Tale of the Setting Sun.

Shinobi II

Chapter 2: "Loneliness"

The next morning found Naruto scanning his own appearance before the mirror: If he was going to become Hokage, he knew he should at least have the ability to make a good first impression on his teacher and his classmates. Thankfully, his caretaker had at least done the laundry before she left; now, he was wearing his best (or rather, least threadbare) clothes.

His hair on the other hand, was a completely different story: It was a spiky red mane that hung down to his neck. Rolling a lock of the bright hair between his fingers, Naruto wondered if he should trim it. He glanced out his window, and let go of the lock. He could see the Hokage monument from his apartment, and if the busts were accurate, the Second, Third, and Fourth had all had rather crazy spiky hair. Clearly, their hair hadn't impeded their rise to the top, and he figured that his wouldn't either.

In fact, he thought in a passing way, the Fourth's hair even rather resembled his own.

Nevertheless, he dug out a brush that hadn't seen the light of day since it'd been bought, and dutifully tugged it through his hair. Finally, with one last check in the mirror – smoothening out a nonexistent crease in his shirt – he left his apartment and headed to the Academy.

Before he entered the building, Naruto paused and looked up at the circular sign that proudly hung in the niche above the doors. The character for 'shinobi' was emblazoned on it in bold ink, and he knew enough to know that it was made up by the separate characters of 'blade' and 'heart.' Together, it meant 'endure.' It seemed appropriate considering the goal that he had in mind. Tracing the character with a finger on his palm, he took a deep breath and stepped through the doors.

The classroom was large with a high ceiling, and filled with rows of desks, stacked in an increasing, rising order like a staircase. When Naruto walked in, following his new instructor – a man with an old scar across his face who had introduced himself as Umino Iruka – a palpable ripple of surprise swept through the room. The noise level in the class sharply dropped, as dozens of pairs of eyes turned to observe him. Naruto didn't meet any of their narrowed gazes, but stood awkwardly in front of the blackboard. Offhandedly, he realized that he recognized one of the faces that stared back at him: It belonged to the girl with the large forehead who he'd noticed getting picked on a few times in the playground.

"This is Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka introduced in a ringing voice. At the sound of his name, some of the children began to whisper amongst themselves. "He's six years old, and he'll be joining our class from today onwards, so make him feel welcome."

"I hope we can be friends," said Naruto, forcing the tips of his lips up into a smile. He'd never had much of a reason to make one before, but he had observed from afar how smiles could lower people's guards. He thought he heard some snickers and maybe even a muttered 'tomato-head' but for the most part, the children only stared back at him sullenly.

Considering his introduction largely a success, Naruto found an empty seat next to another boy with a dark countenance, who idly rested his head on his hand.

It turned out that the class had been going over how to read and write several basic characters that he already knew, so for the first hour, Naruto had the unhindered liberty of observing his new instructor. Iruka had seemed courteous enough when he first introduced himself outside of the classroom, but he wondered what the chūnin truly thought of him.

Iruka certainly seemed jumpy about him; in the last ten minutes alone, his eyes had flickered four times over to where Naruto was sitting, and he had stumbled over his words each time. Judging by the sheen of his face, the man was sweating slightly as well, and Naruto had learned from first-hand experience that, if it wasn't from the heat, it indicated they were nervous.