A/N: This is my first attempt at a Naruto story and it probably won't turn out good. Any feedback is appreciated, whether it be constructive criticism, props, or anything. However, flames will be ignored. Now without further ado, lets get into the story!

Chapter 1: Prologue

Naruto Uzumaki wasn't your average everyday orphan. He was, as every orphan was, without a guardian. He was, as every orphan was, lonely. He was, as every orphan was, sad. He wasn't, as almost every orphan was, looked at with pity and kindness however.

No Naruto Uzumaki was looked at with total disdain and hatred. Simply walking down the streets incurred several cruel beatings or belittles. He had no idea why, but the entire population of Konohagakure no Sato seemed to hate him for being him. He had very few precious people, in fact the only ones he could name of the top of his head were Hiruzen Sarutobi, or as he had dubbed the Sandaime, jiji, Ayame, a girl who helped her father run a nearby ramen shop, and Teuchi, the father of said girl. It was sad actually, a boy his age, eleven, being hated by everyone.

Naruto looked glum as he walked over to the Hokage tower. His usual bright cerulean eyes filled with mischief and happiness were dull and sad, and his blond spiky hair covered his eyes. He was glared at by the people of the village; however they weren't dumb enough to do anything to him so close to the Hokage. Even the Anbu that were supposed to watch him, but usually slacked off, were paying attention.

Naruto walked through the doors of the tower and straight past the secretary; however he earned a glare from her at doing so. She hated him too, although she would at least appreciate it when demons respected her. She wasn't trash like him.

He walked up the stairs of the bleak tower before he turned, looking at the double, wooden doors in front of him. He sighed and pushed them in, speaking in a timid voice.

"Jiji?"

The man sitting at the desk looked at Naruto with shock. The man was light skinned of average stature with greyish to white spiked hair and a small goatee. He had pronounced cheekbones, a few wrinkles, and a wart near his left nostril and a few liver-spots. He wore the usual hat of the Hokage and a haori, along with a red, full-length kimono that was tied using a white sash. He was smoking a pipe at the moment.

However, the man was shocked by Naruto's clothes. The black shirt with the red spiral in the middle was in tears, and his orange shorts had been nearly torn apart. It made the Hokage seriously wonder if the Anbu he sent to guard Naruto did their job, and even more than that, if the villagers of Konoha had all but lost their mind. He understood them not understanding much about fuinjutsu, but this was ridiculous.

"Come, Naruto."

The boy walked into the room, not releasing any of his usual brashand hyperactive behavior. In fact, he appeared to be scared. He ignored the oval room, that while usually filled with stacks of unfinished paperwork, was clean and the large window behind the old mans back.

He began to talk. "Jiji, why do people hate me? What have I ever did wrong to them?"

Hiruzen sighed. He couldn't tell the boy about the Kyuubi, even if the three whisker marks per cheek gave it away quite easily, it would be foolhardy; however he couldn't just leave him there wondering.

"Naruto they are not wise. They do not see you for you, but only for a creature that used to live in the village. They are blinded by hatred, and take it out on you."

"But why me!?"

"I have no idea. Even I don't know everything."

Naruto frowned as he sat down on the hardwood floor with tears starting to appear. "Why me…"

Hiruzen frowned at the boy. He truly pitied him, and in a way he was his only true precious person. It pained him that he had to lie to the boy, especially when he had so few that cared about him, but he had no choice. As Hokage, he had to make tough decisions for the safety of the village and its people.

"Naruto how was your day at the Academy?"

"Bad, there were these big jerks that picked on me and then I had to spar with Sasuke, and of course he won, so all the girls fawned over him. AGAIN!"

'It comes with being an Uchiha. Girls fall for the dark look, it's weird though. Naruto's personality, if he matured some, would be good for many girls,' the Sandaime thought, chuckling to himself. However, he noticed that talking about the Academy seemed to cheer Naruto up, as he had begun to yell, so he pressed the topic.

"Make any friends?"

"Well…no, except for Shikamaru and Choji."

And just like that the vibe was killed. He really wished Minato was here, it would help so much. The man could relate to Naruto in many ways.

"I'm sorry about that Naruto, however I may have something that can cheer you up."

Naruto immediately went back to his normal behavior, an exceedingly hyper, short, blonde haired brat. He ran over to where the Hokage was, bouncing up and down with excitement and anxiousness.

"What is it? What is it?"

"Calm down Naruto," the old man chuckled out before he opened the drawer to his desk. He grabbed a small card from the desk drawer and signed Naruto's name on it.

"Naruto, you said that you wanted to become the Hokage in the future, right?"

Naruto nodded, still wanting to know what his gift was.

"Well, this card gives you access to the shinobi library. Now originally I wouldn't let you have this card until you were a shinobi, however you seem to be in a bad situation, so I'll let it slide. Grab something you think may be helpful. The basics on shuriken and kunai throwing, a taijutsu style, chakra theory, maybe some jutsu and I think you may have a natural knack for fuinjutsu. Also, if you want to be Hokage you have to be well educated in politics, meaning get a few books on that. Also, get a change of clothes with this money, it should help. No orange. Shinobi are not supposed to stick out like a sore thumb, especially on stealth missions."

"No way, I'd rather die with orange on me than without!"

The Hokage sighed and just handed Naruto money, looking strictly at him.

"Okay, but the shops don't let me go in them."

"Well, for the library just say the Hokage is allowing you to since I control it. As for the shops, there is one shop you could enter, called Higarashi Shinobi. Go there, it should be helpful. Also just incase, you can do a henge once you learn how to in the future."

Naruto nodded excitedly, before rushing out of the room. He was going to go to the library immediately, and then focus on training. He was going to rub it in that Uchiha's face when he got to the Academy tomorrow.

The Hokage smiled genuinely. Now if only he could get those Anbu straightened out, and make sure that he could help the boy along. While he didn't have enough time on his hands to personally train the boy, he knew one person who would love to train him. That person was none other than the Fourth Hokage's prized student, and strongest Jonin in the village. The man who's an S-Rank ninja in all bingo books and copied over a thousand jutsu. However, that person would also take in one more small pupil, Sasuke Uchiha. If the last Uchiha didn't receive training from the best of the best, the village council will throw a troublesome fit.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto pushed open the doors of the library, smiling all the time. He frowned when he saw all the books however. He hated books, absolutely loathed them. If you gave him a jutsu or other cool new technique he would be all for it, however books were the bane of his existence. They were, simply put, evil beyond belief.

He walked through the library, trying to find anything of use. As he walked down the 'Shinobi Basics,' aisle he found a book that looked helpful.

"'The Guide to Being a Good Ninja.' That sounds awesome."

Naruto grabbed the book before continuing on his journey. By the time he had reached the fuinjutsu aisle he had several books and scrolls in his hands, all on exactly what he was told to get. However, his luck, which was actually quite good to get this far and not get caught, had run out.

"What are you doing here demon," sneered a lady.

He turned to face the black haired lady. She had caramel eyes, which just screamed out hatred, and wore a red dress.

"The Hokage said I could be here, I even have his card," Naruto said, pulling out the card swiftly as if he could pull things from midair.

The lady frowned. She knew the Hokage and the boy were close, although she had no idea why such a sacred person like the Hokage would want to protect something that was worse than filth. Still, the Hokage would support the boy over herself so she could do nothing but have fits about the demon being in her library. She would definitely lose business over this.

"Fine, but if you ruin any book you're gonna pay for a new one," she said, stalking away, obvious anger in her steps.

Naruto smiled and continued on his journey to make him a better Shinobi.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto had gotten all of the books that he needed. Now he was headed to the Higarashi Shinobi shop. While he knew it wasn't in the civilian shops section, as they rarely had decent shinobi gear, he didn't know where in the shinobi shopping section it was in. He hoped that he would pass it on his walks through the area, but that in itself was doubtful. Looking up was painful as all he saw was hateful glances being sent his way.

While the shinobi seemed to not hate him as much the ones that did hate him, they still hated him with a burning passion. The amount decreased, but the pressure increased. He would show them. He would show all of them that he could be the best ninja and Hokage ever. Everyone would respect him then.

He continued his search for the place before spotting the shop. It was surrounded by small tress and had a katana as its logo. He walked inside the shop to see a massive array of weapons that made him drool.

He was never much of a person for weapons, he liked relying on kunai and shuriken as his main weapons, but the sight of this many was attracting, but he wouldn't use any of them.

"Excuse me, are you lost?"

"Yeah, could I get about 100 kunai, 150 shuriken, some training weights, a sealing scroll, smoke bombs, ninja wire, and some explosive tags?"

"Sure," the girl cheerily responded.

She quickly grabbed the items before putting them on the counter and counting up the cost of Naruto's items.

"All-in-all this will cost… 15000 yen."

Naruto groaned. That was the exact amount Jiji had given him, and he had wanted to save the majority of it. However, apparently now he could not. He had to get better; he wasn't good enough to be a ninja as it was right now. Getting better could save his life in the future.

"Here you go."

Naruto smiled and grabbed the items. He could barely carry everything, including the books he still had from the library. He would manage though. He didn't want to seem weak in front of his first friend; well he would consider her to be a friend. He smiled at her before rushing off yelling a quick, "Bye!" over his shoulder.

Tenten smiled and waved at the eleven year old. She couldn't wait until he became a ninja.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto had briefly stopped at his house to get everything settled in. He had only staid long enough to put down the things he wasn't going to use before he rushed off to one of the villages training grounds, weights on his legs and arms of course. He actually didn't know of many, only training ground 42 and training ground 30. He knew there were more, but he had never found them.

He decided to take training ground 42 as it was closer to the village, surprisingly as it had the higher number. He had quickly settled down. It was still early in the day, and he had enough time to train. As of now he was reading the basics on throwing kunai and shuriken. He had to slap his forehead at how simple it was. All this time he had been gruffly throwing the kunai, but he was supposed to let it flow with a flick of his wrist. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed that.

He grabbed the 20 shuriken and kunai he had brought with him, ten of each, before looking at the tree that stood in front of him. He smiled at it, before realizing something. He needed targets. He frowned at that, there was no way for him to actually make any. He just had to shrug it off. He'd get something next time.

He took all the shuriken, five in each hand, before launching them the way the book told him to. While it wasn't as good as he had hoped he had hit more than his usual three out of then. He had actually hit five.

"YATA! This is great! By the end of the day I'll be able to hit all of the shuriken and kunai!"

And so began Naruto's first day of self-preservation training.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto awoke with a groan the next day. He had stayed up late last night training hard. While he hadn't been able to hit all of the shuriken he had improved, as he had with the kunai. He had read up on politics, which bored him to no end, and on chakra theory and how to improve your chakra control. He had even learned why his Bunshin (Clone Technique) was so bad. He had too much chakra and not enough control. He had begun to practice that, however spinning a leaf on his hand, as was the first step to basic chakra control, had been unsuccessful so far. Lastly, he had found a scroll that actually suited him with taijutsu. While he usually just fought like a brawler, this taijutsu was useful, as it felt comfortable when he practiced and it was all about lethal strikes. All-in-all his training had been going good so far, with little low moments.

Naruto quickly threw on his brand new clothes. He wouldn't wear the old ones anymore or more like he couldn't as they were torn to shreds. These were the only clothes he had, and he planned to take care of them. He went into the bathroom and quickly got ready before rushing out into the kitchen. He didn't know how to cook, he realized as he walked in the kitchen.

He would have to fix that soon. He had also learned that eating food healthily helped you get taller, and since he was short for his age, he would start to eat right. He hated being teased about his height and planned to fix it.

He just grabbed some bread and stuffed it in his mouth. He didn't have enough time to have ramen today, which truly saddened him. After all, ramen, in his opinion, was the food of the Gods.

He ran, or more like fast walked as the weights were heavy, down the street, ignoring the glares adults sent his way. He was happy, ecstatic even, and nothing would bring him down. Why, you may ask? Because now he could rub everything he learned in that Uchiha's face.

To be honest Naruto didn't hate Sasuke. In fact, he wanted to be friends with the boy, as they both knew the curse of loneliness. Although Sasuke had once had parents, his whole clan was ripped away from him in one night. That atleast put his situation on par with Naruto's. However, since they died Naruto felt like he should be his friend. Not only so they could support each other, but because Sasuke reminded Naruto of himself. Naruto wanted to remove that look of darkness and anger plus the sadness deep within in his eyes.

Naruto ran into the huge building, past the secretary. The Academy was quite large and was comprised of several buildings which were erected over time. The building could be identified by the tree in front of it which has a swing on it and more so, by the giant sign with the kanji for, 'Fire,' on it.

Naruto walked into his classroom, smiling at the teacher. He was earlier than usual, which surprised Iruka, the teacher, greatly. Naruto usually came in late, to catch everyone's attention.

The classrooms were large and had high ceilings. In front of the blackboard in the front of the room was a podium, situated far from the students' desks and put in a position where the teacher could view everyone at once.

Iruka Umino was a man of average height and build. He had brown hair that he kept in a ponytail, dark eyes and a scar that ran across the bridge of his nose. He wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit complete with a forehead protector, sandals, and flak jacket.

"Why are you here so early Naruto?"

"I just felt like it," Naruto said, smiling.

He quickly walked to the back of the class. Only three other people were here, Mizuki, Sasuke Uchiha, or as Naruto had dubbed him, teme, and Hinata Hyuga. Mizuki had shoulder-length, white hair that had a slight tint of blue to it and green eyes. He wore the standard attire of a Konoha-nin, including the flak jacket and forehead protector, which was worn like a bandanna.

Hinata had dark blue hair and fair skin. She had the customary white eyes of her clan, the Hyuga clan, which had a tinge of lavender in them. Her bluish-black hair, with the blue being an undertone, was in a short, leveled hime-cut style just above her forehead, with chin-length strands framing her face. She wore a cream-colored hooded-jacket with a fire symbol on the upper right and left sleeves and fur around the cuffs and hem, with navy blue pants.

Sasuke was a fair-skinned ninja who had onyx eyes and black with a slight bluish tint chin-length hair. His hair was spiky in the back with bangs. The bangs roughly framed his face. He wore the traditional Uchiha clothing: a navy blue, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar and the Uchiha crest on the back and white arm warmers, along with white shorts. His face was almost always blank or scowling.

Naruto took out the one book he had brought with him to school as he waited for everyone to trickle in the class. It was a book on fuinjutsu, the only book he hadn't been able to get to when he trained yesterday. As he began skimming through it he smiled. The book, 'The Art of Sealing,' written by this guy named Jiraiya, had a warning on the first page. It said, "You must have perfect handwriting to use fuinjutsu!" in all capital letters. This was what made Naruto smile. He had the perfect handwriting, Hiruzen had told him so, as did Iruka. It was surprising considering the fact that he didn't like to write unless it helped him fight.

That's what made fuinjutsu perfect for him.

He hated writing, but he loved fighting. Fuinjutsu allowed you to write and use that writing in battle for unlimited effects. It gave a prankster like Naruto many ideas. All he had to do was learn it. He continued to read, until Iruka had called his name. Class had started, even though it felt like five minutes to him, when it really had been an hour.

"Naruto, class is starting, please put the book away…wait."

The entire class stared at him as if he had grown a second head. Even Sasuke raised a brow.

"What, am I doing something wrong?"

"YOU'RE READING!" they hollered at the blonde.

Naruto blushed, slightly embarrassed at the fact they thought he disliked reading. It wasn't false, but he could handle it when necessary.

"I don't like reading, but I admit it can be helpful," he mumbled. This caused the entire class to stare at him with a questioning gaze before looking at Iruka, who began teaching a boring lesson.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was bored out of his mind at the moment. Iruka was teaching the history of Konoha, and while Naruto liked this part of the day the best, at least the part when they were inside the classroom, however, he had promised the Hokage that he would be better than all of the previous Hokages, and doing that meant knowing your history.

This surprised the person who sat next to him, Shikamaru Nara. The boy had a surprised expression; however it was usually one of laziness or irritation. He had shoulder-length black hair tied in a spiky ponytail and narrow brown eyes. He wore a simple pair of silver hoop earrings. He wore a green lined mesh T-shirt under a short sleeved gray jacket with green edges, adorned on both the sleeves and the back was a circle with a line through it. He completed his clothing style with brown pants and blue shinobi sandals.

"You're actually paying attention to this Naruto?"

Naruto looked at Shikamaru, a bored expression on his face.

"Unfortunately."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru said, however Iruka noticed their conversation and yelled at them.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara, stop talking!"

The two were laughed at by the rest of the class, but they just shrugged it off. However, Iruka wasn't done with them.

"Shikamaru, who did the first Hokage battle after the creation of the village?"

It was something Iruka did often. If he ever caught you not paying attention he would ask you a question on the topic, to make sure that the embarrassment would make you learn more as you didn't want to look like a fool. It worked, on almost everyone, however three boys, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Chouji just didn't give a crap.

"Madara Uchiha," Shikamaru responded in a bored tone.

Iruka just frowned. The boy wasn't wrong, but such lack of enthusiasm wasn't good for a ninja. However, the boy was a Nara, so it was expected of them to be lazy, the entire clan, at least the males were.

However, Iruka still had to peg Naruto.

"Naruto, who was Madara Uchiha?"

Iruka knew he had Naruto. The boy never truly listened, but something was off about today. If he could get him this time Naruto may actually start trying in school. He wasn't expecting the answer Naruto gave.

"Madara Uchiha was a legendary shinobi and a former leader of the Uchiha clan. After allying with his rival, Hashirama Senju, also known as the first Hokage, their two clans created Konohagakure to achieve peace in the world. He eventually came to an impasse with Hasirama and defected from the village. However, he came back with the Kyuubi no Yoko to battle Hashirama for the position of Hokage. He lost, and died in the battle."

The entire class froze at the answer. Naruto answered a question…correctly. NARUTO! The dead-last, the loser, the orphan, the freak. He answered a question correctly when he rarely paid any attention in class.

"C-correct," Iruka said, stumbling over his words to express what he had just witnessed..

He turned and continued to teach, although he promised that he had to keep a closer eye on Naruto from here on out. It seemed he was more intelligent from what he let on before.

XXXXXXX

It was time for lunch, and Naruto had decided to go up to the roof to eat. He had brought a small bento that he bought early yesterday for himself to eat. As he sat down on a nearby table he looked around. He began to eat before he heard a shout. His head snapped up and he saw some bullies picking on the Hyuga in his class, not that he knew that, to him she was just some girl. The bullies were in the grade above his. He growled when he saw that. Who did they think they were? They didn't have the right to bully her.

He marched over there and shouted, "Hey leave her alone!" The bullies turned and glared at Naruto before breaking out into raucous laughter.

"You think you can hurt us, dead-last?"

Naruto growled. "Just leave her alone."

The bullies smiled.

"HOW ABOUT NO!"

The three bullies charged, all lifting their fists to punch Naruto. However, Naruto dodged the first one before punching him in the gut. He didn't turn fast enough however, and was hit from behind by another one. He turned, growling before jumping in the air. He came in with a flying side kick that landed straight in one of the boys' chest, sending him to the ground groaning.

He still had two more to deal with however, as they began to use combination attacks against him.

'These guys fight well together,' Naruto thought, however he wasn't the only one paying attention to the fight.

'Amazing,' thought Hinata.

'The dobe can fight this well? Maybe he isn't as bad as I thought before.' Sasuke thought, a quick smirk gracing his face. It seemed as if Naruto could become a potential rival to him in the future.

One boy came in alone, getting bold at them keeping Naruto on the ropes. He threw a straight punch, preparing to knock Naruto's block off. However, Naruto jumped backwards, forcing the boy to hyperextend his elbow.

The boy hissed in pain and dropped to the ground; however Naruto came in with a swift low kick to the boys' side and left him groaning on the ground. However, he was hit from behind by the last boy, also the most polished taijutsu fighter among them.

"What's your name kid?" the boy asked, slightly interested at the so-called dead-last that took down two of his friends.

"Naruto Uzumaki, what about you?"

"Aisku Yakke, nice to meet you," the boy said before charging.

During this charge Naruto took in Aisku's appearance. He wore a dark blue shirt, with a black vest over it. He had brown eyes and brown hair, with bangs that fell over his eyebrows. He wore dark brown pants, with shinobi sandals on his feet.

Aisku threw a roundhouse kick at Naruto's face; however the small boy ducked under the kick, only to be caught by a hook kick to the face that sent him tumbling.

'I've heard of this style. He uses Karate, and that technique. That was a roundhouse kick hook kick combination, he's good.'

Aisku charged again, bringing his fist up to guard his face. Naruto lifted his leg, preparing to lash out with a side kick; however the boy grabbed Naruto's leg and held it in place. He then swung it to the side, sending Naruto off balance. As the blonde fell Aisku smashed a knee into his forehead, drawing blood.

Naruto spat some blood out of his mouth, trying to look like he was fine, but truly his head was spinning. This guy hit hard, very hard. He had never been hit this hard, even by the villagers that tended to beat him.

Naruto looked up to see a fist coming towards his face, however he ducked, albeit it barely. He saw an opening, but he knew he would have to capitalize on it immediately to get passed the older boys defense. He swung up for an elbow smash towards Aisku's head, however the older boy ducked. Naruto smiled at seeing that and brought his elbow down into the back of Aisku's head. As the boy stumbled Naruto brought his knee into Aisku's face, knocking the boy out.

"Take that!" he shouted, smiling as Aisku whom fell to the ground.

Again he felt the eyes of many people on him. It was unnerving. While he liked attention they were staring at him as if he was a completely different person. He turned his face down and walked back over to where Hinata was.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-y-yes," the girl responded shyly.

Naruto then looked at her intently, causing her already rosy cheeks to burn.

"You're in my class right?"

"Y-y-y-yes, I'm Hinata Hyuga," the girl said, still a little shy around the blonde.

"Nice to meet you Hinata-san. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, believe it!"

Naruto then frowned at the girl. "You know, you shouldn't let those guys pick on you like that."

The girl looked saddened at that. "B-b-but there s-s-so b-big, how am I s-s-supposed to fight against that?"

Naruto smiled. "By getting stronger! I'll help you too."

The girl smiled and nodded timidly.

"Well then, follow me Hinata-chan, you have made yourself a friend today, a friend who will one day become the Hokage."

The girl smiled. She liked this boy. He was nice and didn't look down on her for being timid. She truly hoped she could be his friend.

XXXXXXXXX

It had been two months since Naruto had gotten his gift from the Sandaime. Said boy groaned as he slammed his fist into the log again. It was part of his morning workout, which consisted of 300 pushups, 200 punches on the tree with each arm, 200 kicks on the tree with each leg, and 50 laps around the entire training area. It was insane quite honestly, especially because he wore weights throughout the entirety of the practice. By the end of the workout he was dead tired.

To rest his body, not his mind, he studied chakra theory, politics, and fuinjutsu afterward. The only time he wasn't bored during this period was when he studied fuinjutsu, however that was because he was strangely attracted to it, as if its topics were hypnotizing. While it didn't scare him, it actually gave him a strange comforting feeling, although a strange feeling of hatred arose whenever he studied it, he wasn't sure what it meant either.

The last part of the day was probably the most hectic. He practiced his taijutsu style, worked on improving his chakra control, trained on his kunai and shuriken accuracy, and practiced his fuinjutsu. While fuinjutsu was much easier it was also more complicated, and while it wasn't hard, it took the most time, not including chakra control, as he had to make sure every stroke was perfect. Jiraiya, the writer of the book he was reading, hadn't gone into detail about what happened when a fuinjutsu was improperly, or sloppily, written but he had said that it was something no one, not even the Shinigami himself, deserved to encounter.

However, his training and academic aspects of life were not the only things that had improved. He shot up like a rocket since he started eating healthy. He now could look Sakura in the eye, whom was two inches shorter than Sasuke and still growing. His relationship with Hinata had skyrocketed. While he hadn't been over to her house he had learned more about her and her clan. To be honest he liked her, but disliked the policies of her clan. While he didn't know much about it, she had told him there was a wedge between the main and branch families, although he did not know what caused it or what that wedge was. He had taken to calling her Hina-chan now, which made her blush every time he did so. She stilled called him Naruto-kun, but he wasn't opposed to the name, he rather liked it. She was his 4th friend, third in his age range and class, anyway.

He also had made friends with Shikamaru and Chouji. Well, friend was a strong word, more like very good colleague. He hung out with them a lot, and had taken to their habit of cloud-watching. It was interesting, seeing how the clouds moved. It was actually a good way of stress relief for him when he felt sore from an earlier training regimen.

However, if anything hadn't changed over the course of the two months it was his relationship with his crush, a pink haired girl named Sakura. He had had a crush on her since they were in the third year in the academy, and it wasn't a one week type of crush. No, it was on a deeper level. It was not love, although Naruto, being as dense and unintelligent in the ways of dating as he was, thought it was. He still called her Sakura-chan, much to the girl's dismay, and still asked her out on dates, though way less frequently.

Needless to say he was rebuffed every time.

The girl was a die-hard Uchiha fangirl. It was the one thing he didn't like about her. She never noticed him, and even while he had improved and was by no means the idiot he once was she still considered him to be one. Her insulting nickname of Naruto-baka, was still what she called him. He had been told by Chouji and Shikamaru that he should quit while he was ahead, but he just couldn't. She was alluring with her lookes and grace, and he was a novice to feminine attraction. As Hinata was too shy to be anything more than a friend, although he would not deny the Hyuga was cute since she started growing her hair out instead of having a bowl cut.

Sakura had taken to physically rebuffing his dates now. Whenever he asked her out she screamed at him and punched him, hard. It broke a little bit of him every time she did so, but he was never a quitter, and swore that he could change her train of thought about him eventually.

However, Naruto no longer had time to practice. It was time for school, the hell spawn that it was, and he had to go. He had woken up particularly early today to train briefly. He sighed as he looked at the goggles he had begun to wear in public. They Hokage had given them to him when he was still very young, and they had been his only companion through his many years of hardship. They were something to reminisce of how is old life was, as it was beginning to change very rapidly.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto burst into his class, nearly late. Villagers had tried to stop him from reaching the Academy today, forcing him to make an arc around the village to avoid them. He smiled as the bell rang the second he busted in. His devilish luck was still active, and he definitely was making use of it.

"You made it on time Naruto, barely," Iruka said, smiling at the blonde. He had gotten used to the change in Naruto over the course of the two months.

Naruto smiled back, although he felt a distinct chill spread through his body as Mizuki, Iruka's helper, nodded at him with a small smile. Something about that man had always set Naruto off, although he took that as a sign that he may rig his grades as the majority of the academy teachers did.

"Take your seat."

Naruto did as told, and sat next to his closest friend, Hinata.

"N-N-Naruto-kun, w-where were you? Y-y-you were almost late today" She asked.

Naruto smiled sheepishly at the girl, rubbing the back of his neck. She still hadn't got over her stuttering problem, though she was improving. "I ran into some problems on the way here."

"Troublesome," he heard Shikamaru mumble in front of him.

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"Okay kids, time for the taijutsu sparing portion of the day," Mizuki said. "As Parents Day is coming up you all will be sparing with each other, as to get ready to show off everything you have learned we will have you spar each other, to make it more interesting."

Naruto nodded. Today was his chance. His chance to finally beat the Uchiha. For the past month all they had done was spar with Mizuki, but now he was going to be able to spar Sasuke, as long Mizuki called him out to spar Sasuke, he just had to rely on his luck again.

"Okay, as per usual, ladies first. I want Sakura and Hinata to spar."

Naruto frowned as Mizuki called that out. He didn't know who to cheer for. On one hand he had his childhood crush, while on the other he had the person who had become one of his most precious people; it was truly a hard choice. He had no idea which one to pick.

However, it seemed it was not needed as the fight ended in about 10 minutes. Out of all the girls, Hinata was the best at taijutsu hands down. While it may be she was the only clan girl, who trained, who didn't fast for the Uchiha, or the fact that she was slightly harder on the majority of the girls for hurting Naruto, especially Sakura, it didn't matter. She could undoubtedly beat all of them, even if she was shy. Sakura however, put up a better fight then he expected. It seems she's been training more instead of always fawning over Sasuke. Though she undoubtedly still harboured feelings for the Uchiha, she wasn't much of a fangirl anymore.

And so the fights continued, all the girls being pathetic at taijutsu. They had the capability of being good in taijutsu, but it was the fact that, with the exception of Hinata and perhaps now Sakura, ALL of the girls in the class were undoubtedly fangirls, which hindered their growth.

"Well that was…great," Mizuki said, forcing out the word great however it only sounded guttural. "Boys next. Kiba and Chouji, you're first."

Chouji had spiky, brown hair, swirl marks on his cheeks, and had a more robust physique. He wore black shorts, a long white scarf, a short-sleeved, green haori over a white shirt with his clan's obligatory kanji for "food" on it, small, hoop earrings, and his legs and forearms were wrapped in bandages.

Kiba had messy brown hair, sharp black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils, pronounced canine teeth, and nails. He also had distinctive red fang markings on his cheeks, as per his clan's rules. He wore dark grayish pants that reached his calves and a grey, hooded fur-lined coat, with the hood usually placed on his head, over an apparent plate of armor and fishnet undershirt.

"Sensei," Kiba began, "can we use chakra in our fight?"

Mizuki actually took time to think this over. The girls didn't use it, but then again the girls didn't have enough experience to use it as the majority never trained. The boys however, they trained. And they all had clans that helped them train; therefore it would not be to dangerous.

"I will allow it, however if I deem it to dangerous I will stop the match."

Kiba nodded and glared at Chouji who was eating a bag of chips. Kiba growled. "Begin."

Kiba's body was enveloped by a large cloud of chakra and he crouched on the ground, as if he were a canine. His teeth elongated even further, his fingers and toenails grew to claw-like length, and his eyes became wilder with his slit-like pupils thinning.

A dog barked behind Kiba. It was a small puppy with white fur and resembled a Great Pyrenees. Its eyes were squinted, appearing closed, and he had a dark brown nose, as well as dark brown patches on his ears and a dark outline around his mouth.

"Don't worry Akamaru. This will be over quickly."

Kiba charged Chouji, his claws raised. Chouji ducked under the swipe, barely dodging it, before stumbling backwards.

"W-wait Kiba, there is no need for violence."

"Yes there is Chouji!"

Kiba charged again, however this time Chouji was prepared. His arm began to enlarge, growing to gargantuan sizes.

"Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Multi-Size Technique)!"

Kiba dodged the overgrown fist partially, only allowing it to clip his side. However, the force of the blow was great and sent him to the ground. Chouji looked hesitant but still charged the downed Kiba. Kiba looked up, determination in his eyes, before he raised his claws again. He charged Chouji in response, before lashing out with his claws. He was faster than Chouji and because of that, when Chouji dodged his shirt had two diagonal slash marks on it. Chouji fell backwards as Kiba rushed in and put his claws to his neck.

"Yield," Kiba said.

Chouji nodded and looked at Mizuki. "I-I yield."

Mizuki nodded. "Kiba wins."

Chouji walked away from the circle looking down in shame, while Kiba sauntered off cockily.

"It's okay Chouji, you'll get him next time," Naruto said patting his friend on the back.

"Y-y-you did g-g-great out t-t-there C-Chouji-san," Hinata said, hiding behind Naruto slightly.

"Its fine Chouji, winning is too troublesome."

Chouji nodded as his friends comforted him. It made him feel better about the loss. Still, next time he would rather win.

"Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki," Mizuki said with a calm face, however inside he was grinning like a madman.

'Show him up Uchiha,' Mizuki thought his thoughts filled with unreasonable hatred.

Sasuke walked into the circle as did Naruto. They glared at each other, their dislike for the other, or anger at the other for showing them up all the time, being revealed.

"Prepare to lose, Sasuke-teme," Naruto said, crouching into his fighting stance.

"Hn. Dobe," Sasuke responded also falling into his own Uchiha fighting stance.

"Begin!" Mizuki ordered.

Naruto rushed Sasuke immediately, his punch ready to be thrown. However, Sasuke swatted his fist to the side and tried to punch him in the gut. Naruto grabbed his fist and pulled Sasuke in for a knee to the stomach, which was blocked by Sasuke's free hand. The two growled at each other before breaking apart to gain more clarity.

That moment quickly ended as Naruto rushed forward, his hand clearly wanting to strike the Uchiha in the chest. Sasuke twirled to the side, getting behind Naruto and attempting to lash out with a spinning hook kick, however Naruto turned in time and caught the kick with both of his hands, although it hurt.

Naruto growled. He was on the back foot. While after only a week of seriously training he knew he wouldn't be on Sasuke's level he thought he would be doing better than this. The Uchiha was toying with him to try and make him look like a fool. While it wasn't exactly working as he had hoped, in fact it was helping Naruto as a few of the girls were wondering when he got that good, it was still showing the fact that Sasuke was a great fighter, as Naruto had defeated some of the more capable boys in the class before.

Sasuke jumped and span in midair, twirling his caught leg around in Naruto's grasp as he came in with a sweeping kick to the head. Both of Naruto's hands were preoccupied, and he was to close to dodge. Naruto was hit straight in the face, spitting out blood, and making him stumble. He got his equilibrium back and glared at Sasuke.

"Nice one teme, let's see if you can stop this!"

Naruto charged Sasuke, cocking both of his fists back. Sasuke dodged both strikes, however Naruto wanted this. He clasped his hands on the back of the Uchiha's neck and brought him down into his knee, snapping Sasuke's head back, and forcing blood from his nose.

Sasuke stumbled and Naruto took advantage of it. Naruto grabbed his chin and pushed back on it, forcing Sasuke to the ground, however the young Uchiha span and kicked Naruto in the side, forcing him off of him. Naruto stood as Sasuke did, both looking at each other with in a new light.

'Sasuke isn't invincible,' Naruto thought. While he didn't think he was, compared to all the other Academy students Sasuke seemed invincible.

'The dobe is an actual challenge! You've earned some of my respect Naruto,' Sasuke thought, before he crouched preparing to strike.

However, they were not the only two looking at this battle.

"These two kids are amazing," Mizuki said, looking at them in awe. "When I was an Academy student I wasn't near this level."

"How is Naruto keeping up with Sasuke-kun," Sakura said. Apparently, she hasn't seen Naruto spar with anyone that could actually challenge him.

Sakura had bright pink hair, large green eyes, and fair skin. She had a rather large forehead and wore bags to cover it, which helped. She wore a red qipao dress with white circular designs, with short sleeves, with a zipper, and tight dark green shorts.

"What do you mean Billboard Brow, clearly Sasuke-kun is mopping the floor with Naruto-baka." stated a blonde haired girl.

The girl was fair-skinned, and average in height with blue eyes. She had long, blonde, waist-length hair, which was worn in a high-ponytail with bangs covering the right side of her face. She wore a pair of small silver hoop-earrings and purple, fairly revealing clothing. She wore a short purple vest like blouse with a raised collar, a purple apron skirt that was cut off at the sides and bandages on her stomach and legs. She also wore purple and white elbow warmers.

"You heard me Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted back at the girl.

The two butted heads before everyone muted them out.

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"Hokage-sama, you want me to train the blonde and the Uchiha," a man with silver hair said.

"Yes, Naruto has much potential. Possibly more than any of the other prospects, with his only fierce competitor being Uchiha Sasuke. And since Sasuke is an Uchiha, you're the only one who can train him once he unlocks his Dojutsu."

"Hokage-sama," said the man. "While I am all for teaching the boy-" 'Especially as he is my sensei's son.' "Wouldn't the counsel get angry as they want me to train the Uchiha alone."

The man was fit and relatively tall, with spiky silver hair and one dark-colored eye. He wore a navy face mask that covered his from his chin up to the bright of his nose. He wore the standard attire for a Jonin with short metal-plated gloves. He wore his forehead protector on a simple blue band that was titled to the left to cover his left eye. He also wore a chain necklace.

"That is when it is time for them to graduate. Besides, the boy is already spoiled, he doesn't need private tutoring. Also, he's the top of the class. Its just I need you to train him as well so no debates turned catastrophes will occur."

Kakashi was jumping for joy…mentally of course. He got to train his sensei's son and his deceased best friends cousin. It would be great, for him, Naruto and Sasuke on the other hand; he may not like Kakashi's training from slacker hell.

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Naruto blocked Sasuke's punch before attempting to slam his elbow into Sasuke's face. However, the raven haired boy avoided the blow and lashed out with a pushing front kick in attempt to push Naruto out of the circle. Naruto latched onto his leg as he was hit in the chest, dragging Sasuke along with him. They both tumbled over and shot up immediately, ready to go for another round.

"Break it up!" Mizuki ordered.

The two let go of each other, surprise written on both of their faces.

"There was no winner, it's a draw."

While the girls in the class seemed to have problems with this, the boys were happy. Now Sasuke may not act like a stuck up asshole to everyone.

"Tch," Sasuke mumbled before stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking away.

If the dobe can go toe to toe with me, I have to step up my training regimen as well, Sasuke thought while in his seat.

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It had been five hours since today's class had ended, and Naruto was exhausted. He was still punching the tree, trying to finish up his morning workout even thought it was well past the time he should have finished it. He had already studied fuinjutsu and politics, and practiced his chakra control. As of now, all he wanted to do was sleep, but he had to finish his physical exercises first.

He continued until he heard two voices behind him.

"What the? Why is the Dobe training with us?"

''Look's like he's gonna pass out if he doesn't take a breather.''

He turned to see Kakashi walking up to him, a smile hidden behind his mask, and Sasuke walking up behind him.

"Who are you? And why'd you bring teme?" Naruto asked, dropping into his fighting stance.

"Woah, Woah, calm down gaki, I'm here because I want to help you both out some."

"Why bring us here together then?'' Sasuke cut in rudely.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi, S-ranked Jonin in Konoha. Sandaime-sama ordered me to give you two private training sessions as he said that you two had the most potential out of every other prospect in your age group.''

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes lit up at the relevation, they were being trained by the best Jonin in Konohagakure no Sato.

Naruto looked at him pointedly. He highly doubted he just randomly saw him and decided to train him, but who was he to refuse? They were part of the village, he could tell from their headbands, and the Jonin was offering to train him. It would be idiotic not to accept.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the man who's gonna become Hokage, DATTEBAYO!"

A/N: How did I do on my first official Naruto Chapter? Did I do decent, horrible, amazing, in between or all of the above. Tell me in the review section, I would greatly appreciate it if you did. The reason I made Sasuke get trained alongside Naruto was because it would make them become friends quicker. And this isn't named Ultimate Team 7 for nothing! Stay tuned for the next Chapter.