Hidden Villages

I: Child's World

Naruto found himself shrinking back slightly when the woman lectured him for performing a jutsu Jiraiya constantly praised him for, but slid slightly behind Iruka. He eventually found himself heading back to his seat and sulking. His foot tapped wishing he might run about outside and do whatever he wanted, but the lack of positive response from the other children bothered him.

Iruka told him he would make friends which were his own age.

He didn't pay attention to any of the children around him, yet he'd also forgotten about the pink haired girl due to his soured mood. He didn't notice the boy with the dark hair pulled into a ponytail snoring, nor did he notice the boy in blue hiding his head after the stunt he pulled. Instead he stood with his arms folded pouting about not getting his way rather than listening to the boring and useless lesson from Iruka.

As such he refused to eat lunch when they brought the food in even though it smelled good. A chubby boy with orange hair came over and asked if he might have his food, but when Naruto said nothing the boy took this as an affirmative. Most of the children chattered away, but we're excited about the time they'd get to play outside. Naruto of course found himself not caring but wanting to do the exact opposite of what the teacher's wanted him to do.

"Naruto, don't you want to make friends with the other kids?" Iruka asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"They're stupid."

"That's not a very nice thing to say."

"But it's true!"

"Really? Why is it true?"

"Because they laughed at my Sexy Jutsu!" Naruto continued standing there with his arms folded across his small chest and his lip jutting out in a horribly stubborn manner.

Iruka let out a sigh and rubbed the top of his head. "The fact the laughed at you doesn't make them stupid."

"Hey kid!" A voice called from outside. Iruka's mouth twisted into a frown upon hearing the voice. He turned and saw another of his students pointing his finger at Naruto. "That Sexy Jutsu was a stupid thing to do, you moron!"

Naruto's teeth ground together and he felt heat rise to his cheeks and ears. He lunged out at the boy and swung his fists wildly as he tackled the boy to the ground. Naruto found himself in other fights while he was with Jiraiya, yet none were a match like this other child.

The boy quickly shifted their weight so they were both tumbling instead of one taking the upper hand. Eventually a man with white hair and only one eye appeared and separated them. The other boy said something when Iruka came to separate them about the white-haired man being his sister's boyfriend despite the white-haired man objecting.

Naruto didn't care to listen to Iruka's lectures, particularly since the boy knew from his past experiences with Jiraiya that adults were typically hypocritical and did exactly what they told children not to do. The man let them go back to the room.

"So, are we friends now?"

"What?" Naruto scowled at the boy and folded his arms across his chest as he sat in a completely different spot than he had before.

"I asked if we are friends now?"

Naruto frowned. "I don't know your name."

"What? Everyone said their names earlier. How can you not know my name?"

Naruto continued frowning. "There were a lot of names."

"That's true. I'm Kiba."

"I'm Naruto."