If Only I Could Leave

Chapter 2 - First Troubles

As always, I only own the idea and my specific characters.

This chapter is a bit of a doozy, so strap in and get prepared for one heck of a ride.

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It was so cold...

So dark...

How did this happen again? He couldn't remember...

He could hear muffled voices, talking. Two sounded like his sisters. Another sounded like his teacher. There was a bundle of muffled chatter that he couldn't make sense of who was who.

What had happened? He didn't remember...

He didn't want to remember.

But then he did.

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"Heiwa-neechan, are we there yet?" Naruko whined for the millionth time.

"Almost," Heiwa said with a smile, holding onto Naruko and Mito's hands as they walked. Naruto was on Naruko's other side.

"Heiwa-neechan, what's the academy like?" Naruto asked.

"Hmm, let me think," Heiwa said. "For me, it was fairly easy. I was good at the ninja stuff and average at the school work. You might be disliked for being children of the Hokage, but it's impossible to tell at this point."

"Who are the other kids in our class?" Mito asked.

"You three sure are full of a lot of questions," Heiwa said. "I don't know all of them, but Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Nara Shikamaru, Hyuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba are the ones I can remember. There are more though."

"Sasuke is one of your other cousins, right?" Naruko said.

"Yeah, along with his older brother, Itachi," Heiwa said. "Your teacher is Umino Iruka. Please be kind to him. I know you three are troublemakers and like to play pranks, but this is his first year as a teacher. He's one of my upperclassmen by about four or five years."

"Okay," the triplets said.

"And here we are," Heiwa said, stopping in front of the academy building. She let go of the younger two's hands and ushered all three along. "You should get to your class before the inauguration."

"Right!" Naruto said, excited. "C'mon!"

He took hold of both his sisters' hands, then started running towards the entrance.

"And Naruto, Naruko, Mito?"

"Yeah?" Naruto said, pausing for a moment. All three looked back at Heiwa, who had a smile on her face.

"Have fun."

"Okay!"

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After the inauguration, the students returned to their classrooms. They milled around a bit, but Naruto's attention was caught by a kid sitting by himself. Some of the girls were hovering around him as if scared to talk to him but still wanting to. Naruto noticed he had the Uchiha crest on the back of his shirt.

So that must have been Uchiha Sasuke, one of Heiwa's other cousins. Naruto might as well try to make friends with him.

Naruto wandered over to him, then sat down. Sasuke glanced over but didn't really pay him much mind. Looks like it was up to Naruto then.

"So, you're Sasuke, right?" Naruto said. "Heiwa-neechan talks about you a lot."

There was a moment of silence before-