"Stupid Sasuke..." Naruto mumbled angrily, slamming the door shut. He kicked off his shoes and dropped his schoolbag on a chair, diving into the nearest couch. "Thinks he's better than everyone..." He huffed.

"What's wrong?" Kushina came down the stairs upon hearing the front door slam.

"Nothing." Naruto sulked, lying face down on the couch.

"Is it Sasuke again?" She sighed, moving to sit next to him. "Honey, you can't keep comparing yourself to him, remember he's enrolled in the ninja academy."

"I wanna go there too!" He complained. "Why won't you let me?" Kushina's eyes lowered to the floor.

"I need to keep you safe." She whispered, taking a deep breath. "I couldn't protect your father, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you."

"Ka-san, I know you miss Tou-san, but I want to be as awesome of a ninja as he was!" Naruto pleaded, eyes wide with hope.

"No." Kushina's expression hardened. "It's for your own good." She stated firmly, standing up suddenly and leaving the room. Naruto sighed, he knew his mother wasn't going to give in. He desperately wanted to become a ninja to help other people, but if she wouldn't let him train at the academy, there was no way he could. He's even asked some older ninja to teach him but they had all refused, the whole village knew that Kushina would go on a rampage if she found out that her son was learning such 'dangerous' skills.

"At this rate I'll never beat Sasuke at anything..." He sighed.

Naruto strolled down the streets of the busy marketplace, deciding to head for some ramen, that anyways cheered him up. The small restaurant was empty, and after greeting the owner, he took a seat and waited eagerly for his snack. Someone else entered the shop, Naruto glanced over and assumed the person was a traveler, their black cloak swished behind them, faded with age. He knew it was a woman, as their frame gave it away. He was curious about places outside of Konoha, he's always dreamed of being able to travel across the Land of Fire and maybe even to the other nations, because of this, the eight year old decided to try and start a conversation.

"Excuse me, miss, but are you a traveler?" He asked just to make sure. The woman turned her head slightly, as if surprised that he was speaking to her.

"I suppose you could say so." She responded, voice smooth and light.

"Where do you come from? Are you from somewhere else in the Land of Fire?" He questioned excitedly.

"Indeed, I do live in the Land of Fire." The woman nodded. He noticed her speech was a little... old fashioned.

"Is this your first time in Konoha? Where else have you visited? What's the coolest place you've been?" Streams of questions flowed from the boy's mouth, though she didn't seem fazed.

"No, I've been here a few times before, I've seen many nations and many people. As to which was the most interesting, I cannot say, they are all very different." The answers came just as naturally as the questions had.

"Cool!" Naruto smiled, continuing to ask about other places and customs, the woman answered patiently, going into detail when he requested it. The two talked for a few hours, and by the end, Naruto felt like they were almost friends.

"What made you come to Konoha again?" He asked through a mouthful of noodles.

"Actually, I have been here for a while now, a couple years. I had originally come back in order to help a friend with something, he had insisted it needed my attention."

"Really? Who is it? Maybe I know them."

"He's passed now." Naruto stopped his chewing upon hearing this.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright, that was a long time ago." She waved it off and Naruto gave a relieved smile.

"Anyways, I really want to travel the world like you do! I wanna become a ninja and go around helping people!" He exclaimed.

"An admirable dream, but you must understand that there is great risk in such a profession. It won't be easy." She warned. Naruto perked up at this.

"Wait, are you a ninja?" He asked, eyes wide with excitement. "You are! Can you please train me? I swear I'll work extra hard do my best! Please?" His hand clasped together in front of him, his eyes squeezed shut. The woman was quiet for a while.

"Will you commit to a life of pain?" Naruto's thoughts faltered at the question. "Are you prepared to see your comrades die around you? Are you willing to sacrifice your joy and peace to face the trouble of the world?" She seemed almost angry yet still held an eerie calmness. Naruto was taken aback, his eyes lowered as he considered the questions, doubt evident on his face. The woman closed her eyes and stood up from her stool. "Then you are not ready to be a shinobi." She lifted the cloth that hung at the entrance of the restaurant and ducked out.

"Wait!" She was a distance away when a voice called out from behind her. A few people on the streets turned their heads to see what was going on. She turned around as well, seeing Naruto standing right outside the ramen shop. "I'll do whatever it takes! I'll become the best ninja!" He declared, a fist over his heart. "Believe it!" She closed her eyes and smirked.

"Come. We'll start right now."

The two stood at the center of a secluded training field, it was rarely used as it was very close to edge of the village and surrounded by overgrown trees.

"The first thing you will learn is taijutsu, but even before that, you must learn to gain full control of your movements as well as your breathing. Understood?" She asked. Naruto gave an enthusiastic nod.

"Understood!" He shouted.

"Good. Thirty laps around this field." She commanded, seeing his mouth drop open.

"What?!" He looked around the field, it was no less than a hundred feet across. Despite this, he remembered the commitment he had made earlier and let out a sigh. "Alright!" He said to himself, taking off and beginning to make his way around the field.

Almost an hour had passed and Naruto was about to collapse, he had only completed twenty laps and was barely able to keep moving. The woman sat at the center of the field, legs crossed and eyes closed. Having been listening to the heavy panting for the last hour, she recognized that the boy was not going to last much longer. She hadn't expected him to finish the laps.

"Stop." Naruto barely heard the words as he halted his running, doubling over to try to catch his breath. "Come here." She called to him. He slowly made his way over, stumbling from tired out muscles, and collapsed on the warm grass.

"Almost..." He said from between breaths, managing to crack a smile. "I'll be able to do it next time... no problem!" He declared, giving her a thumbs up. She merely sighed at this and stood up from her spot on the grass.

"Go home and rest. Meet me here by eight tomorrow." She stated. "You may want to think of an excuse to tell your mother." She commented before disappearing. Naruto's eyes widened as he quickly sat up, whipping his head around to see where she had gone.

"Cool!" He exclaimed, smiling to himself. Suddenly, he remembered something, falling back onto the grass. 'I forgot to ask her name...'

An hour later, after he felt like he had the energy to walk home, he opened the door to his home and started up the stairs to his room.

"Naruto!" A voice from behind him made him pause and turn around. "Where have you been?" Kushina asked, a hand on her hip. "And why are your clothes dirty?" He scratched the back of his head.

"Kei and Ineichi wanted me to play ninja with them, we were in one of the big training fields. We fell a few times..." He had taken the advice and thought of an excuse, and since Kei and Ineichi were both not attending the academy, they were the perfect cover. Kushina frowned at the words.

"Didn't I tell you not to be messing around in places where shinobi could be training?" She crossed her arms, causing Naruto to sweatdrop.

"Eh... sorry..." He cracked an embarrassed smile. Kushina sighed, seeming to have already forgiven him.

"Get yourself cleaned up." She said simply, turning to go back into the living room. Naruto quickly raced up the stairs and into the bathroom.

After having taken a quick shower, he plopped down on his bed and instantly felt drowsy, he soon drifted off into a dream where he was being declared Hokage, one that he's definitely had more than once.

"You're on time, very good." The same woman from the day before, still wearing a black traveler's cloak, stood at the center of the field. Naruto had woken up with aching muscles and sore limbs, though he would not let them get in the way of his training.

"Yup! I'm ready to complete the laps!" He smiled enthusiastically. "Oh, by the way, I forgot to ask your name." He noticed there was a pause before her response.

"My name is Nina, don't concern yourself with my surname." She stated. Naruto nodded at the answer.

"Alright, Nina-sensei! What are you teaching me today?" Nina blinked upon hearing the word 'sensei'. Never in all her years had that word ever been directed at her. She quickly shook off the surprise to make sure she didn't raise any suspicion.

"You will not be learning anything until you have stretched your endurance to its limit, you will continue to run laps today. Thirty laps, go." She said. He sighed and began running, thinking of all the pain he would be in afterwards.

Naruto lay in the grass over an hour later, panting harder than he ever had before.

"I... ca...can't..." He struggled to make coherent words.

"Don't dwell on it. Soon you will be able to do it easily. Catch your breath and try again." Nina said. The boy nodded and lay on the soft grass, trying to steady his breathing.

Five minutes later, he was up and running again.

"I'll do it this time!" He repeated to himself, even as he grew out of breath again. Nine more times he had attempted, and failed, to complete the thirty laps. Each time he had fallen from exhaustion, he would get up and tried again. Nina was tempted to stop him, knowing that this sudden stress on his body would only cause more aching later on, but after seeing his determination to complete that task, she realized that he wouldn't be stopped until he had competed it.

'Tough kid.' She thought with an approving nod. 'He has potential.'

A few days passed, Naruto was still unable to run thirty laps around the field but he had yet to give up on it. He would always tell his mother that he was out doing something with one of his friends, and it was working just fine, Kushina didn't seem to suspect a thing.

"Again, you were close." Nina commented, sitting on the grass with a tired out Naruto in front of her.

"Yea... I... I'll get it next time... I know it!" He panted for air. "You'll teach me... new stuff afterwards... right?" He managed to ask. Nina looked at him with slight pity.

'Do you know what it really means to be a shinobi?'

"Indeed." She responded simply. A smile immediately spread across the boy's face.

"Right!" He jumped onto his feet, seeming to have been instantly refreshed. "I can do it!" He took off once more, again attempting to finish the thirty laps.

Ten minutes later, he lay on the ground in defeat.

"Sasuke!" Naruto ran up to the raven haired boy who had just emerged from the academy building. "What's up?" He asked energetically.

"What do you want, loser?" Sasuke frowned. "Still trying to convince your mom to enroll you?" He teased, knowing that was the one thing that bothered Naruto most, but for some reason, the blonde wasn't fazed this time.

"I don't need to enroll in the academy, I'm going to become the best ninja anyways!" He bragged proudly. Sasuke raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Really. And you do you plan to do that?" Naruto only smiled at his question, lowering his voice to a whisper.

"Promise not to tell anyone?" He asked lowly. Sasuke have him a funny look but nodded anyways. "I found a sensei to teach me!" He whispered proudly.

"What? Your mom allowed that?" Sasuke whispered back.

"Nope, she doesn't know. And you promised you wouldn't tell!" Naruto reminded him sharply.

"Yea, yea. Whatever." Sasuke puffed, crossing his arms. "He probably isn't even strong." He stated. Naruto was about to correct him when someone called out from behind them.

"Sasuke!" The two turned around to see a boy, much older than themselves, walking towards them.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke smiled and gave the person a hug when he had reached them.

"Hi Itachi-san." Naruto greeted cheerfully.

"How are you, Naruto?" The older boy, Itachi, asked with a wave. "Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but Ka-san asked me to pick up Sasuke today, she has something to talk to the Third about." He explained.

"It's fine! I need to go too, see you!" Naruto gave a quick bow and ran off, disappearing behind a line of trees.

"Sensei! That's my friend! He's the one I told you about, the one who always thinks he's better than me!" Naruto ran to the place Nina stood.

"Uchiha, yes? Quite the bunch, that clan." She mused.

"Yup! All of them are known for being super powerful with fire jutsus, plus they run the police force." Naruto nodded. "I told you, I want to be able to beat him in a fight one day!"

"I understand, but why did you ask me to hide here and watch your conversation?" Nina asked. Naruto scratched his neck.

"Well... I kinda wanted to know how powerful he really is. You can do that, right? See how strong someone is by looking at them?" He asked, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"Do not worry about what your allies can do or how powerful they are, focus on your own abilities first, then you will be in a place where you may compare." She stated with a poetic tone.

"Fine." The boy sighed. "Let's get back to training! I know I can finish it this time!" He began running towards the training field, ready to see the day where he could beat Sasuke.

Nina looked at the energetic boy, she let out a slow breath and started following behind him.

'May the day never come in which your ambition runs out.'

"Don't give up." Nina said to the boy who was once again lying on the grass, panting for air. "You were close." She encouraged.

"Yea... I... I can do it!" Naruto puffed out, standing up slowly and beginning his fourth attempt of the day.

Yet another failure.

The sun was high above the village now, its light beaming brightly on the people below. Nina stood up from the grass, which was slightly duller than it used to be, and took a deep breath.

"Go take a break." She commanded. Their routine was to train for four hours, take an hour long lunch break, return immediately at 2:00 and train for another three hours.

"Yes ma'am!" Naruto pushed himself off the ground, turning and walking away with tired muscles. He pushed away the low hanging branches and quickly emerged from the mess of untended shrubbery. He glanced back at the training field, even though his vision was obscured with leaves, he could tell that Nina was no longer there. He turned and continued towards the village marketplace, wondering where she would always disappear to during these breaks. Shaking the suspicion from his mind, he focused on finding a particular restaurant; running always left him hungry.

"How are you, Naruto?" The owner of Ichiraku's Ramen greeted the familiar customer.

"Good! And you?" Naruto asked, taking a seat on one of the padded stools.

"Not bad, been busy preparing for the festival lately." The man responded, starting to prepare the boy's ramen.

"Oh! I almost forgot about that, when's the festival again?" Naruto asked, he was never good a remembering dates and times.

"In two days. The blood moon is sure to be beautiful this year." He smiled cheerfully.

"The decorations are really cool too." Already, the village was adorned with black and red ribbons, crescent shaped bouquets, and many other moon themed embellishments. Teuchi placed a steaming bowl of ramen in front of the hungry boy who immediately dug in.

"Pretty exciting, isn't it? I've seen it so many times yet it never fails of amaze me." The man laughed.

"It's always so pretty." A young woman stepped out from the back, carrying a large pot. Naruto recognized her as the owner's daughter. "But I think it's just as odd, too." She set the silver pot down on one of the counters.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked through a mouthful of noodles.

"Don't you ever wonder how it's possible? I mean why does it look red?" She thought aloud, though the boy didn't seem to hear her words.

"I guess it's a little weird." He agreed halfheartedly.

"Anyways, are you going to the festival?" The owner asked. "I remember Kushina telling me you were sick last time it happened."

"Yup! I couldn't go last time but I'll go this year!" Naruto gave a tooth grin and a thumbs up.

Once the Naruto had gone back to running laps, he was clearly more energized after the break, though he was still unsuccessful in reaching his goal. He lay on the grass, under the shade of a tree, trying to steady his breathing. Nina sat in her usual place at the center of the field.

"Our training is concluded for today, you may go home and rest." She said, standing up and turning to leave as well.

"Wait!" Naruto called, standing up as well. "I was wondering if you're going to the festival." He did not get a response for a long moment. She turned around with a puzzled expression.

"Festival?" She repeated slowly.

"Yea, it's called the Day of the Blood Moon. It's in two days and the whole village's gonna be there!" Naruto waved his hands in exaggerated motions.

"Well, I will not be able to attend, unfortunately. There's something important I have to do on that day.."

"That's too bad, I'll be sure to tell you all about it!" Naruto grinned.

"I suppose you will. Now go home and rest." She told him. He nodded and they both left the training field, heading in opposite directions.