Hey guys! I'm back! Thank you for everyone's reviews!
I am soooo sorry about my little, well maybe a bit more than a little break. I started university last year and it took up all my time although I am deferring it for the rest of the year and hope to try and write again. That and I have had a major writers block for ages even though I know exactly what is going to happen in this story up until Naruto turns ten and I have a four page simplified timeline written out. I have been working on this chapter for a year but I would only get 10 words in before writers block stopped me every time I would work on this which was usually whenever I get an email yelling at me to update. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you guys got this chapter out.
I have something little to ask you guys for some help however I will put it at the bottom of the chapter so you can get onto the story.
Sorry once again, thank you for being patient with this story. I will not abandon it!
:3
Word count:
This Chapter: 3 087
Total: 34 843
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Chapter Seven – Open Day
(Naruto - age 4)
The sun glowed radiantly alongside the bright blue cloudless sky and the chorus created by the sounds of birds sang louder than a roar of a waterfall. This was the type of day that a small blond haired child ran into when he raced out of his family house with a huge grin plastered across his face and determination in his strides.
It didn't take long for the boy to run through the streets and reach his destination, while giggly replying to all the greetings he received from nearby villagers. He knocked on a front door and a moment later another boy came running out of the house; the two disappeared from the doorstep in a flash and met up with a pair of excited girls followed by one set of parents. They group made their way to the most important part of the village with thrilled voices.
Today was the Konoha Ninja Academy Open Day, also the first day of school for all the first year entrees. Children of all ages were running through the school's halls with enthusiastic screams echoing throughout the building. Teachers and older students were giving guided tours to families and festival like attractions sprawled the playground including a rock climbing wall, ring toss and a bucking-bull.
Due to the open day excitement, there was an increased amount of activity from the Konoha ANBU and jounin, who were focused around the academy and the village entrance gates. Hiruzen Sarutobi was currently sitting in the Hokage seat with a frantic Minato Namikaze pacing the room with a pen and paper in his hands. Hiruzen ignored him as he handed out another village security mission to a jounin and an ANBU entered to report something before heading back to his post.
"What do you think of this? Good morning ladies and gentlemen, friends and families, brothers and sisters, and our future protectors. Today is the day where the potential future ninja of Konoha enter the academy for the first time and the will of fire is shining bright in their hearts-"
"Minato…" Hiruzen interrupted, having already heard this part of his successor's speech five times already.
"I know, I know," Minato winced. "But it needs to be perfect, everyone is going to hear it and it's the first time in years that a hokage is going to be presenting the entrance ceremony…"
The old man chuckled. "Well you're only changing a little bit each time you read it to me. And didn't you have a month to write this?"
The blond sweat dropped.
Hiruzen smiled, "well onto another topic-"
"-but it starts so soon…"
"We are going to have a visitor at the ceremony today."
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Hidden by the excitement of the open day, the academy held a private entrance ceremony much like any another school would to introduce all the new students. Inside one of the closed off academy training halls sat many close friends and family members of the want-to-be ninja. Chatter echoed around the room as more and more people came in.
The room was set out with a stage area marked out with tape and the floor area at the front was designated for the first year students to sit. Chairs were set out in rows for friends and family members to sit in.
Naruto became suspiciously quiet as his three friends and he entered the room and were ushered away from Sakura's parents and told to sit on the floor up the front with the other first year children. The group went to sit next to two boys that looked to be about their age.
Naruto thought he recognised the boys. "Hi, I'm Naruto. What's your names? Can we sit with you?"
The two boys looked up at the standing group, one looked like a ghost with black hair and the other looked like he should have been in a nursing home with his greying hair. The latter spoke first, "Hi! I am Shinobu and I am gonna be the best shinobi ever!"
"Why's your hair grey?" the blond suddenly burst out only to receive a wack on the head by his pink haired friend before the group sat down.
"Sorry about him, he's an idiot. I'm Sakura." The girl smiled with her hand still on Naruto's head and her eyebrow twitching.
The two boys laughed.
"My quiet friend over here is Satoshi, he's a bit odd but he's my brother so I have to deal with him." Shinobu laughed as he wrapped his arm around his brother neck and ruffled him up with a smirk on his lips.
"You two look nothing like brothers," Sasuke butted in, stating the obvious. "I'm Sasuke by the way.
"Hinata." The said girl smiled when the two brothers looked at her.
"Is it really that obvious…?" Shinobu sighed. "Oh well, we are brothers now. I was adopted, we met in the orphanage."
The group started to chatter amongst themselves as the room slowly filled up. Children between the ages of about four and ten were sat down at the front of the room. Most of the older children were obviously from the countryside and lived away from Konoha for most of their lives and the odd civilian. The orphans were easily told apart as they sat in large groups and wore old, plain clothing; they ranged from some of the youngest children in the room to about 8. The civilians wore bright coloured clothes and few were younger than 6. Finally the clan children, told apart from their more confident attitudes ranged from ages 4 to 6. The room quieted a little bit as teachers and ninja started coming in.
Naruto chuckled to himself as he rustled through his pockets, "This is going to be so good."
Sakura rolled her eyes and Hinata giggled with her hand over her mouth. "We are not a part of it." They said in sync.
"Can anyone see Okaa-san anywhere?" Shinobu suddenly said with his back towards the group and on his knees, trying to see past the front row of seated adults. He tapped Satoshi on the shoulder but he barely moved and only scanned the adults in his eyesight.
"What's she look like?" Sasuke asked as Naruto didn't move, stuck in his thoughts and playing with something in his pocket.
"-Like a ghost like Satoshi but with light blond hair" The boy said, waving his arms around. "Tall, and Okaa-san was wearing a bright green top I think? Satoshi?"
Said boy nodded.
The two girls sat up on their knees and started to help. "Well, my okaa-san is over there," Hinata pointed, "Sakura's parents are over there… Is that her?"
"No, her boobies' are too big and she's not pail enough." Shinobu said frowning. He suddenly grinned and waved, "Over there!"
Hinata's and Sakura's eyes twitched but they didn't sit back down or scold the boy, both were looking at the woman Hinata pointed out.
"… Is that?" Sakura bit her lip and let herself smile a little.
"I think so…" They both sat back down with a big smile but neither said anymore about the woman.
"Hey, I think all the group is here," Sakura suddenly said, "but there seems like a lot more others here this time round…"
Hinata agreed with a nod and Naruto hummed to say that he was listening.
"There wasn't this many kids last year?" Sasuke said, confused.
Sakura bit her lip and stopped herself from putting her hand to her mouth. A silent 'opps' escaped her lips.
"No! There was half this amount when I went to Neji's opening ceremony last year." Hinata quickly covered.
Chatter in the hall suddenly quieted as they noticed that the Yondaime Hokage walked onto the taped off stage. Murmurs ran through the room until the man started his welcome speech. "Good morning ladies and gentlemen, friends and family, and of course, our future protectors! Today is the day…" Naruto zoned out, he had heard it already five hundred times before at home last night. He only zoned back in when the children started being called up to receive an entrance certificate and to introduce themselves to everyone. The order of the students being called up was in age groups, from oldest to youngest in order of civilians, clan children, clan hairs and finally any special cases.
Fukui Shinobu and Satoshi were called up one by one in the civilian section of the youngest age group. Shinobu talked about wanting to protect other orphans so that they can endure and eventually take over his place to protect the following generation of orphans.
Satoshi gave a small smile when it was his turn and he was asked to introduce himself. "My nickname is Sai. I like that name. And I want to make friends and help them and protect this village."
Naruto ad Sakura looked at each other with wide eyes. "I knew I recognised him!"
"Naruto, hush!" Sakura frowned, her finger to her lips as she studied the boy as he walked back to the group to sit. "He could be but he wouldn't be calling himself Sai… that was his code name for his mission."
The two shut up as Sakura was called up next.
She bit her lip as she walked up to the front, a smile escaped when she spotted the woman Hinata and her were looking at before. "Um… Hi, I'm Sakura. I want to be a medical ninja that can heal everyone and fight up front alongside my teammates." She made eye contact with the woman in the crowd before sitting back down with a grin.
It took several more people before Sasuke was called.
He gulped as his name was called out; his pose was rigid as he walked out onto the stage next to the Hokage and harshly bowed after he received his certificate. His eyes roamed the hall until they met his mother's. The hokage inconspicuously nudged him when the boy didn't react to what he said.
"Introduce yourself, Sasuke-kun." He whispered.
The boy visably swallowed, "Um… Hi, I'm Uchiha Sasuke."
"Try and say something about yourself." Minato whispered to the boy.
"And… I will become the strongest Uchiha in all of time." He quickly marched back down to his seat with a visibly tense jaw and dry mouth.
"What… are you scared of public speaking Sasuke?" Naruto asked with a smirk.
"Entrée Hyūga Hinata, Hyūga clan heir." Minato called.
The said dark violet haired girl knocked Naruto on the head as she got up and waddled onto the stage, giving a formal bow once she received her piece of paper, thankful to have more experience this time than she had in her first ceremony. "Good morning, I am Hyūga Hinata. I'm four years old and I want to be a ninja to protect me friends." With that she almost ran off the stage in a pale red flash to sit back down with her three friends.
Naruto giggled at her embarrassed blush as she hid her face in his shoulder. "Just me left now." His laugh turned evil and his grin into a smirk.
"Silly, you still have the Nara boy and the Akamichi boy first." Sasuke grabbed his wrist before the blond started to get up. "Wait till it's your turn before you do whatever you are planning."
Naruto rolled his eyes however the giggle in his voice betrayed him. "What makes you think that I'm planning something?"
"I've known you forever; I know you are going to do at least something."
He didn't reply to the Uchiha which only caused a giggle from the two girls and confused looks from Shinobu and Satoshi. He eyed Shikamaru as he finished his speech on cloud watching and Choji's on the fact that his clan was not fat. "Alright my turn."
The Namikaze made an Uzumaki grin and bounded up the front with a hop in his step and a smirk overtaking his grin. He easily ignored the curious eyes of the audience which followed him.
Minato smiled, "Entrée-"
"-Uzumaki Naruto!" His smirk grew and confusion entered the faces of the people who knew who he was. "My favourite food is ramen, my favourite thing to do is prank and my goal is life is to fix the future!" Suddenly, with a puff of smoke, a lidless bucket of paint was in the blond's hands and was being swung in the direction of the village leader.
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A month ago…
Scribbled over papers were sprawled all over the desk, the sink over the other side of the room was full of old dirty dished and the bin was full of old two minute noodle cups. Uchiha Obito was leaning over the dining table with a huge smirk on his lips and ink smudge marks on his hands and face. His messy hair was only the last thing on a long list that screamed to an outsider that he was an introvert that had just worked out that his craziness wasn't as crazy as one might have once believe so.
"It can work…"
Obito's voice echoed around the dark, silent room.
"…Rin can live."
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The audience gasped as orange paint splat all over the stage and the Yondaime hokage; laughter filled the air as the Uzumaki pulled out another bucket of paint. "And I will start changing the future by making Konoha more colourful!" The blue paint was aimed at the wall this time although blue splatters landed on the floor and the village leader again.
"NARUTO!"
He quickly jumped from the stage and over the other students laughing hysterically. He only just got to the exit when the ground suddenly started to violently shake and an explosion was heard. Chairs went flying and parents were jumping up to cover the children as a beam and rubble fell from the roof.
Eyes were wide once the explosion calmed down. The room was silent and only the sound of fire crackling brought sense back into the people in the room; cries from many of the younger children and yells of worried civilian parents abruptly echoed around the room causing chaos and fear as a second explosion was heard only just above their heads. Another beam threated to fall on top of where the children were seated.
"Everyone out of the room and to the evacuation point, find your family members on your way or once you are there!" Minato's booming voice could be heard over the turmoil causing many to calm down.
A third explosion was heard a little further away as people hurried out the door, Minato and a few other ninja parents stayed back until everyone had left the room.
Naruto bit his lip as he reached the emergency evacuation point which was full as all the people that were at the ninja school for the open day were there too; he started looking for his friends. He was wide eyed and breathless until he found his group along with Satoshi and Shinobu, the latter of the two boys was coughing and leaning on the former.
"Is everyone okay?" The blond boy said after he had grabbed hold of Hinata and hugged her.
"Yes, but what was that?"
"Shinobu, are you alright?" Sakura asked as soon as she noticed the boy was having trouble breathing.
"It's only asthma, but he left his puffer back there." Satoshi said, rubbing his brother's hunched over back.
Naruto's eyes scanned the roof before stopping at the sight of the third hokage and two ANBU's backs facing an enemy out of sight. He took one step closer before one of the parents, an off duty ninja, took control of the situation and ordered everyone to start heading up the side of the hokage monument into the evacuation safe caves. Naruto almost growled as he was shoved along with other children and civilians that had been at the academy for open day as a fire jutsu could be seen coming from the roof.
"I want to help but…"
Hinata put her hand on his shoulder, "You know you can't do anything. Let the others do their job." She slid her hand into his as they were shepherded up the side of the mountain.
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Obito smirked as he appeared inside the Konoha Archive Library, just around the corner from an ANBU guard. "Close one," he whispered to himself. He had a quick skim at the bookshelves around himself before deciding that he was in the wrong section. Silently, he jumped past the half asleep guard and hid behind a shelf and started looking around again.
Half an hour passed without the intruder noticing as he was too interested in some of the stuff he had come across although he had yet to find what he was looking for. He had spent years trying to work out the jutsu he was currently looking for from scratch nevertheless it was designed by the Nidaime hokage and perfected by Orochimaru. He had forsaken starting from scratch to remake the jutsu and decided a month ago to just steal the original plans and work from that.
The young man grinned under his black, single-holed mask when he finally found the section full of information on the Nidaime and many of his now forbidden jutsu ideas. Unexpectedly a handful of kunai landed just in front of his feet.
"Don't take one more step." The once sleeping ANBU was behind him and readying himself for a fight. "How did you get in here?"
Obito could hear another pair of footsteps getting closer.
"Hmm, let's see." Obito put on the voice of Tobi, "I just waltzed right in here like everyone else. Now I will be leaving in just a second, let me finish finding my book and I will go to the service desk then leave." His hands waved around and pointed in random directions.
The ANBU faulted, a drop of swear ran down his head. 'This guys an idiot', he thought.
In that moment, Obito revealed two storage scrolls from a pocket. The smaller one fell immediately onto the ground, ignored, and the second larger one was quickly ripped open revealing a rather large, fancy seal.
The ANBU jumped from his position, his hands raised defensively and kunai at the ready. He barely got a word out before Obito was running through hand signs. "Seal!"
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What do you think, please tell me because it actually helps me fight though the horrible writers block. I feel it jumps around a little bit cause it was written at different times throughout the year and it's a bit short and unedited but I want to get something out to you asap.
Alright, here's the little something I want to ask you guys. I am going on a volunteer trip to south Africa to teach children English, build farms for single mothers and others, and work on animal conservation for a couple of weeks in December and I would like your help please. There is more information at my gofund me page below (just put: . com and / into the space).
gofundme sendmeto-africa
So if you can spare $5, or even $1, it all adds up and will allow me to make a change to my life as well as the people of South Africa's lives (that and it will allow me more time on the next chapter instead of focusing on fundraising :P ).
Thanks guys, I love your support and please keep it going!
xXChirushiXx
(PS sorry for the long A/N)
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