A Little Kindness

Graduation

   The next few years after Naruto had befriended Sasuke went by rather quickly. With the two young boys quickly becoming friendly rivals. They would often compete against each other in various contests. Whether it be sparring, kunai throwing, or even just a race around the village. This competitive drive they each had is what fueled them day after day to train and get better, so that they would be victorious in the next contest they had.

   The unlikely friendship, as most people would call it, seemed to benefit both young shinobi. As not only did it give the both of them a great motivation to improve. But it also gave them a sort of coping mechanism to deal with the turmoil going on in both of their lives.

   For Naruto it slightly improved his standing in the village. He wasn't treated as badly, or insulted as frequently, and this was due in great part to him being friends with Sasuke. As the average civilians, and most of the shinobi didn't want to do anything to get on the "Last Uchiha's" bad side. So when they saw the two of them together in public, which was quite often, they would hold their tongues, and save their insults and harsh words for the rare times they saw Naruto on his own. It also helped him out in class. As Sasuke would help Naruto as much as he could, even if it was just calling a teacher out for trying to give Naruto harder classwork than the rest of them. Which was made even worse when the Uchiha's little army of followers would also get on the teacher. Maybe they were good for something afterall, Kurama would often comment to Naruto, getting a chuckle from the blonde shinobi in training. The scolding that came from half the class, was enough to make the instructors quit their meddling for the time being, only to continue it again the following week. Maybe Kurama was right, they really aren't that smart. Sasuke would say to himself after the 7th attempt of the month.

   Yes Naruto told Sasuke about Kurama, which Sasuke merely replied with "makes sense." To which Naruto would fall out of his seat in exasperation. Before Sasuke would explain to him that he always thought that Naruto had a lot of chakra, despite him being an Uzumaki he still had more than he should. And the fact that Naruto would often seem like he was zoned out, and chuckling to himself. For a while Sasuke thought he was just crazy. Which made Naruto facepalm, before grumbling to himself to not make it so obvious in the future.

   Of course Naruto wasn't the only who benefited from this friendship. As it helped Sasuke as much as it did Naruto. Sasuke finally had someone he could talk to. Someone who finally understood what he was going through, to a degree. And someone who could help deal with and get rid of the loneliness that often times seemed to overwhelm him. Soon Sasuke began to feel something he thought that he would never feel again. Sasuke began to trust again, he began to feel again. He didn't close himself off, and hide behind an emotionless mask as much anymore. He was now more open with people, and even flashed an occasional smile, when he felt the need. But above all else, Sasuke finally felt as if he had a brother once again, well as close as he could get to a brother anyway.

   Finally the week of the exams were here, and almost everyone was nervous and on edge because of them. Not just the students, but the instructors as well. As most of them were having an internal conflict. As the majority of them wanted to fail Naruto, but at the same time they didn't want to face the wrath of an angry Uchiha and a classroom full of angry banshees, just ready to attack at said Uchiha's signal. But to a lot of their disappointment, and in some cases relief, it was announced that Iruka Umino would be the proctor for the final exam. As it was believed that he would be the most unbiased.
   So the day of the final exam came and went, and the young shinobi in training were all tested on various parts of the ninja regime. They were tested on their ability to adequately use and throw shuriken and kunai, how well they were with taijutsu, and the three basic academy ninjutsu. As well as any other techniques that they had learned over the years. But perhaps the most challenging part of the exam was the written portion, where they were tested to see if they had the mindset and intellect to be a ninja.

   After many hours of rigorous and stressful testing, it was decided who had passed and who had failed. The only ones we care about, being the 9 rookies, all had passed the exam with flying Kunai's. With Sasuke getting the Title of Rookie of the Year, followed closely in second place by Naruto. When everything was settled, and everyone had been given their headbands, Iruka had told everyone to meet back in the same classroom in a weeks time. Since the Hokage would have to spend time making the teams, and dealing with other matters.