Chapter 8

Authors Note:

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<b>Chapter 8</b>

[Naruto Uzumaki]

Waking up to his alarm ringing was never a pleasant way and it would not change in the future. Naruto blindly reached for his clock and turned off the alarm and then himself over the edge of the bed. It was 6 AM and the sky was not completely dark anymore. It was dusk and he started his daily routine of the last months anew.

Making one cross shaped hand sign, two identical copies of him appeared with smoke covering their initial appearance.

<i>Tsk. I still cannot reduce the smoke.</i>

"You. Start with the breakfast. Fry some eggs or something." he said, indicating the Clone on the left. "You, take out the new clothes we bought last month for today."

"Hai. Prime-sama!" his two clones shouted over the op their lungs at his face. If the smug smirks, they sported was anything to go by, they did not like me bossing them around, this early in the morning.

Growing a tick mark on his forehead and closing his eyes to stay calm he counted to ten.

"Just…get on with it." Naruto said when he opened his eyes and seeing his Clones grinning at him.

"Sorry Prime. We will get to it." one of them said and started completing Naruto's instructions.

I really thought that the Anime was exaggerating the personality of the Clones to increase the entertainment factor. Naruto lamented while donning his sandals and a plain white shirt for his morning run.

He started with his run around the village and did not stop for half an hour. After that he stepped into one of the denser forests near his apartment and started sprinting through it, while speeding through hand seals.

It was one exercise he came up with himself. He hoped that by trying to move as fast as he could through the dense forest, that it may increase his agility, flexibility, and awareness of his surroundings at the same time. Considering that Land of Fire had nearly only forested areas, it should be a good starting point.

When he first started this exercise he would stumble over roots, get clipped by the branches or even run headfirst in a trunk. Thankfully that did not happen in the last two months. Naruto thought thankfully, with slight phantom pain from his forehead. Even with his accelerated healing factor, it was not nice to run headfirst into an unyielding tree.

Considering the Shodai should have planted these, it's not exactly surprising.

Nevertheless, Naruto did not relent and with time got better and better. He was able to increase his speed and stopped tripping over the exposed roots and such over time. He could process his changing surroundings better and was able to avoid nearly everything he encountered.

Three months ago, he finally was able to speed through the forest he is currently running through, without getting touched by anything he did not want.

The rush I experienced was exhilarating. Being able to rush through the forest and not slow down once was something he never felt before.

The problem surfaced one week after that, when he did not feel like progressing further by doing the same exercise the next days. He still enjoyed the feeling extremely and had no problems at all, but he did not particularly gain something new by doing something he already could.

Thus, he started to practice his hand seals while running through the forest. Considering how much he had slowed down his run, to not trip and run into everything, he would say it was a good idea.

Well, a right one anyway. If it was particularly 'good' for my immediate health is debatable. Naruto reflected, when he nearly reintroduced his face to a trunk. Evading it at the last moment but having lost his attention of his surroundings and tripping over an exposed root.

Another 30 minutes later he arrived back at his apartment and took a fast shower. Getting out of the shower he heard one Clone dispel himself and received the memories of preparing his equipment and new attire for today. After dressing himself and putting on his Kunai holster as well as his equipment pouch where his back pocket would be. Fastening his Hitai-ate at his forehead he gazed at himself in the mirror.

He wore black shinobi sandals and ANBU-style pants with his kunai holster strapped at his right leg. White bandages surrounding that specific area to provide a better grip for the holster. Black shinobi sandals and a black long-sleeved top, with a few dark red lines running down his sleeves. The red Uzumaki Clan symbol on his upper back. He also wore black fingerless gloves for a more secure grip and light padding. His spikey dark red hair and strikingly bright blue eyes completed his look.

<i>Damn. I look badass!</i> Naruto thought with a bright grin, after he could not hold the colder, but indefinitely more badass, indifferent look Sasuke sported regularly.

Calming down and eating his breakfast, he hoped that he was ready for the next tumultuous years.

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[Ino Yamanaka]

The last few days were incredibly frustrating for Ino. After the conversation with their parents and unsuccessful begging for more information on Naruto's supposed Clan, Ino and surprisingly Shikamaru and Choji started to look into any information they could find on an 'Uzumaki Clan'.

It was maybe the first time the new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho were working together on a problem but did not find any information in their history books concerning the Clans of the Land of Fire.

Sitting beside her potential teammates for a change and not trying to get the last Uchiha's attention Ino Yamanaka for the first time tried to remember anything and everything she knew of her classmate. But she did not know a lot to her frustration. As far as she was concerned, he was at first very quiet at the start of the first academic year, but started to shout and prank anything that slightly moved after that. He did not study for the tests if his standing as Deadlast was anything to go by and he was abysmal at Bukijutsu and Taijutsu as well. The only saving grace he had was his startling stamina and endurance.

He won nearly all his sparring matches, because he did not just stay down no matter how many hits he took.

She even thought he dropped out of class, after he did not come to the academy for more than a month. Not that he attended regularly before that. He was an ugly orange jumpsuit wearing loudmouth, who was not really talented, but kept shouting about becoming Hokage.

That drastically changed after his miraculous return almost a year ago. He exchanged his jumpsuit for a plane white shirt and blue shorts. No longer did he shout his thoughts to the heavens or skipped class.

Sure, it was surprising, but not interesting enough for her. But he improved slightly over the year and started climbing the ranks, till he was just under Sasuke for the final year.

<i>It is like his whole personality changed. </i>

"Did you find something out, after we left?" Shikamaru voiced, looking at her with one half lidded eye.

"No. It is either not a Clan in the Land of Fire, or they are too small or unknown." she answered tiredly. "Anything else does not make any sense to me."

"Hmm. Munch. Munch. Could be. There is one thing we did not try yet though" said Choji looking at them with a smile, while eating his snack happily.

"Oh, and what would that be?" Ino retorted irritated with her failure at information gathering.

That should be my specialty. My Clan is known for their fast and accurate information gathering skills, after all. Ino thought frustrated with herself.

Pointing down at the entrance of the classroom and not minding Ino's irritation. "Why don't we just ask him?" Choji asked innocently.

Whipping her head in the pointed direction, she saw a vastly differently clothed Naruto Uzumaki. Looking him over, she could not stop being impressed with his changes. "Woah. He looks hot…" she muttered without realizing it.

"Oooh." Shikamaru turned himself back to her with a teasing grin. "Hot, huh. What would your Sasuke-kun think if he heard you Ino?"

Turning red in embarrassment and anger she shouted at him to shut up and looked around if anyone else heard her earlier. Thankfully she did not think so and breathed a sigh of relief, while ignoring Shikamaru who tried to hide his smile.

"Hey Naruto! Can you come over here for something?" Choji called out to the redhead.

Tilting his head to the side curiously, looking at them, and lingering a second longer on her, he shrugged and made his way to them.

"What's up?" he directed at Choji and Shikamaru, without sparring her a glance.

"Are you from a Clan?" she began before the other two could get a word out.

Looking over at her, slightly more attentive when he heard the question, he nodded. "Yeah. The Uzumaki Clan, to be specific."

"Where are they then? I did not hear of other Uzumaki in the village, and they are also not present in the books entailing the Clans of the Land of Fire." continued Shikamaru without missing a beat.

The small sad smile, that appeared on his face caught Ino slightly off guard. But before she could ask what happened he continued.

"The Uzumaki Clan was situated not in the Land of Fire. They inhabited an archipelago of islands known as the Land of Whirlpool, located between the Land of Water and the Land of Fire. They were the leaders of Uzushiogakure and were even allied with Konoha until their destruction in the Second Shinobi War." he finished.

After a few seconds of silence, "I think I read that somewhere a few years ago." said Shikamaru thoughtfully. "There was an Alliance between Kiri, Kumo and Iwa at the start of the Second Shinobi War. The book only mentioned that they destroyed an old-time ally of Konoha, who resided on an archipelago of islands. It never specified anything about them, however."

"Yeah. I think Konoha does not like mentioning that part of history, because of their failure in providing support to Uzushiogakure. They were attacked at the same time by Iwa, while Kumo and Kiri attacked Uzushiogakure full force at the same time. Iwa's attack turned out to be servicing as the distraction and allowed Kiri and Kumo to attack. Until Konoha repelled Iwa, Uzu had already fallen. I am most likely one of, if not the last, Uzumaki alive." Finished Naruto with a faraway look outside the window.

In the ensuring silence, Ino just now realized, that the whole class was listening to their conversation and looking at the probable last Uzumaki. Even Sasuke was looking at Naruto with an unrecognizable look.

<i>He likely realized that he has more in common with Naruto, than he realized.</i>

Just as Ino was about to ask him more about the Uzumaki Clan, the door the classroom slid open, and Iruka-sensei walked inside and asked everyone to sit down.

The new genin did as asked and Iruka began with one of his speeches about conduct as a shinobi again. Most of the class was, unknown to him, still thinking about their redheaded classmate and the story about the fall of his Clan.

"Alright. I will now announce the new Genin Teams." said Iruka, which brought everyone back from their thoughts.

"Team 1 consist of …"

…

"Team 7 consists of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake."

Ino would lie, if she was not disappointed that she was not in one team with Sasuke but did not dwell much on it and turned Sakura's cheering out.

Sasuke ignores her anyway. she thought smugly. What got her attention was that the two boys kept staring at each other even as Team 8 was announced. It ended with <b><i>Sasuke</i></b> giving Naruto a nod, who in return nodded back, which ended their staring match. They turned back to looking out of their respective window after that.

<i>Woah. That was like in some of those books with two protagonists, who had grudging respect for each other.</i> she thought incredulously.

"Team 10 consists of Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi. Your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi."

With that he wished them good luck and the Jonin senseis entered the room to take away their respective teams. When she looked back into the classroom, the only team still waiting for their sensei was Team 7.

"Come on Ino!" shouted Choji back to her.

Ino turned around and pushed Team 7 and specifically Naruto out of her mind. She had her own team to think about at the moment.