Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I do not. I make no money off of this.

AN: My first fanfiction ever written. First time publishing to this site. Thank you for your patience. All reviews welcomed.

Shoutout to my beta reader Vavavoooom (a.k.a. ThreePiSquared).

Adapt or Die

By: Adoredra Fal'Naelra

Chapter I - Everything has Changed

Two boys were whispering rather loudly with no concern whether or not anyone heard them.

"This is the first time he has shown up since the massacre," the brown haired one said.

"I know my parents said it happened all within hours," responded the one with black hair.

"I heard my parents say that his brother did it."

The black haired boy gasped, "No way! I can't believe that. That's terrible!"

Sakura felt tears well up in her eyes. She instinctually felt the need to shut them up, but that would simply draw attention to herself. She didn't like attention – her parents said so. A lady's job is to sit politely and quietly, and her reward was receiving gifts and love. So she stayed in her seat. She couldn't say that she wasn't spoiled, but she always secretly felt a need to express herself. Also, she liked to hear gossip.

She blamed her best friend Ino for that problem. Well, ex-best friend after she announced her intentions to gain Sasuke's attention. 'Typical,' she thought morosely, 'I don't follow my parents' instructions, and I lose the only person who defended me from bullies. I can hear my parents saying that they told me so. Tch.'

Then, she noticed the blond-haired boy stand up ruffling his blue battle-kimono with a serious look on his face from behind the two boys. Sakura could still remember when he was six inches shorter and wearing orange. 'Naruto sure did grow up quickly in two years even for a boy in puberty,' Sakura noted.

She always did have an interest in medicine. Mainly because all you can really do when saying nothing and behaving herself is reading, and those medical texts always were long and took up the time. She hated the time. Always too much time.

Sakura secretly never liked it when the boy had a serious look on his face. She liked it when he smiled. It brightened the room, but now she couldn't remember the last time she saw it. Surprisingly, the boy passed by the two boys still obnoxiously 'whispering' to each other and stepped up to Sasuke – the boy of discussion and pre-teen heart-throb.

Sakura sighed dreamily thinking about how she could be his diligent wife. After all, that is what her parents trained her to be. Her thoughts were interrupted by the blonde's calm and collected voice as if speaking with wisdom only gained through experience.

"I used to think the worst thing in life was to be alone," Naruto began gaining everyone in the classes attention even Sasuke. 'I haven't seen Sasuke ever give someone his attention like that,' thought Sakura jealously. "It's not," continued Naruto, "the worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone," Sasuke's eyes widened for the first time since that day. "One of the cruelest things a person can do to another is to pretend that they care more than they really do," he finished and returned to his seat behind the two boys.

'Everyone has changed so quickly,' Sakura dispassionately thought to herself with her head bent down. 'Everyone but me.'

2 years ago

Sasuke was standing in front of his father, mother and brother outside of the Academy that he just joined as he had become of age. The Ninja School, or commonly referred to as the Academy, was a huge building located directly at the base of the Hokage Mountain compromised of several large buildings that have been added over time. Sasuke knew having already received clan training and a decent grasp of the basics.

He was feeling so excited. Not only was he going to become a ninja - finally, but his father was paying attention to him. Him and not his brother. Sasuke couldn't help the smile tug at his lips because even his brother took time to walk Sasuke to the Academy. 'He is always so busy being a ninja,' Sasuke thought to himself dampening his mood a little, 'he never even plays with me or helps me train.'

"I promise to make you proud, father," Sasuke announced in front of his family.

Fugaku looked down without a semblance of emotion on his face and said, "I know. Remember, everything you do reflects on the clan, and the Uchiha are the greatest of all the Konoha clans."

Sasuke nodded his head having heard this speech multiple times before, but he couldn't help but want his father to at least say his name. Sasuke's thoughts were quickly interrupted by a loud, prepubescent voice, "Oh my gosh, finally! I'm going to be a ninja! Ninja! Ninja! Can you believe it grandpa?! I've been waiting so long- like forever!"

Sasuke quickly swiveled towards the voice's direction seeing a big blue-eyed shrimp of a boy with three identical whisker marks on each cheek and a mop of unruly blonde hair on his head wearing a shirt too big for him with the Konoha leaf symbol plastered on the front and khaki shorts holding his supposedly grandfather's hand. The image of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

The boy was practically hoping from foot to foot in excitement, Sasuke noted. Sasuke's eyes widened when he noticed just who his grandfather was - the Third Hokage, but then quickly narrowed when he couldn't seem to notice any similarities between the two. Despite the fact that their must be at least a 60 year difference, the boy held no similarities, and Sasuke took pride in his observational skills. He might not have developed his Sharingan yet like his brother, but Sasuke didn't let that deter him. 'For instance', Sasuke deduced, 'the grandfather has no facial similarities. No whisker marks. No blue eyes. No blonde hair. Nothing.'

He heard his mother whisper in a single breath of air, "Kushina."

Sasuke was confused, and he didn't like to be confused. He looked back at his family only to see them all intently focused on the boy and not the Hokage. 'Odd' Sasuke thought 'Who can stand next to the Hokage and still manage to get all the attention.' "Father, who is -," Sasuke began to ask only to be quickly interrupted by his father who immediately looked down.

"Do not interact with that boy," Fugaku nearly spat clearly wanting to say something else. "He is nothing but trouble and a plague to this village."

Sasuke's eyes widened more than ever before as he digested his father's vitriol. He noticed his mother clearly look at his father with a frown clearly etched on her face silently displaying her disapproval, and his brother quietly raising an eyebrow in response. Meanwhile, Sasuke's ears pricked up a little when he noticed that all the other parents were saying nearly identical orders to their own children. Some weren't even trying to be discreet about their distain.

Sasuke was now even more confused. How can everyone hate a child who claims to have the Third Hokage - the most powerful ninja in the village - as their grandfather? Also, how can the boy be so oblivious to his surroundings and what everyone was saying? Especially if he was an aspiring ninja.

Meanwhile, the Hokage chuckled around the smoke pipe in his mouth and patted the wild mop of hair on the boy, "You have much to learn, young Naruto."

"I'll make you proud, grandpa! Believe it!" shouted this 'Naruto' despite the fact that the Hokage was literally right next to him holding his hand.

"I know you will. Now, do you remember where the sheet to find out where your class is at?"

After seeing Naruto bop his head up and down, the Hokage continued, "And you remember where all the classes are from when we toured the Academy?"

"Of course! Of course!"

"Did you bring your lunch?"

"Yep! I've got in my backpack with my notebook and pencils, too! Sister packed it too! I hope she didn't put too many vegetables in it though. She always knows if I don't eat my vegetables," Naruto dragged off towards the end.

The Hokage's face flashed with an emotion for instance, but Sasuke noticed. He could only describe it as a feeling of guilt or remorse. "Can you recite for me the admission requirements?"

Naruto looked up at the Hokage who was looking down at him with a wry smile on his face that replaced his flash of guilt and immediately responded - nay shouted back, "Love the village and work hard and be healthy."

The Hokage chuckled and pointed, "Says the child who refuses to eat his vegetables."

"Yuck!" Naruto responded furiously shaking his head back and forth. "Who would want to eat those?! Their too green!"

Hokage's face was clearly amused by the child's antics, "Now I'm going to have to question if you truly love the village hidden in the leaves."

Naruto's face went white, and he brought his chubby left hand to his mouth aghast. "Of course, I love the village! How could you say such a thing!" Naruto demanded. "And. And. And. What do vegetables have to do with anything? I mean carrots are okay because their orange and therefore awesome..."

Hokage merely patted the boys head again stopping the boy's rambling about the color of orange of all things, "I was merely joking, my boy. It just so happens that the leaves happen to be green is all. Now, remember, my doors are always opened for you to visit Naruto"

Realization dawned in the boy's eyes as he understood how he misspoke, and he quickly promised to visit as the Hokage directed the boy towards the Academy door wishing the young child good luck. 'It's like reading a book,' thought Sasuke looking at the boy's eyes. 'How could anyone be worried about a child like that?'

Almost as if reading his thoughts, he noticed the Hokage wasn't looking at his charge's back but disapprovingly at the crowd around him pointedly looking all the adults in the eyes. It practically felt like the gravity was harder all around him as if voicing the Hokage's disapproval. Sasuke soon found his shoes to be very fascinating at that point in time, but he couldn't help but notice how Naruto practically skipped through the Academy's doors like he owned the place.

After the boy entered the Academy and disappeared from sight, the palpable tension dispersed, and the Hokage announced that he wished all the other students good luck and how he looked forward to seeing the new generation grow into even stronger ninja. Once the Hokage turned his back to the crowd and walked back in the other direction, Sasuke heard his father clear his throat and turned around in attention.

Right before his father could finish opening his mouth to say anything, his brother, Itachi said with a small smile on his face, "Good luck on your first day Sasuke. Now you better run off before classes start after all we have spent too much time as it is."

Sasuke could only nod in a daze as his mind was still bogged down in this most confusing situation he was in. Only to be cut off when Itachi poked him in the forehead with two fingers causing Sasuke to lift his head up seeing Itachi with a smirk on his face, "And remember to eat your vegetables too, or mother will notice."

Sasuke continued staring up at his brother noticing his mother chuckling softly, and his father slowly and minutely shaking his head. 'He completely broke the mood,' Sasuke thought to himself as he felt a smile blooming on his face in response. Sasuke quickly snapped out of his daze and bowed to his parents and started to walking towards in the Academy.

After finding out his classroom number, Sasuke walked towards the assigned room counting out the numbers to his side. 'How could you not remember the layout of the Academy,' Sasuke asked himself thinking back on the previous conversation he couldn't help but overhear as it was shouted out. 'It's not that big.'

Sasuke's thoughts were soon derailed, when he heard a familiar voice shouting through the hallways, "Hi! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! What's your name, sensei?" Naruto stood there with his arm out in front of him clearly intending on shaking the teacher's hand. 'Great, I'm in the same class as the loudmouth,' Sasuke moaned only to see the look in the teacher's eyes. The clear unmasked hatred. The eyes were so frighteningly cold, yet this Naruto remained unfazed with his arm still awkwardly in the air.

"Just get in the class, demon filth," the teacher snarled. Sasuke couldn't help letting out a gasp and stepping back a little.

And the boy still just stood there with that stupid smile on his face. "Of course, sensei," the boy calmly said as he strolled past the door into the classroom acting as if nothing just happened. Sasuke stood where he was and looked around the hallway.

'No one noticed?!' Sasuke practically screamed in his head, 'so much is wrong with this situation! This isn't right. As an Uchiha, he was raised on the principles of justice and defending the law from all who would break it. The teacher just called the bright blue-eyed blonde boy a Demon, and the boy didn't even flinch? Instead, he acted like they were simply talking about the weather. Also, I might have only known of the boy for no more than ten minutes at most, but he has never acted so... calm. It almost seemed unnatural. Well, Father told me not to associate with him, but Mother didn't seem to agree. And, Itachi didn't even say anything at all regarding him.'

Sasuke, then, narrowed his eyes coming to a conclusion in his internal debate and mumbled to himself, "Who are you Naruto Uzumaki?"

Shino Aburame knew something was not right about the situation he was currently having. He was calmly sitting next to a certain blonde haired boy who clearly needed to eat more or at least change his diet or wear proper fitting clothes. It's just the logical thing to do.

The boy on the other hand seemed to be physically restraining himself from jumping up and down in his desk looking all around the class. 'Does he have too much caffeine or sugar in his system?' Shino thought which prompted the follow question. 'Who would ever give him any energy stimulant? He looks like a hummingbird whose drunk too much sugar water.'

What was worst was that it seemed the boy's energy levels seemed to be spiking as if the blue-eyed boy wasn't restraining himself from jumping up and down in his seat but from bouncing off the walls. Then, the boy looked out the window that he was sitting next to with a view of the school's expansive grounds that touch the famous Konoha forest.

Before Shino could blink his eyes, he found himself face to face with the boy in question. The boy's face broke into the biggest smile that Shino can honestly say he has ever seen especially as a member of the astute Aburame clan that took proud in their ability to look at any situation logically and rationally. 'Maybe, this what Father meant, when he said that part of the purpose of the Ninja School was to introduce you to the other aspiring ninjas of Konoha,' Shino distantly thought.

"Hi! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! It's nice to meet you. One of my sisters told me that it was proper to introduce yourself with your name first unlike our bastard of a sensei," Naruto proudly claimed with his chest puffed out and a face filled with bright white teeth.

Shino was glad he was wearing glasses to hide how his eyes automatically squinted after hearing the last part about their sensei. While he might not have outwardly reacted, he very much heard the comment from the teacher towards the blonde-haired boy in the hallway. 'So many questions that need to be answered,' Shino thought to himself but reframed from asking. It was only proper of course although his kikaichu bugs that inspected Naruto were vibrating in his hive.

Shino thanked his practice of showing emotions because his eyebrows almost rose to his head. The boy had unheard of chakra levels! Certainly more than anyone he has ever meet in his clan. No wonder the boy could barely restrain himself. Covering up his surprise, Shino calmly responded, "Nice to meet you too Naruto. I'm Shino Aburame."

Naruto simply squinted his eyes and slightly tilted his head as if analyzing every last detail about him until he asked, "Soooo... are you from one of those fancy clans or something?"

Shino merely nodded his head once slightly taken back by the boy's bluntness, "Yes. I am a member of the Aburame clan. One of the four noble clans of Konoha."

Naruto started nodding to himself putting a hand to his chin and using his other arm to hold the one on his chin by the elbow, "I see. So your one of those. What's your claim to fame then? What special abilities do you got?"

Shino decided to simply roll with these questions, "The Aburame clan is renowned for their use of the kikaichu insects which are able to drain chakra from foes."

"Well, I want to see one. Can you prove it? Where are they?"

Shino let a bug fly out of one of his sleeves and in front of Naruto's skeptical face, "We of the Aburame clan use our bodies as a hive for our kikaichu in a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship. This is Akali."

"Ha, so the fancy clan child can use his big words. Wow. You're so cool. Well, I'll let you know that I don't see anything to special about your bug friend here, or your clan. So you can take your -," Naruto defensively started to say before Shino could interrupt him sensing an almost drastic change in the atmosphere of the conversation.

"I'm sorry Uzumaki-san. It was not my mention to offend. I simply meant to say that both the Aburame and the kikaichu insects benefit from working together as a team," Shino said trying to defuse the situation that somehow quickly turned hostile. 'He clearly holds resentment towards the clans. Most likely views them as privileged compared to himself,' Shino deduced.

Naruto merely scoffed and looked outside the window folding his arms over his chest and puffing his cheeks out as the teacher silenced the students to start his lecture.

"Hello class, I will be your sensei for the first year. My name is Tsumemasa Saji, but you can just call me sensei or Saji-sensei," the instructor began and handed a pile of papers he had sitting on the desk in front of the room."Would you take a packet and pass it around, please? Thank you. This packet is the syllabus and will describe Academy policies, personal rules, office hours if you require extra assistance and the course outline for this year. Now, lets start up at the top."

Ino Yamanaka was bored out of her mind as the teacher droned on about the class. She was a clan child, an heir no less, so she already knew everything they were probably going to talk about. Therefore, she did what she always did. She looked around at each of the students looking at how they did their hair, how they dressed, who they were sitting next to, and most importantly was their any drama should could later use as gossip.

"Here at the Academy, we will build the foundations of your ninja career. After all, a tree is only as strong as its roots. I cannot stress the importance of the basics when it comes to learning, so I never want to hear about any student wanting to learn 'a cool flashy awesome technique to one-shot their enemy'. So just get that out of your heads right now."

After all, her father raised her to be a violet flower which embodies a blunt, candid love. And she loved to gossip. Call it the Yamanaka in her. Furthermore, she was reared to cherish the bonds she made with her friends explaining why she sat herself around her young childhood friends Shikamaru Nara who looked like he could barely stay awake and Choji Akimichi who seemed to still be eating. How? Don't ask her. She still didn't understand, and she knew them the best.

"Instead, we will learn the core curriculum like any school of reading, writing, mathematics, science, geography and history. Unlike other schools, however, these lessons will typically be framed in a ninja-context."

She herself had her platinum blonde hair short and reached down to the nape of her neck with the rest framing her face after being put into place by a teal hairpin that –of course- matched her eyes. She had a simple light purple necklace hugging her neck and a light orange V-neck top with black outlines that proudly declared her lineage as a Yamanaka on the sleeve.

"Meanwhile, you will all be required to memorize the Shinobi Rules that you will be required to follow in order to ensure the success of the mission. Later you will be taught the mere basics of ninja weapons and tools like shuriken, kunai and ninja wire to ensure that you do not harm yourselves before learning how to throw and wield them through target practice."

Ino casually looked over to look at her best girlfriend Sakura Haruno noticing that she was still covering her forehead with her light pink hair. Ino still wasn't sure how she got that hair color considering that both her parents had no pink hair on them. 'Maybe it will grow out into a blonde or something,' Ino groused to herself with her chin resting on her hand that was supported by the desk in front of her, 'and she seriously needs to rethink hiding her forehead with her hair.'

"Now, classes will be divided into three separate levels. You will be learning these three separate arts with different teachers as I will be devoting my time to teaching you the core curriculum I previously mentioned. Taijutsu classes will be your physical education to help train your bodies and develop your stamina. Spars will frequently be held between students for combat training and as a benchmark for your progress amongst your peers."

Speaking of fights, what was up with that blonde-haired boy sitting next to someone who clearly has no sense of fashion? Honestly, who wears sunglasses inside? Who wears a hooded trench coat when I'm burning up in a short sleeve? Furthermore, what is up with those colors? Grey and some earth green, yuck! Talk about no originality. Everyone wears green in Konoha. So drab. But most importantly, how did they already get into an argument? Classes, literally, just started.

"Second, you will have ninjutsu classes which provide the bulk of what you learn here at the Academy as it differentiates you from a basic soldier. There you will be taught more about chakra, how to manipulate it, and be required to memorize all the Shinobi hand seals. This will culminate into learning the Transformation Technique, Body Replacement Technique and Clone Technique."

Well, at least the blonde had decent enough fashion sense although he could try wearing something that actually fit him. Is he purposefully trying not to make a good impression? Did his parents not have the decency to tell him not to wear that before he left the house? Although it is odd that he has blonde hair, the only other people that Ino knew that had blonde hair were Yamanakas like herself. 'Ah, that's it,' Ino snapped to herself, 'he is one of those foreigners. Oh how interesting. I wonder where he is from? Hehe, so many questions and not that bad looking especially this blue eyes and exotic whisker marks.'

"And last but not least, you will have genjutsu classes that will mainly focus on learning how genjutsu work and how to determine if you are trapped in a genjutsu, and how to release it."

Ino continued her prowl landing on the one and only Sasuke Uchiha and sighed to herself dreamily. She could already imagine their fantasy wedding. She would gain his heart and receive all of his warmth and attention as she stood by his side. It would be perfect, just like those princess movies she always watches.

"Also, as a final note, girls must attend kunoichi classes, while boys will continue their Taijutsu training. Girls, you will learn about other cultures and how to blend in to a crowd should you need to perform an infiltration mission."

'Ah, those must be those flower arranging classes that Daddy told me about,' Ino mussed to herself as she continued to stare at Sasuke with half-lidded eyes. 'Well, I have my work cut out for me.'

Choji Akimichi would honestly say that he stopped paying attention to his sensei the moment he ran out of chips. Choji looked down at his blue overalls and green long-sleeve shirt. It wasn't his fault that he was big-boned and required a higher choleric intake than others. It was genetics. Yeah, genetics. Well that or everyone in his clan has a thyroid problem.

Now, all he could think about was his lunch break. Granted it was at eleven in the morning which was an hour earlier than usual because they were new students and the older classmen got to eat at a normal time. Not that Choji was complaining, he could eat at any time of the day. It was something he honestly took pride in as an Akimichi.

Then, the instructor said he was going to stop his lecture early to tell them about lunch policy. Finally, he's talking Choji's language now.

"You get an hour to eat lunch. Because this is your first year at the Academy, you must stay on school premises preferably in the backyard in order to spend more time with your peers," the instructor noted ,"gaining a good rapport with your classmates and future Shinobi is a key principle to Konoha. As I have said before, we value the importance of teamwork above all else. Therefore, it is crucial to have a good working relationship with your future teammates. In other words, scram and go make friends."

"Don't be late coming back to class!" the instructor shouted over the din of the students as they packed their notebooks and pencils back into their bags.

'Not that I don't want to make friends,' Choji told himself as he started to follow the crowd of kids outside the classroom, 'but I already have Shikamaru. And he understands the importance of food in my life. Plus, he doesn't judge me for being bigger than the other students, and we have been friends since I could remember.'

Once everyone in the class was outside, Choji and his best friend Shikamaru sat underneath one of the many trees that filled the backyard of the Academy where they were allowed to eat their lunches. He noticed a skinny little boy with blonde hair asking if he could eat with a group of three other boys. Choji guessed they were civilians, as they didn't have any clan markings on them that Choji noticed.

"My parents told me I shouldn't be around trash like you," one of the boys announced.

"Yeah, my father told me you are nothing but trouble," another replied patronizingly.

"Yeah, scram you loser. We don't want to be seen with ya," the third snarled.

Choji's eyes widened hearing the exchange and seeing the blonde's crestfallen expression. Then, the blonde's attitude changed as the marched off with his head held high mumbling about how he was better off without them.

Choji wanted to do something like the tell the three what they did was wrong or offer the blonde to come sit with him and Choji. His heart was kind like that, but he was afraid of standing up to the bullies or being rejected. He looked over to his best friend who was also keenly looking at the interaction and shaking his head in disapproval.

Shikamaru was right. It was all too troublesome, but then he noticed that the blonde was heading straight for the Aburame heir who was sitting by himself at the next tree over.

Choji noticed the boy started to become nervous shuffling his feet and wringing his hands while standing in front of Shino who he knew to be a quiet guy from the few times that have been together. Something about fostering clan relations.

"I'm, I'm sorry," the blonde haired boy quietly said underneath his breath with a slight stutter, "I shouldn't have said those things I said earlier."

"I. I. I overreacted is all y'know. So let's be friends 'kay," the blonde finished with a hopeful smile.

"Why are you here asking for forgiveness now? Because you were rejected by others who you deemed 'normal' just because I am from a clan," Shino replied in a calm and collected voice.

"Wow, I've never seen Shino talk like that before," Choji whispered to his best friend who simply nodded in reply with a discerning look in his eyes. Choji sighed. Shikamaru was looking at this like one of those puzzles he just had to solve.

Naruto stopped acting nervously and quickly straightened his back clearly on the defensive, "Hey now! I couldn't care less about your little bugs that live with ya."

"Well, I would certainly use them differently," Naruto added as a thought. "For instance, I would throw them all over those bastards and their food back there."

"My family," Shino stressed, "is not meant to be used for petty vengeance."

"Tch, you clan folks wouldn't know the first two things about getting vengeance because you've never had a need before living in your fancy clan compounds," Naruto retorted folding his arms over his chest and looking the other way.

"You can't assume to know about someone's life especially someone you have only spent a few hours sitting next to in class," Shino pointed out.

Choji then wanted to take a step back when he noticed Naruto's face bloom into a smile out of nowhere. 'Aren't they still fighting,' Choji asked himself instinctually looking over to Shikamaru looking for answers. "Well, that's what friends are for right?" Naruto announced.

Even Shino took time to recollect his thoughts, "Well, yes I suppose so." Shino scooted over to the side a little giving room to share the tree's trunk with Naruto.

"Thanks!" Naruto shouted with a bright smile on his face and announced, "We're going to be best friends. Believe it!"

Naruto started to dig out of his backpack for his lunch and then looked up locking eyes with Choji a frown on his face, "Whatcha looking at huh? Got something to say? You've been staring the whole time? Huh?!"

Choji felt his swirl-tattooed cheeks heating up, and his tongue get dry. No one has ever talked to him like that. He didn't even mention anything about his weight even though the blonde seemed agitated at him. How did he even notice I was paying attention? Was I that obvious?

Thankfully Shikamaru came to his rescue, "We were just interested was all. I'm Shikamaru Nara and this is my friend Choji Akimichi. Mind if we eat with y'all?"

Choji noticed a look of pure joy explode across Naruto's face. 'No one should be that happy that someone offered to spend time with them,' Choji thought to himself but acquiesced and got up with Shikamaru and sat across Naruto and Shino.

Strangely, Naruto's body language quickly started fidgeting as he looked down towards his meal that he recently fished out of his backpack. Choji couldn't help himself from asking, "Is something wrong?"

Naruto snapped his neck up making an uncomfortable amount of eye contact until lightening up and sheepishly scratching the back of his wild head of hair, "Hehe. No it's nothing. I'm just not used to eating with other people my age is all."

"Oh," Choji started to ask why that was until he noticed Shikamaru's pointed look.

"Maaa, don't worry about it, so what's your name? We already know Shino a little," Shikamaru asked.

"Oh right," Naruto chuckled to himself as he continued rubbing the back of his head nervously. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Nice to meet you Shikamaru and Choji, and umm sorry about my rudeness earlier!"

Choji gave a small smile, "Nice to meet you, too, and don't worry about it. Stuff happens, right?"

"Yeah," Naruto replied his voice going down a level, "Stuff happens."

Shikamaru quickly rerouted the conversation by asking Shino what he has been up to since they last met.

"Just collecting and observing more insects."

"Found anything interesting," Choji asked. He might not have the same obsession with insects as Shino obviously did, but he could still respect another person's passion. Like him and food. Speaking of food, Choji pulled out his bento box that his mother made with Shikamaru following his actions.

"I found a new beetle species who has stronger jaws than my current colony. I'm currently breeding my colony with the beetles to make them stronger."

Choji noticed Naruto's face scrunch up resulting in an interesting expression with his whisker marks as it made his eyes look like a fourth row of whisker marks. 'Or fifth if you count his eyebrows,' Choji observed. "I don't get it," Naruto announced. "What are you talking about?"

"Yes, well, when I find another insect species that can mate with the colony that resides with me and they happen to have a better feature such as stronger jaws, I introduce themselves to my colony. Then, their children will have the stronger jaws, and my colony grows stronger with the next generation."

Naruto nodded to himself, "That sounds cool."

"Yeah, we of the Nara clan use the same principle of genetics and evolution with our deer to create more and higher quality medicines," Shikamaru nodded.

Choji noticed that Naruto went back to his bag and quickly wrote something down on his notebook causing everyone to stop talking for a second. "What?" Naruto asked. "How else am I suppose to remember what you call it if I don't write it down?"

"Fair enough," Shikamaru admitted. "Well, I don't know about y'all, but I don't want to risk not having enough time to finish our meals before class starts again. How troublesome."

Choji smiled to himself as he started to eat from his bento box. He knew that Shikamaru mainly said that for him, or at least so that the lazy Nara could have some time to look at the clouds.

"Ugh, sister packed way too many vegetables," Naruto groused to himself.

The both of them noticed Naruto walking down the steps at a steady pace with a devious smirk on his face. Shikamaru immediately knew something was about to happen when Naruto kept walking straight up to the teacher despite the clear scowl on his face.

"It was a pleasure, sensei," Naruto drawled with fake sincerity, "I'm sure it will be a wonderful year."

Shikamaru could see Saji's face get redder and his scowl deepen to pure disgust, while Naruto's eyes glistened in amusement and smirk turned into a pure shit-eating grin. "Get out you monster. You might have the Hokage fooled, but you won't get passed me," Saji said clearly restraining himself with each word.

Naruto merely tilted his head to the side with a face of pure innocence, "Oh, I didn't know I was so lucky to have a sensei smarter than the Hokage himself. Maybe I should go tell him he should step down and hand you the hat?"

"Get. Out," Saji growled.

"But I don't understand sensei," Naruto continued in fake innocence, "and isn't it a teacher's job to enlighten their students?"

Shikamaru simply kept sitting in his seat with Choji watching the confusing scene play out in front of them. Shikamaru thought it was clear as day that something was clearly larger at play, and if he was a betting man, Naruto knew it as well. 'But how deep is this game,' Shikamaru asked himself, 'and what the hell is going on.'

If there was one thing that Shikamaru didn't like was being in the dark- ironically enough. Then, all of his thoughts came to a crashing halt when he saw the instructors hand raise up into a slapping motion- Shikamaru knew from experience with his mother, and Naruto kept standing there with that stupid look on his face.

Right before Saji went through with his intention, a flash of clarity swept through his eyes temporarily overpowering his rage. The teacher's eyes narrowed, "I won't play by your game, you little Demon."

Naruto's developed a frown quickly until he returned back to his innocent face, "Well, now I'm even more confused. Am I a Demon or a monster, and what game am I playing?"

"You know what you are," Saji growled, "and what you are doing?"

Naruto merely looked down with a smirk on his face and started shaking his head until heading outside the class leaving behind a fuming teacher. Right before turning out of the door and into the hallway, Naruto looked back with the same smirk, "Hopefully one day you will actually do your job as a teacher and answer your pupil's answers. Well, until then. See ya tommorow Saji-sensei."

However, right before he left, Naruto noticed Shikamaru and Choji were still sitting at their seats and had observed the whole conversation. A look of surprise like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar replaced his smug smirk. Shikamaru merely raised an eyebrow in response and noticing that Saji's face also showed his surprise.

Shikamaru lazily stood up from his seat with Choji mirroring his actions. "Well, Choji it seems we have outstayed our welcome. Let's go with Naruto. I'm sure our parents are waiting."

Shikamaru inwardly smirked to himself, 'You can't forget about the other Shogi pieces in your plans when you play your games of mice and men' until he noticed Naruto's blue eyes fill with sadness when he said parents.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend," Shikamaru quickly said to cover up as they walked down the hallway.

"It's okay. I never knew them anyway. They died when I was born in the Kyubi attack, or so says my grandpa," Naruto quietly said under his breath.

Shikamaru didn't need to be an expert on human psychology to know that wasn't good on a child especially since all the adults seem to despise the boy. As they neared the end of the hallway and near the door to the front of the Academy, Naruto added with a tone of slight happiness, "Plus, now I have a family that is actually there for me."

Naruto took Choji's and Shikamaru's sudden stop in front of the door to create distance and open the door. Shikamaru wasn't sure whether or not he really wanted to meet the family that has apparently been rearing Naruto despite his desire to discover this mystery of Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto quickly plastered a giant smile on his face that seemed a little more real than all of his previous ones according to Shikamaru. "Sister! Sister! You came to pick me up at school! I'm so happy!" Naruto shouted out as he ran to a certain brown-eyed young woman who couldn't even be in here late twenties. She wore her wavy long auburn hair down past her shoulders and splayed across her scarlet red kimono with gold colored lacing that also accentuated her curves.

Naruto's 'sister' despite lacking any physical similarities simply chuckled with a small sweet smile, "Of course, I came to pick you up. Wouldn't want you to get lost on the way back home from school, now would I?"

Naruto crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks out in an image of pure petulance that even Shikamaru would consider a cute face especially with those whisker marks of his, and quietly said mostly to himself "No, I wouldn't."

The 'sister' simply tousled his wild hair around for a moment, "Of course not little one. Why would I ever think that? So how was your first day at the Academy?"

If the duo didn't have Shikamaru's full attention, then they did now because Shikamaru could honestly say that he didn't know what Naruto was going to say in response. Speaking of attention, Shikamaru eyes swept the crowd around the duo which formed in an arc around them as if you couldn't get too close or risk infection.

"Well, you know the usual," Naruto shouted in his high pre-pubescent voice. "All the parents told the children not to play with me."

Shikamaru who was walking with Choji towards their parents stopped and blinked once, then twice, 'Well he sure has no shame for stating his opinion.'

"So no one would talk to me. Well, except for these three other boys, but I'm sure their parents will set them straight."

'I know no one has really expected much of me, but that was rather low in my books,' Shikamaru concluded as he looked at his father and mother for some sort of guidance. While his father kept his face blank and merely rose an eyebrow in Shikamaru's direction to which he nodded, his mother was clearly upset by the event unfolding in front of all the parents. The majority of the other clan parents were the same including his best friend's parents, and the civilian parents seemed to have a face of satisfaction and condemnation towards the small blonde.

"Oh! And the teacher absolutely hates me and even already raised his hand to hit me, so I got that going for me too!" Naruto continued to shout as a silence more awkward than Shikamaru has ever experienced in his life descended outside the Academy.

Naruto's 'sister' bent down and gave him a hug and sincerely said, "I'm sorry to hear that little one. I hope it gets better, but we have a big surprise prepared just for you to celebrate your first day. And, it's their lose for not wanting to be your friend. You remember what I taught you, right?"

Naruto tilted his head up smiling and nodding his head holding a finger up and recited, "Do not concern yourself with what those you are not important to you think about you. Those people are trash who are below you and not worthy of your attention."

'That's one way to look at things,' Shikamaru thought to himself as he closed the distance between him and his parents. Naruto and his sister walked hand in hand as a picture of serenity like an eye of a storm past the crowd without paying any attention to the gobsmack expressions on their faces.

Then, Naruto whispered into his sister's ear, and his sister looked at the father of one of the kids who told Naruto to get lost. She then winked at the man and said, "Sorry Mr. Ari, but we are booked tonight, so come back another night, okay?"

The so-called Mr. Ari's face turned bright red as his wife gave him a death glare, and his son kept his confused gobsmacked face on. The other parents not so discreetly began distancing themselves from the Ari family whispering to their kids.

"So, ummm, how was your day Shika dear?" his mother asked still eyeing the departing duo who were cracking up at their own prank.

Shikamaru kept his eyes on the duo as well and replied, "Beyond troublesome." His father and mother along with the Akimichi family could only nod their heads in response.

"I wonder who the three boys were that talked to him were," the rotund Ms. Akimichi asked as if that was the biggest take-away from everything that just occurred. In response, the other three adults and two children looked at her each with a face asking 'Really?'

"What? Did I say something wrong?" she asked.

"Ummm," Choji began to say digging one of his feet into the hard packed soil with his toes, "that would be us and Shino."

"Oh my," Ms. Akimichi said, "the Aburame boy? Maybe, we should invite them over for tonight for dinner, right dear?"

"Yes, my dear. I feel like that would be best," Chouza Akimichi responded nodding his head as they walked towards Shibi and his son Shino Aburame.

AN: As you can tell, I am trying to tell a story about Naruto Uzumaki in my own alternate universe, but through other points of view I will flesh Naruto's pre-Academy past more in the next chapter in order to clarify some questions that I have intentionally created.

I hope that my vision is unique and fresh enough to encourage you to keep reading. As you can see, the AU is a little more grittier than Canon (Manga or Anime); however, I can promise you that it will not involve physical abuse (i.e. angry mobs). The majority of the pain in the childhood will come through words and neglect (pain in the heart) as it is in Canon.

I will be updating the chapter regularly as I learn from my mistakes and fix the errors. Also, I will very much be adding content to the chapter until I feel like it is long enough to consider a worthwhile chapter before beginning the next one. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Please feel free the review or send me a personal message. This is my first try at writing after all.