A/N: The next few chapters will be from the POVs of different people. This one is Naruto's. I can't write in the manner that Naruto speaks/thinks. Don't flame me if this chapter doesn't sound like Naruto at all...I rather like living.
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When I heard him say that his name was Ryu Uzumaki, I felt excited.
Maybe he was a long lost brother. Or some distant cousin. I had never seen or heard of other Uzumaki, so I didn't know what to expect.
He looked nothing like me and I mean that there wasn't the slightest resemblance.
He had red hair, I was a beautiful golden-blonde worthy of a Hokage. He did not have whiskers to make him look as cool as I did. His eyes were...grey? Purple? I couldn't see clearly. But they were most certainly not the awesome blue colour that I had.
He was rather tall. Taller than me. And a bit cool-looking.
Maybe he was a cousin after all.
I felt my hopes and my poor little heart break apart when he said he hated me. But maybe he will like me when I show him my awesome ninja skills and we'll prank together.
But then he commited THE GREATEST SIN A PERSON CAN COMMIT!
He said...He said he hated Ramen.
I declared him an enemy at that instant.
He was new to the Village and the Academy, which means he is not as skilled as the rest of us. I would beat him up and then force-feed him Ramen and MAKE him love it.
How DARE he claim to hate THE FOOD OF THE GODS?!?!
And then he beat me up.
I hadn't expected him to do that.
I wouldn't be Hokage ever if I can't defeat him.
"I am Naruto Uzumaki and I'm gonna be Hoka-"
In hindsight, I should have seen that punch coming.
"Don't claim to be an Uzumaki. You are not an Uzumaki."
That stung.
"No Uzumaki can ever be an idiot." Another punch to the gut, literally and figuratively.
"An Uzumaki does not have an ugly face." Low blow dude! And I.m not ugly! I am handsomer than you!
"An Uzumaki knows how to fight." Hey! I can fight!
"You are the farthest thing from an Uzumaki! Don't ever call yourself by that name."
Thank gods for Iruka-sensei. If he hadn't stopped the spar, Ryu would have beaten me to a pulp.
I found solace in the fact that Sasuke-teme also got beaten up by Ryu, perhaps even harder than I did. Ha! Take that ya' smug bastard!
Everyday, it was the same thing. He would give Sasuke, me and every other person unlucky enough to be paired with him a beating to remember.
I don't ever remember having bruises for more than a few hours. Sasuke had a black eye for a week.
And then he got his own group of fangirls.
Atleast he didn't always seem smug like Sasuke.
He was just so.....calm. Unless you were sparring against him.
I felt sad that this new guy, possibly related to me, didn't like me either.
"Iruka-sensei, is he related to me" I asked. Maybe he just had the same name.
At this point, even ramen couldn't make me happy.
Okay, I lied. Ichiraku Ramen can make anyone happy. Why can't Ryu see that?
"Distantly. Yes." Sensei seemed hesitant in his smile towards me.
"Then why does he hate me?"
"He doesn't hate you, Naruto."
"He does! He beats me up and tells me not to call myself an Uzumaki."
Iruka-sensei sighed.
"He does not hate you. Maybe it's because he doesn't know you that well?"
Even he seemed to know that it was a lie.
I just went back to eating my Ramen in silence.
I walked home with a sour mood.
A tiny, harmless prank should cheer me up.