3

Naruto burst into the classroom, in his normal way, internally sighing in preparation for the ridicule that he was going to receive from everyone, fully aware they most likely hadn't learned about him passing his own exam.

"Morning everyone, dattebayo!"

Once again, the classroom went silent as everyone stared at him. That's when Sakura spoke out, screeching loudly.

"Why the hell are you here? This room is only for students who actually passed the graduation exams, dumbass!"

The classroom erupted into peals of laughter, causing Naruto to duck his head. He was fighting back his tears, mentally scolding himself for showing his true emotions.

"Ooo~ someone's about to start crying because he's such a big baby!" a random kid exclaimed, causing more laughter to burst forth.

Naruto simply sucked up his tears, and lifted his head, pretending to be pissed off at her, instead of what he was really feeling.

"I ain't crying, dattebayo! I'm just surprised all you guys are so blind you can't even see the Hitai-ate on my forehead! So there!" Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, pouting, and claimed the seat next to Sasuke, much to the displeasure of his fangirls.

Sakura and Ino quickly walked up to the blond, and began yelling at him, screaming that he should move.

'These two banshees are so annoying. I don't even care about this emo bastard. But I guess to continue with my character, I have to put on some kind of act. With an inaudible sigh, Naruto jumped onto the desk in front of Sasuke, glaring into the raven's eyes, until someone from the row ahead turned slightly and bumped into Naruto.

Shikamaru, seeing what was about to happen, moved without even thinking, or realizing what he was doing until it was too late.

Right as Naruto was about to lock lips in an accidental kiss with Sasuke, Pineapple pushed Sasuke out of the way, forcing Naruto to kiss him instead, much to the shock of many students.

Naruto stared in shock at Shikamaru while they remained in an awkward kiss, before Kurama reminded him what was going on, and where they were, and Naruto quickly threw himself away from Shikamaru, a shocked expression still on his face.

Pineapple was almost immediately swarmed by Sasuke's fangirls, who thanked him immensely for "sparing Sasuke's virgin lips from the class clown."

With difficulty, Shikamaru fought his way back to his desk, right as Iruka walked into the classroom.

"I want to congratulate you all again, on doing such an amazing job and graduating yesterday. As you all take this next step toward your futures, remember to do your best, and I'll always be around if you ever need someone to talk to about anything," Iruka said, tears building up in his eyes.

"With that being said, it's time to announce the teams for this year's graduates! Team 1..."

'I can't believe Shikamaru let me kiss him like that. I mean, I'm grateful of course, because without his interference I probably would've been a bloody pulp by now, but still. He definitely didn't need to spare me from that. I wonder why he did. It was very noble of him.'

On the other side of the classroom, another student was also spacing out, but from very different reasons. 'I can't believe I kissed him like that! What the hell came over me? He was going to kiss Sasuke, so why did I stop it and push the Emo out of the way? I obviously don't care much about him if I was willing to full on knock him on his ass to get to Naruto. Does that mean that I like Naruto? And if so, when? And what can I do about it?'

"Team 7- Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha; sensei- Kakashi Hatake. Team 8- Hinata Hyūga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka; sensei- Kurenai Yūhei. Team 9 is still in rotation, and Team 10- Shikamaru Nara, Chōji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka; sensei- Asuma Sarutobi. Your sensei will be in shortly. I hope you all have an amazing career as Shinobi! Do me proud as your teacher!" With that said, Iruka left the classroom, and it devolved into a loud ruckus.

It wasn't long before one by one, each team was picked up by their sensei, until the three remaining teams were those containing clan heirs.

Naruto was whining about being bored, when in actuality, he was testing his teammates to see how long they could potentially stand being with an annoying client if they were to ever have an escort mission of some kind in the future.

When Asuma arrived, Ino and Chōji simply followed him out the door, while Shikamaru lingered for a bit, thinking about the blond, and worrying about how he'll do in his new three-man cell.

(ᵔᴥᵔ)

Three hours later, Naruto, and his two teammates were the only ones left in the classroom. The other teams had been picked up within the first hour, leaving them alone. Sakura was fawning over Sasuke, of course, while Naruto was trying to concentrate on a new Jutsu that he had started trying to create. It was something that took the concept of the Shadow Clone Jutsu and added an element to the clones so that if they were dispelled, the enemy would be blasted with the original's element, the most powerful ones really being fire, wind, and water. The most difficult one to figure out was how to harness a Lightning Shadow Clone. With an earth element, instead of the enemy being blasted with bits of rock, like some might expect after fighting some of these types of Clones, the Earth element Shadow Clones actually create a pit of quicksand type ground underneath the enemy, causing them to sink into the earth below them, similar to the Headhunter Jutsu, but instead of someone being underground for it to work, the enemy is simply dragged down by the earth itself.

"Your sensei is almost at the door. If you don't want to make anyone question your 'strange behavior' I suggest setting up an outrageous and stupid prank," Kurama's voice cut in, causing Naruto to stop all thought on his new Jutsu concept.

With that plan, the blond snatched up the eraser from the chalkboard, and wedged it in the door frame using the door to hold it in place. Unbeknownst to the others in the room, however, Naruto took it a step further, and also put a bucket of neon purple glitter paint on a string attached to the door handle, so that when the door was opened all the way, the bucket would drop, and its contents would spill all over their sensei's head. The string would get cut when the door is opened too far, causing the bucket to fall. he finished by applying a simple concealment seal to make it impossible for anyone to know the bucket was even there.

"What the fuck are you doing, dumbass?!" Sakura screeched. Naruto ignored the banshee, and continued setting up his prank.

Moments after Naruto set the prank up and returned to his seat, the door was opened slightly, and their sensei poked his head in the door. Instantly the eraser fell on his head, coating his already white hair in white chalk dust.

"How dumb do you have to be to fall for an obvious prank like that?" voiced Inner Sakura. The real Sakura mentally nodded, agreeing with her.

When the eraser fell, Naruto had to hold in his laughter. Despite not being such an idiot as he portrays, it was still fun to prank people sometimes.

Once the eraser was on the ground, the white-haired, dust-covered Jounin opened the door the rest of the way, beginning to speak. "I find you all—."

Before he could finish, there was a faint, *snap*, causing the man to glance up, his one visible eye growing wide as he watched in disbelief as the large bucket appeared seemingly from thin air, and fell from the ceiling.

Within moments, the man, who had been wearing green and navy blue, was covered in neon purple glittery paint from head to toe, making him sparkle.

Naruto couldn't hold his laughter in any longer. He burst out with a loud guffaw, and even Sakura and Sasuke couldn't help chuckling at the man's dumbfounded expression.

"I find you all smart, but annoying. Meet me on the roof in ten minutes," the man finished saying, leaving in a swirl of leaves.

"Must have to go home and wash off the paint, and get the dust out of his hair," Sasuke muttered.

Naruto heard him, and smirked. "Too bad for him, that paint stains clothes, and dyes hair. The only thing that it comes off of, is skin. He's stuck either wearing a purple uniform and hair, or just purple glittery hair. Either way, he's gonna have hair more purple that Anko," Naruto said, laughing quietly.

"You're evil. I kinda like it," Sasuke replied, smirking back at Naruto.

With that said, the three tweens walked leisurely up to the roof, where they had to wait for their sensei to return.

The man really still had purple hair, and in fact kept his purple uniform on, much to his students' enjoyment.

"That was an interesting introduction to the team. Anyway, let's get individual introductions out of the way now," their sensei said.

"How do—." Sakura started to ask.

"I'll go first, since the pink one obviously used to be a blonde worse than me," Naruto interrupted, before continuing on with his introduction, slipping a bit of both true self and mask into the mix.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki," 'Namikaze,' "I like my friends, ramen, and tasting different flavors of ramen. My dislikes include the three minutes it takes for instant ramen to be ready, and people who bully others just because they're different. My hobbies are training, and trying all the ramen flavors in the world. My dream for the future is to discover my clan origins, and become Hokage one day, Dattebayo!"

The dream threw the other three for a loop. Kakashi, of course, knew about the Uzumaki clan, knowing Kushina like he did, but the other two were shocked about that "revelation."

"Yeah right, dumbass, like you belong to a clan!" Sakura screeched. "I bet your parents didn't love you, and that's why they left you alone."

Sasuke, on the other hand, had heard about a clan that had been lost during the Second Shinobi World War. He just couldn't recall the name of the clan at the moment.

Kakashi cringed at Sakura's loud voice, and glanced at Naruto, noting the subtle change in his demeanor. Just for a few seconds, a shadow seemed to pass over the blond's face, as if everything that Sakura had said hurt him deeply. Then, just as quickly, it vanished and there was a smile back in its place once more.

"Now that you understand what I meant by introductions, thanks to Naruto's demonstration, emo boy, it's your turn."

Sasuke clasped his hands in front of his mouth, resting his elbows on his knees. "Hn. My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I like tomatoes and not much else. I have a lot of dislikes that are too numerous to name. My hobbies are simply training to become stronger. And my dream isn't a dream, it's an ambition that I will succeed at. I want to kill a certain man, and bring honor back to my destroyed family."

Sakura practically swooned, while Kakashi sweat dropped and Naruto rolled his eyes.

'Does he still really believe that his brother killed his family for such a selfish reason as testing his own strength? If so, he's still such a child, unworthy of carrying the Uchiha name.'

Kakashi finally turned to the third Genin in their squad. "Well, guess it's your turn, bubblegum."

"My name isn't bubblegum, it's Sakura Haruno. I like... well... the person I like is..." she glances at Sasuke and giggles into her hands. "My hobbies are..." she glances at the raven again and giggles once more. "And my dream for the future is to...!" She shrieks with unbidden joy at her own thoughts.

"And your dislikes?" Kakashi hints.

"NARUTO!"

"Well, now that introductions are out of the way—."

"Sensei, you haven't introduced yourself yet," Sakura interrupted.

"You're right, how silly of me." Kakashi pulls out an orange book, an image of a man chasing after a scantily clad woman on the front cover. "My name is Kakashi Hatake and—."

"His likes are dogs and reading porn, and being lazy. His dislikes are working, Maito Gai (despite being 'eternal rivals'), and kids. His hobbies include reading porn in public, being late and coming up with lame excuses for it, and spending all of his free time at the KIA memorial near training ground 7."

Kakashi quickly closed his mouth the second Naruto began talking, waiting to see if the blond got anything correct, only to be surprised at the accuracy. Everything was spot on.

"Actually, yes on all accounts. How the hell did you know that?" Kakashi asked, flabbergasted.

"Four letters," Naruto replied, "W-o-l-f."

Kakashi stared wide-eyed at the boy in front of him, while the only girl in the group was highly confused.

Sasuke, who hadn't really been paying much attention at first, perked up at the ANBU codename. 'That man was part of the ANBU up until that night. Does this mean that my teacher knew him?' Sasuke wondered. He was honestly curious. And also curious as to how this dead last blond would know something like that.

"How do you know that name?" Kakashi asked, voicing Sasuke's inner thoughts.

"Easy," Naruto replied simply. The others waited for him to continue. It took several minutes of silence before the blond realized that they were waiting for him. "Oh, you wanted to actually hear how?" The two nodded their heads. "Two words, ANBU. Guard."

Kakashi was taken aback. He was positive that Naruto never knew he was there back when he had been tailing the blond as a member of the ANBU. Though, that would also explain the random times he'd reported to his post at night, only to find a plate of Mackerel and a small bowl of rice waiting for him in the tree right outside Naruto's bedroom window. And how the dishes would be gone immediately after he finished eating, without any real answer as to how it was possible.

"You knew?"

Naruto nodded. "You, Weasel, Dolphin, Crow, and Snake had been the very few kind ANBU members to me when I was growing up. Then Dolphin returned to teaching, Snake moved to a different department, Crow committed suicide, and finallly Weasel 'went rogue'. After that, it was only you, until about 3 years ago, and then I was alone again..." Naruto's voice trailed off, and he shivered as he remembered what the villagers did to him when they realized his shadows had all vanished from him.

"-to... -ruto... Naruto!" Kakashi's voice called him back to the present. It was at that moment that he realized he was crying silently.

Naruto quickly dried his tears, and faced Kakashi.

The silver-haired man looked at Naruto a few moments longer, before he turned back to face his entire team. "Tomorrow you'll have a test to find out if you're ready to become Genin."

"But I thought—."

"We aren't Genin, yet, dumbass," Naruto mocked. "We graduated, yes, but that doesn't make us instantly shinobi. We have to pass a test given by our Jounin Sensei. If he says we pass, then we are officially Genin. If we fail, we'll be sent back to the academy for another year."

"I'm impressed, Naruto," Kakashi complimented. "I couldn't have said it better myself. What he says is true, Sakura. Tomorrow will be the real Genin exam. If you can pass, you'll be my little Genin. If you fail, however, you'll be sent back to the academy. With that said, meet me tomorrow at Training Ground 7, at 7am. Also, don't eat breakfast, or you'll puke~!" Kakashi gave his famous eye-smile, and then vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto quickly stood up, wanting to get out of there ASAP. Sadly, he wasn't fast enough. Sasuke dodged Sakura, who was attempting to ask him out on a date (again), and cornered Naruto right at the top of the stairs.

"Naruto, wait. I need to talk to you." Naruto paused and glanced at Sasuke.

"You can ask me your questions, but I can't guarantee that you'll like my answers," the blond replied.

Sasuke sighed as he tried to figure out the best way to word his question. "Did—had you— how did you know my nii-San?" Sasuke settled on.

Naruto took a moment to respond. "I never said anything about knowing your brother, Sasuke. What gave you that idea?" The blond was silently enjoying his "teammate's" struggles.

"But—but you mentioned his name! Or at least his codename from ANBU!"

Naruto tilted his head to the side, playing innocently confused. "I did? And who is this brother of yours?"

"Weasel!"

"Oh him, yeah he was one of my guards from the time I was kicked out of the orphanage until about age 7 I'd say. What do you want to know about?"

"Did he say anything before he left?"

"Actually, he did say something the night he left. His last night in the village he told me something interesting."

Sasuke leaned forward, waiting for the blond to continue once again. When he didn't, the raven smacked him upside the head.

Naruto touched his head with both hands in pain. "Itai! What was that for?"

"Wanted to make sure you were still with us, Dobe. You were just about to tell me what my brother said."

Naruto took a second to "remember" what he had just said.

"Oh that's right. So it was the night Weasel was leaving..."

Naruto saw Weasel coming and quickly ran out to greet him, only to notice the man had blood on his uniform, and his Tanto was also bloody.

"Weasel! Come inside! Hurry, before someone else sees you that way!"

Itachi looked up at Naruto in surprise. He hadn't even realized how far he had walked since his family's compound. He followed the blond into the house and gave the boy his sword when the blond held his hand out for it.

"So who did you have to kill this time that puts such a haunted expression on your face, Tachi?"

Naruto was too perceptive for his own good, sometimes.

Weasel answered in such a low voice, Naruto couldn't hear him, even with his keen sense of hearing.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to need you to speak up so I can hear you," Naruto said.

Itachi took a deep breath before he continue moving and said, "Don't believe anything that anyone tells you about me, ok, Naruto?"

The blond was confused at first. Then he put the pieces together.

"Who's clan did you have to kill? And was it really under the Hokage's orders, or had the orders come from the elders and Danzo-sama?"

Itachi simply held up two fingers, and said, "Mine." It was enough for Naruto to understand the whole situation now.

"So you were ordered by Danzo and the elders to murder your entire clan? Then why are you running away? Surely there was a good reason for you do something like that."

Itatchi told him about the whole massacre. How Sasuke went home shortly after the order had been given, and after he had begun killing the clan. He was in the process of his killing his parents, after asking them if they were sorry or regretted what they had done, attempting a Coup d-état. They said no, so he killed them, tears pouring down his face. Right then, Sasuke walked in, finding his brother standing over their parents' bodies, a bloody tanto in his hand.

He told Sasuke he had done the massacre because he wanted to test his strength, and if Sasuke wanted to defeat him one day, he had to harness his hatred and use it to become stronger.

Obviously, it was a lie, wanting to atone for his guilt by making his younger brother become his executioner, but Sasuke didn't know that.

"Please don't tell him the truth. Not unless you absolutely have to. I beg you," Itachi said.

Naruto nodded, and Itachi left the village that night.

"And that's what happened. Happy? You made me break a promise to one of the kindest people I know."

Sasuke was so out of it he nearly tipped down the stairs, if Naruto hadn't caught him.

"Alright, I'm going to let you digest everything I just told you, ok? I'll see you two tomorrow. Oh, by the way, don't forget to eat breakfast. A shinobi can't function well on an empty stomach." With that said, Naruto walked down the stairs, and headed home.

☆〜（ゝ。∂）

A/N: Hey, everyone! Author here! Hope you're enjoying the story! I'm having fun writing it, so that's good. Anyway, have a good day everyone, and I hope you keep on enjoying this book. Until next time じゃあね！ ( ^ω^ )