Naruto ran through the forest, a silly grin on his face. He did just what Mizuki asked him to do; there was no doubt in his mind that he would be a ninja now. He slowed down slightly as he reached the designated meeting place, a kilometer or so away from the eastern wall.
"I might as well learn some cool justu while I wait for Mizuki-sensei!" said Naruto aloud. The neon-orange ninja-wannabe opened the scroll and found a justu called 'Shadow Clone Justu'.
"Aw, I suck at making clones!" whined Naruto. But to his dismay, everything else seemed to be coded. So, he memorized the seals for the clone jutsu and began gathering his chakra. Three hours later Iruka Umino, chuunin of The Village Hidden in the Leaves, found a tired and scruffy looking Naruto, leaning against a tree looking slightly winded, but altogether pleased.
"NARUTO!" yelled Iruka, "why did you go and steal the forbidden scroll!?"
"Iruka-sensei, what are you doing here, did Mizuki-sensei send you hear as well?"
"Naruto, what are you talking about?" huffed out Iruka. Naruto rubbed the back of his head while wearing a sheepish smile.
"Ne, Sensei, Mizuki-sensei said that I could pass the genin test if I stole this scroll. But you got here to early; I only learned a few things."
'What!?' Iruka thought, 'then that must mean Mizuki is a traitor!' Just when he was about to warn Naruto, his ears picked up the sound of kunai whistling through the air. 'Oh no, Naruto!' Iruka pushed Naruto out of the way just in time to take three kunai to the side.
"Hurry, Naruto, you have to run and tell the Hokage!" yelled Iruka.
"Mizuki-sensei, why are you doing this!?" cried a confused Naruto.
"Why!?" smirked Mizuki, "because you're a monster and deserved to be blamed for this!"
"No, Mizuki, you can't break the law!" 'I must get to Naruto before Mizuki tells him!' He started to crawl towards Naruto only to be stopped by some shurkien that embedded themselves in front of him.
"Do you want to know why everyone hates you," sneered Mizuki. Naruto was crying, this had been a trying night and Mizuki was only bringing up bad memories.
"The night you were born, the Sandaime passed a law that everyone knew about but you!" laughed Mizuki, "that you are the Kyuubi no Yoko!" Naruto could feel his whole world cracking, he started to hyperventilate. 'It's not true, it's not true.' He kept muttering over and over again, he crouched down with his head between his knees. Everything thing fit into place, the beatings, the cold stares, he deserved all of what had happened to him in his life.
He didn't hear what Mizuki said before he pulled a demon shuriken from his back, but Iruka did. "Now it's time to exterminate this pest from Konoha forever, and I will be a hero" said Mizuki. Iruka eyes widened at this, found the inner strength that only comes from being a true shinobi and with a burst of speed intercepted the path of the large shuriken before it reached Naruto. Naruto looked up with tears in his eyes at the crying face his sensei, Iruka.
"Why sensei!?" wailed Naruto, "I'm a monster who deserves this."
"Never say that Naruto!" said Iruka, "you are still Naruto, you don't deserve an ounce of the pain you've received, you are a hero. You keep the Kyuubi at bay, protecting all of us. And Naruto…"
"What Iruka-sensei?" wimpered Naruto.
"I acknowledge you." Naruto started to cry heavily into Iruka's vest, finally hearing the words he so desperately wanted to his entire life.
"This is making my stomach queasy," muttered Mizuki, "DEMON, time to die, but first I'm gunna kill this demon lover and make you watch!" He wrapped an explosive note around a kunai and tossed towards the two he hated the most at the moment. "Take that and be gone from this world!"
As the kunai slowed in Iruka's mind, he wrapped his tired body around Naruto hoping to protect him from the blast. He wished he could make it up to the poor boy that was treated so poorly for something that was beyond his control. What happened next, no one could have predicted.
As the explosion went off, the last thoughts in Iruka's mind was 'You never deserved this, Naruto'. Mizuki heard cheering in his brain and he imagined being given a reward for getting rid of Konoha's plight and a demon lover. Naruto's thought was 'What is this feeling, this power?'
As the smoke cleared, Mizuki, who was expecting a hole filled with body parts was disappointed. He found instead a shield of solid wood, covering the equally surprised forms of Iruka and Naruto. "What the hell!?" roared Mizuki as he jumped off the tree branch in anger. He rushed towards the two to finish them both. As he got to them vines burst forth from the ground, wrapping around his arms and legs.
"Stay away from Iruka, you bastard!" yelled Naruto. He ran towards Mizuki and slashed at his throat, watching the life drain from the traitor's eyes. It was then that Iruka woke up and saw a blood drenched Naruto shaking, standing two feet away from a mangled corpse he discerned that used to be Mizuki.
"Naruto, are you okay?" soothed Iruka. Naruto flinched at the sudden noise, and looked at Iruka with tear filled eyes.
"I'm sorry sensei…" whispered out Naruto, he then turned and took off, ignoring the strangled pleas of Iruka.
"Naruto…" Uttered Iruka, right before he lost consciousness due to blood loss.
~In The Hokage's Office~
"And that's all the happened Hokage-sama" answered a bandaged up Iruka. He stared at the leader of the ninja village as the wizened old man calmly took a puff of his tobacco.
"Iruka, it might be best for the boy, if we both agreed to act like he was killed during this horrible encounter." Iruka look scandalized, "b-but Hokage-sama!" he started. The Hokage interrupted him with a raised hand.
"Iruka, you must understand that Naruto has been treated like he was the lowest life form on earth his entire life" said Sarutobi, "it would be better if I trained him with a trusted Anbu, giving him and the village some time to adjust and have him to come back later." The ancient ninja sighed in sorrow.
"There was so much I had hoped for him, if only had I been there for him," muttered the ancient warrior." Blast the damn council, if I wasn't so old to need them. I just hope Naruto will come in two years to take the graduation test with peers of his own age.
~A few Kilometers from Konoha~
Naruto was tired, he didn't think he could be so exhausted. He sat down on a rock to rest for a bit. He watched with hooded eyes as his hands shook slightly, sticky with slightly encrusted blood. He was a monster, but he saved Iruka-sensei. 'Could he be the Kyuubi? No! Iruka was right, he was a hero, he should go back and see Iruka, but what was the use, when people found out he killed a chuunin the beatings would get worse.'
Before he could get up, he heard someone jump in front of him and he tensed up. "Naruto Uzumaki, I am Tenzou" said the mystery man as he removed a bear Anbu mask. He was a tallish man with brown hair and dark brown eyes, he wore a forehead protector in the form of a face guard.
"If you're going to kill me, then please do it soon." Mumbled Naruto. He was tired of everything and it was all too much for a 10 year old. Tenzou could see that his will to go on was barely there. "Naruto-kun, you seem to be mistaken, I am not here to kill you. Hokage-sama sent me to take you on an unofficial training trip to help you graduate with your age group in two years time."
Naruto stared at the man in a mix of awe, disbelief and hope. "Really…" he whispered. "Really, Naruto-kun" assured Tenzou. With a relieved smile, Naruto fainted due to a day of nonstop running and having nothing to eat. Tenzou just picked him up and ninja ran to a nearby inn. He had to go over some things with the dulled ball of sunshine in the morning. With that Tenzou stripped off his vest, his arm and shin guards and fell into a light sleep on his futon.