The Crow's Apprentice

Chapter I

Done! I'm just going to keep this short and sweet. Naruto was six when Itachi picked him up. Just to clear that up. If you're a Grammar Nazi, Spell Police, or both shut the heck up. This is a flame free zone. Vote, share, follow, and comment!

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Hiruzen took a drag of his pipe, and blew smoke into the air. "It's been six years since I let Itachi take Naruto, I wonder how the lad turned out," he mused as he tapped his pipe on the railing and look up at the sky. Now that he thought about it, it was one of the best ideas he had ever thought up.

Sighing, Hiruzen took another drag of his pipe and blew into the sky. When he did, the Hokage saw a small crow flying towards him. "That must be him," Hiruzen murmured as he took a step back from the railing. The crow landed on the railing, and bowed its head to the aged ninja. "Naruto, it's nice to see you again. Though, not in the form that I thought," Hiruzen said with a nod.

Naruto cawed in laughter, and a vortex of black feathers formed around the crow. After a few minutes, the feathers dispersed to reveal a humanized Naruto. "Lord Hokage, I have returned," the twelve year old informed with a bow. Hiruzen nodded, "I noticed," he replied simply as he looked the boy up and down.

Naruto donned a red sage haori, a black t-shirt, knee high shinobi sandals, and standard shinobi pants. "So, how have you been?" Hiruzen asked curiously. Naruto jumped off of the railing, and landed gracefully on the roof. "Okay, I suppose. It was hard for Brother-sensei to allow me to leave, but he did. I shall miss him, but I have a mission to complete," he said.

Hiruzen nodded slowly, "Well, it seems you have been doing pretty good then. How has your training progressed?" he asked. "Very well, Lord Hokage. Chunin level at least," Naruto replied. "Impressive, you'll have to give me a demonstration later," Hiruzen said.

Naruto nodded, "As you wish, Lord Hokage. Now, I have a mission to complete," he said. "Of course, follow me," the Hokage said as he started to walk away. Naruto nodded, and followed after the aged ninja.

~The Academy~

Sasuke grunted as Iruka finished up his congratulations speech. "I will now call out the squads. Squad One..." the teacher started, but the Uchiha zoned out. He couldn't careless as to who was on his team, as long as they didn't get into his way.

"Squad Seven. Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka started and the Uchiha Prince sat up in attention. Before Iruka could continue, the door flew open and millions of black feathers coursed through the room. The feathers, as if being controlled, flew around the room, and started to cycle around Sasuke. "What the hell?" a student asked.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as the stream of feathers started to gather in front of him. "Sasuke Uchiha, I believe," the black feathers asked. "Yeah, who's asking?" the Uchiha inquired. The black feathers condensed and a boy about his age appeared. "Sensei, I believe I am on squad seven with Sasuke?" the boy said said as he looked over his shoulder at the front of the room. Iruka blinked a little, and looked at the sheet. "Naruto Uzumaki," he read. The boy, Naruto, nodded as he hopped off the deck, and seemed to float gracefully onto the ground. "That is correct, I am Naruto Uzumaki," he said with a bow.

The class stared wide eyed at the boy. There was something almost mysterious about the boy. The students couldn't wrap their minds around it. Iruka was the first one to snap out of his daze. "Thank you, Naruto. Please, have a seat," he said. Naruto nodded as he walked off towards an empty seat. Iruka cleared his throat, "Now, on with the squads," he announced as he started to call out the next few squads.

Naruto closed his eyes. "Brother-sensei sent me back here to become a Genin with my age group. How does he believe that I can after what I saw?" he thought as he opened his eyes, and looked at Sasuke. "That is Brother-sensei's true brother, so why does he care for me?" the blonde asked himself. Naruto quickly shook his head. "I should not question Brother-sensei, he knows what he is doing," he mentally berated himself as he heard Iruka finish off the rest of the squads.

"Okay, everyone, your Jonin sensei will be here to pick you up. Mind your heads, and be mindful of your teachers," he said as he picked up his stuff, and walked out of the room. Instantly, everyone stood up, and hurried towards their new classmate. "I remember you. You're that one kid that use to sit allow outside of the academy, near the swings," one boy said. Naruto nodded, "Nice to see you again, Kiba," he said.

Kiba blinked a little, before howling in laughter. "Ha! You're funny. I'm surprised you still remember my name," he admitted. "I have a very good memory. It is one of the most important assets of being a ninja," Naruto said calmly. Half of the students blinked a little. "Excuse me, out of the way," a voice said from the back of the crowd.

Naruto frowned, until the crowd parted, to reveal a platinum blonde making her way through the crowd. "Naruto Uzumaki, where the heck have you been," the girl scowled. Naruto frowned, "Who are you?" he asked perplexed. The girl sighed, and pulled out a violet rose. Naruto's eyes widened as recognition came to his mind. "Ino, Ino Yamanaka," he said.

A tick mark appeared on the blonde's head, as she smacked Naruto upside the head. "Idiot! You leave with no explanation, and shows up after five years with even more nonsense!" she yelled. Naruto flinched a little. "I'm sorry, Ino. Something came up, and I didn't quite everything went crazy, and I met someone," he tried to explain.

"You met someone? A lover perhaps?" Ino teased. Naruto's face turned bright red as he turned into black feathers, and wrapped Ino out of the room.

~The Roof~

Ino blinked as the feathers disappeared, and she was now on the roof. "What the?" she muttered as she looked around. Naruto materialized in front of her. "Brother-sensei is not my lover! He's my brother!" he shrieked. Ino blinked, "Hang on, Naruto, I'm trying to figure out what just happened," Ino said as she held her head.

"I mean...I love Brother-sensei...but I don't love him in that way..." Naruto muttered with a blush on his face as he tapped his two pointer fingers together. Ino blinked, "Naruto, you're making no sense," she said. Naruto shook his head. "I know I'm not. Brother-sensei is always telling me that I tend to ramble whenever I'm nervous," he admitted. Ino laughed, "At least you don't say that anymore," she pointed out. "Believe it!" Naruto cheered, and was smacked on the head by Ino. "Yah, that. Don't do that," the Yamanaka said.

Naruto laughed a little, "Sorry about that, I couldn't help it," he admitted. Ino rolled her eyes, and smiled. "It's good to have you back, Naruto," she said. Naruto smiled softly, "Yeah, it's good to be back," he replied.