Chapter 4

"That idiot is late!" Sakura complained out loud.

Standing between the doorway, this kunoichi had standout pink-hair and a bright red blouse as per the usual with Sakura who preferred to wear more brighter colors. 

Sasuke and Naruto sat in the background, they hastily read about different clans.

"Everyone else already left! Why do we still have to wait because of-?" Sasuke's anger was caught off by a sudden response.

"If it bothers you so much, why don't you try something that'll make you happy?" Naruto asked thoughtfully.

At this moment, a bright twinkle erupted in Sakura's eyes, A mischievous grin accompanied this. Afterwards, she skipped towards a nearby chalk board, grabbing an old and dusty eraser.

Approaching the doorway, Sakura closed this entrance, hiding the eraser. Planting this stained brushed atop the door, she took several steps backwards, admiring her work.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open by a glove-covered hand, exposing Kakashi's silver hair. Bombarded by a dusty eraser, clouds of white smoke briefly obscured Kakashi's face and attire.

Sakura began to laugh heartily while Naruto and Sasuke merely stared on in utter confusion at what had just occurred. Sasuke caught off guard by the shock of getting off guard by such a simple prank. Naruto on the other hand, was thinking of other possible pranks he could perform that could surpass this prank.

"My first impression of this group, Sakura is the weak link." Kakashi mumbled.

Interrupting the feminine cackle of Sakura, An irritated expression immediately formed on her face. Crossing both arms against her chest, she stuck her tongue out in complete and utter anger towards him.

"Where's your headband? You're a graduate now, you have to wear it." Kakashi pointed at Naruto with mild confusion.

Gripping the raised collar of his purple tunic, Naruto's headband was wrapped about his neck. Partially stained with poorly dried blood, this headband belonged to Iruka, his final gift to Naruto.

A gleam passed by in Kakashi's that left as quick as it appeared before he spoke out.

"Meet me on the roof everyone." A puff of smoke was left in the spot where Kakashi once was.

Two minutes later.

Seated on the stone staircase, Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura were basking beneath the sunlight. which was accompanied by lush trees that filled their view. This beautiful forest of greenery was a relaxing sight to behold.

"Introduce yourselves. Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future or hobbies. I'm all ears for whatever you all have to say." Reading his orange book, Kakashi's face never left the page.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all looked at each other briefly but nobody spoke up between the trio initially.

Kakashi let out a sigh as he begun to speak.

"My name is Kakashi Hatake, I'm not telling you what I like or hate. I don't have any dreams anymore, and my hobby is reading." Leading by example, he shuffled his book.

Raising her hand towards the sky, Sakura shrieked for attention, shouting 'me, me, me'! Earning an exhaustive sigh in reply, she leapt to her feet, wrapping both arms around her stomach.

"My name is Sakura Haruno! And I like a specific person!" She glanced at her Uchiha teammate.

"My Hobby is... Uh, and my dream is..." Barely able to speak, she squealed loudly which lead to Naruto cringing.

"And what do you hate?" Kakashi rubbed his mask.

"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed.

Naruto cringed harder to this response but didn't seem too bothered.

Naruto instead kept his sight to the greenery surrounding the area, his eyes seemed to be rather focused on the environment that surrounded them. At the same time, Sasuke scoffed with annoyance, rather annoyed on Naruto's behalf in regards to his pink-haired teammate.

Sasuke raised his hand despite his annoyed expression as he began to speak.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I hate waterfalls and people who never shut up and... I like... Naruto...because he's my friend." Sasuke sighed.

"What I have isn't a dream...It's a promise...I'm going to restore my clan." Sasuke said with determination, as Sakura clapped her hands together as a dreamy expression overtook her face.

Masked by swirling leaves, Kakashi glanced at Naruto, examining him and taking notice that he seemed to be rather lost in his own world. Still reading his book, Kakashi pointed at his blond-haired student, waiting for a reply.

Naruto took notice of the finger in his direction as he turned his head and began to speak.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto said simply.

"...That all?" Kakashi muttered.

"I hate it when people judge others because of how they were born." Naruto continued as he stared back to the greenery surrounding them.

"My dream is to protect everyone." Naruto said with clear determination..

The vibrant memory of Iruka took shape, his smiling face seemed as real as the sun. A lingering train of thought, Naruto couldn't shake this lavish image from his mind, engrained into his memory.

"You're all quite compelling. I'm excited to see what comes from our first mission." Kakashi remarked.

"Great, now we're going to fail, cause we got placed with a 2nd rate kunoichi." Sasuke mumbled.

"Be at the designated training grounds at 5am." Standing up, Kakashi stretched each limb.

"Wait." Naruto said with clarity.

"Hm? Yes?" Kakashi asked back.

"You said that...you didn't have dreams...anymore..?" Naruto asked to be sure of what he had just heard. 

"Sometimes, Dreams can come true and other times, They don't. In my case...they never really came out the way I wanted them to come out but..." Kakashi merely huffed out before staring briefly into the sky.

"You have to move on and face what comes ahead. You can't let yourself get caught up with what isn't reality...It's not the way to live." Kakashi closed his lone eye.

The three students merely stared on at Kakashi's face as they were enamored by the words spoken from the heart by Kakashi.

"Oh, and...don't eat anything for breakfast... You'll puke..." Kakashi vanished into a whirlwind of leaves and abruptly cut off any potential questions that could have been asked.

The three students stood around in confusion before Sasuke suddenly spoke up.

"Wanna swing by my house early in the morning? We'll do some training." Sasuke turned to his friend.

Met by the pleading words of Sakura, she jumped to her feet, begging for attention. Sasuke groaned before Naruto spoke up, inviting her along.

"I'll see you and Pinky tomorrow." Sasuke stood up, lazily strolling towards a distant staircase.

Waving a dismissive hand, Sakura didn't even acknowledge her blond teammate. Distracted by Sasuke, she chased after him, leaving Naruto alone in the spot of greenery as he merely sighed at the sight.

This silence allowed Naruto's thoughts to drift back to the Konoha hospital, humming. Focused on the strange chakra network that he previously view, he scratched his cheek as he wondered about the network.

Shooting to his feet, he approached an iron railing, revealing the outline of Konoha. Mentally reciting a list of scrolls, he became obsessed with the Hyuga clan, and their Byakugan.

Closing each of his obscured eyes, Naruto pressed both hands into the ram seal. Reliving the rigorous hours he spent training, he focused on the Leaf Concentration technique.

Funneling vast amounts of chakra into his violet and rippled eyes, he lazily opened them. As black pupils began to swell and bulge, his vision lost all color, entering the chakra-filled world.

A unique field of vision, this perspective was only visible by the Rinnegan and Byakugan. Opening his mouth with shock, hundreds of chakra networks were exposed, walking all around Konoha.

Glancing down at his own hand, streams of violet pulsated through Naruto's wide palm. Sighing with defeat, he lowered this hand to his side, clenching it with rage and trepidation.

Why... Why am I always different. Naruto asked himself.

-Flashback-

A 12 year old Naruto strolled down a narrow and dirt-filled road on his way home. Leading to a desolated and abandon street, this cul-de-sac rested on the northeastern outskirts of Konoha.

Several houses were empty and vacant, devoid of any occupant. Approaching the only house that appeared to have any activity going on, Naruto walked past a set of bushes, ending up at the front door.

Unlocking the lock before walking inside, Naruto was met by an awkward silence that caught him off guard. Unwilling to enter, he shut the door before running to the backyard, jumping his fence.

As his gaze fell upon the swing set, his concealed eyes began to pulsate. Still dealing with the issues from his recent confrontation with Ebisu, Naruto was caught off guard by the field of view.

Clasping both hands into the iconic clone seal, Naruto was caught up in clouds of smoke. Swirling into existence, six figures stood in a circle, possessing the same blond-hair and unique whiskers that accompanied him as well..

Enamored by the many viewpoints, these clones shared their field of vision, with Rinnegan eyes. Struggling to understand this revelation, he fell into the wonders of training and began throwing shuriken at his clones for better practice at understanding this...situation.

-Flaskback ends-