Destined (A Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter One

Iruka walked down the halls of the academy, looking at the files of the new students who would be in his class. He realized this year would be quite tough for him, since he was having to take on and teach the out-of-control, crazy Naruto Uzumaki. Even more than that, he was a bit concerned for a new girl who was joining the class as well. Her name was Hakari Hyuga.

As he read Hakari's file, he became intrigued with her. She had abilities of remarkable healing even before she was a Genin. She could already walk on water, control her chakra enough to walk up a tree and hang upside down from a branch, all the preliminary tests students would be issued before being given their Leaf Village headband, and some they would receive after.

Being a Hyuga, however, this didn't surprise him. Having Hiashi Hyuga as an uncle must have been rough on her. Normally, he focused all his energy on training his nephew, who was already a Genin, a year ahead of Hakari, but for her to be so talented at such an early age, he wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't taken some time to train her as well.

He soon read on, and realized that Hakari's Byakugan was already beginning to awaken within her, and that shocked him. Ocular abilities usually didn't develop until a much older age, but that wasn't the most shocking issue of it. He read on to read that her eyes had been causing her excruciating pain not that long before she was enrolled. Pain was a sign that either her body was not yet ready for her powers to awaken as quickly as they were, or that something potentially wrong with the poor girl's eyes.

He sighed, closed the file, and stepped into class.

"Good morning everyone," Iruka said, but only a few students greeted him with the customary 'Good morning Iruka-Sensei.' He sighed as he looked at his roster, ready to take attendance. He could already tell a seat was empty, and it belonged to Naruto.

"Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, Neji Hyuga, Tenten, Lee, Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Hakari Hyuga, and Naruto Uzumaki... Has anyone seen Naruto?" With that, Ebisu burst into the room.

"LOOK AT ME! IM A GIANT BOOGER!!" could be heard from outside, and to his horror, as he looked outside, there was Naruto, vandalizing Hokage Rock again, and dangling from the 3rd Hokage's nose. What a day, he thought.

When Naruto was back safely in the classroom, Iruka began to explain and then demonstrate the very basic technique of controlling the chakra in your body into your feet, and walking up a wall.

When he instructed everyone to do it, everyone could but Naruto. Hakari was dangling from the ceiling before her classmates even made it half way up the wall.

Iruka was amazed by Hakari, but Naruto was letting him down. Maybe, just maybe, he thought, if he paired his most promising student with his Neanderthal student, something good may actually come of it!

Prior to the students being named as Genin, they had been randomly selected to Jonin Senseis to join squads. Originally, one squad was to be Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki. Hakari coming on as a transfer student made having exact numbers of 3-member squads impossible, but Iruka was determined to convince the Hokage to possibly, if there was any way in the world, to allow a 4 member squad. It was his only hope of Naruto becoming more than a Genin, if he could even manage that. He would pair Hakari as Naruto's tutor for now, and see what the Hokage had to say later on. For now, he had other things to do.

"Hakari, can you come down here for a minute?" Iruka asked, and Hakari jumped down from the ceiling with a flip, landing on her feet and walked to him.

"What is it, Iruka-Sensei?" She asked, looking up at him. She was 12 while her peers were 13, and a few were even 14.

"I see you as one of my most promising pupils. You're one of the most talented students in the academy, even well above your grade level. I would like you to do me a favor and become a mentor", he said, and she raised an eyebrow.

"A mentor? Iruka-Sensei, I'm not sure how good of a mentor I can be. I mean my father did teach me certain things, but not much... I've been able to do things you teach, and I can do more, but I hardly think I'm qualified to be someone's mentor", Hakari said, her blue hair dangling loosely around her shoulders and down past her hips as she blows a strand from her face.

"You'll be mentoring Naruto Uzumaki. The blonde haired boy who was defiling the Hokage's face on Hokage Rock. He's incorrigible. I can't teach him anything, he really needs someone besides me to get through to him. Someone his age that can connect with him. Maybe you could help him learn the basic techniques so he can learn more evolved things later on", he said, and Hakari smiled a bit.

"You actually think I'm capable of that?" She thought a minute. "Alright, I'll do it!"

With a smile and a swish of her hair, Hakari walked over to Naruto who had fallen onto the floor, and helped him up while she introduced herself. Iruka hoped and prayed his plan would pan out the way he wanted.