Chapter Text
The sun blazed overhead, its rays falling upon earth much to the joy of Konoha's residents. The sky was devoid of any clouds just a bright baby blue signifying the early morning.
In the streets of Konoha a young boy kicks a rock his face twisted in annoyance. His shaggy brown hair waves gently in the breeze as his wide emerald eyes glare at the rock which is receiving the brunt of his displeasure.
"Why did I have to flop that test?"
He mutters to himself in frustration.
It was team placements today. And the boy, Keitaro, had finished dead last barely passing nearly every paper.
It's not that he was dumb per se (most years that would be an average score) but nearly everyone in his year were part of a clan.
Or had their parents.
Keitaro sighs shaking his head. Not like it matters now. It's not a guarantee he would be placed in the same team as the two top students.
It was just a common practice.
The Hokage Monument stood as tall and demanding as ever. Keitaro looks up at it and the six stone faces. Especially the last one.
Naruto Uzumaki sixth Hokage of the hidden leaf village.
Keitaro feels weird whenever he sees him. He was grateful (really be was!) but the man reminded him constantly of that day. A memory of the pure white skin and bloodthirsty eyes flashes through his head making Keitaro pause.
Taking a deep breath he kept walking. Towards the academy.
A few minutes later Keitaro arrives at the academy and has to leave the rock behind.
He doesn't look back.
By the time he gets to the academy door he can already hear commotion coming from inside and he sighs opening the door.
The class was calmer than usual.
Just Hikari arguing with Mai.
As usual.
"You're annoying Inuzuka."
"Shut up Uchiha stop acting as if you own everything."
Hikari makes a dismissive "Hn." at that. Only Shinachiku seemed to understand what she meant.
That only made Mai angrier.
Keitaro just walks to the back. As usual. No one called out his name nor noticed he walked in.
He never really had any friends.
Well he did but they never said friends for long. Keitaro had no clue how to converse.
Most of the people here were snotty so they took his dry humour and sarcasm as an insult. The others just had no interest in making friends with him.
The only one that seemed to really try was Shinachiku. But he tried to be friends with everyone.
Keitaro frowns at the back of Shinachiku's head as he tries to calm both Hikari and Mai down.
There is no way he is as kind as he makes it out to be. He just has to act that way as the Hokage's son.
Keitaro is so sure of that fact.
So he kept avoiding Shinachiku. But that guy for some reason seemed to not be able to give up. Much to Keitaro's annoyance.
The boy had no reason to try so hard to be Keitaro's friend.
Everyone wants to be close with the son of the Hokage and the Head Medic.
That's when Keitaro's eyes go over to Hikari. He didn't have a problem with her really. That was because he never spoke to her.
And, thankfully, she never tried to speak to him. In that sense he respected Hikari as much as one could without knowing them.
Hikari herself had people trying to be close with her.
A very small handful did avoid her however. That was mostly due to some families still fearing the Uchiha. Due to the actions of Sasuke Uchiha, Hikari's father, prior to the 4th great ninja war.
That was the part of the test Keitaro did best in. The fourth great ninja war.
Before Keitaro's thoughts could start going down that path the door opens and the room falls into silence immediately.
Shino-Sensei had walked in.
"Alright class. First of all congratulations on passing!"
He let the class make some celebratory noises. Although all of them already knew they had passed (they received their headbands last week) they still wanted to celebrate a little more.
Keitaro just stared out the window.
"Ok then. Usually I'd need to give all of you a speech about teamwork but I'm sure most of you already got that. And the rest can get it from their Sensei's."
Now the class fully sat up in their seats excited for the team placements to start.
Keitaro just stared out the window.
"So Team 1...."
As he assigned teams some students groaned, others celebrate and some didn't really mind.
Keitaro just stared out the window.
"Team 7 Shinachiku Uzumaki,"
All the remaining students who hadn't been put on a team immediately looked desperate to be on team 7.
Both because of the history behind the team and the person in it. However, most knew that one of the places were already secured.
Keitaro just stared out the window. However, now his shoulders were tense.
"Hikari Uchiha,"
Some people looked more desperate to join. Others a little less. Most people just kept praying to have the last place.
Except Keitaro. Who's eyes now flickered to Shino-sensei in a silent prayer.
"And Keitaro Nagano."
Keitaro's head spun towards Shino-sensei his eyes blazing. But he couldn't say anything.
What could he say? He was dead last of course he would be put on the team of geniuses.
Some students groaned.
"Him? He literally never talks..."
"Who? Oh the quiet one in the back?"
"Why him? It should've been me!"
Shinachiku just turned back with a smile.
"Guess you can't run from me this time huh?" He said it with such a charming smile it only made Keitaro angrier.
"Leave me alone Uzumaki."
Shinachiku didn't look the slightest bit fazed. Hikari just looked back at him for a second before looking to the front again.
"Ok now settle down everyone! Next team 8. Mai Inuzuka, Arata Hyuuga and Shinju Aburame."
Mai just huffed in annoyance as Arata and Shinju nodded at each other.
Keitaro didn't listen for team 9 as Shinachiku just kept looking at him.
And that only seemed to make Keitaro more furious as he muttered under his breath.
"Stop looking at me."
"I'm just waiting to see how long you'll be angry for."
"Just leave me alone."
"Well what if I don't want to?"
"Then you'll learn that you have to."
Shino seemed to notice so he spoke louder when mentioning team 10.
"Team 10. Inojin Yamanaka, Shikadai Nara and Chocho Akimichi."
Shinachiku slowly turned forward as Keitaro turned to the window again glaring at the trees as if they offended him.
"Ok now that all the teams have been set they will meet you here soon! Usually you would have lunch first but a few sensei's insisted on meeting their teams first so this is how we are doing it."
As soon as he finished saying that Konohamaru Sarutobi stepped in.
"Team 7 you're with me. We'll meet on the roof."
Shinachiku seemed stunned and Konohamaru only winked at him before vanishing in a show of leaves.
A shunshin.
Hikari and Shinachiku rise. And so does Keitaro.
Shinachiku moves quickly excited as Hikari and Keitaro walk at a more leisurely pace.
By the time they reach the roof Shinachiku and Konohamaru are already deep in conversation.
"Big bro Konohamaru you didn't tell me you were going to be my sensei."
"It's Konohamaru-sensei to you now. Plus why would I tell you?" Konohamaru is grinning down at Shinachiku.
"Well there's no way I'm calling you sensei." Is all Hikari says as she sits down on one of the steps on the roof. Although she does have a grin on her face.
This made Keitaro's stomach drop.
They all knew each other.
He was the odd one out.
Yet before he could spiral Konohamaru turned to him.
"So you're Keitaro right? I already know these two but I don't know you. So we will still do introductions."
Hikari sighed in annoyance.
"Really? We could just have him introduce himself and be done with it."
Konohamaru shook his head.
"We're not in a rush or anything so we might as well."
Shinachiku clearly didn't seem to mind since he moved to drop himself next to Hikari.
"Alright then who starts big bro?"
Konohamaru looked at Shinachiku his eyes narrowed.
"I said it's Konohamaru sensei. Do you want me to tell your mother, Sakura, about you being disrespectful?"
That seemed to straighten Shinachiku up since he seemed genuinely fearful.
Keitaro smiled in twisted glee.
Hikari eyed him out of the corner of her eye.
Konohamaru claps. "Alright then Shinachiku you start!"
Shinachiku grins.
"Alright then. My name is Shinachiku Uzumaki. I like my friends, training and sweet things. I don't like being alone and people who refuse to work hard. My dream is to grow enough that I'm no longer in my parents shadow."
None of the other three seemed particularly surprised at anything he said. They just moved on swiftly to Hikari.
"My name is Hikari Uchiha. I like hanging out with Shinachiku I guess and tomatoes. I dislike people who are weak." Hikari seemed to be lazily listing things off until this point. Now she sat up straight her eyes serious "My goal is to become the first Uchiha Hokage."
Shinachiku and Konohamaru nodded as if they already knew this. Keitaro however looked surprised.
"Now Keitaro it's your turn." He sat up straighter at that.
"I'm Keitaro Nagano. I like people who aren't annoying. I dislike large group settings. I don't really have a dream." Keitaro said this in a clipped tone.
In reality he did have a dream, or a goal, but he didn't really want to say it in front of these guys.
He didn't really trust them.
Konohamaru seemed to understand this since he looked at Keitaro for a few seconds longer before looking at the group as a whole again.
"Ok guys now. You pass!"
All three looked incredibly confused.
"We what?"
"The secret Jounin test after you become a team. All three of you passed."
"And how pray tell did we do that?"
"Because I can't fail you. The Uchiha heiress and son of the Hokage failing would be breaking news across the elemental nations. So it's not exactly possible to do that."
Keitaro blinked before he turned to the others. Both of them didn't seem super surprised. Meaning they expected something along these lines.
He grit his teeth.
"So what're we gonna do bi- Konohamaru-Sensei." It seemed to take physical effort to get those words out.
Konohamaru smiled. Before narrowing his eyes.
"Oh don't you worry about it. Just meet me near training ground 44 tomorrow at 4am. Make sure to bring stuff for a week long survival training exercise." And like that he vanished in a swirl of leaves.
Again.
Both Hikari and Shinachiku looked unusually nervous the moment Konohamaru mentioned training ground 44 but Keitaro didn't care.
He just got up and walked away.
Shinachiku got up as well seemingly about to follow him.
Hikari tugged on his sleeve.
"Do you trust him?" She asked.
"Who Keitaro?"
"Since when were you two on a first name basis?"
"Since I started calling him by his first name." Shinachiku's smile washed away the incredulous look on Hikari's face.
"God you're unbearable sometimes."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't trust him. At all."
"Why not?"
"I don't know I just feel like something is off about him. I just can't put my finger on it though."
Now Shinachiku looked insulted on Keitaro's behalf.
"Just give him a chance."
"Like he gave you one?"
"He's just shy. Come on he doesn't have friends he probably thinks that's how they talk."
The two of them start leaving the academy. Keitaro was probably well on his way home already.
"Wow and you say you want to be friends with him?"
"I wasn't insulting him."
"Sure you weren't."
Shinachiku gives her a look.
"Genuinely what's your problem with him. Is it because he beat you in a race last year? You smashed him in every one since!"
Hikari looks insulted at this.
"Why the hell would I be holding onto that?"
"Because you complained for days about it."
"Shina that was a year ago."
"And? I still hold onto things from when I was five. And that was seven years ago!"
The two of them kept talking as they went on their way to the Uzumaki residence.
"Well that's just you then because I don't hold on to grudges."
"It's because I celebrated with him isn't it."
"W-what? Of course it isn't."
"Since when do you stutter?"
"Since when did you notice?"
The two keep bickering until.
"Big sister!" And suddenly Hikari's hands are fully as Kagami Uchiha dives into her arm.
Seems like the Uchiha family had already arrived at the Uzumaki residence.
"Big bro!" And suddenly Hanami was at Shinachiku's side pulling at his sleeve.
"Did you get a good team?"
Shinachiku chuckles as Hikari hugs Kagami. The smile on her face was only ever reserved for her younger brother.
That's when Sakura steps out of the kitchen.
"Welcome back kids. Make sure to neatly put your shoes on the rack," Sakura eyed Shinachiku here. "And wash your hands before sitting on the table."
Shinachiku sighed as Hikari hid her giggle into Kagami's hair. Slowly she lets go of Kagami as Shinachiku answers Hanami.
"Yep me and Hikari are on a team together obviously." He grins at that. And so does Hanami.
"Really? Big sis Hikari is on the same team as you?"
Kagami looked just as happy about that. Only he was quieter about it.
"Big bro Konohamaru is our Sensei too!"
"You've been giving him the proper respect and calling him Sensei right?"
Shinachiku gulped before nodding. "O-of course I have."
That's when Karin walked out of the dining room having set the table. "Oh you two are back."
"Hi mom are dad and uncle Naruto going to be late again?"
Karin nodded. "The two of them were going to talk to Konohamaru about something."
Shinachiku seemed to not notice the connotations behind that. But Hikari did.
"Anyway our last teammate is a boy called Keitaro. He's quiet and doesn't really have any manners but it's fine. I'll be friends with him and show him that's not really how friends talk."
Hikari was still focused on what her mother had said while Shinachiku put his shoes away neatly before walking to the toilet to wash his hands. Hanami and Kagami bounced after him hoping to hear more.
"Mom? What're dad and the Hokage talking about?" Hikari only ever called Naruto Hokage when she thought something serious was happening.
Karin picked up on that immediately. "It's nothing big. It's only because your team isn't having a Jounin test to see if they'll be sent back to the academy. So they're setting up something else for you guys."
Hikari nodded seeming to accept that as an answer before walking off to wash her hands.
Karin and Sakura share a look.
Hokage office
"He doesn't trust any of us which is natural. Also Shinachiku seems intent on becoming his friend. Did you put him up to that?"
"No. I never even mentioned him around any of the kids."
"Good. This is a problem for our generation. No one should know other then the people that need to."
Naruto nodded at Sasuke's remark while Konohamaru still frowned.
"The problem I feel is the boy's chakra feels inherently wrong."
Naruto's face twists at that.
"What do you mean by wrong?"
"I mean I didn't notice until he was sat right next to Shinachiku and Hikari but," Konohamaru hesitates here "Shinachiku and Hikari obviously have chakra much more then the normal chunin even. And while Keitaro obviously has less he still has more then even most clan heirs."
Naruto and Sasuke share a discreet look without Konohamaru noticing.
"Alright Konohamaru that's good. You said you had a plan for the three of them tomorrow?"
"I do." He doesn't elaborate and Naruto doesn't push.
"Alright then you're dismissed." Konohamaru nods before leaving out the open window.
Naruto sighed as he rose from his seat and Sasuke pushed off the wall.
"We should probably head to your home. Everyone should be there by now."
Naruto nods as he walks out the door Sasuke already moved to be at his side.
Keitaro stared at the CRT TV as he flicks through channels. Not a single one piqued his interest. He frowns before sighing and leaving it on.
It's better then sitting in silence. He moves to make himself cereal before bed. He didn't really have anything else since the orphan stipend would arrive in two days.
As he ate in silence he looked out at his window where his prized possessions were. His plants.
He loved tending to them, not that he would admit it, they always seemed to listen when he wanted to rant.
They never did reply though.
After a quick dinner Keitaro headed to bed. He knew that leaving the TV on was the reason he ran out of his stipend pretty quick but he didn't really care.
Being alone hurt more than being hungry.
Keitaro sighed as he walked through Konoha early next morning. The backpack he was wearing was pretty empty he didn't have too much to bring with him.
By the time he arrived at the designated meeting spot he was surprised at the huge gate he saw and the massive trees that loomed behind them.
"The hells that?" He didn't notice he said that out loud.
"The forest of death." A sleepy voice murmured.
Keitaro spins only to see Shinachiku grinning at him from on top of a rock looking clearly tired.
"You got here early?"
"Ok and? You clearly got here before me dumbass." Keitaro snarked out. His lack of sleep made him too tired to bother thinking before he uttered anything.
Shinachiku raised an eyebrow. "Dumbass? Aren't you the one who finished as dead last?"
Keitaro grit his teeth at this yet before he could say a word Hikari was in the clearing looking much more awake then either of the two boys.
"Shut up. The both of you." Shinachiku just sniggered to himself as Keitaro continued glaring at him.
"Now now no fighting between teammates."
Konohamaru sensei arrived. All three turned to him.
"I'm guessing you're all wondering what we are doing here." All three nodded and Konohamaru's simple grin turned down right devilish.
"Well. I'm going to drop all three of you into the forest of death. And all you need to do is survive for a week."
Keitaro just looked at the forest feeling a little nervous. But what's the worst that can happen? He could deal with most jungle animals no problem.
Neither Shinachiku nor Hikari seemed to agree.
"W-what are you talking about? We can't survive in there! My dad told me about how he did his chunin exams in the forest do death and there were flesh eating maggots. MAGGOTS!" Shinachiku seemed to be on the verge of spiralling.
Hikari was much more calm in her fear. "We are NOT doing that. The Hokage and my dad would never agree to this."
"Oh? You think your parents can save you from this? When you're out there doing real missions you think anyone will ask you who your parents are? No. In fact they'd be even more excited to kill the two of you if they did know."
That shut Hikari up.
Keitaro grinned again the twisted sense of glee welling up inside him.
"Now instead of telling the three of you to run into that forest. I'm separating you."
Now Shinachiku seemed to be more angry.
"Wait but Kei-" He never did finish that sentence. Konohamaru's fist was already in his gut knocking him out cold.
Hikari was on the the ground a second later.
Keitaro couldn't even see Konohamaru move so he knew he had no chance. It didn't even feel like a second passed between when Konohamaru looked at him and when everything turned black.