A/N - Okay, I wanted to inform you that I updated this chapter so that the ages would be correct. I originally intended for Naruto to be 14 upon graduation, and I kinda screwed that up. This problem was pointed out to me, albeit rudely by someone, and I felt I needed to fix it. Sooo...it's fixed! Yay! Now, enjoy ze chapter.

Chapter 1 – Academy Days & Naruto's First Friends

Today was the day young Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze would be entering the ninja academy. Currently, he was 11 years-old, but thankfully he wasn't wearing that orange number that he used to be so fond of when he was younger. It took a little convincing from his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, and sister, Naruko, to get him to change up his wardrobe some, but when he conceded, the new outfits he began to wear in preparation for his ninja training was, in a word, brilliant.

In honor of the women's red hair, Naruto now wore a deep red cape with the Uzumaki swirl pattern in orange plastered in the middle of it. He wore a black, sleeveless shirt that hugged his chest. His pants were slightly baggy and were of a dark blue color. On his feet he wore sandals quite similar to the kind worn by his godfather: Jiraiya the Toad Sage. Strapped to his back was Naruto's new sword, a nodachi specially forged for him per request of his mother. It was gifted to him just yesterday by his beautiful redhead of a mother along with a promise. If he did well and passed at least in the top 3 of his class when the time came around, he would be given another sword of his choosing.

Meanwhile, around Naruto's neck hung a gift from his sister. She was two years older than he was and oftentimes wore her hair in two beautiful pigtails. In fact, her hair was so long that it easily brushed along the ground! Like their mother, Naruko had beautiful red hair, though there were a few long, blonde bangs that framed her face. Like her brother, she too had striking blue eyes that one could just lose themselves in. At the age of 13, she stood at about 4 feet, 7 inches tall, already growing at an alarming rate all things considered. Like Naruto, Naruko had a thing for Kenjutsu and held two short blades strapped to her sides whenever she left home.

Now, as for the gift that Naruko had given to her brother, it was a simple necklace with a beautiful sapphire gem embedded in it. The important thing worth noting about this particular necklace was the seal upon the gem. The lovely young redhead had designed the seal herself and assured her that should he ever find himself in trouble, all he'd have to do would be to rub a bit of blood over the seal and something special would happen. Naruko's description of her gift was rather vague, but the important thing was that it made her otouto happy.

After eating a hearty breakfast and getting a hearty kiss from their mother, the Uzumaki-Namikaze siblings rushed out of the house waving good-bye to Kushina. Giggling happily, Naruko clutched her younger brother's hand tight and grinned at him. "So Otouto, are you excited for your first day at the academy?" When the young Naruto nodded his head eagerly and patted the sword on his back with a grin, Naruko giggled. "Yep onee-san, I'm ready! I have a question though: is it true that there aren't any Kenjutsu classes? If so, that seems really stupid to me. Kenjutsu's the best!" Naruko giggled and shook her head. "The academy has apparently really changed since Mom and Pop's days in the academy. Apparently times of peace cause leniency in studies or some such thing. Trust me though Naruto-kun, you'll have little to no problems at all in the academy. You'll pass when the time comes easy. I sure will miss you when I become a Genin though. If I have my say though, we're gonna become Chunin together Otouto!"

Naruto just nodded dumbly, not really paying that much attention to her as she rambled on about cookies or some such thing. Instead, his eyes had become glued to the academy building and the very many new students arriving with their families. Blinking a few times, he slowly removed his hand from his onee-san's grasp and tugged on her shirt a bit. "Onee-san? I-I'm nervous. There are so many people here and I don't know anybody. You and Shikamaru are the only ones I know."

Naruko, coming out of her ramblings, looked down to her otouto and then at the sight before them. Giggling cutely, she put a gentle hand upon Naruto's back and gave him a light push forward. "Don't act so afraid Naruto-kun. You've got more training than anyone here, even more than the Uchiha of your year. I'm not sure what he'll be like after his clan's murder last year, but if he dares to give you any trouble, feel free to let me know and I'll bop the little punk for you okay Otouto? If he's smart, the little guy will just be happy he and his mother were spared. Mikoto's such a sweet woman, right Naruto?" Giggling cutely, she watched as Naruto nodded his head excitedly.

Throughout their lives, 'Auntie' Mikoto had been nothing but sweet to them. In fact, she oftentimes doted on them as much as her own children and often presented them with gifts. Naruto actually had a few of her gifts with him today: a shuriken set and a kunai set. It was a simple gift, but the tools were very well-crafted and even to this day they were in fantastic shape. The young blonde boy practiced with them almost daily to extraordinary degrees. In fact, he was so proud of his abilities that he dared to claim he could hit his targets blindfolded if need be! More than that however was the fact that he was always trying to hold Mikoto's hand and brag to her about how awesome he was now thanks to hers and his mother's constant gifts and training. And yet, somehow, he had never met her son, Sasuke, until today. Oh how he would come to hate the Uchiha brat.

Later in Class

Naruto walked into his classroom after bidding farewell to his sister and looked around cautiously. When his eyes landed on Shikamaru, the young blonde boy breathed a sigh of relief and immediately rushed to sit by him and the boy munching loudly on some rather crunchy-sounding chips. Rather than focus his attention on 'Tubby' as he delegated the young man in his mind, Naruto focused his gaze on the brunette kid with his hair up in a pineapple fashion.

Poking Shikamaru in the shoulder to get his attention, Naruto beamed at him and shook his hand. "Hey Lazy! I'm glad we're in the same class together. Who's your friend?" Pointing past the young Nara heir, Naruto motioned towards 'Tubby'. Shikamaru followed his gaze and then looked back again with a small shrug. "That's…" The Nara yawned loudly and did his best to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "That's Choji Akimichi, one of my very best friends since early childhood along with you, of course. As I'm sure you're curious, I'll let you know who else I know in the room too okay? Then you're on your own if you want to try and make friends with them or not. It'll be far too troublesome to introduce you to each of them."

Pointing down to a pink-haired girl and the blonde girl next to her, Shikamaru nodded. "Pinky's name is Sakura Haruno. I've never really talked to her, but I've seen her a few times. The girl next to her is Ino Yamanaka. Our families know each other. After all, our dad's were on the same team together when they were younger, so we kinda talk from time to time. Ino's always trying to get me to play these girlie games and crap with her but it's all just too damn troublesome to even think about. In fact, Ino's how I know of Sakura there. They're apparently really good friends. Now, who else is there?"

Looking around the room, Shikamaru spotted Sasuke and groaned. "Mopey over there is the 'almighty Uchiha', Sasuke. He got in here shortly before you did and all he's done is mope in that damn corner over there. It seems that losing most of his clan really screwed with his mind. I heard his brother was actually the one responsible, but I'm not quite sure what Itachi actually did to him. If I heard right, Sasuke was actually in a coma for a short time. Troublesome, I know. Still, enough about him. Let's see…"

Glancing around again, Shikamaru pointed towards a young girl who immediately shrunk under the gazes of the two young friends. "The shy girl there. Not sure if you recognize the eyes or not, but that's a member of the Hyuga clan. Her name's apparently Hinata and it's said she's the heiress, daughter of the great Hiashi Hyuga. Still, with how timid she's acting in everyone's presence, you wouldn't really believe she was one of them. Right Naruto?"

Naruto looked at the girl for a bit longer before turning to face his friend and shrugging. "Maybe she's just nervous about her first day of the academy? I doubt all Hyuga are as stuck up as the ones we've seen Shika. I also don't think she'd like us making assumptions about her based on what clan she's from. I mean…you know of my 'problem' already Shika, and you've seen firsthand how rude some people have been to me DESPITE knowing who my parents are, so is it really fair to judge somebody when I'm in a similar situation myself?"

Shikamaru sighed and scratched at the back of his head a moment before he nodded his head calmly. "Yeah, you're right there Naruto. Sorry about that man." Turning to the Hyuga girl, Shikamaru and Naruto both bowed their heads to her. "We're sorry Hinata-san. Forgive us for our rudeness." The both of them said in unison. If they hadn't apologized, the two of them knew that Kushina would most likely beat the lesson of respect right back into them later. Hinata simply blushed and tried to stammer out a response when their teacher walked in and yelled at them all to be quiet. Glancing at who it was, Naruto grinned a bit. "Hey, Scarface-sensei looks kind of awesome Shika-san!" And that only got our little blonde yelled at for insulting his sensei. Oh yeah, this is going to be a long three years. Naruto thought as he began to groan.

After Class – Ichiraku Ramen

Naruto and Naruko were seated in their favorite seats at their favorite ramen stand in the village: Ichiraku Ramen. Their mother might be a little upset with them for spoiling their appetites, but hey, it was Naruto's first day at the academy! Aside from that, Naruko just wanted to spoil her brother a little more before they went home. So, as they sat waiting for the Ichiraku's to finish cooking their ramen, Naruko turned to her brother and grinned. "Sooo, tell me how your first day went Otouto!"

The father/daughter duo perked up at this and decided to listen in at this, curious to hear what their little Naru-kun had been up to today. They dearly hoped his teacher was treating him right and that the other students of the class were at least nice to him. Naruto certainly deserved happiness after what his own father had locked away inside of him. There were many people who claimed Naruto was the demon in disguise, and while most were immediately dealt with, their words still stung Naruto and had nearly convinced him a few times that he was to blame for the fact that he didn't have a father. So naturally, they found themselves feeling very concerned for their young friend.

Naruto shrugged and looked into his sister's eyes. "It was okay. I sat by Shikamaru. He introduced me to a few people, but he didn't really say much because he, as he puts it, 'figured it was too troublesome to try and introduce me to everybody when I could just learn more about them throughout the coming years'. I met Mikoto-obasan's son today and I really only have one thing to say about him: he SUCKS! Sasuke-teme's a pain-in-the-ass and I'm amazed somebody as sweet and gentle as Mikoto-obasan could have such an awful son!"

Grumbling for a while, he barely registered when three bowels of ramen were placed before both he and his sister. Naruko placed a comforting hand over his and smiled sweetly at him. "Tell me Otouto, what did he do to upset you so bad?" Naruto lowered his gaze and clenched his fist tight. "The teme insulted my friends, insulted Minato-chichi, and said some really nasty things about you and me. Then on top of all of that, he tried to take my sword! Said something about how I didn't deserve it and AGAIN insulted our chichi! I put him in his place though. Iruka-sensei let us have a Taijutsu match and I mopped the floor with that teme! I kinda wonder how Mikoto-obasan will feel when she sees her little 'Sasuke' tonight."

Naruko was fuming throughout her brother's tale, but at that last thought the young woman and their friends, the Ichirakus, couldn't help but laugh hysterically at the image that popped into their minds when they tried to imagine a wounded Sasuke running home with his tail between his legs to cry to his mommy. Reaching over again, Naruko squeezed her brother into a tight hug and kissed his cheek sweetly. "Thanks for doing that to the teme for us Naruto-kun. Other than a whiny little runt, how did the rest of your day go?"

Grabbing their chopsticks, the siblings cracked their sets apart at the same time, put their hands together and shouted, "Itadakimasu!" and dug in. Thanks to acquiring proper manners, kudos to Mikoto for that, Naruto didn't speak again until he had finished with his first bowl. "Well, I met the Hyuga heiress. Hinata's really nice, but she's soooooo shy. She's actually nothing like what you'd expect from a Hyuga Onee-san. There's also this really cool kid that plays with bugs! I think he said his name was Shino something."

At this point, Naruko interrupted now that she had finished two of her three bowls. "An Aburame? It sounds like you really liked him. How does he feel about you Naruto-kun?" Her little brother went through his final two bowls before he placed some money upon the counter and smiled at his sister. "We get along just fine Onee-san. Shino's really nice and respectful and said I might even get to meet his family someday! There was this kid named Kiba too…I don't like him very much. Kiba Inuzuka I think is what he called himself. For some reason he thinks he's better than everybody else and constantly insulted me. He's got some kind of complex I think, but I'm not too sure. What do you think Onee-san?"

Naruko finished her bowl, paid for her portion of the meal, and rose from her seat. Gently taking Naruto's hand in hers, the two bid farewell to their friends and left the ramen stand to make their way home after his first day at the academy. "Well Naruto-kun, I'm not really sure what to think. If I were to make some kind of judgment about him now, based solely on your opinion of him, that wouldn't exactly be very fair now would it? I would first have to meet this young man before I could give you an accurate assessment of him. Make sense Naruto-otouto?"

The young child nodded his head and smiled happily up at his sister as they began to approach their estate. "That makes perfect sense Naruko-onee-san! You're still as smart as ever. I hope that I get to be like you and Kaa-san when I get older. Kaa-san's already an amazing ninja and you're about to graduate the academy and become an awesome Genin! I want to be just as great when I'm older!"

Giggling cutely to herself, Naruko turned and placed a soft kiss atop her brother's head. "You are so sweet Naruto-kun. I have one final question for you before we go inside." At the look in his eyes, she giggled more and watched as he nodded his head, curious about what her question would be. "Did you find any cute girls?" At the look that suddenly took hold of his face, the young redhead burst into a fit of giggles and clutched at her stomach.

Naruto blushed furiously and shook his head. "Th-That's not funny Baka Onee-san! You already know I met some girls, but I don't think of any that way yet and you know it! Sure Ino was kind of pretty and Hinata's cute in her shy way, but I'm not interested in anybody yet. I'm too young for that stuff! How about you? How's that boy you're always talking about, huuuh Onee-san?!" Naruto teased back as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Naruko saw this and laughed harder. "You're just too cute sometimes Naruto-kun. As for that 'boy', I'm afraid he's already got a girlfriend and I didn't even really like him that much to begin with. His skills are kind of sloppy and he didn't really impress me in any way. I guess he was just cute or something." Shrugging her shoulders, Naruko opened the door and smirked at her little brother. "Come on Hoshino Ouji-sama. (Little Prince) Let's go say hi to Kaa-chan and tell her how your day went. Tell her I took you to get ramen though and we're doomed. Understand?" Nodding hesitantly, Naruto followed her inside so they could spend the rest of the night happily with their mother.

1 ½ Years Later

Academy life had been fun for Naruto for the past 1 ½ years. Sasuke had continued to insult him, but he could never really do anything to faze Naruto anymore. All insults were now ignored, all threats were proved moot when Naruto would pummel him into the ground during 'Taijutsu practice', and Sasuke was never able to beat him at anything. So, in essence, it was pointless to let Sasuke get to him in any way for any reason. There were some Sasuke fan girls who absolutely despised Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze for how he treated their precious Sasuke-kun, but surprisingly Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka were not amongst their fan base.

Instead, Ino and Naruto had become fast friends and even bonded over something as simple as gardening. As soon as Ino overheard that the young blonde boy enjoyed taking care of plants and had a small selection in his room and even in his backyard that he tended to back at home, she was practically smitten. Sure Sasuke had his looks, skills, and that tough guy attitude that most girls their age seemed to go for, but Naruto was just so much sweeter and kinder. It was hard not to like the guy! Oftentimes, Ino would ask if she could come over to his house so they could train together or even just to talk and bond more over the many flowers and plants he had.

Sakura on the other hand was a bit of a different case. She had tried to befriend Sasuke and had developed a bit of a crush on him at first, but one day things changed and she just couldn't look at him the same way anymore. Thinking back on it, the young pinkette started smiling as she thought about how Naruto had 'come to her rescue' that day.

Flashback

"S-Sasuke-kun? I noticed that you're always sitting by yourself and you seem kind of…lonely. So…I decided I would sit with you today. I also brought you some homemade lunch. So…will you let me sit with you and be your friend Sasuke-kun?" An unusually timid Sakura asked shyly as she tried to scoot closer to the young Uchiha.

Sasuke turned to her with narrowed eyes and stared at the small box she was holding in her hands. Snatching it from her hands without a word, he took the lid off and looked at the food inside. Shoving it back to her, the brooding Uchiha looked back out the window. "Whatever that is, it doesn't even look edible to me. Get out of my sight girl. You're useless to me."

With that comment, Sakura looked as if she was about to break down. When it appeared as if she wasn't going to move, the Uchiha rose from his seat and looked as if he was about to strike her. That's when a hand appeared on Sakura's shoulder and both she and Sasuke froze when they saw who it belonged to.

Smiling down at her, Naruto lifted up her box and sniffed the food inside. "Well, despite what he says, your food may not look great, but it certainly smells wonderful Sakura-chan. If he won't eat it, would it be okay if I had these?" When the pinkette nodded slowly, the young blonde before her grinned happily and held out his hand to her. "Even if you already know who I am, it's nice to officially meet you Sakura Haruno-san. I am Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze." Grinning, he gently took her hand and helped her up and away from Sasuke. Shooting a quick glare at the teme, Naruto shook his head and turned around without saying a word.

"Just ignore him for now Sakura-chan. I'll gladly be your friend if you need another friend. You can even sit with me from time to time if you'd like. I normally sit beside Shika, but just talk to me and I'll gladly sit beside you whenever you want." At that, Sakura smiled brightly and hugged him tight, thanking Naruto for being so nice to her.

End Flashback

Thinking back on that day, Sakura found herself blushing a bit as she looked upon the blonde Uzumaki. She was actually sitting on one side of him while on the other side Ino was chatting away with him about something that she had completely lost track of while reminiscing about when they had first became friends. Despite all that, she soon hugged him from behind and smiled happily at him. "You're so great Naruto-kun!" She giggled happily as she snuggled into him from behind, much to the blonde boy's embarrassment.

Ino soon went red and began to yell at Sakura. "Hey! We were talking Sakura! Why'd you have to go and interrupt us like that?!" Sakura blinked a couple of times, but instead of apologizing she peeked her head out from behind Naruto and stuck her tongue out childishly at her blonde female friend. "It's true. He's been so nice to us and I just couldn't help myself." Looking into Naruto's face, she grinned and kissed his cheek just to make him blush and torment Ino in the process. "Naruto-kun, could I come by later and train with you today? You help Ino and your other friends out all the time, so I wanted to finally take you up on that offer. Is that okay?" She asked with a cute little pout.

In his head, Naruto knew it was impossible to say no to such a cute face and let his shoulders droop. "I don't see why not Sakura-chan, but you'll be stuck with Choji and I and we can get a little rough sometimes. Are you all right with that?" When Sakura simply smiled and nodded with a big grin that she obviously picked up from him, Naruto simply chuckled and shook his head. "All right. Come on by whenever you feel like it tonight. I'll tell Kaa-san to include dinner plans for you as well." Smiling sweetly at her, Naruto completely missed the furious expression on Ino's face. Yes, he had just put himself in a very bad situation.

After Iruka-sensei finally stepped into the room with his fellow Chunin sensei, Mizuki, Naruto found his thoughts wandering to his sister and what she might be up to at the moment. The young Uzumaki-Namikaze member chuckled quietly to himself as he remembered how flustered she was when she came home one day after a particularly tiring day.

Flashback

Naruko threw open the door and stared blankly at her younger brother and her Kaa-chan sitting together sipping tea after what was likely another tiring training session for the two. When the two simply stared at her and nodded their heads in greeting, the young redhead began to feel something snap inside of her. "Gah! Don't just nod at me! Say something you two! Today just sucked dattebane!"

Blinking at this, Naruto cocked an eyebrow and motioned for her to sit in between him and their mother. Naruko saw this and felt like she was about to burst into tears as she slowly shut the door behind her. A few short minutes later and Naruko had thrown off her jacket, dropped her swords on the floor, let her hair loose from her usual pigtails, grabbed herself some tea, and collapsed onto the couch in between her two family members. Taking a soft sip, she breathed out a sigh of relief and set her teacup down on the coffee table before them.

"My team SUCKS!" she announced angrily, causing both family members to look at her with wide eyes. "Naruko-chan? What brought this on? I thought you really enjoyed spending time with your teammates? You have a really good sensei too. Did something happen?" The next thing her two family members knew, Naruko had grasped Naruto's teacup, put it beside hers, and knocked him to the couch in a bone-crushing hug. "They're so mean dattebane! I tried to explain to them that I want to wait to become a Chunin until you're in a Genin squad of your own and we can become Chunin together, but they just kept yelling at me! Sensei even tried to lecture me a bit and tried to say that 'when the team is ready, he's signing us up whether we like it or not', but I told him to buzz off! If they want to become Chunin so badly, they can go off and do it without me. I'm staying a Genin until my little Naruto-kun and I can become Chunin together! Then we can be on our own squad of Chunin together or something and we won't have to worry about the stupid people trying to keep us apart anymore! Right Naruto-kun?!"

Naruto, seeing this as his only chance to acquire some much, much needed air, quickly nodded his head. "Y-Yes Onee-san. Please let go now and relax. Can't…breathe…" Naruko immediately turned very red at this and quickly released him. She nervously began to run her fingers through her deep red locks of hair as her brother went back to sipping his tea in quiet. Glancing to her other side, she saw her mother smirking at her. Recognizing that her mother now had material to use for later when teasing her about things, Naruko quickly huffed, grabbed her teacup, and stormed away from her 'Baka Kaa-san.'

End Flashback

Chuckling softly to himself at the memories, Naruto remembered how possessive his Onee-san had behaved whenever he had a girl over. It was almost as if she thought one of them was going to try and take him away from her or something. The very thought of such a thing ever happening amused him greatly.

Sighing softly, Naruto turned his attention back to the front of the classroom as he tried to figure out what they were discussing today. The Kyuubi attack today, hm? Wonderful. Naruto groaned and laid his head upon the desk before him, but not before catching the look in Mizuki's eyes. Tilting his head slightly, the young blonde boy tried to figure out what that look could mean, but the moment the silver-haired Chunin turned his gaze elsewhere, Naruto simply shrugged and continued listening to the lecture, although he happened to know this particular lesson in great detail.

As the lecture went on, the young Uzumaki glanced around and managed to catch several people glancing his way. A vast majority of the younger generation didn't know that he had the Kyuubi sealed inside of him, and those that did never revealed the secret to anybody else. Receiving knowing looks from some of his friends, including the two beside him, Naruto smiled slightly and nodded his head reassuringly that he would be all right. However, throughout the rest of the day he didn't offer to answer any questions as he oftentimes did, and he didn't really participate all that much in the class discussion either.

Graduation Day – Another 1 ½ years later

Virtually all of the students had passed so far, but Naruto had been waiting almost all day just for his chance to take the Genin test and earn his damned hitai-ate (Forehead Protector) already! Grumbling as his impatience began to get the better of him, the 14 year-old blonde wrapped his knuckles repetitively against the desk, much to the annoyance of his best friend Shika who was currently sitting beside him.

Feeling a hand atop his, Naruto turned to his other side and saw Ino smiling at him. "Calm down Naruto-kun. Just be patient a little while longer. I bet they're just saving the best for last." Winking at him as she knew that would be what did the trick, Ino sat beside him and waited for their names to be called right alongside him. Shikamaru breathed a heavy sigh and thanked Ino for her help wordlessly before he heard his name called and he walked down to take the test.

While Shikamaru was doing this, Naruto smiled at Ino and gently grasped her hand. "Thanks Ino-chan. I'm just…anxious today for some reason. Well, there are a few reasons, but one of them has me a little nervous I guess." The young man explained. Ino nodded at him to continue as she looked at him with concerned eyes. "Well, the first reason is one you all should know really well by now: Naruko-onee-san. She's counting on me to pass the test with all of you so we can work towards our goals together. The second reason is I really, really want to pass at the top of the class. I don't want to let my Kaa-san down. But the final reason? That's what I don't understand. I just have this really bad feeling like something's going to happen today and I really just don't know what to expect. Weird huh?"

Ino frowned and gently squeezed his hands with both of hers. "It's okay Naruto-kun. First of all, you're already the top of the class. All you have to do is pass the tests given to you today and you'll very likely receive the Rookie of the Year title. So that's essentially killing two birds with one stone right there, right?" At seeing him nod, Ino smiled softly at him and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. "As for something bad happening…I really hope you're wrong. But I trust you. I'm sure that if something happens, everything will turn out all right in the end."

Naruto chuckled softly at this and nodded at his friend. "You're right Ino-chan. Thank you. Now, your name was just called so go down there and show them what you can do. You'll pass easy Ino-chan." Grinning his usual foxy grin at her, Naruto gave her a soft kiss on the cheek as well and sent her off.

One thing to note is that the crushes Ino and Sakura had developed on him throughout the years had only increased as time went by. Naruko never seemed very happy when they were around him when she was in his company, but she had never actually said anything to actually prove she had a problem with them in particular. Naruto and his friends just assumed it was an overprotective sister thing that she did.

Regardless of his sister's behavior, Naruto had been on a few dates with both girls. It was certainly an odd circumstance for him to have two girlfriends, but they were both so great to him and they were the ones who actually came up with the idea to share him in the first place! However, they hadn't actually kissed him yet. Sure, the two of them would kiss his cheek and cuddle with him on the grass from time to time, but they hadn't actually felt his lips pressed to theirs yet. The warm embraces, the flirting, the kisses on the nose, and more that he did were always welcomed though.

Naruto was soon thrust from his thoughts however as he heard his name called. Walking down to the front of the class, the young blonde listened to the instructions and nodded his head calmly. "All right, I getcha. First: Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique)!" Naruto shouted. As soon as he smoke cleared, in his place was standing a perfect likeness of his father, the Yondaime Hokage. As soon as Iruka-sensei nodded, Naruto released the jutsu and prepared for the next jutsu in line. Smirking at what he was about to pull, Naruto shot a quick glance out of the corner of his eye at his target. Oh Sasuke-teme, hope you're ready for a real shock. Snickering to himself, the young blonde quickly went through the hand seals for the jutsu and shouted out, "Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique)!"

In an instant, Naruto had switched places with Sasuke and dropped him right on the floor in front of Iruka. The shocked look on Sasuke's face was priceless and caused the young blonde to howl in laughter for a time before switching places once more and putting Sasuke back in his seat. "That'll teach you to pay more attention next time Teme!" When Sasuke simply snarled angrily at him, Naruto shook his head and listened to the last request. The Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique). This was one Naruto had originally been dreading, but with help from his mother and sister, the young man was ready for this one.

Calmly nodding his head, Naruto looked up into Iruka's eyes as he performed the cross-shaped hand seal and shouted out, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!" In an instant, thirty Shadow Clones were spread throughout the classroom and each one began doing something different. Some of the clones began to talk with some of his friends, others were balancing kunai on their fingers, and still others were just grinning happily for some reason. Glancing at the faces of his senseis, Naruto tried to gauge their reactions as he dispelled all of his clones.

Iruka's jaw was practically hanging on the floor while Mizuki snapped a pencil in rage. "So…do I pass Iruka-sensei? Mizuki-sensei?" Mizuki grew a devilish smirk, but before he could say anything, Iruka interrupted. "Y-Yes Naruto-kun, you pass. That's incredible. For a child your age to perform such a high-ranked jutsu and then to create that many clones and still have the strength to stand, even after dispelling them…I'm impressed! Very well done! Here you go Naruto-kun! Congratulations!" Iruka proclaimed excitedly as he proudly handed Naruto his hitai-ate.

As Naruto walked off to join his friends, Mizuki was fuming inside. Dammit! That little brat just has to screw with all my plans doesn't he! I guess I'll have to get a little…creative. Smirking to himself, Mizuki continued to test the others with his 'friend' Iruka as he went over how he would use little Naruto later tonight.

Nighttime, Forest surrounding Konoha

Naruto clutched the Fūin no Sho (Scroll of Seals) in his arms and chuckled softly to himself as he landed in the designated meeting spot that Mizuki had informed him about. The young Uzumaki knew this was a trap, but he also wanted to use this moment to capture Mizuki before he could cause any real harm to the village. Still, that didn't stop him from taking a look through the scroll and copying everything on it into a blank scroll of his own for later perusal.

A short time later, after he managed to fully copy the Fūin no Sho, Naruto rolled it back up again and glanced to the side as his sensei, Iruka Umino, hopped into the small clearing. Deciding to play dumb and feed Iruka the crap Mizuki had fed him, Naruto quickly regaled him with everything Mizuki had said. Iruka listened intently as Naruto explained how Mizuki said that if he stole the Fūin no Sho and learned at least a single jutsu from it that he would get to be on a team with Naruko. Naruto proceeded to explain that he had been instructed to meet in this spot after he had stolen the scroll and learned what he could so that Mizuki could 'evaluate his progress' personally.

After Naruto had finished, Iruka smirked and shook his head. "And you expect me to think you actually fell for that Naruto? What are you really planning?" Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, you caught me Iruka-sensei. I'd tell you, but I think you're actually about to find out what I'm up to in three…two…one…"

"Ahhh, Naruto, so good of you to bring me the scroll. I see Iruka's here. Tell me Naruto, did you read the scroll as I instructed?" Naruto smirked and nodded his head. "I skimmed through it, yeah. However, you're not getting this thing Mizuki-teme. Y'see, I knew you were up to something so I decided to play along so I could get you alone and deal with you personally. I caught the looks you kept giving me in class. I also realized quickly today that you were up to no good. As a favor to my Tou-san and my Jiji, I'm going to take you down and do my duty as a Genin of Konohagakure and keep the village safe from scumbags like you!"

Mizuki began to cackle madly and shook his head from left to right. "You always were a clever little runt Gaki. No matter, I'm going to kill you and Iruka here. Then I'll grab my prize and be on my way. Somebody's expecting me after all." Smirking, Mizuki took hold of his Fūma Shuriken (Wind Demon Shuriken) and prepared to fight. However, he froze seconds later when the little blonde kid began to laugh hysterically. Angered by this, he jumped down and glared at the kid. "What the hell is so damn funny Punk?!"

Naruto laughed harder at this and spread his arms in a wide motion. "Did you really think I wouldn't have prepared myself for your arrival Mizuki-teme? After what you saw earlier today, you had to have realized I would have set up a special 'ambush' for you right?" Seeing Mizuki's eyes widen, the Uzumaki facepalmed and shook his head as he drew his blade. "You are such a fool Teme. All right boys, ATTACK!"

For a good while, all that could be heard throughout the forest was Mizuki's screams as hundreds of Shadow Clones attacked him relentlessly until he was lying upon the forest floor in a broken heap. Kneeling beside him with his sword embedded in the man's shoulder, Naruto smirked devilishly. "You lose Teme." It didn't take much longer after that for his Jiji and his ANBU guards to show up and take Mizuki and the scroll from him.

After being thanked for a job well done, the Hokage let Naruto go on his way as he was rather eager to get back home to his Kaa-san. However, before he left, Iruka grabbed hold of his shoulder and smiled proudly at him. "I just wanted to remind you to come to the academy tomorrow for team placements. Thanks for going out of the way to keep the village safe Naruto-kun. I'll make sure to treat you to ramen tomorrow. Now go on, go see your mom." With a nod of his head and a "Thanks Iruka-sensei!" from the blonde tyke, Naruto soon shot off on his way back home with another devilish little smirk on his face. I'm going to have fun learning the jutsu in that scroll.