Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor will I probably ever own Naruto

Chapter 5: The Start of the Academy

It had been a few days since Sakura left her house for good. In that time, she managed to find a new home by staying with the Yamanakas, who seemed to welcome her with open arms. Ishida Yamanaka in particular treated Sakura like a valued guest, knowing her as one of Ino's best friends, and just how much she needed this change in her life. Ino meanwhile was thrilled at having Sakura over, as it meant more playtime between the two of them before she had to go to the academy starting the next day. Internally, she hoped that at least Sakura would be there with her so that she would have someone that she liked by her side. She knew that Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi would be there, but Ino always found them more tolerable than friends. Sakura however, was different. She felt like she could truly be herself around her, without the fear of being judged by others.

Ino had always struggled with wanting to fit in, wanting to be someone that could make her family proud. Someone who commanded and received the respect of others along with giving back to her community. But with Sakura, it felt different. She felt free from the burdens that she placed upon herself to be this perfect girl, both physically and mentally. Ino was constantly fretting over the newest fads in Konoha and always wanted to be the first to discover new trends, and most importantly, always wanted to be the one nobody could find a fault in. She had spent so much time crafting this perfect image that she would constantly leave out and pass on all the experiences that made life meaningful. That is until Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki entered her life. While only knowing them for a couple days, her time with Sakura gave her some of the happiest moments she has ever had, and she knew that Sakura would be someone that would stick around through hell and high water. Naruto on the other hand was her first glimpse of the realities of the world she lived in. She wouldn't be able to please everyone, no matter how hard she tried.

However, even with the newfound freedom and relieving some of the pressures, Ino still felt that she needed to do more. She went to her father, Inoichi Yamanaka to ask him a question which before her encounters with Naruto and Sakura, she never believed she would be able to ask.

"Father, will you teach me some of the Yamanaka clan moves?" Ino asked.

Inoichi was perplexed by this development. His daughter was asking him for help on bettering her techniques? Did I fall into some alternate reality where Ino-chan cares more about her own development than how she looks in the eyes of others? I swear I must be going senile because I'm pretty sure she didn't have much interest in becoming a shinobi like I was. He thought. However, who am I to question it?

"I am always ready to help my daughter. Just let me know when and where you want me to help you out." Inoichi responded.

"Well, since the academy starts tomorrow, I want you to teach me something today, so that I go in there as the most awesome student there." Ino said with enthusiasm, to which Inoichi could only let out a chuckle before leading Ino outside to help her learn.

Sakura overheard the conversation between Ino and her father. To her, the shinobi academy felt like a pipe dream. She grew up as a civilian and aside from her ridiculous book smarts, she was never really talented in anything, usually spelling doom for the civilians who ever dreamed of becoming a shinobi. In the years since the academy was opened up, only three people ever graduated from the academy and became full-time shinobi without hailing from a prestigious clan. Those three members were Orochimaru and Jiraiya of the sannin, and Kakashi Hatake, the son of the White Fang of Konoha. One of them went rogue, one of them was dead, and only one, Jiraiya, still worked for Konoha. However, the one thing that set them apart from Sakura was that each one of them had some kind of talent that could not go unnoticed. Orochimaru was the smartest person to ever enter the academy walls, learning nearly all required jutsu by the end of his second year at the academy. Jiraiya, while not as smart as Orochimaru, still was considered talented enough to the point where he would score the highest on every physical test at the academy. Kakashi on the other hand, was the youngest shinobi to ever graduate the academy along with being the son of the legendary Sakumo Hatake, otherwise known as Konoha's White Fang. Sakura one day dreamed of having her name etched with the names of those three legends as someone who was able to make a name for themselves despite not having any god-given cheat codes that most shinobi these days were spamming like it was a video game. She had always wanted to be someone who could leave a legacy, someone who would one day be remembered as a fearless warrior who stood in the face of all adversity to do what everyone else thought was impossible for her.

Sakura made her way to Ishida Yamanaka, hoping that she would be able to answer some of her questions.

"Yamanaka-san?" Sakura asked.

"What is it my dear?"

"How do I become a Shinobi?"

"Wow Sakura, I didn't know you were interested in the world of shinobi, what exactly made you want to do this?" Ishida asked Sakura. Ishida knew the darkness of the shinobi world like the back of her hand, all shinobi did, former or retired. She didn't want Sakura going into this without complete and utter confidence that she knew exactly what she was about to get into. This was not a life for people who wanted the glamor or the respect that comes with being a shinobi, rather this was a life filled with pain, sorrow, and loss.

"Well Yamanaka-san, I recently met a boy. Someone who thinks Konoha is the world to him, but he is being hit by everyone for no reason. I don't think that's right, and I want to be there to make sure he doesn't get hurt again. For that, I need to be strong, and shinobi are the strongest people in Konoha." Sakura said with enthusiasm. She didn't want to tell her the real reason was that she idolized everyone who was a shinobi, thinking that might spark some old wounds for the elder Yamanaka. Although, she did desperately want to protect Naruto, so it wasn't a complete lie.

"Well then, it seems to me that you want to become a shinobi for a good reason, so I will tell you. First, you need to join the academy. This is where you will learn everything there is to know about being a shinobi. You will learn how to throw kunai and shuriken, learn about the history of being a shinobi, and you'll learn just how important making friends is for being a shinobi, because when you're out in the world doing missions, those friends are the only people you'll be able to count on." Ishida explained.

"How can I join the academy?" Sakura asked, hoping there was some way that she could.

"Come with me, I'll take you to meet Lord Hokage, he'll help you fill out your application."

Ishida and Sakura promptly made their way to the Hokage office and filled out Sakura's academy application. Sakura was elated, she was finally going to live out her dream and no one would be able to stop her. She couldn't wait to get home and tell Ino the news, that despite all of their differences, they would finally be in the same class together. To Sakura, this was more than enough, although she did secretly hope that Naruto would be in the same class as her too. To Sakura, there was nothing that could ruin this day, she just wouldn't let it ruin her just now.

To Naruto and Sasuke, a day later

It was the first day at the academy. The first time that they would be interacting with others since the incidents. They detested it. A constant onslaught of people looking at them with either pity or hate, especially for Naruto who had to deal with this bullshit his whole life. However, to them, those were the most tolerable out of their new "classmates." Sasuke and Naruto could deal with the pitiers and the haters, but the people they really couldn't stand were the goddamn fangirls. Any time they saw a hoard of girls stampede towards them was their signal that their day was completely and utterly fucked. Nights were spent trying to avoid the dumbasses who thought more with their vaginas than with their brains, and days were spent trying to ignore all the people who thought they had any business knowing what was going on in their lives.

Unfortunately for them, they were about to get the worst of the worst, being in a classroom full of haters and fangirls alike, with no one they knew besides themselves to ease the pain. Naruto and Sasuke calmly made their way to the back of the class, hoping that their privacy would be at least respected. Little did they know just how shitty things were about to get.

It all started with the civilian girls making their way to their table.

"SASUKE-KUN! PLEASE GO ON A DATE WITH ME!" They all yelled at the top of their lungs.

To Naruto, this was somehow the highlight of his day. Seeing these pathetic and desperate girls try their luck with the most sought after free agent on the market, and completely failing on each level. Well it was either this or have a bunch of uneducated dumbasses harassing him for no reason whatsoever.

Naruto's face lit up when he saw two familiar faces walk into the class however, as both Sakura and Ino spotted the young jinchuriki and made their way to the seats right in front of Naruto and Sasuke, fighting their way through the hoard of girls.

"Ouch, sorry, excuse me!" Sakura said as she pushed through.

"Where are you going meanie? Stop trying to get in between me and Sasuke-kun!" The fangirls wailed as Sakura and Ino pushed by to get to their seats.

"Look, we don't care about you and your love for Sasuke, but please let us sit at our seats, they're right in front of Naruto and Sasuke." Ino said in a calm manner, not wanting to piss people off and make enemies on her first day at the academy.

"Well why else would you be here? I mean Sasuke-kun is right there, oh don't tell me you're here for the loser, my mommy and daddy called him a demon before, and mommy and daddy are never wrong. So why are you here if it's not to woo Sasuke-kun?" Random unnamed scrub fangirl 69 asked.

"For your information, that 'loser' you speak of has a name, it's Naruto. And for the love of god, if I hear you calling him anything other than his name, Naruto, then I will personally make sure you will never be able to live out your completely delusional princess fantasies with your SaSuKe-KuN." Sakura moved up to the fangirl and whispered in your ear "And don't even think about trying to mess with me, because if you do, the whole Yamanaka clan as well as Kushina Uzumaki will be right here to make sure you never pull this kind of stunt again."

"Is that a threat?" One pale-eyed girl asked condescendingly. "I'll have you know that my name is Hinata Hyuga, and my father is the head of the Hyuga clan, the most powerful clan in Konoha. So I suggest you shut up before I personally take this to Lord Hokage and have the both of you expelled from school for hitting a classmate."

Not wanting to cause any trouble on the first day, Ino grabbed Sakura and made their way to their seats, no longer worrying about the "feelings" of the mindless NPCs. Turning around, they flashed bright smiles at Naruto, hoping to gain his attention.

Naruto turned around just as Sakura and Ino sat down, thanking god that he had at least someone in the class that wouldn't treat him like dogshit and some people he could rely on when things got tough.

"Sakura-chan, Ino-chan! You guys are in this class too?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah didn't we tell you? Sakura and I are also joining the academy this year! But hey this is awesome, we get to be classmates!" Ino said excitedly before jumping up and hugging Naruto's soul out of him.

"I-Ino-chan… can't… breathe!" Naruto struggled to say. As Ino finally let go of him.

Not wanting to be outdone, Sakura went up to Naruto and sat down beside him, right in the middle of Naruto and Sasuke to be exact. She wrapped her arms around the young blonde as if to mark her territory on the young man. Naruto oddly found this endearing, especially when considering the other forms of girl interactions he got from people not named his mother or Ino always ended up with him getting a black eye or getting shunned.

Sasuke meanwhile was still trying to fight off his own fanclub. "NARUTO, HELP A BROTHER OUT PLEASE!" Sasuke screamed, which snapped Naruto out of his trance for long enough for the man to see just how much damage was done.

"I don't know Sasuke, I can't be the one to stand in the way of love, dattebayo. You're on your own for this one." Naruto snickered.

"COME ON, I'LL TREAT YOU TO FREE RAMEN IF YOU GET THESE PARASITES OFF OF ME!" Sasuke was beginning to get desperate. Offering free ramen? This had to be something that even Naruto himself couldn't turn down.

Naruto decided to tease Sasuke some more instead. "Now free ramen is definitely something I love, but seeing you struggle with these girls is just too funny to pass up."

"PLEASE NARUTO! I'M DYING OVER HERE!" Sasuke screamed out.

Luckily for him, this was the moment when a man with a giant scar on his nose walked in. Iruka Umino, otherwise known as the academy leader, was to be the gang's sensei for the next 5 years of their lives.

"Good morning class, my name is Iruka Umino and I will be your academy sensei for the next few years of your lives. Now if you could all find an empty seat and not jump on fellow classmates, that would be greatly appreciated." Iruka said.

The fangirls made their way to empty seats, with the biggest fight being the seats beside Sakura and Ino, trying to get as close to Sasuke as possible. Eventually, they all had to be separated as one pineapple-haired lazy ass named Shikamaru Nara made his way to the seat and plopped his head down on his desk, looking to get away from as many people as he could. Unfortunately for him, he had just landed in the worst situation possible. Sandwiched between the two loudmouths and the quietest kids in the class. This was a goddamn nightmare.

Luckily, it was at this time that Iruka used his big head jutsu to make his presence known.

"GET TO YOUR SEATS BEFORE I KICK YOU OUT OF THE CLASS! I DON'T THINK YOU WANT TO BE KNOWN AS THE PEOPLE WHO COULDN'T STAY IN THE ACADEMY FOR EVEN AN HOUR BEFORE GETTING KICKED OUT!" Iruka yelled and everyone immediately ran to the nearest seat possible.

"Good, now with that out of the way, let's begin with introductions. My name is Iruka Umino and I will be your academy instructor for the next few years as you all learn what it takes to be a shinobi. Beside me is Mizuki Takabiashi, your other instructor and my close friend." Iruka stated. "Now I want you all to go around the table and tell me your name and one thing you like. Hopefully this will help everyone become friends."

Iruka started at the front where most of the civilians sat. While they went through their random spiels, Naruto didn't find them nearly interesting enough to actually pay attention to. He turned to Sasuke and whispered in his ear.

"Yo Sasuke, wanna play a game?" Naruto said.

"What's up Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"You know these posers aren't real ninjas, wanna guess where these people will fail the academy? Or you think they'll all drop out?" Naruto asked.

"Alright, I can play."

Naruto and Sasuke moved around the table, picking out all the random ass people that had no business being in the academy. To them, they couldn't see a single person who was even remotely close to being considered to be a competent shinobi, as they all had pretty bullshit reasons for wanting to go to the academy. That is until a man with a dog and an attitude problem spoke up.

"My name is Kiba Inuzuka and this is my dog, Akamaru. I am the heir to the Inuzuka clan throne. I can guarantee that I will whoop everybody's butts in this classroom and none of you can do a thing about it. If you want to challenge me to a fight, well, get your hospital bills ready because I will not hesitate to unleash Akamaru on you and make you pay with your blood!" He yelled, causing the person next to him to let out an audible sigh.

"Seriously Kiba, you need to be quiet. The reason is because you're giving us too much attention and have now put a target on your back, and with me being associated with you, now a target is on my back too. The reason is because…" A man who looked even more emo than Sasuke spoke up, and Naruto couldn't help but notice and poke fun at his brooding friend.

"Yo Emosuke, it seems like you got competition for the 'least likely to ever land a decent woman' award." Naruto snidely remarked.

"Speak for yourself, at least I can get a woman. I've never seen you even talk to a girl that isn't your mother." Sasuke shot back, not knowing that the man beside him had already kissed the two girls sitting in front of them.

"Oh right, I forgot because while you were out there screaming for your mommy, I was out here bagging the hottest girl in the class, and you can't do anything about it cuz we've already kissed for your information." Naruto responded in a nonchalant way, causing Sasuke's ears to perk up and Sakura and Ino to turn redder than a tomato.

"Damn Naruto, respect my boy." Sasuke high-fived Naruto before Iruka interrupted the duo.

"Naruto, Sasuke, is there anything you'd like to tell the class?" Iruka asked in his 'I dare you to speak now, try me' voice.

Both of them recognized this immediately and apologized for distracting the class, and the introductions went along.

"My name is Shino Aburame and I'm the heir of the Aburame clan. The reason is because I am the son of Shibi Aburame, the current leader of the clan. I like bugs, and if any of you try to hurt my bugs I will personally make it my mission to ensure that you do not end up in happy places, at least for that moment. The reason is because bugs and I share a special relationship, and I do not wish to explain any further than necessary." The Aburame clan head spoke up, the shrill in his voice making it uncomfortable for a lot of the class, especially the females.

"Ino, please remind me to never get on his bad side? I think he'll go after my family if I do." Sakura said. Despite everything that transpired with her family, Sakura couldn't bring herself to hate them. It was because of Mebuki and Kizashi that she was alive today and well.

"Don't worry Sakura, I don't think it's that hard to not make him mad. Just don't talk badly about his bugs or don't squish his bugs and we should be fine." Ino said. On the outside it felt like nothing could conquer her spirit, but on the inside, she was having a full on mental breakdown from Shino's introduction.

"Thank you Shino, we can move on now. You, pink hair. You go next." Iruka said as he pointed towards Sakura.

Sakura nervously got up. Despite having both Ino and Naruto in the same class with her, she still felt that she wouldn't be able to do this. Looking around and seeing all the clan heirs while she herself was a lowly civilian that even her parents didn't want. It was a complete and utter nightmare for her.

Sensing this, Naruto tapped her on the shoulder. "You got this Sakura-chan, just believe in yourself and if you need anything, I'm here."

"Thank you Naruto-kun." Sakura said before turning to the class. "My name is Sakura, I like to study and learn new things, I like playing with my friends, and I like people who are nice to others. I do not like meanies, broccoli, and people who call my forehead too big. I joined the academy because I want to become a ninja just like Kushina Uzumaki, known by many as the greatest Kunoichi of her generation and possibly of all time, despite not being from a clan with strong powers like the Senju or the Uchiha." Sakura said that last part with such confidence that it could only make Naruto slightly blush and Sasuke to perk up his ears. Finally, a civilian that had an actual goal that wasn't just "Marry Sasuke Uchiha and have sharingan babies" or "Beat the ever living dog crap out of people." Although, she didn't have to throw that stray at the Uchiha clan, but Sasuke let that slide for now.

Unfortunately for Sakura, a lot of people weren't as comforting as Naruto and Sasuke.

"She's stupid. She doesn't have any special powers, how can she ever think she'll be a great kunoichi?" One guy snickered out loud.

"Yeah, and I heard that she was so ugly that her parents didn't even want her anymore. I heard they planned to turn her into the Uchiha's lapdog." Another civilian laughed.

"Hey, Sakura right?" Hinata walked up to her and stuck her face in Sakura's nose.

"Y-yeah? Can I help you?" Sakura stammered.

"You better watch yourself when you say you want to be a good kunoichi, because all I see here is a girl who has no talent, no special kekkei genkai, and no chance of being anything more than a weak genin. Maybe not even a genin, you won't make it out of the academy. If you do, you'll be nothing more than a burden on the team you join." Hinata whispered in Sakura's ear.

Sakura was undeterred by this however and took this time to shoot back with even greater force.

"And how can you be so sure of that? Cuz from what I know, you don't know anything about me, you just met me today. Just so you know, I could probably beat you in any sparring fight right now." Sakura challenged in response, knowing that it would shatter Hinata's ego if she was beaten in these fights.

"Fine then, me vs you during the entrance spar… don't be a chicken and back out when you see my true might." Hinata said as she backed off.

Ino was shocked to say the least. Why didn't Sakura tear that bitch a new one? Why was she so reserved towards her? She just disrespected her whole family and Sakura stood there and let it happen? No, she needed to get to the bottom of this.

"Sakura, why didn't you say anything back?" Ino asked.

"Because, Ino, returning what she said back to her is not the way to gain her respect. She's the type to respond to strength and strength only. She chose to pick on me because she thinks I'm weak, so to prove her wrong I have to beat her in a fight, be it a spar or a fight to the death." Sakura responded.

Ino could only nod at what Sakura said to her. Despite only knowing her for about a month or two, she knew just how good Sakura was at reading people. She could tell who wanted to hurt her and who was a friend just from looking at the twitch in their eyelashes. For all that she knew, Sakura would be great in torture and interrogation, at least that's what she got from it all.

It was then that Iruka called out Ino for the first time.

"Thank you very much Sakura-san, now you blondie sitting next to Sakura, tell me your name, a little bit about yourself, and why you wanted to come to the academy." He said.

"My name is Ino Yamanaka, the heiress to the Yamanaka clan. I like making friends, playing with friends, and learning mind jutsu from my dad. I hate bullies and people who think they're better than others. As for why I wanted to come to the academy? Well I want to be just like my mommy and daddy, two great ninjas who are still very nice to others." She said with sheer confidence.

Iruka then moved onto the rest of the class, who either gave super uninteresting answers or were just screaming at the top of their lungs, usually only 2 things: "MaRrY mE sAsUkE-kUn" or "I wIlL pRoVe ThAt I'm BeTtEr ThAn ThE uChIhA!" It would be a while until the next person worth a damn showed up.

"You there, ponytail who seems to enjoy sleeping more than learning about your classmates." Iruka pointed to Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru Nara. I like it when people don't bother me. I joined the academy because my mom forced me to. Now can I go back to sleep?" The lazy boy said in the most monotone way possible.

Naruto and Sasuke looked at the pineapple-haired kid with some kind of admiration in their eyes. How could he not care about such a milestone in his life? This was going to be one of the defining moments for him and he sits there and acts like it's something that he could just do without even trying.

"How did he get so cool?" Naruto asked himself.

"Why doesn't he care at all?" Sasuke asked himself.

Iruka made his way through the rest of the class, with Naruto and Sasuke taking interest in the rest of the main clan members, those being Hinata and Choji. However, it was now time for the final two, the two people who everyone seemed to either hold envy over or were willing to do anything to get them to take their dick out.

First up was Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I like some things, I hate most things. I joined the academy to get strong, strong enough to protect the village that my brother gave his happiness to protect." Sasuke said, causing every girl besides Sakura, Ino, and Hinata to instantly wet themselves.

"Oh my god he's so cool!" They all screamed out and swooned, leading to every single boy near them cringing in their seats.

"Thank you for sharing, Sasuke, and that seems like a really good goal to try and go for, I hope you get it one day." Iruka stated before moving on to Naruto.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like my family and friends, I don't like people who try to hurt others for no reason, and I hate the people who tried to hurt me that one day. I joined the academy because I want to become Hokage one day, and this is the first step in becoming hokage." Naruto proudly exclaimed to the rest of his class, at which most of them burst out laughing.

"REALLY? A LOSER LIKE YOU THINKS HE CAN BE HOKAGE?! THIS HAS TO BE THE FUNNIEST JOKE I'VE EVER HEARD!" The whole class besides Sakura, Ino, Sasuke, and Shikamaru barked, laughing hysterically at Naruto's expense.

"Don't listen to them Naruto-kun, they have no idea how strong you really are, so let them keep barking no matter what, Ino and I will be here for you." Sakura whispered to Naruto.

"Thanks Sakura-chan, I know I can count on you to be there for me, so thank you for that." Naruto responded. Despite making more enemies than friends on his first day, Naruto could immediately tell that this would be an interesting six years of his life. He had the people he cared about around him, so what everyone else did was a mere formality to him.

This is going to be a long ride, isn't it Kurama? Naruto thought as he spoke to Kurama in his mind.

Leave me out of this brat, and for the love of god can you stop calling me whenever you feel like it, I was trying to take a nap you imbecile. I thought we had a deal that you wouldn't bother me when I'm sleeping and I don't take over your body and turn you into the demon fox that everyone's trying to get rid of. Kurama sneered.

Love you too you giant furball. Naruto retorted.

GET BACK OVER HERE YOU PUNK AND LET ME EAT YOU OUT! MY GOD YOU'RE SO DAMN ANNOYING SO JUST BE QUIET AND LET ME DEVOUR YOU! Kurama yelled out, he hated being called a furball by anyone, especially the boy who kept him inside his cage for the majority of his life.

Naruto exited his mindscape and continued on with his day, looking to finally cement his legacy as the greatest ninja to ever come out of Konoha, surpassing his father, Hashirama Senju, and everyone who had ever held the title of the greatest shinobi ever.

And that does it for this chapter. Sorry for the chapter itself being really short, I had a lot of assignments to do for school and with my exam season starting up shortly, I won't be able to get working on content until that is done. Before that though, I wanted to get something out for y'all to enjoy, so hopefully you do enjoy this and let me know how this chapter is to you.

Also, I have a few questions:

If you like this style of shorter chapters but faster updates (5k words every 2-3 weeks rather than 8-9k words every month) let me know.

What do you all think of the story so far? This has become something that I really have enjoyed writing so hopefully you all are enjoying it as much as I am, any form of reviewing is welcomed.

Is there anything I can do to improve the story? Whether it be something with the characters, something with the storyline, or something with the language of the story, I'm open to any form of criticism so long as it's not outright hate or flaming.

Aside from that, you all know the drill, leave a review on the story to let me know exactly how you are liking it so far, and also I need some help deciding who should be on Naruto's team for this story, as well as his jonin sensei.

Until next time! Peace!