11 Impressions

As the instructors left, all the students began to mingle within their classes. I quickly surveyed my own class, and I couldn't see anyone I knew from the anime. I had thought that maybe Naruto would be, or Sakura, but I guess that this happened in the later years and for now they were ordinary civilians. Speaking of which, I haven't seen either of them yet, even if I had seen the majority of the Clan kids.

There were simply too many civilians and too few Clan kids, identifying a single person among hundreds is pretty difficult, so I quickly gave up my endeavors. I talked with the students in my class for a bit, and I learned that all of them had shinobi parents, some of them even being the children of Jonins. I was the only civilian here who was an orphan, or more specifically, someone with no resources or backing behind him.

After about half an hour passed, and everyone from their respective classes had already introduced themselves, the classes began to intermingle. The orderly arrangement we had gone into because of the head instructor was quickly deconstructed into what we had in the beginning, with no distinction between people.

The Clan kids were mostly left alone, as I assumed that approaching the heirs of the biggest Clans in Konoha while they were all in a big group, would be intimidating. Not to mention that some of the Clan heads and relatives were behind us peering at us as well. I figured to myself that I would have to take that first step though and make a grander impression of myself.

I knew all of them would be my future classmates, and to be quite honest, I didn't want to give the Clans and Hokage the pleasure of knowing their arrangements proved fruitful, Clan kids formed strong bonds with each other while civilians did the same. This created a distinction between the two, two seperate groups, rather than a singular generation.

I made my way to the Clan kids and I could feel gazes landing upon my back. All that training with Lee, ones in which I allowed my instincts to take control of my behavior, resulted in some pretty interesting benefits. While I didn't have anything near the level of Observer's Haki, my instincts had become sharper, and being able to feel when hundreds of people were looking at my back was not a challenge at all.

The Clan kids were also gazing upon me, most of them surprised and confused about why a tall and robust civilian was approaching them. I thought about what I would say, and who I would say it to, but ultimately decided to address them all at the same time. After all, focusing on one of them whilst leaving all the others ignored would inevitably cause some of the Clans to feel a bit of humiliation. After all, how could another Clan be more important than theirs?

I walked right up to the group, smiled, gave a short bow, and introduced myself,

"Hello, fellow students. My name is Sosuke Aizen, but you can call me Aizen. I wanted to say that I look forward to having a fun and memorable time at the academy with you, and if anyone were to need assistance, I would gladly provide help."

I didn't exactly know how everyone would take my words, but I tried to be sincere and not just use flattery. They're 6 years old after all, and flattering them at my mental age of 30 would be too embarrassing for me. I simply introduced myself, stated my intentions, and offered a helping hand if anyone wants to grab it.

I wasn't exactly sure if I should stay or leave at this point because all I was receiving back was pitch silence, that was until I heard a pineapple head responding with

"What a drag. I look forward to having a fun 6 years too with you too, Aizen. My name is Nara Shikamaru, but just call me Shikamaru"

Once he had seen Shikamaru take the initiative, something he rarely does with his lazy personality, Choji also offered his response, and while munching on a chip, said

"omnomnom, yeah I want to have a fun school life too. My name is Akimichi Choji, and you can just call me Choji too. If you ever need a snack, I can share."

I knew that this was one of Choji's greatest signs of friendship, so I smiled at him and said,

"Certainly Choji. If I have snacks, I'll make to share them with you as well"

He seemed to beam at that statement, and I considered my mission here completed. I don't know about the other Clan kids, but I at least made friends with the ones I wanted to the most. After all, I didn't really want to be friends with bratty kids like Ino, or cocky kids like Kiba, I couldn't deal with that at my age. Calm and kind kids like Shikamaru and Choji were much easier to befriend and have real interactions with. As for the rest, it was good enough to make them know my name and form some sort of connection.

I surveyed the rest of the Clan kids and saw that no one else was willing to give their introductions, Sasuke was somewhat shy at this age but still nodded at me, Hinata was... well Hinata, Kiba didn't acknowledge me, probably because I was in a class beneath him, Shino was... well he was Shino, though when I look at him he tilted his head in a bit, and knowing this was his introduction I returned the gesture and nodded back.

Feeling as if I would overextend my welcome by staying any longer, I said this before turning my back and leaving,

"It was great to meet you all, and again, if you need any help at all, I'm always willing to offer"

Overall, I'd say that went pretty well, I knew eventually I would make contact with all of them so there was no need to worry. I went back to the civilian area, and many of them were looking at me dazed. After all, I'd just talked with the Clan kids, something all of them certainly wished to do but were not capable of. I look to the crowd outside as well and saw some of the Clan heads still gazing upon me. Especially Shikaku and Choza, both looked at me with some level of appreciation. Considering I had just made friends with their sons this was expected, and some of it stemmed from the fact that I made the first move instead of letting nature take its course.

This was what I wanted. A big impression, one that left you thinking about them for a while after. Only with that can I hope to break into the inner circle of the Clans and gain some backing if something were to happen to me. After all, I couldn't forget about Danzo's threat with his Root, and I would have more protection with closer contact with the Clans instead of constantly being by myself.

The commotion I caused was quickly passed over, and soon everybody began leaving. Before doing so, however, I approached one of the instructors who were off to the side watching over everything and stated my intention to him

"Greetings, instructor. I just approached to make a quick inquiry about where I could submit a request to move into my own house"

The instructor seemed impressed by my diction and instructed me to stay behind for a bit. After everybody had left, the instructor came back and told me to follow him. We eventually made our way to the Hokage building and entered. Usually, this would be restricted to someone of my current status, but it seemed the Hokage had already made special arrangements for this situation. We made our way to the Hokage office, greeted the assistant, and the instructor told me

"You can now enter the office of Lord Hokage and personally appeal your situation"

I nodded and began walking towards the door. I was fairly nervous and surprised, after all, I didn't expect to make personal contact with the Hokage so soon, going as far as appealing my case to him. I knocked on the door before hearing a come in and made my way in. The moment I entered I felt a shiver go down my spine, and I figured it must have come from the numerous amount of Anbu hidden around the office, not that I could see them. I just remembered them from the anime.

The Hokage was seated at his desk next to a humongous amount of papers. I even doubted how he could reach the top of the pile to get the next paper. Throwing those thoughts aside though I gazed upon the Hokage and saw that he was smiling at me. I bowed towards him, a much deeper one than I gave the Clan kids, but before I could speak he said,

"Confusing isn't it? I usually just ask someone else to reach the top of the pile, after all, no one expects me to stretch my old bones that far anymore" chuckling at the end.

Embarrassed, I averted my eyes a bit. I couldn't believe that my intentions were caught from a few glances at the papers and back at him, his perception was simply frightening. He had lived a great amount, after all, the number of situations he had encountered and insights he had accumulated were at a level far beyond my understanding.

"So, young Aizen, I heard you wanted to live in your own apartment?"

Seeing as he got to the point, I quickly fixed my demeanor and responded back,

"Yes, Lord Hokage. I believe that staying at the orphanage any longer would be detrimental to my growth, and a place to myself would assist me in concentrating on my studies."

"mm, that is a good point. Tell me young Aizen, what do you want to be when you're older?"

I was somewhat caught off guard by the question but said

"I want to be a shinobi, Lord Hokage"

"Oho, you want to be a shinobi you say, interesting. Why?"

"I want to give it all in my path and being a shinobi has proved the most suitable for me"

"Yes, I do admit you have a suitable mindset for a shinobi, and that is a mighty fine reason young Aizen. Only when you give your all to something can you become a strong figure in that field after all. Since you have chosen your path, then I shall not obstruct you any longer young Aizen. I grant you your own separate abode but know that this is only a loan and must be paid back when you graduate yes?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage, I understand. Thank you very much for granting me this."

"Mmm, I look forward to seeing you grow young Aizen. You can find my assistant outside and tell her to bestow upon you apartment 12B"

With that, I gave my final bow and left the room. The instructor had already left, so I walked up to the assistant and told her what the Hokage told me. She looked at me with indifferent eyes, picked up a key next to her, and handed me it. She also gave me a map and then went back to her work, effectively treating me as air.

I still thanked her and left, navigating with the map to eventually reach the apartment building. When I saw what it looked like, I couldn't help but be shocked. Remembering it from the anime, I was sure that this was the apartment building that Naruto lives in! I didn't know why the Hokage put me here, but I made my way to the apartment number while imagining how much more likely it is for me to meet Naruto here. After all, he was one of the characters I had wanted to meet most of all. I entered my apartment and saw that it was a one-room, one kitchen, one bathroom apartment. It wasn't bad at all, it was pretty big, above standard size at least, and had all the necessities and furniture. There was even a tv in the corner! I didn't know much about the technological advancements of the Naruto world, but I knew they had trains, which meant they had engines, which meant they had... Everything seemed to be on par with the modern world except for a cell phone and the weaponry here.

I eventually made my way to my bed after checking my apartment out, and, after my nightly meditations, I went to bed excited about beginning my academy life.

At the same time...

Shikamaru was currently playing shogi with his father, the current advisor to the 3rd Hokage and advisor to the previous 4th Hokage, as well as the current head of the Nara clan, Shikaku Nara.

Shikaku was taking the game quite leisurely, keeping a relaxed smile while moving the pieces, while Shikamaru seemed to be having more trouble, slightly concentrating on the board. They usually opted to play in silence, letting the time pass them, but today was different.

"So, Shikamaru"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you introduce yourself to that civilian boy today?"

Shikamaru seemed to take a pause and responded shortly after

"It seemed like such a drag. That guy would have been a laughing stock if no one introduced themselves back after all"

Shikaku smiled, thankful to have a kind-hearted and perceptive son who tried to hide it all under a facade of laziness and indifference.

"Mmm, is that the only reason?"

"Yeah, mostly... Plus Choji and I could use a new friend to cloud gaze with"

"Oh? So he's your friend now?"

"We'll see"