New Friends, New Rivals

It's been a few months since Naruto's talk with the Hokage. And since then he and Ori have been practicing some of the upcoming shinobi lessons before the academy. Also, Ori began to get used to the village. It would hide in Naruto's shirt from time to time, actually most of the time. And Ori began to become a little braver by actually not cowering away from the sight of villagers.

With the confidence, Ori gained and Naruto's natural enthusiasm, they would train by practicing punches and kicks on the outskirts of the village. And over the next few months, they would become family. They would eat together, clean together, play together and sleep together.

*groan*

Naruto mumbled as he was asleep in his bed. He would have slept more if the weight on his chest stopped moving up and down. Opening his eyes Naruto could see that Ori was jumping on him repeatedly.

"Fine, I'm up Ori," Naruto said as he sat upon his bed.

After stretching his arms, Naruto got up from his bed and put on his clothes, and headed to the kitchen. Sitting down, Naruto looked at Ori making ramen for him and itself.

"Morning Ori" Naruto greeted.

Ori looked back and jumped on Naruto hugging him and then returning to the boiling ramen. A few moments later Ori took out the ramen and set it down in the center of the table. Ori then sat down in Naruto's lap and gave itself a few bites. Naruto doing the same thing began to wonder about what to do for the day.

'Maybe I can prank some people, or train on my punches and kicks' Naruto thought.

When Naruto noticed that there was no more ramen his face shifted from boredom to annoyance. Throwing away the ramen cup, Naruto headed to the door until something tugged at his shorts. Looking down he could see Ori looking up at him also holding a backpack the Hokage recently bought him. Naruto looked at Ori in confusion before realizing that today was the first day of the academy.

"AAHH I forgot," Naruto said.

Picking up the backpack and quickly grabbing Ori before it can react and ran out of the apartment. Finding balance, Ori crawled into Naruto's shirt and peeked its head out.

"Sorry about that Ori," Naruto said before continuing running.

After a few minutes of twist and turns, Naruto finally reached the front entrance of the academy. Taking a few deep breaths to take back all the air that left him when he ran.

When Naruto gained his energy he walked inside the academy. Inside the academy, Naruto looked around inside the building, taking in the wooden floors and walls.

"Would you look at that Ori? This is my first step to becoming Hokage" Naruto said nearly jumping from excitement.

Ori could only mumble a silent cheer not wanting to gain attention but it sufficed Naruto none of the less. When Naruto saw everything he needed he went to his classroom. Looking around Naruto began to get lost when finding his way to his class. So he spent a few good minutes trying to find it until he bumped into someone.

"Oh hey sorry about that," Naruto said while rubbing his head.

"No i-it's okay," a female voice said.

Looking up, Naruto was surprised to see that it was that Hyuga girl he encountered when she was being bullied.

"Oh hey it's you uh, Hinata was it" Naruto greeted.

"Y-y-yes my n-name is Hinata. And y-your name i-is Naruto" Hinata said.

Naruto could only smile as she remembered his name. Looking around he could still not find his classroom. Sighing he sat down near the walls taking a break from searching his class.

"Hey, a-are you alright," Hinata asked.

"Yeah, I just can't find my class" Naruto mumbled.

"Well, I g-g-guess I c-can show y-you were it is" Hinata suggested.

"Thank you Hinata" Naruto thanked.

"It's alright we'll probably be in the same class," Hinata said as she giggled.

With that, they both walked together to find Naruto's class. When walking Naruto let Hinata lead the way since she probably knows where to go in the academy. Around five minutes later, Hinata soon stopped in front of a door.

Stopping behind her Naruto asked, "Is this it".

She nodded as she opened the door and urged Naruto to join her. Naruto took a step forward before stopping, suddenly feeling nervous. Seeing this Hinata grabbed his hand and nodded saying that it's okay. Naruto feeling confident again entered the room and was surprised to see that there were only a few people in the room.

"Wow there's not a lot of people here huh," Naruto said.

Hear that there were a few people in the room Ori popped its head out to look around. At the head of the room was a desk and behind it was a green chalkboard. And in the back of the classroom were rows of desks with chairs behind them. And Naruto was right at least six kids were sitting in separate chairs.

Naruto walked forward and began to look for a spot to sit in. Since there were not a lot of kids sitting down, Naruto chose the middle desk and urged Hinata to sit next to him. Smiling, Hinata sat down next to Naruto with him also smiling.

"Hey Hinata, I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when class starts" Naruto stated as he put his head down.

After a few minutes have passed, the class would be full and the kids would sit down and wait for the teacher to arrive. When the teacher did arrive Hinata gently nudged Naruto out of his sleep. Naruto nodded 'thanks' to Hinata as he and Ori, who peeked its head out during his sleep, to pay attention to any words that would come out of the teacher's mouth.

"Alright, hello, and welcome to your first year of the academy. In the academy, we'll teach you the basics of Jutsu and Taijutsu along with basic general studies like math and language arts. My name is Iruka but you will call me Iruka-sensei. The man next to me is your other teacher, Mizuki. You will also call him Mizuki-sensei. With that out of the way, we're going to talk about the history of the Hidden Leaf Village." Iruka stated as he turned around to the chalkboard.

"Psst, hey Hinata, this guy seems nice" Naruto stated.

"I don't k-know N-Naruto he seems scary" Hinata replied.

"Nah, he isn't. Ain't that right Ori" Naruto whispered.

Ori poked its head out and nodded before ducking a little to pay attention to the class. 'Man I can't wait for the academy' Naruto thought before paying attention.

3 months later

Naruto was not impressed, not even close. He would think he would learn cool Jutsu every day. But no, he would listen to boring lessons on math and history. Even other kids would get bored. Liked the spiked pony-haired kid, named Shikamaru, who would sleep as Naruto would. And there was the chubby kid named Choji Akamichi who would eat chips when bored.

'Man this is so boring' Naruto thought, nearly falling asleep on his desk.

Looking inside, Naruto could find Ori sleeping peacefully, making him grumble in jealousy. 'Lucky, you get to sleep but I can't' Naruto thought before going back to the lesson at hand. Fighting to stay awake, Naruto tried to write notes to distract him from going to sleep. But Naruto couldn't hold on and fell asleep mid-sentence on his notes.

In his dream, he would have the occasional flashes of nightmares' of him as a kid. Crying helplessly while he watches two dark figures, one male and another female, get in front of him before getting impaled by a huge nail. Naruto would continue crying as the blood would flow from the nail until it would drip on Naruto's head. After that, his dreams would change to more happy ones. Like jumping into a pool of ramen with Ori.

He would continue to enjoy the dream until a flash of stinging pain appeared on the back of his head. Looking up with a jolt, a line of drool hanging on the side of his lips. Looking around he could see another kid he also knew. It was Kiba Inuzuka and on top of his head, was a puppy he called Akamaru.

He was smirking and said "Come on, everyone is heading outside" before running out.

Getting up he could still feel a stinging pain on the back of his head. Reaching his hand to the back of his head, touching the stinging area, and flinched. Naruto then understood what had happened.

"Kiba, I'm gonna get you" Naruto shouted as he ran out to chase after Kiba.

While chasing Kiba, Ori poked its head to see what's going on which was unusual to Naruto. Every time Kiba was around with Akamaru, Ori would hide as if he doesn't want to be spotted. As Kiba would state that there's something on Naruto or that Naruto smells different. But Naruto would play it off, trying to not gain attention for him and Ori.

"Hey, Ori did you sleep well," Naruto said while running.

Ori nodded its head and hugged Naruto and then looked forward until they entered the training grounds. Looking ahead, Naruto spotted Kiba.

Running to him, Naruto stated, "I'm going to get you back".

"Be quiet, the teacher is talking" Kiba replied.

"Oh ok," Naruto said.

"Okay now for this activity, we are going to do a 1v1 to test your skill," Iruka said with a clipboard in hand.

'Wait we are doing something exciting for once' Naruto thought.

Looking down he could see Ori also looking excited, throughout their time before the academy, they have been training with each other. So it was obvious that they want the show off to the class.

"Ok, so the first round will be Naruto vs. Sasuke" Iruka stated.

"Alright, it's our time to shine. Ain't that right Ori" Naruto stated.

Ori nodded as Naruto walked to the middle of the arena waiting for this Sasuke to join in. After a few seconds, a kid wearing a black shirt with shorts came to view. Looking at the kid, Naruto noticed his weird hairstyle, which looked like a duck behind. While Naruto was looking at the kid, the kid was doing the same as well.

'Hn, this will be easy' Sasuke thought.

"Alright, round 1. Naruto vs. Sasuke. Ready. Go" Iruka stated.

After the call, Naruto and Sasuke both charged at each other. Naruto readying a punch while Sasuke jumped for a kick. As both attacks connected, Naruto and Sasuke were both in a power struggle trying to see who's stronger. Quickly backing away, Sasuke raised his leg and swung it down towards Naruto's head.

Seeing it Naruto quickly jumped back, and then rushed to Sasuke and quickly punching him in the mouth and then the cheek. In return, Sasuke gave a right hook to Naruto's head and then his chest, nearly hitting Ori in the head. Backing away from the pain, Naruto couldn't concentrate on Sasuke. Taking the chance, Sasuke began to hit him in multiple places. From the head to his chest, launching Naruto to the ground.

"Give up loser, you can't beat an Uchiha" Sasuke stated with a smirk.

Looking in his shirt Naruto could see Ori nod its head and Naruto understood that it's time. Getting up Naruto replied "It's not over, you haven't faced my friend yet"

"Hn, well where is the challenge then," Sasuke said, smirking.

Naruto began to walk towards Sasuke with his head down. Sasuke not knowing what's going on got back into his stance, prepared for anything to happen. Quickly opening his shirt, Ori jumped out and landed an uppercut to Sasuke's chin. Seeing Sasuke look up from the punch Ori began to crawl around Sasuke, hitting him, kicking him, or biting him.

'Ah, what is this thing' Sasuke thought while trying to pry Ori off.

Naruto, seeing the opportunity, rushed as Sasuke raising a fist. Sasuke seeing this began to ignore Ori and began to charge at Naruto. Sasuke was about the punch first but missed from the pain of Ori's attacks. Naruto then punched Sasuke in the mouth, launching him in the air. In the air, Ori quickly jumped off of Sasuke and landed on Naruto's shoulders.

"Yes! We did it Ori" Naruto yelled as he launched Ori up in the air and catch it.

"Hm, the winner is Naruto" Iruka yelled over Naruto's cheering.

Walking off the arena, Naruto hugged Ori while it did the same thing in return. Looking around the shocked looks from the other academy students Naruto spotted Hinata standing alongside Kiba.

Running towards them Naruto greeted "Hey guys, did you enjoy the show"

"It was alright but I have to ask what is that thing" Kiba responded while trying to get a closer look at Ori.

"Well, its name is Ori and that's it," Naruto said while covering Ori from Kiba.

"Hey, t-there O-Ori" Hinata greeted, kneeling, hand forward.

Noticing the hand Ori, began to move a little closer to the Hyuga while avoiding the Inuzuka. Ori was about to make contact with Hinata's hand until he felt a push near its pelvis. Looking down Ori was met by a lick as a puppy from the Inuzuka was now in front of him. Backing up, with a grimace expression, Ori began to head in Naruto's direction. Then, seeing the puppy lowering on its front legs, began to run with the puppy chasing after it.

Naruto, not noticing Ori running around him in a circle with a puppy behind it, began to walk towards Hinata with Kiba walking beside him. Standing face to face with Hinata he began to smile until flinching from the bruise of Sasuke's punch earlier.

"Oh my, Naruto you're hurt," Hinata said, with worry in her voice.

"It's okay I can live" Naruto bragged while flexing his arms.

With an irked expression, Hinata came in closer to Naruto and gently and slowly poked Naruto's cheek where a bruise began to form. Naruto, after one or two seconds later, jumped up and nearly yelled in pain but managed to hold it in. That was until Hinata began to poke it again which Naruto quickly backed away right next to Kiba.

"*sigh* You're hurt N-Naruto, just let me put this o-ointment on you then you'll be g-g-good at the e-end of the w-week," Hinata said as she pulled out a bottle of green ointment of her pocket.

Dumping some into her hand, she gently began to apply the ointment on Naruto's cheek. Seeing that Naruto's posture began to relax, she smiled and put the ointment away.

"Thank you for that Hinata," Naruto said.

She nodded in return as she began to focus on the fight happening in the arena. Naruto also tried to pay attention to the fight but then his sight was blocked as Ori, climbed upon him and began to hug him for dear life as it was shaking.

"What's wrong Ori," Naruto asked as he pried Ori off of him but wouldn't get an answer as Ori still hugged him around his neck. All of a sudden he began to hear barking and looking down he could see a puppy barking and jump up on his legs. He bends down and pet the puppy's head and giggle as the puppy's tail wagged faster.

A pair of hands grabbed around the puppy's stomach and brought it up. Looking at the person holding the puppy was none other than Kiba.

"Hey Kiba, is that your dog?" Naruto asked while petting Ori to somewhat comfort it.

"Yeah and is that your pet?" Kiba asked in response.

"No, he's a friend I found" Naruto stated.

"Okay then but not that it will matter anyway but Akamaru says that he likes Ori. He likes to hang around with other male creatures" Kiba said before walking away.

'Huh, so Ori is a boy like me' Naruto thought while letting Ori sitting around his neck like how he's seen some adults carry their kids around their necks. 'Huh, I wonder what my dad would've been like' Naruto thought before paying attention to another fight happening between Kiba and a boy with a long coat covering his lower face and wearing sunglasses.

Time skip

After being dismissed from class, Naruto began to walk around the village, looking for anything interesting to buy. Sometimes when walking he would unexpectedly (expectedly) get hit with a stone from a child or an adult causing Ori to look at him with a worried look with near tears around the eyes. Naruto could only pet Ori as he would continue until a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Hold it loser!"

Looking behind, Naruto could see Sasuke running towards him with a bandage on his head. Just stopping short Sasuke said "Don't think you won just yet, next time I will show you the true power of the Uchiha that you stupid pet will have to send you back home in a bowl"

With those words said Sasuke then turned back and ran away into the sun. Looking at Ori, Naruto could shrug as he entered his apartment. After locking his door Naruto quickly changed and then jumped on his bed.

Lifting the blankets to let Ori inside, Naruto began to think about what the next years of his life will be like during his time in the academy. 'Hopefully, it won't be boring' Naruto thought before hugging Ori near his chest, especially since it's cold out. When Ori was comfortable they both began to sleep together, not noticing a shinobi outside looking at Naruto in the night.

A/N: Sorry for the wait. I was planning on releasing this a week earlier but a snow storm hit Texas so no power for the majority of the week. But none of the less I hope you enjoyed the chapter.