Naruto 1. It's only the Beginning

Here's the first chapter for this story, I wrote it quite a while ago and have finally started putting the story up. I am trying to work out if I should make it Yaoi or no relationships, what do you people think. If Yaoi it would probably be SasuNaru/NaruSasu but it would be slightly slow in the making, they are 12.

Disclaimer: I am female.

Chapter One – It's only the Beginning

Iruka felt upset for the situation Naruto was going to be put into; the boy already had had a hard enough time in the academy as it was. He felt that he was, sadly, one of the only people who actually pay attention to the boy so to his knowledge the boy was probably stunted in most areas but they didn't really know. The boy seen to understand everything that was said to him but hid anything he had learned. His tests were complete rubbish but when taken unawares he could answer them correctly. He hid himself from the harsh attitudes of those who wished him harm; Iruka just hoped that he would be accepted into his team so that people finally understood what they had overlooked for so many years.

As he arrived at the Graduation Room's door, he could hear the commotion they were making about Naruto's graduation. He had only failed because he couldn't make his chakra output small enough to perform the academy level Justus they had been teaching them; the fact was made even more obvious when he had learnt the Kage-Bushin, which used a large amount, in only a few hours, probably even less if he had learnt anything else from the scroll. He hadn't even seemed surprised about being the Jinchuriki for the Kyuubi. Iruka had found out afterwards that the boy had known about it for years.

Iruka put a hold on his thoughts as the ruckus from the room escalated and knew that if he didn't stop it soon someone was probably going to get hurt. When he opened the door he couldn't help but be ashamed of the way the children were seated. On one side were most of the boys, including most of the Clan heirs that were in the class. There was only one girl, her pale eyes looking shyly into her hand that were clenched in front of her.

On the other side was most of the girls, their deafening squeals were causing major headaches to those with better hearing, who unfortunately was most of the clan children from training. How they listened to their own voices was a mystery to almost everyone. They were surrounding a boy, who looked as if he could have been anywhere else. Not that anybody pitied him but damn all fan-girls to hell.

In the middle of the room was his favourite student, his blond hair falling haphazardly over the desk. His face buried into the table as if that could keep out the sound. He looked about to cry from the pain in his ears. Naruto had the best hearing in the class; the only person close was the Inuzuka who was in much the same position as him.

Iruka clapped his hands and surprisingly they all stoped, which just proved how exited they all were. He had to stifle a laugh as they all turned to stare intently at him. It seemed that they were all excited, about which teams, though the fan-girls were mostly going to be disappointed. "Okay, I congratulate you all for passing and hope you all understand how to keep yourself alive. I will now present the teams. Team 1..."

By the time he had arrived to the clan children most of the class was getting impatient. "Team 7, Uchida Sasuke" The boy had extremely pale skin with solid black eyes, and black hair was moulded into spikes at the back. He was wearing a large blue jumper with a collar that reached up to his chin, white shorts and wrist bands. He was one of the 2 known surviving Uchida and the only one loyal to Konoha.

His family had been massacred when he was only 7. Since then he had been withdrawn from the rest of the class and the only people who could actually get a response out of him were Naruto with his continues challenges and the teachers. Iruka hoped that being on the same team as Naruto might open him up.

All the girls looked hopefully as he read out the next name. "Haruno Sakura" He was cut off from continuing but the loud squeal that the bright pink haired girl presented to the class. She was wearing a red dress that had a white circle outline on the top of the back and small black pants, her hair reached mid back and she was using the proudly held Hitate as a headband, a headband... does she have no respect? It was even covered in a small film of muck after only one day. She ignored the death glares that were sent her way to goggle a green looking Uchida. God that girl has no self preservation at all. Even older Shinobi were afraid of fan-girls; more often than not the people of their admiration either went insane or gay. There was speculation that this was what happened to Itachi, Sasuke's older brother and the murderer of his family.

"Uzumaki Naruto" There seemed to be complete silence, then the first girl started yelling. Naruto seemed to almost collapse onto himself and had paled to a degree that rivalled the Uchida next to him. Fan-girls were defiantly a force of nature, as Naruto shrunk from them. The boy was wearing his normal fluoro orange jumpsuit and pants, Iruka didn't even want to know who had made it but had a long standing suspicion that he had made it himself as the stitching wasn't very hidden but was tight. Iruka guessed that he had found the fabric somewhere or was even given to him in spite. It was just saying 'come kill me'.

The boy was ignoring the looks to stare at Sasuke who seemed to be shaking silently. When he noticed Naruto looking he sat up straighter and looked as if he had gotten over whatever had forced him into suppressing his laughter. Naruto looked towards the front and caught his eyes and pouted, crossing his arms as well and just acting like a child. He suppressed his chuckles as well and moved on to the next team.

"Team 8 Aburame, Shino," The boy was wearing a very large grey coat that went from his ankles and to his chin and even it the Fire countries heat he seemed perfectly fine with the hood on as well along. He was also wearing dark glasses, so the ending effect was a mask-like cover.

"Hyuuga, Hinata" Hinata was probably the most quite in the class and defiantly the most shy person he had ever met. She had short almost black purple hair. In her eyes the iris and pupil are barely noticeable with both being a milky white in colour. She was wearing a light grey jacket also and was the heiress for the Hyuuga family even if she didn't act like it.

"Inuzuka, Kiba." The boy was wearing a fur-lined hood and jacket. He had messy brown hair was and hazel eyes, under those were red 2 inverted triangles that started from just under his eyes to the bottom of his cheeks. He had a cheeky grin on his face.

"Team 10 Nara, Shikamaru," The boys brown pineapple shaped hair was all that he could see. The Nara clan was known not just for their intelligence but also their laziness. He also had black eyes that were always at half mast, looking as if he would fall asleep at any moment.

"Ino, Yamanaka," The blond haired girl seemed to be quite upset, not only because Sakura had made it to her crushes team but because she was stuck with someone that she had grown up with and was completely lazy. Her blue eyes flashed with annoyance when the before mentioned team-mate muttered his family's trademark 'troublesome'.

"Akimichi, Choji." He also had brown hair but it was a lighter version than his other male team-mates as was split by the ribbon part of the Hitate through the middle of his hair. He had two swirls on his chubby cheeks. His pinprick like eyes that were normally closed but at the moment they were opened to watch the interactions between his two new team-mates.

"Can you be quite?" The whole class stoped yelling; after the teams had been called the fan-girls had gone crazy, most telling him to change the team line-ups. All that he had said in response was that the Hokage had put the teams together and it wasn't possible to change them. The class turned to stare surprised at a glaring Sasuke. In front of him was Naruto, he had curled up into a ball with his hands on his ears.

-****-(line)

Sasuke couldn't believe the noise that only a few people could make, sure there was 30 something people but still; they were Shinobi right? It was common knowledge that they had better hearing than others and then there were people who were extremely sensitive to sound like so clans. He looked around and couldn't help but notice how some people kept wincing at the sound.

He spotted Naruto as he collapsed onto the floor; he was crying his eyes out with his hands covering his ears and looked like he was in actual pain. He decided that enough was enough when he saw some of the girls look at Naruto and completely ignore him, he had noticed how most people in the class didn't like Naruto but oddly enough they were mostly civilian children. The clan children seemed almost kind but wary. He was getting up to check on the curled up blond, when someone kicked him making him tighten into a ball. The boy glanced down dispassionately and continued to ask the teacher questions.

"Can you be quiet?" He asked just loud enough to be heard by everyone in the class, some turned to look questionly at him while the girls giggle and blushed. He mentally sighed, remembering why he didn't talk to them and sat back down. Iruka looked gratefully in his direction and walked over to Naruto. When he reached out to pick the boy up he scrambled back until he hit the wall, the action bringing the rest of the class's attention towards the blond.

-****-(line)

"What, can't handle a bit of noise." Sakura said sharply from the other side of the room, completely ignoring the fact that Sasuke was the one who said it and glared at Naruto, who was to occupied to notice anything, let alone her question. She flinched as almost all the clan kids glared at her, not really understanding why they were angry at her. She decided that it must be Naruto's fault, just as her mother had told her, that the monster had control over other people's feelings. Otherwise why would Sasuke protect that, that – thing.

Ever since she was a child, her mother had told horror stories about what the little blonde boy would do if he ever gained power, or caught her unaware and alone. If the boy could do that then he's better off dead. She needed to kill it before it killed them all.

-****-(line)

Sasuke helped the blonde get back to his seat, hiding the concern he was feeling from the dazed look that was on his face. It had been ten minutes since Iruka-sensei had let the class out for a quick break before their Jounin-sensei's arrived and the boy still looked like he was in pain and extremely confused. Sasuke watched worriedly as Naruto tried to regain his balance on the table, and failed miserably, Sasuke saved him just in till to avoid a nasty face-plant to the floor.

"Come on," he said softy, reaching out to stable Naruto, but he flinched away from the touch, almost recreating the curl that he had been in before. Sasuke showed no change in his expression but mentally took note of the reaction. He took another glance to the unstable boy near him, and the pale face that dripped with exhaustion, and if he wasn't making a mistake, there was obviously a slight bleeding coming from his ears.

Sasuke wasn't a friendly person by nature, and almost all of the slight caring nature he had had as a child had been removed by the massacre of his family. But there was something in the blonde in front of him that brought whatever was left to the surface, and that slightly scared him but also excited him. It had been quite a long time since he had cared even slightly about anyone.

He came out of his light daze by a soft snore next to him, glancing over at the now sleeping boy he couldn't hold in a slight laugh. Naruto had settled down on the top of the table, his arms and legs were hanging of the edges; his face was set into a calm look, none of the distress he had shown before. Sasuke placed his head next to Naruto and waited for their sensei to arrive.

-****-(line)

Kakashi looked at the door, wondering if there were any pranks set on the door. He had been warned about the traps that Naruto liked to set on people, and he had read to ANBU reports about the hours long chases that the neon orange clothed boy had lead them on. If the boy could hide wearing that thing it was quite obvious that the boy was a stealth expert. But the main thing that worried him about the reports was the fact that Naruto had many meetings with Ibiki and/or Anko.

As he opened the door, he waited for whatever was suppose to be set of do so. When nothing happened he looked closer into the room, wondering if it was on a delayed reaction or it just failed to the open. But he was surprised by what he had found.

Sasuke seemed to have fallen asleep while...watching? - Sitting or something with Naruto, while the orange clad Genin was curled around him, resembling a cat more than a fox. It was quite a cute image, now if only Anko hadn't destroyed his camera; the blackmail that that one picture would have brought was enormous.

Kakashi noticed that there were only two of his prospective Genin, the girl, Haruno Sakura or something was missing. He settled down in the teachers chair and pulled out his orange book.  
><em>"...Kano stilled as Zana's hands trailed south, the sensitive skin rising in pleasurable goosebumps, drawing a soft gasp. The light worn skin on his fingers caught softy on the small clear hairs..."<em>

He looked up when a small whimper sounded from the two on the table. Naruto seemed to have woken up, bright blue eyes looked confused. Sasuke's hand had tightened on his orange jumpsuit, stopping any movement that Naruto may have wanted to do.

Kakashi watched in slight awe as Naruto slowly removed his top, being careful not to disturb the sleeping boy. There was a small gentle smile, not the usual broad grin that everyone was used to. Kakashi knew then that there was much more to the village Pariah than anyone knew, maybe not even the Hokage. And he had front row seats.

His mirth filled giggle brought him to the attention of the only other conscious person in the room, the boy's eyes not even widening in surprise, making Naruto glare in annoyance. Kakashi was about to ask him to wake the other child but was stopped by a tanned hand closing over his mouth.

"Do not wake him." Was the harsh whisper in his ears, sounding threatening in a way that no child Naruto's age should be. "He gets even less sleep than me or the Old Man do. Just let him sleep." Kakashi nodded, all the while wondering where the kid got his knowledge. As the hand was removed he couldn't help but let loose a small sigh of relief. That kid could become quite scary if he learnt to control his presence more.

As both of them were facing away the door they didn't really pay much attention to Sakura as she crept through the door, but they were made aware when a high pitched squeal sounded right behind them. Kakashi only saw Naruto's eyes flash in anger before he disappeared from his sight.

-****-(line)

Sasuke was drifting in the blankness of sleep when a loud noise brought him back to consciousness; sleep training helped him skip from being completely asleep to completely awake in a split second. And even that was almost too slow to see what Naruto did. At first he saw Sakura pinned up against the classroom wall, feet of the floor, being held by the darkly tanned and that was clasped around her throat. Even though he could only see the back of the person it was quite obvious who it was, the expanse of orange made it almost impossible to get it wrong.

Sakura's face was drawn in fear, an expression that no Shinobi should easily show, especially for females because there were some people who got off on the fear shown by others. But he could understand why she was scared. The air was basically dripping with Intent, and not the pleasant type.

He glanced quickly off to the side, and relaxed when he recognised who he supposed was their Jounin-sensei, who seemed to be reading an orange book, not even paying attention to what was happening on the other side of the room. Wasn't it his job to make sure that his students survive under his care, not let them kill each other?

Sasuke quickly looked back when he heard a growling, almost too low to be heard by normal ears. He wondered what had set the boy off; Naruto was known for always yelling and being an overall happy nutcase but was almost never violent with people in the class unless they were doing tai-jutsu. Even the only time he had even seen the boy slightly annoyed was when the teachers blamed anything bad that happened to him. He wondered what Sakura had done to incite such a rage as it really wasn't an easy to do.

-****-(line)

Kakashi moved forward, planning to stop whatever damage the blonde wanted to inflict on the screeching girl. He didn't really understand what had set the boy off but he knew that he had to stop him before he did any actual damage to the loud girl. Even though Kakashi had been reading over any reports that the ANBU sent through, this was the first time that he had seen the boy in such a rage. In the reports they had only been mentioned once or twice, were someone had said something or do something that Naruto had not been able to stand. The first time had been left alone because of what had been an obvious reason. A girl had been found afterwards in the alley near where Naruto had gone on a rampage, her clothes had been ripped and she had been covered in bruises and it was obvious that Naruto had stopped her from being defiled. That was probably the first time that Naruto, at age 7, had ever been thanked by someone out of the Hokage tower.

The second incident was something that had been put under extreme classification and all that he knew was that it had something to do with the council and the execution of 5 civilian members, all male. There was much speculation on what had happened, especially given what had set the boy off before. But there was one thing that was a given, Naruto had gained the respect of most ninja heads that day; even if it was countered by a 2 week stay in hospital.

He shook himself from his wandering thoughts as Sakura started turning purple, something that clashed badly with her hair. "Naruto, that's enough. You're going to strangle her to death, and that's a lot of paperwork that you'll have to do, by yourself." Unsurprisingly that made the boy pause, there was a lot that Naruto could stand but paperwork was something that all ninja despised, even when they were good at it. "Go calm yourself down and meet me on the roof, now." Kakashi said, emphasising the last bit to get the boy moving.

Naruto looked over his shoulder in apology, looking ashamed of his actions and quickly disappeared up the stairs. Kakashi sighed and moved forward once again and helped the sobbing pink mess off the floor. This was going to cause a rift in the team, he just knew it. Naruto would not be able to stand the girl for quite some time, Sakura is going to be too afraid to approach him, and Sasuke will either choose sides or stay away from both of them. "Meet me on the roof." He muttered loudly, letting the girl lean against the table.

Well this was going to be fun.

-****-(line)

Naruto knew he shouldn't have lost his temper, and that Sakura probably hadn't deserved it but the pressure from the last couple of days had built up to much and that episode in the classroom had been the last break. Sakura should know that you never wake a sleeping Shinobi unless it was needed. Not only was it extremely rude but there was always a chance that in that split second your life would be over. All Shinobi are trained to have a hair trigger on all their weapons because if they didn't there would be a lot more dead people.

That girl was not really cut out to be a Shinobi, not only because of her hair and clothing but she liked being noticed too much, she didn't try to downplay the brightness of her hot pink hair, her light red dress or her loud attitude. Naruto had a feeling that the girl had only been placed in the academy for political connections and her obsession with Sasuke, which was probably encouraged by her parents. She may not be made for the Shinobi life but Naruto would be damned if he let her die. He was going to be Hokage and a good Hokage looked after everyone that they could. With that idea firmly planted in his mind Naruto turned back towards the academy.

-****-(line)

Sakura flinched away when Naruto arrived, not really wanting to look at the blonde boy that had terrorised her in the class room. She still remembered the red flecked eyes that had glared at her in hatred. It was just another mark against the boy and she finally understood what her mother was trying to say. When she was a child her mother had told her horror stories of a little blonde who murdered whoever went against him and that some people had no idea what the boy was capable off; they only saw a small harmless child with no power, who could do very little wrong.

Who were they kidding, that monster was the reason that her father was dead, the reason that her mother was never home. Father had been on the council and they had been living the easy life but when she had been 8 her father had disappeared and her mother had taken his place. But whatever had happened had caused lasting damage on the family reputation.

Then Naruto even got in between her and Sasuke, that was the last straw, how could he interfere with her destiny. It was a given that she would marry Sasuke and become Mrs Uchiha, and everyone would look up to her. And no-one was going to get in her way. She didn't notice the worried glance that Naruto threw her way, the annoyed on Sasuke gave her or, the suspicious on that her sensei pinned on her.

-****-(line)

"Introduce yourselves." Kakashi said once everyone had arrived. Sakura was avoiding Naruto, Naruto was worried, and Sasuke looked kind of lost. It was time to get into a routine before the whole group fell apart. "Why don't you introduce yourself first, sensei". Sakura's voice was sickeningly sweet, almost like it was dropping poisonous honey. He could almost see the small hearts floating of the girl, and cringed. He really didn't like people who tried to suck up to their teachers.

"Okay," He said, amusing her, "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate...I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future...never really thought about it. As for my hobbies...I have lots of hobbies." He was happy when he received three glares from his adorable students. That was the same reaction that he got every time he had potential Genin and it never ceased to amuse. He heard Sakura mutter 'all we learnt was him name' and had to hold in the blooming smile that wanted at appear.

He raised him hand to point at her, signalling that she was to go next; well trying to but all he got in return was a confused stare. "You're next Pinkie." He said in annoyance after she didn't pick up the slight hints that they had all been dropping her.

"Right," she giggled, "My name is Haruno Sakura, my likes are," she glances of to the side and blushes, Kakashi inwardly laughed as Sasuke moves further away from her, "Dislikes, hmm, Ino-pig and Naruto-baka!" this was exclaimed with vehemence and Naruto looked slightly crestfallen. "And as for dreams," she once again looks towards Sasuke and blushes, "And my hobbies are shopping and," the rest of the sentence was cut off as Sakura gained a glazed look on her bright pink face, Kakashi watched bemusedly as a drop of blood travelled down from her nose.

He glanced at Sasuke, who seemed to be turning a bit green in the face but Kakashi couldn't really blame him; it was quite obvious what had gone through her pink head. While Sasuke was drowning in mortification Naruto seemed to find the whole situation quite annoying and had taken up glaring at the unconscious girl.

Okay that was unusual in and of itself, the notes put down by his teachers said that they boy had an obsession on the passed out pinkie. The attitude that he had just shown was the complete opposite of what he had expected but all morning the boy had been destroying any information that Kakashi had gained on Naruto, there was no deep seated hatred towards Sasuke, no unfailing obsession or even the customary prank that was normally done periodically through his sensei career.

"Okay, next is Gloom Boy." Kakashi waved vaguely in the direction of the frowning Uchiha. Next to him Naruto seemed to collapse his shaking body, trying, unsuccessfully, to cover his laughter. Sasuke deepened his frown but didn't say anything, choosing to ignore the irritating blonde beside him.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and... kill a certain someone." Complete silence answered his declaration of intent to murder... for about 3 seconds then Naruto collapsed in hysterical laughter scaring Sakura to her feet. Sasuke was once again glaring murder at the blond who dared to laugh at his mission in life.

Kakashi frowned, no liking the reaction at all. He bent forward to pick the boy up but was impeded by a kunai close to his face. He watched in concern as Naruto slowly pulled himself up, chest heaving from being out of breath. "Don't touch me." The boy all but growled, silencing anything anyone may have wanted to say. They all waited quietly while the seemingly bipolar boy regained his breath.

"Okay..." Kakashi muttered to himself, wondering just how he always seemed to end up in these really weird situations. "And last but not least we have Mr. Hysterical over there." He once again waved vaguely in Naruto's direction. Naruto glared grumpily at him and sighed but introduced himself anyway.

"Name's Uzumaki Naruto, like's gardening, learning techniques and spending time with Anko and Ibiki," here Kakashi shivered, it didn't matter in you were the strongest person in the world, everyone had a slight fear of being under those to sadists attention and here, in front of him was a boy who actually enjoyed there company. What was the world coming too?

Little did he know that that was only the beginning of the mystery surrounding Uzumaki Naruto.

(To Be Continued)

So how do you like it? I know some of you are following my other stories and are probably annoyed that I'm starting a new story instead of updating the others so I'll give the choice of which one I update next to my dear readers. I will probably be majority vote but if not it will be the first one to 5, only way to submit is to review.

If there are any problems with this chapter tell me and I'll try to fix it. There will be a couple of mistakes since I've been writing this on and off for the last couple of months.

Crimsonpheonix271


	2. Teammates all around

Sorry for the very late update. Life got in the way.

So sorry for the wait and here it is.

Disclaimer: I do not own.

Chapter Two - Teammates all around.

Sasuke watched Naruto glare at them all, still slightly confused as to the sudden shift the boy's emotions went through. One second he was laughing loudly, nearly falling off the step and the next he was glaring murder at everything around him. He tried to feel annoyed about Naruto laughing at his statement but the emotion was hard to come by, the blonde's actions putting him off kilter.

"Okay, Naruto, there's no need to bite our heads off." He heard Kakashi ask from behind him. Naruto scowled at them once more before seating himself again; though this time he was facing away from the rest of the team. He heard a sigh of relief from behind him but couldn't tell if it came from Kakashi or Sakura, though they all seemed to be in the same mind frame. The boy could be terrifying if he felt like it.

"Sorry" The apology was almost unheard but the message was understood. He did wonder why Naruto was losing his temper so easily though, normally he would just ignore those who were annoying him or insult them. This cold anger was actually frightening is comparison to the blondes normal reactions. He never wanted to see him actually angry.

Kakashi moved back to his spot on the fence after Naruto introduced himself and looked at them in silence for a second. His gaze was blank and Sasuke felt prickles down his spine. There was something off about people who could seal their emotions so easily; his…brother had been the same way. He tried to think of something else, it wouldn't be a good thing to have a breakdown in front of his new team, though maybe that would do something to Sakura and her terrible infatuation with him.

The blond was still ignoring them to the best of his ability, even when their new sensei started talking again.

"Okay then," He clapped his hands, "now that that's out of the way, I'm here to tell you that you're not actually Genin just yet… Sorry, not sorry."

What?

-**-(Line)

This was one thing Kakashi didn't mind about meeting his apparent teams. The shocked looks he got every time he did this was something that kept him amused for hours. Their small fragile hopes gone, dashed, all in a second. Well that was what normally happened but this time round only two of the three were giving him any entertainment.

Naruto, the boy who was nothing like his records, was staring at him blankly and like he was unimpressed with his life altogether. It was obvious that he already knew about the second test and was not so amused by it. Well bad luck to him.

"Now that that's out of your system, Ill explain. Or I wont, here's some information pre-written all for you." Kakashi said as he lazily waved towards three sheets weighed down by a rock. "All you need to know is that tomorrow you meet me at training ground 13 at 6am. No Breakfast or you'll be sick. Don't be late or you'll be in trouble. Ok, Bye."

With that he body flickered away, masking it with fallen leaves from nearby. Not that he went far, just onto a higher roof to listen to the ensuring conversations. Naruto was the first to move, gathering the sheets and handing them to the rest of his would-be team. Sasuke accepted it with more grace than thought and Sakura flinched from him as soon as she received it. That would have to be sorted out sooner than later, otherwise there was no way the team would be able to do anything.

There was also something worrying about Sasuke. The mandatory psych tests that each student goes through before they can even try to become genin. Kakashi was considering reporting to that Hokage that they seemed quite out of line with the boy. They had stated that the boy was well adjusted and had no problems from the incident. Now that he could see the boy himself, he could tell that that was not true; there was something off about the way the boy acted – something he only saw in older shinobi. People who had seen too much and wore it like a cloak of despair, it was in the shadows in their eyes. It was a frightening prospect to think about, the boy hasn't even been on his first mission yet.

However, while that was sometime he would have to keep an eye out for in the long run, the more immediate problem was whether or not they would pass the next exam. As much as he did not want a team, nor feel ready for one, he knew that there was a high chance that this team would pass. If not by of their own abilities, but by the councils order. Apparently the last Uchiha had a free pass no matter how he did and the Haruno child was the daughter of a council member so there was pressure there as well. The Hokage had noticed this and decided that it was probably the safest way for Naruto to pass, with such protected children there would be no suicide missions for his team.

It was sad that that was even a concern. The boy, be who he might be, was still worth more than they thought he was. The Shinobi in general held some sort of respect for the boy, more than the civilians anyway, but that was more to the fact that they actually understood the mechanisms of sealing where as to the civilians some of the stuff they did seemed like magic. That ignorance has made it dangerous for shinobi quite a few times, with civilians trying to apply their morals and/or ideas to the shinobi way of life. Lets just say that when it was a completely shinobi run council the academy and what they learnt there was quite different. Made more competent shinobi, even if it was more, ah, dangerous than most people would have liked.

They didn't know what they were talking about anyway.

-**- (Line)

Sakura was worried about telling her mother about who was on her team. Not that she would blame her, no that's not it, but her mother's anger was a frightening thing. There were a few things that had been replaced just recently from her mother's latest bad day. Luckily they had some free of charge from the local shops, her mother always seemed to have her ways of getting what she wanted. It was actually quite frightening.

Naruto was also frightening, just like her mother had said, though there hadn't been any red eyes. She hadn't expected them in the first place though, it wasn't like he was from any clan nor did he have a bloodline, she wasn't sure what her mother had been expecting.

Luckily, when Sakura got home her mother was still out and it looked like she had only just recently left. Which was good for Sakura's slowly developing headache, her mother always asked for many things whenever she was around. 'How is the Uchiha boy? Have you made any progress with him? You have to clean yourself up for him you know; no one likes a messy girl. It's what your father would have wanted for us. Such a family connection would do us good and you wouldn't have to ruin your hands with all the inane work of others.' Her mother had strong view on many things, especially on how her daughter ran her life.

But that was the way it should be, after all mother knows best.

-****-(Line)

As always the clan buildings felt like ghosts inhabited them, just as they had for the last 5 years. There was no laughter, no familiar faces, just silence and the oppressive weight of all the memories of people that no longer existed. Duty to the clan was all that was left for him, other than that man, the man he had to kill.

This was what haunted his waking hours and his unconscious. Sasuke new this routine like he knew this compound, nothing was new anymore. He his team was new though, something he hadn't seen every day.

Their new teacher was not what he would have expected from someone so recognised. When he had first heard the nickname 'Kakashi of the Sharingan ' he had been confused and then alarmed. Someone who wasn't part of the clan had the Sharingan and Sasuke had no idea how he had gotten it. For all he knew Kakashi could have raided the body of a clan member to get it. It was only later than he found documents in the archive room that he understood what had happened.

Having his as a teacher was to be expected, with only two people in the village having the eyes, it was obvious that one would have to train the other in how to use it; the scrolls in the library only helped so much.

His other teammates where a different story. Sakura actually frightened him slightly, with her obsessive devotion and delusions. He was quite sure he had seen her following him around the village a few times, dogging his steps for hours on end. Having her on the same team was not something he was looking forward to, though he hoped that actually becoming a shinobi might just tear that out of her. Maybe they could fix her problems with Naruto as well. She had the chakra control to become quite dangerous if she put her mind to it, he had seen people do much damage with very little chakra, damage that could rival the largest jutsus he knew.

But Naruto was the wild card in this team. For all his observational skills, Sasuke knew very little about his orange clad teammate. They may have seen each other almost every day since they were put in the same class but that did not amount to much in the end. What he did know was that he had started the academy two years earlier than Sasuke himself. That, in and of itself, was odd, as they had stopped taking early entrants years ago once the war settled down. So for Naruto to have started so early means that someone was pulling strings in the background, though he wasn't quite sure as to why they would want such a young child to become a ninja. # They generally ended up dead or insane when they started that young.

He also wondered why it took him three years to actually pass the exam. It wasn't that hard and it was probably very similar every year; and from what he had heard, Naruto had failed this year as well but managed to make his way into the team anyway on orders of the Hokage. Something about the whole situation didn't sit right with him, and because he was one the same team as the boy, it was something that could become a problem for him personally, thus unavoidable. He did wonder though, if he had actually learned anything of use in those two extra years or if they were all for nought.

But in the end, there was nothing he could do about any of that now, he could only observe and see what was what, and train. Train and train and train. Anything else could wait, his clan would not.

-*****-(line)

Though Naruto could tell something was off as he slowly got closer to his apartment, the smell of smoke was the final sign. Picking up his speed only brought the burnt out husk of a home closer than he needed. The civilians who had crowded around dispersed quickly when they realised whose apartment it had belonged to. After all, to them, that was exactly what he deserved. The Shinobi on the other hand stayed, with saddened one giving Naruto all that they had salvaged from the wreckage so far – a book that the Hokage had said came from his family, a blue green hair pin that he had been using as a book mark for the book and a photo, lightly singed around the edges but not enough to distort the picture.

"Thank you."

That was all he could say. Everything that he had owned was in that building, and now there was no building. All the presents and rewards that he had kept around the place would not be salvageable, though maybe the box hidden under his floorboards would be okay. Though only Naruto would be able to open it, so that would have to wait until the mess had been cleared out slightly, maybe tomorrow he would be able to find it. He needed what was in the box.

So he gathered himself up and wiped the charcoal from his hands, putting the box into a storage seal in his pocket. It wasn't the best but it would do for now. There wasn't much he could do now at all. What he could do was calm down; the Fourth Hokage's head always helped him out with that. There he could work out what he wanted to do. He didn't really want to intrude on anyone he really knew, at least not without talking to them before hand. But it was too late for that. Iruka-sensei was still working and the others would have just started and wouldn't be finished till morning, and then they would sleep for the first half of the day. He really didn't want to get in the way of their routines tonight.

Unfortunately the choice was taken out of his hands when his body decided that three days without proper sleep were to many and took matters into it own hand. The last thing he new was the red and gold sunset that turned Konoha into a glittering fire before his eyes. The first thing he knew when he woke was green. Green, a sparkly grin and a booming voice.

(To Be Continued.)

Hey lookie here, an update. I'm actually amazed I even wrote that, it's been quite a while. Don't worry the others will be longer.

Anyway, there you go. What do you think?


	3. Teammates and Revelations

Chapter Three – Teammates and Revelations.

When Gai and his protégé, Lee, found Naruto crammed between the Third and Fourth Heads on the monument asleep, they were surprised. They had only seen him because of the bright orange 'I'm here, please kill Me.' ensemble. His blond hair did not help in that case. Shinobi generally obeyed nature's law that the brighter and more attractively coloured a creature the more dangerous it was. Sadly that was something that Gennin generally paid no attention to until they went for their first outside missions.

Lee had recognised the boy from his class almost instantly, there were not that many people who would wear such clothing in Konoha. The colour would be more common in Suna if anywhere. They had talked once or twice while they were in the same class; the blond was loud and generally got in everyone's faces. From what he remembered, he and Neji had not been on the best of terms, though they did seem to speak quite often and Naruto had not received as many Fate Speeches from the Hyuuga. The last time he had seen him was when they were graduating, the exam which Naruto had failed for the second time, though he had not seemed surprised by this at all and even appeared to be expecting it in the end.

He still did not understand why he was sleeping on the Hokage's Monument though.

When Gai understood who it was in front of him, he was confused. Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi's new student, was well known in the village, but what he was known for by shinobi and what the civilians knew him for where rather different. Beyond the monster that the boy contained, the boy was basically a living ledged in his own right. Gai had even hears rumours that the ANBU even respected him, if only slightly. Most of them had chased the boy for hours as he was growing up, sticking his nose into things that did not involve him or pulling pranks that ended up requiring their attention. It had quickly become apparent that normal Shinobi were not fast enough to catch the boy without help. His youthful teacher seemed to be the only regular shinobi to catch him regularly, though it might just be that he wasn't so average.

The boy's speed was only one thing and that wasn't enough to earn their respect. However that was word of an incident that Naruto had played part in, something big. Whatever his actions were, the ANBU seemed to hold him higher regard afterwards, though that may be because the boy managed to break into the ANBU headquarters. Only the higher ups had any idea what happened in the weeks following that, leaving the lower ranked Shinobi to try and understand the mystery that was Naruto Uzumaki.

Gai's thoughts were interrupted when Lee went to wake the blond boy up. Unfortunately he had not considered what might happen. If Naruto was a normal gennin you would at most get a surprised yell, however the boy wasn't so undertrained. As Lee got into striking range the blond tensed slightly. In a split of second Naruto's cold eyes, resembling ice shards and clear of any visible emotion, were suddenly staring Lee down. There was also a hand aiming for Lee throat, only stoped by Gai's quick thinking. Those eyes were not something that belonged to fresh academy students.

The boy looked from the hand that had gotten in the way of his owns destination and the Gai, blinking slightly as he woke up. He obviously did not like being woken up.

"Who are you?" Naruto questioned tiredly, releasing the harsh grip on Gai, who quickly pulled his hand back. That had actually hurt quite a bit, the boy had more strength than he had expected.

"I'm Lee! We were in the same class at the academy for a year remember? " His youthful student piped up from beside him, ignoring what had almost happened to him. The blond seemed to recognise him, calm blue eyes, no longer so cold, flashed with recognition.

"I'm Naruto, though I guess you know that." He said politely, as if the previous incident had not occurred to him either. It was obvious that he was being cautious about them though. The politeness had taken Gai by surprised, from what he had heard of the boy he was loud and wasn't known for his manners. Apparently he wouldn't call the Hokage by his title or even with any honorifics, he only calls him 'old man', though surprisingly the Hokage lets him get away with that, seemingly fond of the boy.

Gai knew what had to be done now, even if the boy didn't want to. Most had heard about the incident with the Jinchūriki's apartment by now though no one had expected him to be sleeping on the monument.

"How youthful of you not to burden yourself on anyone for the night, but the Hokage would probably like to see you before you do that again." Gai quietly shouted, keeping in mind that the boy had just woken.

"How about later, maybe at a more reasonable time in the morning, like once the sun has completely risen. The Old Man had probably just gotten to sleep a little while ago and I don't really want to intrude on his small moments of peace." Naruto said, nodding to himself.

Gai could see the reasoning in that. The leader of their village always had more paperwork around the time of village events be they exams or high-level missions. With the recent graduation of the academy class yesterday the amount of paperwork the Hokage must have had would have been enormous. He probably cherished any moments of rest he could get. It was surprising that the boy in front of him still wanted to become Hokage even when he knew what it would entail.

In the end Gai decided there was only one thing to do.

"How about you train with us until you have to meet with your team."

He wanted to find out as much as he could about the boy's ability, after all he would be training with Kakashi from now on and it's always good to get a base line for a students ability. He would give the information to his rival next time they met.

"Okay" Naruto agreed, unknowing to the fact he had just sentenced himself to a morning of unlimited youthfulness.

-****-(line)

"How many more laps?" Naruto asked, greatly winded from the fact that they had been running around Konoha for the last few hours. He had known that they, Konoha's green beasts, were morning people. Always up before the sunrise and training before most people were awake. He just hadn't realised that it was this extreme.

Lee, now that Naruto remembered, was one of the worst practitioners of ninjutsu and genjutsu, unable to do even the most basic techniques. He was certain that the only reason he had been allowed to graduate from the academy was his top-notch taijutsu skills, and Gai scouting him probably helped quite a bit. Now he was slightly terrifying in his endless energy and had even picked up some ability in ninja weaponry, though that seemed to be a side effect of being on the same team as a weapon addict. Tenten's obsession with sharp pointy things was always scary.

"This is the last, my youthful student's will be arriving soon!" Gai yelled from right next to him, flashing way to white teeth needlessly. The shining was one mystery that Naruto wanted explained. They were too bright to be normal.

"My eternal rival told you to meet at sunrise. I will not lose to him and if I do, I shall climb the Hokage's monument 500 times with only my hands. Gai continued, still yelling loudly. Unfortunately Lee felt like joining in.

"If I lose I shall climb it 1000 times in repentance, Gai-sensei!" Was an extra loud addition.

"Lee!"

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Sensei!"

Suddenly there was a sunset and hugging and Naruto felt like he had seen too much. Turning away from the unnecessary display of affection, he noticed two more people had joined them in the training ground.

Tenten, hair still up in two buns on the side of her head, was hiding her face in her hands, seemingly embarrassed by the two green beasts on her team. Naruto thought she should be used to it by now. It was the first time in a while that he had seen the girl, though he hadn't really talked to her much even when they practically saw each other every day. He was quite sure that they had shared time together in the orphanage but he was to young to really remember and she had been adopted early by a childless couple who ran a weapon and supply store near the middle of Konoha.

Beside her was Neji, someone he could call a friend, maybe? They had talked quite a bit when they were in the same class, though they rarely agreed on anything. Naruto had once taken him to see what truly unlucky people lived like and may have scared the boy slightly. For all his posturing he had been quite protected from life outside the Hyuuga compound. That had been an awakening experience for the pale eyed boy and one Naruto was sure he would never forget. However, right at this moment, Neji looked like he was trying to ignore the world completely.

It was then that Naruto realised exactly how late into the morning it was getting and at this rate would be late for his exam. He was glad that at least they didn't start as early as Gai and his mini-me.

He quickly took leave, waving to the two newcomers as he went and surprisingly received a small wave from Tenten and a nod of recognition from Mr Ice block himself.

-*****-(line)

By the time Naruto had reached the bridge that was his teams meeting spot, the sun had decided that today was going to be particularly hot and that there was nothing anybody could do about it: Maybe Gai had some common sense after all to start so early. So his beloved jacket went into the nifty little sealing scroll he had been given as a birthday present a few years ago.

He didn't know whether to be disappointed or not that anyone else was there. He was annoyed that no one else seemed as enthusiastic about this as he was but at the same time it meant that he could keep his hard form morning habit. The habit was chakra control meditation, the only thing that seemed to calm down his chaotic energy to something slightly more manageable.

Walking slowly on the river, something he still hadn't managed to do properly even after all this time, he carefully sat down when he reached a deep spot. He had only started this after the last time he had lost control of himself and blacked out. By the time he had returned to himself he had been in hospital for three days and the old man was frowning at him.

Apparently he had stumbled across something unpleasant happening to one of the younger children in the village and by the time he had been found the man had had three broken ribs, a shattered arm and knee cap and a broken nose that, unfortunately, had not managed to puncture his brain. It had been the man's whimpering that had signalled to passing shinobi that something had happened. Luckily to the shinobi, only the person or thing that had enraged Naruto in the first place was the target to that rage, so they didn't end up becoming collateral damage and actually managed to get Naruto to the hospital and reported the incident to the Hokage.

While he hadn't really done anything wrong by shinobi standards, the council – mainly the civilians – decided that unless he did something about the uncontrollable factor of his anger they would have to intervene for 'his own good', though they had sounded quite hopeful that he would take them up on their offer which probably would have been complete termination of his way of life. Civilians always overreacted to anything shinobi did that didn't fit their social norms.

That was where the Old Man came in, teaching the basics of chakra and emotional control to the boy before anything else could happen, and gratefully, it seemed to be working. No more extreme outbursts and he finally managed to think before bursting out with whatever he wanted to say.

It had been a nice change for the people around him, if not slightly frightening as well.

-*****- (Line)

When Sasuke arrived, he was shocked, though not because the blond was there first, which was to happen on rare occasions; but because the boy was balancing quietly on the water, seeming to be in deep meditation. It wasn't something he had seen the boy do before and wasn't something he had expected. It added to the building suspicion that there was a lot more to the blond boy than he had previously expected. It was obvious that he wasn't the dead last of their class, even if that was the story that his marks told, not that he would ever say that to his face, something's were just not said and admitting that he didn't completely trust some of their teachers who had been given the mission to train the academy students wouldn't put him in a good standing with whoever assigned them, be it the Hokage or someone else.

He sat down and watched Naruto calmly, for once not grinning from ear to ear, as he was wont to do. Even when he was asked questions, questions that were not possible for him to answer, not as an academy student. Mizuki-sensei was the main conspirator from what he had seen, though weirdly enough it seemed to be mainly civilian born shinobi that had a visible dislike of the blond, the others just seemed sightly weary, like Iruka-sensei had been when Naruto had first joined their class.

Sasuke's pensive thoughts were interrupted by a loud calling of his name, too high pitched to be anyone other than the one he didn't want it to be. Sakura came barrelling around the corner, her long pink hair – which he still considered inappropriate for a shinobi designed for stealth – straightened to a degree that he was sure was not natural in the slightest sense and resembled hard cardboard more than hair. He also spotted sloppily done makeup, which he knew she was trained to do better with and could do better with; maybe someone else had done it.

With Sakura came the overpowering stench of perfume, so strong that you didn't need to be an Inuzuka to track it to her. It seemed like all the training the girl had received throughout her time in the academy.

Quickly the girl stopped, standing directly in front of Sasuke but thankfully down wind from him. Naruto however, seemed to be in the direct path of the smell and not even his deep meditation could block it out completely, and so with a brilliant sneeze he dropped like a rock, with sounds and all, to the bottom of the river. It only took him a second for him to resurface still sneezing and now trying to spit out all the water at the same time.

Sasuke, feeling generous for the first time in a while, waded in and pulled the sneezing boy out and away from a apologetic Sakura who then jumped into the river herself, obviously trying to get rid of the smell herself.

"Sorry, I think my mother sprayed all my clothes before I woke up and there wasn't really anything I could do so quickly. I'll try and get some clean ones tomorrow, if we manage to pass today."

"Maybe if you could ask her not to do it again, I would really thank you for it." Naruto sniffled, the sneezing finally leaving him. "I don't think I will be able to do much if I can barely even breath."

"Maybe, but my mother doesn't really like being told what to do. She would just say that she knows best." Sakura replied, still washing and obviously apologetic about the situation her mother had put her in. With the way she was cleaning herself, Sasuke could guess that the hair and makeup probably weren't her idea either or she wouldn't be destroying all that hard work.

"How about putting a spare set aside and changing into that when you leave the house, there had to be some that she didn't spray." Sasuke added, not wanting a repeat of what happened moments ago to happen every day. "That way we're all satisfied."

He watched as Sakura frowned thoughtfully to herself and nod. At least they managed to agree on that; maybe there was a chance for this team to work out after all.

-******- (To Be Continued)

Hello, hello, hey look a chapter, and so soon.

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