The Shadow's Fox

Chapter 1

Hey guys. So I wanted to try my hand a ShikaNaru story. Anyone that has read my other stories know that I'm a big ShikaTema and AsuShika fan, but I've also really liked the idea of ShikaNaru. If you don't like it, that's fine. To each his own, but I hope you will give this one a chance.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Naruto does not belong to me and neither does any of the other characters... sadly.

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Naruto had a big smile on his face as he walked into the academy building. "Alright! I'm gonna become a shinobi and show everyone what I can do!" he yelled as he threw his hand into the air.

"What's he doing here?"

"My dad said he's a menace and that I should stay away from him."

"Mom told me never to talk to that boy."

The smile on his face slipped a little as he heard the kids around him whispering to each other, and by the time he reached the room he would be studying in, the smile was gone completely. 'Why does no one like me? What did I do to them?'

"Hey, you're in my way."

Naruto looked up and saw a boy with dark hair and pale skin standing behind him with two other boys standing behind that boy. "Oh. Sorry," he said as he stepped to the side. He watched the three boys walk into the classroom. 'Is that some of my classmates?' A smile came back to his face. 'I can make friends here, then I won't be alone anymore.'

He walked into the room and saw that it was already filled with kids. He scanned the room and saw that most of them were already in little groups, and he tried to go up to a few of them and introduce himself, but they all pushed him away. In the end, he found an empty desk at the back of the room and sat down, placing his chin on the desk. 'They're all like the adults. Why does everyone hate me?'

"Alright class, settle down and find your seat," a man with brown hair up in a ponytail and a scar across his nose said. He saw the leaf headband sitting on the man's forehead and the green chunin vest and smiled.

'My sensei is a shinobi,' he thought with excitement. He had been around several shinobi before, since they were always the ones that came after him when he pulled his little pranks, but now he would be learning from one.

"My name is Iruka Umino, and from today I am going to be your academy sensei. I'm going to do a roll call to make sure that everyone is here," Iruka said, then began calling out names.

Naruto paid close attention to the names and which kid associated with it. He wanted to be able to go up to them later and try to make friends with them again. 'I'm not going to give up. I will make friends,' he thought with determination.

He watched the kids raise their hands or stand up when they were called and remembered the few names of the people that he thought might be good friends. "Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka called out, and the boy that he had met before he came into class lifted his hand and called out.

'So, his name is Sasuke. I wonder if he'd be my friend.'

"Sasuke is so cute."

Naruto turned his head to a pink haired girl that was sitting two desks in front of him. She was talking to a short, blonde haired girl.

"Sakura Haruno," Iruka called out.

The pink haired girl stood up and stiffened. "Here, Sensei."

'Sakura,' Naruto thought with a smile, and a blush creeped up on his face. 'She's kind of cute. Maybe I can be friends with her, too.'