3 Chapter 3: Comrades and Rivals

(Timeskip : 3 years)

A lone figure could be seen walking through the streets of Konoha. This person was 4 ft 9 inches tall. He was wearing a black t-shirt and blue pants. His hands were covered by his fingerless metallic gloves. He wore black sandals. His face was covered by a black facemask, he had a well toned body and his blond hair were wildly swinging in the air with two bangs falling over his covered face.

Many civilians did not recognize this person and were just busy doing their work, while some shinobi recognized this person but ignored him.

This person was none other than Naruto Hatake.

It had been three years since Naruto had awakened his sharingan and had started training to become a shinobi. He had joined the ninja academy with his friends two years back.

His training had been going very well. He had found out that he was a ninjutsu specialist and was quite proficient with it. Kakashi had taught him a few jutsu's and was constantly training him whenever he was free from his missions. His most notable achievement in ninjutsu was his mastery over water jutsu, he could learn and perform suiton (water) based ninjutsu very quickly. He also learnt some jutsu of his other affinities but was unable to learn any earth based ninjutsu.

His sharingan had fully matured and now had three tomoes in it. It was during a sparring session with Kakashi that he was able to awaken the final stage of his sharingan consisting of three tomoes in each eye. Kakashi had congratulated him on achieving the final stage of his sharingan.

His Taijutsu had improved too, Kakashi had made him use weights in his training, they were not too much but still he kept on increasing them as time passed. He also taught him some moves of the Uchiha's Intercepting fist which focused mainly on speed and the movement of the opponents. Needless to say this style suited naruto much better with his sharingan.

Genjutsu was quite a difficult subject for him. Due to his vast chakra reserves he had trouble controlling his chakra. Genjutsu required precise chakra control, though naruto's chakra control had improved greatly but it was still not good enough for him to learn any Genjutsu but he was able to easily dispel genjutsu due to his sharingan which could see through illusions.

Naruto's sharingan was a little different than the oridnary sharingan. Naruto's sharingan could cast very effective genjutsu, his illusions were so real that only skilled shinobi or Genjutsu specialist could break through them. This ability made up for his lack of skill in learning any other genjutsu apart from his sharingan illusions.

Kakashi had trained him in hypnotizing his opponents using his sharingan and had even complemented him that he had the skill to surpass Itachi and Shishui Uchiha in the future with his sharingan based illusions.

He was happy with his life, however he had met another person who cared for him despite being him being a jinchuriki.

Thinking of her brought a smile on naruto's face.

(Flashback :One Year ago)

Kakashi and Naruto were continuing their regular training in the forest of death as usual. Naruto's skills had improved greatly due to his training. His strength, speed and ability to analyze his opponent and come up with counter attacks were greatly increasing.

"Alright ni-san, what are you going to teach me today?" asked Naruto excitedly

"Today i'm going to teach you a variation of the Shadow Clone Technique." said Kakashi.

"Variation?" asked a confused naruto

"Yes, it is called "Raiton Kage Bunshin (Lightning Release: Shadow Clone). It is a type of shadow clone and can also perform techniques like any other shadow clone but it is made up of lightning. Let me show you what you can do, first make two shadow clones and send them right towards me." instructed Kakashi

Naruto formed two clones and sent them charging towards Kakashi. Kakashi immediately formed a clone which rushed towards naruto's clones.

The first naruto clone aimed a punch at Kakashi's clone chest but he easily dogded it and tried to give a kick but was blocked by the second clone who was holding his legs, the first clone then immediately jumped in the air aiming to give a roundhouse kick to the kakashi clone and finish him off.

But before the kick could connect the Kakashi clone smirked and before naruto's clones could even realize what was happening they were electrocuted as the Kakashi clone burst into lightning dispelling itself with naruto's clones.

Naruto winced as he got the memories of his destroyed clones while Kakashi chuckled.

"Damn ni-san, that was painful" muttered Naruto

"Now you see what it does, This technique allows the user to make a shadow clone infused with lightning. Because it is a shadow clone, it is able to perform techniques and interact with the environment due to it having physical substance; and also evenly distributes the user's chakra to each clone. If the clone is injured, it will revert to its natural lightning-state, at the same time electrocuting whatever it is touching." explained Kakashi briefly.

"If i am fighting an opponent near water source this jutsu can be very helpful" thought Naruto

"Alright now try to form a clone infused with your lightning chakra-'' said Kakashi but was interupted by Naruto

"We've got company" said Naruto sternly

"Hm, his sensing ability has increased." thought Kakashi as he could also feel a chakra signature approaching towards their position.

Just a few moments later a young woman jumped in the clearing where Naruto and Kakashi were training. Curious to see who this person was Naruto turned to look at her.

First thing he noticed was that this person was a very beautiful young woman. She wore a brown trench coat, a short dark brown skirt above a fishnet cloth which covered the rest of her body. She had a look of pure mischief in her eyes and her hair was a shade of purple that really looked great on her. All in all Naruto had to say he found her very beautiful and this brought a blush on his face but thankfully it was hidden behind his facemask.

"Damn why am i blushing? I'm not a pervert" thought Naruto.

"Oi Kakashi, what are you doing here?" asked the woman curiously.

"Anko what are you doing here?" asked Kakashi

"This is my playground Kakashi-kun, now tell me what are you doing here?" asked Anko in a very sweet voice which sent shivers down both Naruto and Kakashi.

"Only Anko can call this a playground." sighed Kakashi

"She's exactly as Kakashi ni-san said." thought Naruto remembering how Kakashi used to talk sometimes about the Snake Mistress of Konoha, Anko Mitarashi who was widely known for her sadistic tendencies.

"Well i am training my little brother." said Kakashi and Anko turned and was surprised when she looked at Naruto briefly.

"What this brat? He looks like your clone" said Anko carelessly

Naruto's eyebrows twitched on being called a clone but kept his calm knowing losing his temper wouldn't end well for him.

"I am Naruto Hatake, pleased to meet you Anko-san" said Naruto respectfully with a short bow.

"Wait you're Naruto? What the fuck do you mean that you are Kakashi's brother?" asked Anko a little loudly

Anko knew who Naruto was and what burden he carried. She did not hate the boy like many villagers and even sympathized with Naruto as she too shared a similar past like Naruto, but then the boy just disappeared and now he is Kakashi's brother. One thought was going in her mind,

"What the Fuck Happened?" thought Anko.

Kakashi sighed and explained Anko the entire story about how he adopted naruto but left out part of his lineage, and his sharingan and his training until now.

"Well i didn't expect you to be of the caring type" teased Anko

"Did you say something?" asked Kakashi with an amused tone in his voice

"Why you...pervert!" yelled Anko

"Man that was funny" said Naruto who was laughing on seeing the interaction between Kakashi and Anko

"What was that shrimp!, i bet you don't even know how to hold a kunai" smirked Anko trying to agitate Naruto.

"Well let's find out shall we?" challenged Naruto, Meanwhile Anko grinned while Kakashi wasn't sure if it was a good idea.

Sure Naruto was a calm and collected person but he would never let anyone just insult him like that and also it would be a good chance to test his skills against someone other than Kakashi.

"Naruto i don't think you should challenge Anko like that. She is a Jounin like me." said Kakashi sternly trying to make Naruto understand.

"Ni-san i know that i am no match for Anko-san right now but i want to prove it to her that i am not worthless and you trained me well." said Naruto with determination in his voice.

Meanwhile Anko was impressed with Naruto's answer, he not only admitted that he was weaker than her and wanted to fight her for the right reasons.

"Fine then don't complain when she breaks your bones." said Kakashi tiredly.

"Thanks ni-san" said Naruto gratefully

"Oi brat, since you are honest and not arrogant let's make a bet" suggested Anko

"What's the bet Anko-san?" asked Naruto

"You fight with me and if you or able to hold against me for even 5 minutes then i'll teach you something useful" said Anko seriously

"That's acceptable, but what happens if you win?'' asked Naruto suspiciously

"Then you owe me a treat" said Anko with a dreamy look in her eyes thinking defeating Naruto would just be a piece of cake.

"Oh, please it isn't what i think it is" thought Kakashi fearfully.

"May i ask what this treat maybe Anko-san?" asked Naruto

"DANGO!" yelled Anko pumping her fists in the air

"Shit, what have i gotten myself into." thought Naruto. Everyone in Konoha knew about Anko's fetish for Dango, it was even more than Naruto's love for Ramen

"I told you otoutu, well its your funeral" thought Kakashi

"Alright the rules are quite simple, you can use anything you want. Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu all is fair. The spar will continue for 5 minutes until one gives up or loses. No serious damage is to be done to the opponent, it is a friendly spar." explained Kakashi in a monotone voice.

"Gee thanks for that Robo-cyclops" said Anko and even Kakashi was a little irritated by the name given to him.

"Naruto come with me for a minute." said Kakashi and walked a little away from Anko. Naruto followed Kakashi and soon after they were a little distance away from Anko, Kakashi stopped.

"Naruto you should not use any Shadow clones or your Sharingan in this spar. The Sharingan i need not explain why you are not allowed to use but for shadow clones i want to see your hand-to-hand combat skills without your clones and it would be best to keep some of your abilities hidden, the shadow clone is a forbidden technique and i don't think it will be right to show it to Anko at this time. Do you understand?" asked Kakashi

"I understand Ni-san and i won't let you down." said Naruto confidently

''I have no doubt about that." said Kakashi proudly and patted Naruto on the back.

Naruto walked up towards Anko and got into his fighting stance.

"Let's do this" said ANko loudly.

She immediately threw a Kunai towards Naruto at a very fast speed. Thinking it to be just a simple attack naruto just decided to duck from the Kunai's attack but was surprised when Anko appeared before him in an instant and punched him hard in the face sending him crashing towards a few feet away.

"Damn, the kunai was just a diversion which she used to distract my attention and sneaked up on me so quickly, she's fast" thought Naruto wiping some blood coming from his nose.

"Had enough Gaki.." teased Anko

"I am just getting started" said Naruto with an evil smile.

"Huh he's got no skills and he's cocky.'' thought Anko over confidently.

She then rushed towards naruto intending to finish the spar and attempted to send a right cross into his cheek. What happened next caught her completely by surprise.

Naruto ducked her punch and twisted her body, swatting her punch up and away , he then gave a strong punch to her torso, Anko suffered quite a painful blow and coughed up some blood. Yet before she could even process that, he drove his palm into her chin knocking her to the ground with a spray of blood coming out of her mouth as her teeth cut into her own tongue.

"Interesting he seems to be able to read her moves to some extent even without the Sharingan" thought Kakashi with a little pride.

"Why you...you'll pay for that brat!" said Anko and spat some blood out of her mouth.

She then went through hand signs quickly and executed her jutsu.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu(Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu)"

Anko gathered a large amount of chakra and executed a large fireball towards Naruto. The Fireball was enormous in size and its flames were very hot and were burning everything in its way and was speedily rushing towards Naruto who had started performing his own hand signs with great speed.

"Suiton: Suijinheki(Water Release: Water Encampment Wall)"

A giant wall of water surrounded Naruto from all sides and impacted with the Fireball with equal force. At first both techniques seemed to be at equal strength but soon the fireball seemed to become smaller and after a few moments it disappeared with only steam surrounding the entire area.

"Damn, what is this kid, he created water from nothing. There isn't even a water source nearby, How the hell could he do that?" thought Anko in amazement. She then quickly disappeared from Naruto's view with the intent of forming a new strategy.

Meanwhile Naruto was searching for Anko and was trying to locate her chakra through his sensor ability and after a few moments he found her chakra coming from a nearby tree.

"Got you" thought Naruto and rushed towards Anko's position

He then immediately attacked Anko and attempted to kick Anko's feet trying to make her lose balance but she jumped upwards in the air and attempted to give him a strong kick on his head but he was able to dodge at the last moment.

They then engaged in a fierce battle of Taijutsu, trading kicks and punches with each other. It was mostly Anko attacking and Naruto dodging her attacks with good speed.

"Damn her Taijutsu is impressive and she hits damn hard" thought Naruto noticing some bruises over his body.

"This Kid is something else, though i am not going all out but still he is strong."thought Anko

Naruto decided that he was no match for Anko in Taijutsu so he decided to go with his strength which was Ninjutsu. He then performed a quick set of hand signs.

"Fuuton Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Jutsu)"

"What?" thought a shocked Anko but before she could evade the attack a large gust of wind collided with her and sent her crashing into a nearby tree where she crashed with a loud thud.

Deciding not to give Anko any more time Naruto performed another set of hand signs and gathered a large amount of chakra in his lungs.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu(Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu)"

A large fireball rushed towards Anko and engulfed her in flames and burned everything surrounding her position to ashes.

"Maybe i overdid it a little" thought Naruto tiredly but just as he was able to call Kakashi he heard something from behind his position.

"Sen'eijashu(Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)"

Before Naruto could even blink, his entire body was entangled by a group of snakes and he crashed on the ground with the snakes holding him tightly on the spot. He looked back at where his fireball had hit only to see a burnt wooden log in his place.

"Damn a substitution. You Idiot" thought Naruto angrily

He looked back to see Anko standing behind him with a smirk on her face. Although her clothes were burnt badly while there were some light bruises on her hands and knees indicating that she barely avoided the attack.

"Impressive Gaki, you were able to holdup against me for this long and you even made me use my snakes. I'll admit you've got skill but it's over, if you move my snakes will love to get a bite from you and they are very poisonous" said Anko in a very sickly sweet voice.

"Alright I forfeit.'' said Naruto dejectedly

"Now Naruto can you tell me why was Anko able to defeat you?" asked Kakashi

"Because i was weak." suggested Naruto

"It was quite the opposite, you were indeed strong but Anko had one thing which you do not have right now."said Kakashi gaining a puzzled look from Naruto.

"That's experience gaki, i have fought with many shinobi during my career and as a result i was able to estimate your strategy, your fighting skills and was able to counter it. No matter how much a person trains he still needs to have real experience and that comes from missions. Don't worry you'll improve" said Anko

"But i still lost." said Naruto tiredly as he still was unable to accept his defeat.

"Don't be so down, you performed quite impressive for someone your age. Always remember this if your opponent is stronger than you and victory does not seem possible then it is a good choice to accept defeat. Do not let your pride get in your way, it has lead to the downfall of many shinobi. Sometimes to win you must lose." explained Anko and removed her snakes and offered her hand to Naruto to make him stand which he gratefully accepted.

"That was indeed a good spar. You were able to hold against Anko for 4 minutes, that's more than i expected. I'm proud of you" said Kakashi with pride in his voice.

"I understand and Thank you ni-san, Anko-san for explaining this to me." said Naruto respectfully.

"Now Kakashi how does he know such jutsu's and what the hell did you teach this boy? Don't you think he is too young to learn this much at his age?" argued Anko thinking Kakashi was trying to make Naruto more stronger than required for his age.

"Now Anko i understand your point, but Naruto has some enemies in the village who have tried to harm him in the past, so Hokage-sama had ordered me to teach him so that he could protect himself. Surely you understand that, don't you?'' asked Kakashi and Anko nodded.

"But how can he perform jutsu of three different affinity and how in the hell does he have such high water affinity?" asked Anko curiously as she was throughly impressed with Naruto's abilities.

Kakashi then explained naruto having four affinities and the training he has gone through till now.

Anko whistled on hearing this ''You are indeed interesting Gaki, well as you performed so well and are not arrogant about your ability i'll teach you a thing or two"said Anko shocking both Kakashi and Anko.

Kakashi was shocked becasue Anko was never interested in teaching anything to anyone. After Orochimaru left the village and betrayed Anko, she shut herself down and never trusted anyone else like before except from her best friend. Kakashi was also a friend of Anko and knew of her pain and for her to be willing to teach Naruto was quite astonishing.

"But i lost the bet, why do you want to teach me?" asked a confused Naruto.

"Well you and i are a lot alike and you have got talent, so i just think i'll teach you a thing or two, but you owe me a lot of Dango for this and stop calling me Anko-san, i am not a person for much honorifics." said Anko with a genuine smile. In truth she cared for Naruto but was just unable to express it and so this was her chance and she decided to take it.

"Thanks Anko-chan" said Naruto with a true smile.

"Anko-chan huh? You have good taste Gaki. I might even like you Naruto-kun" teased Anko while whispering in Naruto's ear getting a light blush on naruto's face as Anko sure was beautiful and her ways of seduction were quite impressive.

Meanwhile Kakashi was giggling on seeing the entire scene between Anko and Naruto but in truth he knew that Anko was just teasing Naruto.

"Now you do owe me some Dango. Don't you?" asked Anko menacingly with a dark aura in her voice and Naruto nodded immediately.

"Ofcourse Anko-chan, Kakashi-ni-san would like to come with us?" asked Naruto pleadingly hoping Kakashi would come to pay for Anko's huge Dango bill.

"Oh, you are not getting me this time Naruto" thought Kakashi mischievously.

"Sorry otoutu, i have got some work with Hokage-sama, see you later." said Kakashi and disappeared in a puff of smoke before Naruto could retort.

Naruto turned around to find Anko impatiently tapping her feet on the ground.

''Damn you ni-san, you Cheeky Bastard" thought Naruto with Anime tears dropping from his eyes on losing his precious pocket money.

(Flashback End)

Needless to say Naruto got along very well with Anko. She was able to get him to open up and not remain secluded from others. She was like his elder sister who always guided him. Even Kakashi and Anko became better friends.

At first Naruto thought that Anko was a hard person who just didn't care about anything but after he came to know about Anko's life, he found one person to whom he could somewhat relate to. A person who could somewhat understand him.

She also introduced him to some food other than Ramen. He once criticized that Dango was not better than Ramen and let's just say it didn't end well for him.

Anko was true to her words and decided to give some training in Taijutsu to Naruto. She was training him with some moves of the Hebi style which she was quite adept with. Under Anko's guidance Naruto found out that his Taijutsu needed a lot of work and he had not paid equal attention to Taijutsu as he did with Ninjutsu and Genjutsu.

So for the majority of the past year he trained with Anko and was still training with her to improve his Taijutsu. Kakashi also occasionally trained him in Ninjutsu but the main focus was on Taijutsu. Anko's training regime was brutual to say in the least and everyday Naruto would end up bruised and battered from wounds from sparring with Anko but it was a great experience and he was learning something very useful so he didn't mind much.

He still hadn't told Anko about his sharingan, it was not that he didn't trust her, instead she was a precious person to him but he still didn't know if telling her the Truth would change her views about him. Kakashi had advised him to wait for the right time and then explain it to her.

Naruto was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice that he had arrived at the academy and was already a few minutes late for his class. He went towards his class and knocked on the door.

"Come in" said a voice from inside the class.

Naruto entered the class and found his teacher Iruka Umino staring at him. Iruka was a man of average height and build. He had black hair which he kept tied in a ponytail. He had dark eyes and a scar that run across the bridge of his nose. He wore the standard Konoha chunin vest with a headband on wrapped around his forehead.

Iruka was a very kind hearted man who cared for all of his students. At first he was indifferent towards Naruto but with passage of time he came to realize that Naruto was not the fox, instead he was a very kind hearted boy who loved his friends. After that he opened up to Naruto and now they were good friends or siblings if one could say.

"Naruto why are you late by 20 minutes?" asked Iruka sternly, even though Naruto was special to him he never showed favoritism to any one student.

"Sorry Iruka sensei, i was training yesterday and got very tired so i was not able to arrive on time in class. It won't happen again." said Naruto honestly. Unlike Kakashi he didn't like making lame excuses for his mistakes and admitted it.

Iruka sighed and told him to sit in the class but not without giving him a warning.

Naruto liked the academy as it was where he was able to spend more time with his friends but he hated the academy's training which was entirely lame. The things which they were teaching the students to be genin would never help them get strong and survive in the shinobi world. But the worst part of the academy was Fan-girls.

Most of the girls who wanted to be Kunoichi were obsessed with boys and believed in fairy tales where they would be saved by their prince while many boys considered themselves to be god and just wanted to show off.

These were not the traits of a shinobi. A shinobi is a person who operates from the shadows and do not seek glory, they have complete control over their emotions and do whatever it takes to fulfill their mission. This was what Kakashi and Anko had taught him but the academy was completely different.

As a result Naruto did not show off his skills in the academy like some other students, instead he opted to be an average student who had less skills. He was indeed the most powerful among his comrades but he lived a life of deception because in the real world names, titles and Ranks meant nothing. Even the strongest shinobi could be defeated by an opponent much weaker than them.

Snapping out of his thoughts Naruto went up to to take his seat besides Kiba and Hinata.

Hinata had become his close friend since he entered the academy. She was a very shy girl and lacked confidence which was very unusual for a Hyuga. After knowing Hinata he had came to know the pressure which the children of various clans of Konoha had to shoulder. Hinata was not an exception.

She was the heiress of the Hyuga clan, who were considered the strongest clan in Konoha. Her father had high expectation from her but Hinata was unable to fulfill them so she was considered unworthy by her own clan. They preferred her younger sister better than her, even her own father did not have faith in her which according to Naruto was quite pathetic.

But after she came in contact with Naruto and his friends her confidence seemed to be growing slowly and she was starting to believe in herself. She admired Naruto a lot but she always confused Naruto as she always had a blush on her face whenever she talked with him and her stuttering was quite annoying during a chat.

Now Naruto was not an idiot but was confused that whether she admired him or was infatuated with him but decided not to push Hinata for any further talk as he wanted her to tell her what she felt on her own and not by force. Also Naruto only considered Hinata a good friend and nothing more.

"Good morning Naruto-kun" said Hinata politely

"Good morning Hinata-chan, Oi mutt wake up" said Naruto and bonked Kiba on the head waking him from his sleep.

"What the hell Naruto, why'd you hit me?" asked Kiba in a sleepy tone.

"Why are you sleeping so early in the morning idiot." said Naruto with a smirk "3, 2, 1...Now" thought Naruto

"Man Iruka-sensei's lesson's are so boring. So i was taking a nap." said Kiba loudly and Akamaru barked in agreement.

This brought different reactions, the entire class laughed while Iruka was furious.

"KIBA INUZUKA for that you shall write about the History of Konoha 50 TIMES!" yelled Iruka.

Kiba paled on hearing that, the history of konoha was not something a person would want to write 50 times.

"Iruka-sensei i was not alone, even Shikamaru was sleeping." pleaded Kiba hoping to get out of this situation

"Troublesome, i was not sleeping Kiba" said Shikamaru quickly but yawned immediately after saying that.

The class had a hearty laugh as Shikamaru was caught too. Naruto and the others watched with amusement as Iruka scolded both Kiba and Shikamaru for sleeping in the class. After a long lecture which lasted for many minutes and some apologies from Kiba and Shikamaru, Iruka let them go.

Iruka took a few deep breaths to calm himself down in order to continue teaching the students.

"Alright now we shall-" said Iruka but was stopped in his speech as the bell rang signalling the end of the class. Shikamaru understood that it was Naruto's plan to distract Iruka and wait for the class to end to escape from the boring lesson.

"You planned this didn't you?" asked Shikamaru sharply.

"I don't know what you are talking about Shika" said Naruto slyly.

"What are you talking about Shikamaru?" asked Chouji curiously. Even Shino, Kiba and Hinata were intrigued.

Shikamaru then explained what Naruto had done.

"Naruto-kun that was mean." said Hinata but still had a slight smile on her face.

"You TRICKED ME!" yelled Kiba

"I try my best." said Naruto with a smrik.

"Troublesome blondes" said Shikamaru but was bonked on the head courtesy of a pissed Ino.

"What was that Shika?" asked Ino menacingly.

"Troublesome" muttered Shikamaru

"Thanks Ino, Nice hit" said Naruto laughingly.

"You bet Naruto" said Ino and exchanged a high five with him.

Ino was also one of Naruto's best friends and he liked her a lot. Her loud personality and brash attitude were quite interesting. However they still had some differences, the main difference was her mad infatuation with Sasuke Uchiha, but despite everything she was his good friend.

Chouji laughed on watching the entire incident while Shino had a smirk on his face.

The only people in the room who were not interested in seeing the group of friends were Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno.

Naruto had tried to befriend Sasuke in the past but Sasuke was not interested. He considered himself greater than the others and looked down upon anyone whom he didn't consider a challenge.

Sasuke was mad about getting power and achieving it through any means necessary. He brooded all day and did not socialize with anyone. He didn't even look at his fan girls who worshiped him like a divine god.

A part of Naruto hated Sasuke with passion. Sasuke was the golden boy of the village, almost all the villagers practically worshiped him just because he was the last of his clan, which in fact was not entirely true. But still even after being shown so much care and affection Sasuke berated others whom he did not consider worthy of his time, this seemed to make Naruto hate Sasuke more.

All in all Sasuke was a stuck up prick who considered himself greater than the others just because he was an Uchiha. Naruto tried to talk to Sasuke sometimes but after a few tries gave up on him as he was a lost cause.

Sakura on the other hand was just book smart but was probably the greatest fan girl of Sasuke. She practically worshiped the ground on which Sasuke walked, and berated others and praised Sasuke for almost everything. Due to this Naruto stayed away from Sakura as she was annoying.

Even Ino's fan-girl tendencies paled in comparison to Sakura. Sure Ino was mad about Sasuke but she did not berate other people as much as Sakura and she never berated Naruto or any of her own friends.

So according to Naruto, Sakura was just an annoying girl who practically had no skills as a ninja and was not fit to be a shinobi.

The rest of the day passed with the group of friends undertaking the Kunai and Shuriken tests meant to test their accuracy with weapons.

Kiba was able to hit 8 out of 10 kunai targets, while Shino hit 7 targets. Shikamaru and Chouji were also able to hit 7 targets each while Ino and Hinata manged to hit 6 out of 10 targets.

Sasuke was able to hit every single target which earned him a rather annoying cheering from his fan girls. Most of his fan girls were civilians who had no idea who Sasuke Uchiha really was, if they knew they wouldn't have even spared him a glance.

Sakura performed the worst out of all students with only managing to hit 4 targets out of 10.

When it was Naruto's turn he decided to hold back his true skills. In truth he could hit each and every target but that would mean showing off his ability and a shinobi should never show his cards until necessary and showing off in front of a bunch of academy students was not Naruto's style.

So he only hit 8 targets out of the 10 kunai targets.

"Alright class now we are going to have a Taijutsu spar between students. The spar will continue until one opponent gives up or is knocked out. Any questions?" asked Iruka but no questions were asked.

The first few matches were between a bunch of civilian kids and as such it was more like street fighting.

Kiba and Shino had to face each other. At first they appeared to be even but slowly within a few minutes of fighting shino started to get tired and Kiba slipped into his defence and knocked him out and which led to him winning the match.

Ino's sparred with a civilian boy and was able to defeat him easily.

The match between Shikamaru and Chouji was quite amusing. Everyone was expecting a good fight between the two best friends but were disappointed when Shikamaru just gave up saying it was too troublesome to defeat Chouji which earned him a beating from Ino and a long lecture from Iruka.

"Alright next match is between Hinata Hyuga and Haruno Sakura" announced Iruka.

After hearing the announcement Sakura seemed to be confident while Hinata looked nervous.

"Huh, this is my chance to prove myself to Sasuke-kun"thought Sakura with a dreamy look in her eyes.

Meanwhile Hinata was not all that confident, seeing her worried face, Naruto went towards her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You can do this Hinata-chan, I believe in you." said Naruto with a smile.

Hinata's eyes widened on hearing that, the boy she admired believed in him.

''I won't let Naruto-kun down, i will win this fight.'' thought Hinata with determination

"Go hinata, kick forehead's ass" yelled Ino while the others gave hinata a thumbs up while Shino gave her a brief nod of encouragement.

Seeing all her friend's faith in her brought tears in Hinata's eyes. She got the thing she wanted in her life most :Recognition and to be acknowledged. These were her true friends and she won't let their trust go in vain.

Iruka signaled the start of the match, Sakura rushed towards Hinata blindly and attempted to give a kick at Hinata's face.

Hinata easily caught Sakura's leg and with a quick motion gave a punch to Sakura's chest and then she quickly gave a leg sweep to Sakura's right leg making her lose balance and fall on the ground.

She then gave a quick series of gentle fist punches and sealed of majority of Sakura's tenketsu.

The entire crowd of students were shocked on seeing Hinata's fierce battle. Every time Hinata had a spar with someone she would lack confidence and would make a mistake and lose easily, but this time she was fighting as if she was a true shinobi.

Naruto smiled on seeing Hinata's fight, he knew Hinata wanted to be acknowledged and for people to believe in her. And who be better than her friends, so he just did what was best for his friend and the others did the same.

Sakura found herself in a new world of pain. She had expected to win against Hinata as she considered her weak but was surprised when she was defeated so easily and was beaten mercilessly by a girl who everyone thought as weak.

"Sakura-san i have sealed of your Tenketsu i would advise you to quit as you are unable to fight." said Hinata with a polite yet stern tone in her voice.

Sakura dejectedly accepted her defeat and went back towards her place while limping all the way.

"You did great Hinata-chan" said Naruto but was surprised when he was enveloped in a tight hug by Hinata.

"Thank you for believing in me Naruto-kun, thank you everyone." said Hinata happily

"Way to go Hinata'' yelled Kiba with Akamaru barking in agreement.

All the others congratulated Hinata with Ino being the loudest person to praise her for defeating Sakura.

Iruka smiled on seeing the entire interaction between his students.

"It seems i was wrong about you Naruto. Hokage-sama was right the will of fire burns brightly in all of you." thought Iruka proudly.

"Alright today's last match is between Naruto Hatake and Sasuke Uchiha" announced Iruka.

The entire crowd went silent but soon erupted into a cheering for Sasuke, the most coming from Sakura.

"Oi Naruto, kick that teme's ass" said Kiba

"Good luck Naruto-kun" said Hinata with a warm smile

"Troublesome, i know you'll win" said Shikamaru while Chouji and Shino nodded.

"Naruto..Good luck, but please don't hurt Sasuke-kun" said Ino in a low voice so that no one else could hear.

"I understand Ino-chan and thank you." said Naruto with a kind smile.

Ino blinked in surprise on hearing being called "chan" and got a blush on her face.

"Well he's not that bad" thought Ino with a blush.

Naruto and Sasuke stood in front of each other waiting for Iruka's signal to start the spar. Naruto seemed to be stoic as ever, his emotions being hidden behind his mask while Sasuke seemed to be confident of himself.

Iruka gave the signal indicating the start of the spar but even after a few moments Naruto hadn't moved from his position and was standing with his hands in his pockets as if he was mocking Sasuke.

"What's the matter dobe, you scared of facing me?"' asked Sasuke in a mocking tone.

Naruto gave no reaction and stood stoically in front of Sasuke. Kakashi had taught him that the best way to win a fight was to make sure your opponent gets distracted. Naruto knew about Sasuke, he knew Sasuke was strong but his arrogance was his weakest point and by playing with his ego he was making sure that Sasuke loses his cool.

(With the Spectators)

"Shika why is Naruto just standing there?" asked Ino in confusion

"Psychological warfare" stated Shikamaru

"What?" asked Ino even more confusedly, all the others were also interested in hearing Shikamaru's answer.

"Troublesome blondes, Naruto likes to plays with his opponent's emotions rather than charge in head on, i noticed this while we played Shogi" said Shikamaru

"As if he could defeat my Sasuke-kun with such cheap trick!" screeched Sakura

Everyone winced on hearing her voice, even Ino who was fond of Sasuke was annoyed by Sakura's madness.

"But do you think Naruto would be able to defeat Sasuke?" asked Chouji

"Naruto is a way more powerful than he let's on" said Shino for the first time.

"How so?" asked Kiba

"You'll see, besides its too troublesome to explain" said Shikamaru.

"Lazy ass Nara's" thought everyone at the same time.

(With Naruto)

Naruto was waiting for Sasuke to start his attack. Meanwhile Sasuke was getting impatient with Naruto's non-responsiveness and decided to provoke him a little.

"Looks like your loser friends were wrong to trust a dobe like you." mocked Sasuke and the reaction he got from Naruto satisfied him.

Naruto's eyes hardened on hearing that, he could tolerate his insult to some extent but no one ever insults his friends and walks away with it.

"I wanted to hold back Sasuke but you leave me no choice." thought Naruto.

Before anyone could even blink Naruto rushed towards Sasuke at tremendous speed and slammed his fist in Sasuke's gut. Sasuke felt the air knocked out of his lungs, he wasn't even able to see Naruto's moves.

Naruto then gave a harsh kick to Sauske's face and sent him flying flying few feet back.

All the people watching the fight were stunned to see the best student in the class being beaten like a dog and it seemed that Naruto wasn't even trying.

"Naruto-baka, stop trying to cheat and hurt Sasuke-kun" screeched Sakura in Sasuke's favor. Everybody just wondered how stupid could she be.

"KILL HER, MAKE HER FEEL PAIN" said a voice inside Naruto's mind shocking him. Naruto realized that it must have been the Kyubi but now was not the time to think about it.

"Sakura, shut up, You're Annoying!" said Naruto in an icy tone sending shivers up everyone watching the fight.

Sakura was frozen with fear as Naruto's cold blue eyes looked at her, his small killing intent was making things worse for her.

"Is this your power Naruto?" thought all his friends and Iruka in unison.

"Don't forget about me." yelled Sasuke angrily and attempted to send a right hook towards Naruto.

With great speed Naruto sidestepped from Sasuke's attack. He then grabbed Sasuke's arm and twisted it making Sasuke wince in pain.

"Looks like Anko's training paid off" thought Naruto with a smirk.

"Shinobi rule 25: A ninja must always keep his emotions in check, if emotions are not controlled they will lead to your downfall Sasuke" said Naruto mockingly with a mild laugh.

Sasuke yanked his arm away from Naruto, he then tried to give a leg sweep to Naruto but Naruto back flipped away gracefully.

"WHY DO YOU HESITATE, YOU'RE PATHETIC" said the voice again from Naruto's mind.

"SHUT UP YOU DAMN FOX." yelled Naruto in his mind.

Sasuke and Naruto then engaged with each other in fierce Taijutsu battle for the next few minutes. Sasuke was giving everything he got, but Naruto was just avoiding his attacks like a snake it was as if he had no bones in his body.

The entire class as well as Iruka was stunned on seeing what was happening. The best student in the class who was considered a prodigy of his generation was being demolished by Naruto.

"YOU'RE WEAK, DOESN'T HE MAKE YOUR BLOOD BOIL., ANSWER ME" yelled the voice again. Naruto was getting frustrated for the last few minutes he was fighting Sasuke and the fox was annoying him a lot trying to make him more angry.

"Yes, NOW SHUT UP" yelled Naruto

"YOU WILL BOW BEFORE ME YOU INSOLENT BRAT, NOW WATCH MY POWER" said the voice.

Naruto was trying his best to control his anger, he was feeling a surge of power through his body, every fiber in his body was itching to kill Sasuke. It was like the fox's bloodlust was affecting him.

"YOU LISTEN TO ME YOU DAMN FOX, I WON'T LET YOU CONTROL ME NOW GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM" yelled Naruto with determination.

"FOOL, SOON VERY SOON YOU WILL FALL." said the voice with malice in its voice.

Sasuke jumped in and tried to give a hard kick on Naruto's head but Naruto brought both his hands up and blocked his attack. He then grabbed Sasuke's leg and swinged him in the air and threw him to the ground like a rag doll.

"Why am i so weak?" thought Sasuke noticing the bruised all over his body.

"Is that all?" asked Naruto angrily.

Everyone was startled by this new Naruto, gone was the kind boy in his place was an entire new person.

"You are weak, you overestimate your own ability without having any idea of my own. You consider yourself superior then the others just because you are an Uchiha. You are pathetic Sasuke and you do not have strength nor do you know the meaning of true strength" said Naruto in a demonic voice and kicked Sasuke in his jewels.

Every male winced on seeing the kick connect with Sasuke' jewels. Every person was frightened of this new Naruto who had an evil aura coming from his body Some kids had already fallen unconscious while the others were barely staying awake. Iruka was also frozen in his spot, he wanted to stop the fight but Naruto's voice had frozen him to his spot, it was the same fear that he had experienced during the Kyubi attack that he was facing now.

"No Naruto is not the fox, he is different, I have faith in him." thought Iruka with determination

"Naruto please stop" yelled Ino

Ino's voice brought Naruto out of his daze...

"What was i doing, i was getting influenced by the fox. I will not let it get what it wants." thought Naruto with determination on realizing his mistake.

Meanwhile Sasuke was in intense pain. His entire body was hurting from the various hits which he received from Naruto.

"It's the same as it was with Itachi, why am i weak and pathetic?" thought Sasuke thinking of how his brother had demolished his clan and how helpless he was on that night.

"Let's finish this teme" said Naruto

Naruto then rushed towards Sasuke with intense speed, Sasuke saw Naruto approaching and tried to give a kick at Naruto's chest but Naruto ducked under it. He then gave a swift and powerful kick to Sasuke's chin launching him in the air. Naruto quickly jumped afterwards and appeared directly beneath Sasuke.

Naruto twisted his body around, driving a kick towards Sasuke's side. Sasuke was barely able to block it, but Naruto just used it to increase his momentum as he spun the other way. His punch hit Sasuke brutally in the chest, knocking him back towards the ground. Naruto fell with him, subjecting Sasuke to a brutal series of midair kicks. It ended with him burying his foot into Sasuke's stomach at the same moment the Uchiha hit the ground with enough force to form a few small cracks. Sasuke coughed up blood, and then became unconscious.

"It's over" said Naruto on seeing Sasuke's condition.

"Winner Naruto Hatake" said a stunned Iruka and then rushed forward to check on Sasuke.

There was absolute silence, no one was able to believe that their prodigy Sasuke Uchiha, of the great Uchiha clan had just been beaten mercilessly. There were mix of reactions among the students. Sasuke's fan girls were livid at Naruto for hurting and defeating Sasuke but after seeing what Naruto did decided to keep their mouth shut for their own safety, even Sakura did not screech at Naruto instead she was terrified of him.

Some of the kids were amazed by Naruto's strength and couldn't help but wonder on how strong Naruto truly was.

"Amazing" said Hinata in awe.

"Way to go Naruto, Nice work on kicking that teme's ass" yelled Kiba punching his fist in the air which was followed by a cheerful bark from Akamaru.

"Troublesome" muttered Shikamaru but had a small smile on his face. "How much were you holding back Naruto?" thought Shikamaru

Naruto felt a little bad on hitting Sasuke so badly but then he remembered what Sasuke had said and came to the conclusion that Sasuke deserved it. He then saw the reactions of his friends and saw fear, pride, doubts, worry etched on their faces.

"I need to calm down myself." thought Naruto

He then went towards his friends, Ino specifically. He remembered Ino had asked him not to injure Sasuke badly but he injured Sasuke and felt as if he hurt Ino even though Sasuke deserved what he got.

"I'm sorry Ino, I hurt Sasuke." said Naruto regretfully. He was expecting a slap, cursing from Ino but what happened next shocked him. Ino enveloped in a tight hug and had a few tears in her eyes.

"Its alright, i heard what Sasuke said, it's not your fault." said Ino and embraced Naruto tightly

"Thanks Ino-chan" said Naruto and returned the hug. He felt relieved on hearing that Ino didn't blame him or hate him for beating Sasuke.

"Troublesome blondes." muttered Shikamaru with a smirk.

"Oi Ino, you sure you like Sasuke? It looks like you like Naruto lot more than Sasuke." teased Kiba

"Shut up dog-breath" yelled Ino and bonked Kiba but she had a light blush on her face.

"Naruto you performed well." said Shino and Naruto nodded.

"Guys thank you for having faith in me. Now i have some work to do, I'll see you guys later." said Naruto and immediately ran off without waiting for any reply from his friends.

"I need to talk to Kakashi-ni-san and Jiji" thought Naruto and rushed towards the Hokage tower.

Everyone just wondered what Naruto really was, he was an enigma to them. At one moment he's a kind and caring person and the other moment he was ruthless person who destroyed his enemies.

One thing was made clear that Naruto was not what he seemed and was a lot more powerful then he showed.

And there was something Dark in Naruto