7Naruto jolted awake in the dead of night, his body drenched in sweat. With a heavy sigh, he tossed aside his nightcap and wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt.
"Could those memories have been real?" His voice trembled with uncertainty as he muttered to himself in the darkness.
His mind raced with questions, each one more bewildering than the last. "Are these fragments of my past life? And if so, why are they from another world? Who would impart such knowledge onto me?"
Returning to his bed, Naruto couldn't shake the haunting recollections that plagued him, especially those of his parents. His mother's final words echoed in his mind, a painful reminder of the loss he had endured.
Anger bubbled within him as he dwelled on the one responsible for tearing his family apart. "Why did I forgive him?" Naruto's fists clenched with rage. "He took everything from me. I won't forgive him. I swear, when I find him, I'll make him pay."
Naruto stood in front of the academy, a knot of nerves tightening in his stomach on his very first day. Well, he would have been less nervous if he wasn't late. He was late by a large margin for the assembly and the orientation for his first lesson, and now he didn't know which class he was assigned to.
Attempting to mask his inner turmoil, he observed the other children with a heavy heart. Their laughter and playful interactions with their parents stung like a sharp jab of jealousy.
Naruto's eyes betrayed a mix of longing and sorrow as he watched, yearning for the warmth and affection he had never known.
"I wonder if Mom and Dad would be proud of me," he mused quietly, his resolve strengthening.
"Mom wanted to find a dream... My dream is to become the greatest Hokage and surpass all the others, even Dad. Believe it."
With those words echoing in his mind, Naruto stepped forward into the academy, ready to embark on his journey toward greatness.
As Naruto was having his inner monologue, he was suddenly bumped, breaking him from his thoughts as he shouted, "Hey, watch where you're going!"
A woman with long, spiky brown hair stopped and looked at Naruto for a while before ruffling his hair, saying, "Hey there, little shinobi. Sorry for bumping into you. Excited for your first day at the academy?" with an amused smile.
Tsume quickly recovered from the collision, but before she could apologize, she found herself being shouted at. She looked up and recognized the young boy standing before her.
"So this is Kushina's pup," Tsume thought, observing him with a mix of amusement and nostalgia. "He sure has grown up a lot. First day at the academy for him."
She felt a pang of sadness as memories of her dear friend Kushina flooded her mind. "It felt like yesterday when we were talking about how our children will be in the academy and how they'll grow up to be good friends."
Pushing aside her melancholy thoughts, Tsume cleared her throat and addressed the boy with an amused smile while ruffling his hair. "Hey there, little shinobi. Sorry for bumping into you. Excited for your first day at the academy?"
"Who was that? Was she someone I know, probably someone I knew from the future. Maybe she knew my parents," Naruto thought as he saw the retreating figure of Tsume.
"I'm so tired, couldn't get any sleep last night. The worst thing is I missed the assembly and the orientation for my first lesson. Damn it, what do I do," Naruto thought anxiously.
"What would previous life me do? Well, he was always in trouble so he probably wouldn't care. Does it matter? It probably will be another speech to welcome us, like our principal would do to welcome us," Naruto groaned, remembering his past life of the annoying assemblies he used to have. Naruto saw someone who could help him out.
"Oi, Old man, help me out, I'm lost and I don't know which class I'm in," Naruto said, running up to the Hokage and wrapping his arm around him while looking up.
The Hokage was speaking to several people until he was interrupted by Naruto, who wrapped his arms around him, asking where to go.
This made Hiruzen laugh. 'He takes more after Kushina than Minato,' he thought amusedly. He took out his pipe and started smoking before saying.
"Naru-chan, you're late. What happened? You missed everything, including the introduction and your teacher who will be assigned to your class," he said sternly to Naruto, who just rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly.
"I was flirting with this girl, but my girlfriend found out I was flirting with a girl she stabbed me for my lack of faith."
Hiruzen started to cough, choking on his smoke, including the other people who were with him.
Naruto watched with amusement.
"Just joking, if I was going to do that, I would have hidden it better without her knowing,". This made them choke on their cough even more making Naruto giggle at their reaction.
Though Naruto was only joking, he was just trying to mess with the old man.
Hiruzen was going to scold him until he saw Naruto's amused look as he was clearly teasing and trying to get a rise out of him.
'Jeez, he sure knows how to get a rise out of me.'
Hiruzen couldn't help but chuckle despite his initial shock. He ruffled Naruto's hair affectionately, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
"Always the prankster, aren't you, Naruto?" Hiruzen said with a fond smile. "Well, you may have missed the introductions, but let's get you sorted out. You're in Class 3-B, Naruto," Hiruzen announced, patting Naruto on the back.
"Your teacher is Iruka Umino. I'm sure you'll do just fine. Now, off you go. Make the most of your first day!"
Naruto thanked the Hokage and headed off to find his classroom, eager to begin his journey as a shinobi.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen watched Naruto go with a mixture of pride and concern. He knew that Naruto faced many challenges ahead, but he also had faith in his resilience and determination to overcome them. As the village's leader, it was his duty to support and guide Naruto as best as he could, even if it meant putting up with his mischievous antics from time to time. With a sigh and a smile, Hiruzen turned to attend to his duties, knowing that the future of the village rested in the hands of its young shinobi like Naruto.