Naruto 1. Chapter 1

**EKUSA**

Chapter 1: One Fateful Encounter

_"There once appeared a small girl. Many were fooled as her chakra alone could crumble mountains and cause tsunamis. To ward off this demon-like child, the people assembled all the shinobi from the village. One brave young boy who was still on his journey in becoming a shinobi himself was able to fend off the demon, but because of that, parts of his memories became hazy. That shinobi was called…"_

_-Sasuke's POV-_

Outside, near the entrance of Konohagakure, I lay flat on the ground, back against the pavement. I slowly sat up, recovering from the earlier collision.

"I am greatly sorry!" A fairly petite girl in traditional priest clothing was bowing. She had long black hair and vivid red eyes. She kept apologizing to me until something caught her eye. I turned around and looked at what she was looking at. The famous Konohagakure monument could be seen at our distance… and it has been drawn on with paint. The girl, with concerning eyes, muttered to herself, "My Uzumaki-kun..."

Already feeling annoyed, I was about to turn around and walk away until I heard the little girl's stomach grumble. The girl blushed and couldn't look me in the eye. I walked towards the girl and, with both my hands, pinched both of her cheeks. The little girl turned even redder as her face was filled with bewilderment. She squirmed as she was trying to get away from my grasp, "Please stop this right this instant."

"Come on," I said, and I let go of her. The little girl, unknowing of where I was going to take her, hesitated to follow me at first. After a while, I could hear her small footsteps hasten to catch up to mine.

The little girl's face brightened once we reached the ramen shop. I began to walk away. "Excuse me!" I flinched at the sound of the little girl's calling. She ran up to me and faced me, panting. What a fragile girl with little stamina.

Finally catching her breath, she smiled and said, "As a thank you, allow me to treat you."

In the end, I got stuck joining her for some noodles. After our orders arrived, the little girl was hesitant to take her first bite. She slowly took one noodle, closely observed it, and ate it. "Wahh~ Delicious!" She stared at me with sparkling eyes. I looked away, turning slightly pink. "Idiot…" I whispered aloud.

I was about to begin eating until I was disturbed by the cook nudging my shoulder. The cook whispered, "Who is she? Is that your girlfriend?" We both looked at the girl as a radish slipped from her chopsticks, causing the soup to splash on her face. I really wanted to hit this man right now. I've never felt so insulted in my entire life.

The sun was setting when we left the ramen place. "You are unaware of how grateful I am. I do not know what I would do if I had not crossed paths with you Uchiha-sa…" She stopped at mid-sentence and fell silent. I looked at the little girl's eyes. The different look in her eyes caused me to flinch. I couldn't find the words to describe what her eyes expressed.

Finally, but faintly, she said, "…my dear Uzumaki-kun please be strong…"

She fled.

I was stunned for a moment, and began to follow her. My thoughts were going crazy. How could I be so dumb? For someone I've never met before, how did she know my name? Or have we met before? Suddenly, a very blurry picture of a child's silhouette appeared in my mind. It disappeared.

I followed the girl into the forest without her noticing. I wasn't sure for how long I was following her for, but it was dark out now. She was very quick compared to before when a short distance would leave her out of breath. When she stopped, I hid behind a tree. The girl knocked Naruto out, making him passed out on the floor. What is she doing to Naruto?

A split second later, a bombard of kunais went flying straight at her, pinning her to a nearby tree behind her. She was bleeding everywhere yet she did not flinch or scream at all. While taking each kunai out of her body, she raised her voice, not to Naruto, but to the forest, "I understand that you are strong… but please put away your weapons already."

She gasped as I tackled her, protecting her from a huge spinning shuriken. I ended up on the ground on top of her, but I supported myself up with my hands so as not to crush the girl. I winced as the girl gently touched the scratch on my cheek the shuriken just made. "He tainted the shuriken with knock-out oil." Once she said that, my vision began to get blurry. How could I be so weak to faint from such a simple trick as this?

The enemy appeared out of the trees. The little girl placed me leaning against a tree and stood up to face the enemy. "I suppose I am obliged to take you on myself, Mizuki-sensei," she said, staring at him with the same eyes; the same eyes she had when she fell silent at mid-sentence. It was at that moment I could finally describe what her eyes' intent was: death.

She took out her dual fans and opened them both, hearing a painful screech echoing through the dark forest right after. My vision then faded to black…

"…ha-sa… chichi-san! UCHIHA-SAN!" I woke up, lying down on the little girl's lap with her worried face looking down at me. My eyes grew wide and quickly removed my head from her lap. Sitting up, I turned away from her face. I was turning slight pink. Why am I acting like this?

We were both still out in the forest and the sun was shining brightly upon the both of us. The little girl's eyes began to well up with tears. "Please do not scare me like that again! –Hic-" Sighing, I patted her head to calm her down. She stopped in an instant, and gave me a warm smile.


	2. Chapter 2

**EKUSA**

Chapter 2: Sasuke Uchiha

_-Naruto's POV-_

As the sunlight was shining through my bedside window, I stretched and yawned. I heartily ate my breakfast, got dressed, and put on my goggles… OH WAIT! WHA HA HA! I forgot that I'm a badass ninja and have to wear my headband now.

When I walked outside, there was a tiny girl in weird clothing with long black hair and strawberry red eyes. She greeted me with a warm smile. "Good morning, Uzumaki-kun."

"Yo, Ekusa-chan!" This is my friend Ekusa Ahichi. The most amazing thing about her is that she's only 11 years old! And as a bonus, she's also 4'5", making me look even taller than I really am! I smiled and said to her, "No need to act polite! Just use my first name!" She started to look at me all concerned and whatnot. Averting my eyes from her gaze, I scratched my nose and said, "Uhh… well if you're not ready, you don't have to."

"That's not it," she said, walking closer to me. She touched my chest and looked up at me. "Does it still hurt?"

"Haa? OH!" She was talking about how I was suddenly knocked-out from a sudden blow by Mizuki-sensei one day in the forest. Sure, I'm great and all, but that was one crazy hit! Giving my toothy grin, I replied, "That little tap didn't leave a scratch on me at all! I'm incredible, remember?"

She giggled, "Ah ha ha, I am glad to hear that you have recovered. Now let us 'get a move on'!" Did I forget to mention that she talks weird? She keeps trying to talk like the others, but it's not going too well –sweat drop on forehead-.

With Ekusa, I walked to class. We were about to take our seats until someone caught her attention. She ran towards a guy sitting down, stopped in front of his desk, and bowed. I looked at the person… urgh! It was Sasuke Uchiha. He always acts like he is so cool. BEH! I hate this guy more than anyone!

Ekusa smiled gently, and greeted him, "Good morning, Uchiha-san!

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke replied coolly.

"HEY!" I yelled, walking towards the two. "You can't even recognize your own classmate?"

"Aaah~." Sasuke motioned Ekusa to come closer and she obediently did. He started to pinch both of her cheeks. He said, "Makes sense now," as if he just understood something.

"Geh!" I didn't know they were so close to each other. "Let go of Ekusa-chan!"

"Yesh! Pleashh let go, Oochiha-shan," Ekusa attempted to say.

Sasuke let go, seeing who was walking towards us. "She's known as the spirit that haunts the class." Ekusa and I turned around to face the person speaking. Both of our faces brightened instantly. Her name is Sakura Haruno, my Sakura-chan. She's a very cute girl that I like a lot, and someone Ekusa admires. Sakura continued, "She's just an average student who gets barely passing scores on exams, but does well enough to not cause trouble." After finishing her explanation, she crept towards Sasuke. She turned pink, and acted all cutesy-like, and said, "So don't bother with her, okay?"

_-Sasuke's POV-_

"Aaah~." I motioned the little girl from the other day to come closer and she obediently did. I started to pinch both of her cheeks. Out loud, I said, "Makes sense now." This is why she knows all our names. How come she's never caught my attention? I don't even know her name.

"Geh!" Naruto pointed at me and yelled, "Let go of Ekusa-chan!" So her name is Ekusa.

"Yes! Pleashh let go, Oochiha-shan," Ekusa attempted to say.

I let go after seeing who was walking towards us. Things could get ugly if I keep acting so familiar towards her… wait. Why do I care? "She's known as the spirit that haunts the class," this annoying fan-girl named Sakura barged in. She continued, "She's just an average student who gets barely passing scores on exams, but does well enough to not cause trouble." After finishing her explanation, she crept towards me. She turned pink, and acted all weird-like, and said, "So don't bother with her, okay?" …disgusting.

Without feeling a presence, I felt a hand touch my cheek. Ekusa was gently touching my bandaged cheek I got the other day. Teasing her, I smirked and said, "You really are a ghost." I suddenly felt a shock of pain.

Ekusa pinched my bandaged cheek, and said, "Do not tease me like that!"

"Let go!" I demanded, but instead, she decided to pinch the other cheek.

We were face-to-face and I can clearly see her puff her cheeks out of irritation. "I have dealt with your antics since yesterday, so I will not let go!" This is the first time I've seen her lose her cool… she's kind of cute.

_-Sakura's POV-_

Did Sasuke just chuckle? Ekusa was pinching my Sasuke-kun's cheeks! Why won't she let go? Ekusa turned slightly pink. Getting embarrassed, she asked, "What are you laughing at?" After a split second she said that, my heart shattered, and the whole class fell silent. A boy behind Ekusa turned to apologize for bumping into her, but stopped once he realized what he just did.

Ekusa and Sasuke lips were touching!

_-Sasuke's POV-_

Ekusa's face slowly inched closer to mine as she was bumped by a guy behind her. Then suddenly, our lips touched. My heart was beating fast, and then another hazy image of the same silhouette appeared again. The image slowly began to slowly get clearer until Ekusa pushed me away. Panting, Ekusa's face was beet red.

_-Naruto's POV-_

SASUKE'S KISSING EKUSA! Ekusa pushed Sasuke away. Panting, Ekusa's face was beet red. Why was she turning red? The hand that she used to push him away stayed on his chest, and the other one was covering her mouth. Sasuke smirked, "Were you holding your breath the entire time?"

Huh? Suddenly, all the hairs on my body were standing on end. I sense something bad and so did Ekusa, as we both turned slowly to face all of Sasuke's fan-girls. Ekusa looked at me with fear in her eyes, but no matter how incredible I am, I don't know how to deal with this also!

"Settle down class," Iruka-sensei said, coming into class.

Ekusa placed both hands on her chest and sighed in relief, "Thank goodness." I sighed in relief also.

"Starting today, all of you are real shinobi," Iruka-sensei announced. "But you are still Genin. Can anyone tell me what that is?"  
>Sakura shot her hand up. "It's the lowest shinobi rank." Ekusa and I both stared at my Sakura-chan in admiration.<p>

"Correct, Sakura-chan. This means that the hard journey that lies ahead has just started. Now you will soon get missions to help the village." Iruka-sensei announced. He continued, "So today we will create the 3-man teams and each team will have a Jounin sensei. You will follow your sensei's instructions in order to successfully complete your missions." Iruka-sensei took out his clipboard and noted, "By the way, you are not creating your own teams. The staff tried to balance each team's strength."

_-Sasuke's POV-_

Iruka-sensei read down on his clipboard. "Ok. Next is Team 7." He began to read the names aloud. "Sakura Haruno. Naruto Uzumaki. Sasuke Uchiha." Pfft… more people in my way. I glanced at Ekusa and she was pouting. I smirked, "Don't be depressed. I'll take good care of _your_ 'Uzumaki-kun'."

"What are you saying?" Ekusa stood up in embarrassment while turning beet red.

"Oh yeah!" Iruka-sensei realized, staring at Ekusa. "As for you, Ekusa-chan, you are aware of your position, right?" She got surprised and sat back down. She looked down at her lap and nodded in silence. What is that all about?


	3. Chapter 3

**EKUSA**

Chapter 3: Kakashi Hatake

_-Naruto's POV-_

I stuck my head outside of the classroom, looking down the hallways. "Naruto, just sit down or something," Sakura said leaning against a desk.

"Why is our Team 7 sensei so damn late?" I ranted to Sakura. "All the other teams have gone off with their senseis, and Iruka-sensei also left."

"Hey! What are you doing Naruto?" Sakura yelled.

Sakura walked over to me. "Hi hi hi hi," I laughed as I placed a chalkboard eraser at the top of the entrance of the classroom. "That's what you get for being late," I snickered.

Sakura placed her hands on her hips. "Geez… I'm not involved."

"Pfft," Sasuke smirked in his seat. I forgot Sasuke was here. "Like a Jounin would fall for such a stupid booby trap."

_-Sasuke's POV-_

We all saw the door opening, and the eraser fell on top of our Jounin sensei's head. He had white hair, and his face completely covered except for his right eye. A sweat drop appeared on his face. "Wha ha ha ha!" Naruto laughed at him, and then he pointed at him. "You fell for it, you fell for it!"

"I'm so sorry Sensei; I tried to stop Naruto but..." Sakura said apologetic.

Is this really a Jounin? I was so ashamed that I couldn't even look at him straight in the face. He doesn't seem very reliable. Suddenly, I heard a small voice. "Kakashi-sensei! I am greatly sorry that I am…" Distracted from what she saw, Ekusa came in panting through the doors… wait… WHAT? _Ekusa_ came in? What is she doing here? Once she got ahold of herself, she finished, "…late."

"Hmm… how can I say this?" Kakashi-sensei put on a thinking expression and said in a friendly tone, "My first impression is… I don't like you guys."

Sweat drops all appeared on our heads.

"Well let's begin with introducing yourselves," Kakashi-sensei said leaning against a rail. We were all sitting on the roof of the school.

"What would you care to know?" Ekusa asked politely.

"How about your likes, dislikes," Kakashi-sensei began to list things out. "Your dreams for the future and things like that."

"Hey, hey, why don't you introduce yourself to us first?" Naruto asked.

Sakura agreed, "Yeah, you look kind of suspicious."

"Oh… me?" Kakashi-sensei began to introduce himself, "Well, my name is Kakashi Hatake. I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future… hmm. And I have lots of hobbies…"

"So… all he told us," Sakura asked with a sweat drop going down on her forehead. "…is his name?"

-_Kakashi's POV-_

I announced, "Now it's your turn, let's start on the right."

"Yosh!" A boy with blonde hair, wearing an orange jumpsuit began, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. What I like is cup ramen. What I like even more is when Iruka-sensei pays for my ramen. What I dislike is waiting 3 minutes for the ramen to cook. And my dream…" Does he only think about ramen? "…is to surpass the Hokage and then have the people of this village acknowledge my existence," Naruto finished, looking determined. He's grown in an interesting way. Naruto finished it off with, "Hobbies… pranks I guess."

"Amazing," Ekusa said softly, looking at Naruto with adoration. Psh… kids.

I see… Scratching my head, I said, "Next." I don't think I can take any more of this.

A boy who has a cold expression and hair that's similar to a duck's butt began his introduction. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are lots of things I dislike and I don't really like anything. And… I can't really call it a dream, but I have an ambition; the resurrection of my clan and… to kill a certain man." Like I thought... I looked over to Ekusa and she looked unsurprised. I guess we both knew that was about to happen.

"Ok," I sighed with relief, because we're on the last person. "And lastly the girl."

"My name is Sakura Haruno. The thing I like is… well the person I like is…" Sakura kept shifting her eyes to Sasuke. "And umm… my dream for the future… umm? Oh yeah!" …this girl is giving me a headache. "What I dislike…," Sakura started to look agitated. "…is Naruto." Naruto was left speechless. I sighed, and stared at her in disappointment. I guess girls of this age are more interested in love than ninjutsu.

-_Sasuke's POV-_

"Okay," Kakashi-sensei concluded. "Now let's move on!"

"Wait." I looked up from the ground and stared at Ekusa. "Introduce yourself."

Ekusa was surprised. "Ue?" She looked up at Kakashi-sensei for permission and he nodded. "My name is Ekusa Ahichi. There are many things I enjoy and I am not very fond of snakes. Similar to Uchiha-san, I have an ambition; to ward off any impending harm towards you all."

Sakura said while laughing, "No offense, ghost, but you can't even perform the basics."

"Sorry Ekusa-chan, but you're worse than me!" Naruto was holding onto his stomach. What are they talking about? Have they not seen the Ekusa I saw in the forest that one day? When he calmed down he asked, "So why are you here?"

_-Kakashi's POV-_

"Well she is here because I was ordered to look over her," I finished. Everyone fell silent. "Well then, so far for the introductions. Tomorrow, we'll start our duties as shinobi."

"Yeah! What kinds of duties?" Naruto stood up enthusiastically, saluting to me. "Duties! Duties!"

"First we are going to do something with just the five of us," I said, crossing my arms.

Naruto asked impatiently, "What is it? What is it?"

"Survival training."

"Survival training?"

"Why is our first duty training?" Sakura asked. "We've had enough training at the academy."

"This isn't any normal training. This time, I'm your opponent," I replied.

"Then, then! What is it?" Naruto asked confused.

I couldn't help but laugh at his idiotic question. "What's so funny sensei?" Sakura asked uneasy.

"Uhm… well it's just that when I tell you this, you guys are totally going to freak out," I said chuckling.

"Freak out?" Naruto is completely lost right now. "Ha?"

"Of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be chosen to become a Genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy," I said in a serious tone. "This training is a very difficult exam with a failure rate of over 66%!" Their faces were priceless. I laughed, "Ha ha ha! I told you you'd freak out."

"What? No way!" Naruto exploded. "But we worked so hard! Then what was the point of graduating?"

"Oh that?" I replied. "That was just to select those who have the change to become Genin."

"Uhh… WHAT?"

"Anyway, tomorrow you have to show your real skills on this training ground. Bring all the shinobi tools you have. Oh… and skip breakfast, you might throw up. The details are on this paper and don't be late tomorrow."

Sakura was panicking, "Might throw up? Is it that tough?"

_-Sasuke's POV-_

The sun was just rising. Hmm… it looks like I came a little too early. I heard a rustle and, by reaction, I threw my kunai at that direction. A voice echoed through the forest, "Uee!" I walked over to the noise and saw Ekusa sitting down, holding her chest for dear life.

She stood up quickly and pinched my cheeks. My eyebrows twitching, I demanded, "Let go." She obediently did, and puffed out her cheeks. "Why are you ordered to be looked after?"

"Ue?" Ekusa was shocked by the sudden question. "Uhh… because…"

"Hey Ekusa-chan!" Naruto walked towards us with perfect timing… good job, Naruto. "How come you didn't wait outside of my house? We could've walked here together!" I don't know why, but I got annoyed when he said that. Shortly after, Sakura came and it officially became an idiot reunion.

After a few hours, I finally heard Kakashi-sensei's voice, "Hey guys, good morning!"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura and Naruto yelled.

Kakashi-sensei placed a timer on a stump. "Ok, it's set for noon. Here are three bells." He held out three golden bells. "Your task is to take these from me before the time is up. Those who don't have a bell by noon, gets no lunch. I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps, but I'll also eat in front you." So that's why he told us not to eat. "You only have to get one bell. There are only two, so one of you will definitely be tied to the stump, and the person who doesn't take a bell fails. This way, at least one of you will be sent back to the academy."

"Excuse me?" Kakashi-sensei looked at Ekusa. "You want me to participate also?"

"Yes. I want to see myself as to how you got accepted into the …"

"Understood," Ekusa cut Kakashi-sensei's sentence.

He smirked and continued, "If you want, you can use shurikens and kunais. You won't succeed unless you come at me intending to kill."

"But!" Sakura said concerned, "You'll be in danger!"

"Yeah, you're so slow you can't even dodge a blackboard eraser!" Naruto laughed confidently. "We'll definitely kill you!"

"In the real world, those with no talent often bark the loudest," Kakashi-sensei said. "Well ignore Mr. Dead-last here and start when I say…" Out of rage, Naruto took out a kunai and ran towards Kakashi-sensei… or se he thought. A split second later, Kakashi-sensei appeared behind Naruto, placing the kunai Naruto was holding behind Naruto's head. "Calm down," Kakashi-sensei said. "I haven't said start yet." I smirked, so this is a Jounin. "Well, it seems you're finally prepared to come at me with the intent to kill. So you've finally acknowledged me?" He looked at all of us. "He he, it seems like I'm beginning to like you guys. Ok, let's get going. Ready… BEGIN!" Everyone dispersed from their spot.


End file.

Naruto, Adventure, Romance