1 Welcome to Konoha, Meet Uzumaki Naruto

"Good morning Konoha," a voice said. It belonged to a ten year old boy with spiky blond hair and warm blue eyes. His name was Uzumaki Naruto. He had three whisker-like marks on both cheeks and he was wearing a grey top with blue shorts. He had in his hands a paint bucket as he made his way towards a huge monument known as Hokage Rock. It was a stone monument with the faces of all the past leaders of the village. It currently had the faces of four people. The first, the second, the third and the fourth Hokage.

Naruto made his way to the monument and began to paint on it with a huge grin on his face. It was part of his daily dose of pranks that he played on the entire village. Naruto was a lonely child. He never knew his parents and for some reason, the entire village treated like he was the plague. They never talked to him and always looked for some reason to talk trash about him. They never said it to his face, but that did not mean that he didn't overhear them. He was training to be a ninja so he was bound to notice the strange things around him.

After he was done painting the faces of the Hokages, he was going to see the current one and would make sure to tell him everything that had been going on.

"Stop right there!" a voice yelled out. He turned to see two members of the famed assassination group and personal bodyguards of the Hokage. ANBU ops.

"Not in a million years," he yelled as he jumped off of the monument and made a run for it.

"After him," one of them said and they went after Naruto. The boy ram as fast as his ten year old legs could carry him and quickly made his way to the third Hokage's office. He lost them in the building and burst into the office of the man that he referred to as grandpa.

"We need to talk to gramps," Naruto said.

"Naruto!" the old man exclaimed as the boy said so. "I was expecting you."

Just then, the two ANBU ops that were chasing him appeared at the moment. The third, Hiruzen stopped them in their tracks and they left.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Gramps it's just that, I've started at the academy and I honestly thought that things would have changed but I don't get why they didn't."

"What kind of things?" he noticed Naruto's hesitation to respond but smiled as the boy opened his mouth.

"I don't get why the villagers treat me the way they do. They act as if I'm the plague or something worse and they constantly say it in a way that everyone in the village knows something that I apparently don't. Please gramps I gotta know." Naruto was on the verge of tears.

Hiruzen looked closely at Naruto. If the boy was to ask questions like this, then he deserved to know.

"Before I tell you, what exactly are the villagers doing?"

"It's just… anytime I walk by, they begin muttering 'it's him', 'that boy', sometimes even 'that thing'." Hiruzen flinched at Naruto's tone. "They tell their kids to avoid me and it doesn't help that I'm orphan. They overcharge me and sometimes kick me out of their stalls." Naruto was shedding tears already.

Hiruzen got angry, very angry. 'I told them not to speak a word of what happened to Naruto, but I thought they would act normal around him. I never accounted for how they would treat him.' Hiruzen thought to himself.

"I hope they didn't take physical action against you?"

"They almost did but this ANBU member stepped in and stopped them."

Hiruzen smiled as he knew who it was. "First things first," Hiruzen said as he took a deep breath. "It all began ten years ago when your mother whose name I will not relay to you for safety reasons." Naruto nodded at that. "She was the jinchūriki of a pure mass of chakra known as the Nine Tailed Fox, Kyuubi. It was sealed within her by the wife of the first Hokage and she was able to keep it in check within her being."

"When she was about to give birth to you, the beast broke out and attacked the village. The fourth Hokage fought the beast and sealed it half of it inside you. That's why the villagers see you like you are the plague, when they look at you, they see the beast that killed their loved ones. Apparently, they don't know the difference between a vessel and its content. I'm sorry."

Naruto was crying, though he was trying to control the best way a ten year old could.

"Who was my dad?"

"I can't tell you for security reasons. For your own safety."

"Okay," Naruto said, trying to register everything he was told.

Two Years Later

Naruto had grown exceptionally in two years. His hair was still the same blond colour and was spiky as usual. He wore an orange, turtle high neck jacket. He wore orange pants and blue shinobi sandals and blue glasses on his forehead. He had finally made it to the end of his time in the academy. He was not… how would you say, book smart, but that didn't mean he didn't know a thing or two. Ever since he found out why the villagers treated him like that, his life had been a little less lonely. He still pranked the village a lot. One because he now knew why they treated him like that. Two because he had spoken with the Nine Tailed fox inside of him and he looked kinda like a kid than an actual monstrosity. They had also started to become friends.

I wrote this fic in a way that the Kyuubi was reverted to his childhood state after he was sealed inside Naruto, kind of like the effect of using the tetragram seal on his hulking mass of chakra and sealing him inside a child that he has a child that he has some shared DNA with, and also the fact that he was split in half. I wanted him to actually grow with Naruto every step of the way.

Naruto had made sure to at least study a bit, even though he didn't like it in the slightest. He had learnt a few of the basic techniques in the academy. Making friends was still kind of difficult for him and he only had five that he could call friends. A boy named Shikamaru, another named Choji, a boy named Kiba and a girl named Hinata who was kind of shy around him.

His hyper activeness had increased greatly and he was as boisterous as ever.

They were currently at their final exam. The requirement was for them to perform a transformation jutsu (Henge) and the standard clone jutsu (bunshin). All of them were lined up in front of their teacher and one by one they performed both techniques in a kind of showoff manner.

Soon it was Naruto's turn.

"Why don't you use the new jutsu you developed," Kurama said as he talked through Naruto's subconscious.

He smirked as he brought both hands together and wove the sign for the transformation technique. "Oiroke no jutsu (Sexy technique)!" he exclaimed.

In a puff of smoke, Naruto transformed into a naked girl with pig tails and smoke covering her private areas. She blew a kiss at Iruka, causing the Homeroom teacher to have a nosebleed and fall on his back.

Naruto transformed back into his normal form as he laughed loudly. He still was a fan of pranks and he loved pulling them. Iruka got back after his apparent "recovery" and scolded Naruto. He still checked the test as a pass even though he didn't do the right transformation.

"Now the bunshin no jutsu (clone technique)."

Naruto wove the same sign that he used for the transformation jutsu and created about four clones, earning a pass from Iruka who he had actually come to know as a sort of elder brother and he received his forehead protector. Things were going to be great.

Naruto was clutching a huge scroll and was wide eyed in shock. There was Iruka, the man who he considered to be like an elder brother, impaled with a shuriken by Mizuki his colleague. He had apparently jumped in to protect Naruto and had ended up getting hurt.

"Iruka-sensei."

"I can't believe you Iruka. You've taken a liking to that demon huh Iruka. The same demon that took the lives of your parents, man… you disgust me."

"Shut the hell up. The Hokage banned us from speaking anything about it to him."

"He deserves to know that he is the demon that attacked the village twelve years ago and claimed the lives of many, including our beloved Hokage, the Yellow Flash."

Naruto quickly deduced what was going on and decided to play along.

"You're wrong," Iruka said. "I have gotten to know Naruto and he is an excellent young boy. He is far from the demon that you people make him out. He is a kind and extroverted boy seeking attention and acknowledgement. He will make an excellent shinobi, one I am willing to die for and someday, he's going to be Hokage."

Iruka spat some blood as he cried. The words touched Naruto deeply. Iruka had faith in him and he wasn't going to let him down. He would be Hokage someday and he would start by righting the first wrong.

"Two years," Naruto said.

"What was that demon brat?" Mizuki hissed.

"Two years ago, Hokage-gramps told me what actually happened during the Kyuubi incident." He shifted his gaze, a very pissed off gaze, to Mizuki.

"The Nine tailed fox was sealed within me to keep it from attacking the village… You know, for a chunin, you're pretty stupid Mizuki. You don't know the difference between a vessel and its content. Now you've gone and made me angry. I decided to follow your idea and break into the Hokage's office, but you thought I'd lie to my gramps."

"I told him everything and he was already suspecting you to be working with Orochimaru and this pretty much confirmed it. Everything was okay until you just had to hurt Iruka-sensei." Naruto looked at Iruka who was bleeding from everywhere.

"Well what are you waiting for?"

Naruto smirked as he brought both hands together in the form of a cross, involving only the index and middle fingers of each hand. "Kage bunshin no jutsu (shadow clone technique)." Immediately, the entire forest was filled with hundreds of Narutos.

"What?!" Mizuki yelled at Naruto using the joūnin level technique.

"This is for Iruka sensei," they all shouted, and the night was filled with the beat down of Mizuki. Naruto withdrew and released his clones to look at the masterpiece of a beat down he had caused.

"Naruto," Iruka called out to the young genin.

"Iruka-sensei," Naruto replied as he looked at Iruka. He had cleaned himself of the kunai and shuriken that had impaled him.

"I'm proud of you. You did a good job," Iruka-sensei said with a smile gracing his lips.

"Thanks Iruka-sensei," Naruto replied.

The Next Day

Naruto and Iruka had reported everything to Hiruzen who had apparently seen everything from his crystal ball. Mizuki was apprehended and locked up for life.

It was currently the day that they get assigned to their genin teams and Naruto was seated between a boy and a girl. The boy had dark hair and dark eyes. He wore a high collared blue shirt and grey shorts. He wore bandages on his right thigh which were also attached to his kunai holster. He wore blue shinobi sandals and white arm guards that took up the entirety of his forearm minus his palm and elbow. He wore a blue forehead protector on his forehead. He was the sole surviving member of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke Uchiha.

The girl had pink hair and green eyes. She wore a red gown-like dress with white outlines that reached just below her knee. The dress was slit at the bottom towards her waist section. At the bottom of the dress was, in both the front and back, was a white ring. She wore blue tights and bandages on her right leg that held her kunai holster. She wore a red forehead protector on top of her head, and blue shinobi sandals. She was a member of the Haruno clan. Sakura Haruno.

Now this may come as a shock but all the girls in their class had a huge crush on the Uchiha survivor. Well, all except one girl and her name was Hinata Hyūga. Sasuke used his hands to support himself in a bored expression on his face as all the girls were admiring him.

Naruto himself had a huge … how would I say… crush on Sakura. He was actually put off by Sasuke's attitude at ignoring the girls. Well he would kill for the attention that Sasuke was receiving, so he decided to confront the boy. He stood in front of Sasuke and glared at him. Both boys were locked in a staring contest of some sought. Their pride on the line as they fueled the flames of their rivalry.

Just then something stupid happened. A boy stretched backward and accidentally bumped into Naruto. You know the rest. They pulled apart from the accidental kiss and began spitting out what they assumed to be the taste of themselves.

"Damn you Naruto," Sakura yelled as she was backed up by the rest of Sasuke's fan girls.

"Sakura! Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed as they got too close for comfort. Sakura cracked her knuckles as she approached Naruto.

Thirty minutes later…

Naruto rested his beaten body on his desk while they waited for Iruka-sensei to come.

"Good morning everyone," he said as he came into the class. "Sorry I'm late, I was getting the team assignment list from Sandaime and I have them now."

The entire class perked up at this.

Soon enough Iruka had begun calling the names of the various teams, until he got to Naruto's.

"For Team 7, Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki …" the blond lazily waved his hands in the air as he really loved that combo. The pink haired girl's shoulders slumped. She really hated Naruto. "… and Sasuke Uchiha." At the mention of this, Sakura got excited this time while Naruto looked dumbfounded. How was he going to keep up with the Uchiha prodigy. "Your joūnin sensei is going to be Kakashi Hatake."

They cringed at this. That guy had failed a lot of teams and they had handed them over to him. Iruka smirked as he saw their reaction. Heck even Sasuke had a shocked look on his face. Iruka didn't actually know why Sakura was majorly needed for the team, most likely to balance things out. As for Sasuke, Kakashi had looked after his elder brother when he joined the ANBU, and as for Naruto, it was because Kakashi was taught everything he knew from Naruto's father.

"For Team 8, Hinata Hyūga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame. Your joūnin sensei is going to be Kurenai Yuhi." That was quite unexpected as that team was perfect for tracking and espionage.

"For Team 10, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka. Your joining sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi. That is all. At the close of school, your sensei will come and pick you up. Good luck." Iruka left the class to go about the rest of his day.

Time was slow for Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, mostly because every other person had left with their joūnin instructor, but as for them.

"You think he'll be on time." That was Sakura and she was clearly frustrated at their teacher, whoever he was. It was leaning towards evening and they were all clearly frustrated.

POOF!

There was a puff of smoke right in front of them. A man stepped out of it. He had spiky white hair that leaned towards the left side of his face. His forehead protector was tilted to cover his left eye and he wore a blue mask. He stood tall, clad in a Konoha flak jacket, a symbol that he had become a chūnin. He had a bored expression on his face as he analysed his team. He knew two of them on a slightly personal scale, and the last one was only needed so as to complete his team.

Their personalities were just downright troublesome. He was stuck with an idiotic extrovert, a sadistic introvert and a banshee. In fact, even now she spoke, or shouted, whichever one you prefer.

"You're late!"

"Sorry. I was on my way here when I suddenly stopped to think about an excuse for coming late." This only served to further irritate Sakura, but he payed no need. His job was to ensure they grew to be fine ninja someday.

"Meet me at the roof for a little briefing," he said as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. They blinked. That was it.

They made their way to the roof of their academy. There seated calmly was Kakashi Hatake. He gestured them to seat down in front of him.

"Okay, we're going to start with a basic introduction. Just your name, likes and dislikes, goal. If we're going to be team, we need to know a little bit about each other."

They were a bit taken aback by this, but Sakura spoke up. "If we must introduce ourselves, why don't you go first. There's no point in us revealing information to you if you don't want to reveal to us." Her "inner Sakura" cheered at the explanation she just gave to Kakashi.

'Oh great. She thinks she's smart.' "Fine. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I don't like many things and I dislike many things. I'm not sure I have any goals. Now your turn."

Sakura's "inner Sakura" silently wept at how Kakashi turned it around on her.

"I'll go first," Naruto said with a grin. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen, especially ramen that is prepared at Ichiraku's. What I like even more is when Iruka-sensei pays for my ramen. But, I hate the time it takes to boil the water to prepare the ramen. As for a goal, I want to surpass all the Hokages and one day be someone that the village can come to acknowledge. As for hobbies, let's just say pranks."

"High ambitions," Kakashi said before turning to Sakura.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. I like ..." She went silent as she ogled over Sasuke, with Kakashi snapping her out of it. "Oh... I dislike, or in better terms, hate Naruto." The blond boy was a little crestfallen at this. "As for dreams..." She went silent before suddenly screaming. "Hell Yeah!"

'Seems like she's more interested in love than ninjutsu.' Kakashi turned to Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like many things but I dislike a lot. I don't know of you would call it a goal, but I do have an ambition. To kill a certain man and restore my clan to its former glory."

'He's so cool." Sakura said internally.

"They certainly are a weird bunch," Kakashi muttered just enough for only him to hear. "Now that that's out of the way, tomorrow we're going to be having a training exercise. Unlike your exercises at the academy, it is going to be against me."

"Why do we have to fight you?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi smirked. "You see, from the twenty-seven graduates of the academy, only nine of you will become ninja. The rest would be sent back to the academy and it is as a result of this exercise."

"What kind of exercise is it?" Naruto asked.

"Here are the details," he said as he handed over to them three pieces of paper. "We meet tomorrow at the training grounds. It will be around five in the morning, and for your own good, don't eat, because you might just puke up all you've eaten."

They gulped as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The next day, they gathered at the training grounds, but surprisingly, Kakashi was not there. They ended up waiting for hours on empty stomachs, and it would have remained that way if not for Naruto who brought some candy bars.

"As much as I hate you Sasuke," Naruto started earning a glare from Sakura. "Likewise," Sasuke retorted with a smirk. "We have to at least try to get along," Sakura said, although she directed her we at Sasuke.

"We can't fight him. He's a joūnin," Naruto pointed at. "Since we know he is going to come late, I took the liberty of getting some candy bars to at least serve as little food."

"You seem to at least know what you're doing. But still you're dead last," Sasuke said as he took two bars. Naruto gritted his teeth before butting heads with Sasuke. Sakura was actually contemplating eating, but since Sasuke was having it, she would too.

"You're late!" Sakura yelled as Kakashi finally arrived.

"Sorry. I was helping an old lady cross the street," He said casually. He paused to take note of the surrounding area and noticed a small trace of candy wrap. 'At least they didn't pay heed to that stupid advice. This should be interesting.' He dug his hands into his pocket as he held up two bells. "See these?"

"Yeah."

"These are your tickets to becoming ninja. By the time this alarm reaches twelve, the exercise is over."

"What exactly is this exercise?"

"Simple. Who doesn't have a bell at the end of this exercise will be sent back to the academy." Kakashi appeared to bask in the looks of horror on their face.

"We've already prove that we are ninja by graduating from the academy. What more do you want?"

"It's simple. I don't like you, or you or even you." He pointed at each one of them. "This is a way i can reduce you lot by one or two or even three. That's why till today, I have never passed a single team."

'If I fail, then I won't have a chance to kill him. I can't fail now. I must get that bell.'

'I can't go back to the academy. That's disgraceful. I must prove myself to him if the village must acknowledge me.'

'If I go back to the academy, I'll be separated from Sasuke. I must get a bell.'

Kakashi smirked. "Why are there two bells?" Sasuke asked, a little pissed off.

"Well at least one of you must go back to the academy. If all three of you make it, nothing changes, but if one of you go back, then I'm okay. I'm actually betting on you Dead last." He said this to Naruto. While it was true that Naruto was good physically, he had a hard time understanding things theoretically. And as such, his grades were the lowest.

"What did you say?" Naruto asked with grit teeth.

"I said Dead last. If you get sent back then I can most likely bet on those two having themselves killed on a mission."

Naruto got angry but before he could do anything, a kunai was pointed at his throat. There he was, Kakashi squatted next to Naruto with a kunai aimed at the boy's throat. None of them even saw him move and yet here he was in their midst about to kill one of them.

"Calm down Naruto. If he's the real deal, then you don't want to make any rash choices." It was the Kyuubi.

'You're right. What was I thinking?'

"Now I haven't said begin. Those who don't think are usually the first to die." He placed the kunai back in his holster and stood up before jumping back to his previous spot. "Begin!"