Chapter 4

_A Day Later_

Naruto arose out of his deep slumber. The rising sun poured through his window, casting a rosy hue on the morning sky. The sounds of a busy morning from the shopping district could be heard all the way to the red light district, and into Naruto's Twelve-by-twelve room. Naruto's alarm clock read 8:00 am. His dazed, blue eyes read over it a second time. Then a third. He stifled a yawn.

Naruto's eyes quickly bulged, spreading wide across his face. Remembering today he had to meet Kakashi at the training ground to start his training. He practically threw the covers away, jumping up from his bed to get ready. Then he remembered that he hadn't had training today. But why?

Naruto stormed through the memories from yesterday. He then remembered what day it was. Today was the first day of the academy. Today was going to be the start of a dull day. Naruto climbed back into bed, getting ready to fall asleep again when he remembered that it was supposed to start at around 8:30.

This time, instead of volleying the covers over his shoulder, he slowly pushed the covers off of his legs, making sure to take his time. Naruto sighed, the memories of yesterday finally coming back to him. His eyes started to become watery again. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve, drying away the tears that threatened to stain his somewhat dry face.

Naruto then smiled at the feeling Kakashi had felt. He had sensed Kakashi, the feelings of genuine fear for him, as if he cared. He hadn't felt that ever, and Kakashi had felt that. For him. The 'Kyuubi spawn,' or whatever that meant.

Naruto looked at his clock once more.

'8:05. I have a little bit of time.'

Naruto hopped in the shower, taking a cold, five-minute shower. He dried himself with a towel, before brushing his teeth. After finishing, Naruto grabbed his casual wear from one of his drawers, and steadily put on one pair of clothing at a time, taking his time. After he put on his sandals, he looked in the mirror at what he wore.

From head to toe, he wore black. Very bland, but Naruto didn't really like color, he liked the darkness, and he liked not being noticed. That's one of the many reasons he wore his mask. Only a select few had the pleasure of seeing him without it. And because he would never admit this to Kakashi, he admired him. Thanked him for helping him at his lowest, so he adopted his style.

Naruto smiled at all the fond feelings and memories that Naruto had shared with Kakashi, a tear threatening to escape his right eye. He wiped his eyes again for the second time today, before walking out of his bedroom, waving at the anbu who had watched him since birth.

"Hey, Weasel. How are you on this fine morning?" Naruto asked Weasel, popping some toast in his toaster, cracking three eggs in a bowl, and whisking them with a spoon.

"I am doing good, Naruto-san. What about you?"

"I'm doing relatively well too, Weasel-san. I'm cooking breakfast then I will head to the academy, it is my first day after all," Naruto said, sensing Weasel-san's emotions.

"Is everything okay, Weasel-san?"

"Yes, Naruto-san. I must have forgotten" Weasel said, sort of waving away Naruto's worries, but he could tell something was wrong. Bothering Weasel.

Naruto poured the eggs into the pan which was on the stove. He made some scrambled eggs and dumped them on a plate. Naruto grabbed a fork and quickly shoveled the eggs in his mouth, and ate his toast after. Naruto read the time again, he had about five minutes to get there.

"Bye Weasel-san. Bye Neko-san. Bye Tenzo-san," Naruto said, waving goodbye to the anbu members that had watched him since he was born, walking out his front door and body flickering once he closed and locked it.

_Hokage Office_

"-and those are my plans for combating Danzo's little scheme that he pulled yesterday," Hiruzen said to Kakashi, who just looked on at him.

"And this will work?" Kakashi asked, a little skeptical at Hiruzen's so-called 'full-proof plan.'

"It will work and hopefully with everyone's backing too, it will go as planned. He won't even expect it. I will call a meeting with the shinobi council as this doesn't affect the civilian council as this is dealing with a shinobi-to-be. And this will deal with other problems that have been set by Danzo to put a wall between the Uchiha and the village," Hiruzen explained to Kakashi, who in turn nodded at Hiruzen's explanation, realizing that it wasn't that bad of a plan after all.

"Okay, and assuming that Fugaku goes with this?"

"He will take the bait, it might take him a second, but he will realize the worth of the offer. I only fear how long it will take to enact this meeting. We could set this up in a week's time, to iron out some details, but any longer and we will just be prolonging something that could fix all of the village's problems.

"We also don't want to give time to Danzo to screw us over again. The more time that Danzo has, the more time he has to create plans to create an even bigger wedge between the Uchiha and the village," Hiruzen said, to which Kakashi couldn't have agreed anymore. That man, as much as he hated to admit it, was a tricky bastard. The plans he thought of were well thought out and had little to no errors. It was almost as if he was playing a game of chess.

Hiruzen had stopped the conversation from going for a second, which had Kakashi eye's wandering out to the view of the village. It looked peaceful, and the morning sun reflected off the sky, having multiple layers of red, yellow, and orange.

He had also noticed that a falcon had sat on the open window sill. A little weird as falcons weren't native to this region, but he chopped it to it being around the time the birds from Kumo migrated to the land of fire. He turned his attention back to the Hokage.

"Is that all you wanted to discuss, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, remember these plans and tell no one. I am putting faith in you, Kakashi. Now, I have a ceremony to go to. Maybe I can spot Naruto-kun out of the crowd," Hiruzen said with a little smile on his face. He got out of his chair and walked out of the room, Kakashi following suit. If they had looked back, they would have noticed the falcon that sat on his window sill, taking off with the wind.

_Academy_

Naruto landed at the front part of the academy, watching as kids were dropped off at the academy by their parents. Many first years and second-year students took off into the academy, whereas the higher-year students hung out with their friends outside, waiting for the bell to ring.

Naruto took in the presence of each kid, feeling for their small chakras and very happy emotions. Not a single kid had a chakra higher than high genin, which kind of boosted Naruto's ego a little bit. He was told by Kakashi that he was going to be severely stronger than the other kids, but he hadn't thought this much stronger. The kids felt weak, even to his standards.

Naruto just watched, staying back in the crowd, watching the clan heirs. They were first-years like him too, and they would be in his class. However, a pair of black, moppy heads caught his eye. The Uchiha heir. He had black moppy hair, like the rest of his family, it kind of just laid atop his head lifelessly. Some of it was covering his eyes. He felt the Uchiha's emotions, taking them in. He could tell the boy felt jealous of something. He couldn't tell what the feeling was for, however, and many emotions ranged from happiness to boredom.

Along with him, Naruto felt a familiar chakra.

'Weasel?' Naruto said, questioning if his senses were right. He looked into his emotions and chakra and was surprised to find that he was right after all. The man had a fiery feeling to it, that was empowered by the wind but dwindled out by the flow of water. It was sort of calming in a way.

Now that Naruto was getting a good look at the man's face, he could see the tear troughs, sported with a darkish undertone, signaling the man had gotten no sleep recently. The man also had similar hair to Weasel's little brothers in the front but was more tame and soft in the back. Naruto watched as the man who had watched him almost his entire life mess around with his younger brother. In a sense, it made Naruto feel jealousy, however, he quickly reigned in those emotions.

Naruto then looked at his mother and father, and he could see where they got their looks from. His father seemed like a really mean person, although he could sense the toughness and the love for both of his children. Naruto smiled at that feeling, it reminded him of the love he got from Kakashi, although Kakashi's was different. Not the same as a father's love, but rather of an older brother, something more like what Itachi was to Sasuke.

Naruto turned his attention back to the other heirs. He counted around seven other heirs. The Aburame, Akimichi, Uchiha, Hyuuga, Nara, Inuzuka, and Yamanaka. They were all reportedly with their parents. Naruto smiled before his thoughts were interrupted by a loud sound.

Everyone around him huddled together and started clapping. Naruto turned toward where everyone else was looking and saw a huge stadium next to the academy. There, in all his glory, stood the Hokage, clad in his Hokage attire. Naruto joined along, not wanting to be an outlier.

"Thank you, everyone. I appreciate the hospitality. As you know, many people here are starting their first year at the academy, many of which are clan heirs. This is a rare opportunity to be in a class full of clan heirs. So, let's get down to business and on with the speech so you guys can go to your respectable classrooms," the Hokage said, receiving another round of applause from the people.

"You students are the future of Konoha, what will hopefully be to prosper into your own respectable shinobi and protect the village, and maybe one of you lucky enough to take the hat from me," Hiruzen said, looking pointedly at Naruto in all of the crowd. Naruto smiled but covered it up.

Hiruzen chuckled before continuing, "And among you, I can already tell the will of fire burns brightly in each one of you. Just like your parents, you will be responsible for the village and its future, so I hope each one of you will prosper on your own and get used to the person next to you. These people will be by your side through thick and thin, so get used to these faces and get to know them. You will be surrounded by them for the next six years."

Naruto tuned out Hiruzen, most of it was already stuff he had heard from Kakashi. Bs about the village and how it was your friend. Naruto did believe in the concept of the will of fire, only a little bit, but the rest was sort of bull. I mean, pure loyalty to the village was sort of a weird concept to think about. Naruto couldn't do it even if he was forced to. He could think of a million reasons why he shouldn't so why should he? The only thing important to him is that he protected the people close to him. If the village burned in order to save Kakashi's life, he would do it in a blink of an eye.

Naruto watched as Hiruzen commenced the start of the school day, sending the students to their own respectable classrooms. Naruto followed many of the clan heirs, playing around with his chakra, circulating it through his body, and getting a feel for it. It felt different. Looked different too. It felt darker, almost as if it was black, but the color itself. It felt dark as midnight. Not really evil, but not much of a saint either. A mix of the two.

Naruto then sent his chakra out, sensing the other kid's chakras. Out of the seven heirs, the Uchiha had the most chakra, the Akimichi coming in as a close second. Naruto felt Sasuke's nature. It was just a disaster, an untamed fire, that wasn't impeded by the static feeling that only intensified in the fire's path. It felt strong, not as strong as his fire, his own fire felt different. His own fire felt intense, like a sun, whereas Sasuke's felt hot, yes, but it felt eternal, undying, and fast, sort of like Itachi's in a way, although Itachi's felt slow but undying, opposite to Sasuke's fire.

Naruto walked into the classroom, taking a seat in the far back, away from everyone else. The closest to him were the Hyuuga heir and the Aburame heir, luckily the quiet of the group of heirs. Naruto sensed their chakras, the Hyuuga heir surprisingly had fire and lightning, though both were calm, soothing even. Naruto was surprised by the chakras. Usually when sensing someone's chakra, if they had fire and lightning it seemed rather restless and unsettled, sort of like Sasuke's but not nearly on the level of intensity. The Hyuuga's was rather calming though and made Naruto feel tired again.

Naruto then turned to the Aburame's chakra, earth, and fire. There was nothing really too noticeable about his chakra, although it was rather hard to tell from the multiple chakras surrounding him, which Naruto identified as the insects inside of him.

Naruto turned his attention to the newcomer entering the room. The one who entered the room was what Naruto assumed was his teacher at the academy and would be teaching them for the next six years. He sported a green chunin vest and regular shinobi attire, though a rare scratch mark was stretched across his face, along his nose horizontally. Naruto sensed his emotions, and they seemed relatively happy, although when they locked eyes Naruto could feel an undying hate, one that was common among the villagers. It seems he wasn't different among the many people that hated Naruto for what he deemed no reason.

The man just turned away, putting on a smile for the class.

"I am Iruka Umino, I will be your sensei for the next six years and will be teaching you the shinobi arts, ranging from the correct form on a kunai, the three academy ninjutsu, basic genjutsu, and the main subjects, history, and math," Iruka started off, going more in-depth with what he was going to teach for the next six years. Naruto blocked him out, already knowing the entire curriculum. No point in listening to Iruka, as he was just talking nonsense and he was just like the villagers.

"Today is a shorter day as we are only going over the curriculum and I want to see where you guys are at. After lunch, we will have friendly sparring against classmates," Iruka explained about what today's class would look like, summing up everything.

"Now… On with lectures," Iruka said, earning many moans of complaints from the first years.

Naruto just laid his head down on his desk, tuning out the class.

Fifteen minutes passed by and Naruto felt everyone quiet down before he felt an object coming directly from Iruka toward his head. Naruto just let the eraser hit him, except it didn't hit, it sunk into his sand. Naruto looked up at Iruka tiredly.

"What did I just say Naruto?" Iruka asked rhetorically, he knew Naruto didn't know.

"I don't know Iruka-san." Naruto said, using more respect than he liked.

"Well, I asked the class to tell us their name, what they like, and their dreams for the future, starting with you," Iruka explained, looking at Naruto expectantly, to which he just looked at him, blinking at him.

"Well, don't be shy Naruto, go on."

"Well… my name is Naruto. I like chakra, and my dreams for the future are reaching jonin," Naruto said rather lazily, putting his head back down, but keeping his ears open, listening intently to what the other kids were saying about their dreams.

Naruto heard to his left the Hyuuga say her name was Hinata. Sun. Quite ironic for someone who's so quiet. She said she liked pressing flowers and that her dream was to become an heiress.

Naruto heard the Akimichi speak next.

"My name is Choji Akimichi. I like food and my dream is to own my own restaurant when I am older like my parents."

Naruto just looked at the Akimichi, not much surprised by his rather predictable dream. Most Akimichi own restaurants.

The Nara went next, his name being Shikamaru. He said something about cloud watching with Choji as his likes and his dreams were to live a boring life and a boring job. Quite lazy, expected from someone born to the Nara clan.

Next was the Uchiha, whose name was Sasuke. He said he liked tomatoes, and his brother and his dreams were to someday beat his brother in a fight.

Naruto just smiled at the man's dream, highly unlikely knowing who his brother was. Weasel was very strong, almost stronger than Kakashi, and he was still continuing to get stronger, no doubt going to reach that title in a year or so.

Naruto looked at a yellow-haired girl. Her name was Ino, she was a Yamanaka. Her likes were flowers, similar to Hinata, and her dreams were to one day take over her Father's job. A nice and simple dream.

Naruto then felt everyone's eyes turn to the Inuzuka. Naruto had to hide his ears away from how loud he talked. His name was Kiba, and his likes were dogs. Someone had made a quite unfunny joke about how he probably kissed dogs on the lips, which earned them many snickers among the children. Kiba yelled at the girl who did, to which he continued on with his dream, saying he wished to become Hokage. This earned him many laughs. They clearly disagreed with his dream, the kids saying a mutt couldn't become a Hokage. Kiba just yelled at everyone, announcing that he would prove everyone wrong.

Naruto just smiled at the man's ambitions. It just meant some little competition, one that Naruto was sure was nothing to worry about. A lot of the other kids explained their names and like and wishes, to which Naruto didn't really pay attention, except for a pink-haired girl who seemed to be intensely interested in Sasuke, sitting right next to him and Ino. Naruto got her name, Sakura. She wasn't really impressive, going off of her chakra alone. It was probably the smallest in the room, and most likely would stay like that as they grew up. She was very uninteresting as a person, nothing really spoke to you except her overly-sized forehead.

After everyone said their name and their interests, Iruka dismissed them for now, saying they could eat their lunch and then they would have friendly spars between the students. Today it would be a miniature tournament among the boys and girls, and to make it fair, it would be a fight among the shinobi and the kunoichi had their own separate tournament.

Naruto walked out of the academy doors, towards a tree which he climbed up using chakra. He hid his chakra, making sure no one knew it was his. He watched as the other kids ate among themselves, conversating with the other kids. The Uchiha seemed to be popular among the kids, surrounded by many of the others. There were separate groups, already making their own little group, the popular kids, the kids who didn't really care, the gossip girls, and the quiet kids who left to their own devices.

Naruto just watched from afar as the kids conversed with each other, rather liking that no one knew he was here, probably forgotten between the mix, the way he liked it.

He pulled out a food stasis scroll, and what looked like ramen appeared out of the scroll along with chopsticks. Naruto started eating his lunch, finishing it in a few minutes. He stuffed the bowl into the food stasis scroll, and waited for lunch to end, watching over the kids some more.

Soon, everyone was called upon to go back to their classes, and Naruto fell behind inside the crowd, reaching his class among the students, sort of in the middle, not last but especially not first to reach the classroom.

Naruto listened to Iruka's lectures a little bit, before he called everyone down, saying we were to move to the training ground behind the academy to do the little placements in the tournament.

Naruto moved down, behind both Hinata and Shino, not wanting to be in front of anyone. Naruto was thinking about what to do. He couldn't do bad, as it was nigh impossible to lose with his sand always blocking their attacks, so getting dead last was out of the possibilities. Naruto also didn't want to get first place, as it would put too much attention on him, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't something he really wanted. So he would need to get relatively in the middle of the crop.

Iruka led them out through the backdoors, coming across the older years' classes and walking out to the training grounds. The second years were practicing with kunai throwing to the side.

"So, the tournament will go as follows. Boy vs boys and girls vs girls. The first match will be Shino against Kiba. The girl's tournament will be Sakura against Hinata," Iruka said, announcing names to go against each other.

Kiba and Shino lined up against each other, Iruka made them do the sign of respect before they started the fight, Shino waiting for Kiba, who gladly took the fight to him. Kiba started with a kick that Shino stumbly deflected, throwing it to the side and sending his own. It connected to Kiba who grunted in pain, sending his own punch.

Naruto watched on as Kiba sent a multitude of punches, almost looking like he was brawling at that point. Shino was hard-pressed against Kiba's onslaught and was the ultimate decision on the winner when Shino's guard had an opening that Kiba had managed to find through the blur of punches and kicks, knocking Shino down to the ground. Kiba smiled in victory and earned a couple of cheers from the first and second years who were now watching.

Hinata and Sakura were next. It was less eventful as Hinata just sent a hit towards Sakura, who fell to the ground by the hit. It ended quickly and swiftly, just like he liked it. Hinata profusely apologized, to which Sakura just accepted it, saying she was fine. This earned applause from the girl's section and some applause from the boys.

The next fight was between Choji and Shikamaru, which went as expected as one would have thought. Choji refused to hit a friend and Shikamaru was too lazy to fight. Naruto couldn't help but smile at the comedic scene that unfolded in front of him.

Next was someone that Naruto couldn't remember and Ino. The fight went as expected, with Ino winning out against the civilians. A clan heir was expected to win against an inexperienced civilian.

Next was his name against an orphan boy who seemed rather bland. Naruto stepped up to the podium and made a respectful gesture before starting the fight. When the boy charged at him, it was almost like it was in slow motion. He hadn't realized before how slow the other kids were. He watched as a punch aimed toward Naruto's midsection tried to connect with flesh, but only connected with sand.

The boy tried to send another but was met with the same thing; black sand. Naruto couldn't help himself but smile at the boy's frustration. It made him feel good inside as if his training wasn't for no reason. He squished that feeling though, remembering it wasn't that impressive against a boy who's never had any training or experience.

The boys and girls were amazed by the sand and even gained some awes from the second-year kids. Naruto just turned his attention back to the boy, who was still trying to get through his defense. Naruto sighed, before sweeping his legs from under him and earning him a win.

Naruto just walked back out of the circle towards the other first-year kids, not paying attention to the boy who now lay on the ground, surprised as he didn't even see Naruto move from his spot.

"Naruto wins!" Iruka yelled out, giving out a hand to the little kid, picking him up, and walking him back to the circle.

The rest of the fights went similarly to that, uneventful and boring. He watched on when it was in the finals. Hinata had won against the kunoichi side, whereas it was just the finals on his side. It was him against Kiba, he was planning on forfeiting, as he didn't want the attention built upon him.

Naruto bowed, showing a gesture of respect, before waiting for Kiba to run at him. Instead, he stood still, waiting for Naruto to come to him. He must have thought that Naruto couldn't use the sand offensively, and just defensively. The boy was sadly mistaken, but he wouldn't show him.

Naruto just sighed through his nose and started walking to the surprisingly patient Kiba, although he was practically jumping in one spot. Naruto got closer to the boy, who forwent his earlier plan and lashed out at Naruto in a fury of attacks, which Naruto's sand just simply blocked. He watched on lazily as the boy tried his hardest to get through his perfect defense.

Naruto would give Kiba credit though, the boy was definitely faster than the rest of his 'competition'. Not nearly fast enough, but faster than the other kids. Naruto just grabbed Kiba's wrist and threw him out of the circle, forgetting his plan of losing through boredom.

Kiba just yelled, saying it was unfair and that the sand was cheating, but he hadn't complained when he used it earlier. Naruto just shook his head at the obvious hypocrisy in Kiba's logic, to which Iruka just yelled at Kiba to get back to the group of first years, second years, and now third and fourth years.

"Now, the finals today amongst the boys, Naruto Uzumaki vs. Sasuke Uchiha."

_Hokage Meeting_

The Hokage, amongst him were multiple high-standing shinobi, the head of the Uchiha clan being one of the names, the leader of anbu and the commander of jonin stood over a little globe looking over the first years. This crop of first years happened to be very promising this year, a class full of clan heirs.

"It looks like the finals will be between the son of Fugaku and the Jinchuriki," said a random Jonin.

"Yes, not very surprised. I put my bets on the Uchiha though, he seems like a very promising shinobi at such a young age," another random jonin said, to which he received many yeses and even disagreements.

"No way, the Jinchuriki will definitely win, with that perfect sand defense, there's no way the Uchiha could possibly get through that. I heard only lightning can get through that, and even then, only something like Kakashi's rumored Chidori could possibly get through it," a jonin said, bringing attention to him, and even a look from Kakashi himself, hearing his name.

Fugaku just stared at the globe, getting lost in thought.

"What do you think, Hokage-sama?" Fugaku said out of the blue, to which calmed down the unresisting bickering between the Jonin as if they were fangirls talking about the latest news on Itachi Uchiha.

"I believe we should all just watch how it plays out," Hiruzen said, not giving away who he thought would win, but he had that certain knowing glint in his eyes that not many people were able to pick up.

They all stared into the small globe, everyone quieting up, only hearing the occasional whisper.

_Academy_

"Hajime," Iruka yelled out, commencing the fight.

Naruto watched as Sasuke for the first time this evening, slipped into a stance instead of just bum-rushing the enemy. Naruto smiled. So he did think.

Naruto started to walk to the Uchiha, who just watched his every move. The Uchiha fighting style was usually better with the sharingan, but it could be used without it. It was basically just a game of punch deflect. Punch and predict. Naruto knew all about it, as Kakashi had used it on him a multitude of times. Except for this time, it was someone relatively on his level.

Naruto walked up to the boy and sent a kick to the face, which was ducked under, the boy sending a sweeping kick to Naruto's feet. It was blocked by Naruto's sand, which lazily came up to his defense. The boy was definitely faster than the last few he fought but still seemed to move in slow motion to him, not nearly reaching the speeds he was so used to.

Naruto sent his own punch, which collided with the boy's arms, making the boy step back, almost stepping out of the zone. It could have been over like that, but he was able to maneuver himself to where Naruto was now where the boy was.

Naruto stared into Sasuke's eyes and felt the boy move in, throwing a flash of kicks and punches, easily blocked by his sand. It seemed the boy hadn't learned from anyone else, he was just tiring himself out.

Naruto grabbed the boy's wrist and attempted to throw him out, but Sasuke wouldn't budge. Naruto smiled, he wanted him to really put some effort into it. Naruto, pushing chakra into his arms, threw the boy over, tumbling over and throwing Sasuke over his shoulder. The boy landed just right outside the circle, being thrown around five feet away from his original spot.

Naruto just sighed at the fight, it was all too easy for him. He just went over to Sasuke, put out an arm, and waited for the boy to grab it. He felt the boy lock eyes with him and saw a smile that threatened Naruto of all his insecurities ever.

"I guess I have a new rival to eventually beat."

Naruto just stood there in surprise. Never had anyone said anything like that before, usually opting in calling him weird and awkward and leaving him to be by himself. A smile threatened to reflect on his face, but he reigned in on his emotions.

"I guess I do."

_Hokage Meeting_

"Wow, the Jinchuriki truly did beat the son of Fugaku-sama," a voice broke the silence. A lot of people had put bets on Sasuke winning the fight but were surprised to see the Jinchuriki easily throw the second heir of the Uchiha clan around like a sack of potatoes.

"You knew, didn't you, Hokage-sama?" Fugaku said knowingly, to which Hiruzen just smiled at, giving him all the information he needed.

"I might have known a couple of things. Anyways, that commenced the tournament between the first years. They look very promising as heirs, and will definitely prosper into fine shinobi when they are older. I suspect one may even become Hokage after me," Hiruzen said, dismissing the jonin and higher-ups. Kakashi and Hiruzen were the only ones that remained in the room.

"So, what do you think about Naruto?"

"Well, there isn't much to think about. It seemed as if he wasn't really paying attention to what was happening in the fights, he's definitely genin material, I don't know if he should be moved up or if he should stay with the other genin and make friends. It seems promising between Sasuke and Naruto," Hiruzen said, to which Kakashi just nodded. He had agreed with Hiruzen's last statement. There was definitely something that could be built through challenging each other.

"Although, I wonder if Naruto would find it that we are holding him back from his true potential. Naruto is someone who seeks power, and if he thinks that we are holding him back from becoming, even more, stronger, he may attend to his own studies. Which isn't really smart and may become dangerous. It is better if we can have him in a controlled environment where we can help him in his studies rather than have him hurt himself in the process of venturing on his own," Hiruzen furthermore explained. Kakashi just looked at HIruzen, thinking of what to say next.

"I feel like maybe we should wait on that, see what he thinks. We shouldn't make decisions for him as he might not entirely agree. We should see what he says, and if he wants something we'll weigh the pros and cons of the decision and decide with him," Kakashi said, and now Hiruzen was on the side of agreeing, nodding his head.

"Okay, it is decided. We will wait, right after the meeting in a week we will tell him about it and he will decide for himself. Let's at least give him time in the academy, and see what he thinks about it. Continue with your training as usual. Maybe teach him the shadow clone jutsu, it could be used for his studies and he has more than enough chakra," Hiruzen said, dismissing Kakashi, who bowed to Hiruzen and walked out of the war room and turned meeting room.

_Around Three Hundred Feet Under Konoha_

There, on his throne, stood what seemed to be a crippled man, cane by his side, bandages appeared to be all over his body.

A bird, more specifically a falcon, landed by his throne, looking at him, pecking his throne.

"Report.," the crippled man said to the bird.

"Hiruzen is scheming again. Along with Kakashi. They said they were going to-," the bird continued on, and throughout the cripples, one eye narrowed to unseen proportions.

"That conniving, old man!" The crippled yelled, slamming his hands down on his throne.

He would ruin his life. He was going to make Hiruzen's life miserable next week.

He would make him regret ever making plans against him. And soon, he would take his spot as Hokage.

'Just a little bit more time.'

The Prophecy of the Raccoon and the Fox.

A/N

SO… How'd you boys and gals like it? I'd understand if it was boring but I wanted to at least explain what was expected from the academy and give you guys a decision.

SHOULD I KILL THE UCHIHA OR LEAVE THEM BE? BUM BUM BAHHHHHHHHH. I'm sort of joking, but seriously. Should I kill them off or not? I am thinking yeah, but I don't want to do it and you guys hate it. Another question I have is whether Naruto should skip the academy and graduate early or stay with his students. Depending on what you guys say, I will do it. I am stuck on Naruto, but I'm pretty sure I know what I want to do to the Uchiha. I sort of want to pull a Tobirama on they ass!!

However, depending on what you guys like, I will probably do it. Anywhooooooo, how'd you guys like the chapter? Anything I should change? Any suggestions? I don't mind them, I'd like to improve along with you guys and gals.

Not really much to talk about this time, although I probably would have liked to extend the meeting between Danzo and his bird there isn't much to talk about, to be honest, and if I kill off the Uchiha, there is no reason to talk about the plan. If I don't you guys are going to be amazed by my amazing skills at storytelling, (I got the idea from Marcus Dammin over on Fanfiction.net).

Anyways, ima go. PEACE!!!

Talking and text

'Thought'

Summons and tailed beast

A/N