Mizuki glanced about himself, eyes scanning for any potential listeners this early in the morning.

He needed to make sure no one heard him...this was high treason after all. One couldn't be too careful when their lives were on the line.

After determining that no one was eavesdropping, the young man tapped his ear, activating his earpiece to reach his...'partner'.

"Hello? Are you there? Hello?" he hissed quietly, keeping his voice low.

A split-second passed before someone responded back. "Mizuki? Finally...we were worried for a few moments. What's the situation?"

An unfriendly upturn of the lips was the chūnin's response. "Moving along as planned. Your time to strike will be tomorrow night, I will take over guard duty while the village falls to chaos...camp outside the main gate and wait for my signal until then. Understood?"

"...Yeah, we got it. But is it really that easy...? This is a shinobi village, surely there's more to this." the man on the other line pointed out, obviously expecting more.

The shinobi just snorted. "Konoha has become lax over the years, it isn't too hard to smuggle people inside these walls on a good day as long as you know what you're doing...let alone during the confusion that I'm going to cause. Take my word for it."

A reluctant grunt was all he got as an answer, convinced despite any misgivings.

Mizuki then cut off the line, satisfied with the plans that were set in motion. All he had to do now...was make sure that all of the major players were in their proper places when the time came.

Then all that was left to do was watch the fireworks...

Naruto was currently shuffling his way to class, dragging his feet intentionally, dreading the announcement that he would hear once he got to class.

To think that time flied so fast...he didn't have much of it left.

He was honestly considering skipping class today, although it would do absolutely nothing to help him.

Well, actually it could ease his nerves...it has been a while...

As he was walking, he turned his head slightly to look at the large Hokage Monument. In pristine condition.

Too clean to the blond's tastes.

"Hope you aren't thinking about ruining your good record of multiple weeks without pranks, Naruto?"

The would-be shinobi winced, recognizing that voice immediately.

"Ah...hey Iruka-sensei! Don't worry, I was just thinking about doing it, I didn't decide on anything yet." Naruto reassured, turning around to face his sensei.

Indeed, Iruka was standing right behind the young boy, hands on hips and eyebrows raised in question.

"I hope so. I was having fun on my extended vacation...you make me kill a lot of time looking for you when you go on those pranks of yours." the chūnin noted, offering an easy grin.

The whiskered boy only snorted. "Oh give me a break Iruka-sensei...you probably needed the workout anyway..."

Immediately, a large hand gripped Naruto's skull, a rather large tic pulsating on it as the ninja recognized the sly jab.

Ah...maybe the prankster said too much...

"You're really trying to push my buttons today, aren't you?" the older male muttered, letting go of his student's head before he could begin to give him a noogie in recompense. "I'm beginning to think you don't like me."

After the shinobi put his threatening hand again, Naruto felt safe again to retort. "Like you're one to talk! You always bop me upside the head for innocent stuff!"

"Like pranking me with that ridiculous jutsu of yours...?" Iruka deadpanned, giving him the stink-eye.

The blond nodded, crossing his arms in indignation. "Exactly! Learn to take a joke, Iruka-sensai!"

The young man could only flash an indulgent smile, before placing his hand on top of his student's head softly, honestly amused. "...Hah, you're insufferable, you know that? Actually...now that I think about it, it's been a while since we just talked. Want to go out for ramen after class?"

Blue eyes widened, a new glint shining in those orbs at the thought. A smile growing unwittingly across his features.

But then that glint dulled and that smile disappeared, as the whiskered boy suddenly turned away. Frowning.

"Can't." Naruto mumbled, demeanor surly. "Gotta go train after class."

Iruka blinked, slightly incredulous. "...Seriously? I didn't think that you actually trained. Is this about the other final exams you took...? You do know that those didn't count, right?"

The young boy turned away, with eyes aimed downwards, a large frown prevalent on his face.

Of course he knew...but the fact was that it was still a blow to his ego.

Though that being said, his sensei did needle him about it when he wanted him to focus more on his studies. So maybe this insecurity came for there.

His sensei was referring to the times when Naruto snuck into the Academy's faculty rooms, where he wrote his name down as a part of the graduating class. Literally allowing him access to take the graduation exam.

He was allowed to take them, if only to humor him.

Both times he failed. Much to his chagrin.

Now it was his actual graduation exam...and he really didn't want to screw this up.

"...I'm gonna train tomorrow, make sure that I'm ready for anything that you could throw at me. No way am I gonna fail this exam dattebayo!" the orange-loving boy declared, eyes burning with his determination.

Iruka perked up at this. "Ready for anything you say...?"

Naruto's eyes snapped to the older male, eyes squinting ever so slightly, a challenging glint in his eye. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The shinobi merely shrugged his shoulders, a sly smile spreading across his lips. "Oh...nothing really. I guess I just have doubts to whether you'd be ready for anything is all..."

Squinted eyes focused entirely on the chūnin, trying to decipher his words...feeling that he was missing something-

"The exam is gonna be on something that I suck on, isn't it?" Naruto groaned, slapping his forehead with the palm of his hand, figuring out the clue that his sensei was trying to give him.

Iruka chuckled, winking at the Academy student with that sly grin still on his face. "Think of this as a bit of...uh...enemy intelligence for giving me a break from the pranks. Of course I can't tell you what you're being tested on specifically, but I'm sure you can narrow it down. Though I must admit...I'm a little curious as to why you've toned down your pranks."

The orange-loving boy tensed up ever so slightly, facial features twisted up as well when he genuinely considered the question.

"Does it have something to do with your new confidant?" the chūnin wondered aloud, fishing for an answer.

He sure as hell got one.

"W-What!? Of course not!" the whiskered boy denied hotly, stamping his foot onto the ground. "I just...talk to her sometimes. That's all! More than that, Sasuko always acts like she's better than me! Can you believe that? Me! The future hokage!"

...

"I didn't mention Sasuko's name at all you know?" the shinobi pointed out, smirking as the blond fell to his trap.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched, then he opened his mouth to retort...

Then he closed it.

He opened it again.

Then he closed it.

"...Alright, fine. I admit it. She's part of the reason." the blond grumbled.

"I think most people could have figured that out." Iruka noted, crossing his arms. "The question here is...why?"

Naruto hummed thoughtfully, closing his eyes as he internally asked that very question himself.

After a moment of thought, the blond had his answer.

"I...want her to acknowledge me. To see me as a rival." he stated, eyes firm as he clenched his fist. "I don't want to lose to her anymore."

The chūnin smiled.

"I suppose if there's ever a good reason to get more serious...competition would be among the better ones."

Iruka patted the blond's head as he moved on ahead. "I'll see you in class, Naruto. Don't be late now!"

With that, the full-fledged shinobi jumped high into the sky, moving straight towards the Academy with superhuman speed.

Naruto could only scratch the back of his head, pouting.

This was gonna be a fun day, wasn't it?

"Alright class, as I'm sure you're all aware, the graduation exam is tomorrow...I hope that everyone here is ready for it?" Iruka prompted, as he scanned over the potential shinobi.

The class was deadly silent, the tension in the air was palpable with nervous energy. Many were hoping for their sensei to leak a little bit of information, just in case.

Information about what the exam would be about was intentionally kept secret, mostly so that the students couldn't prepare for it ahead of time. To help simulate how shinobi often have very little time to prepare for trouble.

At least that was the idea.

"I can only really give out one piece of advice; not to worry too much about the exam." the teacher explained patiently. "Many students go too far to prepare themselves for the graduation exam, leaving them highly stressed...best to just go through a final review before getting some food and a good night's rest."

As soon as he gave his advice, the atmosphere of the class has eased, more hopeful that they would do alright.

All except one.

Naruto twitched violently as he was busy brainstorming, trying to discover what his sensei could possibly be testing them on. Think. What was he bad at...?

Ugh, too many things actually...

"Careful dobe, it looks like you're about to short-circuit your brain."

Once more, the blond twitched as an annoyed tic grew on his head, pushing him to regard his critic with a dark look.

"...What do you want, bastard? Don't you have some puppies to kick or something?"

His 'critic' raised a delicate eyebrow. "You have yet to prove that belief of yours...also, we're quite touchy this morning I see?"

Blue eyes rolled in their sockets as they regarded the Uchiha that sat beside him, noting that she had completely disregarded the words that their sensei offered them. Focusing all of her attention onto him.

Cocky bastard.

"I ain't touchy. I'm just...a little nervous is all." Naruto retorted, refusing to actually name what exactly was making him nervous.

If Sasuko could have faked her surprise better, she really should have.

Unless she did it on purpose, in which case...she's an asshole.

"Really? The future Hokage of Konoha is nervous?" she drawled, the faux disbelief palpable in her voice. "I can't imagine it."

The prankster grunted, turning away to try and ignore both; his neighbor and his sensei.

As soon as he turned away, disgruntled, Sasuko also turned away. Seemingly in her own little world.

Blue eyes temporarily flicked to the side, looking at her through the side of his eye, confused.

Ever since their adventure at Tanzaku Quarters...she has acted strangely to the blond. Even more so than usual.

Before that, she would mostly ignore or rebuff his attempts at starting a conversation, with her patented 'hnn' mostly.

Recently however? Very different.

Now she sometimes starts conversations, usually by insulting him someway, which leads to the inevitable back-and-forth between the two.

But after that? Well...after that she goes quiet, almost as if she retreats into herself after every conversation with him.

She was so weird sometimes, weirder than that other girl that sometimes stared at him...just what exactly went through her head?

As those blue eyes continued to bore into the young girl's skull, the thoughts within that skull swirled around in constant movement. Mostly centered on exactly what the annoying blond was also thinking about.

Specifically, on why exactly was she being so stupid?

Sasuko could freely admit it; she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

There was no logic behind it, no rhyme or reason, no greater purpose...it simply made no sense.

Yet here she was, starting up conversations, with the dead-last of the class.

She could only sigh, it was automatic for some reason...she just found herself speaking to him about asinine things sometimes. Whenever she managed to catch herself conversing...she would quickly do her best to cut herself off and create some distance between them again.

Yet the cycle would only continue.

This frustrating development would sometimes cause her to lose track of what was going on in her surroundings, leaving her with a minuscule sense of awareness-

A pen poked her in the sensitive juncture between her ribs and hips.

Something that sounded suspiciously like a yelp -as she certainly did not yelp- emerged from her lips, causing all eyes to shift to her.

Blazing pitch-black eyes zeroed in on her neighbor, as he innocently turned away, whistling a jaunty tune.

Dobe...!

"Um...is something the matter, Sasuko?" Iruka asked, eyes moving back and forth between the ravenette and the blond.

A very strained smile was his response.

"Nothing at all." she said through grit teeth, eyes promising death to the dobe for forcing a sound out of her like that.

Naruto was still looking away, entirely smug with his actions.

The chūnin watched the duo for a split-second longer before turning back to his lecture, figuring that it wouldn't be a good idea to get involved.

The same second that the shinobi turned around, was the same second that Sasuko turned her hooded eyes to the resident prankster, hands twitching to form a few choice hand seals.

"...Why?" she demanded, a dark look in her eye.

A very easy shrug was all she got as a response, completely unconcerned with her sharp glare. "You were annoying me with your attitude recently. That's all."

If she could have gotten away with it, she would have hit him.

"...I have no idea where that confidence comes from." the Uchiha muttered darkly, turning to look away from the least annoying member of class.

Although she couldn't see it, the orange-loving boy straightened his back ever so slightly in response to her words.

"...Confidence huh...? he couldn't help but mutter out.

Even though Sasuko didn't see the blond's shift in demeanor, she still sure as hell heard it.

She moved to ask before she could stop herself.

"Hmm...? Do you not know where you're confidence comes from?"

Naruto snapped his head to her, eyes wide, surprised that she actually heard him.

The answer to that was...

"Well, actually, that wasn't what I was talking about." the blond said quickly, cutting himself off from thinking too hard. "I was referring to...something else."

Sasuko leaned forward ever so slightly, black locked with blue.

Then she leaned back, easing off of him. "I see."

The blond and ravenette continued to stare at each other, unable or unwilling to look somewhere else. Almost as if both were caught in a trance.

The Uchiha kept her poker face on while the young Uzumaki kept regarding her with a suspicious look.

This dynamic remained unsolved for several seconds, dragging on unwittingly as the world moved on without their input.

Until one of them finally snapped.

"What?" Naruto finally bit out, annoyed at how long this standoff continued unabated.

Sasuko simply moved her hand around in a circle, motioning him to get on with what he had to say.

Except he had no idea what she was talking about.

The ravenette let out an explosive sigh at the blond's denseness, before finally speaking up. "You clearly want to say something. So speak up already."

As the class continued on with the lecture, unaware of the 'battle' that was occurring close to them, the whiskered boy was forced to face with a blatant challenge by his rival.

To speak up.

Truth was, he actually did want to tell her something. Though he was mighty disgruntled that she managed to see through him like that...

Nevertheless, another part of him really didn't want to talk to her about this...

He was her rival. An equal. But the young girl beside him had never truly acknowledged him as such.

If he talked to her about his...'problem' then would that force his goal post even further away?

"Come on." the Uchiha prompted, getting impatient.

Naruto grit his teeth, before swallowing the frustration that was growing in his chest.

...Just this once. But never again.

Not until she asked for his help in return.

"Fine." the blond admitted slowly, blowing out some air from his mouth. "I'm...actually not so sure about whether I'm going to pass the upcoming graduation exam or not. If I can truly become a ninja and all..."

He tilted his face downwards, frowning. "It's really getting to me...and I really don't want to mess this up dattebayo."

Sasuko didn't respond immediately, at first she just continued to stare at the young boy with a blank expression, her thoughts masked.

Then she finally opened her mouth to respond.

"Then don't." she said simply, as if he was an idiot.

...

"Are you an idiot? That's not how this works!" Naruto hissed, eyebrow twitching sporadically.

The Uchiha tilted her head to the side, eyeing her 'rival' with veiled distaste. "No...it is for something as small as this. I don't know why you suddenly decided to lose your backbone, but I suggest you get it back. You want to become a ninja so bad? Then do everything in your power to get it. No hold's barred. Understood?"

Blue eyes widened fractionally as his rival's words struck him with the force of a hammer, causing him to take an unintentional double-take.

...She was right.

How could worrying about the graduation exam help him? What would it accomplish?

Nothing.

So then why the hell was moping all of a sudden!? It wasn't like him!

...

No...he knew way. He just didn't want to admit it.

More than anything else since...well...ever, he wanted to do something not just to gain recognition from his village.

He wanted to become a shinobi so that he could eventually become Hokage, but now...he also wanted to become a shinobi so that he could stay around...

Blue eyes reflected against the fine features of the last Uchiha, black eyes refusing to break contact with his own...

Yes, he wanted to stay near this girl.

This was...the first time that he could truly hope that...maybe...just maybe...

"You're right!" Naruto exclaimed, pumping his fist, eyes gleaming. "Instead of just worrying about this crap, I'll just do everything I can to make sure that I don't fail! A Hokage doesn't give up that easily dattebayo!"

Sasuko snorted, but seemed strangely content with his answer, choosing to turn away from him in silence rather than make a cutting remark.

Progress.

Though he was hit upside the head with an eraser as Iruka yelled at him for shouting in class, so maybe progress wasn't the right word for the day.

Sasuko grunted faintly as she flung her shuriken out at the large amount of targets laid out for her, aiming for nothing less than the bulls-eyes.

As she expected, the metal stars hit the targets with incredible accuracy, hitting the center of each one.

The Uchiha quickly surveyed wooden constructs, frowning as she realized that the time she took to aim and throw the shuriken was still too long for her tastes.

She needed to be faster.

Before she could have started again however, a loud rumbling echoed across the small field she was training on, catching her attention.

Her eye twitched faintly, she hoped no one heard that...

That was her stomach.

Black eyes turned to the sky, noticing how late it's become due to the sheer amount of concentration she has spent on her training.

The young girl couldn't help but sigh, now that she thought about it...she ran out of food back at home, hadn't she?

That meant that she needed to cut her training short and go to the village...damn.

So accordingly, she moved to leave the lush-green training grounds and head back to the village, hands in her pockets as her mind drifted off to other things.

It's been a few hours since she spoke to her annoying class neighbor, who; in predictable fashion, bolted out of the classroom once class was over. Only deigning to grin at her on the way out.

Unfortunately for her back then, she partially wished to have followed him out, as several classmates took the opportunity to walk up to her and attempt to make small-talk with her.

Before she could make any plans to get away, a certain pink-haired girl grabbed the seat next to her and leaned close to her. Green eyes wide as she placed her hands onto the table.

"Sasuko-chan!" she cried out, looking dismayed. "Why!? Why are you associating with someone like Naruto!?"

As soon as she asked that question, everyone else began bombarding the Uchiha with their questions, annoying her to the point that her own eyebrows began twitching sporadically.

Many among them were girls that were crying about why their idol was allowing the village idiot to take the seat next to her.

Others were boys that were trying to figure out how they could get themselves into such an enviable position.

Black eyes could only watch them with disdain, knowing full well that that these people saw her as nothing more than a trophy to be won or as some kind of untainted ideal. Both of which she wanted no part of.

As the din of her classmates got louder, the young girl slowly got up from her seat, eyes sharp, and facial features stoic.

"Enough."

As expected, her classmates quickly shut up at her demand.

"...What I do with my life is not up for debate or discussion. Beat it." Sasuko muttered, storming past all of her 'fans' and leaving the classroom. Hands shoved in her pockets.

None of them followed her. Thankfully.

Shortly after, she went to the training grounds near the village to freshen up on her skills, fully prepared to ace the graduation exam and become a full-fledged kunoichi.

The young girl clenched her fist as she made her way back to the village, eyes firm.

She wouldn't fail. She would become stronger. No matter what.

"Gah!"

Sasuko jumped ever so slightly at the frustrated shout that pierced the silence of the evening, catching her attention.

Was someone there...?

"Ha...again!"

The grunts and cries of training echoed across the small forest that she was close to as she made her way to the village, another training ground.

Black eyes narrowed as she recognized the voice.

Sasuko stood there, debating whether she should go check. Her curiosity clashing with her hunger.

Curiosity won out.

The Uchiha moved to the other training ground where she heard the noises, walking to it at a steady pace. Scanning for the person that she was sure was there.

After a small amount of time, she made it to the specific training ground and found who she expected to find.

A young boy was breathing heavily, panting, leaning on his knees as he stayed hunched over from exhaustion.

He took a few seconds to gulp in some precious oxygen before standing straight and bringing his hands together in a hand seal. Scrunched his eyes together in concentration.

"Bunshin no jutsu!" the blond boy cried out, as an explosion of smoke covered his form, hiding him from view.

Black eyes watched intently as the smoke eventually gave way to reveal a pale-white messed up version of the young boy, a failed clone.

Naruto groaned loudly at his failure, loud enough for the ravenette to hear anyways.

"Damn it...not yet! It's not over yet!" he roared out, gritting his teeth as he slammed his hands together again for a hand seal.

"Bunshin no jutsu!"

A failure.

"Bunshin no jutsu!"

Another fail.

"Bunshin no jutsu...!"

Once more, the clone that emerged from the smoke was completely white-washed and unresponsive, sticking it's tongue out comically as it stayed down on the floor.

Yet he didn't stop.

Sasuko could only watch in fascination as the orange-loving boy continued to try despite the amount of perspiration that was forming on his face. Unrelenting.

...How long had he been here? Practicing the jutsu that she remembered the blond couldn't utilize to save his life.

Her mind's eye flashed to when he immediately ran out of the classroom, giving her a thumb's up, a mischievous grin lighting up his face.

Was it since back then? Has he been practicing for at least eight hours straight...?

Unknown to her, the end of the young girl's lips faintly twitched upwards, recognizing that the village prankster had taken her advice to heart. Pushing himself to make sure that he didn't leave his final obstacle to becoming a ninja to chance.

He was really working at it. Smoothing out his weak spot.

The Uchiha closed her eyes, surprisingly assured and in a much better mood after watching the blond train.

So she took this chance to back out, making sure that the young boy never saw her or noticed her presence. Before leaving the area to get back to the village, very much content with the day's events.

She knew that the idiot would make it.

"Alright class! As I'm sure you're all aware...the exam to becoming a genin begins now! Mizuki-sensei and I will call upon each and every single one of you to come down and exhibit your proficiency on what you will be tested on!" Iruka called out, clapping to grab everyone's attention in the relatively large room.

Except he already had everyone's attention, it was just that almost every student was so intensely focused on their sensei's words, that they seemed to be staring off into space.

The classroom was filled with a lot of nervousness and excitement, mostly thanks to the important milestone that the students were about to reach. Pulling everyone in with this contagious energy.

...Almost everyone. Though this specific exception had far more to do with the fact that she was experiencing a different emotion altogether when compared to her peers.

Sasuko rapped her fingers onto the desk in front of her, scowling as she blankly stared at the end of the classroom, getting increasingly annoyed.

...Where was he?

Did he want to fail? To get left behind? To remain a loser?

The Uchiha felt her temper increasingly become more sour, forcing her to check on the seat besides her to make doubly sure that the idiot-

Nope, still not there.

Naruto was late to the graduation exam.

That...absolute...idiot.

She could only blow out some air in disgust.

"Now, we'll begin calling you all in one at a time! We want you to show us your proficiency in the bunshin no jutsu! Good luck everyone!" the chūnin claimed, ignoring the sighs of relief from his students thanks to his announcement. "Inuzuka Kiba! Please come down!"

A confident whoop later, and the a shaggy-looking boy reached their sensei and flashed him a toothy smirk, obviously assured that he would pass.

Sasuko didn't care, as she began eyeing the clock on wall of the classroom, tapping her fingers onto her desk with increasing regularity.

It didn't even take the young Inuzuka that long to pass his exam, as he came out of the back room with a newly-minted headband, the insignia of a stylized leaf was front-and-center for all to see.

Soon after, several other students were called down for their test, whittling down the number of people that had yet to go.

Until...

"Uzumaki Naruto! Please come down here to take your exam!" Iruka called out, the name echoing across the hall.

As soon as the name rang out the classroom went silent, as if waiting for the loud response of the dead-last of the class.

Yet it never came.

"...Uzumaki Naruto? Are you here?" Iruka called out again, sounding slightly worried now as he emerged from the back room.

Once more, the infamous prankster didn't respond to his name being called, leaving the classroom silent.

"Aww...looks like the dobe chickened out!" Kiba snarked, grinning as tapped his new Konoha headband. "It's probably for the best though, he'd just embarrass himself anyways."

A series of chuckles emerged from the throats of several students, amused. None of them even bothered to try and refute the Inuzuka's words.

"Yeah, but his pranks is all he's good for!" a young male student besides him complained, frowning. "I was hoping to get a good laugh for our graduation, we all know he won't amount to anything...best just let him go through the motions at the very least!"

Several more students guffawed at that, as more students piled on, using their giddiness that they've recently acquired by gaining their headbands to let their words run free.

"I don't know what any of you guys are talking about..." a female student piped up, disgruntled. "I don't even find his jokes to be that funny. He's kind of useless in all aspects really. Probably has something to do with the fact that he has no parents too..."

Sasuko firmly stared to the wall in front of her, steepling her fingers together, ignoring the words of everyone and everything.

"Exactly! If I didn't have any parents, then I would get to do whatever I want! No questions asked! He has no discipline! It's really no wonder that he acts out. He's selfish." a certain pink-haired girl pointed out, joining in with everyone else.

The second that the words entered the Uchiha's ear drums, was the same moment that her eyes hardened, glaring harshly at the girl known as Haruno Sakura for her gall.

She had no idea about what she was talking about...

Her disgust was only amplified when several other students nodded and verbally agreed with her, as if reaching some sort of consensus.

The young girl could only put more pressure onto her fingers, as she did her best to at the very least look calm on the outside. Maintaining composure.

She wouldn't lose it for these children.

"Hey...! All of you! That's enough!" Iruka roared out, cutting off the chattering, eyes harsh.

Before he could say anything else though, the front door slammed open, as if a battering ram had just done it's duty in breaking it down. It was opened however, not by a siege weapon, but by a small foot.

"Sorry for being late, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto cried out, raising a fist as he entered the room. "I just got a little too much extra sleep! Did I miss anything?"

All eyes stared at the blond that entered the classroom, many of them genuinely surprised that he came at all.

Blue eyes scanned over everyone, frowning when he realized that everyone was staring at him.

"...What?" he questioned, tilting his head in confusion.

"Ah...nothing, Naruto." the young sensei quickly cut off, motioning for him to come down to him. "Just come down here and take your exam already!"

Naruto beamed at the older male's request, as he ran down the stairs to enter the backroom and decide his fate.

As he passed by his new desk, his eyes, for a quick second, passed by and locked onto a pair of black eyes. Their owners watching each other.

Then they broke contact, with the blond moving to the back room.

Sasuko could only watch him go, sighing with exasperation.

"Took you long enough...idiot."

Naruto faced against the two shinobi who were testing him, back straight, jaw clenched, prepared to do his absolute best.

Iruka noticed it too.

But just as the shinobi managed to catch his student's determination in his body posture, he also managed to catch it in a different way.

The blond was sporting a lot of dirt and scratches all over his body, as if he came back from a rough work out. The orange jacket, specifically, which was usually worn at all times by the young boy, was instead wrapped around his waist, leaving his dark blue t-shirt left for a top.

He wouldn't do that unless he had to...say...cool down for some reason.

But more important than that, was the fact that little prankster had dark bags under his eyes, indicating that, at the very least, he had very little sleep.

"Alright Iruka-sensei! Mizuki-sensei! Ready when you two are! What am I being tested on?" Naruto exclaimed, smirk firmly planted on his face, confidence oozing off of him in excessive waves.

Both chūnin glanced at one another, before Mizuki turned and nodded to the young boy, offering a genial smile. "Excellent Naruto-kun, all that we need you to perform is the bunshin no jutsu for this test. Please show us how proficient you are with this jutsu."

The blond's eyes shifted to Iruka for a split-second before zeroing in on Mizuki, nodding, putting his hands together, forming a hand seal.

He could do this...

The would-be shinobi focused his exhausted chakra reserves onto the jutsu he was forming, clenching his eyes shut in concentration.

He could do this...!

"Bunshin no jutsu!"

An explosion of smoke followed the declaration, covering his features, expanding around the room.

Iruka gazed into the smoke, attempting to determine whether the younger male actually pulled it off, hoping for it, clenching his fists behind the desk that he occupied.

Then he saw it.

A flash of orange as the smoke cleared enough, showing off the blond's orange pants as he stood still, remaining concentrated.

Beside him was a copy, standing in the same position, having no discernible difference to the original in any way.

The chūnin slowly got up onto his feet, eyes wide, tentatively opening his mouth to-

"Congratulations!" Mizuki shouted out, clapping his hands loudly as he got up from his seat.

The sudden loud noise knocked Naruto out of his extreme concentration.

*Poof*

Everyone inside the little room watched as the blond's clone exploded in a cloud of smoke, disappearing as if it had never existed.

Blue eyes watched the clone go away, a lead weight in his stomach, feeling intensely sick.

...It wasn't supposed to...

"...I'm sorry, Naruto."

No...he wasn't supposed to...

"Oh come on Iruka-sensei, he had it. It was my interruption that broke his concentration. Surely you could make an exception?"

"You know I can't do that Mizuki-sensei...if he can't handle this jutsu when someone loudly shouts at him, then how can he handle it in the middle of battle?"

He...worked so hard...

The shinobi hopeful didn't even wait for his sensei's comforting words, instead opting to run out of the back room, desperately wishing to escape. To get away.

He heard the ringing laughter of his classmates as he passed them by, somehow sounding more mocking and hurtful than they ever did before.

But more importantly...he refused to look.

Refused to look at her.

He just couldn't bear the thought of it, of the face she was making towards him, the disgust, the sadness, the anger.

The disappointment.

So he ran, slamming through the classroom door and onto the streets, trying to do his best to ignore the ringing accusation that was constantly getting lobbed at him as wet hot water trailed down his cheeks.

Failure.

The class was in turmoil, many students cheered at winning the bet that the blond would fail the exam, while some genuinely seemed unsure whether they did, in fact, go too far with the teasing.

The rest just didn't flat out care.

Iruka ran out of the back room, managing to catch his student run out of the Academy, heart in his throat...

But he stopped, wishing to chase after, but knowing full well that he still had his responsibilities as a sensei to take care of.

He would talk to him later, maybe tomorrow better. Hopefully he wouldn't do anything too rash before then.

So, with a heavy heart, he called up the next student on the list.

"...Uchiha Sasuko." he called out, face now stuck in a semi-frown.

He didn't get a response.

The shinobi glanced up to where the Uchiha sat, seeing her turned away from him, staring at the door where Naruto ran out of.

Although he could only see the sides of her eyes, he could see the conflagration of emotions that were running through them despite her blank face.

Frustration.

Disappointment.

And...

...Relief?

Iruka frowned, but didn't question it as he called her name again, louder this time.

The last Uchiha's head snapped to him this time, face still blank as she got up to take the exam.

Iruka licked his dry lips, attempting to not show favoritism to the blond boy that ran out the door, providing a smile to the young girl.

It came out as a tight smirk, a really fake one at that.

If Sasuko noticed, she didn't comment, as she walked past the young man to the back room.

She never spoke up or acknowledged him.

She simply went through the exam, as if on autopilot, and walked away. That same stoic expression on her face.

Sunset.

The morning was slowly giving way to night as the sun began to sink into the horizon, the light it gave off to Konoha dimmed.

Naruto watched the sun go, staring at it, kicking his legs as they dangled off the edge of the ledge he was sitting on.

The blond laid back to look at the sky, feeling drained, numb.

What should he do? What could he do?

...Was it for nothing? All of it? Smiling all of the time, shouting at the top of his lungs that he'd be Hokage, that everyone would recognize him?

He clenched his eyes shut, biting his lips, hard.

...In the end, he failed. His first chance at a real...a true...

"Ah, found you Naruto-kun! Are you...doing alright?"

Naruto snapped his eyes open, turning behind him to look at the young man that appeared behind him.

"...Mizuki-sensei..." he mumbled out, quiet.

Mizuki blinked at the young student's tone, leaning back to regard him carefully.

"...I see, you're really bummed out about this, huh?" the Academy instructor muttered softly, before inclining his head. "Well, first, I'd like to apologize for my premature congratulations, as it may have ruined your chances."

The blond eyed his sensei for a long moment in silence, sighing after becoming increasingly exasperated with his situation. "Whatever...I probably would have failed if Iruka-sensei spoke up anyways..."

"No. It's not ok."

Mizuki quickly walked up to the young boy, grabbing his shoulder as well as his attention. "Listen to me. I know how much you cared about this Naruto-kun...I know how much you want to prove yourself to the village and it's citizens. More than that, I understand it."

Naruto's eyes widened, straightening his back. "...You do? Do you really?"

"I do." the chūnin maintained, a comforting smile on his face. "I myself have been held back by jealous superiors, so I had to prove myself numerous times to them and others."

The blond nodded slowly, locking eyes with the older male. "Then...you get it, right? You understand what I'm going through, right? So then...can I ask you something?"

Mizuki nodded, that smile still on his face. "Of course you can. Anything."

Naruto bit hips bottom lip, shifting uncomfortably, before reconnecting his blue eyes to his sensei's. A tentative look filled with vulnerability.

"...Do you think that...the people will...ever accept me one day? That they will ever stop looking at me like...that? That..."

Blue eyes shifted downwards, as the young boy clenched his eyes shut, doing his best to stop the crippling pain from overwhelming him.

He could take it...he had to take it...

"...That I will ever have a friend of my own?" he whispered, eyes forlorn.

Mizuki watched the blond, facial features carefully neutral.

It was important for him to stay that way, as at the moment...he wanted to do nothing more than strangle the pathetic brat...!

But his aggression was smoothed over. "I can't answer that Naruto-kun, I can only provide you with the tools to get your wish. So...please let me provide you with a second chance. Another chance to get that headband that you wanted...if you want the chance that is?"

The blond tapped the pair of goggles that he had on his forehead, moving it as he thought about the shinobi's question for barely a second.

He had his answer.

"I want it."

Night has fallen upon the village of Konoha, which meant that despite the size and population of the village, many of it's citizens have returned to their homes to prepare themselves for the next day. Leaving the streets relatively empty.

It was during this specific night, that the Hokage sent out ninja to alert their comrades, to come to the Hokage's mansion to receive their orders in regards to an important event that has just occurred.

The Scroll of Seals has been stolen.

The shinobi quickly responded to the order, to search for the young boy. With one in particular that was a little too happy for such an event.

Mizuki was rushing towards the village gate, a dark grin plastered across his face as his 'comrades' focused on finding the kyuubi brat to the point that the overall security should be more lax than usual...

Perfect for him in every way.

The soon-to-be nukenin finally reached the gate, moving up to it in order to talk to the guard duo that was always sent to gate guard duty.

"Izumo! Kotetsu!" Mizuki shouted, running up to the two chūnin with a concerned look.

Both shinobi, who were occupying the little standby station located right next to the gate, turned to the traitorous shinobi with a surprised look, obviously not expecting him here.

"Ah...Mizuki! What are you doing here?" Izumo questioned, frowning in confusion.

Mizuki reached them and placed his hands onto the table inside the standby station, expressing his most alarmed facial features. "Didn't you hear!? Naruto-kun has stolen the Scroll of Seals! We need as many shinobi on the hunt as possible!"

The gate guard duo glanced at one another, before the one with the wild black hair; Kotetsu, gave his fellow shinobi a suspicious look. "...Then isn't this literally the best time for us to be guarding the gate? To make sure that the kid doesn't leave the village?"

Izumo nodded as well, confused by the logic that Mizuki was using.

The instructor just offered them a kind smile, doing his best to keep his cover. "Of course, but you two are renowned for your teamwork with each other. So isn't it best for such a team to be joining the search instead? As for the gate, don't worry, I'll take over. Using a chūnin to catch a boy that failed the Academy isn't exactly difficult after all. The hard part is finding him."

Izumo and Kotetsu stared at him, gauging his words, contemplating whether to listen to him...

"Sounds good to me!" Kotetsu decided arbitrarily, getting up from his seat.

"Ah...wait Kotetsu! This really isn't a good idea...!" Izumo protested hotly, eyes shifting from his partner to the Academy instructor.

"Oh relax Izumo..." Kotetsu reprimanded. "We get gate guard duty practically all the time! When will we ever have a chance to truly spread our wings like this again? Besides, while the kid has a bad rep...he's still just a prankster, not a criminal. This is all probably just a wild goose chase. So come on!"

Before his partner could protest, Kotetsu jumped away, moving inside to the village proper.

Izumo stared after him, before turning to his fellow chūnin, mouth opening and closing.

Then the man cursed, moving to follow his partner and search for the blond boy himself.

Mizuki just watched them go, grinning darkly as his objective has been accomplished. All that was left to do was...

He tapped his ear, activating the ear piece inside, mumbling inside it.

"The gate is clear, come on in. The shinobi won't care about your presence, as all would assume that since you're inside the village at all, that you were allowed to enter. Just keep your weapons hidden until then. As for the rest of our deal...just inform me when you find him. I'm going to continue the search myself to keep the suspicion off of me."

The chūnin tapped his ear again, shutting off the ear piece and turning to leave.

It was only a matter of time...

"Thank you for your patronage! Please come again!" the elderly owner of the fruit stand thanked, bowing to her customer with a friendly smile, before moving to close the stand for the day.

Sasuko didn't respond, she merely turned around and held her celebratory tomatoes inside the little baggie she was provided. Bringing one out to bite into.

"...Good." she mumbled out, mouth filled with the tasty flavor of her favorite food.

This was a good time to treat herself, what with the fact that she had passed the first major obstacle to becoming more powerful.

The headband that was on her forehead was proof of that.

Yet, despite this obvious achievement for the furthering of her own goals...she wasn't entirely pleased with the day's events.

No. Not at all.

If anything, unlike usual, the tomatoes that she was munching on were used as an attempt to soothe her annoyance. Not to give her a good mood.

A rarity.

She came back to the village to help soothe the bubbling irritation that she had gained earlier, as it began to affect her daily training regiment. All thanks to her annoying class neighbor...

Even just thinking about it pushed her to grit her teeth.

But why did it make her upset? What was the big deal? He had no obligation to her, only to himself. She had no reason to be upset.

Yet she was, and she honestly couldn't figure out why.

The Uchiha stopped walking for a moment, turning her head to the dark sky, deciding to stop dancing around the question and just ask herself. Genuinely.

Why?

Black eyes closed as that question was bandied about in her head, seriously allowing herself to go through some introspection.

...All of this changed when they were forced to work on that project together, getting them to stop quarreling with one another for just a few spare moments for the common good.

Then she tried to close the recently opened prospect of a new dynamic between the two, refusing to even acknowledge him at times. Despite his insistence.

Sasuko snorted as she remembered his constant attempts to open a conversation, usually by the usual method of trying to get her to trade insults.

A single eye twitched...actually...didn't he succeed at that? They did trade barbs with one another occasionally...

The Uchiha's gaze shifted downwards, staring through the ground, her eyes hazy.

Now that she thought about it...there was a small part of her, a very small part of her that actually found some enjoyment in their back-and-forths. It was...something new to expect every time she came to class.

Before, she would just go through the motions, but recently?

She would sometimes like going to the Academy.

Sasuko shook her head, when did this happen to her? Where did she begin to tolerate, let alone like the blond's presence? It was almost like-

She froze, her thoughts ceasing at that very spot.

It was almost like...

"Hey, did you hear...?"

Her revelation was cut off prematurely when someone murmured something to someone else behind her, catching her attention.

"Yeah, a friend told me but...is it really true? Has the Scroll of Seals actually been stolen!?"

"Unfortunately...Hokage-sama has just ordered a search for Uzumaki...he was the one who stole it."

"What!? Are you serious...!?"

"Shh! Don't speak so loudly! Come on, I'll tell you on the way."

With that last statement exchanged between the shinobi, both jumped high into the air to begin their search for the young troublemaker. Knowing full well that this recent action could possibly make him into a legitimate target for...disappearing.

They weren't the only ones to realize this.

Sasuko was frozen in her place, completely unable to take in the information that she just received.

Naruto...just...what has he done?

A stray memory tickled the back of her head as she recognized the item that the ninjas were talking about, putting a new context to the importance of what she had just overheard...

A memory of two young students studying about the famous shinobi of the past...specifically about one of the men that was responsible for building the village she was standing on.

The man who's face was exhibited on the Hokage Mountain for all to see...the Shodai Hokage.

That was his scroll...! An artifact from someone so powerful has got to be ridiculously important!

And Naruto just stole it.

She immediately made to turn around, to move and find the errant prankster to-

Sasuko stopped moving, suddenly intensely aware of her actions.

...Why? Why should she go and stick her neck out for the dobe? Why should she get involved at all?

She had no stake in this, no goal, no overarching justification. This didn't involve her, not even a little bit.

The Uchiha nodded faintly, slowly turning her body around to leave again, to head back to her home. To sleep the rest of the day away and avoid any trouble she may have gotten herself into.

That's right...as a matter of fact, wasn't this the perfect opportunity?

Uzumaki Naruto had managed to -somehow- get past her unwillingness to interact with others. To see them as something more than obstacles or road blocks to her rise in power.

No...didn't she say it once? Best to try and let this -whatever this was- fade. To make sure that she concentrated on her true goal, on her ambition.

No more casual conversations. No more faintly amusing antics. No more Uzumaki Naruto.

Sasuko turned away firmly, moving forward back to her home, ignoring all in favor of it. Content with her choice.

...

"Ah...damn it." she mumbled out.

Then, as if a flip had been switched, the ravenette spun around and jumped onto the roof of a building, eyes as sharp as a hawk.

"Damn it...! Usuratonkachi! Damn you for dragging me into this!" she growled darkly, as she made to join the search.

Blue eyes wildly shifted around, attempting to make sure that he was secure in the little haven he had made for himself.

...Ok, he was good.

Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief, clutching his ticket to become a full-fledged shinobi close to his chest.

It was only after he was thoroughly assure in the fact that he was alone that his eyes flicked down to stare at his prize.

...Kinda ironic that he recently did a project on the original owner of this scroll...to think that he would depend on this thing to graduate and become a ninja...

Funny how life worked.

The blond quickly opened the scroll up, allowing it's contents to spread across the forest floor, scanning the first jutsu that he found so that he could-

...

"Ah...damn it. It had to be based off the jutsu that I failed at, didn't it?" the young boy couldn't help but complain, eyeing the scroll as if it was mocking him.

Well, he had plenty of time. No one knew where he was, hell, this was a relatively new spot for him as well.

Hell, maybe his training with the bunshin no jutsu should help? He did get better at it the more he worked at it. Though his chakra reserves were ridiculously lower than usual...he didn't really have time to rest up.

Ah well, he had time, let's see what he could learn...

Iruka landed upon the clearing in the forest, eyes scanning for orange, hoping to find his wayward student.

He wasn't there.

The shinobi cursed under his breath as he walked up to the little shack in the clearing, slamming his fist into it's bark in frustration.

Damn it...! He thought that he'd be here!

Where was he!?

Iruka shook his head, trying to focus, trying to ignore the dark knowledge that was pricking the back of his head, ever present.

If another shinobi found him...and they just so happened to already carry a grudge against the orange-loving boy...then...

The chūnin quickly turned around and jumped back into the forest, searching desperately for the young boy. Praying that he will manage to avoid detection until he found him.

Sasuko stayed low, eyes wary, as a small group of shinobi soared over her, moving to another roof to continue the search for the Scroll of Seals and it's thief.

The young girl slowly got back to her feet when the group passed, before moving away to find some high ground, cursing constantly as she did so.

She was currently promising to do very untoward things to the blond once she found him, possibly life-altering and scarring things. Whether she was serious or not was another question.

For now though, the Uchiha quickly spotted a large electric pole that she could use, jumping to reach the top quickly and landing perfectly on it's small head. Balancing her feet and crouching her knees to stay on and scan a large piece of the village with a bird's eye view.

...Where could he be?

She checked the marketplace; specifically that ramen place he loves so much, as well as general hiding places that she overheard he utilized from grumpy shinobi that were forced to end his pranking sprees.

She turned out empty if it wasn't obvious.

The worst part was that the entire search took several minutes to complete with nothing to show for it. While she had no doubt that the professional shinobi had already narrowed down a lot of options already...she simply didn't have much time left.

The ravenette seriously doubted that he'd be so stupid as to go to his home...even if he did, the regular shinobi would have checked it already.

So where did that leave him? Where in the village could he have possibly-?

Her thoughts froze, as a certain memory of a certain blond training for the graduation exam popped into her head.

There.

It had to be there.

Sasuko jumped off of the pole swiftly, landing on her feet softly like a feline and racing towards the training grounds.

Specifically; to the Third Training Ground.

...

"Oi, Mizuki...? You there?"

"Yes, yes, what is it?"

"We found him."

"...Excellent, wait up for me for a little bit...let's accomplish our goals, shall we?"

Naruto let loose a gasp as he landed square on his back, exhausted.

He...did it.

He actually did it.

The blond almost couldn't believe it! He actually got the jutsu down!

It was ridiculously easier than the bunshin no jutsu! Did they get the rankings wrong or something?

Well, no matter, he completed a jutsu from the scroll, so with this...he should be able to graduate. Just like everyone else.

Naruto could only smile deliriously, relieved that he wouldn't be left behind.

The would-be shinobi quickly grabbed the scroll up from the ground carefully, remembering just how important the artifact is, and moved it away from the rough forest floor. Looking for a more smoother surface to place it so that he wouldn't mess up the paper.

He found one.

It was a strange black rock that was jutting out form the ground, kind of shaped like a kunai, resting on top of a stone slab that looked like it was made up of colorful cobblestone.

Naruto just plopped the scroll down onto the slab and began to roll up the scroll, doing it slowly to make sure that he didn't do any damage.

As he continued his task, his eyes inevitably were drawn to the kunai-like stone, curious.

Then he saw them; dozens upon dozens of names.

Blue eyes peered onto them, scanning them, his curiosity growing stronger as he wondered what the names meant...

"Ow!"

Paper cut.

Naruto winced back as he accidentally gave himself a cut while rolling up the scroll, his sudden movement pushed the scroll away and began to unravel the entire thing.

The blond responded quickly, getting up to cut off the run away scroll, mighty embarrassed that he let such an artifact from such a famous figure possibly get damaged.

So he managed to save himself from further indignity by catching the scroll, releasing some air in relief that the artifact wasn't damaged.

As he scanned it to make doubly sure, his eyes caught a little something inside the scroll...causing his eyes to widen in recognition...

Sarutobi Hiruzen let loose a puff of smoke, disgruntled, as he stared off into the night sky, occasionally seeing a few ninja speed by during their search.

Naruto...he had no idea what he held in his hands. No idea whatsoever.

The Hokage had no idea why the blond stole the artifact, but he did know that the child wasn't ready to read it's contents. Not by a long shot.

He wasn't referring to the jutsus, although that belief still applied to those somewhat.

The Scroll of Seals was meant to seal away jutsus that aren't meant to be used by ordinary ninja, as they were considered too dangerous.

However...the scroll didn't only seal away jutsus.

No, it sealed away knowledge as well, history to be specific.

There were important events that have either been long forgotten or were never known by the general public that needed to be remembered for future Hokage. Mostly so that they could gain an understanding of the modern day by reviewing the past with clear lens.

Many secrets of the past were in that scroll, hidden away.

Secrets such as the kyuubi attack...or worse; Naruto's parentage.

He wasn't ready to receive that information yet. He needed more time to grow first...!

So the elderly man turned around and opened a drawer from his desk, placing it on top of his desk in order to find out what exactly the blond was doing.

He rarely used this, but this was an emergency, and he didn't have much time left.

His crystal ball.

This jutsu he was about to use required him to remember the blond's general chakra pattern to spy on him, which he just managed to recall.

He hoped that the young boy was alright...

Blue eyes scanned the scroll which he was carrying, glued to the contents he was reading.

This...was this some kind of joke?

Someone's idea of a sick, sick joke?

The blond held onto the scroll tightly, too afraid to believe if what he was reading was true, knowing full well what the consequences of believing it were.

But he wanted to, he desperately wanted to...

Blue eyes shot up from the scroll as his danger sense kicked in, screaming for him to move.

He followed those senses.

The blond dropped the scroll and jumped away from the memorial stone, as several projectiles flew past his prior position.

Naruto slid away, the momentum of his jump keeping him that way as all of his attention were aimed at the general area of where those projectiles came from.

Then his danger senses kicked up a fuss again, forcing him to tuck and roll as a few more projectiles flew overhead as he rolled away.

The sudden roll made him trip over himself however, as he quickly ended up sprawled over the floor in a heap. Before managing to get up and grab a kunai from his pouch, ready to fight.

"Who's there!?" Naruto demanded loudly, eyes flicking around him to find his attackers.

No one responded, but the general forestry around him began to shake slightly, as if people were moving through it...

The blond's heart leapt through his throat as several rough-looking men emerged from the bushes around him, surrounding him as they closed in with menacing looks.

They were all carrying conventional weapons on them, such as; katanas and bows. As well as less conventional weapons like; kusarigamas and kamas.

...These weren't shinobi.

As the young boy continued to warily watch the hostile newcomers, a middle-aged man stepped up from the pack and grabbed his attention.

"...Wait...I know you..." Naruto realized, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

The not-so-young man growled, taking out his katana out of it's holster and pointing it's tip at the orange-loving boy. "I'd hope that you would remember the face of the man who will take your life! You may have bested me back at Tanzaku Quarters...but unfortunately for you, you have crossed the wrong crime boss!"

Naruto blinked.

"...Uh...what are you talking about?"

"Don't try to play innocent!" the older male growled. "Unfortunately for you, you seem to have made some enemies in this village of yours, this person hates you so much...that he told me everything about your mission with Gatō! My life is on the line for this...and I won't give it up so easily to some random brat!"

Naruto tried to interrupt, to try and explain that he had absolutely no idea what he was talking about or what a 'Gatō' was, but the middle-aged man turned to his men and opened his mouth to speak.

"Men! We are all subservient to Daikoku Tenzen! Yet this shinobi we see in front of us had the gall to humiliate his subordinates in his territory! This is obviously an attack on us and our boss! So unless all of you want to...'disappear' as a loose-end that our boss has to tie up, then help me kill this brat!"

The group of men roared in approval, then began moving closer to the blond, eyes filled with ill intent.

Naruto grit his teeth, holding his kunai in a reverse grip, prepared for a fight...

"Naruto-kun!"

Blue eyes snapped away from the thugs to the forest behind them, recognizing the voice immediately.

"Mizuki-sensei...!"

Indeed, the young sensei of the Academy appeared perched on top of a tree branch, staring down the group of men that surrounded the boy. "Are you ok, Naruto-kun? Are you hurt?"

Naruto shook his head, grinning from ear-to-ear as the shinobi jumped from his perch and landed close to him. Near the scroll as a matter of fact. "Not at all! Boy...am I glad to see you Mizuki-sensei!"

Mizuki nodded infinitesimally, crouching to grab the scroll that was on the ground, rolling it up like only one with experience could do. "So I assume this is the Scroll of Seals...? I also assume that you completed the task I gave you?"

The blond nodded again, beaming with pride. "Yep! I managed to learn a jutsu! As a matter of fact, I was planning on taking these bozos down with it! But I suppose we should focus more on the test after we take these guys out first, right?"

The chūnin gave the whiskered boy a kind smile in response. "Right. But can you do something for me first, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's smile faltered for a split-second. "Uh...yeah sure, what is it?"

Mizuki's smile remained on his face as his hand traveled to his back to retrieve a massive metal star that was on his back.

"Die."

The shinobi then, much to the blond's rising horror, flung the large shuriken straight at him, moving at incredible speed, it's sharp blades moving in to slice him in half.

Blue eyes could only watch, stunned, horrified.

Not by the shuriken.

Not by the cold and harsh fact that this may be his final moments.

But by those eyes.

Mizuki's cold and cruel eyes which gazed upon him as if he was...sub-human.

'Unfortunately for you, you seem to have made some enemies in this village of yours...'

...The same eyes that several villagers shot him when they thought that he wasn't looking.

'More than that, I understand...'

...Just another lie...huh? Just like everyone else...

"...You liar..." Naruto said quietly as death approached in the form of a metal star.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable, for the quick and swift pain that the projectile would inflict.

...

*Clang*

Naruto's eyes snapped open when he heard the sound of metal clashing against metal, catching a shock of black hair, pooling over his line of sight...

"...Made it just in time..."

A fan-like symbol surrounded by a navy-blue top was visible before the curtain of raven hair covered it whole again...

"...S-Sasuko!?" Naruto breathed out, blinking his eyes rapidly to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating.

No, the Uchiha was indeed right in front of him, cutting him off from the traitorous shinobi.

Mizuki also noticed the interruption, clicking his tongue as he glanced at the large shuriken that barely missed the dead-last of the Academy, as it was embedded next to his body thanks to the ravenette's interruption.

It was while he was staring at his weapon that he noticed the kunai right next to it.

So she used a kunai to redirect the attack, huh...?

She was good.

"...Dobe." Sasuko ground out, tilting her head to the side to look at the blond through the side of her eye. "You're an absolute retard, you know that?"

Naruto couldn't really come up with a good defense, even he could see that she wasn't exactly wrong this time...

"How...?" the Academy student rasped out, his throat dry from the near death experience. "No...not how...why...?"

Coal-black eyes locked onto oceanic-blue, sharply.

Then they turned away, the face accompanying it remaining neutral.

"No particular reason."

The blond didn't question her.

"...Uchiha Sasuko." Mizuki stated simply, with the faux smile on his face still present. "We have no quarrel with you...but it doesn't change the fact that you have seen something that you shouldn't have. So I suppose we simply can't let you be now."

The Uchiha finally turned her attention back onto the chūnin, narrowing her eyes at the perceived threat. "Oh really? Well I have a warning of my own to give out to you lot as well...leave now, or suffer the consequences."

The men behind the shinobi guffawed at the threat, laughing at the fact that a little girl just threatened grown men with a straight face.

Mizuki wasn't laughing.

Neither was the leader of the thugs, as he remembered quite clearly that the girl was with the blond when he humiliated him at the gambling house.

That meant that she may very well be a ninja too.

Then his eyes locked onto the headband that she had on her forehead, which pushed him to curse under his breath.

"Now now, Sasuko-kun...no need for violence quite yet." Mizuki soothed, his 'smile' growing a dark edge to it. "I actually have a solution to this little dilemma of ours...you see, I'm going to steal this scroll here, an artifact that has an enormous amount of powerful jutsus locked away and take it to my new master."

Naruto winced as he grit his teeth in frustration, realizing belatedly that he was played.

Sasuko ignored him, eyes shifting to the scroll that Mizuki had in his arms.

Noticing the fact that he just got her attention, the shinobi continued. "You see, my new master is a very powerful man, so powerful that he's regarded as one of the most powerful in all of the Elemental Nations. I'm taking this wonderful cache of powerful jutsus to such a man...and he has an eye for talent you see. He would accept anyone, no matter where they come from if they have talent...and you have talent Sasuko-kun."

The Uchiha didn't respond.

"...Come with me." the traitor offered. "Join me in leaving the village and become a part of something greater. I've seen your eyes Sasuko-kun...you have an eye for power. A lust for it. A need for it. If you join us, then you will have all of the power you can ever need."

As soon as the offer was was given, Naruto began to gauge the ravenette's reaction, as much as he could at least as he watched her back.

"...Sasuko." he muttered out, reaching out, wishing to offer his own hand...

She didn't respond.

He flinched when she finally made a move.

She took a single step, a forward step, with sandaled feet moving on the grassy forest floor.

Moving towards Mizuki.

Naruto tried to extend his hand, to raise up a counter-offer, to grab her and stop her from moving forward.

But he froze, stuck in time as she continued to move forward, only offering her back to him as she moved towards the shinobi.

Her back...how many times had he only seen her back now...?

It was like back then...almost exactly...

"Hey...did you hear? About what happened to the Uchiha clan?"

Naruto, who was just swinging on his little swing by himself, perked up slightly when he heard two little girls, obviously Academy students, talk about the Uchiha.

That was the clan that that jerk; Sasuko, was a part of, right?

"Yeah. I head some of the grown-ups talk about it...I hope Sasuko-chan is ok...to lose your entire clan like that in a single night..."

The two girls continued gossiping about the tragedy that would become known as the Uchiha Massacre, but Naruto himself stopped swinging on the swing he was occupying. Eyes wide as he thought about what he just heard.

...That was terrible.

As if he went on autopilot, the blond got off his swing and began making his way to the Academy. His little feet pitter-patting against the concrete, mind racing.

He didn't know what he was gonna do...but he knew that not having a family was terrible, something no one should have to go through. So...he wanted to go.

He wanted to say 'It's gonna be ok.', if only because he didn't know what else to say.

But as he continued to make his way to her, another thought hit him, stopping him in his tracks, eyes wide.

...She was alone.

Who else did she have? Her entire family, her entire clan was gone.

No one to lean on, no one to count on.

Alone.

Naruto's little legs went on full throttle and his little heart worked double-time to help him get to the Academy as fast as possible. His lungs, breathless.

He understood.

He understood.

She didn't have to go at this alone, she didn't need to. Not if he understood the pain of being alone.

They could lean on one another, share their pain, bare their hearts out.

Become friends.

The little boy entered the Academy gate, lungs heaving as he frantically glanced around for the little raven-haired girl.

There.

Uchiha Sasuko laid down on a little rock, eyes blank, staring up at the sky, all by herself.

All the other kids were talking to one another in hushed tones, glancing at the little girl with pity in their eyes.

They thought they were being discreet...they weren't.

He should know, the adults did the same to him all of the time.

Naruto took a deep breath, and walked forward, heading straight for the last Uchiha, heart in his throat as he got closer.

His heart smashed against his rib cage repeatedly, in faster intervals, as he got close enough to see her eyes flick to him when he neared.

He opened his mouth to say something, anything.

Ask her if she was alright.

If she needed anything.

If she needed to talk.

But nothing came out.

He just stood there, staring, mouth opening and closing, gaping like a fish.

Sasuko stared at him with blank eyes, unresponsive.

Then she began getting up from her position, getting to her feet, and began walking away from him.

The ravenette moved straight towards the little forest by the Academy, moving away from him, getting away from him.

All he saw was her back, and that damned Uchiha fan.

He raised a hand, attempting to call her, to stop her.

But rationalizations kept him from saying anything.

She wanted nothing to do with him.

She already rejected him.

She believes herself to be superior.

All these beliefs ran across his head as she walked away, keeping him from saying anything, from offering a hand, from taking a chance.

...It was a bunch of excuses, meant to help ensure that he would always have a hope of companionship. That he could always say that there was a chance instead of allowing his faith to be rocked by getting rejected.

So he never took the chance.

Now it was happening again...

His throat refused to articulate words as he tried to stop her from going to Mizuki.

'Don't do it.'

But it didn't emerge from his throat.

Naruto wanted to scream, to yell, to thrash. To do something.

But he remained still, as Sausko neared the traitorous shinobi.

Damn it...! Why couldn't he let go of his fear...!?

Blue eyes clenched shut when the young Uchiha moved her hand to take Mizuki's, unable, unwilling to watch.

"Gah!"

Naruto's eyes snapped open as Mizuki's cry echoed across the forest.

Sasuko's fist was embedded within the man's stomach, her eyes sharp, a dark grin spreading across her lips.

"...Now, if you're an example of what your 'master' considers as a talented individual, then I'm afraid that I'm going to have to pass on your offer." she stated simply, that dark grin of hers patently obvious.

The blond stared, wide eyed, before grinning like an idiot.

She didn't do it...thank goodness...

Mizuki coughed up some saliva, dragging his feet backwards at the sudden blow he received, snarling at the girl in front of him.

"Fine." he spat. "I was hoping to take you as a prize...but I suppose killing you and stealing your eyes will have to do."

The Uchiha's eyes narrowed dangerously, realizing what the former Academy instructor was after.

The chūnin turned around to nod at his partner-in-crime, grinning darkly. "I must apologize, I got overzealous and nearly took your prey...I'll let you have him now. I'll deal with the girl."

Immediately after he made his intentions clear, Mizuki pulled the Scroll of Seals closer to him and jumped high into the air, flashing straight to the general forestry without hesitation.

Sasuko bared her teeth and jumped after him, refusing to let him escape.

Naruto quickly made to follow, crouching down to make a large jump-

He was forced to abandon the attempt as he rolled out of the way instead, as several arrows flew over his previous position, cutting him off.

The blond recovered quickly, eyeing his enemies, gnashing his teeth. "Looks like I can't just ignore these guys..."

The middle-aged leader of the group smirked at the young boy, jabbing a finger at him. "Don't think that you can escape so easily. I will save my reputation and keep my head on my shoulders! This won't end like back at my gambling house!"

Naruto blinked.

Then his mouth opened up to make an 'o' shape, something clicking in the back of his mind.

"You're that guy...! The guy that we beat at Tanzaki Quarters!" he realized belatedly, finally remembering who the strange man was.

The gambling house owner growled, annoyed that the boy just figured it out.

But before he could articulate his displeasure, Naruto brought his hands up, slowly bringing them together as he glared at his enemies.

"Sorry. But I don't have time to play around. I can't let Sasuko take on a chūnin by herself. So...I'm gonna have to take out the big guns." he ground out, bringing his hands together to form a cross.

"This will all end in seconds."

Sasuko's long hair flowed behind her as she jumped from tree branch to tree branch, catching up to the traitorous ninja, glaring harshly at his back.

She came here conflicted, only really to make sure that the blond idiot was alright. Yet here she was, trying to take on the shinobi that nearly killed him.

Honestly, she still wasn't sure how all of this happened, but she was sure that the man she was chasing needed to be crushed.

Both; to get the Scroll of Seals back for the village and to prove a point.

Her eyes...were off limits.

However, she had to actually reach the older ninja before she could extract her comeuppance, so in order to slow him down, she dug out some shuriken from her back pouch and flung them with incredible accuracy at her enemy's back.

Mizuki responded admirably, jumping from a tree branch and turning his body around in mid-air to knock the shuriken away with a kunai, then turning his body around again to land safely.

Cool black eyes narrowed faintly.

Change of plans then.

This time, the ravenette grabbed two kunai from her back pouch, throwing one slightly above Mizuki's head, as if she missed.

Seeing the projectile, the shinobi was about to turn around and mock his adversary, believing that she had missed by accident.

Unfortunately for him, it was on purpose, as the newly-minted kunoichi flung the second kunai at the first, knocking it at just the right angle to send it down onto Mizuki's skull.

The sound of metal impaling flesh echoed across the forest.

Mizuki's body crashed into a clearing, sent sliding for a little bit as blood poured from the wound that was inflicted.

But the shinobi quickly managed to recover by sending himself into a roll, then managing to get onto his knees, growling darkly.

He quickly pulled the kunai out from the sensitive area in his collar, grinding his teeth in pain as he internally thanked his fast reflexes for moving his head out of the way in time.

It was almost an instant death.

Sasuko quickly jumped out from the general greenery and landed at the opposite side of the clearing to the chūnin, glaring harshly at him.

Mizuki forced himself onto his feet, facial features twisted up in anger. "...Not bad. I'll admit that you're better than I expected...but all you've managed to do was piss me off."

As he made that statement, his body slowly began to get sucked into the ground, enveloping him whole.

Sasuko was caught off guard by the bizarre event, but quickly moved in to try and take out the rogue shinobi before he could get away.

Too late.

The former Academy instructor was swallowed up whole by the ground, disappearing from view entirely as he whispered the to himself...

"Doton: Dochū Eigyo no Jutsu!" (Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Jutsu)

Black eyes scanned the ground around her, cautiously waiting for something to happen, stretching out her senses for the inevitable attack.

She closed her eyes, concentrating.

...

...

There!

Sasuko spun around and brought a kunai out to intercept the kunai that was set against her back, coming out from the ground like some sort of deadly plant.

The arm, which was stretched far beyond what normal human arms should be able to stretch, retracted back and retreated into the ground.

She just watched it go.

...So that was his game? Hit and run tactics?

Fine. Next time...she'd be ready.

So she waited, closing her eyes again to focus all of her energy on all of her other senses.

Specifically; hearing.

...

Sasuko quickly whipped her kunai up in defense to block the attack that was aimed for her right ribs, catching it as her left arm swiftly grabbed more metal weapons and swung it at the arm.

The arm managed to retract again, but the shuriken managed to either impale themselves onto the flexible limb or at least leave cuts all over it.

"Argh! Damn...!"

The Uchiha snapped her head backwards as her adversary gave away his new position as he tried to come out of the ground, his flexible arm still underground, obviously meant as bait.

The ravenette responded as expected, going down onto her knees and bringing her feet out and knocking the chūnin's feet out from under him. Causing him to trip over himself.

Mizuki tried to go into a roll, but failed miserably as he fell onto the ground in a heap, with a sharp blow from a sandaled foot, courtesy of the Uchiha, striking him in the face to add insult to injury.

The blow knocked him back sliding, with the shinobi desperately trying to buy some time by grabbing the large shuriken on his back and sending it on it's deadly mission. Aimed specifically on taking Sasuko's head.

Black eyes saw the attack coming a mile away as she came charging after the sliding traitor. Using the momentum that she gained from her quick movement, she fell down onto the ground and watched the large metal star fly over her head harmlessly.

So when Mizuki finally stopped siding and got back up, the Uchiha appeared right under him and brought her foot up, smashing it up his chin and sending him into the sky. Disoriented and dazed.

As she remained on the ground, the young girl glared at the shinobi sent skyward, closing her eyes as she brought her hands together and began flashing through hand seals...

And ending it with the tiger hand seal.

"It's over." Sasuko declared as her chest puffed up...

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

A large fireball emerged from the young girl's mouth, moving towards the sky and lighting up the forest brightly, it's flames heating up the very air to unbearable levels as it encroached onto Mizuki's form.

Sasuko continued to spew out the flames until she was sure that the ninja was engulfed with the ball of fire, allowing her to cut off her chakra and stop her jutsu.

Once she ceased sending chakra to power the fire jutsu, the fireball slowly began to ebb away, before petering out entirely in the air, leaving behind an extraordinarily warm night wind in it's wake.

The Uchiha watched a charred form fall down from the sky, crashing into the ground, completely black from the heat that it was subjected to.

"...That was really dangerous, you know?"

Sasuko registered the form as a viciously burned log, which crumbled into ash mere moments later.

She turned around to look at the still-breathing Mizuki, who was standing perched on a tree branch, safe and sound.

He tapped the scroll on his back, offering a wicked smirk. "Are you sure you want to try something like that again, little miss Uchiha? You may destroy the Scroll of Seals next time."

Coal-like eyes narrowed faintly. "Don't be ridiculous. That is the personal scroll of the Shodai Hokage, who has faced against the Uchiha clan in battle numerous times. That scroll is no doubt fire proof to that level of flames. Especially when considering the amount of information it holds."

The chūnin raised an eyebrow. "Well...I'll be damned. I suppose that would be true, wouldn't it? I'm impressed...hey, actually, can I ask you a question?"

Sasuko continued to glare at him, but didn't actually stop him.

Taking this as a chance, he continued. "...Tell me, why did you come here? Ignoring your reasoning right now, why did you come here looking for Naruto at all?"

She didn't answer, she stayed silent as her eyes remained unerringly glued to him. Watching him like a hawk.

The shinobi tapped his chin in mock contemplation, gauging his young opponent's responses.

"Perhaps you care about him?" he offered carefully.

Sasuko straightened her back, eyes sharp as ever. "None of your concern. Why does this even matter?"

Mizuki offered her a grin, inclining his head faintly. "Because if you do care...then you really should stop caring. The villagers fear him for a reason after all. You would do well to follow the crowd in this case...little girl."

The Uchiha nearly snarled out in anger at that last jab he made.

But she paused, frowning suddenly as she registered the other words that he made.

"...What do you mean?" she asked tentatively, genuinely confused this time.

"...I suppose I should enlighten you, there's no way someone as young as you could possibly know anyways." the chūnin murmured, a sly smile growing on his face. "Come...let me tell you about one of the biggest secrets that your elders have held back. Let me tell you...about the dark secret of Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto was running as fast as he could, speeding across the forest floor in order to reach the two runaway shinobi. His orange jacket still wrapped around his waist, leaving him in his dark blue t-shirt.

He wanted to put his jacket back on, since it was getting cold, but there were more important things to deal with.

For example...the fact that he was the exception in this overall fight.

Sasuko and Mizuki...they were both ninja now. They both had the headbands to prove it.

He was the only odd man out.

The blond shook his head, getting those thoughts out of his head.

So what that he was in a fight between two Konoha shinobi? Even if the entire thing was a farce...he would still become a ninja soon enough!

Determination in hand, he closed the gap between himself and the two combatants, newly confident, both thanks to his pep talk and the success of his newest jutsus.

He came out of the battle gainst those thugs completely unharmed, thrashing them easily.

He was an official badass now.

"-as young as you could possibly know anyways."

Naruto slowed down his movements and hid behind a tree, cautiously peeking past it to get a clearer view of what was going on.

Sasuko was staring up at the traitor; Mizuki, a lull in the fighting as he spoke.

What was-?

"Come...let me tell you about one of the biggest secrets that your elders have held back. Let me tell you...about the dark secret of Uzumaki Naruto." he proclaimed, a dark grin on his lips.

Naruto's eyes widened, what was he talking about...?

Dark secret? His dark secret? What the hell was he on about?

The blond shifted closer, blue eyes zeroing in on the former Academy instructor. Curiosity keeping him still.

"...What do you know about the infamous kyuubi attack twelve years ago, Sasuko-kun? What do you really know about it?" Mizuki prompted, inviting.

Sasuko watched him warily, looking for traps, but responded regardless. "...That the kyuubi no yoko attacked our village suddenly twelve years ago, doing immense damage and taking many lives in the process. It was said that the Yondaime Hokage destroyed it."

The chūnin merely shook his head, condescending. "Hah! No...that's what our fool of a Hokage wants you to believe. But the truth is very different. The fact is that the Sandaime Hokage created a rule to hide the truth from the younger generation...meant to protect Naruto-kun. But I assure you...his true colors will reveal themselves in time."

Naruto felt a chill go down his spine as he listened closely, was there really a rule meant to protect him...? Also, what did he mean by true colors?

He knew one thing for sure, he didn't want to keep listening...

"Enough stalling!" the Uchiha growled. "What are you talking about!? What rule? What do you mean by true colors?"

Mizuki smirked. "The Sandaime Hokage ordered for the villagers to never speak about the truth of what happened that day...of the fact that Uzumaki Naruto is in fact, the kyuubi no yoko!"

Naruto gasped, backing away from the tree with eyes as wide as saucers, heart hammering his rib cage ruthlessly as he shook his head.

No...

"Haven't you thought about how odd the villagers treated him? As if he was some kind of beast that was about to attack? Barely held in check? Well...if you add in the fact that many villagers lost their loved ones to the kyuubi, then that doesn't suddenly seem so strange doesn't it? They fear him, wondering whether the beast from within will one day break free and finish the job. But they were powerless to do anything, so their constant fear...turned into hate and resentment."

No...

"He acts like a tough guy, but the fact is that he has nothing. He is nothing. He begs for acknowledgement which he will never get, love which he will never receive, companionship when he will always be alone. Face it Sasuko-kun...you are associating with a sub-human, a beast, a monster."

The blond breathed out, shaking violently as he stared at his hands...

...Were these his hands? Or were they the kyuubi's...?

What...what as he?

Was he Uzumaki Naruto? Or was he the kyuubi no yoko...?

Or were they one in the same...?

Memories flashed in his mind's eye as he scrambled to grab his goggles on his forehead; filled with those looks...

The same one that Mizuki shot him with earlier...the one that showed him what they truly thought of him...

A sub-human.

Naruto ripped the goggles off of him, looking at it, trying to justify it's existent as salty water flowed down his cheeks, dripping on them.

Dirty water...why was everything so dirty...?

The goggles...they were supposed to mean something. They were supposed to occupy his forehead so that he could pretend that he had a forehead protector, pretend that he was a ninja. That he was respectable and honored for protecting the village.

More than that, it was a promise of what he would be, what he could be, what he will become if he had any say about it.

But...if what Mizuki claimed was true...then it wouldn't matter.

He tried so hard to change...to stop hating the people that hated him, all in hopes that they would accept him, embrace him as one of their own.

For the sake of that wish, he swallowed the dark feelings that he got when he was younger. Ignoring the oppressive feelings that he got when he was younger, when a part of him wanted nothing more than to share the pain that they inflicted.

He didn't want to look at himself in the mirror. To see something ugly reflect his visage.

He tried to move past it, to smile, to be happy. All in the hopes that he could change them...that everyone would accept him one day.

It was a lie. All of it.

The people he once thought of as people he cared about lied to him about his origins.

Was it to keep themselves safe...? Was he a tool for them this entire time?

No...the village would never accept him.

They would never accept the kyuubi.

He clenched the goggles close to him, crushing it with his fingers, making his skin break as blood dripped through the cracks.

...Konoha was all he knew, it was his entire world.

His home.

He had nothing except his home.

...No, a home wouldn't hurt him like this.

Then what did he have?

Weary blue eyes turned back to the clearing, eyeing the last Uchiha with trepidation.

...There was one thing that he had.

But did he lose that too when Mizuki told her the truth?

"...I don't know if you're telling the truth or not." Sasuko started slowly, eyeing the shinobi warily. "But your words make sense...I always wondered why the villagers hated him so much...I suppose I was fooling myself if I thought that it was because they hated his pranks. But being the kyuubi himself is..."

She trailed off, black eyes glancing down.

"...I never expected that. From what I heard about the kyuubi, it was a monster of the first order. It destroyed and terrorized Konoha, killed scores of civilians and shinobi, and took on two kage level ninja by itself. With one of them sacrificing themselves to destroy it. If Naruto is the kyuubi then..."

Once more, she stopped herself, shifting uncomfortably as she tried to wrap her head around the idea.

"...It makes you uncomfortable, right?" Mizuki murmured, a sick grin on his face. "That someone seemingly so happy could have a connection to a murderous beast. Well that's the truth kid, you were trying to protect a monster. A monster that...really...should be put down for the greater good. After all, who knows when that beast could get loose again?"

The ravenette didn't refute him, she simply stayed quiet.

Naruto turned away from the clearing, an empty smile that was framing cold eyes.

...Looks like he really did have nothing.

"You're wrong."

The blond stopped moving away.

"...I don't have the full story about Naruto's past. Whether he's the kyuubi incarnate or not. But...I've seen monsters before, I've seen monstrous acts, and I know what monsters look like...I can tell you right now, that someone that's so annoyingly happy, obnoxious, stupid, and...nice...isn't a monster. What he is...is Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto didn't say anything, he stayed as he was as her words echoed across the forest. His shoulder shaking ever so slightly...

"...To be honest, after hearing that, I think I can admit it to myself...about why I'm here. I think I can answer your question now Mizuki." she stated, black eyes fierce, unyielding.

Mizuki watched, his displeasure obvious, but he didn't say anything.

Sasuko raised a hand up for inspection, studying it. "...Ever since we worked together on that little side project, something has...changed. Within me. For the first time in a long time I actually began to care about someone else. I didn't say anything of course, in truth, I tried to fight it. To ignore it. To push him away. But his oblivious personality made that impossible, so I tolerated him for specific instances...then I began to actively speak to him. Enjoying his company. I...wanted to see him succeed in becoming a ninja. So when he failed, ran away, and then I heard that he stole the Scroll of Seals...I immediately wanted to help. Why?"

A rare soft smile grew on her lips, as she spoke the honest truth.

"Because deep inside, I consider him my friend."

Naruto fell to his knees, tears down his cheeks as he clenched his chest with blood-stained fingers, hunching his body over.

A friend...a friend.

He had one...for the first time in his life...he truly had one...

If that could happen with Sasuko...then that meant it could happen to others too.

His beliefs weren't just a lie.

Maybe...just maybe...Konoha could accept him someday, like Sasuko has accepted him.

"Thank you..." he whispered, a sloppy smile emerging like the brightest of suns through his tears.

Slowly, the young boy pushed himself up from the ground on shaky legs, wiping away the tears from his eyes.

He turned back to the clearing after he cleaned up his face and began walking towards it.

"If you truly believe that, then you're as disgustingly idealistic as many Konoha ninja, it's fitting then that you'll die like one too! As a pathetic weakling begging for help." Mizuki hissed, bringing out the last large shuriken out from his back and spun it around on his hand.

Sasuko focused all of her attention back onto her former sensei, spreading her legs to prepare for any quick movements.

*Clang*

Both combatants were taken off guard when a kunai pierced through the general greenery of the forest and knocked the spinning metal star off of the chūnin's hand. Sending it falling flat to the ground.

"There will be no more of that dattebayo!"

Mizuki's face twisted up, his eyes dilated and his teeth were bared.

"...How are you still alive...? You're nothing! A nobody! There's no way you could have came out of that fight alive when you're just a failed Academy student...! Naruto!" he howled into the air, seeing the whiskered boy emerge from the bushes to the his enemy's side.

Naruto indeed, walked up to the Uchiha to stand side-by-side to her, a grin on his face. "Yo. Sorry for taking so long, had to take out the trash."

Sasuko flicked her eyes to her ally through the side of her eye. "Took you long enough dobe."

The blond's grin didn't falter at all.

The Uchiha continued to stare at her partner's profile for a few seconds, a little bit of pink emerging from her cheeks.

"...Dobe...did you...hear anything? Anything at all before you got here?" she asked awkwardly, trying not to appear slightly nervous.

Naruto merely flashed his canines in a smile.

"Heard everything, bastard."

Sasuko's pale face flushed, twisting up in anger as she stomped her feet towards the blond and went right up to his face, her eyes blazing.

"You...! Don't get cocky just because I let a few words slip! You're still a dobe! Understood!?"

A slightly bloodied hand waved her away. "Yeah, yeah. It's ok. I know about your true feelings now. No need to pretend now."

"...Usuratonkachi!" Sasuko growled, gritting her teeth.

"Stop ignoring me!" Mizuki roared, grabbing the blond's and the ravenette's attention.

They genuinely forgot that he was there...

"I...will not be insulted by two brats! You will both die, here and now!" he screamed, jumping off of the tree branch he was occupying to charge them both.

Sasuko quickly prepared to intercept him, but a tanned hand grabbed her shoulder and stopped her short.

"No, don't."

Black eyes locked with blue.

"I've seen your back more than enough...look at mine for once."

Sasuko frowned, somewhat confused on what he meant.

But she saw the determination in those orbs of his, burning to prove his stripes.

So she closed her eyes, backing up and crossing her arms together. "Fine. I suppose I've had my fun with him anyways. He's all yours...try not to kill him, would you? We need the evidence so that we don't get implicated with this stupid plot of his."

Naruto grinned. "Got it."

So the blond took a step forward, casually unwrapping the orange jacket he had around his waist and putting it on without zipping it up, letting it flow quietly in the wind. Before bringing his bloodied fingers together to form a hand seal as the traitor closed in.

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Mizuki frowned, stopping in his tracks.

Then his expression shifted into horror.

Hundreds.

There were hundreds of copies of the orange-clad boy, surrounding him as they occupied every possible spot around him.

From tree branches to the ground floor, they were grinning at him darkly, prepared to pounce as one unit.

No...

"Alright boys!" Naruto crowed, giving everyone a thumbs up. "Let's finish this!"

No...!

With a loud cry, every single solid clone jumped towards Mizuki, raising a fist to bring unholy pain to him.

"NO! This is impossible! You're just a failure!" he screamed as a sea of orange descended upon him.

Sasuko could only allow a small grin to grow on her lips, shaking her head as the blond army practically ganging up on him.

...Her friend was full of surprises.

Sunrise.

Iruka was rushing to the Third Training Ground, sweat sliding across his face.

The Hokage had recently called him earlier, telling him that he had a hint to where Naruto had disappeared to. Smiling the entire time he relayed the information.

He knew that Hokage-sama was happy that he found Naruto, but he didn't think the smile was warranted until he actually got the foolish blond out of this situation.

So he continued jumped from tree branch to tree branch, searching for where he could be in the relatively small forest.

His eyes snapped to the right as he saw a flash of orange in his peripheries.

There!

Iruka quickly shifted course and headed to where he saw the orange, eventually landing at a clearing int he forest.

He took a moment to stare at the scene in front of him.

Naruto was crouching down, poking a severely battered young man with a stick, looking like he was in the middle of a science project.

But...Naruto was also getting poked by a familiar young girl with long black hair, studiously inspecting him with the focus of an scientist on the verge of a new discovery.

...But Naruto was also at the end of the clearing, picking up some twigs from some bushes.

...But several Narutos were busy playing rock,paper, scissors with one another, cursing at each other when they lost.

By this point Iruka's eyes took the shape of comical spirals, as he nearly lost his balance form sheer confusion.

It also grabbed Naruto's attention.

"Iruka-sensei!" he cried out, standing up from the shinobi's body. "We found you!"

The Academy instructor twitched at his blatant lie, but didn't respond immediately, instead he was trying to form words first.

"...Just...just what happened here? Why are there multiple Narutos? Why is Sasuko-kun here? Why is Mizuki here!?"

The real blond and ravenette turned to one another, nodding, before turning back to their sensei.

"Well...you see..."

"Hokage-sama!" a shinobi cried out, jumping towards the elderly man and kneeling. "We still haven't found Naruto yet! Should we send out the anbu!?"

Hiruzen chuckled faintly as he stared at his crystal ball, turning to regard the shinobi. "No need, the matter has been resolved. Inform your comrades."

The shinobi blinked, but did as he was told and moved quickly to order everyone to get back to their posts.

"What? Mizuki did all of that...?" Iruka breathed out, taking a step back. "Naruto...you learned such a jutsu as well?"

"Yep! On both accounts, that is right!" Naruto chirped, puffing out his chest in pride. "I know, I'm awesome aren't I?"

Sasuko walked up, shooting a distasteful look at her partner. "Please ignore him for now, his ego has just grown to the size of the moon by this point."

The blond resented that remark.

Iruka on the other hand shook his head slowly, regarding his fallen former comrade.

Yes, there was a darker edge to him these days, but to got his far...?

No, as much as he didn't really want to believe it, it still made sense. He and Iruka were the only real ninjas to know about Naruto's failure at the Academy. He had the recent motive and the ability.

The chūnin sighed, before turning to regard the blond.

"Naruto."

That grabbed his attention.

"Close your eyes."

Sasuko frowned as she watched the blond blink, looking about as confused as she felt, and did as ordered.

Then, slowly, her eyes widened.

"Naruto. Open your eyes."

Blue eyes did as ordered, it's owner frowning as he felt something wrapped around his forehead.

Hands with dry blood all over them slowly went up, trying to see what was on his head-

He tapped against metal.

His eyes widened slowly as realization set in, eyes trailing back to his sensei as he saw how naked the man's forehead was.

"...I may not have the full details, but I do know this..." Iruka started, eyes warm. "You have worked together with a shinobi and taken on harsh odds...and emerged victorious. You also learned an even more powerful cloning jutsu than the one in class, so that will be more than enough to graduate. Don't you think, Sasuko-kun?"

The Uchiha huffed and turned away. "Hnn."

Naruto clutched the headband on his head, feeling it's form, trying to memorize it by heart.

"Iruka-sensei! Sasuko!" he cried out, grabbing both of their necks and bringing them to a large group hug.

"...Ah!? What the hell dobe!?" the ravenette complained, trying to ignore the laughing sensei and the tearing blond, sighing in exasperation at the prospect of being pulled into a group hug.

Naruto slowly let go of his sensei, leaving her with his arm wrapped around his neck, bringing them close to one another.

"So...? What do you think, bastard?" the young boy prompted, tapping his headband. "We're going to graduate from the same class now. Ready to become ninja?"

Dry eyes locked to excited blue ones, but her lips twitched upwards without her permission.

"Of course. The real question here is...can you keep up?"

A challenging glint entered the blond's eye.

"You bet I can...!"

Iruka watched the duo with a smile, turning his eyes to the now-morning sky as he realized why the Hokage was smiling before.

Interesting times were ahead if these were the newest generation of shinobi.

He couldn't wait to see what they would do to affect the Elemental Nations.

Daikoku Tenzen was upset.

He was informed by some insider men back at Tanzaku Quarters that some idiot dragged a lot of his men out of his territory for some wild goose chase.

He was a simple man, he simply wanted his subordinates to do what he ordered; nothing more and nothing less.

Yet this retard went ahead and did something in which he didn't approve of.

This meant that heads were going to have to roll in his visit to Tanzaku Quarters.

His temperament was actually a lot worse than usual thanks to the fact that he had to stop laying the groundwork for his meeting with the Land of Water's daimyō. In hopes of gaining his attention and eventual protection from the law.

The shit that was overstepping his authority would pay the price...

He slammed his foot into the main gambling house of Tanzaku Quarters, shutting down conversations as many men and women realized who just entered the establishment.

"T-Tenzen-sama!" a young man cried out, bowing deeply to the crime boss as his bodyguards surrounded him. "We are honored by your presence! What do-?"

"Where's the man that owns this gambling house?" Tenzen demanded, sharp eyes looking for the middle-aged psuedo-samurai.

The young man perked up, quickly scrambling and managing to grab a piece of paper from his carrier bag. "Ah...well, the boss left you a letter just in case that you came by and he didn't have a chance to defend himself. Here."

Tenzen took the letter without comment, ripping it apart to read it's contents inside.

His fingers began to wrinkle the paper harshly as his eyes dilated and became murderous.

"Gatō." Tenzen spat, snarling. "It seems that my rival has decided to begin the foundations of a crime war...trying to get ahead of the game by cutting me out from the knees. Well...if he thinks he will catch me off guard, then he has another thing coming!"

The crime boss turned around and looked at his men angrily. "Call all of my direct subordinates, we're going to war with Gatō!"

His men cheered, as many of them were very much violent individuals that were getting bored with the prospect of guarding their boss. Salivating at the thought o fighting again.

Tenzen stormed out of the gambling house, thoughts already moving away from the insubordinate subordinate and focusing on his upcoming offensive against his crime boss rival.

He knew just where to aim for first...Gatō has made some nice acquisitions in the Land of Wave hasn't he...?

AN: Hey there! New chapter for viewing pleasure in now! :P

Well, not much to say, things have shifted quickly, hopefully now a good story can be told and the main characters' relationship has been formed.

Happy times for everyone, right?

Welp, criticisms are welcome. Please tell me your thoughts on this as this was a hard one to work on; on and off. My tests are almost done too, so maybe faster updates, but not too sure.

Anyways, enough rambling, see you all later! :D

-RekkingPride