Prove Me Wrong

Allison Illuminated

::

Academy I

::

Sometimes, the smallest push makes all the difference.

::

"I'm telling you, I'm gonna be the Hokage, dattebayo!"

Naruto Uzumaki had jumped up onto his desk and puffed out his chest, looking out proudly at his class of nine and ten-year-olds, but his proud grin failed when the entire class burst out laughing. "Fat chance!" somebody yelled; a crumpled up ball of paper hit the side of his head.

Spinning towards the thrower, Naruto zeroed in on Sasuke, his rival, who was resting his chin on his folded hands and looked utterly bored. Behind him, Sakura, Ino, and the rest of his fangirls were laughing uproariously, pointing at Naruto and jeering. "Sasuke-teme! I'll show you when I become Hokage!" he shouted, pointing at the Uchiha. Sasuke just sighed and slouched deeper in his seat. Another paper ball hit Naruto, and he whirled around the room looking for the culprit.

In the back of the room, Shikamaru watched the carnage unfold with crossed arms, watching the clock tick down to the end of the day. Another long, pointless day of Academy. I just want to go home and watch clouds… Everyone in their academy class was slowly turning ten, so why couldn't they act more mature? Shikamaru knew everything in their textbooks for the year anyways. It wasn't like he stood to lose anything from his classmates being troublesome.

"Hey, hey, calm down! Naruto, get off the desk! Put that piece of paper down!" Iruka-sensei called, trying to calm the class down. The chuunin stood in the front of the room, waving his arms to try to regain the class' attention. It was no use:

"Ha! Naruto thinks he can become Hokage? No way!"

"I bet he's dead last!"

"I'll bet he won't even make chuunin!"

"I bet he won't even graduate Academy!" That was Ino, and Shikamaru shot a long glance at her. Since all three of the famous Ino-Shika-Cho trio had a child in their class, Shikamaru knew as well as anyone that Ino would likely be on his genin team someday. Honestly, how annoying. If she doesn't like him, why does she bother acknowledging him all the time?

Shikamaru didn't dislike Naruto, really. He was loud and annoying, sure, but the Naru heir had nothing against him. Besides, bullying other kids took far too much effort, so he had never joined in his class' collective animosity towards the boy.

I just want to go home and sleep…

"What did you say about me?!" Naruto yelled at Ino, digging his heels in instead of returning to his seat.

Shikamaru groaned when Sakura stood up. Now he's done it. He had no idea what Naruto had done to the pink-haired kunoichi, but Sakura harbored the deepest hatred for him out of anyone in the class. "What Ino-pig was saying is that nobody thinks you can become Hokage!"

"Shut up, forehead girl!" Ino shouted back, and the two girls started shoving at each other.

I think I'm getting a headache, Shikamura thought to himself. The less I ever have to deal with Naruto and Sakura, the better.

Paper balls flew. Sakura and Ino fought. Naruto shouted at everyone in the room. Iruka tried to calm everyone down and failed. Sasuke's brooding deepened.

And some unfortunate soul accidentally hit Shikamaru with a paper ball.

Okay, that does it. I refuse to sit through another hour of yelling before I can go home. Slowly getting to his feet, Shikamaru groaned and called, "Hey, idiots, be quiet! You're giving me a headache!" Everyone stopped and looked at Shikamaru, who crossed his arms. "Honestly, why do you all have to be so troublesome? It's not like Naruto couldn't be Hokage, anyways." Having said his piece, Shikamaru slumped back into his seat, decidedly ignoring the looks of horror he was getting from half the class and the pure awe and hope on Naruto's fa- nope, he was absolutely not dealing with Naruto Uzumaki's issues.

At least Sasuke's fan club had been shut up. That was enough for Shikamaru, who sighed and allowed himself the slightest bit of vindication that Sakura looked like she had eaten a toad.

Honestly, being lazy took so much work, sometimes.

Iruka-sensei seemed to shake off Shikamaru's declaration and take advantage of the silence. "Alright, so before that happened, we were talking about elemental affinities. Now, fire..."

Shikamaru tuned Iruka out and went back to watching the clock, unaware of the change he was about to make in two of his classmate's lives. Why would he think about that sort of thing, anyways. He knew exactly what he wanted; to lead an uneventful life with an average family in an average house, sleeping and watching clouds with no responsibilities, without all of the troubles the 'genius' labels others had always given him brought. In Academy, that dream always seemed so far away.

Sighing, he looked out the window at the clear afternoon sky. Troublesome…

::

"Bye, Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura frantically waved at Sasuke as he brushed past her, doing his best not to acknowledge his existence. When he had passed and was well on his way back to the Uchiha compound, she allowed herself to relax and sighed contentedly. Sasuke…

Sakura Harano lived a simple life. Sasuke was her crush, Ino was her rival, and Naruto was an idiot who could always use a good punch in his stupid whiskered face. She had wanted to be a shinobi for as long as she could remember, even when she was just a little kid living with civilian parents. Why…? Well, why didn't matter – she was at Academy and getting good grades, and that was what mattered. Besides, if she became a high-class kunoichi, then Sasuke would have to notice her!

She was so lost in her happy thoughts that she almost didn't notice when Shikamaru practically bumped into her, headed in complete disinterest down the road away from the academy. Sakura almost yelled at him, then sighed and let her scowl settle. He doesn't care at all… Why does he even come to Academy if he doesn't want to be a shinobi? Stupid clan heirs. She hated people like Shikamaru and Naruto, who never put in any effort to anything! And Naruto thought he could become Hokage?

Sakura crossed her arms and frowned at the Nara heir's retreating back. Figures that he agrees with that idiot.

Wait, is that the idiot?

Sure enough, Naruto had just run up and hid behind a wall near where Shikamaru was walking, peering out just long enough to jump to the next cover. She facepalmed; can he be any less stealthy? There's no way Shikamaru hasn't spotted him!

For a moment, Sakura considered writing it off as Naruto being, well, Naruto, and go home. On the other hand…

"It's not like Naruto couldn't be Hokage, anyways."

Sighing, Sakura tensed then started running after her classmates. Something sparked inside her – she didn't care about Naruto-baka or some lazy heir, absolutely not – no, she just wanted to know how anyone could be stupid enough to think that Naruto could, well…

The why didn't matter. The why never matter. Sakura pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on proving why she was the best kunoichi in class by not getting spotted.

::

Just as Shikamaru was about to turn down the quiet shady road that led to the Nara compound, Naruto stepped out of the shadows triumphantly and called, "Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru kept walking.

He's ignoring me! Naruto realized triumphantly. Running forwards, he jumped in front of the other boy and exclaimed, "Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru gave Naruto a look of complete disinterest. "I heard you the first time."

"I totally knew that, dattebayo!" Naruto gave him a broad grin and a thumbs-up, to which the Nara heir responded by walking past Naruto without a second glance.

But- wha… "Hey, where are you going?"

"Home. I have a headache and I have important business."

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Important business. I could help! What is it?"

"Classified," Shikamaru threw over his shoulder.

Now Naruto was practically gaping. I knew Shikamaru was cool, but classified business… "What kind of classified business?"

Sighing, Shikamaru turned around and looked at him, his tied-up hair swaying in the wind. "You aren't going to go away if I don't tell you, are you?"

"Huh?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm taking a nap. S-class secret."

Naruto blinked as Shikamaru turned around and started walking away. He's taking a… nap? So he- oh. Fighting to keep the frown of disappointment of his face, he tried to puzzle out what a 'S-class secret' was. I thought he really had a classified mission…

Realizing that the other boy was leaving him behind, Naruto called, "Hey, wait!"

Shikamaru turned with a groan. "What?"

Naruto bit his lip, scuffing his foot against the dirt road. His plan had pretty much been to follow Shikamaru – now that he had caught him, he wasn't sure what to say. "I, um… do you- When you-"

"You want to talk about what I said in class," Shikamaru deadpanned, staring him straight in the eyes.

Naruto's eyes lit up, and he stood up straighter. Man, Shikamaru is so smart! "You got it, dattebayo!" He grinned until he realized the other boy was just standing there, waiting for him to talk, and Naruto looked away. "Um, yeah, about that… Did you really mean it?" he asked, a quaver of uncertainty entering his voice.

"Yeah?" Shikamaru asked. "Why would I have said it if I didn't mean it?"

He meant it. He really meant it.

Somebody actually believes in me!

"Alright!" Naruto cheered, pumping his fist into the air. "There's no way I won't be Hokage now!"

"Ugh..." Shikamaru groaned, pressing his fingers to his forehead.

"I'll be the strongest ninja in the entire village, dattebayo, and I'll have my face on the monument, and then Sakura-chan'll have to like me, and Sasuke'll have to admit I'm better than him!"

"Naruto."

"Oh, and you'll be a jonin, and you'll be awesome and I'll make you, um, super jonin!" Naruto exclaimed, fixing his attention on Shikamaru who had gone from looking annoyed to queasy at the word jonin. "Cause you'll be super strong and I'll be super strong and it'll be awesome, dattebayo!"

"Naruto!"

Naruto froze when Shikamaru shouted at him, flinching at the other boy's harsh tone. "Huh?"

"I never said you were going to be Hokage. I only said you could become Hokage."

::

"I never said you were going to be Hokage. I only said you could become Hokage."

Hidden in the nearby bushes, Sakura's jaw dropped when Shikamaru interrupted Naruto's diatribe. He… what? Her thoughts had been distracted by the fact that Naruto wanted to become Hokage so she would like him, and oh my god did she want to jump out of the bush and punch him, but Shikamaru's sharp statement had snapped her out of it.

Naruto's thoughts seemed to be following the same trajectory. "I don't understand," he said in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You could become Hokage. Anyone could become Hokage, if they become strong enough," Shikamaru said, as if explaining was taking more effort than he could possibly expend. "But you're not a Hokage yet. You're not even a genin yet."

Sakura had never heard Shikamaru talk so much in her entire life. Since when is he so… smart?

Naruto tried to say something, but Shikamaru cut him off. "Do you even know how people become Hokage?"

"Uhhh..." Naruto's face turned red, and he looked at the ground.

Shikamaru sighed and shook his head. "The Hokage is the strongest ninja in the entire country. They have to conduct diplomatic relationships, organize missions, lead the village. And they have to do paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork."

A shade of doubt passed over Naruto's gaze. "So I'll become the strongest ninja!" he declared. "I'm already on my way, dattebayo! You'll see, everyone in Konoha'll respect me-"

"No. That's not how that works." Shikamaru fixed Naruto with a burning gaze that made both the blond and Sakura shrink back. "Dead last doesn't become Hokage. You spend all of your time playing pranks instead of learning how to do a proper jutsu. You will never become Hokage unless you work for it."

Sakura reeled in shock in the bush. Shikamaru agreed with her? Exactly! He's dead last, he doesn't care! The evaluative glance she gave the Nara had her changing everything she thought she knew about the boy. Huh, maybe Shikamaru isn't so bad after all.

Naruto staggered backwards, reeling at Shikamaru's words. "So you… you don't think I'm going to be Hokage?" he asked plaintively, on the verge of tears.

"Honestly, no. I don't care. This whole conversation has been troublesome." The words hit Naruto like an arrow to the chest, and his composure broke. Sakura felt a stab of anger… against Shikamaru? For Naruto? No, that didn't make any sense… Shikamaru sighed as he watched Naruto desperately try not to cry, and he shook his head. "But we'll see, I guess. Prove me wrong."

Prove me wrong.

"Why would I ever want to date someone like you?" Sasuke asked her, his dark eyes meeting hers before he turned away indifferently. Nine-year-old Sakura had turned and run away in tears, leaving the last Uchiha behind her.

Hope bled back into Naruto's expression, then turned into determination. "I will," he murmured, almost to himself, then he looked up at Shikamaru. "I will, dattebayo!" he yelled, angrily wiping away at tears. "I'll become the strongest ninja, and then I'll be Hokage, you'll see!"

Shikamaru sighed once again; was he smiling? "Whatever." He turned away, then turned back. "Naruto."

"Yeah!" Naruto called as the Naru heir walked away. "I'll see you around, Shikamaru!" The blonde boy nodded to himself, something passing through his expression that Sakura couldn't even guess at, then ran off back into the main city.

Sakura sat in the bush for a moment longer in stunned shock. Whatever she had expected from that conversation, it hadn't been that. But… they…

Something didn't make sense. Against all of her better judgment, she jumped out of the bush and ran after Shikamaru. "Why?"

Shikamaru stopped short and crossed his arms, not bothering to turn around. "Why what?"

"Why did you say all of that?" Sakura asked, taking deep breaths after her short sprint. "You're, well, the lazy one! How can you talk about work 'n stuff like that?"

A gust of wind blew fallen leaves past the heads of the two classmates. Shikamaru paused, silent. "I know what I want, and I already have it. Why should I do more work than that? What's the point? People with ambition have to do actual work, or they never get what they want. That's Naruto. Thing is, he's stubborn enough to actually get there." Shikamaru looked back over his shoulder, and Sakura felt chills run down her spine. "And I knew you were in the bush the whole time."

He knew? You mean, I wasn't sneaky? By the time she yanked herself from her thoughts, Shikamaru was at the gate to his compound. Sakura's eyes widened, and she yelled, "Wait, but how-" The gate slammed shut with a metallic sound, and she flinched. "But he didn't answer all of my questions..."

Ambition, huh?

Sakura was ambitious. She knew that about herself instantly, instinctively.

Prove me wrong.

"Actual work or I'll never get what I want, huh?" Sakura murmured to herself. "But I do actual work..." She was the top kunoichi, wasn't she?

Sasuke still wouldn't even look at her.

Is my ambition to date Sasuke? I work for that, don't I?

Don't I?

Lost in thought, Sakura wandered away from the Nara compound towards the civilian sector. For the first time in a long time, her life seemed more uncertain than she had thought, and that was confusing. Who knew things could be so complicated?

::

Shikaku looked up as his son entered the main house, quickly masking his frown. Setting the letter he was writing down on the table, he asked, "Shikamura, you're home later than expected. How was your day?"

Shikamura looked up at him and seemed to actually consider his answer, which was enough to make Shikaku want to run to make sure his son hadn't burned the Academy down.

"Troublesome," was the answer Shikamura finally gave, already on his way to his bed.

Shikaku watched him go thoughtfully. "Troublesome indeed." I wonder just what happened today...

::

Ichiraku Ramen's lights peacefully glowed in the evening bustle. People rushed by the ramen stand, never giving a second thought to the orange-clad boy sitting on a stool inside, making circles in the hot broth with his chopsticks.

Naruto had left Shikamaru behind triumphantly, but his enthusiasm slowly faded as the weight of what the other boy had said began to sink in. The strongest shinobi, huh? That was an easy enough answer; he would become the strongest. No, the question that he kept turning over in his head was way harder to answer: how?

"Hey, Naruto, what's wrong? My favorite customer never leaves his bowl untouched," Teuchi said, leaning over the counter to catch Naruto's attention.

"Oh, right, ramen!" Naruto let his worries slip away as he inhaled the entire bowl. "Another one, please!"

Teuchi smiled at him. "Right away!"

"Dead last doesn't become Hokage."

I thought I already am strong! Was I wrong? What did being strong even mean, anyways? Beating Sasuke? For all Naruto boasted he was stronger, he still knew Sasuke would probably beat him if it ever came to a real fight. Hey, what kind of thought is that? Of course I could beat Sasuke-teme, I'm a way better ninja than he'll ever be!

But you can't do a proper jutsu, a voice whispered in the back of his head, and Naruto slammed his forehead against the counter. I need to stop thinking so much! No, wait, I- I'm so confused…

Strong ninjas knew all the coolest jutsus. If he didn't know any, what did that say about him?

"Maybe Shikamaru was right," Naruto mumbled, pulling back and staring at the ceiling.

"Right about what?" Teuchi placed another big bowl of pork miso ramen in front of Naruto, who immediately started eating.

"Shikamaru said he thought I could become Hokage if I work really hard!" the ninja exclaimed through a mouthful of food.

Ayame, Teuchi's daughter, looked up from the back of the stall. "That's great! Why are you so upset, then?"

Naruto frowned, looking down into his ramen. "He said I could be, but he doesn't think I'll manage it. He said he thinks I don't work hard enough."

"That's it? Just that you have to work to get the biggest job in Konoha?"

He dropped his gaze. "I don't know."

"Naruto, look at me." Teuchi knelt down to meet Naruto's eyes, a kind smile on his lips. "You want to be Hokage more than anything, right?" Naruto nodded uncertainly. "Well them, working to become Hokage should be easy then! As long as you're doing what you love, working shouldn't be hard at all."

Naruto looked up at Teuchi with wide eyes. "You mean like training and stuff?"

"Exactly."

"But the book stuff is so boring! I just wanna fight and learn how to be awesome!"

"Then forget about the books."

"Huh?"

Naruto frowned as Teuchi turned away from him and went back to attending the kitchen. "I was never any good with books either. If you train by moving around, then move around! All that matters if you want to get ahead is that you do more than they tell you, yeah?"

"I can do that?" Naruto asked in awe.

He got a non-committal shrug as an answer. "I mean, it's not like you're getting much from the books anyways, right?"

It was like a switch had been flipped in Naruto's head. Jumping off the bench, he threw money for his ramen down and yelled, "Thanks, Teuchi-san!" Thoughts of all the ways he was going to train ran through his head.

I do want to be Hokage, dattebayo! I'll show Sasuke and Shikamaru and Sakura-chan! I'll train and learn all the jutsus and become super strong!

Teuchi watched Naruto run off with a knowing smile. "You think he'll actually train?" Ayame asked from behind him.

"Absolutely," the ramen store owner said with a firm nod, then turned back to the stall. There was ramen to make, after all.

::

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" Sakura called as she pushed her front door shut, slinging her school bag off her shoulder and stepping into her house.

"Alright! Dinner in an hour!" her mom called back from the kitchen.

The Harunos lived in a respectable part of the civilian district on Sakura's dad's moderate income as a merchant. Sakura loved her parents; they were warm and caring, for all that they were wary of sending their daughter to become a trained killer. It had never been a choice, of course – Sakura had been dead-set on becoming a ninja from a young age, and in the end her parents had sent her to Academy.

Entering her room, Sakura turned on all the lights and dropped her bag, flopping backwards onto her bed. What a day! She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so tired.

I can't believe Shikamaru saw me in the bushes…

What was that conversation? Naruto was the dead-last, and Shikamaru was too lazy to even take tests!

How could Shikamaru be making so much sense?

"What do I want?" Sakura whispered to herself. "Sasuke..."

Was Sasuke her ambition?

"Yes." No.

Oh, come on…

Some rational part of Sakura that never seemed to come out during class stirred, and she rolled over onto her side with a sigh. "I wanna be a kunoichi and date Sasuke," she told the stuffed animals at the foot of the bed, who stared back at the ten-year-old with knowing expressions.

Maybe Shikamaru was right… Maybe I do need to work more for that…

Sakura didn't understand why Sasuke didn't want to date her. She was pretty, wasn't she? The last Uchiha would have to notice that eventually! There was no way she needed to work even harder for that! Sasuke just needed to see her and then he would love her for sure. Sakura was certain of that.

Becoming a ninja, though… Sakura grudgingly admitted to herself that maybe she could work harder at her second goal. Academy was so hard to focus on when she could be looking at Sasuke! She scored high on tests, sure, but she still lost in spars to her classmates more often than she would like. In fact, there were some people she had never beaten, like Chouji and Kiba and Shino… and Naruto… and Sasuke… and Shikamaru…

What if she wasn't strong at all? What if being the strongest kunoichi meant nothing in a room full of bloodlines and clan heirs?

Why shouldn't Sakura be able to beat them too?

The fangirl side of her mind reeled at that thought: Beat Sasuke? Are you insane?

Sasuke… That was it!

Sasuke was the strongest, most admirable person she knew. So, if Sakura wanted to become stronger, then who else would she try to be like but him?

Maybe I could even become stronger. If I did, he would have to notice me!

In that moment, a seed was planted in the ten-year-old's heart, one that wouldn't come to fruition for years. Unconsciously, Sasuke Uchiha became something more to her than just a romantic attraction. For now, though…

I'm not good at fighting, and we don't learn any of the cool jutsu moves until next year. What else can I get better at, throwing weapons? Sakura made a face at the thought of target practice; it was one of her least favorite parts of Academy. What else can I do? I'll never get stronger if I don't…

Sakura's gaze fell on the old bookshelf in the corner, loaded with children's novels and stories about ninjas. A flutter of recognition filled her chest; years of reading happily alone, before Ino and Academy and popularity had entered her life. Konoha had to have books about being a ninja somewhere that were better than her stuffy old textbooks, right? Maybe real books will be more interesting than Academy…

Smiling, Sakura resolved to go to the library the next day, content to push the matter out of her mind for now.

::

The next day, Naruto had a broad grin on his face as he strode into the Academy five minutes before class started, and he felt great! Waking up at six was a breeze. He had eaten two packs of instant ramen, then jumped right into his new super-secret plan to become Hokage! He already knew his senseis would never give him any jutsus, so he had gone to the Academy's small library and grabbed one of the jutsu scrolls they gave the eleven-year-olds. He had wanted to start with something bigger, but after reconsidering realized that he had no clue how exactly to even use a jutsu, and decided just trying the easy ones first was the way to go.

Besides, even the easy ones were super cool! The Clone Technique, the Substitution Technique, and the Transformation Technique… Naruto could barely wait for the day to end so he could try them out!

"Good morning!" he cheered as he entered the classroom, jubilantly sitting down in his normal seat. Everybody else ignored him, which was fine by him; more time to think about how awesome all his cool new powers would be!

Yup, absolutely nothing would get in Naruto Uzumaki's way now!

::

"Whaaat?"

Naruto stared at the unrolled scroll before him in utter dismay. How could jutsu be so hard? There were all sorts of big fancy words he didn't understand, like 'chakra' and 'E-ranked' and 'foundational.' Even worse, the instructions didn't make any sense. What does vi- visi- visialize the transformation even mean? Why can't they just write normal Japanese?

"I thought you might have stolen that scroll."

Naruto jumped; Iruka-sensei was sitting on his windowsill! "Iruka-sensei, I- I didn't mean to steal it, that librarian's just a big meanie, dattebayo!"

His sensei waved him off and stepped into the apartment. "It's no big deal, I went ahead and checked it out for you. Just, tell me next time you want to read something, okay? I promise you I'll never say no."

Naruto's eyes shone. He checked it out for me? "Okay!"

Iruka knelt down beside him on the floor and looked at the jutsu scroll. "Jutsu, huh? You know we're gonna talk about these next year, right?"

"I know, but I wanna learn them now! I gotta know all the justu if I wanna be Hokage, Iruka-sensei!"

"Hm..." For a moment, Naruto was afraid he had said the wrong thing, but then Iruka looked at him with an unfamiliar expression that made him feel warm. Was he smiling? "Well, then I think you're on the right track."

"Oh," Naruto whispered. His sensei thought he was doing good! That was… That…

That had never happened to Naruto before.

"Well, I don't see any reason to keep you from learning, so I'll be going now." Rising to his feet, Iruka walked back to the window and placed his foot on the ledge.

"Wait!"

The teacher turned back to see Naruto's head bowed. The boy trembled, his fists tightening around the edges of the scroll. "Naruto?" Iruka murmured, his heart going out to the orphan.

"I can't read it well 'nough," Naruto whispered, his eyes squeezed shut, trying not to cry in front of one of two adults who had ever treated him like a human being. "I don't know what it wants me to do."

Stepping back into the room, Iruka sighed and rested a gentle hand on Naruto's back. "You know, I don't have anything in particular to do this afternoon. Why don't we work it out together and see if we can't teach you some jutsu, okay?"

Naruto stared up at him with teary eyes and nodded. Iruka-sensei… "O-okay."

Iruka-sensei nodded back and gave him a smile that meant the world to Naruto. "Alright, then. Why don't we start with the basics?"

::

Ino blinked, then blinked again.

Something about Sakura was… off. For starters, she wasn't staring at Sasuke. Second of all, she wasn't staring at Sasuke. If that wasn't enough to make her mind short-circuit…

"Are you reading a book?!"

Sakura looked up from the book, which she was, in fact, reading, and stared at Ino for a few seconds before reacting. "Huh? Oh, hi Ino."

Ino gaped as her rival went right back to reading without a second glance. What? No Ino-pig? "Hey, don't ignore me! Since when do you read?"

Closing her book and rolling her eyes, Sakura said, "You've been to my house, idiot! Bookshelves?"

Ino opened her mouth to retort, her temper flaring, then let herself relax. An old memory floated through her head – sitting on the floor of Sakura's room, laughing together as they built up a fortress made of books. I was wearing Sakura's headband, wasn't I? Sometimes, it was so easy to forget that they had been best friends for years, before Sasuke-kun had gotten in the way. What? Sasuke-kun is never in the way! Still… "Oh. Right."

She sat down next to Sakura, who frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, Forehead-girl."

"Hey!"

For the rest of class, Ino pretended to pay attention to the boring lesson about politics or some other boring nonsense she would never need to care about, but secretly watched Sakura out of the corner of her eye. The pink-haired girl wasn't even trying to pay attention! Instead, she was not-so-subtly reading under the table. Ino caught the book's title – Chakra Mastery and Manipulation.

Why would Sakura want to know about that?

Ino puzzled over the question for a while. Chakra… That's advanced stuff, isn't it? I thought we didn't learn it until we start ninjutsu next year! If Sakura was reading about it now, was she trying to get ahead to impress Sasuke?

Only one way to figure that out. Leaning forward, Ino tapped Sasuke's black-clad shoulder and whispered in her best 'sexy' voice (not that a ten-year-old had any idea what that sounded like), "Sasuke-kun, will you go on a date with me if I get better grades?"

Sasuke gave a long-suffering sigh and pressed his chin further into his folded hands. "No."

Unaffected, Ino leaned back in her seat with a self-assured smirk. See! There's no way it could be to impress Sasuke! What was it, then?

Maybe Sakura just wanted to be a better ninja.

Ino glanced over at Sakura, who had her 'I will punch you if you break my concentration' face on, and smiled. That must be it. For some reason, she didn't mind the idea of her rival working hard for Academy, so long as it didn't get in between her and Sasuke-kun. As the heir of the Yamanaka clan, Ino had known her whole life that one day, she would learn her clan's technique – the Mind-Body Switch Technique. Sakura was civilian; she didn't have a clan or any special techniques she could learn. If she wanted to study hard to catch up with all the other clan heads, who was Ino to stop her?

If she makes one move towards Sasuke-kun, though!

Ino made a fist and smirked, then tried to pay attention to the awful lecture. Sakura read undisturbed for the rest of class.

::

"Alright, give it a try!"

"Transformation Technique!"

Iruka-sensei grinned when Naruto's form disappeared into smoke and another Iruka-sensei appeared in his place. "I did it, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered, turning back to his normal form. "I did a jutsu!"

Nodding, his sensei gave him a warm smile. "You're a quick study, Naruto. I just wish you'd show this energy in class..."

"Books are boring!" Naruto declared, missing the sad glance that earned from Iruka. "'sides, I learn way more doing stuff anyways." He was going to be a shinobi! Why would he need books when he'd be having epic battles as Hokage with awesome Jutsu?

"You know you have to pass a written test to graduate, right?" Iruka asked dryly, earning himself a pout from Naruto. Iruka just shook his head. "Do you want to try the other two?"

"Substitution Jutsu!"

Two grubby fingers pressed against the back of Iruka's neck, and a textbook fell to the ground before him. He sweatdropped when Naruto snickered and exclaimed, "Got you!"

Am I even surprised? Iruka pulled Naruto off his back and tossed him back into the classroom. "Last jutsu!"

A flicker of doubt crossed Naruto's face. He made the hand signs and focused really hard on the weird glowy stuff he knew was the 'chakra' Iruka-sensei, then-

An explosion blew both Naruto and Iruka off their feet in a burst of white smoke. Naruto crashed into a desk, wincing when his back immediately started hurting. Ow… What happened? When the smoke cleared, Iruka staggered to his feet and stared at Naruto. "What did you do?" he asked in complete confusion.

"I, uh..." Naruto scrunched up his face as he tried to think about it. "I thought about making another me, right? And I found the weird chalky-"

"Chakra."

"-stuff and I made it go out where I wanted the clone-"

"Wait, wait, hold up." Iruka-sensei held up a hand and massaged his temples. "You made it go out?"

Naruto cocked his head. "Yeah! Isn't it obvious? You're the teacher, Iruka-sensei, you're supposed to know these things! Anyways, I wanted it to go to where the clone was supposed to be but it didn't go! Why didn't it stay where I put it?"

Iruka's eye twitched. "Naruto, you're not supposed to push your chakra out of your body! That's shouldn't even be possible for a ten-year-old! You're supposed to just project an image of yourself, not make a chakra construct or something!"

Oh. "That makes sense, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered, trying to stay optimistic even though he had just failed and why was Iruka-sensei still trying to help him? "I'll definitely get it next time!"

"I believe you," Iruka said softly, and Naruto's eyes widened in surprise before he beamed at his teacher. Nobody believed in him. For his sensei to say that… "Go home and try practicing that instead, okay?" He paused, then hastily tacked on, "Outside, though! Don't blow anyone else up!"

Small arms wrapped around Iruka's waist. "Thank you," Naruto mumbled, trying not to cry for the third time that week. He wasn't a cry baby, no way! He just… He was feeling so many new things he didn't understand, and it was a lot for a ten-year-old. Stupid eyes.

Iruka ruffled Naruto's hair, smiling down at him. "Hey, tell you what. Why don't the two of us go and get ramen together somewhere, okay? I know that's your favorite food. It'll be my treat for mastering your first two jutsu."

The look of pure adoration he received was priceless, and Iruka let an exuberant Naruto lead him out of the Academy, thinking maybe being stuck with the blond-haired boy wouldn't be so bad after all.

::

Sheets of paper covered Sakura's bedroom floor. Her desk drawers were thrown open, highlighters were scattered at the foot of her bed, and a stack of library books rested in the center. In the center of the chaos, Sakura stared down at her work with her hands on her hips and a satisfied smile on her face. Maybe I got a little bit carried away…

A week ago, she had gone to the library and browsed the public shinobi section, looking for something interesting. Her eyes had settled on a book about chakra, a concept which their academy class had briefly touched upon but never really elaborated on. Sakura had checked it out on a whim, and very quickly figured out that chakra was fascinating.

Energy latent in every human, formed from physical energy and spiritual energy, which run through coils in the body called the Chakra Pathway System. Ninja were one of the few groups who could access their chakra and manifest it in the world through jutsu. All of that interested Sakura, but she knew the basics from academy already. No, what fascinated Sakura were all of the applications her books described.

Walking on anything. Healing impossible wounds. Infusing just about anything to give it additional properties. But, most of all, it was the passage at the beginning of the first book she had checked out.

"Chakra is, in essence, pure energy. Every jutsu that has ever been created, every elemental path humankind has ever mastered; nothing more than energy put to thought. Any person with the imagination and the chakra can create a new jutsu. The possibilities are limitless."

Limitless.

Sakura liked the sound of that. Now, she just had to figure out how to use it.

Taking notes was the easy part. Exercises, tips, theory, metheods, she could do. Iruka-sensei liked to talk about how there were two kinds of ninja – the paper-nins who learned better by thinking in a classroom, and the ninja who were better at executing techniques and jutsu. Well, Sakura had always known she was the former, and she had used those skills as much as possible to the important information out of her new books before they were due.

There were a few problems, though. First of all, there were two aspects to chakra – physical and spiritual energy. Sakura knew she would be fine with spiritual energy, because meditation sounded easy and she already thought a lot anyways. Physical energy, on the other hand, required exercise, and she hated exercise. Not for the first time that week, Sakura found herself wondering why exactly she wanted to be a ninja again, and she did not like the fact that she couldn't come up with an answer.

Sasuke had never been enough to make her do exercise, after all.

In fact, one stupid conversation between two of the biggest idiots she had ever met was making her Sasuke-centric world fall to pieces. She had remembered inconvenient facts, like how she had been an Academy student for two years before her crush on Sasuke had begun. She still wanted to (date? marry?) be with Sasuke, but was that her ambition? Did Sasuke even like her? Did Sasuke even notice her? If Sasuke wasn't her goal in life, what was?

Why had she chosen the hardest job in Konoha as a civilian? Why did she care? Why was she standing in a sea of paper, on the brink of starting her training in the most basic aspect of a ninja's skillset? Why?

Maybe I don't need to know why. Sakura shook herself back to her senses; what was she even thinking? She was doing all of this for Sasuke-kun, wasn't she? Besides, she was going to start training tomorrow. Now wasn't the time for Sakura to doubt herself!

Sakura nodded, then turned her light off and got into bed. There would be plenty of time tomorrow for chakra and Sasuke. Right now, she was tired.

Letting her whys slip away, Sakura drifted off to sleep with a content smile. Tomorrow, Sakura Haruno takes the world by storm!

::

Naruto held his hands behind his head as he walked up to the back row of the Academy classroom, a self assured grin written all over his face. "Ne, Shikamura, can I sit with you today?"

"No," Shikamura deadpanned.

Naruto sat in his normal seat that day.

::

Sakura frowned in intense concentration, looking down at the small brown pebble in the center of her palm. This is it. I'll get it this time. Years of training and preparation had led her to this point. Three days of trial and error had led her to begin to recognize the humming energy she had taken for granted as a constant of life as chakra. It had been a mind blowing revelation, but Sakura was far more focused on doing things with it, which was, as it turned out, really, really hard. If she focused hard enough, she had been able to make it more around just a bit faster – a cool tingly sensation that sent goosebumps down her spine. That proved Sakura could use chakra too. According to her book and her own assumptions, if she could just stop the chakra in her hand instead of making it go faster, she could probably force the stone to stay there. So, if she just pulled a little bit harder…

Sakura took a deep breath, then flipped her hand over. The pebble fell to the desktop.

"AUGH! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!"

"So much for quiet bookish Sakura," Ino muttered, inching away from her frenemy. Sakura slumped back down at her desk, staring at the pebble depressedly. "What are you trying to do, anyways?"

"It's supposed to stick to my hand," Sakura said morosely.

Ino sweatdropped. That does it. She's officially gone crazy. "Okay? Then what's the hold-up?"

When Sakura's eyes lit up, Ino immediately regretted her statement. "You're right, Ino-pig! Haruno women never give up!" Triumphantly picking the pebble back up, Sakura slapped it back into her hand and promptly dumped it onto the desk again. "DAMN IT!" she screamed, punching the desk so hard a small crack appeared in the wood.

Ino leaned across her desk towards Sasuke, who was watching Sakura with wide eyes. "What the hell do you think is wrong with her?"

Sasuke, who was too surprised by his kunoichi admirer's behavior to remember he didn't talk to other people, said, "I have no idea." Their eyes met, then Sasuke seemed to come back to his senses and hurriedly looked away. Ino stared at the back of Sasuke's head, shocked that her crush had said something to her that wasn't mean or angsty.

"You'll sit with me someday, Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled on the other side of the room as the Nara heir buried his face in his hands.

Ino sat back in her seat and looked down at her hands. Huh. Maybe I'm the one who's going crazy.

Another shriek of rage came from Sakura, and Ino sighed. It was going to be a long day.

::

Sake sloshed over the side of the cup when Choza slammed it down on the table, laughing uproariously. "And that's when Shikaku fell out of the tree, right in front of the Iwa shinobi!"

"You're exaggerating," Shikaku said with a yawn, taking a long drink of his own sake. "I dropped down, ready to face-"

"On your head?" Inoichi asked, unable to hold back a snicker.

Choza howled with laughter, and Shikaku shook his head. "Troublesome..."

Shikamaru sat with his arms crossed on the living room couch, sighing as he watched his dad glare at his genin teammates. The Akimichi household was lit with warm light, wide arched doorways leading to a massive kitchen and the dining room. "They're so drunk," he muttered, sinking lower into the comfortable couch kitchens. "Unbelievable."

Chouji shrugged, propping his elbows against the cushion behind him. "They're jonin, right? All that work must be annoying."

Groaning, the Nara heir hung his head. "These Ino-Shika-Cho gatherings are such a drag."

"Yeah, cause I'm stuck with you two losers." Ino was laying across an armchair, her legs dangling over one arm and her hair over the other. "I could be on a team with Sasuke-kun someday, you know," she told them, idly playing with her nails.

"We know," Chouji and Shikamaru chorused, earning them a glare from Ino.

"What was that?!"

"It's not like she hasn't told us a million times," Chouji whispered.

"Troublesome woman."

"I can hear you!"

The trio fell silent for a long moment as Ino fumed and the conversation in the other room continued, loud and boisterous and filled with alcahol.

Shikamaru sighed. "You guys know that we're going to end up on the same team someday. I wouldn't bother getting my hopes up if I were you, Ino."

Ino looked up at him, surprised that he had addressed her directly, then her face briefly fell before she looked away with a scowl. "Just because you don't care about anything doesn't mean other people can't want things, idiot! You ought to be more considerate!"

He flinched, properly cowed by the tone of her voice. Scary…

"I wouldn't mind being on a team with you someday, Shika," Chouji told him with a smile.

Some things never changed, and Chouji was the best friend Shikamaru could ask for. Ignoring Ino's grandiose eye roll, Shikamaru smiled back. "Yeah. That wouldn't be so bad."

It wasn't that Shikamaru didn't care, far from it. He was too intelligent for that. No, he just understood that some things in life were inevitable, and there was no point in fighting in futility. As a Nara, he would be a ninja. As the clan heir, he would be part of an Ino-Shika-Cho trio. With the shadow jutsu he would learn someday, he would never need more than basic mobility skills, the basic jutsu, and excellent chakra control, all of which he already possessed. Expending more effort than necessary was pointless. His time was far better spent honing his intellect and strategy by playing shogi and simply thinking. Someday, he would be prepared to protect his clan, his village, his nation. That was his ninja way. That was the way things were.

Still, sometimes when he was cloud watching, he couldn't help but wonder.

If I had another path, another way forwards in life, would I take it?

::

[A/N] I love Naruto, and I've had this fic on the backburner for a while. Let's see where it goes, yeah?

Signing off, Allie