01. Enter, Makase Nakao!

I twitched my hands, trying to jerk them free. The bite of the ropes burning my skin told me I'd failed. No matter how I twisted and yanked, all I succeeded in doing was rubbing my skin raw. I gritted my teeth as I tried to push against the tree trunk I was bound do, but all for naught.

I slumped against the tree with a frustrated huff. How long would I be stuck for? The next three hours? Four? The prospect was beyond unappealing. I glanced desperately to the Academy doors, willing for someone to walk through them, but the chances were unlikely. People had just been entering through them not ten minutes before; they weren't likely to be walking out again anytime soon.

My mind turned to drastic thoughts just as a figure with a mop of brown hair on his head walked into my periphery. I sighed in relief.

"Kiba!" I cried, kicking my legs out in attempt to catch his attention. "Hey!"

Finally some success. Kiba's head perked up at the sound of his name and his eyes immediately scanned the school yard for the source of the call. I waited for his eyes to meet mine and relief washed over me when they met. But as he assessed the situation, he made no movement towards me. Rather, he quirked an eyebrow and seemed to deliberately move his attention from my bound form, to my eyes and back again.

My eye twitched in annoyance. "Stop checking me out and get over here!"

Kiba tried to hide the amusement on his face, but failed rather terribly. Moving at a snail's pace, he stuck his hands in his pockets and strolled towards me like it was a Sunday and he had nothing better to do. The urge to tell him to move his ass rose within me but I pursed my lips. No use yelling at my only way to freedom.

"Do I even need to ask?" he said, humor bouncing in his voice as he finally stood before me.

"Just get me down!" I demanded, thrusting a leg out in an attempt to kick his shin.

He easily dodged, laughing as he did so. "What are you doing tied to a tree?"

"Don't ask me stupid questions!"

Kiba rolled his eyes and shook his head but reached to the kunai holster strapped to his right thigh and withdrew a kunai. He quickly sliced through my way-too-tight bindings and stepped back as I practically leaped away from the tree.

"I'm free!" I called triumphantly, pumping fists into the air. The feeling to my wrists was going to come back right?

"Were you making bets again, Nakao?" Kiba asked, eyebrow raised as he turned to make his way to class.

My elation fell as I shot him a glare but he only laughed as he made is way towards the Academy. I had no choice but to follow, rubbing at my wrists, and muttered an incoherent response.

—

We arrived late to class and my eyes scanned the room for any available seats. The class was involved in lively discussion, drawing attention to the fact that Iruka-sensei was nowhere to be seen. A lucky save honestly.

Unluckily, our way was impeded and I cursed my luck as I continued to draw circulation into my wrists (seriously, permanent nerve damage wasn't going to be a thing was it?). My vision was drawn to the familiar throng of females near the front of the class, whose combined force of estrogen was nearly a pulsating force. Fangirls.

I couldn't see him of course, not when he was hidden from view by a mass of pre-pubescent girls, but I knew he was there. He was there every day, in the exact same spot, and the wooden floor boards were actually worn from the sheer foot traffic that surrounded his desk.

Uchiha Sasuke.

Top student of our class and Konoha heartthrob.

Oh we all know that guy. Nice to look at but with the social skills equivalent to that of a common housecat. All the pale skin, dark eyes, dark hair and no personality. Some might consider it a shame. But honestly that spikey hair in the back looks a bit like a ducks ass. Am I going to swoon over it? Certainly not. And my brother asks me why I have no female friends.

I carefully skirted around the mob of fangirls, trying to make my way down to the empty seats in the front of class. It was no easy feat. I tried to keep a ten feet radius between me and any fangirl at any given time; no need to catch their psycho.

Kiba and I found two seats beside each other two rows above the bottom of the pit. No sooner had I sat down, placing my backpack on the ground at my feet, that the sound of the classroom door slamming open echoed throughout the room. The fangirls immediately scattered, looking for any available seats. Subconsciously I noted that Haruno Sakura had earned the battle to sit next to Mr. Heartthrob today.

Speaking of people we all know. Oh yes, she was that girl. The one more focused on the perfection of her make-up than anything that actually mattered. Whose brains were wasted in the effort to catch a stupid boy. Was hate a strong word? Definitely not.

All eyes became glued to the staircase as Iruka-sensei stormed down the stairs, dragging something behind him to the bottom of the room. I noticed, with a frank lack of curiosity, that it was a tied-up Uzumaki Naruto.

"What do you think he did this time?" Kiba whispered in my hear.

"Who knows?" I replied, sitting back in my seat to watch the impending lecture about to unfold.

Uzumaki Naruto was a loud boy, both in personality and appearance. I never really understood the orange jumpsuit.

Part of me felt bad for him, really. He didn't have a friend to his name and honestly, our entire classe gave him the wide birth associated with an infectious disease. I wasn't entirely sure why either; but it seemed like it had always been that way. And maybe I should have tried harder to befriend the poor guy, but he was just so…well…obnoxious. Was it fair to complain that all Sakura cared about was her appearance when all Naruto cared about was pranks?

How can someone afford such minimal effort to their skills? Did they think being a shinobi was a game? Because it wasn't. People lost their lives in this profession. There wasn't room for mistakes in this world. Mistakes got you killed. Got those around you killed. And dead wasn't something I really planned on being for awhile.

"I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto!" Iruka-sensei erupted in front of the class, his face red with ire. "You failed the graduation exam last time, and the time before that. You have another chance again tomorrow, Naruto, and you're messing up again!"

"Hmph," Naruto turned his head defiantly away.

The anger exploded over Iruka-sensei's face even fiercer than before. "Fine! Because you missed it Naruto, the whole class is going to review the transformation jutsu!"

The classroom erupted in one simultaneous groan. We'd worked on the transformation jutsu for weeks. We'd already tested off on it. Muttering angry remarks, all the students got to their feet, heading towards the front of the classroom. I followed, falling into line beside Kiba. We all know the drill. Line up and take our turn transforming for Iruka-sensei's assessment.

My favorite person was first in line and we all watched Sakura's form disappear in a vision-relieving cloud of smoke. She reappeared as a passable Iruka-sensei and our sensei checked her off on his clip board with a compliment as she poofed back into herself.

"I did it!" Sakura cheered for herself, looking behind her at the next person in line; my second favorite person. "Did you see that, Sasuke? Huh?"

Some might say that the bile climbing up my esophagus was a touch dramatic. And they'd be wrong of course.

"Next up, Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka-sensei said, looking to the raven-haired boy expectantly.

Sasuke stepped up to Iruka-sensei. Silently, he moved his fingers into the proper handsigns and reappeared as a perfect transformation of Iruka-sensei. Typical Sasuke, Mr. Perfectionist. Iruka-sensei nodded, deeming his transformation "good" and Sasuke made his way back to his seat, like Sakura had before him.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka-sensei demanded, a lot less pleasant than he had been with Sasuke and Sakura.

Naruto stood in between Yamanka Ino and Nara Shikamaru with a defiant look plastered to his face.

"This is a total waste of time, Naruto," Shikamaru complained irritably, hands dug deep in the pockets of his brown pants.

"We always pay for your screw ups," Ino agreed, her right hand on her hip, her pupil-less, blue eyes focused on the boy beside her.

I was inclined to agree, but I wasn't going to mention it. Despite my admittedly negative thoughts, I outwardly tried to be a decent person.

"Like I care," was all Naruto said. He stepped before our sensei and I found myself wondering if Naruto could actually pull off the jutsu. I wasn't sure if he'd even been in class.

I'm not really sure what I was expecting when Naruto poofed into a cloud of smoke, but I certainly wasn't expecting him to emerge as a naked girl. Was the sight pleasant? Not particularly. Was I curious as to how Naruto could manage this form but not Iruka-sensei's? A little bit actually.

I heard Kiba swear beneath his breath and turn his head to the side. I was about to tease him for new red coloration of his cheeks, but seeing Iruka-sensei's reaction was much better. What could I do? When a prank is good, a prank is good.

—

"I don't think Naruto is going to pass tomorrow," I said conversationally, hands in the pockets of my olive-green cargos.

"You think?" Kiba replied with an eye roll. He'd been a bit touchy with mentions of Naruto since his hormones betrayed him in class.

"It's a little sad though, don't you think?" I asked him. "I think he's just lonely."

"He wouldn't be lonely if he didn't act like that."

"I seriously doubt that; he's an orphan."

"You're an orphan."

Gee, Kiba, thanks for the reminder. I didn't let it show how the very mention of it caused by mind to flash to hazy memories.

"I have Keitaro," I said instead, hoping the detachment in my voice went unnoticed.

It did.

"Speaking of your brother!" Kiba suddenly interjected, his face scrunching into a pout. "Can you please ask him not to try and light me on fire next time I come knocking on your window?"

"I told you, you can't go around knocking on windows, okay? It's weird. Especially so early in the morning."

"Okay first of all, it was 7am."

"Yeah. Early. You know I have a front door right?"

"I'm well aware, thank you. Remember the last time I knocked on that?"

A laugh caught in my throat as I remembered the memory. "Keitaro's just careful, okay? It's a useful trait. Keeps him alive."

"Yeah, him alive," Kiba muttered under his breath.

"Oh don't pout," I smiled before placing a gentle peck on his cheek. We'd stopped at a fork in the road. My house was on the furthest, most desolate, side of town. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Lots of passing exams to do."

Kiba reciprocated the gesture before giving me a lazy wave as we parted ways.

Arriving home, I shoved the key into the deadbolt lock, jiggled it necessarily and pushed the door open. I was expecting the house to hold the same dark and empty feeling I'd grown accustomed to, but was pleasantly surprised to find my older brother, Keitaro, in the kitchen, milling over something on the table.

"Keitaro!" I stopped in surprise. I hadn't expected him home for another week.

"Oh hey, I'm home!" Keitaro said unnecessarily, his easy grin slipping onto his face. He held his arms open and smiled a bit. Dropping my backpack on the ground, I rushed over and threw my arms around my brother. He gave me a squeeze before pinning me against him so I would be powerless to stop him make a rat's nest out of my hair.

"You ass!" I yelled, finally succeeding in escaping and immediately set to fixing my hair.

"I'm hurt, Nakao," he chuckled to himself.

"Yeah, yeah funny guy," I muttered.

"Anyway, I wanted to get home in time to see your graduation."

"It's really not that big of a deal," I said with practiced bravado. I often taught myself to downplay an event. No crushing disappointment when your dead parents don't show up to not-so-important event.

"Oh, I didn't realize you'd become a prodigy in my absence."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, it's not like I'm testing to be a jounin. It's the Academy. They'll probably have me color in a picture or something."

There was a smile quirked on his lips as he rolled his own eyes; a deep chocolate brown, a contrast to my own violate shade.

"Important shinobi rule," Keitaro said, an all too familiar beginning to his sentences. "Never underestimate your opponent."

I made my way to the fridge. "Iruka-sensei isn't my opponent, Keitaro. Has anyone ever told you that you're a bit of a drama queen?"

"Never."

"Liar."

"Well I'm just saying that if you can over-achieve tomorrow, you might start off with better credit with your new sensei."

"Ugh don't even talk about that to me," I replied, pulling my head out of the fridge and shutting it. "I don't have enough luck to get paired with the good people in my class."

"Would a little optimism kill you?"

"Quite possibly," I replied, pointing my water bottle at him to emphasize the point.

"Drama queen," Keitaro muttered under his breath before returning to his previous task.

"I heard that," I called, already making my way out of the room.

—

Brand new headband tied around my upper left arm, I exited the Academy. Despite what I'd told myself, I guess I still wasn't ready to see the families that crowded the courtyard. The hugs, the kisses, my classmates' expressions of annoyance. The jealousy hit first. What a luxury it was to be embarrassed over your parents' fondness of you.

I skirted around the edges of the school yard, trying to ignore the happy families surrounding me. Trying to ignore that ache in my heart that's never quite gone away. That doubt in my mind, wondering why I wasn't just over it yet. Why I still let these little things make me sad. My parents had been dead for four years, and I still craved the smell of my mother's perfume.

My feet led me to the edge of the yard. In an attempt to block out what went on behind me, I turned my gaze before me, to the side of the school. But I wasn't alone as it turned out.

I spotted Naruto, sitting on a swing looking entirely dejected and very much alone. His sad, blue eyes found me, but neither of us spoke. Neither of us moved towards the other despite the fact that, in this moment, he and I were the same. Orphans.

Naruto tore his gaze away and I did the same. My eyes instead looked out to the river that ran behind the school. And here I found another figure, standing solitary beside the water. Almost as if he could feel my eyes on his back, he turned his head and spotted me. And for just a moment, I could see the same pain in his onyx eyes that reflected in Naruto's blue, and my purple.

"Nakao!"

I glanced over my shoulder to see Keitaro moving towards me. I thought of Naruto and Sasuke and reminded myself that I was lucky. That at least I had somebody.

I found myself glancing back to the river, but Sasuke was gone.

Author's Note:

Here is my obligatory statement that I do not own Naruto. Because if I did, I'd be lounging it up in Venice.

This is the revamped version of this story! I hope you will enjoy the tale.