Author's Notes I: What? Don't look at me like that. I don't know what happened man. I just felt like writing the next chapter of this story to get off my high. It's just…I really want you guys to see where this story is going. I was originally supposed to publish this chapter in November, but temptation and newfound drive made me do this.

Yeah, no. I still don't own Naruto. Writing this doesn't help either.

xXxXx-SKU-xXxXx

Uzumaki Naruto was a sociopath.

He was manipulative, he wore a mask of an idiot, and most of all she believed it all her heart. He had to be, there was no other explanation.

From day one at the Academy, he was loud, exuberant, goofy, and as cheerful as they came.

The Uzumaki Naruto she knew was never sarcastic, restrained, a bit chilly, or remotely mysterious.

Yet, now...these were the words that she used to describe the orange wearing dropout.

She wasn't even paying attention to the conversations that were exploding around her as she normally did, the young Yamanaka heiress' mind trying to dissect as what he was playing or rather…who Uzumaki Naruto really was.

The words he said, the last words he had said to her ever since they returned to her family's shop of exquisite botany, still echoed in her mind.

How he had let out a hollow chuckle that made her nervous, his deep gaze that transformed his normally joy-filled cerulean eyes into twin glaciers that brought a harsh winter, and finally the words themselves that much to her awe cut deep through her.

"Since when did you consider me a friend?"

Each word was well placed, the question was perfect and Yamanaka Ino had no reply to offer what she could say to such a statement. Her mind had replayed that moment several times ever since he dropped her off at their shop 10 days ago. The fact that she was even thinking about him annoyed her to no end.

Why should she even think about him?

What made him special?

Nothing.

There was nothing interesting about him.

Then she mentally slapped her forehead as she remembered trying to follow him after he bought white lilies from her mother. Mira was more than happy to pick out the best flowers personally, and the sad, tiny smile flashing across his face made her become so heavily interested in him.

He had said that he was due to visit the cemetery; bless all those who rested there, and the fact that someone like Naruto who was never seen with anyone except Iruka made her mind race at speeds that shamed the Yondaime.

Whom was he going pay his respects to? It did not make sense.

Naturally, she made the best decision that would benefit her mind's urge: she coerced her mother into tailing the Uzumaki all the way to the cemetery. Of course, after Naruto left the shop – without saying goodbye to her! – she approached her mother regarding 'Operation Tail Uzumaki', Mira refused stating that whatever Naruto was going do was his private matter even though her mother was interested too.

Seeing that small spark of curiosity, she fanned into a flame when she volunteered to take the heavy duty for an entire week. Yamanaka Ino learned she was a good gambler that day, and her mother agreed but told her to keep everything 'hush-hush' as possible.

After the blond had gone a safe distance away, thanks to her mother's excellent sensory perception, they followed him all the way to cemetery. There in that moment as the pale moonlight shone, Uzumaki Naruto stood in front of one specific graveyard and laid down the small bouquet of flowers.

She remembered how he began to speak to the person beyond this world, quite animatedly as some of the old Uzumaki Naruto came out. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes and he had to dry them off frequently.

It was strange seeing him like that.

He looked sad.

Normal.

He looked so….vulnerable.

Ino may never admit it aloud, but the Uzumaki's confidence and steeled resolve was something she subconsciously admired to an extent. He seemed almost at times like a wall that could never be broken, the foundations of his will were rock solid and nothing could ever dent them. Yet, the slight dulling of his eyes – as her mother informed her with the help of her keen sight – seemed almost unreal.

After spending more than 40 minutes talking to the departed, he laid down the bouquet and took one lily from there to place it on the grave just beside the one he had placed it atop.

He then began to pray, after a few more minutes had passed he said his goodbyes and left. After the mother and daughter duo were sure he left, they went to find out exactly who it was that was so precious to the loudmouth who made him look so vulnerable. The carving on the gravestone shocked the fellow females to a great degree, as they tried to rid their suspension of disbelief and her mother even went so far as to check if they were under the effects of a genjutsu.

They were not.

She read the name on the gravestone of the person on which the flowers rested, gently giving it an aroma as their fragrance richened the aura.

Uchiha Mikoto.

The wife of the former Clan Head, killed in the massacre of the Uchiha Clan. Her Sasuke-kun's mother, and apparently, someone who was very close to Uzumaki Naruto. It felt so unreal to her as she decided to make one conclusion after another, each successive reason making less sense than the previous hypothesis.

In fact, it was insane as she concluded; when she tried to pressure her mother to get some intel regarding this discovery Mira told her to drop the issue. Her mother stated that they had barged in on his personal life enough, and they should not continue this further.

That was the reason why she couldn't get her mind out of the whole damned affair!

When Ino was interested in something, she wanted to find anything and everything about it. Saying that she determined to find out about her 'targets' would be an understatement.

Take her Sasuke-kun for example; finding out information regarding her one true love was not easy.

The brooding, handsome teen rarely talked to people and would sometimes walk as an air of mystery, intrigue, overall coolness washed over him. That only added more points for the Last Uchiha in her books. Sometimes she and a few other girls would sneak up ever so carefully to see what he had for lunch.

Finding out that omusubi with okaka and tomatoes was not easy, one of the most laborious tasks she had ever undertaken and made bento for him.

Sure, he refused most of the times…okay every time, but like she stated before. She was determined and he was bound to accept it one day.

That said, finding out information about the blond was even more difficult. After somehow finding out where he lived, the most rundown area in the whole village, she did not go further. It was weird, smelly and frankly irked her.

Therefore, she tried to follow him, but the Uzumaki somehow always managed to give her the slip and somehow get away excessively fast for her liking. She was sure that he did not sense her, after all if he didn't have control to make a simple clone how could he mold chakra to sense people around him?

Then he would go to Ichiraku's to have his ramen, and she shuddered to follow him. Hell, she almost ran into Hinata once or twice as she kept her routine watch of stalking one Uzumaki Naruto.

Contrary to what the rumors said, Uzumaki Naruto did not have 73 bowls of ramen in one go. It seemed that the rumor was grossly over-hyped as she saw him finish around five bowls of varying flavors before he would get out and disappear….again.

"Hey Pig," a voice reached her ears as the platinum blonde's blue eyes gazed into sparkling emerald ones. Her 'rival's' pink hair – long and soft and luscious – acting like a beacon of something ridiculous she could say, but that honor belonged to her larger than the Hokage Rock forehead.

God, that forehead was wide and naturally, Ino could not let the insult right now stride.

"What, Forehead?" she asked as her eyes leveled a glare, something Haruno Sakura happily returned with her own poisonous stare. Then the pinkette crossed her arms as she spoke.

"You're being awfully quiet," she said as her eyes squinted, trying to find out what was inside her mind.

Yeah, as if that would work. She was a Yamanaka, mind games ran in her blood.

"So what if I am. Even talking to you takes away my stamina," she replied cheekily and watching those veins pop up, twitching violently as the pinkette gritted her teeth gave her mental comfort. She even threw a smirk to deflate her.

Mind Games 101.

"That's a lot of sass coming from you, pig," Sakura said as she then had a cheeky smile of her own.

Yamanaka Ino did not like that smile at all, and…why were there legions of fan girls staring at her and Sakura?

Well more like glaring, but amateur stares like that didn't affect her.

It was almost like as if-

"Sasuke-kun," the pinkette said as Ino looked to the left, far end and opposite end of the bench, that she sat on. Lo and behold, Uchiha Sasuke sat there as he gazed out of the window in a careless manner.

So hot.

"Hn."

The grunt came from his throats as so many other girls squeaked and cheered at the non-committal remark. Everything that the Uchiha did was so perfect in her eyes, Sakura's eyes, and the girls' eyes that it made them-

The frictional screeching of the door sliding open broke Ino from her thoughts as she along with her classmates graduated after years of hard work, well not much of a problem for her, who bore lectures that made even the dead beg for mercy finally saw their homeroom teacher come in.

Umino Iruka was an enthusiastic teacher, as Ino and so many others had come to learn. He was dedicated, hard-working, and a complete pain in their proverbial asses.

God, how she hated it when he began his long, laboring lectures.

She shuddered as she remembered his speech about how the Shodaime Hokage had 'used his great and mighty wood to plough deep, bury the seeds, and made it fertile'. The man was nice, but he was naïve and that speech along with how the Nidaime could 'would make his enemies wet', how the Sandaime would 'insert his long staff into their bodies' and last but not least how the Yondaime had 'flashed to 1000 Iwa shinobi'.

Hence, she bestowed the title of Innuendo Iruka upon him and forever he shall carry that torch of general idiocy with him, as she may or may not have mentioned about it to certain group that diffused the news to the rest of the class.

"Ah, I see all of you are here…," the scarred chunnin began. Now normally Yamanaka Ino would have tuned out at this point, however something about him seemed odd.

One, Iruka-sensei never wasted his time and the way his eyes were searching for something or someone did not make sense. Two, the man had bandaged around his chin, one of his arms were draped in gauze.

'Damn my intellectually, superior and keen mind,' Yamanaka Ino thought as she cursed herself for making large deals out of almost everything and she blamed it all on none other than Uzumaki Naruto.

This habit of her had decreased so she could deal on more important matters like how to impress Sasuke and outdo Sakura, but now thanks to one orange wearing, ramen-loving, sociopathic dropout of the Academy her instincts were –

The white, wooden door once more slid to the side as another person joined their fray. Upon this person's arrival, every pair of eyes widened to sizes that were normally impossible, this included her too.

There at the front of the class stood one blond haired, blue-eyed boy as he struggled to regain his breath.

His clothes were simple, yet worthy of more than a few glances from the more delicate members of the opposite sex. Ino herself was impressed at how the new blond cleaned up, positive points indeed.

The boy was wearing blue, full sleeved jacket that was open, a dark orange undershirt and black pants that came down to his shins, white tapes did their job as they covered the exposed skin as his feet had toeless sandals. His hitai-ate was wrapped around his neck, as his hair fluttered down to form a fringe of it hanging over his forehead and a slight 'Eep' noise made the Yamanaka look around to see the Hyuga heiress, blushing up a storm as she turned red beyond measure.

It was the same with the rest of the girls who had flushed expressions; Ino herself found the sight appealing. Some of them were even fixing their hair, in hopes to impress the new cute boy.

Such sluts.

Okay, maybe she was being harsh on them.

At least she didn't try to seek the attention of a boy simply because he looked cute. Yeah, take Sasuke-kun for example. Not only was he handsome for a young teen, but cool, skilled, mysterious and from one of the most powerful clans in Konoha and….

Wait.

The boy at the front had finally stopped panting and flashed Iruka a smile. His hand slowly got up, cutting through the air as he ruffled his own locks of golden hair while nervously laughing.

"Sorry for being late, sensei," the boy with the whisker marks on his cheeks said.

…Whiskers. Blond hair with occasional red streaks. Blue eyes.

…

"I had a rough day, dattebayo. After that I went to do a few things, got tired because of some training and slept in," he continued.

He had used a verbal tic known only to one other person and he had failed, but this couldn't possibly be-

"Naruto," Iruka said and Ino's mind scrambled, along with everyone else in the class. "You-"

"WHAT?!" a yell broke out and everyone's attention switched to the standing, surprised frame of Inuzuka Kiba who pointed at Naruto with an extended finger, his nail sharpened.

A wave of disbelief washed over them all, as Uzumaki Naruto sighed.

She could already tell that today was going to be a long day.

xXxXx-SKU-xXxXx

Uzumaki Naruto was awesome.

Yes, he was.

He knew that, Jiji knew that, the Ichiraku's knew that, Iruka-sensei definitely knew that, and the Yondaime knew that before anyone else. The Yellow Flash had after all chosen him to be the warden of the Kyuubi, and only a person with the right amount of skills and power could do that.

His training and almost unreal improvement in month under the Snake Mistress only testified to that statement, as her comments of his spamming clone after clone to abuse the hell out of that jutsu only confirmed it. She even mentioned that the Nidaime Hokage must've been crying in the afterlife upon seeing his baby being slaughtered like that, well it sucked to be the white haired guy.

Regardless, Uzumaki Naruto was prepared to shake the world and let loose a storm of pure, unadulterated badassery that would make him a legend. He would go out in the battlefield, becoming a feared shinobi only rivaled by the previous Hokage. Hell they'd come back to the realm of the living just to proclaim him as the greatest of all time. Such would be the mark he would leave behind.

Yes, that is what he thought before going to sleep.

Now he was not the brightest mind, he knew that.

So, excitedly staying up to get even more training was probably not his best idea and one that made him sleep a bit too much. As per the expected result, he woke up to see that he was late, late enough that the team placements would be done without him arriving there in time.

What if Iruka-sensei made him do chores again?

Damn it he couldn't look that bad on the first day as a genin. What would Oba-chan say?

The thought of that woman who sorta acted like a mother figure when he was younger made him nerves calm. Ever since visiting her grave and pouring out his heart about how he would finally become a genin made him feel lighter. An invisible burden was lifted off his shoulders. His mind also cleared and he was able to work better after that. He had even laid flowers on her husband's grave, just one but he did do it dattebayo.

That guy was weird. He remembered her husband; in fact, he was sure that the man was the one who gave him the title of Prankster Crime Lord.

Regardless, going to the flower shop and paying his respects was a good decision.

The slight signs of self-loathing were clearing ever since he found out he was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.

It was amazing how a person who was no longer here in the world, continued to provide him emotional comfort like that. Bonds were truly something he cherished and the few people he had acquainted with him, yes even Anko-chan, were that precious to him.

He would sooner give up his own life than let anything happen to them. He had even said this out loud in front of her and oh boy…

Did he get smothered in her chest.

He complained even less now, mostly because he liked and she was starting to notice that he did not become a stuttering mess as he used to. So she started to drill him in other areas of his training along with other areas that described him…drilling into her. God, she was one hell of a woman who made his thinking power go out.

That said, the training session with her yesterday had drained him out already before he decided to be a smartass about it.

Uzumaki Naruto ran as if the hounds of hell were on his trail as he sped past the general populace, shrugging off their glares and the pointless whispers. Maybe he ought to stop and show them how a scroll could hold a kunai without actually becoming one.

Mah, he'd prove them all wrong one day. Thanks to the weight training, his speed had gone up without using his Jinton and by the Log; he was still wearing them casually. Whizzing past good ole Suzume-sensei who yelled at him for making her drop her paperwork, he laughed before stopping his pace. He nearly fell too. Still catching his breath slid the door open to see Iruka-sensei and by the looks of it…they were going to get another lecture.

Now, while Naruto looks up at the man like an unofficial older brother, he hated his speeches. They made noodles of ramen wither and drift away.

That and the stare he was giving him did not help.

Damn Iruka-sensei's judgmental eyes. Naturally, the chosen champion of the color orange gave his response to any situation in which he may or may not have unintentionally fucked up. Yeah, Anko was starting to become a real influence on him. Letting out a nervous chuckle as he scratched the back of his head, he began to give an explanation.

"Sorry for being late, sensei," Naruto began. A small part of him hoping that that scarred chunnin would muster a great and heartwarming amount of mercy in his heart, as he would let the future Hokage is on his way. Perhaps, he needed more incentive. "I had a rough day, dattebayo. After that I went to do a few things, got tired because of some training and slept in."

Boom.

Yeah, surely Iruka-sensei would accept this reasoning. It was true too; it wasn't like he was slacking off or something. Uzumaki Naruto never slacked off, he had so much energy that he could run for hours without tiring. How many other people from his generation could claim that? Very few, he mused or none at all.

However, it seemed that he wasn't off the hook as his teacher's eyebrow twitched.

That was not a good sign.

Then he saw him breathe in as his Adam's apple momentarily disappear into his throat, before coming back to its original place.

That was a bad sign.

"Naruto," Iruka spoke and Naruto's mind was already trying to think of what to say. He could not bear to go through a lecture right now, that too about his tardiness.

He was trying to avoid poisonous snakes trying to bite his ass, dattebayo.

"You,-" was all that his sensei got to say before another spoke up.

Loudly too.

"WHAT!" came the sudden yell as Naruto slowly turned around and noted the general suspension of disbelief so maliciously dancing in the room.

Everyone, every single person was outright staring at him.

The boys were surprised. Shino was looking straight at him, Kiba was pointing his finger at him with shock so heavily featured on his face, Choji had stopped eating a chip halfway through, and Shikamaru was looking at him…without trying to doze off.

For some reason the last one made his danger senses becoming aware. However, it wasn't just the lazy Nara's stare that made it so. Uchiha Sasuke aka Teme was looking at him with his onyx eyes and trying to figure him out.

Naruto had learned about the Uchiha's Kekkei Genkai and was wondering whether Sasuke had activated his. It was highly probable, and quite honestly would make sense. Teme knew how to fight; Naruto couldn't take that away from him.

Even now, Uchiha Sasuke was his rival and one of these days, he was going to take that stick out of his ass.

He owed it to Mikoto and he'd beat up Sasuke to the point of normalcy, then he would become friends with the Uchiha. Sasuke did seem like that sort of a person. Did this make Sasuke a masochi-

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE DOBE!"

'A shinobi must never show any weakness.'

Naruto remembered the words that Anko quite literally hammered into him when she would emotionally exploit some of his weaknesses. She knew exactly what to say that would rile him up, it took him nearly thirteen days before he started to somewhat temper his mind. That was the only reason he didn't shout like he usually would have, part of him wanted to do it too.

However, the cooler, shinobi side in him made the blond raise his hand and point it towards his hitai-ate.

Naruto didn't put it on his forehead due to his rush and loosely tied it around his neck. As the metal gleamed in accordance with the dramatic effect, a sharp series of gasps were heard in perfect synchronization.

Well that was something you didn't see every day.

Shrugging it off, the Jinchuuriki looked around for an empty seat and found it at the back with Choji and Shikamaru.

That was good.

While he may not have any good friends at the Academy, the heirs of the Nara and Akimichi clans were the closest thing he had to friends…even though they only met at the Academy and a few off-meetings while passing by. They were cool, Shikamaru did not seem bothered by how he was practically isolated from other kids of his age and Choji was Choji. He was a swell person, if not a bit heavy.

Smiling like his usual self, he was going to walk away, but a sharp pain on the back of his head made him yelp in pain. He turned around to see Iruka's head bloat up like a monster, reminiscent of the ones that existed in his darkest nightmares, and started screaming at him as if he had stolen his ramen.

"NARUTO!" Iruka yelled, his vocal chords straining past their limits as the demonic howl echoed. A large wind expelled from his mouth sweeping across the entire room. Maybe his sensei used Fūton jutsu for this routinely display of righteous wrath. The scarred chunnin balled up his fist as the veins pumped furiously, "Why the heck were you late?"

"Like I said sensei," the boy began while lightly glaring at the instructor. "I trained too much and fell asleep, dattebayo. Is that too hard to believe?"

"Given your lack of effort, yes."

"Sensei, come on. I do give effort. Just not to anything boring."

"I see, so….DID YOU JUST CALL MY TEACHING BORING!"

"Ne, Iruka-sensei," Naruto began as he remembered the recent gossip that Anko apparently heard at the jounin lounge. He mentally crossed his fingers as he began to speak, "Suzume-sensei was looking for you. She said something about you, her and the re-enactment of Ich-"

The blond who was not allowed to finish as hand clamped over his mouth and with his cerulean eyes he saw the chunnin's face becoming red.

Huh. The rumors were true after all. Well, all he could say to Iruka was one thing.

Nice.

"That's enough, Naruto," Iruka began. Face still as red as a cherry, as he removed his hands and let the boy go. "Go and sit down. Don't be late from now on. You're a genin and you'll have to be punctual."

"Hai, sensei. Don't worry about that, dattebayo," Naruto said and was walking forward, but the voice of one Inuzuka Kiba stopped him.

"Dobe," the feral boy began as Akamaru rested atop his head. "What the heck are you doing here?"

"Uh, genin," Naruto said as he pointed to his neck again. "I just pointed it out a few seconds ago."

"You failed the exam. Then what are you-"

"Hey! Look a cat!" Naruto said pointing at the window and saw how the Inuzuka heir jumped off his bench. Kiba flew to the window with Akamaru loudly barking; well it was somewhat cute since the little pup was adorable. However, Naruto grinned as he saw the feral boy was still searching for said, non-existing cat.

Oh, how life was good for him at the moment.

Still walking up, the blond stopped upon seeing a person. Her platinum blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail like usual; her hair was long too – something he liked. However, he did not stand to notice how her skin was unblemished or her cute, little nose perfectly complimented her heart-shaped face.

He stood here for a different reason as her turquoise eyes looked at his own shade of cerulean.

"We need to talk," he said and for a moment, he saw nervousness flash in her eyes. That passed a few moments later as she nodded her head and mildly huffed, crossing her arms and looking away.

This was the Yamanaka Ino he knew.

He also noted how the pinkette's emerald eyes were looking at him, and his heart almost screamed at him to look at her. To talk to her, to yell 'Sakura-chan' and get hit by her. However, his mind rationalized and told him to walk away. He did not have to talk to Haruno Sakura right now, he'd talk to her later if needs arose. The words she said regarding his abilities as a shinobi were still on his mind and it would take some time before he forgot them.

Beginning his stride again, he noticed something strange.

The girls, nearly all the ones in the class, were looking away from him once he gazed at them. They had pink blushes on their cheeks, some played with their hair and a few even smiled at him. Naruto had to shake his head at the last part.

Was he stuck in a dream world where everything was going right?

A piece of chalk came flying in from behind and hit him on the head dispelling that thought. Before Iruka could, use his patented monstrous head jutsu, Naruto scuttered over to the bench sitting beside human incarnates of sloth and glutton.

He wasn't a bad guy, so he decided to greet the two like he normally did to everyone else. Well, everyone that talked to him.

"Yo, Shika, Choji," Naruto said with his usual bright smile and saw the boy with the gravity defying ponytail speak up first.

"Troublesome Blond Orange," the pineapple headed boy spoke, drawling out the last part followed by a yawn. "How are you?"

The next question caught him off guard.

Shikamaru said it as if he almost knew that Naruto had-

"Yeah," Choji added his two cents while putting five chips in his mouth.

Wow, he sure was eager when it came to food. Other than that, Naruto didn't know what to say to them. He had been so overzealous with training, physical improvement, and fūinjutsu that he had forgotten to ask Jiji or anybody else who knew of his current situation on what to say.

'A shinobi must see the hidden meanings under the hidden meanings.'

Yeah, sure. Like saying that he housed an immortal asshole of a titanic fox inside him, was one of the last living descendants of a clan that was related to the Senju's, had a Kekkei Genkai aaand had royally kicked the asses of two chunnin made very good sense. He could use help right now.

"Now," Iruka's voice cut through the air as he spoke, diverting all the attention towards himself. "As I was saying before Naruto decided to make his fashionably late entrance. As you all know, an evaluation had taken place recently. You'll see that a lot of students who had passed the test are not here. The reason for that is - they were not fit for being active genin. While they did pass the aptitude exam and had the basic Academy Three down, their other skills were substandard. Hokage-sama himself has overseen this process. Naruto is here because he retook the test, as he had been given the wrong paper when he gave his exams, of the old curriculum no less."

Silence screamed in the room as nearly every darted towards him, except Sasuke.

That was no surprise there, except now as Broody McBroodster turned around, and gave him a glance.

A glint of a challenge shone in the Uchiha's eyes and Naruto noticed it.

Was Sasuke glad he was here?

Once more shaking his head at the disbelief of what may have just happened; his view on everything was slowly changing. Maybe the world would finally accept orange as the greatest color.

Maybe.

"Now then," Iruka spoke as a smile stretched across his face. His eyes filled with warmth, chest heaving up with pride and a sigh left his lips.

'Oh no,' Naruto thought with horror as realized that Iruka was going to give a lecture.

A slight snoring sound beside him made the Jinchuuriki realize that the Nara heir was already asleep and Choji was still munching on those chips. Oh wait, this was a different bag of chips.

In his opinion, the Akimichi must have been loaded considering how Choji ate. The entire clan were supposedly filled with 'fat-asses that made the earth shake' as Anko had put it.

"You're all shinobi now. Genin is the first step to…." Iruka's mouth kept launching out words but they were registering as nothing more than gibberish in Naruto's ears. A foreign language entirely and it was hypnotizing him.

It made him feel drowsy, the orange loving teen blamed that on the lack of sleep he already had and slowly his eyes were shutting.

Everything was becoming blurry.

Shoulders were slackening and his head slowly came down to rest on the wooden desk. The Akimichi's rhythmic chomping of the deep fried food served as a well received lullaby as he tried to pay attention to what Iruka was saying.

He had to pay attention now; after all, he was a shinobi.

A future Hokage and a yawn escaped from his mouth as he told himself he would listen to what Iruka had to say.

He absolutely failed.

xXxXx-SKU-xXxXx

He smiled as his head rubbed his cheek into the smooth, polished surface of wood.

Yes, life was good for him and everything was perfect…except it wasn't.

He began to hear some noises, noises of girly voices as they came in like broken signals on a radio. His head could not understand what the words meant as his eyes were still closed and darkness was all he could see. Now if only someone decided to stop poking him. He was enjoying his five-minute nap.

Naruto felt the jab…again.

Clearly, someone was trying to make sure that a certain genin didn't receive his well-earned break.

Yawning once more, the blond haired teen slowly got up. His neck lightly croaked as small cracking noises thundered from his head.

This was going to bother him wasn't it?

Finally opening his cerulean eyes, he scanned to see the classroom in its usual hustle and bustle as he received a few stares from the girls, followed by some blushes.

Boy, it was weird. He yawned once more and put of his arms behind his head, stretching out his body as it fitted to his shirt, which he did not realize. Hearing some gasps, squeals, one 'eep', and whole lot of 'Oh~' being let out he stopped his action, while remaining in that pose.

Confusion seeded inside his mind as his eyes blinked to see most of the females of his class suddenly gush out and look away from him.

'What the fuck?' he thought as he tried to ignore the situation. It wasn't easy and top of that, he didn't like it. Maybe he could- aaand there was the poke again on his left arm. Tilting his head to the left like certain puppies do, he saw Yamanaka Ino standing there.

At first she seemed angry and annoyed (like usual), but then for a moment her cheeks became pink?

Huh?

Followed immediately by her shaking her head and then crossing her arms.

That must have been her thing like how he often put his hand on the back of his head. To each their own.

"You said you wanted to talk," Ino said as she finally looked at him again. If the blonde had to be honest, she was very, very interested in what the suddenly transformed dropout-turned-graduate of their class said.

His situation alone demanded her attention and by the Log, she would delve in deep to find out the mystery that shrouded Uzumaki Naruto.

Unknown to her, the orange loving teen got up slowly as he looked at the front of the class to see that Iruka-sensei wasn't around anymore. Wait if he wasn't there…then that meant-

"You're on Team Seven," Ino said suddenly as if the girl had been reading his mind. Anko did say that Yamanaka's were interrogators and could read minds, but they needed physical contact.

He was sure that Ino didn't read his mind when she poked him…did she?

Wow, he was paranoid nowadays.

"Oh, right," Naruto said trying to shrug off the thought that Ino had possibly invaded his mind. In all honesty wasn't afraid of his secrets as much as he was afraid for the girl. He hoped she never goes into his mind; the Fox might tear her apart for shits and giggles.

"Who are my teammates?" he quickly added noting that Ino might catch on to him for his late replies. He was hyperactive after all, something he was sure he couldn't get rid of too soon. Maybe when he was older and had a ridiculously short, haircut.

Oh yeah that would be the day, and then some frizzy looking kid with a weird Mohawk and tribal markings would kill him. Sure, as if someone like that could ever touch his swift ass.

At this question, the girl almost seemed annoyed and hopeless too.

For Ino, it was a travesty as she figured the teen she woke up from his slumber had been sound asleep when Iruka announced it. Though it does explain why he didn't shout out when the team placements were announced. With a sad sigh parting from her lips, a wrenching pain in her heart, and a small bit of regret threatening to make her almost break down in depression, she told him. She told him of the fate she had been denied, and the one he had been granted.

"You're with Sasuke-kun and Forehead," she said as she thought about the tragedy.

Now Sakura, Forehead would get a chance to bond with Sasuke-kun. There was no doubt in the young mind walker's mind that the pinkette would do everything to make sure that the Uchiha fell in love with her and run a smear campaign against the Yamanaka heiress.

Life was so unfair.

A scoff of annoyance broke her out of her thoughts as she saw the blond teen groan a bit. He then proceeded to bring his hand against his forehead, and almost looked like someone had stabbed him with something rusty in his butt.

Then she realized it, he was probably pissed for being on the same team as Sasuke. That means that he would hold the team back and hinder her love's progress.

It was a tragedy indeed.

"This is so fucked up," Naruto said and the blonde beside him looked up at him for his use of crass words.

Well it was no surprised that they were surprised, he rarely did curse. However, this situation called for it. Not only was he on a team with Sakura, with whom he was sure that he would snap at if she said something out of turn, but as if Jiji was playing a joke with him placed him on the same team as Sasuke.

Sasuke, the guy who received a C in positivity and D in cooperation, was his teammate. Granted that Anko had told him that the Academy skills and history meant shit in real life and the battlefield, but he had seen how Sasuke was with group works. It always ended with him taking charge and finishing the whole thing by himself.

Sure, the Teme got the job done, in excellent fashion too but the way he would wrest control was something he found distasteful.

Naruto for all the bad grades he received, always did have a good positive effect on whoever his teammates would be and would work with them to get an okay grade.

Not to mention Sakura was there who would no doubt end up supporting Sasuke and double guessing everything he had to say. Rules of nature, everyone in the class knew that. Had it been a month ago, then Naruto would have been jumping jacks and vomiting rainbows out of his mouth because he ended up on the same team as the pinkette.

He sighed and tried to calm himself down.

No use in getting angry about it anymore, he'd just have to grin it and bear it.

Besides this must have been a challenge and he would overcome it.

"Ahem," a cough came from the blonde Yamanaka as she tapped her foot on the ground, dangerously. She did so to create a dangerous aura around her. Her mother had this pat down.

Unfortunately, Naruto had been suffering at the hands of one sexy and incredible Mitarashi Anko for a month. This was kiddy stuff to him, but he'd oblige for now. He looked at her and began to speak. He needed to talk to her about their last meeting.

"Right, the talk," Naruto began and would've continued, but the damn door opened and his attention diverted to the man and woman who entered.

The man wore the same clothes as almost every jounin in Konoha, a small modification being there was a sash around the bottom of his vest with the kanji for 'Fire'. Well that was new. That aside, the man was tall, well built and smiling lightly. His skin had an olive tan to it, along with brown eyes, short spiky, black hair slicked back and a beard.

First impression, awesome.

The woman however, now, was a different case. Her skin was unblemished, fair and looked soft – don't ask questions, he could just tell. She had a slender build, a face that made him feel like he was more of a child than a growing, young man. Red full lips and purple eye shadow that made her look exotic, and untamed black hair came down all the way to her back. Her attire was also very…unique. Red mesh she wore an armored blouse with only the right sleeve visible.

Overall, this is very broad material, which resembled bandages had a pattern on it similar to those of rose thorns as he had seen. Her hands and upper thighs are also wrapped in bandages and she wore the Konoha forehead protector and regular shinobi sandals. However, that was not her most striking feature. That glory belonged to her eyes. Crimson eyes, just like the Kyuubi's only much more kinder in contrast. She gave off a nice vibe too.

First impression, awesome…and beautiful.

"Team Eight," she spoke and many boys stared at said team jealously. Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and Hyuga Hinata got up, the last of the trio getting up more slowly. Her eyes scanned the three before she gave off a small, warm smile. "I'm Yuhi Kurenai, your jounin instructor. Come to Training Ground 28 within thirty minutes."

Her words finished, she proceeded to walk out of the room. However, her eyes fell on a certain blond haired boy who happened to be looking at his desk before meeting her eyes.

She had heard about him becoming a genin in the most unorthodox method and his supposed improvement that a certain friend of hers could not keep her mouth shut up about, she was interested. When she saw the boy and some of his resemblances to the Yondaime, she was a bit shocked.

As she left the room, almost every eye of the males sans Sasuke turned towards Naruto.

"What?" Naruto asked, a bit annoyed with all the stares today. What the fuck was up with today?

"Don't think just cause you look cooler, you're better Naruto," came the shout from Kiba as he looked at the blond with a feral smirk. Akamaru barked in agreement with his comrade.

Ah, Kiba. His partner in crime when it came to not paying attention to Academy lessons. Yet another person he didn't really consider a friend, a vigorous classmate sure. But friend? No. Well, not yet anyway.

"Kiba-san," Shino spoke, almost quietly even though the whole room heard them. "You shouldn't be so loud."

"Aw, Shino," the Inuzuka heir grumbled until the timid female Hyuga finally spoke up.

"A-Ano, Kiba-san, he's right," the short lavender haired girl spoke. Seeing the boy deflate at her words along with Shino pushing his shades back to his eyes and nodding solemnly, she turned to leave until Hinata's eyes fell on Naruto again.

Words could not begin to describe how elated she felt when the teen had appeared again. Honestly speaking she was sad that he didn't get to pass. The teen who inspired her so much to go forward was finally back and she couldn't hold back the smile that broke out on her face.

She also liked how he was…smiling at her?

Oh God, he was looking at her. N-N-Naruto was looking at her with a smile on his lips. Granted she thought he was cute before as her crush on him increased, but now…now he looked so..

"Yo, Hinata," Naruto waved at the girl who was never rude to him.

Hinata was definitely okay in his books. Yet, he didn't consider her a friend for one reason and one reason only. Each time he was three meters near her, she would become red and faint.

Did he scare her?

Did she know of the Kyuubi?

That was what he kept asking himself and when he told Anko she laughed her ass off, while not giving him a clear answer and calling him 'a deluded, thickheaded idiot'.

Regardless, Naruto wasn't going to be an asshole to her.

"How are you?" he said out loud and saw the girl turning red again.

Oh boy.

Hearing the eep once more he saw how she lost consciousness as Kiba comically caught her and was frantically trying to wake her up.

"Oh, come on," Kiba said before carrying the girl on her back.

He then looked at Naruto and mentally cursed him. Hinata, an okay cute girl akin to a little sister, had a crush on him from day one.

Why, he didn't know. It was painfully obvious to everyone except Naruto himself. God, he was an idiot. Then after his apparent wardrobe change, more girls looked at him as if he was some piece of meat. On top of that, Yamanaka Ino – a girl he once had a crush on – was on speaking terms with him.

'When did that happen?' was the question Kiba asked.

"Do you need help? It is my fault," Naruto said from the back of the room as he strode forward.

Kiba knew that Hinata would have a heart attack if he came over, and right now, he didn't feel like running to the hospital with her.

"Nah, I can take her there. You stay away, or you'll make her faint…again," Kiba added in the last parts and walked with Shino, as Naruto stood confused.

Naruto would have pondered on it further if the bearded man didn't start laughing all of a sudden. He looked at Naruto in mirth and spoke.

"Kon, was right. You're a special one," the jounin said as he brought out a cigarette and put it on his mouth. He didn't light it though, someone would complain about his indecency and lack of manners. Hmph, he killed people for a living and they complained about him smoking. The irony was never lost on him.

"Kon?" Naruto asked, confused at the name. Who the heck was Kon? He didn't know any Kon.

"Yeah, you must know him by his full name. He's my nephew Konohamaru," the man said and Naruto's eyes widened. Yeah, that was a normal reaction considering who he was.

"Wait so you're his Cancer Stick Uncle?" Naruto asked as he pointed his finger at the bearded man who nearly faltered at the remark. Many people looked at the jounin with skeptical and judgmental eyes.

Naruto looked at the man carefully and indeed could see some resemblances to his Jiji. So this Asuma guy was his son, and Konohamaru's uncle. Yeah, that midget still tried to follow him every now and then ever since they met at the Hokage's office.

Apparently, he made quite the impression on the youngster and left him with the belief that there was no shortcut to becoming Hokage. Naruto's blue eyes then caught sight of the twin blade holsters on the side of his legs, before coming back up.

The man's eyebrow was twitching at the remarks along with the stares, and Naruto then heard Ino giggle at his words.

He turned to see her and…uh. Wow, he didn't know she looked so cute like that.

Yup, Anko was really affecting him.

"Anyways," the man said with borderline annoyance in his tone. "Team Ten, I'm Asuma. Your jounin sensei and meet me at Training Ground Twenty within twenty minutes, if you're late I'm sending you back to the Academy." The man then walked out of the room as he saw Ino put a hand under her chin.

"Troublesome," came the lazy remark from Nara Shikamaru as he got up from his desk. His head already missed the wooden pillow. He saw that Choji had gotten up and was walking towards the door, which only left one team member.

Turning around the boy with the pineapple ponytail spoke, "Ino, you coming?"

"Yeah," Ino spoke, as she had to go now. Moreover, she didn't get to talk with Naruto about…well whatever it was he wanted to discuss. "Look Naruto, I have to go now."

"Sure. But what about-"

"First team meetings aren't generally that long. If you're still around here, then we'll have a talk," she said and seeing the teen nod, Ino began to walk forward. Her turquoise eyes seeing the smirk Forehead was giving her annoyed her to no ends and the fact that Sasuke-kun was looking out the window only served as a swansong.

Instead of Sasuke or another adequately okay teammate, she got the laziest and hungriest people in the world. Her fate was tragic indeed.

"Good luck, I guess," the words reached her ears and saw that it was none other than Naruto who said it. That was surprising. Maybe he was being nice in general, like he usually was. Then as her look of confusion remained on her face, she noted something.

Naruto looked familiar, like she had seen him before outside of the Academy. The absence of the goggles made him look different by quite a scale.

After Naruto saw Ino leave, he began to walk forward and saw the spot beside Sakura empty. Well, they were a team and he had to cooperate. Sitting down he heard a grunt leave the Uchiha and didn't respond like he usually did. Two could play it at that game.

"Hello to you too, Teme," Naruto said. He waited for the barrage of curses and insults being thrown his way by his horde of rabid, fan girls. Instead, there was no noise and he, in sheer disbelief, turned around to see the looks of conflict on their faces.

'Seriously, what the fuck is up with today?' he thought with a deep conscience. It was like as if the sun didn't rise from the East today. 'I mean, even Sakura-ch….Sakura isn't-'

"Baka!" Haruno Sakura yelled as she rolled up the right sleeve of her red top, and cocked back her fist.

How dare that idiot respond to Sasuke-kun like that? She was going to teach him a lesson for that, like she did every other day. She was just a small distance away from her fist smashing against his head; Sasuke-kun was bound to notice how she took revenge on his behalf for the verbal slight.

Naruto turned around and saw the punch coming. Honestly, he could have done so many things. He could've blocked it, dodged it or even caught it. Naruto could do that. However, a part of him didn't let him. Years of instinct rooted him there as the punch came and ricocheted against his head.

God, Sakura-ch...Sakura could punch hard. The force of the punch made him shift away from the bench as his right side collided against a desk. Groaning a bit, he caressed his sides and sat down on the apparent bench. He could've asked Sakura why she punched him like that, but some things were better left unsaid.

She would probably take Sasuke's side, no matter what happened. A small voice in his head told him that if Sasuke were to murder him and get imprisoned, then Sakura would probably help him escape.

He cared about Sasuke, about as well as he cared for his other classmates and there was the fact he was Mikoto's son. But if Sasuke ever tried to do that, he wouldn't walk away in one piece. Naruto would make sure of that.

Sakura herself was surprised at how the whole thing went down. Normally, Naruto would be pestering her right about now. Instead, he didn't and she was glad. Maybe he was starting to slowly give up on her, when he talked to Ino…it felt weird but she was glad again. If it meant for both Ino to be annoyed by Naruto and her number one fan boy to chase after her rival in love, then it was a win-win for her.

Then she ended up on the same team as Sasuke-kun.

Sakura couldn't begin to describe how happy she felt at being on the same team as him, sure Naruto was in it too but he was fodder at this point. Then when she finally punched him, she expected him to see panicked and worried he upset her. Instead, all she got was a blank gaze before he was sent to the other bench. The blond haired boy got up and simply sat on the bench.

No doubt making up ways to ask her out on a date.

She was sure of it.

The hands of time kept turning, as more jounin began to come in and pick up their respective genin. They had no doubts that a lot of them would be going home tomorrow morning. Naruto himself was not concerned with such thoughts and instead focused with his eyes closed.

Something eerily strange happened a few days ago. It was indescribable; it was as if he could feel everything and everyone around him when he was lying in the Forest of Death when he closed his eyes. It happened for a small moment, but he was sure that he could do it again. Cutting his mind off from everything else, he focused with all his heart.

He was calm, he was patient and he was NON OF THOSE THINGS!

Naruto proceeded to slam his forehead against the desk, weakling muttering out an 'Ouch', then sat upright to soothe his bruised area as he soothed the area with his fingers. Why was life so hard?

A deep chuckle reached his ears; Naruto realized that the Fox had was going to speak to him. Well he couldn't afford to go back into his 'Mindscape', as the Kyuubi called it, since his jounin sensei could show up at anytime so he had to talk like this without showing too many physical reactions.

"I see you've failed again," Kyuubi said as Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

So much for not showing a reaction.

'Shut up, Fox,' Naruto thought as he tried to think about his awareness ability.

"You're a sensor," the Fox said all of a sudden and Naruto's eyes widened a bit as he thought about what his tenant just said.

'Sensor?' Naruto asked the Fox. 'What's that?'

"Seriously? You don't know what a sensor is?"

'…..'

"I forgot you stupid were for a moment."

'HEY!'

"Sensory technique is when shinobi use their chakra to locate, analyze and perceive the nature of other chakra signatures around them."

'…Right.'

"Look," the Kyuubi growled out in frustration. "In short, say you're standing on that dirty Hokage Rock,-"

'Stop insulting my home, damn it!'

"-and you start using your chakra to locate other people around you. That way you can feel where they are and the buildup of chakra, as in when they'll attack using chakra."

'Woah. That's so cool. To think someone like me is a rare senso-'

"Shinobi with sensory perception have been around for centuries." Kyuubi quickly added as it felt the boy's happiness turning into dark, gloomy cloud of crippling depression.

'Why do you always steal my thunder?'

"Because you're annoying. That said," Kyuubi paused for a moment. "What you did yesterday was bizarre, even by normal standards."

'What do you mean?' Naruto asked, interested in hearing what the Kyuubi was referring to.

"Do you remember seeing something?" the Kyuubi no Kitsune asked and the boy 'hmmed' in response.

Now that Naruto thought about it, he did see something strange when he used his sensing technique. It was like a clear, black and white picture. A map, if you will, of nearly the entire Forest of Death. He had been lying on the ground when it had happened and for a moment, he saw everything around him.

'Yeah. I saw the Forest of Death. In black and white.'

"So that happened because of your technique," Kyuubi said in thought. "That's interesting. To be able to see with your eyes closed and sensing the techniques of your enemies. Looks like you're not completely useless."

'I'm not completely useless you damned, dirty fox!'

"You are. Do you know there are eight more like me?" Kyuubi asked with mirth.

'…What?' Naruto asked. He was caught off guard with such a statement like that. 'What do you mean eight more like you?'

"There are nine Bijuu in total. I am the strongest with Nine Tails, and then you have the ones weaker than me from eight to one," the Kyuubi said with a vicious smile. "Even though I can't sense them with my own technique mainly because most of them are sealed up right now or not fighting with their Jinchuuriki, I can tell. You, Uzumaki Naruto are weaker than their Jinchuuriki."

'Shut up,' Naruto thought with some venom in his mind. 'I've been working my ass off for a month. Don't you dare call me weak. I've improved-'

"Yeah, you improved alright. I am not denying that, ningen. However," Kyuubi said as his voice continued to grow louder. "You fucked yourself up. You have the potential; you could have grown stronger years ago if you had started training seriously. Instead, now I am nothing but a mockery as my Jinchuuriki is the weakest, despite my unrivaled strength. Get your shit in line, boy and grow stronger. Because if you don't, one of these days I'm going to come and tear that lovely little piece of paper apart. Then, well…let's just say that Konoha is a lovely place mark my return."

The words made a chill run down Naruto's spine. His prisoner didn't yell any of those words, the Kyuubi casually told him he'd destroy the Hidden Leaf and the blond didn't find any semblance of a lie in that statement. Still…

'Oh yeah?' Naruto thought as he pushed his fear back. He pictured the fox behind the cage, devilishly smirking at him with teeth that could snap steel beams like twigs. The Jinchuuriki began to speak as his own ego took control, 'Well, looks like I'll just have to get in that cage one of these days and make you eat your words, fuzzball.'

"Easier said than done!" the Kyuubi suddenly yelled as Naruto felt the killing intent spike up inside him.

Fear took hold of him as his body began to shake. An invisible pressure originated from inside him as he felt the gravity of the world pushing down on him. He could feel his bones threatening to be crushed, blood flowed so fast that his heart threatened to burst out of his chest and a voice kept telling him to run.

To flee from whatever horror that laid in store for him behind that accursed cage.

And like a passing storm, the feelings drifted away as Naruto found himself in the classroom as his eyes snapped open and started gasping. A sheen of cold sweat covered his face, his shaky hands slowly came up to remove it and became drenched.

He saw the classroom was mostly empty, only Sakura and Sasuke were there with him as they were still sitting at their desk.

Naruto felt the stares of his teammates and no doubt, they would ask him questions.

"Hey. What happened?"

Much to his surprise it was Sakura who asked the question. He looked at her for a moment before using his sleeves to dry off the perspiration from his head. The killing intent felt so unreal to him. Naruto couldn't help but feel the dread of how much the Kyuubi terrified him at that moment.

To him it felt like a few moments of sheer horror, but more time had passed in the real world.

"Nothing," Naruto replied as he got up. Seeing that they would be more inquisitive about his sudden behavior, he added further, "Just a bad dream about…udon."

Mentally he slapped himself as the Kyuubi's laughter could be heard. Naruto focused in his mind and slowly felt the connection die out. It was just own voice he could hear now.

"Udon?" Sakura asked and Naruto nodded his head. Then she saw a scowl taking its place on Sakura's face as she began to speak, "Of course you did. Only a baka like you would have a nightmare regarding food."

Well, he really couldn't be angry at the statement. However, he did feel some form of amusement from this. Sakura actually believed it. Of course. Sasuke was still staring at him, before he 'Hn'-ed and turned away. To Naruto that felt like Sasuke was calling him a loser, which he was 95% sure of.

"Well, I'm going to be back in a while guys. Need some ramen for this," Naruto said as he patted his stomach with fake grin that spread from ear to ear. He really was a good actor, maybe he'd become one if life as a shinobi didn't work out just in case.

"What?" Sakura accursedly shrieked and furiously glared at him. "What if our sensei comes in when you're gone?"

"Don't worry, Sakura-ch..." Naruto stopped himself and saw the emerald eyes he once praised widen a bit in surprise. Shrugging, he began again, "I won't take too long."

"Then get moving, loser," Sasuke spoke for the first time as his onyx eyes looked at the blond, who was annoyed at the remark.

"Teme," Naruto almost growled out. He really didn't like Sasuke, like really didn't.

"Don't call Sasuke-kun that, Naruto-baka!" Sakura yelled and saw Naruto gritting his teeth in annoyance at the Uchiha. Then he started walking away.

Naruto slowly reached for the door and went away.

This left Haruno Sakura to ponder how he didn't pester her today. He usually did and the fact that he didn't call her 'Sakura-chan' felt weird. It was something she was used to. Moving her thoughts away from that she looked at the Uchiha who was still looking out the window; his handsome features glistened as the warm sunlight fell on his face.

So hot.

She felt her cheeks heat up as she began to speak. Standing near the bench, she put her arms behind her back as her left arm grabbed her other wrist. Putting on a dazzling smile, she started to speak to the boy who held her heart.

"Sasuke-kun," she said softly, gently.

He gave no response. Being hopeful that he might say 'Yes' as they were on the same team, Sakura ventured forth.

"Do you want to get lunch?"

"No."

xXxXx-SKU-xXxXx

'This is so frustrating,' Ino thought as she finally made it back to the Academy.

Her jounin sensei was an ass. Well that was her first impression, and then he was promoted to jerk. Apparently, Sarutobi Asuma – as he told his name – did not look forward to taking a team. The reason he took one on was because the Hokage forced him to.

Ino had called bullshit on that in her mind.

He then gave them a small test. Nothing that hard apparently, as he said, only that he would take a team but only with two members. In short, one of them was going to be booted. Oh, how she flared her temper and verbally let loose the dogs of war at him, however the jounin was not fazed and gave them three hours. Three hours to decide who would go back, then he would return to hear their decision and move on.

Well, two and a half now as she scurried over back here at the Academy. Shikamaru apparently didn't seem fazed at all and told Choji to do the same. One of them was visually raping clouds with his almost closed eyes and the other was viciously devouring food like a monster.

Why did she get such useless teammates again? She should have been put on Team Seven, she could bear Sakura if Sasuke-kun was there. After all, he would save her and though it irked her to say it, the Uchiha would probably save Sakura too. Naruto could join her team, hell he'd be perfect.

Sloth, gluttony, and envy in one team.

She labeled Naruto with envy because it was clear as day that he was jealous of Sasuke-kun. Each time he would declare that he'd make the Uchiha eat dust and do the exact opposite.

On top of that, she was going to talk to him now. She was going to talk to Uzumaki Naruto alone; if somebody got rumors of this…her chances of getting together with Sasuke would practically vanish. After all, everybody knew that Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto hated each other.

The fact that Naruto knew Sasuke's mother well enough to lay flowers on her grave ate away at her to no end.

Stupid Naruto taking away her time.

Ino finally reached the door of Room 301 and saw through the glass in the door that Sakura was alone….with Sasuke-kun. Talking cheerfully, blushing and Sasuke looked at her all of a sudden.

'That slut!' Ino thought, poison gathering in her mind as he opened the door suddenly grabbing their attention. Both of them looked at her, Sasuke-kun looked at her and…where was Naruto?

"Huh?" she had to say in confusion. The blond said he'd be here.

Was he doing this to piss her off?

"What are you here for, Pig?" Sakura asked, as she smirked no less.

"Not here to talk to you, Forehead. Was she bothering you too much, Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked as she put on a cute pose, Sakura growled and Sasuke…didn't react. In fact, he was giving them an impassive sexy stare that was always on his face.

"Both of you are bothering me," he replied as said girls flinched from the tone he used. However, he wasn't done, "Annoying fan girls."

Sasuke rarely spoke to them, he would keep his words short, but this actually got to them. The fact that he said it with such disdain made a pang in their hearts. However, Ino felt more than that. She felt sad and almost annoyed. Maybe it was because she had to go back and say whom she wanted to kick out of the team.

Before she could speak, a voice behind her made itself known.

"Our sensei still isn't here?"

Ino turned around to see Naruto in different clothes, the same attire he wore when he had saved her. When he had held her like a new bride and HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!

No, she was just a teen girl who may or may not have had thought cross her mind. Mira certainly didn't help when Ino told her mother about how Naruto had saved her from the fall. These were just her mother's words playing a trick on her as she regained her thoughts.

Naruto, oblivious to it all, saw the Yamanaka first turn a bit pink, then shook her head before putting her arms on the side of her hips as she looked at him. She seemed angry, he was sure he didn't do anything incite such fury except maybe his asshole-ish behavior from the other day.

"So, do you want to talk now?" Naruto asked all of a sudden and whatever Ino was going to say stopped right there.

"What are you guys going to talk about anyway?" Sakura chirped in as she saw her rival, a person she is still slightly jealous of due to her looks and popularity talking to Naruto. Not that she was interested or anything, but this was bizarre.

"Nothing that concerns you Forehead," Ino said.

"He's on my team. If you two idiots take too long, then our jounin sensei will think he's left."

"Actually," Naruto spoke in between them both as he earned their glares. Wow, it was still weird being on the end of that look. "Our talk won't take up too much time. If our sensei shows up, we'll be on the roof."

Naruto finished and was walking out of the room, however Ino did not move.

What was Uzumaki Naruto playing?

Her mind tried to put the pieces together.

One, he dressed well. Two, he looked good. Three, he said they weren't friends. Four, he didn't call Forehead by her affectionate nickname of 'Sakura-chan' anymore. Five, they would talk on the roof…alone. Where no one could see them, while Ino was glad no one would see it or spread rumors about it but there were a few problems.

Sasuke-kun had already seen her talking with him, more than once no less and here she was going to the roof with him. Finally, if Ino didn't know any better she'd say that Naruto liked her and was doing all this to confess to her.

Oddly enough, she did not feel bad about the last part. Mainly because one he looked decent and no boy ever had the guts to ask her out. She would always smile, put a strand of her hair behind her ear and they would run away in embarrassment.

"Oi, Ino!" Naruto said as his head could be seen tilting outside the room. "Are you coming or what?"

"Y-Yeah," Ino replied, stuttering a bit at being caught off guard like that. She was about to leave before Sakura stopped her.

"Since when did you start talking to Naruto?" the pinkette asked, not sure why Naruto was bothering to talk to Ino of all people.

"Like I said before, it's none of your business. Bye, Sasuke-kun," she said to the boy, cheerily waving at him. The boy simply turned his head, finding the scenery more interesting.

Again, she felt that pang in her chest. She then walked out as Sasuke continued to look out the window and Sakura had a thoughtful look on her face.

'Since when were Naruto and Ino friends?'

xXxXx-SKU-xXxXx

A small breeze was dancing on the roof. Gently it traced its relaxing fingers across everything it met and to any person this was perfect considering the slightly warm weather today. Ino herself appreciated it as she stood taking in the relish of the relief.

She saw the Uzumaki stretching out a bit, as a small bag (box?) wrapped in cloth on the ground beside him. He then stopped and looked at her with a bored look.

"You're finally here. I thought it was going to take longer."

Naruto was never one for subtlety and was about as blunt as they came.

"What do you want, Naruto? I have to go back to my team again," she said and the Uzumaki looked more interested when she mentioned 'team'. Yeah, he was perfect for her team all right.

"Why?" Naruto asked, curiosity jumping up and down inside him. Did something happen? He saw the platinum blonde sigh and scowl before she spoke.

"Just a stupid test. What the heck did you call me for?" Ino asked a bit annoyed at how the teen wasn't getting to the point. She had major issues to solve and for the life of her, she couldn't decide to who to kick out.

"Ah, right," Naruto said, drawing the last word out. "It's about what happened that day. When I caught you."

"Caught me? You talk like as if I was committing a crime. Also, why didn't you tell me you passed?" Ino asked, still annoyed at that part.

"Huh? Why should I tell you anything about how I passed?" Naruto asked a bit taken back at her words. Then he spoke like the frank person he was, "Besides, it's not like you care about whether I pass or not."

Ino opened her mouth and shut it quickly again. Her mind tried to say different lies and make up excuses to show that she did care about him but another voice in her head echoed.

"Since when did you consider me a friend?"

The words made her feel guilty. Guilty of actually considering him a dropout when he had passed, and of course, Ino didn't know him that well.

"I was going to apologize to you, but you just had to make it weird didn't you?" Naruto continued and the blonde was further surprised by his words.

"You were going to apologize to me?" Ino asked, not really believing what he said. Naruto never apologized to anyone in the Academy…ever.

"Duh," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Naruto then grumbled as he put his hands into deep abyss of his pockets as he spoke, "I was a bit tired that night. Then after I saved you, instead of getting a thank you or something like that…you called me 'dobe' instead."

His words made her feel that pang again. However, unlike how Sasuke's cold and harsh words cut into her, Naruto's reasoning made her feel like being hit with something. It was true, she did not thank him for catching her, otherwise she'd have a few bruises on her.

"Anyways," he spoke breaking her thoughts as he looked at her. Naruto sighed a bit before speaking again, "Sorry. That's all I wanted to say."

She saw how the boy then picked up the small object garbed in a green cloth, and walk away from her. Unconsciously she started to follow where the boy went and saw him sitting down on the floor as he leaned against the wall. Ino stood in front of Naruto as he had an inquisitive look on his face.

"What are you still doing here? I'm done talking to you," Naruto said, not realizing how his words sounded at that moment.

Originally, he did not intend to speak to her that way, but Kyuubi's little scare tactic along with the fact that his sensei wasn't still here, put him a bit on the edge.

"I need to talk you," Ino said as her turquoise eyes looked at his own shade of cerulean.

For a moment, she said nothing and was swallowing invisible lumps of food down her throat as Naruto thought. Then she breathed out and closed her eyes before speaking.

"Thank you, Naruto," Ino said softly as she bowed her head a bit and the genuine act had this time taken him by surprise.

Somebody was thanking him – HIM of all people. Not to mention it was Ino and then she came back to her posture as she continued.

"Also, I wanted to apologize," Ino began and Naruto spoke up in between.

"Look if it's about the 'dobe' remark then-" he was promptly cut off when the heiress took charge of the conversation.

"It's not about that. It's about what you said about us not being friends. You were right," Ino said as she looked at him, he could see the guilt in her eyes, that along with the remorse too.

Naruto never claimed to be a good reader of people, but he knew remorse when he saw it. He often apologized to people when he would accidentally bump into them, he would apologize and receive a shove followed by harsh words. So, yes. He could feel that Ino was meaning what she said.

"We're not friends, and neither of us tried to be friends," Ino said and Naruto shook his head in mirth.

Ino caught that and continued, "Why are you shaking your head like that?"

"You really don't remember do you?" Naruto asked. Seeing her head shake, he sighed. "First day of the Academy, I tried to talk to you and Sakura-c-. You don't remember how you two brushed past me?"

Ino did remember now. A slightly cute blond boy of seven or eight with adorable cheeks and blue eyes approaching her and Sakura, her first friend she met at the park after a bad case of bullying. She remembered how the other children were talking about the blond boy like he was a nuisance, and how they shouldn't even talk to him much less play with him.

Naturally, like all kids around her age, she followed the trend and essentially cut off contact with him. Not only that, but she would jeer on him too along with everyone else. Sure she didn't hit him like Sakura did, but words often cut deeper than knives and she certainly did have a way with words.

She – Yamanaka Ino – was a fool, as she brought up a hand to her mouth as Naruto was nodding at her.

"Yeah," he said with a sarcastic smile on his face. "Neither of us ever tried. It wasn't just you Ino. Not everyone from our class wanted to be friends with me. In fact the only ones who I can remotely call friends are Shikamaru and Choji."

"I see," Ino finally spoke after realizing what he meant. However, this brought up more facts that ate away at her head.

How was he so damn cheerful if he had no friends? She was aware that Naruto didn't have any parents, she along with a few others did notice how he would sit by the swing outside the Academy…all by himself. It was only no she was realizing how lonely he was, and with each realization, she was feeling guiltier.

She was not cruel. No, her parents didn't raise her to be a person like that. Ino was sure that if she had a mirror in front of her she could see the shame stretched across her face. She couldn't change the past, however she wouldn't let this rest either.

"You're right," she said in a whisper as her eyes darkened. "You never had any friends, except maybe lazy-ass and fat-ass. I…I was also kind of rude to you."

"Understatement of the year."

"Okay, I was a skank."

"No, that's Ami."

"Fine!" Ino yelled as she came forward and grabbed Naruto's arm. Yanking him up with all her strength, which was a bit strenuous on her part. Naruto looked heavier than she thought. Finally standing face to face with him, she began anew. Things would be different this time, her mother even told her to be friends with the boy.

"I'm sorry for doing that on the first day. I'm sorry for not thanking you for catching me….I'm sorry for not being a friend, Naruto," Ino said and the boy looked at her with one closed eye as if observing her closely.

He looked funny like that, and she didn't giggle or laugh at him. He'd probably take it in a different way.

"Apology accepted," Naruto said and was turning around before Ino coughed into her hand. He slowly turned back around as he watched a smile on her face.

Huh. So that's what Ino looked like when she smiled at someone. She then waved at him. Again, Naruto got confused.

"Hi," she began and Naruto almost pinched her to make her stop. However, she extended her arm forward and spoke, "I'm Yamanaka Ino."

"Ino, what are you doing?" he asked. Honestly, the girl's actions were making him think, he didn't feel like thinking right now.

"Just play along, alright?"

"But why would I-"

"Just do it, Naruto."

"Wh-"

"Just do it."

"You're being-"

"Just do it!"

"Fine!" Naruto exclaimed. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you, dattebayo!"

Naruto finished and was going to sit down and have some chicken hibachi he worked hard to cook, however Ino's next words stopped him.

"Do you want to be friends with me?"

"What?" Naruto asked not entirely believing what Ino was doing. "You're serious? This is childish."

"Well, sometimes we have to be childish," Ino replied just as quickly.

"If you're doing this to pity me, then-"

"Believe me when I tell you, Naruto," Ino began once more. "I really want to be friends with you."

"Why?" Naruto questioned. "Why do you want to be friends with me?"

"Well, first of all my Mom said that you're nice guy. Someone I should be friends with,"

"She's a good judge of character," Naruto added sagely. He was a nice guy, hearing that felt good.

"Secondly, you're kind of thick-headed,"

"Hey!"

"-but you're determined," Ino began as she looked him dead in the eye. "You never give up. You always want to prove yourself, but most of all…you're pretty darn stubborn."

"Takes one to know one," Naruto quipped.

"True. So what do you say?" Ino said extending her hand.

Naruto thought about her action for a moment.

This was still very weird for him.

This was Yamanaka Ino, the most popular kunoichi of his class extending a hand of familiarity to him. This was beyond strange. However, that smile and twinkle in her eyes told him otherwise.

He remembered asking Jiji why the Yondaime had chosen to believe that Naruto could hold the Kyuubi back, the Sandaime told him during one of their meetings in the past month.

The Yondaime had taken a leap of faith; he had placed in trust in an infant that he would not fail.

Naruto did the same as he extended his hand forward and shook hers. Her hand was smaller compared to his and surprisingly smooth. He expected some calluses from wielding weapons, but he guessed that she must've used a herb of some sort. Ino's family did own a flower shop after all.

Ino herself found his hand to be warm, exceptionally so. She guessed he must've been always warm like that and the genuine smile breaking out on his face only complemented that fact. Slowly taking their hands apart, Ino waited to say something but her stomach grumbled.

Oh, it didn't just grumbled, in fact she would say that it was demonstrating the mating call of a whale i.e. her hunger was getting to her.

Embarrassed, Ino's face slowly started becoming red. She just became friends with the guy and then this happened. She was actually planning to run away and hide her face, but Naruto started chuckling as he pointed at her.

"Your face is red," he said and snickered as she became even redder. Oh, and his laughter went up too.

"It's not funny, Naruto," she threatened a bit, and Naruto slowed down his laughing before he eventually stopped. Then he bent down and picked up his box, before holding it out to her. Ino tilted her head, not sure at his action.

"Here, I made some lunch in case my sensei was going to be late. Have some," Naruto offered with a smile. Since he was officially friends with her, this seemed like a good way to start. Well it seemed okay to him. Why was her face pink now? Even though she did look kinda cute.

"I can't. I'm on a diet," she said turning away, cheeks still pink at the sudden offer. She knew it was very clichéd, but she liked how he offered her lunch. First time a guy had the guts to go so far, but then again knowing Naruto… Still she had a figure to maintain and…there went her stomach again, declaring to the whole world how she tortured her own body.

"Geez," Naruto said. He then grabbed her hand and made her sit down with him. She may have been stubborn, but he was twice or thrice as much. He then started unwrapping the cloth as he handed her the chopsticks, he didn't see how her cheeks were still pink and the slight pout on her face at the sudden action.

"I made this, dattebayo," Naruto said as he opened the box and the aroma of spices, well-cooked chicken and other vegetables invaded the air.

Yamanaka Ino glanced at the food, and she had to say it looked good. Well not as good as her cooking and certainly not even close to her mother's, but it was visually appealing and the hunger inside her made her think of all the flavors just waiting to devoured.

Mentally slapping herself, she remembered that this was Naruto's lunch. The one he made for himself; and she was on a diet. Ino wanted to have a good figure without becoming fat, that was one of her nightmares. On top of that, she had her pride.

"Thanks, Naruto. But I don't want to."

"You're drooling, Ino," Naruto replied as he pointed at the small, trickling saliva escaping from her lower lip.

Well, there went her pride.

"I'll have a little bit of it, I guess. But don't think I'm freeloading," Ino added as Naruto chuckled a bit more. He then handed her the box as she slowly began to eat the content. As she had guessed, it wasn't bad and her apparent state of famish only made it taste better.

"How is it?" Naruto eagerly asked as someone other than Ayame tasted it. Since she taught him how to cook in the first place, he knew there would be a certain amount of biased opinion in it. However this was Ino, she wasn't exactly one to mince words that much. In a way, she was a bit like him.

Blonde, energetic, stubborn, and loud.

"It's okay," she said as took another mouthful.

"Alright," Naruto said as he pumped one of his fists. "Next is going to be fifty different flavors of ramen."

"Ugh," Ino said as she took another bite. She dreaded the fact that there were fifty sorts of ramen.

"Oi, don't diss ramen like that," Naruto said and began another conversation with the platinum blonde.

Unknown to them, a man was sitting on a tree not too far away from them. He watched everything with one eye and smiled as his lone orb turned into an inverse U shape.

"Well now," the grey, spiky haired man said to himself. "This is an interesting development."

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Author's Notes II: Well, there it is folks. Chapter 2 finished, Naruto and Ino are now friends…kinda…sorta. You know it's like one of those situations where you know a person for years but you don't really become friends with them until one day it just suddenly seems to clicks. No? Seriously, I am the only one? Fuck it. Now a recommendation to you guys...hmm. Well there is "Wood, Paper and Illusion" by Glacious which is a pretty good fic when compared to the standards on this website, make sure to give that story a read. Make sure you guys review and let me know what you think. Trust me, reviews are my fucking cocaine!