Return of the Flash by Kamikaze132

Chapter 6

Time skip : Six years

A lone figure was standing on top of the gates of Konoha. He was tall for his age, standing at five feet. He was wearing a white and black, half sleeves jacket with two orange stripes on the sleeves, connected to the ones going along his zip which stopped at his chest, his high collar standing up. There was a blue lightning symbol on his back, in the black stripe. He wore a full sleeves black shirt underneath the jacket with two bands, one on his wrists and the other just beneath his elbows. He wore dark blue ANBU pants with orange stripes on the side, going all the way to the ankle. He wore simple blue shoes with white soles. [ Think of the pants like Sasuke's in Road to Ninja, but instead of sandals it's shoes]. On his right thigh he wore a holster held with white tape, and a standard shinobi pouch tucked in at the back of his pants, on the left side. His bright, spiky blonde hair was tied in a messy ponytail.

He was Naruto Uzumaki, and today was the day of his graduation exam. As he stood on top of the gate, he reflected on what he had gone through in the six years of academy.

Just a few days into the academy told him that he was going to receive the short end of every stick. Even though he had no need to learn the academy Taijutsu style, he could tell that the stances taught to him were all wrong. But he gave no indication that he knew this.

Theory lessons were roughly the same. The teachers taught the different concepts in the class, but never answered any of his doubts. Instead, they tried to sabotage his answers as much as they could. Not that they could do that. Being a genius had its perks.

On the bright side, he made a lot of new friends. Friends that he could actually count on.

Hinata Hyuga of the Hyuga clan was the first friend she made. He could tell she was an incredibly shy girl who had confidence issues, but a very warm person to befriend. She spoke in the language of stutters, which for some reason, seemed to intensify around him. Her face also turned very red whenever he spoke to her and she fainted most of the times, which is why he let her do most of the talking. She became his friend after he saved her from bullies.

Chouji Akimichi of the Akimichi clan was a chubby boy who always seemed to have some snack in his hand. Chouji had a very big heart once he got to know him through a shared lunch. He was a very caring person, very kind and strong. But he also suffered from lack of self-confidence. He was also very sensitive about his weight, angered very quickly if someone called him fat. Nonetheless, Naruto considered him a dear friend.

Shikamaru Nara of the Nara clan was Chouji's best friend, because he was the first one to look past his weight and find who Chouji truly was. He was also incredibly lazy, his catchphrase being "Troublesome". Along with that, he was probably the most intelligent person Naruto had met. He didn't know Shikamaru's exact IQ, but he knew his lazy friend was high up in that department, even more so than Naruto. Shikamaru was a true genius at Shogi, which is where his weakness also lied. He spent most of his time cloud gazing, or playing shogi to sharpen something which was already sharp. He was the epitome of lazy.

But Shikamaru and Chouji were Naruto's closest friends. They even took part in the occasional prank that Naruto played. They even enjoyed the punishments they got together after testing their teacher's, Iruka Umino's patience. Every moment he spent with them, a strong desire to protect them pulsed in his heart.

Kiba Inuzuka of the Inuzuka clan was more of an annoyance that grated on his nerves. He was short tempered and impulsive, which did not help him at all. He was also headstrong, which was probably the reason he got very easily angered in his spars and made mistakes. He always carried his ninken, Akamaru with him at all times. Akamaru was a small puppy who fit in Kiba's jacket. He always responded to Kiba's nonsense and was always on his side. He held a one sided rivalry with Naruto and Sasuke.