Mages and ninja - The Story Of Three Legends

Changes(18)

Naruto stared at the book he had just finished reading. Never would he have thought that he'd ever open a book willingly but this was a different case. Zero had lent him the book, saying that it would provide him with some answers and as she said, it did. He read all about Uzushio and the clans that had resided within, notably the Uzumaki. He had read about their feared talent with fuinjtsu, their customs and traditions, their culture, everything.
Uzushio had sounded like a wonderful place, an island surrounded by protective whirlpools and scenic sides. He could almost imagine the towering buildings, colored in warm colors and the sun lightning everything brightly, could almost imagine the scent of the sea and the cool breeze. He could almost imagine the shinobi that were more of a family and held a kind relationship with civilians.
He had been a part of a clan, a clan that was now all but wiped out. He hadn't known and it galled him, had hurt him deep. He couldn't have had a family, but he would have at least have liked to have known its history but even that was denied to him.
Everything seemed to be changing so fast and it was all because of Zero. She had opened his eyes and Naruto refused to stand by anymore. He refused to be looked as nothing more than a pest, refused to be affected by the mocking whispers and menacing looks that were constantly thrown his way. He wanted to be like Zero, wanted to be as unwavering and strong like her.He didn't want to be weak anymore, didn't want to hurt when they called him a demon. He didn't.
But in order to do that, Naruto needed to change. He had to because enough was enough. He was done trying to appease others, of trying to gain their attention and love. They weren't worth it, he realized. They weren't because he had Zero now. She was his first, genuine friend. She understood him when others didn't, saw through his plastic smiles and saw the hurt underneath and soothed it with a gentle look.
He wanted to stand by her side, wanted to have a team like she had described to him once. A team that was as close as a family, that could actually become his family. 'Families of choice,' she said with a smile¸ 'are a real thing. They may not be related by blood but you'll care for them just the same, have a bond that transcends everything.'
He wanted that. Wanted a real and loving family. He didn't care for blood. He just wanted them to be his and him theirs. A spark of warmth and longing welled in him at the thought and he knew that he would stop at nothing until he got that. His dream of becoming Hokage seemed second to that now.
Naruto knew that he would be forever grateful to Zero, knew that nothing he did would repay that but he'd try. He'd protect her until the day that he died.
He breathed in deeply, eyes sharpening ever so slightly and he knew that it was time. Knew it was time to shed the mask. He needed to take matters into his own hands.
"Zero-chan..." Naruto muttered, coming to the side of her desk with an uncertain look on his face. He rubbed at the back of his head with a free hand, completely ignoring Sasuke's presence. "Can you help me with this?" He said, pointing to the paper in hand. He had no idea what he was doing and his partner was of no help whatsoever and he was more than done with the other. If he stayed with his old partner, he swore he'd punch the other in the face, classmate or not. Besides, he didn't like being ignored and treated as if he didn't exist and he wasn't about to go out of the way to get the other's attention. He understood now that he was better than that.
Zero blinked. They had been assigned yet another group assignment by Iruka, which seemed to increase drastically ever since the 'Incident'. He seemed to be keeping a very close eye on things these days and was stricter as well but no one really minded and those who did didn't dare to say anything.
"Well... Iruka-sensei did say that this was a group assignment... and there could be only up to three people in a group so..." Zero glanced to the side, seeing Sasuke busy with the assignment. He wasn't having any trouble with the assignment at all and neither was she, but Zero could see why most of her classmates seemed to be struggling. They were asked questions that related to various real-world scenarios and it was designed to make the students think more critically, tactfully, and intelligently.
"Do you mind, Uchiha-san?" She asked, trying to be considerate to her partner. The Uchiha glanced up from his assignment, raising a dark eye brow before glaring slightly at the blond who glared right back. "I don't care what the idiot does."
"Teme─" Naruto growled, hands clenched into fists.
Zero laughed slightly, reminded of the weird friendship Gray and Natsu had. Although right now, the two seemed to have more animosity towards each other. That much was clear to her. "Please don't, Naruto-kun." Zero said placing a placating hand on the other's shoulder. "Iruka-sensei would get angry if we started an argument."All three turned their gazes to the teacher in question and saw him staring at them with a scarily expectant manner and his eyes promised much pain. Naruto shivered and Sasuke winced slightly and they all turned away a second later, unwilling to keep Iruka's gaze.
"A-Ah," Naruto laughed nervously, "right Zero-chan. I can be nice to Sasuke-teme for a bit."
"Idiot." Sasuke muttered, turning back to his assignment and completely ignoring their presence.
Naruto eyed Sasuke dubiously before turning his attention to Zero, sitting in the free seat next to her. "I don't know how you work with him Zero-chan. " Ice-cold bastard, Naruto thought, irritated.
Zero merely smiled. "He's not so bad to work with Naruto-kun. Now, what is it that your having problems with?" She asked.
Naruto laughed somewhat nervously. "Uh, everything?..." He said. A part of him was honestly expected to get insulted, he really did, even though he knew that Zero wasn't that kind of person. Honestly, Zero was unlike anyone he's ever met and Naruto didn't think he'd ever not be grateful for meeting her. She's even managed to calm down Sasuke-teme a bit, I think, Naruto thought as he glanced at the dark haired Uchiha from the corner of his eye. He doesn't seem to be too much of an asshole these days!
Zero voice took him out of his thoughts.
"It's okay Naruto-kun." Zero said kindly. "I can help explain it to you. I get the feeling that you do know the answers to these questions. It's just that you need them worded in a different way."
Naruto looked at her surprised, so did Sasuke. "I─ Really?" He said incredulously.
"Of course!" She said.
And he really did know the answers. Zero reworded the complex words into something simpler and in turn the questions. Naruto once reading the reworded questions answered them immedietly and the 'duh, isn't it obvious?' went unsaid. He kept answering all of the questions until there were no more questions to be solved and then realized that he answered everything on his own.
"What?!" Naruto growled, rubbing at his face with the palm of his hands, exasperated. "They were so easy! How the hell didn't I answer them earlier?!"
"Because moron, the words were obviously too big for your tiny brain." Sasuke muttered under his breath, resting his head on the palm of his hand.
Zero hid her giggles behind a hand.
"What'd you say teme?!"
It seemed that after that day, Naruto took the liberty of sitting next to Zero without fail. The table was now filled. Sasuke at the edge near the wall, Zero in the middle, and Naruto at the other end of the table. No longer was the seat at Zero side open for rotating students.This was a relief for many but also an offense. Many didn't take too kindly to Naruto's presence near the Uchiha.
"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled, torn between glaring at the blond and Zero with enraged green eyes.

"What are you doing?! Get away from Sasuke-kun!"
To the surprise of many, the blond merely scoffed. "Get out of my face Haruno! Where I sit isn't any of your business!" And it really wasn't. "Besides, last I heard you were supposed to be cleaning the Academy bathrooms for the entire year! Shouldn't you be busy with that or something?"
Sakura gaped at the other and she wasn't the only one.
"I thought that she was Sakura-chan to you Naruto?" Shikamaru said, mildly amused and interested. It seemed that there never was a dull day in the Academy anymore. Troublesome, he thought.
Naruto shook his head, a frown twisting his lips. "Nah." He said, "Haruno isn't worth it. She's way too rotten for me." That was very true. Sakura had revealed a side that contrasted with her cotton pink hair and emerald eyes, a side that deserved the name monster more than Naruto did.
"What!?" She screeched, an indignant look on her face. "What did you say?"
"Sakura sit down!" Iruka yelled.
"But sensei─" She protested.
"Now."
She did so reluctantly, throwing glares every so often to their table. Ever since that damnable day, everything has gone wrong or horribly for her. Her sensei kept giving her disappointed looks and the clan children kept away from her as if she had done something wrong. Didn't they understand that she was only doing what her family had told her? 'Don't get close to those two demons Sakura-chan. They're no good vermin, you hear?' What was wrong with them? Not to mention, Sakura had nearly had the title of Rookie of the Year only for Zero to steal it from her grasp. Thrice! It wasn't fair! She was supposed to be the smartest, be Rookie of the Year, be next to her precious Sasuke-kun!
Naruto merely watched her fume and he gave a smirk, eyes glinting dangerously. It was time that Sakura and the others understood that their actions had consequences and this was but one of them. Things have changed.
Naruto spent more and more time with Zero, taking care to follow and consider her advice. Her help helped him drastically and he began to understand more. Not to mention, even though he didn't like the Uchiha bastard much, he wasn't as bad he thought he'd be.At first, he had tolerated the other for the sake of Zero, as it seemed that the two were friends. Now that it had been established that Naruto and Zero were truly friends, Naruto didn't bother to hide it and he took every second to be with the other. He worked on assignments with her and by default with Sasuke and it was surprisingly... pleasant. Zero would talk to him and clarify things that he didn't understand. She'd explain it to him ten times easier than sensei did and the textbooks too. She was very smart, both she and Sasuke were. He did feel kind of stupid beside them at times but Zero had always reassured him that he was smart too, just in a different way. Not only that, but it was apparent after some time that they were rubbing off on him. Naruto found himself more prone to comfortable silence now, more quiet and contemplative and he didn't seek out the attention of others anymore, not since he told himself that it wasn't worth it.
Naruto benefitted in a lot of different ways by being with the two and he even began to see Sasuke begrudgingly, at first, as a friend. It had made him happy all the same because it was proof of change, proof that he wasn't as alone as he felt anymore. He was a lot calmer now and he steadily began to chip away at the mask he's hidden behind for so long. His smiles were more genuine, his laughs just the same and the light actually seemed to reach his eyes now.
He wasn't the only one that's changed from this development.
Sasuke never once thought in a million years that he Uchiha Sasuke would be around the likes of Uzumaki Naruto, who to the world seemed to be nothing but a prank loving and attention seeking idiot. To his immense surprise, Naruto wasn't who he thought to be and it was made obvious the more time the Uchiha spent time with him, as consequence of preferring Zero presence to the other incapable idiots in his classroom. Surprisingly, after a while, he stopped simply tolerating Naruto and accepted him as something that just was.