The Cloud Over The Leaf

The Kurokumo household was lively as usual in the morning.

"Wake up already!"

""Waaaaah!!!""

The twins were getting chased by Kaya once more for oversleeping as usual.

Riku looked from the stove at the sight and shook her head.

"Haaa. They're 7 now. You would think they would grow out of it by now."

Di looked up from his newspaper and sighed.

"Those two? Probably not."

Di and Riku then looked over the table at their eldest grandson. 

Hii was now 8 years old and would finally go to the academy today.

Hii, however, wasn't very excited about it.

"Do I have to go to be a ninja? Couldn't I just take a advancement test or something?"

Riku placed breakfast in front of him and looked at him. 

He knew that look. It was the "Don't even think about it!" look. 

"We know you're pretty advanced compared to the other children, but that doesn't mean you can isolate yourself."

Kaya soon came to the table with the twins as well. 

"That's right! You should go learn to make friends in the academy instead of the other stuff. You're already nearly past Chuunin level at this point. You two, sit down and eat."

""Yes."""

The twins synchronized their replies and both sat down to eat.

Henda came in to the room, out of energy as usual.

Kaya kissed him and sat next to him, bringing a response from the twins.

""Ewwww!""

"Shut it! You definitely have to go! You should go study with the friends you play with on your off days, Hii. It will be fun that way at least"

Hii thought about the people he spent the most time with on his off days.

"There isn't many of them. Just Shikamaru, Choji, Maka, Sasuke, and....."

Hii thought about the last one he had been "hanging" out with.

'Hey! I managed to ditch my Mom again! Show me how you did those cool Jutsus last time!'

Hii recalled how he met Naruto again after the first encounter at the same training ground.

'Naaaarutoooo!!'

'Gyaaaaah!!!'

Then he remembered how it ended the same as the first time. That happened quite a few times actually.

"Maybe I haven't hung out with Naruto that much to be considered a friend."

"Haaa. Naruto definetely considers you a friend. He really doesn't like to train on seals with Kushina, does he?"

Hii nodded his head as he remembered the two fighting.

"I actually think he can be good at it though. It's his attitude towards it that's horrible."

"Reminds me of someone."

The two of them glance at Moya, who's happily eating her breakfast.

She looked up at the two, tilting her head.

"What?"

The two shook their heads and looked at each other.

"Anyway, get ready to go soon."

".....Yes."

The family of 7 continued to eat their breakfast, readying themselves for a new day.

******

Hii checked himself in the mirror.

His pale silver hair hung close to his tanned brown shoulders. His dark blue eyes looked over his outfit. His white kimono like robe held his new family symbol of black clouds on its back. His pants were black and his sandals were black as well. 

He still felt underdressed.

'I can't bring my sword to class, huh?'

Hii looked over at his wooden sword hung on his wall. All the nicks and scratches he saw on the wood only helped him realize how far he had come since he first got it.

But it wasn't far enough.

'I have to study more. There has to be a way to make my Jutsus stronger.'

Hii left the mirror and began to fill his backpack.

Scrolls, brushes, and his medical books he saved up to buy.

He'd use them and anything else he could to get stronger.

"Hopefully, I can learn something good there."

Hii grabbed his back pack and headed out of his room.

Everyone stood by the entrance, watching Hii make his way.

"Have a good day."

"Have a good day at school, Hii-nii!"

The twins wave energetically as Hii passes them with a smile.

"It'll be your turn next year."

"Yeah! We can't wait!"

"Umu."

Hii flinched as he saw his dad.

Henda's lip quivered as he looked at Hii with his backpack. Tears started to well up in his eyes.

"My baby boy is getting older!"

"Aw jeez! Don't cry now! At least wait until he has a headband."

Kaya shook her head and patted Henda's back. 

Hii could only feel embarrassed at all the attention. 

"Have fun."

Even Di gave a few words with a smile!

Hii face became a bit red as he headed out of the door.

"Hahaha! Hey, wait! Let me take you there!"

Kaya laughed as she chased after her son. 

Hii slowed down and waved at his family before they couldn't see him anymore.

Nearby neighbors chuckled as they watched the family send their oldest off for his first day.

******

"Are you nervous?"

"No. I just don't know if I'll learn anything new."

"Hahaha! You'll learn some new things. They might not all be about ninjas though."

Kaya walked Hii to the academy taking the normal roads. 

She had her casual clothes on today. She wore a grey shirt and black pants with a black cloud on the back.

Mother and son walked side by side as they slowly neared the academy.

Hii looked to his Mom and asked a question.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think it's important for me to go to school? Honestly?"

"Hmmmm..."

Kaya placed her hand on her chin and thought about it.

She turned to Hii with a smile. 

"I think you need it. For a refresher on ninja arts and for socializing."

Kaya rubbed Hii's head as they neared the Academy gates.

"The person who knows you the most besides your family is a giant, black wolf. Mommy won't allow you to be a weirdo without friends."

Hii nodded his head and decided to give school a chance.

Not like he had any other choice anyway.

"Kaya!"

The two both looked up to see Kushina waving at them with Naruto and a brown haired girl standing next to her.

"Hey, Kushina! You dropping your kids off too?"

"Yep! Hope our kids can get along well!"

"I'm sure they'll be fine together. How have you been recently?"

Kaya and Kushina started to chat as more and more parents came the gate with their children.

Hii looked over to see Naruto and the other girl standing next to each other.

"Watch, Nee-san! I'll be the strongest ninja ever! Believe it!"

"You'll have to prove it."

The girl responded in a cold demeanor, but Naruto seemed to not mind it at all.

"Hehehe! I'll definitely do it! Hey, Hii-nii!"

'Oh boy.'

Hii waved at Naruto as he came over to him.

"Hey, Naruto. You look excited for school."

"Yeah! I can't wait! My sister and I will be the best there is!"

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah! Her name-"

"My name is Shizuka Uzumaki. Nice to meet you."

Hii looked at the girl who appeared next to them. 

She wore dark green shirt and pants that seemed to give off a nature like style. Her long brown hair covered her left eye while her uncovered brown eye seemed to observe Hii in detail while extending her hand.

Hii also observed her as he reached to shake her hand.

"Hii Kurokumo. Nice to meet you too."

Hii shook her hand as they both observed each other. 

'She came close to us without me realizing. She's pretty good.'

'His hands are pretty rough. He must train quite intensely. Perhaps with a weapon?'

The two had similar thoughts as they assessed each other's strength.

"Hey! Why are you staring at each other?"

''Is he really going to be the strongest?''

The two both turned to face Naruto at the same time.

"W-why do you guys have the same expression? What happened?"

""Haaaa.""

They both sighed and turned to each other. 

"Looking forward to getting along with you."

"Likewise."

The two shook hands again with much more familiarity over a blinding connection.

Silly younger siblings.

"Haaa. Those two would bond over something like that."

"Well, it's a sign that they'll enjoy school at least."

The moms stand back and watch the kids interact with each other.

"Ara~! I managed to meet you guys here this time."

"Ah! Mikoto!"

Mikoto Uchiha came to the gate as well with Sasuke and Maka in tow.

"Hey, Hii! I've gotten even stronger since the last time we fought. We should spare again soon."

"Sure. The next time I'm free, I'll come find you."

Sasuke approached Hii with a grin as he looked over everyone present.

Maka shook her head as she followed behind him.

"Hey, Maka. How have you been?"

"Pretty good. I've been getting more training from Fugaku-san nowadays."

"Shisui's too busy?"

Both Sasuke and Maka nodded their heads. Sasuke responded with a pout.

"They've been going on a lot of missions lately!"

"Yeah? Mom's been going on a lot of missions too...."

Hii realized the three have been chatting without Naruto and Shizuka.

He thought he might as well introduce them so it wouldn't be awkward.

"Sasuke and Maka, These two are Naruto and Shizuka Uzumaki. Naruto and Shizuka, these two are Sasuke and Maka Uchiha."

Hii introduced the two and moved out of the way for them to greet each other.

"Hmph! I hope you don't hold us back."

"What was that?!"

'Oh boy.'

Hii could only watch helplessly as the two kids seemed to be at odds with each other on sight.

"Pleasure to meet you~."

"Nice to meet you as well."

The two girls shook hands with refreshing, nice smiles.

Hii, however, felt a cold sweat coming down his back.

'W-what?! Killing intent?!'

Hii looked around and only saw the other kids chatting, the parents, and Naruto and Sasuke staring each other down.

'No. It's different from killing intent. What is it?'

Hii slowly looked around and finally noticed the problem. Maka and Shizuka were still holding their handshake with sinister like smiles. The pressure emanating around them was suffocating.

'......'

Hii decided he was just going to ignore the four of them as Hii just looked towards the academy and took in the sights.

He could hear the laughter of what he assumed to be his Mom and the other Aunties, but he decided to ignore it. 

"Haaa. What a drag."

"Well, fancy seeing you here, Shikamaru."

Hii turned to see Shikamaru heading over to him with his hands in his pockets. He could see the desire to sleep in his eyes.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you. We should play shogi sometime."

"Sure. You'll have to teach me how though."

"Heh. I'm sure you'll pick it up pretty quick. By the way...."

Shikamaru looked over to see Sasuke and Naruto still staring each other down while Maka and Shizuka still had their eerie atmosphere going on.

"What's going on with them?"

"Don't ask. It's troublesome."

Shikamaru just nodded his head and faced the same way as Hii as they both waited for the academy to open.

"Hey guys!"

The two turned to see Choji coming towards them.

He had a confused face as he came closer.

"Why are you both facing the Academy?"

""Don't ask.""

***********

Soon, the students were all sent into the Academy with a wave of parents wishing their kids good luck.

Everyone sat down in their classrooms. Hii found a seat near the front, along with two other students.

He was actively ignoring the raging battle between the Uzumakis and the Uchihas going on in the back.

"Okay, Everyone! Settle down!"

A man came through the door of the classroom with a clipboard in his hand.

"Welcome to the Ninja Academy! Here, you'll be learning about the many different ways of being a Ninja. My name is Iruka Umino. You will call me Iruka Sensei. Understood?!"

"""Yes, Iruka Sensei!"""

"Good! Now we'll go through roll call. You introduce your name and your dream. We'll start at the right hand side and work our way up.

The student at the end of the row stands up and introduces himself. This goes on until it wad finally Hii's turn to stand.

"My name is Hii Kurokumo and my dream is to make my clan one of the greatest in the Leaf."

"Excellent! You can sit down now. Next!"

Hii sits down and watches the others introduce themselves.

'I can't tell people about wanting to help Akumu. Most people wouldn't want to help a Biju in anyway, much less save a world.'

He held his mouth shut on his true dream as he saw the many different kids introduce themselves. Only a few really stood out to him, though he knew of most of them.

Shikamaru and Choji's turn passed, leading to Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuuga, and Shino Aburame.

Hii decided to pay special attention to Shino since he didn't even notice him in the classroom!

Naruto obviously said he'd be the Hokage as his dream, while Sasuke said he wanted to be a strong ninja like his brother.

Of the last few dreams, the one that really caught him off guard was Shizuka and Maka's dreams.

"My name is Maka Uchiha and my dream is to be a strong ninja without the help of my bloodline."

Silence rested on the class tried to understand what she meant by without her bloodline. Some students got her message as they looked at her in shock.

But that wasn't the worst one!

"My name is Shizuka Uzumaki and my dream is to kill the traitor, Orochimaru."

Shizuka's dream dropped the temperature of the class down by a couple degrees!

Hii could feel the radiance of the killing intent on his skin as she calmly stated her wish.

'Maybe the Academy will be interesting after all.'

*Slam*

Iruka slammed his book on the desk, shocking quite a few students out of their stupor.

"Okay! Thank you for sharing your dreams, everyone! Try not to share your killing intent next time, Shizuka."

"Understood, Sensei."

Shizuka bowed sincerely to Iruka Sensei as he clapped his hands.

"Well then, let's enjoy the next 4 years together as we hone our Ninja skills. How about we start class now?"

Hii couldn't help, but think what a crazy class this was.