Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the related characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, and various animation and production studios/companies. If I did I'd be dang rich. This is written solely for entertainment, not for any form of money.

A/N: Hello everyone, hope you had a good week Thanks for all the great reviews last time, there was an overwhelmingly great response and I'm glad to see you're all liking the story. Enjoy the chapter, and please read and review!

Chapter 3: Home

Hokage's Office, Konohagakure, Land of Fire

Sarutobi leaned back in his seat, setting down the A-ranked mission report he had been reading, when a knock came at his door, and then his secretary stuck her head in as she opened the large doors.

"Sandaime-sama, Hitomi Hyūga is here requesting an audience with you. She wouldn't say what it was about."

Sarutobi puffed lightly on his pipe for a moment, and then exhaled, sending the smoke out in a ring. Anything to interrupt the dreary day of paperwork in front of him. "Send her in."

"Hai, Sandaime-sama." She said, and turned back, retreating to her desk.

Moments later, a regally dressed Hitomi Hyūga stepped into his office, closing the door behind her. The beautiful blue-haired woman was a rarely seen figure in the village clan politics, largely due to her health problems over the last eight years, so it was a bit of a surprise to see her out and about.

"Hokage-sama," she said, bowing respectfully.

"Hitomi," he greeted. "It is good to see you; I believe it's been nearly a year, hasn't it?"

"Yes," she said, nodding.

"I'd expected to see Hiashi if anyone, but I'm glad you seem to be getting healthier."

Hitomi smiled. "Yes, I'm getting better every day. Hiashi was going to come with me, but a clan issue came up, and he is in conference with the clan elders. I came to speak with you about a boy – Uzumaki Naruto."

Sarutobi forced back a groan. If Naruto had been pranking the Hyūga yesterday, this whole meeting could turn into one big headache.

"What would you like to discuss about him?" Sarutobi asked.

"His welfare."

Sarutobi blinked in surprise at the unexpected answer. "His welfare?"

Hitomi nodded. "Yes. Last evening I was walking with my daughters to attend the festival, and I ran into him, or rather, he ran into Hinata. He was being chased by… the only word for it is an angry mob." Her hands clenched slightly into fists, surprising Sarutobi – the Hyūga were well known for hiding their emotions in public.

"They were all drunk, and a number of them came very dangerously close to breaking your law in the presence of my daughters, with what they were saying. Naruto looked scared for his life and I do not blame him. He ran away from us, telling me that he didn't want them to 'hurt us' as well for helping him out, so this obviously is not the first time this has happened. Were I healthier, I could have done something, but as I couldn't risk my daughters there, so I decided to talk to Hiashi and take this to your attention…."

She paused for a moment. "What I didn't expect, was to hear from Hiashi this morning that this mob somehow managed to nearly succeed at killing him, or that someone burned down his apartment. Hokage-sama, with all due respect, what exactly are you doing about this? No boy should have to live like that, and be treated like that."

Sarutobi sighed, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "There's only so much I can do, Hitomi. Naruto is… rather headstrong and independent, so he does not make it easy for anyone I assign to guard him. And as much as I would love to be able to assign a 24-hour army of guards, I can't. You and I both know we are still recovering our forces from the Kyūbi's attack, and I simply can't spare the manpower for that large of a watch and still keep funds coming in through missions."

He looked at her and she was struck by how depressed he looked. "I hate seeing him hurt, but I can't protect him from everything." He said.

"Then let me." Hitomi said. "I would like to request permission to adopt him."

Sarutobi's eyes widened to comically large proportions – that was the last thing he'd been expecting to hear when she'd come in. But then he frowned, and his face became more serious. "I'm afraid we both know that is impossible. Your clan is… well known for worrying more about its own affairs than those of others in the village. The councils would have to agree on such an adoption, as Naruto is not yet a ninja, and still classified a civilian. I don't think the Civilian Council and even a number among the Shinobi Council would ever cede a boy with such a dangerous power off to your clan or any clan for that matter." He sighed sadly. "And I doubt most of the civilians would want him to have a family of any type, let alone yours."

Hitomi's shoulders drooped. "That's what Hiashi said, but I'd hoped you'd have an idea of how to get around that."

Sarutobi shook his head. "I will think on the matter, but there is little I can do at the moment. As much as I wish being Hokage gave me complete authority over everything in the village, our village was designed to be different than a dictatorship like Iwagakure. On civilian matters, unless it affects ninja in some way, I can only do so much."

Hitomi heaved a frustrated sigh. "Then… at least tell me where I can find him. If I can't bring him in, the least I can do is give him a few home-cooked dinners during the week. His eyes… he's so lonely. I… Let me help him."

Sarutobi smiled. "That, I can arrange. Though not until tomorrow. Most have not heard, but he is in the hospital. The fire in his apartment was a second attempt on his life."

Hitomi paled slightly. "Is he okay?"

He sighed. "As best as can be expected. He was burnt rather badly, but his tenant seems to be taking care of the damage. Emotionally… he's doing better than I'd expected."

'Meeting his mother inside of him being the cause of that,' he mused to himself.

Sarutobi took a scrap of parchment, and scribbled down an address. "He's moving here tonight, but I'll be treating him to dinner. You can visit tomorrow if you'd like – I'm sure he'd welcome the company."

Hitomi took the parchment and then bowed. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi nodded slightly. 'If you can help Naruto where I cannot, that's all the thanks I'll need.' He thought to himself as he watched her go.

xxxXXX-XXXxxx

Konoha Hospital, Konohagakure, Land of Fire

Naruto slept in much longer than he usually did, not waking until the next afternoon, and then only with his mother's voice in his head insisting he wake up.

"Mm, I'm up," he groaned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and immediately noticing that movement hurt much less than it had the previous night.

"That's good to hear," the Sandaime's voice came from the doorway. "Would you like to go to your new home, Naruto?"

Naruto leapt up from the bed, ignoring the fact that he was still wearing a hospital gown and covered in bandages, and threw his fist up into the air. "Of course! Let's go!"

Sarutobi chuckled. "Get dressed, and we will go. You need to keep your bandages on, but they can come off tomorrow evening."

He left the room, leaving Naruto to hurry over to where an orange jumpsuit laid waiting, and slowly pulled it on over his bandages, only feeling twinges of pain as he moved instead of the stabbing he'd felt the day before.

*We're going to have to get you some new clothes, too.*

"Okay, kaa-san," he muttered softly as he finished pulling on the shirt, and walked to the door of the hospital room, and found the Hokage waiting for him outside.

"Yosh! Let's go Jiji!" Naruto said excitedly, letting the Hokage lead him out of the hospital.

xxxXXX—XXXxxx

The house was on the southeast side of Konoha, a less developed area. The building itself was nestled back in a small thicket of trees, and was set near several rarely used training grounds. The house wasn't overly large, though much bigger than Naruto's apartment had been.

It was a low, squat one-story building with a pyramidal curved hoygo roof lined with gray-green tiles. It was set back behind a low fence that surrounded the property, and extended back far into the backyard.

Naruto's eyes were wide as Sarutobi used a key to open the metal gate at the front of the property, and then handed the key to the youngster.

"Th-this is kaa-san's house? This is where I get to stay?" He asked breathlessly. To him it was simply enormous, something he would have believed just a day ago that he would never be able to get or stay in.

Sarutobi chuckled. "Yes, Naruto, this is your mother's home. When the time comes you can move to your father's estate, which is larger, if you would like, but for now, this is your home now."

An enormous smile threatened to split Naruto's face in half. "Thanks Jiji."

They walked up the stone-paved path, past what appeared to once have been low, long garden beds that were now choked over by weeds. There was an overgrown rock garden also visible along one side of the house. The lawn was definitely going to take some work, but he didn't care – it was a house of his own.

Naruto used the key to open the door, and both he and Sarutobi stepped in onto the recessed tile genkan, removing their shoes. There were no slippers so they made do with their socks as they arranged their shoes at the edge of the sunken-in area and then stepped up onto a linoleum-lined hallway. The hallway led to the kitchen and the rest of the house.

The kitchen was not overly large; the same general appliances he'd had at the apartment, but with more space and room to move around, as well as countertop preparation area. The rest of the house, was largely one big room, but Naruto saw wood and paper fusuma sliding partitions against the walls, and noted they could be used to make smaller separate rooms. A small room was divided off as a bedroom, but the rest had no furniture.

When he asked about getting some, Sarutobi led him into the back to the oshiire where all of the furniture was stored, from chairs to a low table and sitting cushions to a futon and a large stack of tatami flooring mats.

After a brief tour of the rest of the building, including the toilet and the bathing room, which were separate and much less cramped than the bathing unit at his apartment, which had the sink, bathing area, and toilet all crammed into one room, Sarutobi brought him out into backyard.

Out back the yard seemed to have been converted into a large, rectangular training area, complete with several large training posts for either physical work on the poles themselves or training dummies. Further poles set vertically and horizontally in a haphazard manner on the far end of the training area – in the center it was open for full sparring – appeared to be an obstacle course.

*What do you think, Naru-kun?* Kushina asked softly in his head.

He felt like his mind was spinning, finally getting out of the hospital and then seeing all of this. Sure, the yard was overgrown, and the surfaces in the house covered in a visible layer of dust from lack of use, but it was his.

"It's awesome," Naruto said aloud, forgetting about the Hokage who stood nearby watching him.

"I'm glad you like it, Naruto," Sarutobi said. "I'm afraid I will need to get back to work in a few hours. I'll need to give you some money to help pay for your food and clothes and anything else you might have lost… but how would you like me to treat you to dinner at Ichiraku first?"

"Yes! Ramen!" Naruto shouted, pumping his fist into the air in excitement

xxxXXX-XXXxxx

"Three bowls of miso, please!" Naruto said, sitting down at counter of Ramen Ichiraku.

A young girl, just in her teens, wearing a white robe with a blue apron and similarly colored bandana, which held back her brown hair, turned around quickly, and then hurried around the counter after seeing Naruto.

"Naruto!" She nearly shouted, grabbing him into a tight hug. "I was so worried when I heard you were in the hospital, and that some jerk burned down your apartment. Are you okay? How badly were you hurt?"

She was stopped from asking further questions when Naruto tapped his hand on the bar weakly.

"A-Ayame-nee-chan! Can't….breathe!" Naruto gasped out, and she looked down to find his face turning blue and realized she was smothering him with her tight grip.

Ayame blushed and let go, helping him back onto his seat. "Sorry, Naruto-kun, guess I wasn't thinking."

Naruto gave a weak smile as he recovered. "It's okay, Ayame-nee. Thanks for being worried about me."

She ruffled his hair playfully. "Of course I was worried, you're my favorite customer. We'd go out of business without you." She said, chuckling.

Naruto grinned. "In that case, make it twelve miso! Jiji is paying!"

Naruto jerked a thumb over his shoulder to where Sarutobi was watching the two of them fondly. As he said that, though, Sarutobi looked mournfully down at his pocket where he kept his wallet – he had a feeling it was going to be much thinner after tonight.

Ayame gasped, and her face flushed a bright red. "Gomen, Hokage-sama, I didn't notice you."

Sarutobi waved her off. "Don't worry about it – I'm glad to see Naruto has some real friends who care about him. I'm treating him to dinner tonight, so go ahead and get his miso. I'll have a bowl of shio."

"Alright, I'll have that right out," she said, moving back behind the counter.

Naruto watched for a few minutes as she hurried around the kitchen, starting preparations for a long train of ramen that would be going out to him.

"Hey, Ayame-nee-chan, where's old man Teuchi?"

Ayame set the first bowl in front of him, and then gave the other to Sarutobi. "Dad was coming down with a cold today. I made him go home and let me take care of the rest of the sales today."

"Tell him I hope he feels better," Naruto said, as he grabbed some wooden chopsticks, and broke them apart. "Itadakimasu!" He said, before promptly diving into the bowl of ramen.

A full thirty minutes later, Naruto was sitting back, nearly tipping over the stool as he patted a very full stomach, and Sarutobi had just finished his second bowl – slowed down by watching the amazing yet horrifying sight of Naruto slurping down bowl after bowl of ramen.

"Well, Naruto, I need to go back to my office, but if you need anything, just let me know." He handed him an envelope stuffed with money, as well as a small box. "Wait until you get back to your new home to open that." He said.

"Okay, Jiji."

"Yūgao's mission should be over tomorrow, and I'll talk to her about tutoring you. Do you want me to tell her… about your new friend?"

Naruto was quiet for a moment, and then nodded his head. "Tell her everything. Otherwise it'll be hard to explain the stuff she teaches me," he said, tapping the side of his head.

"Okay, Naruto, I'll tell her."

"Alright, goodnight, Jiji, thanks for everything!" Naruto said as he stood up slowly, while the Hokage set money down on the bar to cover their meals and a generous tip.

"Goodnight, Naruto, take care of yourself," Sarutobi said softly, before turning to slowly walk away as he pulled out his pipe.

Ayame came to the counter once more, and picked up the money, before starting to clear away the towering stack of bowls Naruto had created. "Goodnight, Naruto-kun, I really am very happy you're alright," she said with a soft smile.

"Thanks Ayame-nee-chan, you're great." Naruto said, a warm feeling at his chest that she had really been so worried about him. "Goodnight," he called, waving over his shoulder as he headed back to his new home.

It was dark as he arrived, and he ended up fumbling with the key in the low light, but eventually made it through the gate and into the house. He turned on a light switch, and hurried over to the closet to pull out one of the chairs.

Once he'd dragged it out, he sat down, and eagerly opened up the package the Hokage had given him. He turned it on its side, and a blackened object fell out.

Naruto's eyes widened, as he recognized his goggles. The band that kept them on his head was gone, likely burnt as it had been elastic fiber, but the rest was relatively intact. The blue plastic surrounding the lenses was warped in places, and blackened, but the lenses themselves seemed relatively okay.

A small note dropped out with the goggles, and he picked it up, reading the Sandaime's handwriting. "Naruto, I found this today while we were looking through the wreckage of the apartments. I know they were special to you, so I thought you'd like to have them back."

Naruto smiled, and held the goggles to his chest. He'd gotten them several years ago, but who they were from was a mystery. He'd heard a knocking on his apartment door that evening, and a patter of feet running away, and he'd gotten up, expecting his door to be egged or some other 'pleasant' present waiting for him. But instead, he'd found the goggles lying at his doorstep, with a small note with neat handwriting that simply said "Thank You".

He had no idea who had done it – he'd run down the hall, and searched the area but by then the person had been long gone – and he didn't know what it had been for, but it was the first present he'd ever really gotten, and he had worn them every day since then.

'Well, I'll have to get a new band for it tomorrow, but it looks like they're still okay. I'll keep wearing it to remind me I have to keep getting stronger so that can never happen again.' He thought, leaning back in the chair.

xxxXXX-XXXxxx

Ninja Academy, Konohagakure, Land of Fire

Naruto walked slowly toward the Academy building, due to how early he was. Kushina had woke him up much earlier than he was used to – and firmly stated he'd be waking up that early for the foreseeable future, so he'd better get used to it.

She'd made him run laps around the yard for nearly thirty minutes, to 'wake him up', she'd said. She wanted him to work on his physical stamina, as his own chakra and energy stamina were through the roof.

Because of all of that, he was getting to the Academy nearly twenty minutes before he usually did.

When he neared, he saw a number of parents dropping their children off at the entrance. Rather than the usual sadness that welled up inside of him at the sight, he grinned to himself. They might have their parents physically there to drop them off, but he had his kaa-san with him every minute of the day now. As far as he was concerned, having been without anyone for so long, he definitely had the better deal.

Naruto perked up when he saw a familiar face as he entered – his teacher Iruka-sensei. There'd been a bit of a rocky start with him when he started teaching, but now he gave Naruto the attention he hungered for, and he had become Naruto's favorite teacher – one of the few he actually learned anything from.

"Hey Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called, waving.

Iruka looked up from the paper he had been reading while walking down the hall toward the teacher's quarters. "Naruto?" He asked, looking surprised – more often than not Naruto was late for class, not early. He then frowned, remembering what he'd heard from some of his fellow Shinobi.

"Naruto, are you sure you're okay to come in today? I heard about the fire at your apartment, and someone said you were hurt…." He didn't mention Mizuki, who he'd heard had betrayed the village and paid the price.

Naruto put his arms back behind his head and grinned widely. "Nah, I'm okay, Iruka-sensei, just a little burn. I'll be better in no time. They said I could come back today if I want to."

Iruka nodded, glad his student hadn't been as badly injured as the rumors had purported. "Well, alright, I'll see you in class. But if I find out you're here early so you can set up a prank…." He trailed off, letting the threat sink in, before waving again, and heading away from Naruto.

"Geez, guess they already do underestimate me. Although another prank might be a good idea," Naruto muttered, grinning to himself.

*Not today, Naru-kun* Kushina said quietly in his head. *I'm not going to stop you from your little pranks – I might even figure out a way to make them into training, and help you with a few myself – but today you still need to finish healing up, and running away from angry teachers isn't the best way to do that.*

Naruto pouted, and crossed his arms, but when the movement sent a shiver of pain down his back, he silently agreed. There was always tomorrow for a good prank.

As Iruka disappeared around the corner, Naruto walked down the hall to the classroom the kids of his year used as their 'homeroom'. He slid open the door, and saw far fewer people in the room than he usually did, due to being early. He took a step forward to head down toward his usual seat that typically landed him near Sasuke and Sakura-chan.

*Wait,* his kaa-san's voice caused him to stop awkwardly with one leg far ahead of the other.

'What, kaa-san?' Naruto asked in his head, having to remember to not speak out loud.

*Naru-kun, I want you to try sitting somewhere else. I want you to try to make some new friends, and sitting down by Sasuke and Sakura isn't going to help you with that.* She was somewhat disappointed that Sasuke seemed to have taken after his father, and behaved cockily in class, showing off what he'd learned. She and Mikoto - Sasuke's mother - had been good friends, and hoped their children would grow up to be as well, but Sasuke seemed to have a dislike for Naruto, considering him the 'class clown'.

Naruto frowned. 'But kaa-san, I like Sakura-chan. She's a friend.'

He heard Kushina sigh in his mind. *Naruto, I- I don't want to upset you, but no, I don't think Sakura is your friend. At least not now. Remember, I've seen everything you've gone through, and I think Shikamaru and Choji are far closer to being friends to you. Maybe Sakura can be a nice girl sometimes, and maybe someday she could be a friend, but right now she's blinded by the cool 'prodigy' of the class, and her rivalry with the other girls. Anytime you try to talk to her, she hits you.*

'Ano, kaa-san, she isn't that bad,' Naruto protested.

*Naru-kun, I'm not doing this to be mean, I just think this will be better for you. Wait a few years and see if she mellows out, and if you still like her then, then try befriending her again. Think about it like this – if I was out in the world with you, and I went and started dating a man that punched me in the face whenever he didn't like what I said, would you be okay with that?*

'What? No way, I'd kick his butt and tell him to never come back, because no one hurts my kaa-san, dattebayo! Why would you think of doing something like that?' He paused a moment, as what he said sunk in.

'Oh,' he thought slowly. 'You don't want that happening to me…'

*Exactly, my Naru-kun, no one hurts you if I have anything to say about it.* She said softly. *That isn't a good foundation for a relationship. Light whacks on the back of the head, or swats on the shoulder, things like that can be okay if they're affectionate, but not trying to pound someone's face into the pavement. Just think about it, okay?*

Naruto nodded, and straightened his stance. 'Okay, kaa-san, maybe when we're older and I'm smarter like her, she'll like me more.' His gaze slid around the room. 'Where should I sit though?'

She was about to speak, when his gaze settled on Hinata who was sitting quietly in the back row in front of him. 'What about Hinata, kaa-san? She's a little weird but she's usually nice, isn't she? And her mom was really nice too.'

Kushina smiled to herself, having been planning on suggesting the spot, because she knew the girl liked him. *That sounds good, Naru-kun. And she's not weird, she's just very shy, but I think she'd like to be your friend.*

Naruto smiled, walked over, and plopped down in the chair next to her. "Ohayo, Hinata!" He said, grinning at the blue-haired girl.

Hinata jumped, letting out a squeak at the sudden greeting, and then began to press her forefingers together, a blush growing on her face as she realized just who had sat next to her and spoke to her.

"G-Good morning N-Naruto-kun," she said softly, her eyes tracking up to his face and then back down to the table several times. "A-aren't you going to s-sit in your normal s-seat?"

"Huh? Nah, I was gettin' bored there, so I thought I'd sit over here by you. Sorry 'bout running into you the other night." He said, scratching the back of his head.

"N-no, it's okay," she said, looking down at her hands.

As she glanced back up he put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair, and she saw something sticking out of the collar of his orange jumpsuit jacket. "N-Naruto-kun, are you alright? My mother said that there was a fire at your apartment…" She asked, suddenly feeling less shy at the sight of the bandages.

Naruto glanced down, following her gaze, and then shrugged, giving her his big 'no worries' grin. "It's just a little bit of a burn. I got lucky and got out of there before it was too bad. Hokage-jiji saved me."

Hinata gasped softly, and then blushed when he looked at her more closely at the outburst. She suddenly wondered if the mean men and women who had been chasing him that night had done it.

"I-I'm sorry," she said.

Naruto shrugged again, his smile seeming more genuine now. "Eh, you didn't do it, Hinata, you don't hafta be sorry. Besides, now I've got an awesome place to stay –the Hokage gave it to me yesterday."

"Th-that's good. I'm g-glad."

"Thanks Hinata. So, did I miss much in class yesterday?"

"N-no, we did some s-shuriken throwing, and s-some village history, about the Y-Yondaime." She said, and then looked up at him, swallowing heavily as she built up a bit of confidence for the next part. "I-i-if y-you like I can s-show you my n-notes."

"Really?" Naruto asked, grinning. He knew that he had the best source of information on the Yondaime – it was even still hard to believe he was his father – right inside of his head, but Hinata didn't know about his kaa-san, and seemed to want to help him, so he didn't want to make her feel bad. "That'd be great, Hinata!"

Hinata blushed and her hands shook nervously as she bent down to her backpack and searched through her papers until she found her notebook. She wasn't exactly sure why, but something about the young boy next to her always got her more flustered than usual, which only made things more embarrassing and worse for the shy girl.

"Thanks, Hinata," Naruto said as she handed him the notebook turned to the right page. "This's great – if you ever need any help with…. Umm…." He thought for a long moment, but realized he didn't really know the girl well enough to know what she might need help on. And he knew he wasn't the greatest at most things anyway. "Well, anything, just ask me."

Hinata just nodded quickly, and he took out his own notebook, and began scribbling down a copy of the notes she had taken, becoming absorbed in the process – she definitely took better notes than he did, he found. And she seemed to add arrows, making connections to thoughts and facts. On the sides of the sheet, he saw smaller writing, which seemed to be scribbling down facts she remembered as the lesson went on, or thoughts of her own. 'Maybe Hinata can teach me how to get better at schoolwork, huh kaa-san?'

*As long as you don't expect her to take notes for you, and just to teach you how to take them better, then yes, I'm sure she could.*

'Never! I'm gonna do my work myself and make you proud, kaa-san,'

Naruto finished copying the notes before class began, and then looked up in interest at a loud argument between several of the girls of the class over who got to sit in the same row as 'Sasuke-kun'. The said object of the argument simply sat quietly in his seat, pointedly ignoring them.

Naruto saw that Sakura was one of them, and was slightly surprised he hadn't even noticed her come in. He sighed slightly as she and another girl, Ami, sat down in the same chair, each trying to push the other off in order to have the seat next to Sasuke.

He shook his head slightly, disliking the boy who was the top of the class, and whose clan was strong in the village, making him popular amongst many in the Academy.

Finally, he turned his gaze away from them, remembering what his kaa-san said, and his decision that he'd have to get smart first and then try to become friends with Sakura. He looked down, and skimmed over his paper once more, making sure he hadn't missed anything, before he turned toward Hinata who seemed to be watching everything in the room.

He opened his mouth, but then was interrupted by Iruka coming into the class and quieting everyone down before he could ask Hinata what he wanted.

He settled for asking her later, and quietly slid the notebook over to her. He gave her a wide grin and mouthed "thank you" to her, and she took the notebook, her face now resembling a tomato in color.

Naruto shrugged mentally. He still thought she was a little weird with her blushing and all that, but maybe she truly was just really shy.

xxxXXX-XXXxxx

Teaching, for Umino Iruka, that day was nerve-wracking. First, he had to cover double the lessons he usually did, due to Mizuki being dead, which was rather stressful dealing with so many kids for so long. But he also kept expecting to end up falling victim to one of Naruto's pranks – his early attendance had started the suspicions, and now he was getting a bit jumpy the class finished for the day.

He'd become more paranoid as the day had gone by, mainly because the blond-haired knucklehead was actually sitting up, listening, and taking notes all through the class without even falling asleep a single time. He even seemed to be giving Iruka his full attention, and hadn't had a single outburst. It was… disturbing… and made him think he was simply waiting for the perfect moment to spring a new prank.

Iruka let out a sigh of relief, and bundled his papers together on his desk after they finished the lesson on uses of ninja-wire, and he let them all leave, initiating a rush from the classroom and a cheer from the students.

Iruka turned around and nearly yelped out loud when he found a grinning, innocent-looking Naruto standing a mere three feet away from him. "N-Naruto, I didn't realize you were there. Usually you're the first one out of here… what's really going on? Just do your prank already!"

Naruto's eyes closed into flat slits and he got a confused look on his face. "Ano, what are you talking about Sensei? I wasn't going to do any pranks today. I'm still healing."

Iruka's eyes darted around, wondering if this was simply a ploy to take his guard down. "Well," he said carefully, "you sat in a different spot than usual, you didn't fall asleep once in class, you paid attention, and you were even taking notes… If you weren't planning a prank, why are you acting so strangely?"

Naruto nodded, realizing what had caught Iruka's attention. "Well, I decided to change. I'm gonna be a better student so I can be a better ninja, and stop being dead last in class. So I can't sleep in class anymore. I'm gettin' serious, dattebayo!" He announced, after Kushina said he could say something to Iruka.

Iruka relaxed slightly, but still kept his guard up. "You've changed, Naruto… was it the fire?"

Naruto nodded, a solemn look on his face. "Yeah. And that jerk Mizuki tryin' to kill me. I've gotta get strong to protect myself otherwise I'm never gonna be Hokage!"

Iruka smiled – at least some things hadn't changed. While he was saddened the boy had changed from those near-death experiences, at least it seemed to be for the positive. As much as he had wanted to hate the grinning blonde when he'd first met him for what he held inside, he had found it harder and harder to call up that emotion as the boy showed him just how much he was like Iruka himself.

"Alright then, I'm happy you've gotten serious about your studies, Naruto. So what was it you wanted to ask?"

"Well, I was wondering, if we're going to learn a lot about seals in class."

Iruka frowned. "Not really. About as far as we ever get is how to use storage seals or exploding tags. Anything else is usually taught when you are Genin or Chūnin, and usually not much more, unless someone wants to apprentice under a seal master or something. Why?"

Naruto shrugged. "I just wondered. I was… readin' in the hospital, and seals sounded really cool. Sucks that we don't learn a lot."

Iruka sighed at the depressed look that came over the blond, and the fact that he actually wanted to learn something struck him. "Tell you what, Naruto, I'll see if I can find a beginner's book on Sealing for you, so you can learn about it on your own time, okay?"

Naruto's face lit up. "Really? Awesome! You're the greatest, Iruka-sensei! I won't play my next prank on you like I was planning to! See you tomorrow!" he called as he ran out of the room, leaving Iruka with an eyebrow twitching, wondering at the new attitude of his student.

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A/N:Well, hope you all enjoyed it. Poor Iruka, Naruto got him to prank himself without even trying to do so. :)

Alright, first things first, don't worry, this is not going to be a bashing fic. I don't hate Sakura or anything, I just think Naruto's mother would want him to develop more… healthy relationships, especially at this age. Eventually, with a more mellow Naruto, Sakura will become friends with him (though she won't be one of the other two girls).

Naruto will instead be developing a friendship with Hinata as well as Shikamaru and Choji (more than he did in canon) in the next several is going to be a Strong Hinata story - she'll be gaining a lot of confidence in herself with Naruto's friendship, and grow rapidly with that encouragement. A few reviews about the Uchiha clan, I hope you'll like what I have happen on that front coming in a few chapters.

So, next chapter, Hitomi (and Hinata) come to visit Naruto at his new house, Naruto meets Yūgao, and begins his training. There'll be three or four more chapters before I have a timeskip to Graduation Day, just to get you an idea of what he'll be doing in his training, as well as let you get to know some of the other characters (Yūgao, Hitomi, Itachi, Kushina, etc.), and show the developing friendship between Naruto and Hinata.

So, until next week, see you guys!

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Genkan = recessed entryway in Japanese houses where shoes are taken off before entering the home itself

Oshiire= large closet(s) where the furniture is stored, allowing easy reconfiguration of rooms