Train With Me

Allison Illuminated

::

Academy IV

::

Sakura sat in a lotus pose, keeping her back straight as she read from her new book 'Theories of Chakra: Mental, Physical, and the Balance Between.' Her sparkly pink weighted bracers twinkled from the light of her desk lamp. She made her way intently through the book, making connections to her exercises, feeling the smooth flow of chakra through her muscles as she worked, absorbing every little detail.

Like the fact that clan children were taught fundamental meditation techniques from the moment they learned to crawl. Or that a severe imbalance in mental and physical chakra while using jutsu can, and often did, lead to permanent damage. The author was vague, but Sakura could see underneath the underneath.

It wasn't an inability to learn that stopped so many civilian ninja. It wasn't even the barriers, prohibitive barriers, of navigating the politics of ninja without a clan.

No. Civilians didn't have the preparation necessary to channel chakra.

They burned out their chakra coils in training and limited their growth, leading to hard caps in ability and a lifetime of service in the Genin Corps. Some didn't meet the physical standards of the clans. Some didn't have the spiritual training. The common thread, a realization that came as a gut punch to Sakura, was a lack of education about the nature of chakra. Civilians were told all about the enemies of Konoha and the dangers being a ninja posed, but never, not even in the Academy, were they informed the greatest danger was to themselves.

That information was withheld.

Deliberately.

Or, at least, Sakura thought. She knew ninja were too smart to overlook such a basic danger. The only conceivable reasons they weren't warned were either because the Academy was supposed to protect its students, in which case the teachers were complicit, or because someone, somewhere, wanted civilian ninja to fail.

The thought made Sakura's blood boil.

Every time I did a chakra exercise, every time I put a leaf to my forehead or a pebble on my palm, I jeopardized my future. She closed her eyes, fighting not to give into her anger. Her inner voice raged and railed at everything – her teachers, chakra, the Hokage – but beneath her rage, she felt a deep fear. Discovering chakra had been a wake-up call to her, but also a blessing, a warmth, a constant source of strength and comfort in her life; to think that at any moment the energy that ran through her body could break because of someone else's negligence hurt her soul.

She exhaled and turned the page.

Once Sakura had let go of her anger, replacing it with a simple determination – I am a civilian, but I won't fail – she turned to a more pressing question. If she had been putting her chakra coils in danger, why hadn't she inadvertently harmed them during her training? Sakura had had a severe deficit in physical chakra.

Through research, Sakura found only one answer that made sense. It explained why her exercises came natural; how she could be so far ahead of the curve despite her civilian upbringing.

Sakura had near-perfect chakra control.

The thought was thrilling, and sent a shiver of righteous vindication through her body. She deserved to be on the same level as the clan kids – she had a skill ninja prized, and she would work twice as hard if that was what it took to prove it. Konoha's attitude toward civilian ninjas stank of bullying, and Sakura hated bullies. This was about more than Shikamaru or Naruto or Sasuke-kun now.

I'll prove them all wrong. I'll become the best ninja in our year, and they'll have to see that holding back information is stupid and wrong! What's the point in having school if it doesn't teach you what you can find in books?

And Sakura would do it all in pink! She really did like her bracers – she'd have to thank Guy…

Never let it be said that Sakura Haruno didn't have a competitive streak a mile wide.

The door cracked open, and Sakura's mom peered in with a frown. "Sakura, honey? Why… are you on the ceiling?"

So she was. Sakura gave her mom, who was hanging from the floor, an exasperated look. "I'm reading, Mom," she said, holding up her book.

"And why are you reading on the ceiling?"

Sakura gave a shark-grin. "Justice."

She didn't need to date Sasuke-kun. No, that was too simple. Too much of something Ino would do, even though Ino was her friend again. Sakura liked Sasuke better now that he actually acknowledged her anyways, and he'd only started doing that after she shifted her focus from him to chakra.

Sakura's new goal was to beat Sasuke.

::

It was a typical Academy morning. Sasuke slunk into class early and sat in his usual seat, hands folded in front of his face, ignoring the meaningless conversations of his classmates and the giggling of his fangirls. He watched Iruka chalk up the daily lesson and brooded, thinking of nothing in particular, waiting for class to start. Luckily, today was a day the fangirls seemed more interested with each other than with him. Thank god. Sasuke had an empty seat on either side of him, and nobody to bother him.

Right as Iruka was about to begin class, Sakura skipped into the room, cheerfully oblivious to her tardiness, and Iruka didn't even blink. She wore her usual awful hot pink sparkly bracers and one of her darker outfits, a well-fit black jacket with pink highlights and pants, which, while garish and obnoxious, at least made her look like a ninja. She sauntered up the aisle and sat down next to Sasuke like she belonged there, ignoring the shouts of protest from the other fangirls.

Sasuke sighed. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, grinning a sharp grin that made Sasuke shiver. Did he like this new Sakura? She was a lot less annoying, but a lot scarier. She reminded him of the clan elders before-

His thoughts came to a screeching halt; he shut down; Sasuke turned away from Sakura, eyes narrowing, and grunted. "Hn."

Sasuke's dismissal of Sakura didn't seem to matter. Sakura sent him a sweet smile and pulled a tome the size of her head out of her pack, dropping it on the table with a thump. Nonchalant, ignoring Iruka, she started to read. Annoying, Sasuke thought. She used to go away when I ignored her.

Why is she so confusing?

"Why are you always reading?" he blurted out.

Tapping her cheek, Sakura flipped a page. "Iruka-sensei says good ninjas play to their strengths, right? I'm not the best at taijustu or with shurikens or kunai, but I'm really good on tests and stuff. So I read a lot so I can know enough to make up the difference."

Sasuke frowned, thoughtful. He knew he had to be better than the best at everything, to kill that certain man. Admitting weakness was worse than defeat. True, he already thought Sakura was weak, but maybe weak people could pretend to be strong if they hid their weaknesses. "What good are books?" he asked harshly.

Sakura smirked. She flipped the book shut, placed her palm on it, and lifted. Sasuke didn't stare – he watched with- with- tactical appreciation as the entire textbook stuck to Sakura's palm. "They taught me how to do this."

Sasuke shivered again, inching away from Sakura. Sakura might be weak, but she was also scary. And, somehow, the only person he talked to in the class. Almost like a friend.

Not that he needed friends. He was a lone avenger; his life was sworn to kill his brother. Avengers didn't have time for friends.

"Tch."

Sakura beamed.

"Hey everybody! Guess what?"

Naruto bounced into the room, hollering at the top of his lungs, interrupting Iruka midway through a sentence. Iruka facepalmed. Jumping onto a table, Naruto jabbed a thumb at his chest, a self-satisfied expression plastered over his face.

Great, the dead-last, Sasuke thought. This should be good.

Sakura's textbook fell down on the table as she jumped to her feet, making a fist at Naruto. "Naruto, you idiot, get off the table! Iruka-sensei's trying to teach!"

"You're not even paying attention," Ino grumbled from the next row over.

"Sakura-chan! Go on a date with me!"

"No!"

"Hey!" Iruka's voice cut across the classroom. Iruka hit the table, giving Naruto a death glare. "We're in the middle of class! Naruto, say your piece and get off the table!"

Puffing out his chest, Naruto declared, "You're looking at the next Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, cause I'm graduating early! I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage anyone's ever seen, dattebayo!"

There was silence.

Naruto… is graduating early?

The entire class burst out into a round of hysterical laughter, sending Naruto stumbling back off the desk and landing with his butt on the floor. Sakura was loudest of all. Sasuke didn't laugh, but even he couldn't hold back a smile, one that slipped away when he recognized the poorly-concealed hurt on Naruto's face. Naruto was pathetic. But what little esteem Sakura had garnered for herself since walking in the door evaporated at the malicious glee on her face at Naruto's embarrassment. It was an ugly look on her.

Frowning, Sasuke looked away. Sakura wasn't like the rest of the girls, but she was no saint. Mocking others who were weaker was foolish. Sasuke disliked people who gained strength to prey on others – he didn't care enough about Sakura to be upset, but there was a twinge of disappointment.

Curious. Sasuke wanted Sakura to be better. Rare as it was for him to want anything other than Itachi's death, he took notice of the feeling so he could root it out and crush it.

The only other person in the room who didn't laugh was Shikamaru. The Nara heir sat in the back of the room, watching Naruto with thoughtful, conflicted eyes. Knowing eyes. Shikamaru had more information than Sasuke, and he knew something about Naruto Sasuke didn't, which also irked him; either that, or Shikamaru had developed a soft spot for the idiot, a prospect Sasuke found distasteful. Nara was better than that.

Everything seemed designed to annoy Sasuke today.

Not like I care.

Breathless from laughing, Sakura slumped back in her seat, flexing her arms beneath her dark, pink-lined sleeves, and gave Sasuke a blinding smile. Sakura didn't even see her hatred for what it was. She was so…

"What are you smiling at me for?" Sasuke muttered, glaring at Sakura for being confusing.

Sakura flipped her pink hair. "I had a funny thought," she said. "For a second, I almost compared myself to Naruto." She said it so nonchalantly Sasuke almost missed the way her eyes flicked to Naruto, walking in shame to his seat near Shikamaru, and her lips thinned.

She meant it.

And that, Sasuke thought, was the scariest revelation of all.

::

When Shikamaru laid on his favorite grassy hillside and watched the clouds, he always had lot on his mind.

The curse of a busy mind, his mother called it. All the Naras had the same troubles; an abundance of thought, an overactive mind, and a world of troublesome people who didn't know better than to disturb their thinking. He was lazy because he was already occupied; he slacked off because he already knew the answers. In many ways, the Nara compound reflected their state of mind – deep and withdrawn, a forest within Konoha's walls, the deer as fleeting and elusive as his train of thought.

Shikamaru was only ten, but already he had begun to develop the formidable intellect and cunning of his father, Shikaku. Once he had tried to convince Shikaku to allow him to graduate early from the Academy.

"I'm bored, Father," Shikamaru had said, fighting to keep himself calm. "What's the point if I already know half of what we learn, and the other half the clan forbids me to do until I learn Kagemane? If I graduate, I can help the village. The clan will allow me to learn our style. I can be like you and help the village, and as a Genin-"

"Enough." Shikaku had given Shikamaru a hard look. They'd been playing shogi after Shikamaru had come home frustrated and angry, letting Shikamaru unspool his frustrations into the game. He'd played sloppy. Missed things. "Do you know why we don't allow children to graduate early anymore?"

"Yeah, yeah. After the Uchiha Massacre-"

"No." Shikaku moved his piece, snapping it down on the wooden board. "Itachi Uchiha was a part, yes. But the answer you aren't seeing runs deeper. When our village was founded on the Will of Fire, the First Hokage envisioned a future where the ninja clans of the Fire Nation could coexist in peace, shaping a better future for those who followed. All clan children fought during the Warring Clans era, some as young as seven, five, our children among them. But the world is changing. We don't let children into the field because we don't have to, because we have the luxury of letting our children stay children a little longer. Because our understand of the mind has progressed, and we understand the destructive impacts our lifestyle has on a child's psyche. Itachi Uchiha gave the Sandaime the opportunity to make the change. You are lucky, Shikamaru, to come of age in a more peaceful world."

"But we aren't at peace. Anyone with eyes can see that," Shikamaru protested.

He made a foolish move, poorly conceived, and Shikaku capitalized on his advantage immediately. "But can we afford war? Think, Shikamaru. Why won't Konoha graduate you early?"

Hands balled up on his knees, Shikamaru stared hard at the board. "The Kyuubi attack. We lost the Fourth and our manpower, and we had to rebuild. Then the Uchiha were massacred and we lost our strongest clan. Our position is… weak."

"Your year has more clan heirs than any in a long time," Shikaku said. He gestured over his pawns. "Nara. Akiminchi. Yamanaka. Uchiha. Hyuuga. Aburame. Inuzaka. Our strength. Should you all reach your true potential, Konoha will not be in a weak position any longer, but until you are strong enough to stand up in the face of a world that wishes our village harm, you must be protected. Kumo would stop at nothing to steal a bloodline, and Suna and Iwa wouldn't hesitate to see you dead. You must be strong, and that is a strength which can only come with time. Patience is essential."

"But…"

Shikaku raised an eybrow at his son. "But what?"

"What if that's not how we grow strong? What if the Will of Fire has to be tapped? I hate the idea that the best we can do is nothing," Shikamaru said, his voice rising, a flush of feeling rising to his cheeks. Feeling childish, he looked away, letting the outburst sink in with his father, his thoughts racing.

"Shikamaru." Blushing, Shikamaru looked at his father – Shikaku returned it with grave consideration. "You are a Nara," Shikaku said gently. "I know you're speaking from your heart, but it's not in our nature to step ahead of the line. We work from the shadows. Our minds are our greatest service to our village; even our jutsu, the Kagemane, requires focus and dedication, quiet study. I know you feel you could do more, but you cannot."

"What if I disagree?" Shikamaru asked, mustering the last of his resistance.

"You are at the Academy to learn," Shikaku said, his tone turning dismissive. Shikamaru recognized it well. It was his father's Jonin Commander voice; the voice he used when he grew sick of an argument. "Your chakra has not developed enough to use the Kagemane – I will not teach you until you turn twelve, and you will not enter the field until you learn. Your responsibility as the clan heir dictates that you need to learn the non-combat lessons and forge connections with the other clan heirs. I am not telling you to be passive. I am telling you to apply yourself. Learn the ways of social interaction, notice the patterns among your classmates as they develop, and you will have done more for our clan and village in the long run than you ever would on a genin team at this age."

Shikamaru looked away. "Yes, Father."

Shikaku sighed. "Troublesome. Shikamaru… You have too much of your mother; her passion, her fire, but also her stubbornness. This is a matter of strategic necessity. To bear the mantle of our clan, to continue the next generation of Shika-Ino-Cho is a burden, but one that you will find is worth it."

He hadn't answered. Shikamaru had withdrawn into his own head, staring at the wall until his father rose, recognizing the end of the game, and walked away, giving Shikamaru space. Sometimes Shikamaru imagined he hadn't returned to the world since.

The orange and pink sunset stretched across the clouds, painting the sky in brilliant colors. The grass whistled around him in the wind, brushing his folded hands, directing his gaze skyward. Shikamaru traced where the constellations would be. He waited for the stars to fade into existence. Cicada chirped under the light of a full moon, round and huge, rising in the south over Konoha's dusty treeline.

Will Naruto really graduate early? He didn't believe Naruto would for a moment, even if his test scores had been quietly creeping upward for months, even if Naruto could do a successful henge and substitution. Naruto had surpassed him, even – the kid everyone called 'dead last' was no longer the dead last. That was Shikamaru, now, although he intended to improve his test performance to pawn that unflattering position to Kiba. No. Naruto wouldn't pass. Shikamaru could say that with absolute certainty.

But Naruto was changing. It was as though a fire had been lit beneath Naruto, kicking him into high gear. The only other person in the class whose growth was comparative was Sakura Haruno, who had managed to all-but-kick her fangirl label, worm her way into a friendship with Sasuke, and open up a yawning gap as the top kunoichi in their class.

Shikamaru knew the difference between correlation and causation. He still had a sinking suspicion the odd encounter he'd had with both Naruto and Sakura several months earlier was somehow responsible for their newfound determination. He hadn't meant to cause such a disruption in the fabric of his class… had he?

Had he?

He didn't put effort in. He watched clouds and napped and played shogi. In spite of that, in spite of the way he portrayed himself to, well, everyone, Shikamaru felt an odd and warm appreciation for Naruto and the fact that he was trying. Naruto was so enthusiastic.

How could he be so enthusiastic?

Shikamaru had started truly paying attention to his new friend – and he could not call Naruto anything less than a friend. He watched Naruto train, but he also watched Naruto dodge angry civilians and ignore harassment and get shut out of stores. By tracking Naruto around the village, Shikamaru had developed a suspicion that Naruto lived in the seediest part of town, the Red Light district. Naruto was an orphan and a loner. Shikamaru was, as far as he could tell, Naruto's only friend; perhaps Choji too by extension. There were too many oddities about Naruto. They'd all come to a head when Shikamaru had caught Naruto fleeing a group of angry villagers on October 10th – villagers screaming for the death of the 'demon brat' and the 'fox spawn.' Before that day, Shikamaru had never taken note of the whisker birthmarks on Naruto's cheeks. Now he did. The kicker was when, after Shikamaru had walked Naruto home to, confirmed, the Red Light district, Naruto had admitted that October 10th was also his birthday.

Somehow, Shikamaru deduced, Naruto was connected to the Kyuubi, the nine-tailed fox. Somehow, Naruto was important. When he was with Naruto, he almost saw flickers out of the corner of his eye. Naruto had an absurd overabundance of chakra and could not injure himself. He called the Sandaime jiji.

Shikamaru didn't care who or what Naruto was. What Shikamaru did care about were the incredible circumstances that seemed to be arrayed against the blond, and Shikamaru found himself rooting, passionately, for Naruto to succeed. He wanted Naruto to graduate early. He wanted Naruto to prove himself to the village and to become the Fifth Hokage. He even wanted, in a secret, selfish corner of his heart, for Naruto to succeed because of his help – Shikamaru wanted to feel involved for once, to operate outside of the shadows, to overcome his laziness for something more important no matter how troublesome it was for him.

As Naruto climbed the class ranks, Shikamaru rooted for him. He wished for Naruto's success. He wished he could be the cause of Naruto's success, even though he knew he wasn't. Naruto had held that potential all along.

A cloud twisted in the sky. Shikamaru pushed down a strange, foreign feeling – disappointment – that he was getting by at the bottom instead of fighting his way to the top, and he was content.

Sort of.

He won't pass. But I could help him pass. Iruka-sensei stopped giving him private lessons, but even just a study partner would be all Naruto needs. But I can't. Father wouldn't permit it, wouldn't allow me to learn the Academy Three yet, even if it were just in theory.

Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose, almost unable to believe he was contemplating taking on so much extra work. That he wanted it.

"Shikamaru?" Choji walked up the hill, giving Shikamaru a tentative look. Shikamaru pushed himself into a sitting position – Choji had his nicer clothes on and no food in hand, and Ino stood impatiently at the bottom of the hill, tapping her foot. "Are you coming?" Choji asked. "We have to go to dinner. You said you'd be back ten minutes ago."

Shikamaru sighed, running a hand through his spiky hair. There you go again, Naruto, giving me another headache. "Yeah, alright, fine. Where are we going again?"

"Barbecue, moron!" Ino yelled. "Do you have anything but clouds up there, Pineapple Head?"

Hiding his frown, Shikamaru rolled his eyes and got to his feet. He thrust his hands into his pockets. Contemplated the sunset.

Shika-Ino-Cho. This is my future.

It would be so easy to stay the course – I could do nothing and my life would fall into place.

Choji and Ino both watched him with matching knowing looks. "There you go again," Choji said. "Always lost in thought."

Shikamaru gave Choji a little smile that he didn't mean and descended the hill. Pushing his musings aside, he shot Ino a flat look, bumping her shoulder. "Napping is nice too," he said, pushing past Ino's outrage. "And my thoughts are very important."

"Why, you!"

Choji laughed and followed his bickering friends off to diner.

Naruto was an outcast. Sakura was a civilian. They both had something to prove, a drive that, once awoken, would carry them further, if only because they had to carve their paths out for themselves.

Shikamaru had nothing to prove.

He would become who he had to be, in the mold of his father and ancestors before him, for the good of Konoha. Naruto would have to walk his own road.

the back of his mind wondered, unless…

::

Sakura wavered at the entrance to the Jonin Headquarters, her fist staying over the door, afraid to knock and face every jonin in the village. But there was nothing to be done. Taking a deep breath, she rapped her knuckles against the door.

To her deep relief, the door was answered by Might Guy, exactly who she was looking for. Even better, the common room behind him was empty.

"Young Sakura!" Guy exclaimed, staring down at her in surprise. "I did not expect to see you here today! Might I ask how I may help you?"

Sakura tittered nervously, remembering Ino's rantings about the green-clad man. Confidence, Sakura, her inner voice reminded her. Sometimes Sakura wondered if she was actually crazy. There were times when her inner voice almost acted as a different person… and Guy still stood there waiting for her to say something.

"Actually, um, I was looking for you, Guy-san," Sakura said.

"Really? YOSH!" Gai looked entirely more smug at that than Sakura thought he had a right to, and she scowled. "The pink blossom most youthfully seeks me out!" He grinned. "You found me."

Oh, did I find you. Sakura fought down the part of her that found Guy endearing – Ino says he's crazy, remember – and tried to focus. She held out her pink bracers. "You gave me these," she said, blunt. "And I went to the store but they're all the same model, which means they're chakra adjustable. And I tried to, but I couldn't figure out how to make them heavier. So I was…"

She trailed off.

Guy's eyes had lit up for a moment in victorious satisfaction and a deeply intelligent evaluation. Then, it was buried as Guy stared off into the distance and exclaimed at the top of his lungs, "YOU TRULY ARE IN THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH! LOOK AT HOW IT FLOWERS-" Sakura could almost picture him looking out into an imaginary sunset.

"HEY!" she screamed, matching Guy in volume. Guy shut up, cowed, and looked down at her as Sakura glared at him. "I came to you for help! Not for you to be weird! If you're gonna ignore me then I'll go somewhere else!"

Sakura regretted her temper as soon as the words left her mouth. In truth, she didn't have somewhere else to go. Guy was the only ninja who'd ever expressed any interest in helping her other than her teachers, and she didn't want to alienate him. Her regret must have shown on her face, because Guy's expression softened and he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Of course I will help you, most youthful Sakura," Guy said. "I'm most impressed with your artful additions to your bracers – pink is an excellent color, although I prefer orange and green! They go quite well with your outfit and hair!" He gave her a thumbs-up, and she blushed, not used to getting complimented by anyone but her parents.

"Can you show me how to make them heavier?" Sakura asked, trying to inject confidence into her plaintive tone.

"Of course," Guy said. "Shall we go to a training ground?"

Sakura nodded decisively. "We shall," she said loftily, puffing herself up to match Guy's bravado.

"Then onward!"

One pair of eyes watched them go from the shadows. Naruto Uzumaki grinned as he threw on a henge, hefted his two super-size cans of neon orange paint, and ran to catch the door to the Jonin Headquarters before it could lock behind Guy.

::

In truth, Naruto hadn't even intended to paint the entire Jonin Headquarters orange.

He had followed Sakura out of the Academy, hoping to track Sakura down and ask her for a date. Naruto's crush on his classmate had only grown since Sakura had stopped pining after that idiot Sasuke and started getting awesome. Naruto hadn't exactly meant to stalk her, but how else was he supposed to get her alone? Sakura was always with Ino or Sasuke or the other kids – she was always nicer to Naruto when they were alone. Marginally.

But Naruto would take whatever he could get, dattebayo!

Sakura didn't go to the civilian quarter, though; Naruto always stopped following her when she headed home, because he wasn't a creep. He wouldn't want a girl like Sakura to know where he lived. She turned and headed past the abandoned Senju compound toward the center of town. Curious, Naruto followed.

He didn't recognize the building, but Sakura did. Sakura stopped at the door and knocked and a ninja Naruto didn't recognize stepped out. He was wearing orange, though, so he couldn't be that bad. Sakura showed the ninja her arms – did she have a sunburn – and they walked away together, right as Naruto had a great idea. If the ninja had been inside the building, then it must be important! And if it was important, then Naruto could prank it!

Flawless logic.

Even better, he could practice his jutsu for his test.

Inside there were lots of couches and a big communal table, plus a long hallway with offices in the back. Naruto ignored the living room and went straight for the offices, jumping at the chance to figure out what the building was. He opened the door to someone's office – who was 'Morino Ibiki?' – and started rifling through some papers. He ignored the boring stuff. Blah, blah, brewing genocidal tensions in Kiri, yadda yadda, Orochimaru sighting in Iron Country, blah, blah, blah, jinchuriki energies detected in Waterfall… What the heck was a jinchuriki or an Orochimaru? Whatever. Naruto didn't care. He was still so proud of his ability to piece together basic passages, his new reading skill, that he didn't mind when a word or three escaped him.

Finally he found a memo that said 'to the Jonin Headquarters,' and he grinned. The Jonin Headquarters! Jonin are super strong – this is perfect!

Dropping his henge, Naruto pried open his cans of paint and cracked his knuckles. Maybe I can use a clone to help! Making the handsigns, he cried, "Clone Jutsu!"

His clone appeared in a poof of smoke. A crippled, warped blob of orange and yellow appeared on the floor, moaning in pain. Naruto cringed and dispelled it.

At least it hadn't exploded.

It didn't matter! He could do it all himself!

Twenty minutes later, when the green ninja and another ninja with spiky silver hair walked in on Naruto, Naruto had already painted the entire common room bright orange. He dropped the paintbrush, blinking at the jonin. The jonin stared back.

"Very orange," the spiky silver-haired one said. "I'm going to take you to the Hokage now-"

Naruto's wicked grin was the only warning the two jonin got.

"SEXY JUTSU!"

Wreathed in clouds of smoke, a nude, teenaged, well-endowed, female Naruto winked flirtatiously at the jonin like he'd watched the women at bars do, making the weird sound he heard when he passed by the stores with all the naked people. It felt weird to change his body, but it was so much easier than the Clone Jutsu. Naruto didn't even mind the extra weight or height. Putting a finger to his lips, his arm accidentally pressing his chest things together, Naruto winked at the jonin.

The silver-haired one fainted. The green one stared vacantly at the wall, a trickle of blood running down his lip.

It worked! Naruto thought triumphantly. Now, my awesome getaway!

He made the hand signs. "Substitution jutsu!"

As a parting gift, Naruto swapped places with his last bucket of paint, drenching Kakashi and Guy in orange. He collapsed into the bushes and died of laughter, then started hopping across the rooftops toward his best hiding spot, knowing that someone would catch up to him before long.

::

Sarutobi pushed his crystal ball away and placed his face in his hands.

"Naruto…"

::

Sakura stood next to Ino in a crowd of girls, waiting nervously to hear the sparring pairings for the day. Her muscles were burning already, but it was a good burn – her usual five-lap morning run, core routine, and chakra channeling regime, plus obstacle course practice in class earlier. She was ready to fight. She could be paired against anyone – as the top kunoichi Iruka put her against boys often to help her improve – but she hoped it was Sasuke-kun. She knew it was Sasuke-kun. She wanted to fight Sasuke-kun.

"Sakura vs. Sasuke," Iruka called, bored.

"YES!"

Sakura jumped up, pumping a fist, and jogged over to the battlefield. All of the girls stared at her like she was insane – most of them somewhere between 'why would you want to hit Sasuke-sama' and 'you are going to die.' Ino, in particular, boggled at Sakura. "You want to fight Sasuke?"

She grinned, rolling her shoulders. She'd worn good fighting clothes and her headband today and it was totally going to pay off.

Sasuke slouched onto the field, giving Sakura a strange look, not so different from the look his fangirls were giving her. "I don't understand you," he muttered, settling into a combat pose.

Sakura didn't care about the glances, or whether Sasuke understood her. She was all focused on fighting. In the past, Sakura had cared more about her makeup and clothes than what they did during the combat parts of class, but now she had higher goals, goals which required good taijutsu. Sakura wasn't strongest or fastest, but she was the smartest. Fighting smart meant focusing. Focusing meant Sasuke.

She kept her bracers on.

"Okay!" Iruka stepped up, looking from Sakura to Sasuke. "You guys know the drill. Taijutsu only, first one to knock the other out of the ring or earn a surrender wins. Try to use what we've been working on in class. Ready?"

"Yes!" Sakura shouted. Sasuke grunted.

"Alright, begin!"

The first thing you needed to know about Sasuke Uchiha if you intended to fight him was he was fast.

Incredibly fast.

See, what Sakura appreciated about Sasuke, perhaps more than anyone, or at least on par with the other girls in the class, was that he was awesome when it came to fighting. Sakura hadn't spent years fangirling over Sasuke not to know his strengths. He moved with a fluid grace that wiped away his sullen and dark personality, replacing it with a graceful, beautiful mirage of violent combat. He could whip a kick around in seconds – Sakura barely dodged it – then pivot in midair to launch another at his opponent's face – she rolled away, panting.

No time limit. A captive audience. Nothing but hard rules and combat. She had all the time before Sasuke booted her in the face to test the waters.

The second thing about Sasuke Uchiha was that he noticed everything, and he had the sharp intellect to piece little quirks and movements together into deadly vulnerabilities in moments.

Sakura jumped to her feet and struck back, stepping in close for a punch that missed, kicking, then feigning a reverse kick to land a light punch on Sasuke's chest. It didn't even stop his momentum. Two days earlier, Sakura had collided with an unsuspecting chunin on patrol on her run and fell against the wall, bruising her arm – the punch brought the bruise into range. Without a second thought, Sasuke unloaded the full force of his momentum into a kick that collided with the bruise, sending Sakura tumbling backward, crying out in pain.

She hit the ground hard, rolling; she caught herself with a chakra-infused hand to stop herself from leaving the ring, earning a murmur from the crowd, and flung herself to the side to avoid getting stomped on. Sasuke's eyes were dark and emotionless. There was no sign of the uneasy camaraderie they shared in class, no heart, no connection. He felt nothing for her. There was only the fight, and Sakura had made Sasuke her enemy.

Her old feelings flared with hurt, but she forced them down. Ducking and weaving, the fighting reaching nearly the twenty-second mark, Sakura forced herself to think.

The third thing you needed to know about Sasuke – if you intended to fight him and win – was that he was arrogant. Oh, so arrogant. He was a loner, top of the class, so far removed from his peers the distance appeared insurmountable. Sasuke would always believe he could do it himself.

Alone.

Sakura hadn't seen it when Sasuke had been her heartthrob. She'd barely noticed as his tentative friend. But breaking free of her shell and becoming a true ninja had led Sakura to some hard truths about herself, and one of them had been her blindness toward the Last Uchiha. She couldn't fight Sasuke blind. So she'd looked – really looked – at the most important person in her life, and Sakura had been ashamed to find she didn't know Sasuke at all.

She didn't know Sasuke. And Sasuke would never have loved her – not like she was then, not like she was now – because of it.

But Sakura knew Sasuke enough to exploit his most outward and obvious flaw.

"Sasuke! Sasuke! Sasuke!" the girls cheered. They'd started once they realized it would be a real fight. They got louder when Sasuke slammed Sakura down into the dirt, covering her jacket and hair in dust and dirt and filth, muddying her perfect pink, her bracer jarring her wrist painfully. But he couldn't pin her. She was elusive, clawing back to her feet. Sakura feigned exhaustion, noticing that Ino wasn't cheering for Sasuke, and let Sasuke think he had won. She wound up for one last kick, Sasuke going for the easy counter-

Gotcha.

Like fire, chakra rushed to her right fist.

She spun, catching Sasuke off his guard, and slammed an overpowered punch into his side. Sasuke went flying. He flipped in midair, landing semi-gracefully, his face contorting in pain, and rose to hit her back – outside of the ring.

Sasuke stared at the white line on the wrong side of his feet.

So did everyone else.

Iruka blinked, gawking at Sakura, and cleared his throat. "Uh… Sakura wins!"

There was more dead silence, then everyone in the class erupted at once. Ino squealed and threw herself at Sakura, wrapping Sakura up in a tight hug, and Sakura laughed, hardly able to believe she'd pulled it off. Naruto cheered and Iruka gave her a look that was somewhere between proud and bewildered and one of the girls started crying.

Sakura released Ino and, before he had a chance to evade, hugged Sasuke. "I did it!" she exclaimed as people shrieked and Sasuke stiffened like he'd never been hugged before. Sakura didn't care. She was just so happy-

Sasuke shoved his way out of Sakura's embrace, sending Sakura stumbling back, her eyes widening in hurt. Sasuke's shoulders shook; he curled his hands into fists and looked at Sakura. He looked at her for the first time, but it wasn't the look of quiet affection or smoldering passion Sakura had always dreamed of, and she felt her crush, the idealized image of Sasuke she held so close to her heart, shatter irrevocably into a million little pieces. Sasuke's eyes were filled with a cold anger, an unbridled hatred, a malice born from years of pain and isolation all directed at her. And Sakura froze, couldn't move, because in spite of it all her world still turned on the words that came out of his mouth.

"Don't touch me."

Sakura flinched. Her eyes welled with tears – how could she be so stupid, no, so stupid that she could let his words turn her emotions inside out in an instant.

Sasuke walked past her and stopped with his shoulder to hers, speaking back over his shoulder. "You haven't changed at all," he said in a cold tone, flat and quiet. "This is no different than all the other times. You're pathetic."

He left. Iruka didn't stop him.

Standing in the circle of her classmates, a tear trickling down her cheek, the hollow victory boring out her chest, Sakura felt her resolve and her emotions harden. She… She was a kunoichi. She beat the strongest fighter in her class on her own strength. Even if it had cost her one of her two friends. If Sasuke had ever been her friend at all.

He wasn't, was he? All this time…

It was all in my head.

Give him up, Sakura. You don't need him. We're better than him.

We- We are?

Yeah, Inner said, and Sakura trembled as her chakra flexed, coursing through her veins. We are.

Oh. Sakura smiled, brittle, and she let her chakra run faster. She blinked her tears away. We are. We beat him. This is what I wanted, isn't it?

"Sakura?" Ino asked, reaching out a tentative hand. She was the only one in the class brave enough to approach her – everyone else stayed back and gawked, at a complete loss for what to say. Sakura could imagine they would be; she'd been miles closer to Sasuke than anyone else, and he'd dismissed her like she was nothing. Their dreams must be falling apart. Sakura's had.

She felt… broken.

"I'm fine, Ino," Sakura said. She wiped away her tears and gave a fake smile. "Sasuke can be a bit of a bastard, can't he? Good thing I beat him."

"Yeah," Ino agreed, her voice shaking. "Screw him."

Sakura nodded, letting Ino tug her away from the battlefield and into the Academy building, where there would be nobody else to watch her humiliation. "Yeah," she echoed. "Screw him."

Somewhere deep within her mind, where there was another presence not her own, a deep vibration came. Inner agreed.

::

Naruto wasn't supposed to be nervous. He'd trained, he'd prepared, his clone jutsu was semi-functional. But, stepping into a room full of students two years older than himself, nervous he was.

"You'll do fine. You've come a long way in a short time," Iruka had said. "I believe in you, Naruto," Teuchi had said. "For the last time, Naruto, putting hair dye in my shampoo is not the best way to get my attention!" Jiji had said.

He swung the doors open and stepped into the room, which was filled with graduating students gathered in clusters, chatting and laughing and preparing for the test. Naruto slipped inside, feeling rather intimidated and uncharacteristically shy, kept to the edges of the room, approaching the test proctor. It wasn't Iruka-sensei.

"You are?" the proctor asked.

"Naruto Uzumaki."

The procotor raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. "Noted. Wait with the others."

Getting laughed at by his entire class was bad. In some ways, Naruto decided sitting in that room, waiting for his graduation test to begin, surrounded not by his peers but by older students, far more prepared and confident than he, in silence, was worse. The minutes stretched on. Nobody spoke to him or acknowledged him, save a whisper or a glance.

When I'm Hokage, they'll all respect me, Naruto thought miserably, kneading his fists against his knees. They'll see.

Nobody came to Naruto's rescue. He was alone.

The first stage of the graduation exam was the written component. Naruto took his test seriously, carefully reading through the questions and finding, to his incredible relief, that he knew some of the answers – in large part because he could read the questions. The anxiety turned his stomach, and he fought to keep tears from his eyes, tears of gratitude toward Iruka. He didn't have to vocabulary to express how he felt, but Naruto knew he had been given a gift by his teacher he could never repay. He left some questions blank, and guessed on others, but more often than not, he could circle the answer he thought was correct and move on.

The obstacle course was easy. It was just like running away from the guards after a good prank, and Naruto snuck in a middling time, ahead of many of the older kids. The spark of hope and determination rekindled in his chest. He could do this! He would show everyone that Naruto Uzumaki had to be taken seriously!

Kunai were easy. Shuriken were harder. In Taijutsu, Naruto even managed to beat his opponent, a civilian boy who seemed to meek to fight Naruto properly.

Finally, Naruto reached the last part of his exam: the jutsu demonstration. His palms sweating, he entered the final exam room and came face-to-face with Iruka-sensei, who sat at a table with three other ninjas holding a clipboard. Iruka smiled at Naruto as he entered. "Naruto Uzumaki. You will display three jutsu. First, please show us your henge."

Naruto nodded. His hands flew through the signs, and he cried, "Transformation Jutsu!" His form changed in a puff of smoke to the first thing he thought of – his Sexy Jutsu form. Two of the instructors squawked, and Iruka facepalmed. Naruto's eyes widened. Clothes! Wincing, he did the jutsu again, and this time he appeared with his normal outfit on.

"That's, ahem, two successful uses of the Transformation Jutsu," Iruka said, clearing his throat. "Now, your Substitution Jutsu."

"Substitution Jutsu!"

He swapped places with a conveniently placed log, cheering inside when he appeared across the room in a puff of smoke.

Each instructor hummed and wrote something down on their clipboard. Iruka nodded. "Success. Now… We would like you to demonstrate your Clone Jutsu. Please create three clones."

Naruto took a deep breath, trying to focus. He couldn't overextend, couldn't take too much of the energy or it would explode, and he had to pass because otherwise everyone would hate him even more and Shikamaru wouldn't be his friend anymore. Iruka watched him supportively. What if he disappointed Iruka? Dog, boar, ram. "Clone Jutsu!"

The clone popped into existence, but it wasn't right. It was twisted and distorted and misshaped, a grotesque reflection of Naruto. There was only one. Naruto stared at it in panic.

Iruka sighed. "I'm sorry, Naruto. You've failed the Clone Jutsu."

"What? No. I can try again, I can do it better-" Naruto protested, his clone dispelling.

One of the other instructors shook his head and flipped a page on his clipboard, dismissing Naruto. Iruka sighed, giving Naruto a hard look. "It's not just your clone, Naruto," Iruka said. "You failed your written exam, too, although you did manage to score a fifty percent. Your shuriken jutsu was subpar. Your progression for a student your age has been remarkable, Naruto, and I'm proud of you, but the simple truth is the Academy prepares ninja for life in the field, and if you can't produce a simple clone, you aren't ready. I'm sorry."

Naruto panicked, waving his arms. "Wait, Iruka-sensei! You've got it all wrong, dattebayo! I'm ready, I promise, I can-"

"You fail."

Freezing, going cold, Naruto wavered in the center of the classroom. Everything around him seemed to grow impossibly large – the instructors towered over him like giants and the shadows loomed like mountains. Unbeknownst to him, a certain malevolent being sealed into his navel opened a single, crimson eye in interest. Giving Iruka a look of betrayal, Naruto half-pleaded, half-growled, "I can make a clone, Iruka-sensei. Just watch. Clone Jutsu!"

Iruka stretched out a hand, eyes widening. "Naruto, no!"

Naruto drew on his chakra too hard – took far too much – and expelled it from his body, trying to coalesce it into a clone. He failed. He lost control.

BOOM.

The world went white.

::

Sakura walked home with her hands in her pockets, deep in thought. Dark had fallen over the civilian quarter, and the streets were filled with people heading home for the night. She couldn't find it in herself to give the familiar faces a smile. All she could think about was her goal: becoming strong. Becoming a kunoichi. Changing the fundamental parts of herself that stubbornly refused to change.

Proving Sasuke wrong. She was not pathetic.

"Did you hear what they're saying about the Academy?" a passing woman asked her friend.

"Oh, yes," her friend replied. "The demon brat finally snapped and blew up a classroom! Hospitalized two people. He should be expelled from the village, I'll say…"

Sakura frowned. The Academy explosion had been the talk of their class, even though nobody seemed to know the culprit. It can't be Naruto, Sakura thought. He's stupid but he's not that stupid. Also he was in class the next day and he didn't look exploded.

He does like destroying things, though, Inner pointed out. He probably tried to pull some stupid prank!

You're right! Naruto, you idiot!

We should punch him!

He does deserve a good deck to the head, doesn't he? Propositioning me in class…

Parents pulled their children away from Sakura with hushed looks as she held up a fist, stalking down the road in a haze of rage.

The social landscape of their class had changed since Sakura had defeated Sasuke in their practice spar. Some of Sasuke's mystique seemed to have been lost, between his defeat and his attack on Sakura, reducing his pack of fangirls to a fraction of their quarter number. The mania was broken. The girls in their year made the miraculous discovery that other people could be just as interesting – namely, each other – and the class suddenly had a lively and varied social scene. It was a stark change.

Ino was back to being Sakura's full-time best friend, and they had attracted a group of mostly Ino's friends. Sakura sat with them in class and read, but she couldn't make witty banter about her latest obscure discovery. Ino and her friends babbled about boys and makeup and clothes, things which interested Sakura but no longer felt important. She did her exercises and tried to participate – but there was a void.

She missed Sasuke. She missed having his blunt dismissals and his incredulous skepticism and his withdrawn, curt commentary. She missed having someone to talk at in class, a person who questioned her and pushed her and didn't tolerate her bullshit. She missed her friend Sasuke.

Sakura hadn't realized Sasuke had been her friend until he wasn't anymore.

"You're pathetic."

She wanted to distance herself from him, rip him out of the fabric of her life. Sakura hated how from the moment she'd caught sight of his pretty face her life had revolved around Sasuke Uchiha. But now he drove her in a different way. Revolve it did.

A hand reached out and snagged her jacket, pulling her off the street into a dark alleyway. Sakura yelped, reaching for her chakra, ready to scream rape, when she found herself inches away from Sasuke.

Sasuke released Sakura, and she scrambled back, her back hitting the building behind her. Sasuke's expression was the opposite as after their spar, filled with emotion, anger and sadness and hate and fear. Something more. He had been crying. Advancing on Sakura, Sasuke stood silently before her, saying nothing, and Sakura, after deciding not to scream for help, stilled and watched him, waiting for a reaction.

When nothing came, Sakura blinked back her emotion and glared at Sasuke. "What do you want?"

"You beat me," Sasuke whispered angrily. "How?"

"How? How? You know how," Sakura hissed, trying not to cry. "You watched me work on it every day in class. I know you see me training outside of school and exercising in the morning. Don't play dumb and pretend you don't pay attention to me."

"You can't beat me," Sasuke said. "You're weak. You have no reason to be able to beat me."

Weak. Sakura closed her eyes, unable to stop herself from crying. "Go away, Sasuke," she mumbled. "I don't wanna date you anymore, okay? If I'm weak and pathetic then go and bother someone else worth your time."

A long silence. "Hn."

"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" Screaming with rage, Sakura shoved Sasuke hard. He stumbled back and hit the building behind him, until both he and Sakura were pressed against the walls of houses, face to face with the stone alleyway in between. Sasuke stared at Sakura with wide eyes, and Sakura glared at him.

Sasuke kept staring.

"I thought you were my friend," Sakura said.

He opened his mouth. Closed it. His eyes grew even more desperate, but Sakura had no idea what they were trying to say. Sasuke stepped away from the wall, a hand lingering on the plaster, halfway between trying to reach out to Sakura and run away; he wore his Uchiha crest shirt like always and blended into the night, the moon catching his pale face. In his anguish he was beautiful. Silent.

Sakura turned on her heel. "That's what I thought."

She started to walk away.

"Wait."

Inner screamed for Sakura to leave. Sakura turned around.

Sasuke met Sakura's eyes, coming to the mouth of the alleyway. "Train with me."

She didn't know what she'd expected to come out of Sasuke's mouth, a thousand hopes warring in her head, hopes and fears and angers, all spinning out into their own fantasies, visions of domestic tranquility and bloody combat and little moments, each representing everything she had built Sasuke up to be in her mind, the boy she loved and hated and liked as a friend, but it wasn't that. "What?"

"I can't be weak," Sasuke said. He stepped forward, his eyes still locked on Sakura's, and Sakura felt a shiver run up her spine. "You know something I don't, and I have to know it too. You- You're not like the rest of them, okay? I tolerate you."

Stupid idiot. Sakura's lip trembled. "I don't wanna be tolerated. Haven't I earned better than that?"

Sasuke withdrew into himself, and for a moment, Sakura was afraid he would say no. When Sasuke spoke it was a whisper. "You aren't pathetic. I can't do the chakra exercises you do and I don't know why. They're hard. I need… help. I can help you too. So you're less weak."

It was the sweetest thing Sasuke had ever said to Sakura, which was a depressing thought. There was no apology.

Sakura knew she should walk away. Sasuke had destroyed her in her moment of greatest triumph, and she was done with him. She was done with his pretty face and his moodiness and his tsundere friendship. He was cruel and dismissive of her and she hated him and she'd beaten him, reached a point in her life where she could put him behind her.

But she couldn't. Because Sasuke was Sakura's north star. Her compass rose.

She loved him.

"Okay."

::

The swing creaked back and forth in the wind. Shikamaru watched from a distance as Naruto kicked his legs back and forth, head hung, oblivious to the stream of children exiting the Academy.

I shouldn't.

He could have helped Naruto. He could have helped him passed the test. He could have been a better friend. He could have let Naruto into his life with open arms, rather than having the blond worm his way in one painful interaction at a time. He could have spoken out at the hatred Naruto faced in the street. He could have gone to his father about Naruto's situation. There were so many things Shikamaru could have done to help his most confusing friend that he hadn't.

He hadn't acted then. He could now.

"Naruto?"

Naruto didn't look up. "Hi, Shikamaru," he said, blue eyes trained on the ground. "Bet you've heard about how I screwed up, huh?"

"Only you could have blown up the Academy," Shikamaru said, shrugging. "I could have guessed. But, yeah. I heard."

"Oh. Right."

Creak. Creak. Creak.

"My father says that I should be more observant," Shikamaru said, careful to keep his tone as disinterested as possible. "I think it's a drag, having to be focused in class all the time. But I know that you're a better ninja than they all say you are. We haven't even started jutsu yet, and you already can do two. I wish I were allowed to work ahead like that."

Naruto perked up a bit at that. "You do?"

What am I doing? "I do," he agreed. "My clan has a particular view about the world, and I… I see what they see. It's like all of life is a big strategy. A game. Like shogi."

"What's shogi?" Naruto asked.

"Nevermind that. What I'm saying is I…" Shikamaru trailed off, sticking his hands in his pockets, trying to come up with something to say. "I'm sorry. You're my friend. Friends help friends. If Choji needed something I would help him, and I feel like I should help you too."

Naruto looked up at Shikamaru, sniffling, his eyes filling with hope. "Really, dattebayo?"

He could be strong. But strength has to be tapped. Shikamaru watched Naruto, his expression conveying nothing, even as the tumult in his mind came to a head. He didn't want to stand by passively. He didn't want to watch the clouds turn and do nothing to mark their passing. He didn't want to let his friend fail again, not when he could see that there was something within Naruto waiting to bloom.

Shikamaru made his decision.

"Like I said, I'm no help with the jutsu. But…" He shrugged. "I can help with the written stuff. And your taijutsu, I can think of a couple ways you could get better. I can figure out anything, really, if you give me enough to work with. Maybe we can make your clones stop exploding."

"Really?" Naruto asked. "You'll do all that for me?"

Sighing, Shikamaru nodded. Naruto was so earnest, like a puppy. Why did he have to be so troublesome? "Yeah," Shikamaru said. "I will.

"Awesome!" All of his troubles forgotten, Naruto jumped off the swing and started running around, cheering and shouting and making a general ruckus, earning him more than a few angry glances from passerbys. Shikamaru watched him, unable to stop himself from smiling. He'd done the right thing, he thought.

Naruto deserved to graduate early. He would be a powerful ninja, and Shikamaru would do his village a service by helping him get there.

I won't sit on the sidelines anymore.

Shikamaru's destiny might have been decided from his birth, but Naruto was untethered by fate. He was full of limitless possibility.

A fleeting moment of envy passed in the blink of an eye.

::

[A/N] Ten-year-olds are so dramatic.

Sakura runs headfirst into the emotional brick wall that is Sasuke Uchiha and accidentally knocks a few screws loose. Sakura's psychology is something I'm very interested to explore, since it's one of the few interesting canon aspects of her character. Sasuke, of course, is emotionally constipated, and his idea of apologizing is by confronting his friends in dark alleyways. What a pair of beans.

Anyways many thanks are in order. Thank you for three hundred follows, guys! Thank you to Ezeakel, Pat123, Orange222, ellainaparker, wubbzy, cheekiserval, TorioWint, MindForgedMan, RustingKnight, Gen Malaise, and two guests for reviewing. And, finally, an extra special thanks to Awlric Hayell for adding Hidden Path to the community Mimir's Well – you drove a ton of traffic to this story, and I am much obliged.

I'm playing fast and loose with Naruto canon here – there's a ton to work with so I've got wiggle room. I have a vision here and a plan, and I get a lot of enjoyment when I swing back around to this every few months. There'll be two more chapters in Academy, then we'll move on to Genin.

Cheers, Allie