Ok. Now this is something new, I decided that...hey I want to make a new story. That does not, by any means suggest that the sacred mark of the rising Kekkei genkai (my other story) is being discontinued I just wanted to try something new.

Yeah this story, is a completely original piece of mine, definitely an original storyline, every thing in this story will come right out of my you know I think that this story reflects how much of a different writer that I have become, well at least in my mind....and it better be in you minds as well!. It is up to you to decide on whether or not I changed for the better or the worst. However, who says that I will not incorporate a bit of Naruto canon to give it some stability...not me.

umm, since this is the first chapter I guess that there's not that much to say but enjoy.

Yeah seriously enjoy

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Crimson Dawn: Uzumaki Naruto

The sky was painted red as the familiar light of the sun began to creep up onto the skyline; the Hokage faces then gained their unusual rugged luster that made it seem as if the stone faces were somehow luminescent. From where he was standing Naruto couldn't help but admire the sight, his facial expression was somewhat constricted, taut; hiding beneath it the more jovial expression that remained unseen under the guise of an impassive visage.

There was something about the Hokage faces in the morning that made him want to stop whatever he was doing and look at them. The sight of what he was to become was there, right in front of him, he was so close yet so far. That was why he did this every morning. As soon as he would wake up, before he did anything else, the first thing that he would do was go onto the roof of his house and stare at the stone faces.

This soothing and silent daily ritual was a constant reminder of why he was still even in this piece of shit village.

Naruto inhaled sharply; exhaling with a sigh as a cool morning breeze caught the back of his neck, sending shivers down his spine.

Today would be his first day at the ninja academy and he would be entering it as the fabled bane of Konoha, the failure, and not what most people should have seen him as: a true genius.

As Naruto took a step back, he spun around on his heel and began to walk back into his shabby little apartment. His footsteps came to a sudden halt when he felt who it was that was standing behind him. "I suppose you're another one who came to, eliminate me, eh?" A small smirk appeared on his face as he realized that the man standing behind him had simply pulled out a kunai.

"Aren't going to answer me, at least bad-mouth me like the rest of them did." Naruto suggested before he spun around once again. When he turned, he centered his gaze onto a tall man with shaggy black hair, and beady eyes that matched in color. He wore a standard Jonin vest, indicating what rank he was, and his face laced with a thin coat of early-morning perspiration.

Honestly, Naruto could not tell whether or not the morning air produced the man's bit of sheen or whether it had been created by his growing fear of Naruto. The fact that Naruto did not have that same coat of perspiration confirmed that it could not have been the humid air but it was in fact the latter. Which brought Naruto's deeply complex mind to the conclusion that this black-haired Jonin was afraid of him? If so then why try to attack him?

Then without giving it much thought Naruto decided to ask the question circling his mind out into the air. "If you are so afraid of me then why are attempting to assassinate me?' Naruto's intense gaze locked onto the Jonin's own wavering one. After shifting his eyes from the floor to Naruto, then back to the floor he responded.

"Because.....d-demons like you don't deserve to live!" Yelled the Jonin as he charged at Naruto, kunai in hand. In a split second Naruto could see that the man's determination to kill him was a strong as ever, like a steel chain that refused to be broken. Whatever vendetta the Jonin may have had against him, Naruto was completely unaware of and did not bother to ask. Personal grudges were things that could corrupt even the greatest of warriors; even so, to foolishly attack someone solely on the matter of a grudge was unacceptable when it came to Naruto's standards.

If he had to be honest with himself, he would have to say that the quality of ninja had fallen in Konoha, and to his dismay, he was unfortunate enough to be born in with and after two generations of worthless shinobi. He would have to talk with Ojii-san about that later.

The foolish Jonin's stance was position was horrible, it was like some form of a porous taijutsu stance, full of openings and potential counters as well. Naruto knew not to kill him, but it was always fun teasing those who contended to take his life. With one quick motion, Naruto dipped under a wild swipe and clipped the man off his feet. Before he could get up Naruto pressed his bare foot against the back of the man's head, smashing his face into the concrete roof and knocking him unconscious.

As the last of the man's moans and groans of pain died out Naruto suddenly felt a superb sense of vindication. It was hardly a battle to be proud of, hell, it was hardly a battle at all but Naruto always seemed to find some feeling of pride whenever he discomfited the futile efforts of his would-be assassins.

Slowly Naruto grabbed the back of the man's collar and make one hand seal, disappeared in a swirl of leaves generated by some artificial wind.

Naruto reappeared in the Sandaime's office, with his unwanted guest still hanging him by the nape of his collar. Naruto looked up to see The Third Hokage sitting at his desk with his hands folded. At the sight of the unconscious Jonin, the old man just slapped his forehead and sighed heavily.

"Another one? How many time's has time's has it been this week, two...what three attempts to take your life?" Naruto simply nodded at the last number the Hokage stated. "I thought so.", he said his expression looking surprisingly lugubrious, contrary to his normal impassive state of face.

"This man-", Naruto hefted up the Jonin with one arm, hanging him into the air, "-so rudely interrupted my morning and tried to kill me. Don't worry I did not harm him; the worst of his injuries is probably a broken nose. Would you be so kind as to make sure that he gets sent to Ibiki and so rightfully gets what he deserves?"

"Sure thing Naruto-kun...I will keep note of your request. But I think that now would be the time for you to leave."

"And why would I do that?" Naruto asked putting on some fake schoolboy charm. The Sandaime just grimaced and sighed once more.

"Because Naruto, you're in your pajamas." Naruto's eyes widened a little bit; he had almost forgotten that he was wearing them. The blond just scratched the side of his head, in an obviously false bit of confusion.

"Oh...and what's the problem with that?"

"For all of your uncanny perceptiveness Naruto-kun you sure seem to not notice that I myself have company and, before you came, was in a very serious discussion with my subordinates." Slowly Naruto began to turn around as the old Sarutobi stuck his arm out, swaying it from one side to the other, as he was trying to display some oddly antique trinket.

Naruto, allowing his body to follow his 'grandfather's' gesture, turned fully around, only to come face to face with three ANBU shinobi. They all wore their distinct animal mask accordingly: the one on the left, who took on the likeness of an eagle, the on the right wore the mask portraying the face that Naruto for some odd reason mistook as that of a baboon. Finally, the Anbu in the middle, who was with no doubt, the captain, wore the oddly modified and makeshift visage of a tiger.

Although the boy could not see it, he could not help but think that the three Anbu all had their mouths agape behind the effective obscurity of their mask. They probably couldn't believe that the brat, the lowest of the low, the bane of Konoha had defeated a Jonin while he wasn't an academy student yet...and he did it all in his PJ's!

Naruto mentally prided himself at the sight of the subtle shock; even an Anbu couldn't hide their emotions from the ever perceptive Naruto. However, he did not act upon his thoughts and simply stared at them, creating an awkward tension in the room. His eyes darted on and off the three individuals before him until the weird sensation that arose in his gut forced him to look away and back toward The Third.

"Sorry for the interruption Ojii-san. Nevertheless, before I leave I simply must make a comment on the way shinobi are acting nowadays. Honestly, the overall mindset of shinobi in Konoha today has suffered a serious downgrade from what it used to be, it's actually making me question the merit and literal quality of the ninja in our village; that goes for all levels." That comment caused him a series of three loud coughs from behind that were obviously meant as a joke and obviously directed at him. "Anyway like I was saying, I simply suggest that you input more of your time into enforcing the law of shinobi decorum around the village, because I don't think that this man here-" He pointed to the brunette Jonin who he still sub-consciously had dangling from his hand, "-attacked me just because of my unfortunate condition here, the way he held his blade: with determination, with fear, with anger. It was obvious that he had some sort of personal vendetta against my prisoner and me. It would be foolish to let all shinobi in Konoha harbor a mindset so wrong like this man here."

With that said Naruto dropped the man to the floor; a loud thump indicated that he had landed on his head. He gave Sarutobi a curt bow and smile followed by the same action being performed to the three Anbu in the room.

"I'm sorry to have taken your time." With that Naruto made the hand seal that he used to bring himself to the Hokage's office in the first.

"Wait Naruto-kun...how did you know that this man attacked you because some grudge?" Sarutobi asked with an amused expression on his face. Being as perceptive as he was Naruto knew that the third was even more perceptive than he was. Moreover, because of that he knew that the old man never asked him questions like that unless he was trying to gauge Naruto's skill at reading people. However, for every smart question that Sarutobi asked him, Naruto had an equally smart or even smarter question waiting for the old man. This time the blond genius was at a loss.

"Hmm...Let's just call it a hunch." Naruto said.

Sarutobi chuckled. "Have a nice day at the academy Naruto.

"It's the first day you know I will." Naruto said with a smile before disappearing in a swirl of leaves much as he intended to do before.

As the blond boy faded from vision, the Anbu tiger in the middle spoke up.

"So that's Uzumaki Naruto, the infamous bane of Konoha."

"Yes... and it would do you well not to look at him like other people do Saito."

"And what would that be Hokage-sama?" Saito asked, inclining his head.

"As a demon and a failure, when in fact he is very much the opposite. He is a genius."

Saito was silent after that, if the Hokage felt so strongly about this boy that he would go so far and call him a genius then it was apparent that the kid was the real deal. He had heard stories about the boy who was Kyuubi's vessel but he had heard otherwise from what the Hokage mentioned. Now his mind was swarming with a mass of curiosity; and it continued to swarm and buzz around the one question, the centerpiece that was brought to his attention. Exactly who was Uzumaki Naruto?

xxxXXXxxx

Naruto arrived at the front gates of the ninja academy like any other kid his age would. He walked. It was a tad slow for his taste but every once in a while it felt good to act normal for once. However, acting was all that it was; there was nothing in or of the boy that when compared to other children his age would be considered normal. Not his mind, not his speech, not his intelligence and definitely not the giant demonic fox sealed away into his abdomen. But putting those qualities aside, Naruto was still....'moderately' normal.

While walking through the huge gates he suddenly remembered what it was that Ojii-san had told him about two days ago.

"Naruto, now that you're going to be joining other students around you age I want you to act your age." He said.

"Why...does it really matter?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, it does. I'm not saying that you should act like a complete idiot and withhold back every bit of knowledge that you have so far retained. I'm just saying that if want to be treated differently then it would be in your best interest to act the same. Kids your age don't usually possess information about the things that you do.....so basically what I'm saying is don't show off."

"Hai!" Naruto responded. That is what he intended to do; he planned on coming to the academy and not show off his skills. The reason for him starting the academy in the first place was so that he would advance in his ninja rank. If he were to ever attain his dream of becoming Hokage then he would at least have to become a Genin first.

As Naruto continued to walk toward the front door of the academy he suddenly froze, taken by shock. Around him, he noticed dozens of kids being dropped off by their parents; kids his age giving goodbye hugs to their loved ones as they began their first days of school. Just like them, he had made it here, his first step to becoming an actual shinobi, too bad he didn't have anyone to share the moment with.

Naruto had often thought what it would be like if he had parents but today that thought became all the more important to him. He wanted someone to hug goodbye like everyone else; unfortunately, he was not blessed with a family like other kids were. But then again other kids were not blessed with a mind and body like his.

He was cut from his introspective thoughts when he heard someone's voice. "Hey, are you lost...or what?" Naruto's head snapped to the source of the voice. When he looked up he saw...... what the hell was he seeing?" He didn't now whether or not he was looking at a person or a fucking ghost.

The person in front of him was the very image of the word noble. The man in front of him had jet-black hair that ran down past his shoulders and was left to hang loosely. He wore robes of pure white. From where he stood, the man's robe seemed to avoid touching the ground and just hovered lightly above the dirt, as if the most likely soft linen was tantalizing the ground because it could not be touched by the ground. It was what gave him the ghost-like appearance and what made him noble. Even in the dirtiest and dustiest of places the clothing of a noble refused to dirty itself. Despite his absurdly clean attire, Naruto noticed some other distinct features on the man, like the structure of his jaw and the intensity of his eyes. Oh, and his eyes...his eyes were the most distinguishable feature about him, for they were white and pupil-less.

This man standing in front of him was a Hyuuga. From what he had seen, Naruto knew that Hyuuga's were supposed to be stuck up douche bags.

"Well....are you going to answer me or are you going to just stand there like a silent fool?" Yep he was right; this person was definitely a douche.

"No I'm not lost; actually I was just on my way to class. It's my first day." Naruto said with such cool innocence that seemed to ignite the much larger man even more, although his emotion-less face mask that all Hyuuga's seemed to wear at all times seemed to aid in hiding it. Even so that didn't mean that Naruto still couldn't read the man's actions. He could tell by the slight twitch of the Hyuuga's fingers when he spoke and the barely visible one-millimeter arch in his eyebrows that the white-eyed ghost was enraged merely at the concept of standing next to him. Again, The Kyuubi no Kitsune caused someone to judge him before they got to know him.

"Um-hm and they let you of all people in? What a shame, it seems that Konoha has fallen down to low standards this year."

"Well, I do beg your pardon, but what exactly do you mean by they let me of all people in?"

"Nothing at all."

"I thought as much." Naruto smirked as the man simply swallowed down the massive amount of Hyuuga pride that his clan was so famous for and turned around, facing a girl who up until now Naruto hadn't noticed.

"Hinata.....this is important, this is where it starts for you. If you fail then you will have lost all honors from me. By the end of today, I want an oral report of today's happenings and a sense of you status in the classroom. You are a Hyuuga, so I expect you to behave as such.

From what Naruto could see, a girl around his size, stood virtually petrified in front of the Hyuuga. She hid it with a mask of impassiveness; she was hiding her fear, that both Naruto and the male Hyuuga knew it.

"H-Hai...I w-will try my best."

"No you will be THE best. Understood?" Hinata nodded.

Yes...father." Hinata said; her eyes a bit downcast. The man just nodded and turned around, with a grace that only a Hyuuga would possess. He gave Naruto one last huff before walking past him and out of the academy gates.

Naruto could tell that the man had just resisted the urge to sputter out any further words; perhaps he was afraid of breaking the law that the Sandaime had put into action by uttering one too many words about the nine-tailed fox.

So now Naruto was just standing.....standing with some girl who he now knew to be Hyuuga Hinata. In addition, from his own general knowledge she was the heir to the Hyuuga clan therefore making the previous man whom she'd called father Hyuuga Hiashi. The most stick-up-the-ass Hyuuga you could ever know.

Naruto, always being one to break the awkward silence between the two spoke up first. "So...you're a Hyuuga?"

Her head quickly shot up...as she looked at Naruto, only to bring her gaze back down to the ground. "Y-yes...." She said. Naruto was a master at reading people and it was obvious that she had definite self-esteem issues to work out. He could tell that it was a fact just by looking at the way she stared at the ground. Call it a hunch but he could tell that Hinata was extremely nervous for some reason, which made it even more surprising to him when she spoke.

"A-ano.....but I've never seen anyone talk to father like that, weren't you scared of him?" Naruto grabbed his chin between his forefinger and his thumb.

"Well...a little, but you just got to know how to speak to them. No offense, but the Hyuuga are an extremely intimidating clan....if you don't know how to keep your cool around them." Hinata just nodded and returned her gaze to the ground. By this time the both of them were walking toward the front door along with the rest of the students, when Naruto stopped and said.

"Oh....wait you go ahead I've got to get something really quickly." Slowly the lavender-eyed girl nodded, her lower lip hanging a bit, and continued into the academy with the rest of the students.

As the last of the students said goodbye to their parents and went inside Naruto slipped off to a distant corner behind the school where no one could spot him. He came to a stop underneath a tree that cast a lengthy shadow that would do well and hide his presence. Hanging from a sturdy branch was a lone swing; there it stood gently moving in unison with every minuscule breeze that moved it.

There Naruto sat down.

"How long do you plan on following me?" Naruto said, looking further up into the branches of the large tree. There was a slight rustling of leaves when an Anbu Nin jumped down from the tree. He was wearing a tiger mask. If Naruto's memory served him correctly this was the same captain that he had seen in Ojii-san's office in the morning. Then the idea came to Naruto that gramps might have requested that they keep watch over him and report back if a problem were to arise. Naruto mentally sighed.

'That is so like Ojii-san.' He thought to himself. "Well if you're not going to answer me then I'll just assume that The Third sent you, correct?" The tiger-faced Anbu just nodded.

"For what reason...?" On that question, the mask Nin reached into one of the pockets that were strewn about his gray vest and pulled out a small red scroll that Naruto himself knew as a message from the Sandaime. Naruto stuck his hand out and the scroll made the transition from the Anbu's hand to Naruto's much smaller hand.

The Anbu spoke up. "He told me that you needed to sign this before you entered for your first day at the academy. It is a proposal, for you to join the Anbu by next year when you graduate and become a Genin. For this to work you'll need to sign this before the proposal is made and in about a year's time after much negotiations with the council you will be admitted to join the Anbu." Naruto raised an eyebrow; it was obvious that Ojii-san planned for this to happen. It was strangely odd that this person said that it would take a year for the whole process to be over and done with and what do you know Naruto was now entering his first year as an academy student.

"Hmm-....." Naruto chuckled, "-...tell Ojii-san that I said, no"

The Anbu's head suddenly flickered up in shock. "What do you mean no, Naruto-san you're passing up a chance that rarely comes to those around your age. It wouldn't be wise to pass up a chance of this much value and rarity."

"Listen...uhh what's your name?"

"Yuuji Saito, My name's Saito...why?"

"Listen Saito, rarity or not me becoming an Anbu member is up to me and me only. Even though am already able to join the Anbu squads as I am now, I simply have no interest in joining. And I doubt that getting the council to pass me into the Anbu Black Ops will not be as easy as you have just now stated. In reality I don't feel like dealing with the hassle and bullshit that I know the council, both shinobi and citizen alike, will so generously hand me."

"Do you honestly feel that way?"

"Yes...I'm not interested." Naruto then handed him the red scroll back, which Saito slipped back into the pocket from whence it came. "But tell Ojii-san that to save that proposal, in the future I might be interested."

"Understood." Saito said with a curt bow. "You really are the real deal; hopefully in the future I may have the privilege of working with you on my squad."

"Maybe." Naruto responded. With that the Anbu captain disappeared. Without a trace, no leaves, no wind, no smoke, nothing at all. He just disappeared. "How do they do that, I might consider joining just so I can learn how the hell they do that."

Naruto then hopped off the swing and walked back to the front of the academy. He couldn't believe that it was his first day and that he was already late....

xxxXXXxxx (One year later)

Naruto let out an exasperated sigh as he stared aimlessly into the distance the window had to his delight, provided for him. He was staring out the window of his classroom and he was seriously bored with this place. He had wasted an entire year in this academy learning things that he had learned when he was seven. He found it useless to sit here in a class that gave him no challenge such as this one. Although this class proved to be 'interesting' at times, he still could not see the point in paying attention to things that, frankly, would do him no good in actual battle. At his level an enemy that he would encounter would with no doubt in his mind, require much more than academy taught tactics to defeat.

It just went to show a person exactly how strong Naruto was and how strong he led others to believe he was. For an entire year Naruto had stayed in the academy solely for the purpose of becoming a Genin, ad while he was here he hadn't shown anyone a bit of what he could really do. Every time he was called to demonstrate some low-level technique of some sort in front of the class he would always make sure that he would make sure that he always gave the instructors the required minimum that they had asked for.

In doing that, Naruto's ranking in the class always remained at a constant neutral zone. That was good enough for him.

"Naruto are you even paying attention?" Naruto looked in the general direction of the person's voice; he looked up to see his teacher, Umino Iruka. Over the course of this year Iruka had become in Naruto's eyes, a father figure. He was the only other person besides The Third that the blond ever was seen around; most of the time it was at Ichiraku's ramen shop or just walking around. Iruka unlike everyone else actually saw him for who he was and not as the demon that destroyed the town.

"Yes, Iruka I'm paying attention."

"Oh really then would you demonstrate to the class what a proper henge of our Hokage would look like."

"Do I have to, I'd much rather just sit down." This comment earned the boy a series of suppressed chuckles made by the other kids in the class. As Naruto continued to look at Iruka, he noticed a vein popping put from the man's forehead. "You okay Iruka?"

"That's Iruka-sensei, Naruto! In here I am your teacher, now get your behind up here and do what I asked you to!"

"Fine, Iruka...ah.... Iruka-sensei." Naruto slowly got up to the front of the class. He paused for a moment, taking the time to look at the children whom he was forced to call classmates for an entire year. The faces of those whom he had taken a liking too, but then again there were some people here whom he couldn't stand. Naruto's eyes shifted to a certain black-haired Uchiha named Sasuke who was staring out the window much he was only a moment ago. Then his gaze scanned the room, going over each and every girl who had deemed themselves part of the Uchiha fan club then going over to the girl who declared herself president: Haruno Sakura.

He couldn't stand her; just the thought of how she fawned over the Uchiha was enough to sicken him. The pink haired girl was truly desperate. But just because there was one fan club didn't mean that Sasuke was the only one with admirers. Over the course of these many months Naruto himself had accumulated a fair amount of female attention that in his mind had the ability to compete with Sasuke's own admirers.

But just because he had fan girls didn't mean that he was particularly proud of the fact. His eyes then moved over to the girl who declared herself as president of his fan club. She had dark purple hair and white eyes, Hyuuga Hinata, he didn't hate her at all which is more than he could say for the other girls who had taken a liking to him. As he locked eyes with her, she shuddered and brought her head down to her fingers which she just so happened to be pressing together at the time.

"Well....Mr. Uzumaki?" Iruka said impatiently.

Naruto turned his head over to Iruka, and gave him a very grim glare which Iruka himself returned with a death glare of his own. It had become their thing, to glare at each other intensely when there was nothing serious it constantly reminded them of how close they actually were to each other; whether they knew it or not. "Hai, Iruka sensei!" Naruto said while making a single hand seal. A light haze of blue chakra enveloped his body and after a spontaneous generation of smoke, what was once Naruto had become a perfect copy of the Sandaime Hokage.

In the visage of the village head Naruto turned his head toward Iruka, the eyes of a wise man staring intensely at the Chuunin. "May I take my seat now?"

"OH....Naruto…well done, you can sit down...now." Iruka said, sounding slightly defeated due to the fact that Naruto had completely proven him wrong and was in fact paying attention. Well, at least that's what Naruto lead him to believe; henge were so easy for the boy that he really did not have to pay attention, things like that were second nature to Naruto.

"Thank you." Naruto said as he went back to his seat; on his way back he couldn't help but notice the many murmurs and whispers being made; most of which contained his name. Still, despite the great adulation flowing toward him, Naruto just sighed lazily and took his corner spot back at the window so that he may relax and tune Iruka out for the rest of the lesson. He would make it up to the man though; maybe some miso ramen after class would help settle his debt for not paying attention in class.

As Naruto's mind slowly slipped into the world of daydreams once more, Iruka's had reduced itself in his mind to little more than a smothered muffle, sounded like a person trying to speak underwater. Now Naruto was back in his peaceful place, where he could not be bothered, where he could not be perturbed, where no one could reach him.

Naruto jerked when he felt the odd sensation of someone jabbing him in his ribs. Maybe his peaceful place wasn't as impenetrable as he would've liked it to be.

Naruto turned and saw a girl with shoulder length jet-black hair and blue eyes looking at him; her elbow was slightly extended toward his ribcage indicating that she was the one who poked him. She wore a tan ninja-training shirt underneath a faded black jacket that was tightly suited to accentuate her body. On her lower body she sported a pair of ninja training pants that were identical in color to her shirt, those two were tightly suited. Her pale skin seemed to go in conjunction with her hair and eyes; this was an odd combination gave her what Naruto would label as 'slightly refined facial features', saying that she was pretty would be horribly tautological and quite frankly, the understatement of the century.

"Naruto.....did you not just get in trouble for daydreaming?" She whispered.

"Aw...come on Sanae, you know that I don't have to pay attention in this class." Naruto said with a disarming smile. He knew this girl as Fumina Sanae. He had met her within the first week that he began the academy.

Naruto then heard another whisper come from behind him. "Yes you do, Naruto-kun, you'll fail if you don't pay attention." Naruto turned his head and saw behind him another girl. Her hair was dark as well but not black like Sanae's. It was more of a dark auburn that when in the right light could be considered red. She wore a light blue shirt that loosely draped over her body and dark navy blue ninja training pants. Her face was smaller and even more refined than Sanae's but it bore a stark resemblance to the black-haired girl. The only reason that such a resemblance was even present was solely based on the fact that this was Sanae sister.

Her name was Konoe. Naruto met her around the same time he met Sanae, seeing as how they were always together and just like her sister Sanae, Naruto had become great friends with Konoe as well. To say that Naruto had become friends with them was an understatement, he had become...attracted to them both in a wasn't the type of attraction that everyone who saw them would think of, but its not like there was no reason to be attracted to them. Half of the guys in Naruto's class were attracted to them both; the two sisters' beauty had made them into daily eye candy for most of the other male students.

Sure they were pretty but that was not the only reason that Naruto was attracted them. While not one of the clans known for their outstanding strength or Kekkei Genkai, the Fuminas were known, however, for their extreme cunning and wit. They were not as strong as clans like the Hyuuga were or Uchiha were but they certainly made up for their physical impediments with their extreme intelligence.

Fuminas were extremely smart; one example of their wiles would be during the Great Shinobi War where the battle Tactics of a Fumina led Konoha to victory against opposing Iwa forces. The end result of that battle was a dangerous depletion of the Iwa's forces that ended up with them losing up to half of their entire military. It would be a sin to say that a Fumina wasn't intelligent.

It was not only their looks that Naruto liked about them but their Fumina wit as well. Like him they strove to think in the most logical way possible and did not settle to leave anything unanswered. It was what he enjoyed about their presence; the fact that they were like him. While they were not like him when it came to strength, for he was many times stronger than they were, they were like him when it came to their minds. In other words, they were geniuses and Naruto had always liked to surround himself with those who were similar to him.

"No I won't Konoe-chan; this class is way too easy to fail. Too bad Sanae-chan here doesn't see that." Naruto was suddenly assaulted by the intense feeling of another nudge to the ribs.

"I told you not to add the 'chan' to my name you idiot. You know how much I hate it" Sanae said in a barely suppressed whisper.

"Aww, but it makes you angry when I say that and you're cute when you're angry." Sanae said nothing and inched her head back a few inches, an intense blush staining her face a bright red. Konoe couldn't help but giggle at this...well that is until her sister gave her a patented Naruto death glare. Naruto always knew how to get inside of Sanae's head, for such an outstanding genius the girl was also an outstanding prude as well!

"HEY PAY ATTENTION!" Instantly all three of their snapped towards the sound of the loud voice, which was a very irritated Iruka. "Naruto, Sanae, Konoe....do you intend on talking this entire class? What I'm about to say if of great importance so you MUST pay attention, understood?"

"Hai...Iruka-sensei." Naruto said, answering for all of three of them.

Iruka nodded and turned his gaze back to the rest of the class. He brought his two hands and while making a fist with one hand his other hand was left open; he the suddenly brought them together. "Class, as you all know today is the day of the advancement exam." This comment stirred up a multitude of groans and moans from the rest of the class, with the exception of a few well-behaved students. "I know, settle down, it's not that serious. It's simple."

A hand sign and behind appeared two small wooden tables and on top of the tables were rows of Hitae-ites or ninja headbands all engraved with the Konoha symbol and shining brightly, indicating that had just been burnished. Iruka turned and allowed his arm to sway out toward the two tables.

"These headbands are what you will be aiming for; if you pass you will each receive one Hitae-ite indicating that you have become official ninja of Konoha. The exam itself is simple really, I will call you up here one by one and I will ask you to do three things: One, make a decent henge of me or Mizuki-sensei who will be here shortly; two, make a total of three stable Bunshin; and three....," Iruka then smiled," the third thing that you will have to do in order to become official nin of Konoha is walk past me and take your Hitae-ite."

Iruka smiled when he saw the bright smiles of his students and heard there excited voices. Some of them even got so excited that they stood up, saying that they wanted to be the first to go. But Iruka denied, telling them wait.

"The exam will not begin now, however." Iruka's smiled grew wider when heard his class cry out 'Aww', again with the exception of the more well behaved students in the class. "Don't worry, we have to wait for Mizuki to return, therefore I will allot you all a small break period of fifteen minutes. Be back in class by then; hey and don't take this break lightly you could use this to your advantage. Perhaps these fifteen minutes could give you all a little time to prepare for the exam. Other than that you are dismissed."

With that all of the students jumped up, some louder than others, and began leaving the classroom.

Naruto then felt the terrible sensation of Sanae's elbow in his ribs once more. "This will be fun won't it?"

Naruto nodded. "Nah, I don't think it will, things like this usually bore me to death." He then smiled at the scowl the made its way onto Sanae's face but grimaced when he felt another dull pain enter his ribs on his opposite side. He turned to see Konoe standing there.

"Well they only bore you because you don't know how to have fun."

Already tired of this interminable assault of elbow nudges Naruto sighed. "Whatever let's just leave." He said as he walked out of the classroom, holding both sides of his ribs. Both girls both giggled and slapped hands, following him out of the room. It seems as if they had succeeded in successfully 'ticking' Naruto off with the elbow nudging which they both knew was one thing he hated, which was the reason they did it so much.

xxxXXXxxx

Naruto sat on the sturdy branch of his usual tree with a swing on it. Ever since his first day at the academy, it had become his 'spot'; the type of place that allowed him to think peacefully to himself. But inner thoughts did not seem like options for him right now.

"Come on!" Sanae said, grabbing hold of Naruto's arm and trying to pull him off his branch. She was currently standing on the side of a tree trying to pull Naruto down. Even though they were not up to his level yet, the Fumina sisters were enamored with the knowledge of techniques that were well beyond academy level, for example the technique of tree walking that Sanae had been using to follow Naruto up his tree and bug him for what seemed in his mind as an interminable amount of time.

"We've got fifteen minutes, so spar with us." Sanae urged to which Naruto just shook his head, since his beginning days at the academy Sanae had always wanted to spar with Naruto but he always denied. She was just...too below him.

"No, I don't feel like it so stop bugging me."

"Why?"

"Because I said so." Naruto responded. If he had actually told them the truth behind his reasons for not fighting them, and mentioned that if Sanae were to fight him she would be fighting someone who had trained almost everyday of his life with the Hokage of the village since he was about seven. She probably wouldn't be so eager to have a bout with him then.

As Sanae gave Naruto's one final tug but sighed when he did not budge. She let go, but before she could get halfway down the tree, she let out a startled squeak as she felt something land on top of her, knocking her down only for her to land flat on her stomach. When she hit the ground and turned her head, she saw Naruto sitting right on top of her.

There was a certain sly look in his eye that made her feel suddenly uncomfortable. She felt even more on-edge when he leaned in closer to her face. "You, instead of sparring how about we do something else....eh, Sanae-chan?" The tone in which he spoke brought fire to Sanae's face as she blushed.

"Y-You know that I don't like i-it when you c-call me 'chan'" She said, her speech chopped into bits and pieces.

"Oh really, then how about this?" Sanae's eyes widened when he felt Naruto's hand slowly slide down the side of her rib and move up toward her chest. Under Naruto's weight, which he held back a bit, Sanae squirmed and struggled in an attempt to free her body.

"N-Naruto, what a-are you doing?"

"Oh nothing." He said sliding his fingers across the base of her C-cup sized chest; much to his pleasure Sanae did nothing but let out a small squeaky moan. But it was not like she could do anything else; Naruto had her pinned and playing the part of the victim.

"Naruto...stop…you pervert."

"I'm not a pervert, I just felt like getting my revenge on you; you bug me, I make you feel uncomfortable." He leaned in even closer. "Now is that not that fair?" Naruto moved in closer but jerked back when he felt the structure of a foot jam itself into his ribs.

"Naruto, what are you doing, I don't want you touching my sister in any weird places you perv." Naruto looked up, while rubbing his side; that one was going to leave a mark.

"Again with this perv thing, I am not a pervert, I just felt like getting your sister back for bugging me." Konoe looked at Naruto skeptically, but dismissed it as nothing important. But it is not like things like this didn't happen often, they happened all the time; Sanae would bug Naruto then Naruto would get her back by attacking the prude within her and him doing something that he did not count as perverted but rather as revenge. Therefore, over time Konoe had become sort of the guardian who always stopped Naruto from exacting too much 'revenge' on her sister.

However, being as perceptive as he was Naruto quickly became fully aware of why she always played this role. It was simple, she obviously held certain feelings of affection for Naruto as well but she just did a better job of hiding it. Maybe the only reason Konoe stopped Naruto all the time was that she felt jealous from all of the attention that Naruto usually gave Sanae whenever she bugged him.

Naruto raised himself off the ground, dusting himself off. Well if you plan on bugging me then what is it that you propose that we should do in...." he looked at the position of the sun in the sky, "... the ten minutes we have left."

Both girls shrugged. "Well then bye!" Said Naruto as his body began to fade a way into nothing until there was in fact nothing standing in his place.

With wide eyes both girls looked at each other, shocked at how easily Naruto had bamboozled them with a mere bunshin. Whether he had switched with the clone before they found him or during their 'conversation' they did not know. Then a thought came to Konoe that made her angle her head and rested it on the palm of her hand.

She turned to Sanae. "Hey Sanae, if those were just bunshin then how come it could touch you and why was I able to kick." Sanae herself then adopted the same thinking pose as her sister.

"Wait, yeah now that I think about it, that clone felt real....but it was still a clone, wasn't it?" Both sisters stood frozen, pondering on the question of just what it was that Naruto did to his bunshin to make them physically able to touch.

"We've got to find Naruto, and fast!" Konoe said dashing off, soon to be followed by her sister who yelled something that sounded like 'wait up'.

xxXXXxx

Naruto smiled as he got the mental information that his clone relayed to him. That was a good thing about his clones; if they were to do something like train or learn a new technique, the real Naruto would get that mental information relayed back to him and he would know that technique or have that experience from training.

But maybe using shadow clones was a bit too much, especially since it was around the Fumina sisters. They probably wouldn't even notice, but considering how smart they were, Naruto would not be surprised if they had questioned him about his abnormal clones, still it was always nice to mess with them.

A brief breeze brushed the back of his neck as he stood up, there was about ten minutes in his break left and he had no way to spend it. He jumped down, descending onto the ground from a random rooftop that he had for some reason decided would be relaxation spot for the day and while coming down he saw a certain raven-haired boy whom he had come to dislike.

Sasuke was running down the road, with almost all his strength....as if he was being pursued by someone.

"Uchiha-teme, what the hell are you running from?" But to Naruto's displeasure the boy just ran past him without so much as a word. "Well that was rude.....uh....?" Naruto looked down; about three seconds after Sasuke had past him a low vibrating rumble began sound down the street where Sasuke had just come from.

On the ground, tiny pebbles danced vigorously from the vibration of the rumble; Naruto looked to his left and his eyes pulled themselves open in pure terror as he realized that he was now looking at a huge cloud of dust being kicked up by an even larger mob of.....girls?

Naruto's stomach sunk at the site and his face paled; he wasn't looking at girls, no he was looking at something much more dangerous.......fan girls.

As they got closer, Naruto could not move, frozen like a block of ice. Then he heard one of them say:

"Hey guys look...we got lucky, look at who is in front of us, we can take him and Sasuke." Naruto's eyes widened when all the girls locked onto him and he glanced to his right and could see Sasuke still running down the street.

"Oh shit!" Naruto said as he realized exactly what was about to occur; he did the only thing that he could do at the time and ran....for his life, taking flight in an attempt to catch up with Sasuke.

"NARUTOOOO!" He grimace as he heard the mob of love-struck females yell his name just as they were yelling Sasuke's but mere seconds ago. Still Naruto ran...and in about ten seconds, he caught up with Sasuke, positioning himself right next to the Uchiha.

"What the hell happened?' Naruto asked Sasuke, having to raise his voice over the many loud yells and squeals made by their pursuing fan girls.

"Nothing, you Dobe....I was just walking around and they found me." While in his mobile position, Naruto slapped his forehead.

"You idiot, just walking around? Listen teme, for future reference, you never EVER just walk around when you have fan girls. Next time if you want to just walk around make sure that your walking around the rooftops where they can't get you...understood?" Naruto scowled when Sasuke just nodded and turned back to the street in front of them.

This was most unfortunate, now he was involved. What was supposed to be a simple fifteen minutes of tranquility had turned into the most intense and possibly last fifteen minutes of his virgin life? Who knew what they would do if they ever caught him or Sasuke, which was highly unlikely?

Naruto could have lost the girls on both he and Sasuke's tails but it was kind of fun seeing the look of pure terror on his face. To think that this was the first time Naruto had ever been chased by his own fan girls; it was fun, he didn't even remember why he had spent his entire academy year cleverly evading them, this was in fact a rush.

Naruto looked into the sky once more; the sun had slightly shifted. That gave him about seven minutes. "Sasuke... do you think that you can keep this up for seven more minutes?" He asked in a loud voice.

"Sasuke merely nodded once more, then swallowed hard; perhaps he was trying to force down the mass of weakness trying to surface itself in the form of fatigue. In other words, it looked as if Sasuke had been running for quite some time now. But Naruto decided not to ask exactly how long and went back to the task at hand.

xxXXXxx

Konoe walked back into class with her head leaning toward the ground. She felt defeated, she and Sanae had wasted so much time trying to look for Naruto and they didn't even find him.

"Damn, just where the hell is he?" She said in a low voice and she went to take her seat, which was directly behind Naruto's.

"Who knows, he might be trying to avoid us, he might be running from us." Sanae said, sitting down in her seat with an equally lugubrious expression on her face. (Nope he's running from his fan girls right now)

"No way, he wouldn't do that...would he?" Konoe said sounding a bit unsure about her words.

Both girls let out a sigh; it took sometime but after sighing, they both noticed something. That almost all of the students that had returned early to class were male. Feeling a bit uncomfortable with the lack of female presence Sanae decided to ask her question into the air.

"Hey....where are the rest of the girls, we there is only one minute left in the break." One of the boys in the room answered her back.

"Who knows they are probably off chasing their Sasuke-kun somewhere on the premises." He had dark brown eyes with gravity defying hair that stood up and resembled the outline of a pineapple.

"And how do you know that Shikamaru?" Nara Shikamaru, another class genius. He along with her, Naruto, and her sister was one of the smartest kids in the class, however, unlike her Shikamaru had preferred to do nothing with his amazing brainpower. A lazy genius indeed.

"C'mon do honestly think that those love-crazed girls have something else better to do in fifteen minutes than pursue their dream boy?" It did make sense, so she nodded at the lazy boy's answer.

"Yeah your right I guess it makes sense."

A low rumble came from outside the classroom door. Upon hearing this Sanae knew exactly what was about to happen, which was what happened all the time. Sasuke would come busting in with a mob of girls behind him and then a huge dispute over who would get to 'claim' the boy would arise, causing a ruckus in the classroom.

That's what she expected, however what she saw was completely different; when the double doors of the class blew open, not only did Sasuke come rushing in but Naruto flew in as well, and as expected in came a huge chunk of the female portion of the class behind them. They yelled they screamed and they argued not only over Sasuke but Naruto as well, Sanae had never noticed it before but Naruto also had attracted a lot of female attention, more than she ever bothered to comment on.

A tight compact ball formed in Sanae's stomach as she watched her friend get argued over by the many girls, what was this feeling; jealousy perhaps? No way, why would she be jealous if a bunch of girls were to fight over Naruto? She looked over to her sister Konoe and saw that she too watched Naruto as his fan girls groped and tugged at him; her face graced with a mask of intensity.

The tight ball loosened a bit in her stomach when she saw Naruto drag himself out of a sea of cheerful fan girls and she was hit with a warm sensation of relief, mostly because Naruto had come out untouched.

But why she was feeling relief at this confused her even more, which added to the already deep pool of unease and potential jealousy that lie deep within her mind. When Naruto flashed her a brilliant smile and wave, Sanae's face lit up like light bulb, but she quickly retreated to her usual expression as she found herself blushing from her reaction to Naruto.

Slowly, Sanae looked at Konoe who had one eyebrow raised with a certain glint in her eye that made her wonder just what it was that was going through her mind.

Before she knew it, Naruto had walked up to them and Sanae found herself staring down at the floor.

"Sanae-chan..." Sanae twitched at the mention of the word 'chan' but continued to stare at the ground, not saying a word. "....you okay, you look a bit disturbed." Naruto said, taking his seat next to her causing the girl to move over just a tad to the right and away from Naruto.

The tight ball came back, this time pulling even harder. Every time Sanae thought of something and tried to get it out of her mouth the ball would end up dragging those words back down into her stomach, leaving her unable to speak.

'What's wrong with me...why am I...acting like this? Was it...because of what happened...?" Her face flushed when she thought of what it was that Naruto....no, Naruto's clone had done to her under the tree.

"Hey you okay....Sanae?"

"Yeah she's okay." Konoe had cut in, drawing in Naruto's attention onto herself. "Never mind her though...I want to ask you something. Under the tree during the break, your clone....why was it able to touch Sanae?" Naruto's eyes widened, but he smiled afterwards.

"Hm, I anticipated something like this; if you must know then I'll tell." He motioned for them both to come closer and leaned in himself. When the three of them were close enough he began to speak. "He was not just bunshin....the only reason that he could touch you and you could him was because he was a Kage bunshin." He said this in a low and barely inaudible whisper.

With wide eyes, Sanae and Konoe both retreated with shocked expressions. Konoe was the first to lean back in.

"Wait, but that is a Jonin level technique." She said.

"Ah, Konoe-chan, beautiful and intelligent as ever; I'm not surprised that you are aware of the level of that technique; just wait, let us save this talk for after the exam and then will I tell you everything, the both of you. Okay?" Both girls nodded and Konoe leaned back... into her seat to await Iruka and Mizuki's arrival.

The entire time Konoe's face was sanguine and heated; most likely from that last comment made by Naruto saying that she was beautiful.

The loud arguing and fighting over Sasuke had subsided, leaving everyone to seat themselves and settle down. Naruto cringed as he looked at the aftermath of a person who was once Sasuke; he sat alone and with a blank expression on his face. The face of the violated and touched...an expression ever since he had begun the academy he had grown accustomed to. It seemed as if everyday Sasuke had this expression plastered on his face, all because of the fan girls that attempted to toady him everyday. It was not the first time Naruto had seen Sasuke like this after being chased by his fan girls and he doubted that it would be the last.

Then Naruto thought to himself about how different his reaction was compared to Sasuke's. Naruto had avoided his own fan girls up until now, and in his mind, it was not as bad a Sasuke made it seem. The blank and scared expression on the Sasuke's face brought a curl to the young blond Nin's lips....it was always fun to see that stick-up-the-ass Uchiha with that expression on his face.

Two loud sounds suddenly filled the room, causing everyone to turn their heads and standing in front of the two wooden tables holding Hitae-ite were the two class instructors Iruka and Mizuki.

The two Chuunin had their arms folded, with both large smiles and bright eyes.

"OK, listen up I won't waste any time so take your seats." The class followed accordingly which made Iruka nod. "Good, now the rules are simple, all you have to do is come up to either me or Mizuki and do what I have instructed for you to do." Iruka then shifted his gaze onto Mizuki. "Anything else that you would like to add?"

Mizuki, a tall man who had silver hair and a jaunty expression on his face, angled his chin up toward the ceiling in a thinking pose. Then brought it back down. "Well, I'll just tell you that we plan to have you come up two by two in order to quicken the pace....and let's just say that we have a little surprise for you at the end." He said with a smile.

Naruto watched Mizuki closely; there was something about the man that Naruto found to be suspicious, he couldn't completely put his finger on it but there was something about the Chuunin that made Naruto think that the man had something to hide. For a long time Naruto watched this man, yet nothing came up to affirm that Mizuki bore ill will toward anyone or anything in this village, so after a while Naruto stopped trying to look beneath the surface and just see Mizuki as an honest school instructor. He tried and failed, Naruto knew that there was something about Mizuki and he would find out, but for know only the exams mattered and not Mizuki's hidden motives.

"OK that's all," Iruka spoke up, "Then let's begin; we will call you up in alphabetical order......first up Aburame Shino."

Then Mizuki spoke. "Second to go, Akimichi Chouji, come to my table and get this exam over with."

Therefore, it began. Both Iruka and Mizuki began calling students up two by two. Naruto knew that having the last name Uzumaki meant that he would be one of the last ones to be called, but it didn't matter, it was fun to watch some of the pathetic excuses for bunshin and henge that some of the class produced.

As expected when Konoe and Sanae were called they performed well above Iruka and Mizuki's expectations, each of them making not three but ten stable bunshin appear and then going on to produce two perfect copies of Iruka and Mizuki. And although Naruto felt that their display of skill was a bit ostentatious he still prided himself with the fact that like him those two were true geniuses.

It took little over twenty minutes to get to the last two people, him and Sasuke.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Mizuki said.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka said. Both boys stood up, walking to the front of the room with the rest of the class to their backs.

Standing almost shoulder to shoulder they both looked at each other and when Naruto locked eyed with Sasuke he no longer saw the blank languid eyes of one who had just been violated instead he saw the eyes of an Uchiha trying to prove himself. That was good, that's what Naruto wanted to see; fire, however it was a shame that it had to be Naruto who doused the flames burning within Sasuke...well actually it wasn't all that bad at all.

"Naruto you both know the drill." Iruka said.

Naruto and Sasuke nodded and they both made a hands seal. In unison, the two cried out.

"Bunshin no jutsu!" A dim haze of chakra surrounded the both of them and it flickered about; in less then three seconds the class was staring at twenty Narutos and Sasukes combined. The rest of the kids all gasped in awe at the amount of ease at which both boys produced the technique

Iruka and Mizuki however stayed silent, a slight angle bent the sides of Iruka's mouth. "That was good.....a bit pretentious…but good. Onto the next portion; make a henge of me and Mizuki."

Naruto mentally sighed; this exam was almost getting too easy. He glanced once more at Sasuke before dispelling his clones; Sasuke himself did the same. Again they both made a single hand seal.....and in unison they said.

"Henge no jutsu." There was a generation of smoke and before they knew it, Iruka and Mizuki were seeing double as they both gazed into their own eyes. Both instructors took a step back out of shock.

"Wow...Naruto, Sasuke.....you-you pass!" Iruka said.

"Right you have....go on and claim you headbands, the both of you." Mizuki added in.

With the said Naruto and Sasuke both walked up to, claimed their Hitae-ites from the wooden table, and went to take their seats.

When he sat down, Naruto felt someone tap him and he turned only to come face to face with a smiling Konoe who gave him a thumb up simply chuckled and turned back to Iruka and Mizuki, but not before giving Sasuke a quick glance.

"Good" Iruka said while clapping his hands, the sound was intensified by the walls of the classroom. "Now that the advancement exam is over we can move on to the next and final portion of the day." He swayed his arm over to Mizuki who then took over the reigns.

"Now-" Mizuki began. "-if you all remember, I said that there was a little surprise at the end for you all. Well, get ready because......-" An awkward silence settled in the room, most of the kids were literally on the edge of their seats. "-....today is you last day here as students and tomorrow you all will be assigned new sensei!"

This comment drew a rather unexpected reaction form the class. Silence, nothing but silence could be heard as the students now turned Genin said nothing. It was a delayed reaction but Iruka for some reason felt a pang of relief when he heard almost all of his students yell out 'what!'. He was expecting that reaction.

"I know, I know....since you are all now Genin you no longer need to stay here and learn about the basics, because...well you already know them! Meet here tomorrow in the morning and then you will all be assigned to you new Jonin sensei. You are all dismissed."

Naruto, along with everyone else stood up and left, leaving their former Chuunin sensei to talk among themselves.

xxxxxx

It could be said that at this very moment Naruto was...upbeat. He was now a Genin, but unfortunately, he knew what being a Genin would mean. It would mean that he would now be pressured even more than he already was to become an Anbu member.

As Naruto walked down the streets to his destination, which was the Hokage tower, he ignored the stares and glare coming from the many merchants and street vendors who were aware of his condition. Not even they could penetrate the solid wall of concentration that he had set up in his mind.

All he could focus on right now was what exactly he was going to say to Ojii-san once he got there; he was fully aware that the Sandaime greatly wished for him to join the Anbu and that he being an official Genin now meant that he was now of official ninja rank. And according to the rule of Anbu admission, 'any ninja of any rank was eligible to become an Anbu.' The whole idea of Jonin only being able to become Anbu was just a lie; that false dogma had only risen because getting into the Anbu was so freaking hard that usually only Jonin tried.

Knowing this Naruto grimaced heavily, not wanting to think about the most likely uncomfortable conversation that the two would most likely have. At times like this Naruto had actually wished that Sanae or even Konoe were here to bug him and keep his mind off of the awkward topic that kept poking him in the back of his head.

xxXXxx (Hokage's office)

As sighed heavily as he entered his surrogate grandfather's office. The old man looked up from behind a small mountain of papers and smiled.

"Ah, Naruto-kun you have returned, I assume that the advancement exam was today, did you pass?" Naruto raised an eyebrow before he pulled up a seat from the corner of the room and sat down in front of the Hokage.

He crossed his arms. "What do you mean you assume, you're the Hokage for Pete's sake Ojii-san, you don't assume stuff like this, you already know it. And come now, do you really think that I could ever fail a test that easy, that's an insult to me! That test was way below my level."

"I only jest Naruto-kun, I'm well aware of your ability." He said with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah I know but it's always fun to play along." Naruto said responding with a bright smile. There was a brief pause and the both of them then burst out in a unified bit of laughter. It was always fun to share a laugh with Ojii-san every now and then; not many people could say that they hung out with the Hokage of the village. It was just one of the many perquisites that came with being who he was; maybe the Sandaime was one of the reasons why Naruto had decided to stay in this village.

Sarutobi's face then suddenly shifted to an expression of seriousness; upon seeing this Naruto quickly mimicked his action. The old man then arched his back forward, while placing his elbows his desk and resting his head on the backside of his palms. Naruto always found it surprising at how Ojii-san could switch between moods so easily.

"Naruto-kun, now I'm sure you already know what I'm about to say."

Naruto mentally sighed, throwing his gaze down at the floor. "Yes, I know." He responded quietly. Naruto then looked back up at Sarutobi. "But, is it really a matter so important that it should be pressed onto to me like this?"

Sarutobi sighed. "Naruto-kun, you know that I only want the best for you and I want to see you succeed. This chance could release you from the life you are living now. But if you, feel as though you should not accept this issue that I've presented to you before then....by all means I will not stop you; let it be as you say Naruto-kun."

Now Naruto was put out of his comfort zone, whenever Ojii-san wanted him to do something he would always ask Naruto in ways that he considered being sly and cunning. It greatly disturbed him at how adept the old man was at appealing to his conscience but what more could you expect from the village Hokage. As kind and gentle as he was, he was also manipulative and clever.

Naruto swallowed down the lump beginning to from at the base of his throat. "Do you really want me to join the Anbu that badly?" Naruto asked.

"Indeed I do Naruto-kun. That offer I made you last year on your first day at the academy, I did not make it because I thought you would prove to be a great contribution to the Anbu Black Ops but because I knew you would. But like I said before, it is up to you." Again with that cleverness of his.

Naruto looked Sarutobi dead in the eye. It was always like this; they would have a serious conversation and Sarutobi would ask something of Naruto. And as much as he did want to Naruto was always the one who ended up caving in first, it was something he hated about being under the wise stare of the Hokage and he berated himself for it.

Sarutobi cleared his throat just a bit too loudly, letting Naruto know that he was getting impatient with the boy's stalling. "I-..." the pressure began to build and Naruto feared that history would repeat itself and that he would end up saying something that he really didn't want to."-....I'll join" Naruto said in one sudden voice. He mentally cursed himself for being so weak; but he would not give in without leaving behind his mark. "..But", Naruto said continuing on in a smooth and restricted voice. "I will only join if I am allowed to do one thing."

Sarutobi smiled, knowing that he had already won the battle, nothing Naruto could say would be enough too get this smile off of his face. "What is it?" He said, sounding slightly content with the world, his smile still beam; like a white arch of light.

"Give me permission to show my true ability from now on." Sarutobi's eyes widened and the smile faded and along with it the arch of light returned to nothing, he was wrong, there was something that Naruto could say."

"What...Naruto-kun are you insane? Are you aware of the social implications that doing something like that would bring you?"

"Yes I am....however, if you decline and do not allow me to do as I please then the Anbu will be nothing but a thing of the past." The creases on Sarutobi's forehead resurfaced as he was suddenly caught in a deep train of thought.

'Hm, perhaps I have taught him too well? He fooled me into fulfilling his wish in return for him fulfilling my wish, clever. Does he even know the reason why I set the law that forbids citizens and shinobi alike from uttering a word about the Kyuubi? If I allow him to show his power then it can only lead to one of two things. Either people recognize him for his strength or they do the exact opposite and shun him out of fear of a growing influence made by Kyuubi. But this is what he wants; Naruto I'm swimming out into dangerous waters by allowing you to do this...but"

Sarutobi looked up at Naruto, and smiled. "Ok Naruto-kun you win, if you join the Anbu you will be allowed to display your power to the public. But rest assure you will have plenty of time to show what you are made out of, for as you know the entire process of applying someone as an Anbu member will take an immense amount of time. Most likely up to a year's time, I wanted you to take the offer last year so that by tomorrow you would have been able to start you duty as an active Anbu member. Unfortunately, you declined; feel secure because you now have a year's time to wait until you become Anbu. So enjoy it."

Naruto nodded happily as he quickly stood up and upon looking at the boy's optimistic demeanor Sarutobi grumbled. He really had taught Naruto too well, the boy was already intelligent enough as he was, add the logic of a Hokage and you've got a problem on your hands.

"Thank-you Ojii-san, I greatly appreciate it." Naruto said as he got up, a small curl bending the sides of his lips. "I'll report to you after I meet my Jonin tomorrow, but I'm guessing that you already know who that person is." He left with a curt bow and walked outside of the office.

A smile on his face, knowing that he had finally been allowed to show his ability as he pleased in the village without consequence. He would no longer have to keep up the facade of the Kyuubi boy with average skills, he would know be known as the genius boy with the Kyuubi sealed inside of him. It was a future that he greatly looked forward to and the thought of such a future carried him in good spirit all the way to his small apartment where he stopped at the door.

"Tomorrow is a new day." He said while making a reach for the knob and opened his door. He turned back and glanced at the sky; the ominous twilight looked different today. The skyline was a shining bright red, as if Kami's hand had just swept over it with a fresh coat of paint. Who knew, maybe in the morning the paint would dry and the skyline's color would deepen so that when he woke up the next morning he would be able to gaze upon his very own crimson dawn.

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Wow, um I am finally done with this thing here. Tell me what you think, give me the good points, and give me the bad points. Remember for those of you who have read my other story you know how I feel about stuff like this. I will tolerate harsh criticism but not unnecessary insults.

Now like I want all people I want REVIEWS so help me out you have just finished reading this then I want you to click that giant rectangular button on bottom of the page that says Review This Story/Chapter in big green letters. I want to get as many reviews as possible with this first chapter, like seriously do it, it does not even have to be a long one, just a simple "awesome story" or "a few errors but okay" would suffice.

Thanx

Um, since this is the first chapter my author's note is not that long but they will get longer...much longer.

Latr

Next chapter: Training Tactics

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