I sat on my bed, staring at the piece of worn cloth and metal that led in my hands.  The cloth on the headband was dark blue, with rusty, discolored splotches caused by the spilt blood from all the battles it had seen.  The metal plate secured to it held four engravings, symbolizing the ninja village of the Hidden Mist.  This old head protector belonged to my great-grandfather, who fled his village after it betrayed him.  He sought refuge in the Hidden Leaf, where my family now resides.  As the only son of my parents, this head protector has been passed down to me, a soon-to-be ninja of the Hidden Leaf, or Konoha.

"Toshihiko! If you don't hurry, your are going to be late for the graduation exam!"

I quickly, but gently, placed the head protector in a drawer of my bedside table.  I then proceeded to run done the stairs, grab the food that my mom prepared for me, and sprinted out the door.

"Bye mom!"  I called to her as I ran down the street.

Passing by several different merchants on the way, a few of them hollered greetings, while others gave me a hard glare.  I rolled my eyes at those people, while greeting the friendly ones back.

Not everyone in this village likes me, or my family.  Mostly because of where my great-grandfather originated from.  Those who the most nasty were the elderly merchants and shopkeepers.  But I just avoided interacting with them the best that I could.

As I was running, an orange figure joined me, keeping pace easily with myself.  I offered the other boy a small smile.

"Hello Naruto."

He gave me a ginormous grin.  "Hey Toshihiko!"  I saw the glint of mischief in his eyes.  "Wanna race?"

I knew that my own eyes were glittering with their own form of mischief.  "Sure...if you can keep up!"  With those words, I took off faster than I was running before.

I heard a yell behind me.

"I am most definitely gonna win today, dattebayo!"

I laughed out loud.  We'll see.