AN: There's quite a bunch of time skips in this chapter. Honestly, I ain't gonna write about every single year of the academy.
Naruto stood in front of his masterpiece. The walls on the teachers lounge were painted with silly faces in bright neon orange. The floors were covered in soap and oil. This was Naruto's latest prank. Ever since the academy started, he had been frequently doing random pranks. Since he basically knew most of what the senseis had to teach, he thought he might as well have some fun in the academy.
Naruto used the help of his shadow clones to execute the pranks so that he could stay in class and never be a suspect. The pranks also helped him practise his stealth and strategy making. During Iruka's lesson, Naruto gained the memories of the now dispelled clones. He grinned under his mask when he thought of his finished work. Moments later, a staff member ran in the classroom and whispered some words to Iruka. "Iruka-sensei, someone has pranked us again. The lounge is now filled with paint and soap and oil," she whispered in his ear so that the class could not hear. However, two of the students managed to hear their conversation.
"Yo, Naruto," Kiba Inuzuka called from behind him. "Looks like someone pranked the academy again. Whoever this guy is, he is definitely very good to not be caught yet." Kiba, like all Inuzuka, had enhanced hearing and smell just like a dog. He could hear 3 times better than a normal human and could smell 100 times better. It was not as strong as a dog's senses but is superior to that of a normal human. Naruto, however, had also heard their conversation. Kakashi had taught him to channel chakra to his senses to enhance them. He could enhance his hearing and smell and could hear just as well as Kiba although his sense of smell could match Kiba's. "I know right. This guy is a master. He's yet to be caught after so many pranks." He said as if he wasn't just praising himself. Kiba was a friend Naruto made in the past few months of being in the academy. He respected that Kiba was willing to never back down even though he can really run his mouth sometimes. He was also a very fun and loyal friend to be around.
He also made friends with a guy named Shino Aburame. He uses bugs to help him as a shinobi. Naruto became his first ever friend. He was the first to not turn him away for thinking his bugs were weird or creepy. Naruto thought it was kinda cool and he had started reading a book about insects so they could have slightly longer conversations. He also met Hinata Hyuga and tried to be her friend. She is very timid and shy but Naruto could see her potential especially with the eyes that she possesses, the Byakugan. The byakugan was capable of seeing the chakra system of people. Every time Naruto tried to talk to her, she would turn super red and stutter.
Ino, the blonde super fangirl of Sasuke, was introduced to him by Shikamaru. He found out that their parents knew each other and they were friends ever since they were born. Sakura was introduced by Ino, she is the other super fangirl of Sasuke. She has pink hair and has a weird relationship with Ino. At one point, they would be the best of friends and at another they could be at each other's throats and be rivals especially when it comes to Sasuke. Their relationship is somewhat similar to that of his and Sasuke's friendship. At one point, they could be all buddy-buddy with each other. At another, they could be ready to kill one another.
Flashback
Two Days After Orientation and First Taijutsu Class
The class had been asked to spar with one another. However, it seemed like nobody could defeat Sasuke. He had sparred with Kiba, Choji and Shino and he defeated them all. Kiba was too eager to fight and left big openings to exploit, Choji could hit hard but was too slow, Shino was not really a taijutsu user and Shikamaru was too lazy to even try.
'Let's see, how about we get the demon brat to fight against the Uchiha' thought Mizuki. "Naruto, you will spar with Sasuke now," he called out. Naruto knew that he could defeat Sasuke easily. With the training he got from Kakashi and Gai on taijutsu, only high genins and above could defeat him. However, he did not want to reveal his strength so early on. He could see that Sasuke will never accept that he is stronger especially with that stick up his ass and superior mentality. It will be troublesome down the line for him if he wins right now.
"Go Sasuke-kun! Beat that Baka. He is only trying to fake being cool and is trying to be like you!" "Yeah, beat him Sasuke-kun and show him who's boss!" Ino and Sakura shouted. "Go Naruto-kun! Show him that you are better than him!" "Do you guys agree?" "YEAH!" Shouted Naruto's fangirls.
Naruto and Sasuke could only sigh as they heard the cheering. Naruto and Sasuke ignored them and got into their stances. Sasuke got into the Uchiha's interceptor fist style while Naruto got into the standard academy stance. They both nodded to Mizuki to start the spar. "Hajime!" Mizuki shouted to signal the start of the spar. Naruto and Sasuke stood still, eyeing each other up. Sasuke suddenly engaged Naruto as fast as he could. For an academy student, the speed was quite impressive. However, Naruto had been sparring against Kakashi and Gai at much faster speeds so he could clearly see Sasuke coming towards with a fist ready to slam into his face. Naruto could have easily caught the fist and punched him in the face and the match would be over in seconds. However, he chose to instead parry it and palmed his chest, sending him back to where he came from.
Everyone was shocked when Sasuke got hit so easily. Sasuke recovered and went right back to Naruto. They engaged in a fierce bout of taijutsu. Sasuke tried to kick him at the side of his head but Naruto blocked it with his forearm. Naruto tried to kick him in his torso but Sasuke parried it away with his hands. Naruto jumped over Sasuke and ended up behind him, facing away from him. They turned around to once again face each other and engaged in another battle. They continued blocking each other's attempts for five minutes before the fight was ended by the bell. The match ended in a draw.
Sasuke smirked when the spar ended. 'I finally have someone who can keep up with me. How strong are we compared to each other, Naruto…' He thought. 'The demon could keep up with the Uchiha. Shit.' Mizuki thought. 'Naruto, you could've beaten him easily. Why didn't you?' Kurama asked. 'Kurama, if I beat him now, he would never be done with me until he's finally proven his superiority. It's the Uchiha mentality isn't it. You know more than me about their clan. From young, they were fed thoughts that they were the strongest and no one else.'
Flashback Ended
Time Skip: One Year
Four months after Uchiha Massacre
Naruto was roaming through the school halls during their lunch break. As he strolled through the school, he could not help but think of the Uchiha Massacre. A few months ago, news reached everyone in the village that Sasuke's brother, Itachi Uchiha had slaughtered all but one of the Uchihas, Sasuke. Itachi was a prodigy and everyone had high hopes for him. He was an anbu captain and was considered one of the best in the village. Nobody had expected him to one day kill his clan just like that. Ever since that day, Naruto noticed that Sasuke's attitude had grown even worse than before. He was constantly brooding in class. He sat by the window, away from any social interaction. Naruto could constantly hear him mumbling about how he would kill Itachi and take revenge for his family with his enhanced hearing.
Naruto was broken out of his thoughts when he sensed a mob heading his way from behind him. 'Oh no, they found me…' The mob was a group of fangirls searching for him. Naruto looked around for his escape options and immediately ran into the male washroom closest to him and locked the door.
Inside, he saw Sasuke was sitting on a ledge where many sinks were built into. The sinks were directly across the cubicles and urinals. "Running from them too, teme?" Naruto asked. "Hn," Sasuke grunted as a sign of agreement. Naruto decided to join Sasuke and sat opposite him on the ledge.
"Yo, teme, have you ever actually looked at the girls chasing after you for more than 30 seconds? You always seem to ignore them." Naruto said, trying to make a conversation to pass the time. "Why do you wanna know, dobe?" He replied.
"Hey! I lost the race once and you know that it wasn't a clean loss. Kiba tripped me and knocked me out. So don't call me dobe!" He furiously said. "Still came in dead last so you are a dobe to me. So how about stop calling me teme!" Sasuke replied.
"Oh, I'm sorry great lord Sasuke," Naruto sarcastically replied. Both boys were staring at each other with fury in their eyes. Any movement can trigger a fight. However, both of them smirked and returned like nothing happened. "Anyways, continuing on, it's like you don't even look at them. Even I have to admit some of my fangirls are pretty, I just don't like any of them. You on the other hand, don't even take a glance. Like are you gay or something? I'm sure plenty of fanboys would be happy to know that. Though, you do know that you need women to restore your clan right?
"WHAT! I'm not gay. What the hell, dobe! I like women!" He shouted. "Sure you do, Sasugay…" Naruto replied with an eye roll. Just then Sasuke launched himself at Naruto. Naruto swiftly jumped away and ran out of the door with Sasuke trailing behind him. He stopped and turned around to look at Sasuke. "Hey everyone, Sasuke is here!" He announced at the top of his lungs as he looked Sasuke directly in the eye and smirked. "Enjoy," he said as he left in a shunshin. Soon, a mob of girls reached Sasuke's location.
When Naruto saw Sasuke back in class, he could see his face steaming in anger. "You are going to pay for this, dobe. I will kill you," he said. Naruto responded with a middle finger as Sasuke went to sit at his seat. "I would like to see you try," he responded.
Ever since that day, Sasuke's and Naruto's rivalry grew outside of just their shinobi abilities. They try to beat each other in everything, from food eating contests all the way to running rounds around the village. 'Man, we have a weird relationship. I feel like we are becoming Gai and Kakashi: Next Generation or something' Naruto thought.
Time Skip: 3 Years
10 Year Old Naruto
Naruto was at the public library sifting through the shelves for books. He was looking for anything that might let him know more about his clan. He would have asked the librarian for help but the old man was one of those who believed that he was a demon. The only reason he could even enter the library was because the Hokage had personally met the man and asked for him to not be disturbed at any point of time while in the library. Naruto used his shadow clones to help quicken the search process.
While searching, he found a book on old extinct clans and sat down to read it. In the book he finally found what he was looking for. "The Uzumaki Clan was a prominent clan in the Uzushiogakure (Village of the Whirling Tides). Its members are known for their red hair, strong life-forces and great chakra reserves. They were feared for their fuinjutsu and kenjutsu. Due to this, many nations saw them as a major threat and worked together to destroy the village. The village also had a close relationship with Konoha and said relationship is represented by the whirlpool emblem on the backs of the Konoha flak jackets. Many of its surviving members scattered throughout the land and the most prominent being Mito Uzumaki, the wife of the First Hokage." That was all the book had on the Uzumaki clan.
'Wow, my clan was so cool. Red hair would look quite cool on me. Kenjutsu and fuinjutsu…Maybe I should learn those as one of the last few if not the last Uzumaki in the world.' He thought. 'I know exactly who to ask.'
Naruto placed the book where he found it, dispelled his clones and shunshin to the Hokage tower. He appeared in front of the Hokage's office door and knocked it. He entered when the Hokage allowed him to.
"Hey, Jiji!" Naruto said as he saw Hiruzen stop his paperwork and bring out his pipe. After taking a deep breath of the pipe and letting the smoke out, he finally reacted to Naruto's appearance. "Naruto-kun, it's been a while since I've seen you. What brings you here today?"
"I wanted to ask you something, can you teach me fuinjutsu?" He asked. "What brings you here with this interest, Naruto-kun? I never knew you to be interested in seals before this," he asked with an eyebrow raised before he took another deep breath from his pipe. Naruto began to explain how he read about his clan and wanted to be a fuinjutsu master to honour his heritage. "I see, I understand. I have to warn you that fuinjutsu is a very abstract subject and only a few are masters. Furthermore, I can only teach up to a certain level as I myself am not a master. If you are really keen, take this book and read it. We will meet again and I will test you on the contents of the book." Naruto received a book titled, "Fuinjutsu: Level 1".
"Level 1?" Naruto wondered aloud. "Yes, there are many levels to fuinjutsu. I am a level 7 fuinjutsu user while masters are level 10 or maybe even more. There is only one sealing master from Konoha but he is currently not here right now." Hiruzen answered.
"Any other questions, Naruto-kun?"
"Yes, can I talk to Neko-nee for a minute. I know she's in the corner of the room, I can sense her," he said. Hiruzen waved his hand and Neko appeared beside Naruto. "You are getting better at sensing, Naruto-kun. I was suppressing my chakra a lot and you still sensed me, impressive." She said. "Now what did you want to ask her, Naruto-kun." Hiruzen asked. "Neechan, can you teach me kenjutsu? I'm pretty sure you heard my conversation with Jiji and aside from fuinjutsu, the Uzumaki were also known for their kenjutsu. So can you teach me?" He asked. Neko looked towards the Hokage and he gave her a nod. She turned back to look back at Naruto and said, "Sure, whenever I am free, I will meet up with you and I will train you in Kenjutsu." She said as she ruffled Naruto's hair. Naruto had a huge smile on his face and beamed with happiness.
Time Skip: Two Years
Graduation Exam
Naruto had taken to fuinjutsu like a fish to water. He had progressed to level 4 and was now in the midst of learning level 5. He had also swapped his physical wrist and ankle weights for weight seals. The seals made his overall movement weighted and had many levels. His seal was now on level three. It is the equivalent of having two times his body weight acting on him. His kenjutsu started off very rocky but he was improving by the day. Yugao was very patient in teaching him. She also had a great emphasis on the basics. "The best buildings have the strongest foundations" she says.
Currently, Naruto was in the middle of his written exam. This exam was a portion of his graduation requirements. He stared at the clock and saw that there were 10 minutes left until the end of the exam. Scanning around the classroom, he saw that Shikamaru was sleeping. Sasuke, Sakura and Shino were also done with the exam like him and everyone else were still intently focusing on their papers. 'Hey, Kurama. Looks like I'll finally be able to become a shinobi soon. Any good advice to give?' 'Just don't die,' Kurama responded. 'Wow, such encouraging words…' Naruto sarcastically thought. Soon the paper ended and the practical portion of the exam started. Everyone was required to do three jutsus: Henge no Jutsu (Tranformation Jutsu), Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Jutsu) and Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substituition Jutsu). They were also meant to spar against a chunin instructor and last 5 minutes.
Kiba went first and came back 20 minutes later with a proud ninja headband on his head. Slowly, one after the other, everyone took their exams. Some failed but many passed. All of Naruto's close friends passed and wore their headbands proudly. Naruto was the last to take the exam out of the whole class. He stepped out of the classroom and entered the neighbouring classroom specially catered for the exam. Iruka and Mizuki were sitting behind a desk on the opposite side of the classroom entrance.
"All right Naruto, this will be your final exam. Firstly, can you please do a henge?" Iruka asked. Naruto created a hand seal and he transformed into the Hokage wearing his red signature Hokage robes. "Looks like there are no deformities with the henge. Next, would you use the Bunshin no Jutsu?" Naruto made the hand seal for the Bunshin no Jutsu and 10 of them appeared around the classroom. Unbeknownst to both of them, the clones were actually shadow clones. Naruto had managed to master the jutsu enough to create them with only one hand seal. Naruto then dispelled the clones. "Lastly, can you use the Kawarimi no Jutsu?" Naruto proceeded to Kawarimi with Mizuki and sat at his place while Mizuki was on the floor. 'Just like on the first day,' he thought when he saw Mizuki seething with anger while on the floor.
"Looks like you passed the ninjutsu test with perfect scores, Naruto. Now we will do the Taijutsu test. You will spar with Mizuki and will try your best to last for 5 minutes." Iruka said as he held Naruto's shoulder and shunshin them to the training area. 'I will get this demon to regret ever making fun of me.' Mizuki thought. He was prepared to even kill Naruto, he no longer cared of the consequences. He had a chance and he will take it. He released his killing intent to try and scare Naruto. 'Yo, Kurama. Is he trying to scare me with killing intent? Cause if he is, I ain't feeling shit.' 'Maybe…It's quite a pathetic attempt if you ask me' Naruto was trained by Kakashi such that he was able to overcome strong amounts of killing intent. Furthermore, Kurama had also given him a taste of his own killing intent and he was brought to his knees by it. The one Mizuki gave could not be compared to that of a Jonin and a Bijuu.
Naruto stared at his opponent and nodded to Iruka to start the match. "Hajime!" As soon as Iruka announced the start of the match, Mizuki shot out at Naruto as fast as he could. For others, he might have been too fast to see, but to Naruto he was slow enough that he could immediately see a weak point in his attack. He sidestepped Mizuki's punch and entered his guard. He then hit Mizuki in the stomach with his knee causing him to slump over it. Naruto proceeded to punch the slumped over Mizuki in the sternum and sent him flying. The match was over in five seconds. Iruka was flabbergasted. Naruto had beaten Mizuki so easily. Naruto speaking to him caused him to break out of his daze, "so I take it that I passed?" "Congrats, Naruto. Take this head band, you deserve it. I will take Mizuki to get him checked up, please return to class." He said.
Naruto entered the class and saw everyone was silent and staring at him as he wasn't wearing his headband nor was he jumping for joy like everyone else. "So how did it go, dobe?" Sasuke broke the silence. "Pfft, was there even a question? I sent Mizuki to hospital, you should've seen his face," he scoffed as he showed everyone his headband. "Wow, Naruto. I knew you didn't like him but you sent him to the hospital? How did you do that?" Kiba asked the question many was thinking of. "Meh, I just gave him a knee to the stomach and punched him in the chest. I think I broke a rib or two. Eh, oh well…" he said nonchalantly and went up to his desk and opened up a book for fuinjutsu level 5. Everyone was staring at Naruto with disbelief. He had just taken out a chunin and he shrugged it off like an everyday occurrence. 'Naruto, how strong are you really?' Sasuke thought.
