knew he was miles ahead of the students in his class in taijutsu, but that did not mean the others had no knowledge in this art.
As everyone assembled outside, Iruka called out everyone's name again and Naruto was surprised to find several of the children belonging to major clans in Konoha.
He saw a group of few students standing in a group at the side and wondered if they all knew each other before starting at the academy. He looked at Sai who was standing beside him and thought of coming with him to talk to others. But looking at his blank expression, he decided not to.
He went over to them and said "Hello, I'm Naruto."
"I'm Kiba Inuzuka! And this is my ninken Akamaru!" Kiba said enthusiastically and Akamaru gave a small bark. Kiba had feral looking features which could be accounted by his messy brown hair, sharp looking canines and the distinctive red fang markings similar to every Inuzuka Clan member on each of his cheek.
Shikamaru was lazily looking at the sky when he noticed Naruto looking at him. He found all this introduction stuff to be quite troublesome but knew that he had to do it. Similar to most members of the Nara Clan, Shikamaru was born with an exceptional mind. Despite being portrayed as lazy, he noticed and understood things which could often be missed by normal eyes or minds. He had narrow brown eyes and a typical expression which indicated that he was bored. He had shoulder length black hair, which he kept tied in a ponytail.
"Shikamaru Nara. It's nice to meet you." Shikamaru said with a yawn, rather lazily. This made Naruto wonder if the boy was interested in anything.
"I'm Choji Akimichi." Naruto heard the chubby boy say who was continuously munching on his chips. Like any other Akimichi, Choji had a rotund build and markings on his cheeks in the form of swirls. He had spiky brown hair that sticks upwards.
"Shino Aburame." Said Shino quietly. Sporting the same look as the rest of his clan, Shino wore dark sunglasses and a sea green jacket with high upturned collar. He was fair skinned and almost as tall as Naruto, who was the tallest among their class. He had dark, bushy brown hair, however many of his friends wondered what his eyes looked like since he always wore those sunglasses.
"It's really nice to meet you. I'm just so surprised that there are so many clan heirs in our class." Naruto said intending the conversation to go ahead.
"How do you know we are all clan heirs?" Shikamaru asked curiously as they never brought it up.
"I remember my tou-chan telling me about the class a bit few days before the academy started. I also read a lot about the history of Konohagakure in which the prominent Clans of this village was a main topic. Like the Nara Clan you come from Shikamaru, it's known for producing geniuses and the most well known in your clan being your father, Shikaku Nara, the current Jounin Commander. Then Choji's clan is well known for their immense physical strength with their expansion jutsu and in their business for owning a few restaurants in Konoha. Kiba belongs to the Inuzuka Clan, known for their tracking ability and amazing taijutsu skills. They are also known for their partnership with their dogs, similar to the Aburame clan with their bugs, who specialize in utilizing bugs in almost all of their jutsu. The Aburames are known to be logical people and are good in formulating plans.
At the end of Naruto's explanations all the four people were staring at Naruto with stupefied expressions. However, they were also glad in respect to how Naruto had described their Clans. Choji was happy that Naruto didn't talk about his size or weight, Kiba was glad that Naruto was aware of how great the Inuzukas were and Shino gave a quiet nod of agreement.
While Naruto was talking to Kiba, Choji and Shino about how they knew each other, what sort of training they did, Shikamaru keenly observed the young Namikaze. Based on what he had seen of Naruto today and what he had heard of him in the past, he found him to be an enigma. He had heard his mother talk to other people about how the Hokage's son had killed two Jounin level shinobi and rescued the Hyuuga Clan heiress and a civilian. It was hard for him to believe it at that time, but looking at the way Naruto held himself and always remained aware of his surroundings, he could see the truth in it.
"Everyone... Listen carefully." Iruka called gaining the student's attention.
"I will call out two students names, and they will have a taijutsu match for two minutes to let me observe where everyone stands." Iruka said.
"Akane and…." Iruka started.
Two years and two months Later
It had been a little over two years since Naruto had started his new life. The life of meeting new friends, befriending them, doing what children his age is supposed to do and beginning his journey to become an actual shinobi for the Konoha village. In the past few years, Naruto had become good friends with Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba and Shino.
Kiba talked the most in the group and Naruto found him to be a fun person to hang out with. Shikamaru and Choji were mostly seen together and Naruto also tried out Shikamaru's ritualistic habit of watching clouds, which he found to be quite relaxing. Even though Shino did not speak much, Naruto always found a way to involve the quiet boy in group talks and he had come to like the bug user. All in all, Naruto got along with these four boys the most. He also met Ino Yamanaka, clan heiress of the Yamanaka Clan, who was childhood friends with Shikamaru and Choji. He found her to be a bit weird as she would often look for different excuses to talk to Sasuke. And being the oblivious girl that she was like many other girls in the class, she found Sasuke's uncaring attitude to be cool and mysterious.
Naruto, Hinata and Sakura had gotten closer to each other in the past year. They often met outside of the academy and trained with each other along with studying and doing their homework together. They had spoken about how their life had changed and how their beliefs about the shinobi world altered after that incident and there were times when both Naruto and Hinata had to console Sakura as she still had terrifying nightmares of that night at times. Naruto and Hinata especially had gotten to know each other a lot better. Ever since the incident with the Iwa shinobi, the Hyuuga Clan had come to respect Naruto immensely. Both Minato and Naruto had been invited for dinner to the Hyuuga's Main House on several occasions. During class, Naruto mostly sat with his two best friends which seemed to draw the glares from several other girls in the class, much to Naruto's confusion. Despite their close relationship with one another, Sakura had this uncomfortable feeling whenever she saw Naruto and Hinata so close. She didn't know what it was and didn't want to find out at the prospect of it hurting her or making her lose her friendship with Naruto and Hinata.
When Naruto talked to his father about a few girls staring at him strangely, Minato laughed and ruffled his son's hair playfully while saying "This is not something that even you can avoid Naru…"
And true to his father's words, Naruto often sensed many of the girls following him secretly and at times chasing after him openly. Naruto had come across the bane of academy, the fangirls.
Scholastically, Naruto's time in the shinobi academy was a breeze. He had been ranked as the top student always. Whether be it in written tests, taijutsu, ninjutsu, weapons throwing or genjutsu. Sasuke who was ranked second continuously, still seemed to hold a grudge against Naruto for reasons unknown to the blond.
However, not everything was as it seemed. Even though Naruto liked the academy, as it was where he was able to spend more time with his friends, he disliked the academy's training. The things which the students were being taught to be genin would never help them out to survive in the shinobi world. However, the worst part till now which he discovered were the fangirls.
Many of the girls in the class were obsessed with boys and believed in mythological tales where they would be saved by their lovers. Meanwhile there were many civilian boys who considered themselves to be good in everything despite the actuality.
He spoke to his father regarding the matter and was told the stress for prospective genin in the academy was reduced mainly since there was a time of temporary peace between the nations earlier. But Minato too had known the curriculum in the academy was not up to the mark. Furthermore, with their relations with Iwagakure completely cut off, there was a lot of uncertainty among different villages in the future. Thus, he had decided to implement certain changes from year three onwards in the academy.
Snapping those thoughts out of his mind, Naruto got out of his clothes and went to washroom to get a bath. He came out about a minute later and looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes morphed into blood red eyes, portraying the three tomoes in it and soon enough, his eyes turned back to their original violet color.
Today marked the last class of the second year in the academy and held a written test and a taijutsu match between students as an examination.
Naruto was so engrossed in thoughts about how the last year passed so quickly that he realized he was going to be late for the exam. He quickly put on his clothes and sunshined in front of the academy. He went towards his class and knocked on the door.
"Come in" Iruka said from inside the class.
Naruto entered the class and saw his teacher staring at him intently. At first, he was indifferent towards Naruto but after time, he came to see Naruto as more than just the Kyubi. After watching Naruto interact with his friends in the class and talking to him, Iruka found him to be a very kind hearted boy who loved his friends. After that, he opened up to Naruto and now they were good friends or siblings if one could say.
"Naruto why are you fifteen minutes late for class?" questioned Iruka sternly. Even though he considered Naruto to be someone special to himself, he never showed any favoritism to any one student.
"Sorry Iruka sensei, I was training last night till late and woke up late today due to that. It won't happen again." Naruto answered honestly. Iruka sighed and told him to take his seat.
Nodding his head, Naruto found an empty seat between Hinata and Kiba.
"Morning Naruto-kun." Hinata greeted Naruto with a smile. Naruto smiled as he inhaled the smell of lavender from her. He knew Hinata usually sat with her mother in her garden and picked flowers at times. And he loved that smell.
"Morning Hinata-chan" Naruto said as he smiled back. Looking at Kiba, who was sleeping soundly beside him, Naruto smirked.
Discreetly making a single hand seal, a small amount of water condensed in the palm of his other hand. Making sure no one saw him other than Hinata, he splashed it on Kiba's face. Kiba woke up with a shriek and looked around frantically.
"Good, you're finally awake Kiba." Naruto said as he laughed. Hinata giggled softly, seeing Kiba's confused voice.
"What the hell Naruto, why did you do that?" Kiba asked in a sleepy voice.
"We have an exam today Kiba, if I hadn't woken you up, you would have slept through it." Naruto replied as he laughed. Kiba and Naruto intently stared at each other for a few seconds and suddenly started laughing at the situation.
"KIBA, NARUTO! I told you so many times to keep your voices down!" Iruka yelled using his patented Big Head Jutsu. Both the boys immediately shut up upon hearing Iruka's voice and sat down without muttering another single word.
During all this commotion, Shikamaru, who was sleeping with his head rested on his hands woke up and looked around in confusion. Unfortunately, Iruka looked at Shikamaru at the same time and a tick mark formed on the academy teacher's face.
"Shikamaru, are you going to sleep through the exam too?" Iruka asked, slightly annoyed.
"Troublesome, I was not sleeping Iruka sensei." Said Shikamaru but yawned immediately after saying that. The class laughed at Shikamaru's reaction and Iruka sighed, looking at his class. Naruto looked around the classroom in amusement and could feel how eased everyone felt.
These were the moments he enjoyed, the moments he cherished with his friends. To see them all happy and relaxed. This is what kept his mind away from the deed he had done a few years back.
The only people in the room who were not interested in the current situation were Sasuke and Sai. Naruto had tried to talk to Sasuke in the past but the black-haired boy wasn't interested. He considered himself greater than the others because he considered himself a true Uchiha and looked down on everyone else. The way Sasuke acted, it gave others the impression that he was only ever interested in gaining more power and would do it through any means necessary.
'Oh, the irony about considering himself a true Uchiha' Naruto thought on several occasions.
After a long and tiresome speech from Iruka, the exam had started. Iruka and his assistant Mizuki began handing out the written exams.
Mizuki was a man of average height and build, similar to Iruka. He had white, neck length hair and wore the standard outfit of Konoha. He wore a blue colored headband and wore his forehead protector in a bandana style around his head.
Naruto had always been able to sense the feeling of hatred coming off Mizuki. He realized it was because of the Kyubi. Naruto never talked about this to his father or anyone else since he believed it was just due to the Kyubi. As Mizuki came to Naruto's desk to hand him the paper, he glared at him for a few seconds and proceeded to the next students. Mizuki knew he could not do anything to Naruto. With his father being the Hokage, if he ever got caught, it would be the end for him. Still, it irked him that he could not get his hands on the damned Kyubi boy.
After a simple written exam that Naruto was sure he would ace smoothly, it was time for the practical exam which consisted of taijutsu spar between two students to show their improvement.
As all the students assembled outside, Iruka and Mizuki stepped in front of them.
"Alright class, now we are going to have a taijutsu spar between students. The spar will continue until one opponent gives up or is knocked out. Any questions?" asked Iruka and was glad when everyone understood it.
The first few matches were between a bunch a civilian kids and Naruto sighed as he saw their taijutsu abilities. He wondered how they even reached the second year with such poor skills. It was more like street fighting.
The fifth match was between Sai and another civilian. The match went on for a few minutes with Sai eventually winning it by managing to knock out his opponent out of the ring. However, there was something which Naruto had noticed every time in Sai's matches. He pretended to lower his skills while fighting at the academy. It was as if he was hiding his true ability. Naruto always felt something strange about the boy, but couldn't ascertain it properly.
The next match was between Kiba and Shino. Naruto knew it would be a close match as both were moderately adept in taijutsu. However, he guessed Kiba would come out victorious due to his clan's edge in taijutsu. While the Inuzuka clan focused on taijutsu primarily, the Aburame Clan were prone to make use of ninjutsu with the help of their bugs. Naruto's assumptions were proven to be correct as a few minutes into the match, Shino showed signs of fatigue and Kiba slipped into his defense after performing a feint left hook and knocked him out a sharp elbow to his chest.
"Alright, next match is between Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka." Announced Iruka.
After hearing the announcement, Ino seemed confident that she would win it easily. Ino knew that Sakura was mainly book smart and had good chakra control but lacked severely in taijutsu. Oh, how wrong she would be…
"Watch me Sasuke-kun!" Ino squealed as she went inside the ring within which the students are supposed to fight.
Naruto looked at Sakura, who seemed to be a bit worried. He walked to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"You can do this Sakura-chan. You have worked hard, I know. I believe in you." Naruto whispered to her calmly.
Sakura's eyes widened upon hearing him say those words and her face seemed to gain a bit more confidence. Naruto smiled seeing her face and gave her a thumbs up.
As both Sakura and Ino got into the ring, Iruka signaled for the start of the match. Ino rushed towards Sakura blindly and attempted to give a kick to her right rib. Just as she was about to kick her, Sakura rolled to her left, avoiding the kick easily. Ino, who's leg was still in the air, was surprised by Sakura's maneuver, and almost lost her balance. Seeing Ino's surprise, Sakura coated her hand with a slight amount of chakra and rushed at Ino with impressive speed for an academy student. She then punched Ino right on her left cheek, which made the platinum blond haired girl fall out of the ring.
This was the result of hard work which Sakura had put in improving herself in the past two years. After being released from school, she often trained with Naruto and Hinata and learned a lot from them. Naruto and Hinata had helped Sakura in improving her chakra control. Sakura, surprisingly was a natural in controlling her chakra. She had learned the tree walking exercise in a single day and was able to walk up and down the tree with ease now. Even though the water walking exercise took some time for her, she was able to master it eventually.
The entire crowd of students were shocked at seeing Sakura win the match with ease. Most of the time Sakura had a taijutsu spar with someone, she lacked confidence and would make a mistake or two. But she showed a flawless performance today.
"Way to go Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheered. Sakura blushed slightly as she heard Naruto cheer for him but hid it well.
"That was great Sakura!" yelled Kiba with Akamaru barking in agreement.
Iruka smiled at seeing his student improve dramatically and knew who it was that helped her.
After Ino had been moved off the field and taken to the side, Iruka had resumed the matches.
The next match was between Hinata and another civilian girl. Naruto, who was standing next to her, squeezed Hinata's hand in a gentle manner discreetly. The two had a strange relationship. Naruto had a developed a strong trust in her. It was strange for him too. From the moment he had seen her, she seemed different to him. She was kind and gentle while speaking while fierce and beautiful in a spar. They did not speak much, but always knew what the other was thinking. Naruto shared things with her which he never shared with anyone. Not even his own father. Hinata smiled in response and went ahead for her match. The fight was completely one sided, as Hinata had won the match with a few precise strikes of Juken to the civilian girl's body.
The next match between Shikamaru and Choji was quite amusing for everyone. As soon as the two entered the ring, Shikamaru gave up after not moving for a couple of minutes, saying it was too troublesome to fight his best friend. Both were given a lecture by Iruka which went on for minutes and many students snickered, watching the two.
"Today's last match will be between Naruto Namikaze and Sasuke Uchiha." Said Iruka.
Almost everyone knew how the match would span out. Despite that, several of the girls, who believed themselves to be in love with Sasuke, cheered loudly for him.
"Oi Naruto, beat that teme's ass." Said Kiba.
"Good luck, Naruto-kun." Hinata said softly as she looked at him. She knew he would win. He always wins. To her, he was invincible. She knew how strong he was, she was aware of his darkest thoughts, secrets which children their age were not aware of and she was glad he trusted her enough to share so much about him to her. In the past two years, the two had found several uncanny similarities with each other. The two often spent time together after training or studying with Sakura which normally consisted of either sitting under a tree quietly or Naruto taking her to sit on the edge of Naka River. Unknowingly, they both enjoyed each other's presence.
Shikamaru and Shino just nodded their head showing their support for Naruto. Both were smarter than most of the students in class and were aware Naruto was much, much more powerful than he let on in the academy.
Naruto and Sasuke stood in front of each other waiting for Iruka to signal the start of the match. Naruto seemed to be perfectly calm and relaxed while Sasuke seemed confident in himself. In the past two years, Sasuke had trained himself to the ground in many aspects of the shinobi arts- taijutsu, ninjutsu, shurikenjutsu and genjutsu. He was even able to unlock his sharingan and had progressed it to the second level. He believed he could beat Naruto with the amount of work he had done.
Iruka gave the signal to start the match, but none of them moved from their positions. While Sasuke got into the stance of the Uchiha interceptor fist and activated his sharingan, Naruto showed no signs of being surprised or intimidated. Meanwhile, several students in the arena gasped seeing Sasuke's two tomoe sharingan.
Naruto showed no reaction to any of the whispers in the crowd or the fact that Sasuke was currently glaring at him. His tou-chan, Jiraiya oji-chan and Kakashi had taught him that the best way to win a fight is to make sure you remain completely focused on your opponent and keep your emotions in check. Naruto already knew about Sasuke's sharingan from Itachi during one of their training sessions. He knew Sasuke was strong now, but his arrogance was his weakest point and that is just what he planned on exploiting.
A few more minutes had passed and the two had yet to move.
"What's wrong dobe? Afraid to lose in front of your loser friends? You should stop hanging out with such people. You don't deserve to be an Uchiha." mocked Sasuke in hopes of getting a reaction from the blonde.
Naruto's eyes hardened on hearing Sasuke berate his friends. If there was one thing which Naruto valued most, it was his friends. He could tolerate Sasuke's arrogant behavior, but putting down his friends was not something he could tolerate.
'You shouldn't have said that Sasuke…' thought Naruto.
Before anyone could blink, Naruto disappeared from everyone's sight. Sasuke's eyes widened and he frantically looked around for him. However, the next thing Sasuke knew, he was elbowed on his left shoulder which made him fall on the ground harshly. As he fell on the ground, he clutched his shoulder as the pain became too much for him.
Naruto then picked him up by the collar and then punched him with good amount of strength. Enough to dislocate his jaw.
Almost everyone watching the fight were stunned on seeing this side of Naruto. They had never seen the blonde defeat someone with this much cruelty.
"Naruto! What do you think you are doing!? Stop cheating!" yelled Ino. Everyone else just wondered what was wrong in that brain of hers.
"Shut up." Naruto said coldly as he turned to face Ino. Gone were the warm violet eyes and in its place, were the blood red sharingan with three tomoes. Ino immediately shut up hearing Naruto's tone, which sent shivers down her spine. Naruto wasn't even leaking killing intent. But just one look in his eyes made her freeze in her spot. Hinata, who was quietly standing on the side, looked sadly at Naruto. She knew how close he considered his friends to be and the look in his eyes reflected that. Even if others couldn't read him properly, she understood him.
"Don't ignore me, dammit!" yelled Sasuke as he got up weakly. He ran towards Naruto, ignoring the overwhelming pain in shoulder and jaw.
Naruto swatted away his attempt at a weak punch easily and gave him a right hook to his jaw, which again sent him skidding a few feet back.
"Is that all?" asked Naruto, angry. Sasuke got up again on shaky legs and stared at the blond furiously all the while having a singular thought.
Why am I so weak?
"All this anger, it's not good for you Sasuke. You consider yourself above others just because you are an Uchiha. You have no idea of my true abilities. You don't know the meaning of true strength and if you don't change your way of thinking, you will never become strong." Said Naruto darkly.
"Okay! That's enough. The match is over!" shouted Iruka, seeing that the situation was getting out of hand. Even he was shocked by seeing this side of Naruto. But he reminded himself that Naruto was a kind and loving child.
Enraged by what Naruto had said, Sasuke mustered all his strength to get up and ran at Naruto again. However, before he could even reach him, Naruto looked into Sasuke's eyes with his sharingan spinning and almost immediately, Sasuke fell on the ground with a thud.
Naruto remained in his position as he looked at his brethren with a sad expression. As Iruka came and picked up Sasuke, he heard Naruto apologizing to him. Looking into Naruto's eyes, Iruka knew it was the same kind hearted blond boy he knew. He dismissed the class for today as all the tests were done.
Everyone saw Naruto storm out of the training grounds. Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji, Shino and Sakura were about to follow Naruto, when Hinata stepped in front of them.
"Is it okay if I go talk to him first? I have a feeling he will listen to me." Hinata said kindly. Almost everyone in the group nodded, understanding that Hinata and Naruto were close to each other.
As Hinata walked out to look for Naruto, Sakura somberly looked at her retreating figure, wishing if it could have been her in Hinata's place.
Naruto immediately walked out of the academy, so that he could spend some time alone after his outburst. This was something which happened with Naruto quite often. He had realized he had a lot of darkness in him. Kurama had told him about it. He considered the fox to be his best friend among everyone else, because there was absolutely nothing the two did not know about each other. He still remembered Kurama's words.
The greater your love becomes, the stronger will be your hatred. You must control your hatred Naruto.
He walked a few distances away from the academy when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He already knew who it was. He knew her chakra signature perfectly. He turned around and did the only thing he could at this moment.
He hugged her tightly.
So, that's a wrap for this chapter. I will probably upload the next chapter between March 24 or March 26, 2017.
I hope to next chapter quite lengthy so that I could wrap up the academy phase of Naruto in it. Some people might wonder about made Naruto and Hinata get close to each other. As I'm giving small flashbacks in each chapter, next chapter onwards there will be certain flashbacks of moments between Naruto and Hinata. After the two year time skip in Academy, Naruto is 10 years old. Next chapter, I plan to do two one year time skips. As I said in previous chapters, after Naruto turns 11, he will pick up kenjutsu. I wanted to give Naruto time to grow in height in order for him to wield a Katana properly. He will mostly be taught kenjutsu by Kakashi and Itachi. (Itachi during his time in ANBU wielded a tanto.) So during those times, flashbacks of Naruto's earlier moments with Itachi will be shown.
I apologize if some feel I may be rushing into it, but I wanted to get over with Naruto's early childhood part and academy quickly and did not want to extend it too long. I assure, the major moments in Naruto's life will be shown at appropriate times later on.
I do hope, you all come to like this chapter. Please Follow, Favorite and Review the story. Many of the reviews help me understand where I can improve and it's really helpful.
Until next time!