What if Naruto's eyes were opened at a younger age by someone he believed was a friend? What if that "friend" gave him a forbidden technique that he was hoping the boy would kill himself with? And what if that technique exponential enhanced the boy's learning curve? .
Mizuki thought he was being rather brilliant. Henge into the Kyuubi's favorite teacher and tell him off. Shouting wouldn't work of course, but a quiet, disappointed tone should work. It seemed that to really seal the deal he'd need to become Iruka, and talk down to the boy to give him a challenge. And if the poor child died while trying to train with a forbidden technique no one would worry about it. Hell, it was the Kyuubi, no one would care anyway. Mizuki proceeded to henge into Iruka and hunt down "The Demon Brat."
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Naruto was resting on the swing, idly swaying with the breeze. He watched as the other students walked off with their parents at the end of a day. His ass had been soundly pounded into the ground by the bastard genius Sasuke that day and he was kinda grumpy. He saw Iruka-sensei walking towards him and expected him to offer him to ramen at Ichiraku like he always did when Naruto had been pounded soundly into the earth. Instead, Iruka knelt down next to him.
"Naruto, I'm sorry, but if you don't improve, you'll never advance. We can't keep allowing you to stay here after you fail out. Soon, you'll have to be a civilian, and you won't be able to perform any ninja techniques. I'll help you with this," Iruka had spoken in a soft, somber tone and was now handing Naruto the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and all the details to it. "Naruto, study this whole scroll, and use the special abilities to help you study. Remember, all for one, and one for all." With that, Iruka walked away, grinning darkly.
Naruto wondered off, dejected, but reading his scroll slowly but surely. He was trying to take in every aspect of the technique and get it right on the first try. He read every fact about the Kage Bunshin and realized just how Iruka had figured the Kage Bunshin would help him learn. Naruto rarely picked things up on the first try, so if he could try something hundreds of times at the same time it would save him a lot of effort. His current group of class mates was something to be astounded by. Especially the hand-to-hand students, Hyuuga Neji, Urameshi TenTen, and Rock Lee. Naruto realized that if he was to catch up to them, he'd need to start working immediately, since graduation was just three months away.
Naruto slunk off to the top of the Fourth Hokage's head, where he sat, reading the scroll over and over, having a strange desire to study this technique. Something in the back of his mind was telling him to get this technique right the first time. He began forming the hand seals slowly at first until he memorized them and then got his speed up, faster and faster until he could do them in seconds. Naruto began molding the chakra, massive amounts, until it was visible, becoming a beacon on the head of the Fourth, and he proceeded to release all the focused chakra into his clones, creating thousands of himself all over the monument.
"All right guys! Let's get control down!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically, before dropping to the ground, sleeping soundly. The clones, however, proceeded to train. Exactly five thousand clones practiced chakra control for exactly the next fifteen hours, until 9 o'clock in the morning the next day. At which point they dismissed themselves and integrated all of their knowledge into Naruto's sleeping mind. No headache is caused and the mental synapses can be more easily rewritten while sleeping, so the knowledge and memories are more easily integrated and put to use. Naruto woke up with his training fully integrated into his mind and fully rested, in his own bed, with his dog-cap on. He searched his memories, and found that one of his clones had carried him home late that night and put him to bed. Now, in doing all of this training, or in his case passing out, he had no clean clothing, except one outfit that Sarutobi-jiji had gotten him. Long black baggy pants, tight black close-toed shoes and a black tight t-shirt (think runner's outfit from Mirror's Edge), with a black three kunai holster built into the right leg and an equipment pouch/belt that was made for the pants. Sarutobi-jiji had made sure it was made from special silk weaved with chakra conducting thread so the material could self repair, become tougher than steel, and could clean itself all on its own(Picture Venom-like properties except not trying to take over Naruto's mind, he has Kyuubi for that). And thanks to his ridiculous training start last night Naruto now had the ability to focus his chakra through it. He got up, stomped to the shower, got clean, and got dressed, gathering the three kunai he owned, the five shuriken he had, and the pack of colored ninja smoke clouds he had, and then used his newly found chakra control to fling himself out of his previously closed window and onto the rooftops to the ninja academy.
Naruto aimed himself for Iruka's classroom window but thanks to an oddly placed gust of wind with a very specific purpose he hurtled through the wall and slid across the desk in the top row to land in his seat.
Huh….that wall shoulda hurt more…Naruto thought. His chakra control was now impulsive, and he had shielded himself with it as he smashed through the solid object, angering Mizuki who had knocked him off course. Iruka merely appeared shocked, wondering how this student had just done that. The drastic change in appearance shocked him even more, and he wondered why Naruto looked so different. So he did one of the most basic intelligence gathering techniques taught to all ninja from day one. He asked.
"Naruto, I'd ask what you did to my wall but frankly, I don't want to know, but what I do want to know is why you're not wearing your orange jumpsuit I got for you? You made me buy you that thing and the matching sets." Iruka asked, with a hint of wonder in his voice. For Naruto to have changed so drastically only something as equally as drastic could've happened. Iruka schooled himself and prepared for the worst.
"Eeeeh, laundry day, Iruka sensei. I wore myself out training yesterday and didn't have time to do laundry." Naruto appeared sheepish and mildy defensive, and as if reacting the shirtsleeves grew until they became long to his wrists, not impeding, but loose like a jounin's long-sleeve standard shirt. Apparently when the blonde's body became defensive his clothes extended to match. Naruto knew of multiple jounin that wore clothes like his, but they must've always been on guard. Apparently reflexive chakra training and reading some of the things in his apartment had taught him how to use this shirt more appropriately.
Naruto silently took a seat, as Iruka's shocked expression appeared to be the end of that conversation. As Iruka returned to his desk Naruto had an innocent question to ask.
"Iruka sensei, can I fill the empty seats in class with Kage Bunshin so I can learn more quickly?"
The blond shocked everyone in the class. He shouldn't know that jutsu, let alone be able to fill the whole back row. Six clones, most jounin couldn't even create six clones. But Iruka relented with a nod. And Naruto proceeded to fill the entire back row. And not just the chairs, no, but about every empty space he could fit a clone. And not even full size clones. They looked like little leprechaun Naruto chibis filling in every possible space on each desk and chair. Iruka just sat there, using all his ninja training to only gape at them a little. Then turned towards his right to face the board. He then noticed the multiple Narutos sticking to the wall outside the academy fixing the whole in the wall, like a miniature work crew. Iruka just began the days lessons, ignoring the construction work coming from his walls and the occasional catcalls from the workers to the girls in his class. He did, however, answer all of the Naruto's questions. And there were a lot of them. They didn't seem to have the same fear as the real Naruto did about asking questions and just chattered away happily, learning every little nuance about the lesson. And so went the remainder of the year, Naruto becoming steadily more brilliant and powerful, unable to make up for his grades, but able to compete physically and with jutsu with his class, even learning kenjutsu so he could give TenTen a run for her money in a straight sword battle. Well, his swords weren't straight, but they were swords.
And so ends my new story's first chapter. My previous story died because my desire for it did too. Here's to a new chance at AWESOME.