Another Take (A Naruto Fanfiction) (Complete)

*Ch. 1: At the Beginning

Fen chuckled, crossing his paws nonchalantly as he lay on his belly. 'You're about two hours over the old guy's deadline.'

"Crap!" I cursed, leaping up and sprinting out of the glen. I hadn't realized I was that late! I thought I was only fifteen minutes or so! Not two hours! Hachi was going to kill me! And it didn't help that I had to get to the Academy early tomorrow!

Fen sounded bored when he heard my thoughts. 'Oh yeah, you've got that exam thing in a few days. No big deal. I can help you pass it, no sweat.' I suppose it would be boring for an immortal chakra beast, but guess what I'm not? I was too busy running to reply out loud, but in my head I started talking.

'I don't want to rely on you to pass. I want to be confident enough in my abilities to pass on my own.' This was non-negotiable in my opinion. I wouldn't succeed anywhere if I couldn't figure stuff out on my own. Fenrir didn't say anything, but I sensed a slight feeling of approval from him. I couldn't dwell on the thought however, because all of a sudden I crashed into something solid, but still a bit squishy.

The only thing I saw was a flash of orange and yellow before I was sent tumbling backwards by the force of the collision. I heard an "oof" from the other person, and the distinctive sound of cans clanking as I landed hard on my tailbone.

"Ow," I groaned, rubbing my head. The impact had jarred my skull, and I could feel a headache coming on. Not to mention the bruises I could feel forming on my back.

There was an answering groan from the other person, and I finally opened my eyes to see who I'd collided with. The first thing I saw was a whole lot of orange, then blond hair, and finally blue eyes and whiskers.

Naruto Uzumaki.

"Who- Kiyomi, right?" Naruto groaned, rubbing his head with a wince. "You're in my class, right? What are you doing here?"

I deadpanned at him. "Sitting on the ground," I replied dryly. I felt along the back of my head for a bump, and thankfully there was none. That's one good thing at least.

Naruto laughed sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

I sighed. "It was partly my fault, anyways." Then a sudden thought made me chuckle. "I guess we both need to pay attention to where we're going."

Naruto laughed at that. "I guess!"

We were silent for a second, just sitting on the ground. Then I remembered the cans I'd heard earlier. "Naruto?" I asked, and the boy looked up at me. "Why do you have cans with you?"

"Ah-ha-ha... I can't tell you," the blond boy said, sounding suspiciously like he was up to no good. I raised an eyebrow, but dropped the matter. None of my business. Probably just another one of his pranks.

"Whatever. Just don't aim for me," I suggested, before pushing myself up and heading off, raising a hand behind me in farewell. "Later."

Naruto didn't reply, but I hadn't expected him to. We may have been acquaintances, but we were no more than that. We had a mutual agreement. I didn't join in on what the other kids did to him, and he didn't target me for his pranks. Simple as that.

That was true for most of the class. I was a loner, but I was ignored. People didn't mess with me, I didn't mess with them. It was mutually beneficial, and I got the peace and quiet I enjoyed.

I did have a few friends. Well, not really friends. More like people who'd work with me on projects if we needed to choose groups. They would be Kouta Okamimaru and Shikamaru Nara. And I wasn't on bad terms with Choji Akimichi and Kiba Inuzuka, the previous two's best friends.