Hitoshi had spent the night over at Naruto's house, and morning had come surprisingly quickly. Naruto walked into his kitchen to find Hitoshi already awake and cooking. He had on a different kimono. This one was white with large red ribbons woven through the hems.

"Good morning, Hitoshi!" Naruto exclaimed. Hitoshi turned to him, a small smile on his face.

"Good morning, Naruto." Hitoshi returned, glancing back at the pan on the stove.

Naruto bounded into the kitchen. "So, whatcha makin'?" The blonde asked energetically.

"Fried rice, I thought you might enjoy it." Hitoshi said, serving the food into two bowls, before laying them down on the table. Naruto sat down across from Hitoshi, and they both clapped their hands together.

"Itadakimasu!" They both said, before digging into their food. Naruto's eyes lit up as he processed his first mouthful.

"Damn! This is really good!" Naruto grinned, scarfing down the rest. Hitoshi laughed, quickly finishing his as well. Naruto blushed slightly at the sound of Hitoshi's laugh. It made the blonde really happy to hear the ginger express happiness.

"I'm glad you enjoy it, Naruto." Hitoshi gave a small smile to the boy, before standing and quickly washing the dishes. Hitoshi placed them on a towel to dry, before turning back to Naruto. "You're going to have to lead me to the Shinobi Academy... I have no clue where it is." The ginger said sheepishly.

"That's okay!" Naruto grinned. "Just follow me!" The blonde went to leave the apartment.

"Naruto... Your clothes." Hitoshi pointed out. Naruto looked down to realize he was still wearing his pajamas.

The blonde laughed sheepishly. "Right... I'll be right back."

::

The two made it to the Academy on time somehow, and Naruto was leading Hitoshi to Iruka's classroom. "It'll be great, Hitoshi! You're gonna love Iruka-sensei!" The blonde grinned, as he found the door that he was looking for. He slid it open to reveal a classroom. Everyone paid no attention as Naruto bounced into the room, and straight over to Iruka. "Iruka-sensei! Did the Hokage tell you about Hitoshi?" The blonde inquired.

Iruka nodded and glanced behind Naruto at the ginger. Hitoshi gave a small wave and hesitantly walked into the classroom. Everyone was staring at him and making him extremely uncomfortable. He made his way over to Iruka and Naruto. "Hello." The ginger said quietly.

"Hey there, I'm going to be your teacher, Iruka-sensei, okay?" Iruka smiled at the boy, who gave a silent nod in return.

'He's almost as quiet as Sasuke...' Iruka thought, sweatdropping.

"Sensei, Sensei! Can Hitoshi sit next to me?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Yeah, of course!" Iruka agreed. Naruto sprinted up to his seat and motioned for Hitoshi to follow. Hitoshi walked up and sat next to Naruto, silently ignoring the rest of the class as Naruto chatted animatedly with him. Eventually, a certain Uchiha decided to come over and investigate the new student.

"Yeah, and then he said- Oi, Sasuke-teme! What are you doing over here?!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise. Hitoshi gave the black-haired Uchiha a slightly surprised glance.

"You." Sasuke ignored Naruto and glared at Hitoshi. Hitoshi ignored him, instead opting to give a small smile to Naruto.

"You can continue your story, Naruto." Hitoshi told the blonde, completely ignoring the Uchiha. Sasuke was taken aback by this behavior. Normally, no one would treat him like this.

It made him angry.

"Hey! I was talking to you!" Sasuke shouted angrily.

Hitoshi glared at Sasuke. "And I'm talking to Naruto." The ginger said coldly, turning back to Naruto. Naruto glanced between the two of them and laughed. Sasuke gained an irk mark on his head.

"Just what the hell are you laughing at, dobe!" Sasuke shouted, grabbing Naruto by the collar.

"I thought it was obvious that he was laughing at you." Hitoshi stated nonchalantly, making Sasuke turn his bewildered and furious gaze onto the ginger. Sasuke dropped Naruto, and instead opted to glare at Hitoshi.

"Who the hell are you, anyway?!" Sasuke shouted, making Hitoshi shrug.

"Does it matter?" The ginger asked.

"Of course, you chibi!" Sasuke scowled. Hitoshi's eyes widened as he realized what Sasuke had called him.

"I'm not that short!" The ginger protested, crossing his arms and looking away from the Uchiha.

"Yes you are, you're four inches shorter than I am. That makes you short." Sasuke bantered, all pretenses of anger gone. The entire class stared on in bewilderment, confused by the interaction that had just occurred. Sasuke crossed his arms. "And you still haven't answered my question."

"...I'm Nara Hitoshi." Hitoshi decided to answer. "What about you? Who are you?" The ginger inquired.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke." The ravenette answered proudly. Hitoshi raised an eyebrow and nodded.

'So... you're Itachi's little brother... No wonder. You two look so similar...'

"What... just happened?" Sakura asked in confusion, glancing back and forth between the two boys.

"I don't know." Ino answered, just as bewildered.

Sasuke, seemingly satisfied with his 'interrogation', walked back to his seat. Iruka cleared his throat awkwardly, and the entire class snapped to look at him. "Okay class, now that I have your attention," Iruka began, "today we are practicing taijutsu."

Some students groaned, but Naruto noticed a spark of happiness in Hitoshi's eyes. "Hey, Hitoshi," Naruto turned to his friend, "you like taijutsu?"

The ginger nodded. "I like it a lot."

::

'Come at me you brat, and don't hold back.'

'You think I would? Against a monster like you?'

'Shuddup you fucking brat. Just 'cause you talked back, you get ten cuts and twenty pounds, got it?'

'Whatever.'

'Cocky little brat, eh? Fine. Double it.'

'Fine by me.'

::

Iruka had led them outside to a training area. Everyone was partnered up, to practice the moves Iruka-sensei had shown them. Much to Naruto's dismay, Hitoshi was paired up with Sasuke. Naruto himself was paired with Ino.

Hitoshi was lazily blocking Sasuke's strikes. Sasuke realized that the punches and kicks weren't that complicated, but he was still irritated by the ginger's lack of effort. "Hey, chibi." Sasuke called out, making Hitoshi sigh.

"I'm not short."

"Keep telling yourself that." Sasuke smirked. "Anyways, I was thinking, these moves are pretty basic. So, why don't you and I spar? Actual sparring, not whatever this is." The ravenette suggested.

Hitoshi raised an eyebrow. "And abandon this lesson our sensei has so graciously put together for us?" The ginger gave a slight smile. "Sounds great."

The two boys stopped fighting and got into their customary stances. Sasuke, obviously, took up the standard Uchiha style stance. Hitoshi dropped into his usual stance as well.

Iruka took notice. "What do you two think you're doing?" He questioned, walking over.

Sasuke smirked. "We got bored."

"Wha-" Iruka never got the chance to finish, as the two teens charged at each other. Sasuke attempted to kick Hitoshi's side but was swiftly blocked by Hitoshi's own leg.

Hitoshi sent a swift punch towards Sasuke's head that the ravenette barely dodged. The ginger, however, was evading every strike sent his way. The Uchiha's style was very rigid and conventional, which made it easy to dodge. After one particularly hard strike, Hitoshi grabbed Sasuke's arm and threw him to the ground. Sasuke coughed as the wind was knocked out of him.

"...Sasuke." The ginger called to the boy.  "Your clan's style is good to start with, but it's also pretty formulaic. Try improvising." The teen advised.

Sasuke hesitated for a moment but leapt back onto his feet. "Rematch?" The ravenette questioned.

"Sure." Hitoshi agreed. Iruka had given up on making them stop. The teens dropped into their stances, and without a moment to rest, began again.

Sasuke allowed Hitoshi to try the offensive this round. The ginger, noticing the silent offer, accepted and charged at the ravenette. Hitoshi thrust his fist forward into Sasuke's gut but was barely blocked by Sasuke's arm. Hitoshi's leg then swept into Sasuke's side, but Sasuke managed to punch Hitoshi in the face. Sasuke went flying to the right, and Hitoshi stumbled backward.

Sasuke swiftly got up and glanced at his opponent. Hitoshi had gotten a bloody nose from the strike, and it was pretty bad. Blood was dripping everywhere and it stained the teen's kimono. Hitoshi didn't seem to care, however. The ginger didn't even seem to feel it.

"That was a bit of an improvement. Come on Sasuke, you can do better." The ginger smiled a real smile, his golden eyes flashing.

"Is that a challenge, chibi?"

"Oh, it's on."

::

The boys spent the rest of the morning lesson sparring and no matter how hard Sasuke tried, he could only inflict minor injuries on the ginger. Hitoshi, on the other hand, had managed to give the Uchiha several painful bruises and a dislocated shoulder, which the Nara had quickly fixed.

The next lesson was on the clone jutsu. This time, Hitoshi was paired with Naruto. Sasuke was disappointed, and then mentally kicked himself for being disappointed.

"Yes, Hitoshi!" Naruto exclaimed happily. "Now we're partnered up!" The blonde grinned widely, before sighing. "I just wish it wasn't for this jutsu."

Hitoshi tilted his head curiously. "What do you mean, Naruto?"

"I'm really bad at the clone jutsu. Really bad." Naruto sighed.

Hitoshi paused for a moment, looking the blonde over. "Naruto... would you mind giving me your hand?"

"Huh?"

"For just a second." Hitoshi promised. Naruto hesitantly held out his hand, and Hitoshi grabbed it by the wrist. The ginger held on for about two seconds before letting it go. "And that's what I thought."

"What is it, Hitoshi?" Naruto asked, almost worried for himself.

"Oh, it's nothing bad, Naruto. You have an absurd amount of chakra, that's all. It's no wonder you can't perform this jutsu. You have so much chakra, that this is like trying to control a single grain of sand in a sandstorm. Absolutely ridiculous." The ginger shook his head.

::

'Why do we even keep him around?'

Eavesdropping. Bad. Very bad.

'Because, darling, he has so much chakra! Imagine how pleased he would be with this catch.'

'True, very true. But how long do we have to keep him?'

'Until he's learned to access that ridiculous chakra.'

'Well then, I guess I better get back to pounding that brat into dust.'

'Mmh, well... he can wait for a little bit... I want another kid...'

'If that's what you wish...'

I ran back to the basement.

::

"Anyways Naruto, you would've never been able to do that jutsu in a hundred years. You need a clone jutsu that takes more chakra. Here, do what I do."

"Okay!" Naruto exclaimed. Hitoshi formed a handsign; The pointer finger and middle finger together while the rest were folded in, formed in a cross shape. Naruto copied him, though Hitoshi adjusted the boy's stance.

"Now, when you use the handsign, I want you to focus on making a solid copy of yourself."

"Solid? O-Okay, if you say so..." Naruto formed the handsign and closed his eyes in concentration. Suddenly, the entire training field was covered in Narutos. Everyone was crushed under the sheer quantity of orange jumpsuit-clad boy.

 Hitoshi gave the blonde a faint smile. "Maybe not that much chakra, Naruto. Dial it back. A lot."