First Impressions

Naruto and Hinata stepped into the classroom together. Most of the children were all ready seated. Many of them seemed to know each other and there was loud chatter. Naruto looked at the seats trying to find a couple that were open net to each other.

"Who are you supposed to be?" A voice spoke to him.

Naruto looked over to the first row where a boy with black hair and dark eyes was looking amused. "Excuse me?" Naruto asked.

"What's with the get up?" The boy clarified. Naruto was wearing a black body suit with dark red stripes along the arms and legs. Beneath he wore his custom made body armor. Along his belt were several pouches and on his back he had a sword strapped on. But that wasn't what had gotten the other boy's attention. It was the cloak. Naruto had on a pristine white cloak with flames along the bottom. It was an exact replica of what his father had worn as Hokage. When Naruto wore it the resemblance was unmistakable.

"I wear it in honor of my father." Naruto said tightly. For him his father was a subject he could not speak of without strong feeling.

The boy chuckled thinking the new comer who was obviously just desperate to get attention. "Sure, you're just trying to be a fake Yondaime." The boy's chuckle was cut off when he suddenly felt a killer intent stronger than any he ever had. The blonde boy's hands were twitching and his eyes were looking at him with something dark and hateful. He wasn't the only one in the room who could sense such intense feeling. The talk in the classroom died away and everyone looked at the boy who was glaring at Sasuke.

Hinata could feel their eyes on her as well as the killer intent coming off Naruto. She felt like shrinking away. Naruto didn't seem to notice.

"My name is Namikaze Naruto," he said in a voice that was low and tight. "My father was Namikaze Minato the Yondaime Hokage."

Sasuke smiled and leaned back in his chair. "Oh so you're him huh? My father said I should stay away from you, that you were dangerous."

"Your father was right." He took a breath and brought his anger back under control. "What's your name?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto smiled. "Well Sasuke my first impression is that you're a jerk." He reached back to take hold of Hinata's hand again. "Come on Hinata there are a couple seats in the top row."

Sasuke watched him go with a smirk. His mom might be dangerous, but he was nothing special.

XXXXXXXXX

Ino watched as the two of them passed her. Seeing her Naruto gave a quick nod which she took as proof of his infatuation with her. "He is sooo cool." She sighed.

"You're drooling." A bored voice next to her said.

"Shut up you lazy jerk! Don't disturb me when I'm thinking about my one true love!"

"Yours and every other girls, I almost feel sorry for Sasuke."

"Hah!" She gave the sleepy boy next to her a triumphant smile. "Shows what you know! I am sooo over Sasuke."

"Oh?" Shikamaru somehow found the energy to lift one eyebrow. "Who's your latest victim? Ow!" He rubbed the back of his head.

"Hmph! Well it just so happens that I have fallen completely in love with Namikaze Naruto."

Shikamaru craned his neck to look at the seats on the top row across from him. For him this was a huge effort. He looked at the boy sitting talking to a girl who was obviously a Hyuga. His get up was obviously meant to draw attention. "My folks told me to be very careful around him but they wouldn't say why." He shrugged. "Not that they needed to, given who his mom is." Every child in the classroom had been told more or less the same thing about Naruto. The exact words and the degree of vehemence varied but the basic message was the same. Stay away. And none of them would say why exactly. Of course all the children were smart enough to figure out the reason. His mother was someone so scary mothers used her to frighten their children. It was easy to understand why the parents would want their children to keep clear of her son. "Any way he doesn't look dangerous."

"Oh he is!" She looked over dreamily. "You can tell just by looking at him." For Ino and most of the other girls the fact that her parents had warned her to stay away from him only made him even more attractive. He was dangerous. She even liked those weird scars on his cheeks. They gave him an exotic sort of feral look. He was definitely one of a kind!

She was starting to drool again. Shikamaru decided saying anything more would be troublesome so he put his head back down and tried to take a nap.

XXXXXXXXXX

Iruka and Mizuki both stood in the doorway observing the class for a moment. They had both witnessed the confrontation between Sasuke and Naruto. They had been on the point of intervening when Naruto brought his killer intent back under control.

"So what do you think?" Mizuki asked.

Iruka sighed. "I think these are going to be a very interesting four years." He gave Mizuki a small grin. "He really does look like him doesn't he?"

Mizuki nodded warily. "On the outside he does." But then he smiled. "He certainly doesn't lack confidence."

"We have an Uchiha, a Hyuga, and a Namikaze in one class. This has got to be the first time that's happened in at least twenty years." Iruka sighed. "At least he seems to be getting along with the Hyuga girl; hopefully he learns to get along with the Uchiha as well."

"Somehow I don't think that's going to happen." He looked at his watch. "It's eight."

Iruka nodded. "Right." With that he and Mizuki entered the classroom. The children quickly quieted down when they saw them. Iruka took a spot directly in front of their seats. He gave them all a smile and motioned for silence. After a moment he spoke. "Hello children, my name is Umino Iruka, and this is my associate Menos Mizuki. You will refer to us as Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei. For the next four years while you are here we will be your primary instructors in the ninja arts. While you are here in this classroom or in the dojo or in the practice fields you are our responsibility. In the mornings we will concentrate on texts and written materials. At these times I will usually be in charge. In the afternoons, after lunch, you will receive physical exercise and training in taijutsu and basic weapons. At these times Mizuki will normally be in charge of you. Along with this standard instruction you can also expect to go on several field trips to develop survival skills. Now to help us to get to know each other I would like each of you to stand up and tell us who you are and what you hope to become." One by one the students did so."

"I want," munch munch munch. "To be just like my dad and show everyone that a pleasantly plump person can be a great ninja."

"Hmph, I want to be an ordinary ninja, have an ordinary career, marry a girl who is not too pretty or too ugly, have two kids a girl and then a boy, retire when my daughter marries and my son becomes a ninja, and then enjoy a peaceful and carefree retirement until I die before my wife."

"I want to prove that a kunoichi can be beautiful and powerful. And I want to win the love of a special someone." The girl turned around and blew Naruto a kiss. Naruto had no idea what to think of this while Hinata began to press her index fingers again.

"I want to be a good kunoichi and I also want…" the girl looked at Sasuke and dissolved into giggles.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I want to prove myself worthy of my father's respect and to match my niisan."

"I seek to master all of my clan's jutsus and to eventually help breed a new species of kikai bug."

"I want to become a great ninja and fight with my dog Akamaru!"

As her turn approached she began to panic at the thought of all those people looking her and her having to talk. But then she felt Naruto's hand cover hers. He could always tell when she was really nervous. He leaned in and whispered to her.

"Don't worry Hinata-chan; I know you'll be fine."

She smiled at him and nodded. "Arigato, Naruto-kun." It was amazing how just his touch and just a few words could set her mind at ease. When her turn came she stood and spoke in a clear voice. "I am Hyuga Hinata. I wish to become a strong leader for my clan and to earn my father's respect, and the respect of one other person." She sat back down relieved she had managed to get through that without a stutter.

Naruto slowly stood. "I am Namikaze Naruto. I have only one goal, an ambition really. I want to be the greatest Hokage that Konoha has ever seen." No one laughed at him. For they all knew that such a thing was hardly impossible for one with the Namikaze name and the blood of a Hokage in his veins.

Iruka nodded well satisfied with how well it had gone. Most of them lacked a strong sense of purpose and fell back on the standard answer of just being a great ninja or kunoichi. That was normal; while they were here they would develop a strong sense of what they wanted or they would wash out. Some of them already possessed a very strong sense of purpose, his eyes drifted back up to Naruto.

"Well thank you, that was very informative. You can trust both Mizuki and myself to do everything we can to help each and every one of you to reach your goals. Now we need to get an idea of your abilities. To begin with can any of you use a jutsu?" He didn't expect anyone to raise their hands. At this age only someone who was a genius would be able to mold chakra. But to his very great surprise not one but three hands rose. Well this should be interesting. "Very well, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Naruto come down here please." The three boys were soon standing before him. "All right who would like to go first?"

Shikamaru spoke up. "Man this is a drag, let me go so I can rest again."

Iruka frowned at him. "You should be well rested when you come here each day. There is no excuse for not being ready for a full day when you arrive here. In any case please show me your jutsu."

Shikamaru nodded and went through some hand signs. "Shadow Possession Technique." His shadow flowed five feet until it merged with Iruka's. Iruka was compelled to put his hands on his head and begin dancing around, mimicking Shikamaru and greatly amusing everyone in the class.

"All right that's enough!" Iruka called out. Shikamaru ended the jutsu and Iruka tried to regather his dignity. "Thank you Shikamaru, that was very impressive." Shikamaru nodded and slouched back to his seat. "Sasuke why don't you go next?"

The boy smirked. "Can we go outside? It's a fire jutsu."

Iruka nodded. "All right class we're going outside." After about five minutes the class and instructors had assembled on the asphalt outside. "All right Sasuke please demonstrate."

Sasuke ran through the hand signs. "Fireball Technique." From his mouth a boulder of fire at least five feet across appeared. He let it land on the asphalt. He heard the other kids all shout and applaud of course. He calmly turned back to his stunned instructors; both of them were gaping at him. "Very, very impressive Sasuke!" Iruka praised.

"The power of the Uchiha clan." Mizuki said with a little bit of awe.

Smiling happily he headed back to rejoin the other students. As he passed Naruto he smiled at him. "Top that fake Yondaime."

Naruto shot him daggers from his eyes as the smug little genius passed him. His hands twitched and he longed to take out his sword. He did manage to keep his killer intent from spiking though. Oh I'll top that you arrogant little jerk! When Iruka called him forward he decided to put as much chakra as he could into this. He thought this might go well. He was seriously pissed off at the moment and he'd found that whenever he got really angry he seemed to have more chakra than usual. He thought of it as red chakra and it always felt different from his regular chakra, he could feel it in him now. He went through the hand signs. "Shadow Clone Technique." And then just for an instant the entire area was covered with smoke. When the smoke lifted Iruka, Mizuki, and the class were entirely surrounded by about two hundred clones.

"What?!" Mizuki stared out in complete shock. He wasn't the only one the entire class was shouting and pointing.

Iruka reached out and actually touched the two nearest clones. Sure enough they weren't illusions. "Naruto! How on earth did you do that?!"

"What do you mean?"

He looked at the one who had answered. "Shadow clones are a high level Jonin jutsu. How did you learn it?"

"Oh, well my mom tried teaching me how to make regular bushins but I was terrible at it, still am. It turns out I have a lot of chakra capacity, even more than my mom has. She finally realized that the reason I couldn't make bushins was that I have trouble controlling very small amounts of chakra. I actually have an easier time with jutsus that require lots of chakra. So she had me learn how to make shadow clones."

"But it's a forbidden jutsu," Mizuki spoke up. "How did you get access to it?"

"It's in my family library." Naruto replied casually.

"Really?" Mizuki said. Well now this has possibilities!

"Naruto just how long did it take you to learn this?" Iruka asked.

Naruto shrugged. "It just took a few hours, it wasn't that hard." Now Iruka and Mizuki were both staring at him open mouthed. "What?"

Iruka shook his head. He had learned an A rank jutsu in a few hours and performed it better than anyone below Kage level could. "Naruto, do you know I truly believe that you just may be Hokage one day." Mizuki gave him a surprised look. The students were whispering among themselves repeating what Iruka had just said.

Naruto gave Iruka a huge grin. "You mean that Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka nodded solemnly. "If you can do this much now you're likely already at Jonin level, definitely high Chunin. In fact if you like I'd be willing to give you the graduation test now. If your scholastic knowledge is good you could definitely pass it and become a Genin right now."

What?! No way can that loser be stronger than me! The way they're talking about him sounds like the way they talk about niisan! I'm an Uchiha he can't be better than me! Sasuke thought venomously.

Oh Naruto-kun I am so proud of you! You truly are amazing and I know you'll be a great Hokage. Because you can do anything you truly want. Hinata thought proudly but sadly. How will I get through school without you?

Oh no! I can't lose Naruto-kun now! How can I make him fall completely in love with me if I'm stuck here while he's doing missions? Ino thought desperately.

Damn it this is not good. Mizuki thought of arguments against giving Naruto the graduation test now. It was rare but not unheard of. But fortunately Naruto shook his head.

"Thanks' Iruka-sensei, but my mom already told me she wants me to stay in for the full four years. She says I need to develop my social skills."

Iruka nodded. "All right but please tell your mother that I am prepared to administer the test at any time." Naruto nodded happily. "So do you know any other jutsus?"

"About a dozen." He said without concern.

He smirked. "Anything interesting?" If he knew shadow clones it only made sense he would know other lower level jutsus. But nothing could top what he'd done already.

"Well I can summon."

Iruka looked at him carefully. "Show me please, uhm but first would you mind dismissing your clones?"

"No problem." With a thought he got rid of all his clones. Then he bit down on his thumb. "Summoning Technique." He slammed his hand onto the asphalt. With a large puff of smoke a five foot tall red and black frog was there.

Iruka nodded. "I knew the Yondaime could summon frogs. But for you to do so you have to sign a contract. How were you able to do that?"

Naruto smiled. "Oh granddad let me."

"Granddad?"

"Jiraiya, he was my father's sensei and he drops by to see me whenever he's in town."

"You've had the great Jiraiya teach you? You've had one of the Sanin as a sensei?"

"Well, I don't know if you can really call him my sensei. He just shows me a few things like summoning and then he goes off to do 'research' somewhere. Tsunade's even worse, I only get to see her once year. And she always wants to show me how to do medical jutsu." He shook his head.

Iruka and Mizuki were staring at him again. "I don't suppose Orochimaru visits you too does he?" Iruka asked.

"Who?"

"Never mind, all right Naruto very, very impressive. All right let's get back to the classroom."

XXXXXXXXXX

He and Hinata had found a table in the cafeteria and were sitting down to eat.

"What did you bring for lunch Naruto-kun?"

Naruto gave her a very happy smile. "Oh it's a real treat mom made her special ramen for me! I wish she would make it for me more often. But she says it's not healthy for me and stunts your growth."

"Well Naruto-kun if you ate ramen all the time you probably wouldn't be taller than me." Hinata tried to point out the positive.

"Can I sit with you Naruto-kun?"

Naruto turned around to see Ino standing beside him with a tray. "Oh sure Ino."

Smiling she took the seat across from him. She gave Hinata who was sitting next to him a very slight and quick frown. "Oh Hinata-chan, are you doing anything later after class?"

"Uhm n… no, why?"

"Well Hinata-chan I thought if you like I could take you shopping with me. I mean we could get you something to wear that actually shows off your feminine side. You know instead of the gender neutral clothes you have on now. I mean the only reason to wear a bulky beige jacket is if your embarrassed by your figure. That's not the reason you wear it is it Hinata-chan?"

Hinata felt herself wanting to shrink again. "Uhm no." She said in a small voice.

"I mean if it is that's nothing to be ashamed of. Some girls are just late bloomers."

Naruto looked at her. "Ino we're all eight year olds, no one has yet."

"Well you have Naruto-kun." She reached across the table to touch his forearm. "Oooh! You are sooo muscular! How did you get so strong?"

"Weight training and regular exercises."

"Can you give me some tips? I would love to see what you do!"

Naruto shrugged. "All right, what are you doing this Saturday?"

She beamed at him. "Nothing, nothing at all Naruto-kun!"

"Would you like to join me and my mom for training?"

The smile slipped a bit. No this is fine! I'll just impress him and his mom with my ability and we can have a real date later on. I mean it's still more than Sasuke ever agreed to! "That sounds great Naruto-kun. I'd be happy to join you."

"Uhm, you mi… might want to re… reconsider that." Hinata spoke up. "Their training sessions can be very extreme."

She gave Hinata a smug smile. "Have you trained with him?"

She nodded. "I don't do all the exercises, but I do about half of them."

"Well I'm sure that if you can handle half of them I'll be able to do most of them."

"Hey Hinata-chan why don't you come by Saturday too? We can all train together." Naruto said.

Hinata looked at Ino and sent the girl a tiny grin. "I'd like that Naruto-kun."

"Great! I'll see both of you there at seven." Naruto said.

"In the morning?" Ino said startled.

Naruto nodded. "Be sure to have a big breakfast you'll really need the energy and we won't stop until noon."

"Your workouts last five hours?" the color began to drain from her face.

"Oh no Ino," Naruto said. "The workouts last ten hours. Five hours is as long as Hinata-chan can last. Is that a problem?"

Her smile looked a bit shaky but she shook her head.

"Naruto would you mind if we join you?" Naruto looked up to see three girls all smiling at him and holding trays of food.

He nodded and gave them all an inviting smile. The kids sure were friendly! But why did Hinata look so worried?