Voicefell
Hey everyone this is UntoldKA and this is my first attempt at a fanfiction story. So please bear with me through this new experience and I hope you guys enjoy this story straight from my imagination.
Summary: Naruto is breaking and his voice is retreating in silenced, who will be willing to reach down into the dark and pull what is left of his soul out of the abyss and bring him back to the truly happy ninja they all know and love. Or do they not know him at all. Smart, powerful Naruto after Wave arc.
"Speech"
'Thought'
"Kyubi/Gamabunta Speech"
'Kyubi/Gamabunta Thought'
Disclaimer: All rights, characters, and locations used in this Fanfiction belong to Masashi Kishimoto and I make no claim in the ownership to anything in the story except the plot itself.
The night was young and cold. The clouds were nowhere to be seen as the moon ruled over the night sky. Here our story begins as a young boy runs fearfully alone in the forest, this child's name is Naruto Uzumaki and he, just reaching six years of age, is running for his life. As he does every year on his birthday.
"DAMNED DEMON! WHERE IS HE?" The yelling of the angry villager cut through the silence of the night and the sounds of hurried careless steps make the forest echo with life and activity.
Naruto stops behind a bolder and listens to hear where the approaching sounds of crunched leaves are coming from. 'Don't find me.' was Naruto's only thought as he hugged his malnourished frame closer to the jagged rocks ignoring the pain.
"Don't tell me we lost the brat again." Naruto could feel the villagers spite from where he stood. they were close, too close. The cold night was beginning to take its toll on the boy as his apparel was tattered and left him to the mercy of the elements. The wind was slight, but it nipped at his exposed flesh, he has been out so long that he can no longer feel his ears, finger tips and exposed toes.
'This is not good I have to get away before they try to kill me.' Naruto thought desperately as hard as he could. 'That's it!' Naruto had a novel idea he didn't think would actually work, he picked up the nearest rock and threw it as hard and as far as he could get it to go. A simple plan, but in his current situation probably the best.
"What was that?" a villager asked. 'take the bait please' Naruto thought in desperation.
"Let's check it out." another said. Naruto took a large sigh of relief and started to sprint back towards the direction of the village as his plans to hide in forest had obviously failed.
'I have to make it too the gates then I know I will be able to escape.' Naruto thought as he was sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him.
"Have you found Naruto yet?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked to an anbu operative kneeling in front of the aged Hokage's desk as he stares out into the seemingly endless and festive night. Looking upon the streets filled with vendors and kids and families, air filled with a passive joyful remembrance of the dreaded night which shook the village to its core.
Without lifting his head, the stoic anbu responded. "No Hokage-sama. It appears that he has snuck out of the village before the festivities had started, and before my return from my last mission to continue my watch over him."
Turning around Sarutobi faces the anbu as he stands up, his white dog mask and silver hair highlighted by the gold and red lights encompassing the street below. "I'm sorry Dog, I know you were against going on a mission so close to his birthday, but you must understand that it had to be done." Sarutobi replied to the obviously upset ninja.
"Please Hokage-sama we are in private you do not need to use my code name…" removing his mask Kakashi's now visible face softens as he tries to understand the Hokage's position. "… But why me? There are plenty of anbu who could have moved an HVT like him into hiding, for kami's sake Jiraiya was a part of the mission wasn't sending me over kill?" Hiruzen just turned around and looked out the window towards the village once again.
"We will have to let time tell us if it was or not…." With a wave of the hand Kakashi knew that the conversation was over and he was dismissed. "…Now go and do whatever you must to find Naruto and make sure he survives another year."
And with a swirl of leaves Kakashi was gone into the night as if he was never there.
Naruto was more than a few miles from the gate as he had to backtrack to escape the patrolling members of the mob around the wall. Not even a few moments after reaching a new densely wooded training ground he heard the most terrifying phrase he could possibly face at this moment.
"We found the Demon brat! Let's kill him before he gets away!" a non-descript villager within the peripheral of Naruto's vision shouts and points towards him.
Naruto ran and ran trying to dodge the poorly thrown makeshift weapons and get to the gates as he threw caution to the wind and just tried to escape instead of hide, but luck was not on his side tonight as another group of villagers who were hidden from his sight in the tree line just before the village gates came into view underneath the tree's towering canopy.
"We got you now brat" The bulky shopkeeper that caught Naruto said as the other twenty or so civilians gathered around Naruto.
"Please... just let me go I never hurt anyone, I just want to go home." Naruto tried to reason only to receive outcries from the villagers about the deeds he supposedly committed.
"You killed my wife!" One man said. Naruto closed his eyes.
"MY BABIES!" A women shouted. He tried to drown out their words.
"HEY! Don't forget my brother and parents!" Another person exclaimed. The separate words became one cohesive painful sound.
After they started to argue among themselves how to punish, if not kill, him this time. "Lynch him" one civilian started as Naruto tried to muscle his way out of his captor's arms. "No! It's too quick how about we all get a shot at him with a bat?!" A nearby women exclaimed before she swung at his leg, it hit making a sickening crack effectively breaking it. After a round of sinister smiles another responded. "We have done that hundreds of times by now and he is still breathing what else could we do?" All seemed to pause in thought.
"I know! We burn his bloody ass at the stake and we each get a turn to stab him with a pitchfork before he dies by fire!" A round of affirmation spread through the hostile mob. "What an appropriate way for the demon to die, by the same hellish fires from hence he came!" One man cried out in response as A cheer resonated throughout the mobbing villagers as they had finally decided on their course of action.
In a last attempt Naruto pleaded to the villagers. "NO! STOP HURTING ME! I HAVE NEVER DONE ANYTHING TO HURT ANY OF YOU!" Naruto's last attempt to reason was in vain as he was hit in the back in the head and knocked unconscious.
Kakashi has his anbu squad sweeping the village looking the child that could have possibly been a younger brother to him, but as always fate dictates differently. It has been only fifteen minutes since he left the Hokage's office and he has done a thorough sweep of the ninja training grounds Kakashi knew Naruto frequented when he was avoiding mobbing villagers. So far he has been without luck and he only has one thought. 'Where are you Naruto? I hope you are safe.'
After another five minutes of searching he came across training ground 23, one of the most densely wooded training grounds that has a special seal over it that suppresses fire so Konoha-nin can use fire style jutsu without burning down the forest. In the center he saw a sight that made his heart rise to his throat and will be forever ingrained in his memory.
There, in the center of the training ground, hanging by his neck, was Naruto, eyes glossed over, and his body incased in red chakra. He had a pitch fork and scythe hanging from his abdomen after being thrusted into him with the intent to kill. They were slowly corroding from the toxic chakra. As it attempted to heal the boy. At Naruto's feet was a fire that was still licking at his hanging heels, as if they were trying to slow roast the boy.
Kakashi snapped out of his shocked stupor when the corrosive chakra cut through the wooden handle of the pitch fork and it fell to the ground with a thud sticking upright in the still burning fire bringing Kakashi back to reality. Acting on instinct he sent out a pulse of chakra calling all of his anbu back to him from their search. He only needed to wait a few seconds for all of them to appear before him.
Without turning around he could feel their horror and disgust at the scene before their eyes, some of them may not like the boy, some even hate him, but none of the anbu present would ever wish this upon a child regardless of their burden. "Find out who did this, they can't be far, the fire is too fresh, and for kami's sake keep them away from me or else I will kill them before the Hokage gets a chance to try them for their crimes." Kakashi said with an edge to his eerily calm voice his men had never heard before and refused to challenge. They uniformly disappeared in a gust of wind to do as they were instructed.
Now it was a well-known fact to the anbu forces that Captain Dog had an uncanny attachment to the Jinchūriki of the nine-tails, but no one had any idea why. There was a rumor going around that he was Dog's son, birthed from a woman he met on a covert mission and the Hokage ordered him to give up the child to stay a Captain. Another less popular rumor is that he knew who the child's parents really were and was keeping an eye out on the boy because of his guilty conscious or because the child's parents asked him too if by chance they were still alive. To them it didn't matter what the truth was all that mattered was that the safety of the child was important enough to take up much of his free time so therefore by association the kids safety was important to them. They just prayed that Dog never got his hands on the civilians who did this to Naruto otherwise hell may become a paradise to them after Dog finally kills them.
As soon as the gust of wind calmed Kakashi quickly kicked the roaring firepit beneath Naruto's feet away and pulled out what was left of the corroded scythe and pitch fork. He then cut the rope still hanging Naruto and caught him and took off to the hospital with Naruto's lifeless body in his arms. Little did Kakashi know was that Naruto was still alive and the Kyubi's chakra that was corrosive enough to break down steel was not harming him as he carried Naruto to the hospital to be treated.
Naruto awoke in a strange, but all too familiar place, the hospital. Not opening his eyes, he got his bearings through sounds he has become very accustomed too in his short life, he then noticed a familiar feeling of light pressure across his body as his entire upper body was bandaged heavily along with the lower parts of his legs and arms. He took a deep breath and thoughtlessly tested his motor functions, determining what parts of his body had already healed and which ones would still take some time. It was a routine too well practiced for a boy his age.
"It's nice to see your actually awake." Stated a compassionate and weathered voice out of the corner of the room finally making his presence known to Naruto.
"How long was I out for this time Sarutobi-ojiisan?" Naruto asked void of emotion still not opening his eyes as he knew the sudden inflow of light would only add to his discomfort.
"nine at least, twelve at the most." He responded while he gazed over Naruto with remorseful eyes. Naruto attempted to sit up but was gently resisted by the Hokage's hand who had moved to Naruto's side without a sound, which disturbed Naruto a bit.
Naruto relented on his pursuit to sit up and he sighed "What time is it now?"
"It is currently ten o'clock"
"Eleven hours then, not nine... they caught me before midnight. Last thing I remember is the moon right above me…" Sarutobi winced at the thought of the suffering the child had to go through. "…I've always hated the moon Sarutobi-Ojisan, did you know that?"
The report was still fresh in his mind, how the villagers attempted to make it as painful as possible, the scorch marks on his legs, lacerations on just about every limb and the blood, so much blood, Sarutobi did not think a child Naruto's size could hold that much in his body, yet alone to still have enough to stay alive and not get cooked to death. Sarutobi turned a ghostly shade of white at the thought. On top of that Kakashi reported that the Kyubi's chakra had physically manifested to heal the boy. 'I must keep a close eye on the seal… I'm not sure this is a good thing yet.'
"Hey Gramps?" Sarutobi was brought out of his stupor by Naruto's weak voice.
"I am still allowed to start the academy in three days, right?" Naruto held his attention with the pleading look in his eyes, the longing, the hurt.
Nothing has changed you will still be able to attend the academy" said trying to keep his emotions in check.
"Thank you" Was all he said before he closed his eyes again for the Kyubi to finish healing his still prevalent wounds.
Naruto would walk out of the hospital in time to go get ramen at his favorite restaurant sporting a new permanent scar running from halfway up is neck above his right collar bone down the center of his chest ending right above his belly button. A scar he would carefully hide from everyone by purchasing an obnoxious orange coat with a high thick collar that covers his neck in its entirety.
Seven Years Later
It was the last day of the academy and Naruto had just failed the test again, he was walking out of the classroom devastated, he wasn't as dumb as everyone thought he was because he knew the teacher were sabotaging his education so he would sneak into the school archives at night to learn what he was missing… except math, Naruto hated math, but he would always get distracted and couldn't focus so he was still seriously behind. Despite his best efforts Naruto could not learn any self-study skills and he felt like it was a waste of time and further damaged his self-esteem. He knew he could pass the physical and taijutsu portions of the tests with ease and he could scrape by the written portion of the test, but he could not pass the jutsu test because he could not make a single clone, Iruka-sensei would not except him creating a room full of clones because the test requirement is the creation of a single clone.
Still lost in thought Naruto bumped into someone as he was leaving the academy grounds. *oomph* 'crap who did I hit, I don't feel like running from someone today.' Naruto thought until he looked up and saw it was Mizuki-sensei. "Ah! Sensei, I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking." Naruto started to rub the back of his neck nervously. 'Damn! Of everyone I could run into'
With a smile Mizuki looked down at Naruto "It's alright Naruto, I understand you're distracted because you failed again."
'Ya right you two-faced shit'
"It's good I ran into you, Iruka wanted me to pass this onto you for him as he was a little busy" Mizuki reached into the pouch on the back of his belt and pulled out a small scroll with a red ribbon tied around it. Reaching out warily Naruto grabbed the scroll out of his hand while staring him in the eyes. "What is this Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto inquired.
"Open it and find out Naruto…" Mizuki was doing his best to keep the grin from emerging on his face. "… It's your chance at becoming a genin once and for all." Naruto could see the struggle to control his facial features. It has always been something Naruto has been good at, detecting when he is being lied to despite his social inability he has learned to read peoples expressions better than most due to his constant ostracization.
Deciding it was best to play along for now Naruto decided to put on his favorite mask. "REALLY!" Naruto practically shouted in joy and gave Mizuki his best puppy eyes. "Thank you so much Mizuki-sensei should I open it right now? What do I have to do?" Naruto began to Mizuki's dismay.
"Not now Naruto." He began, "Wait till you're back at your apartment and then open it. It's a mission that needs to be completed with the upmost secrecy." Mizuki could no longer hold back his shady smile.
Acknowledging that he understands Naruto quickly turns away from Mizuki unnerved by his smile and runs back to his apartment. Both having the same last thought, 'I can't believe this idiot.'
The second the Naruto touched the scroll he knew something was off, not exactly sure what it was he decided to make use of the one reliable resource he did have, stopping his run outside his door he turns around and speaks to the empty ally which his house resides. "Oh mister Anbu I require your assistance!" no response. "Come on now don't be like this I thought we were friends!" Naruto exclaimed again with a mischievous grin on his face, there was still no response. "I know who you really are and where you live, and I will prank you." Naruto deciding, he didn't want to play the long game any more and it payed off as a voice from all around him began to speak. "You're bluffing kid, I'm an elite Anbu and you can't even pass the academy how could you ever know where I live. I would detect you following me a mile away."
With an eerie grin the Anbu felt a cold wash over him as Naruto reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket. "Then how do I have your grocery list from the top of your fridge." Naruto felt a brief rise in killing intent before he heard a sigh from above his head as the Anbu landed behind him without a sound and snatched the paper from his hands before he could react. "I better not be getting pranked for a while after this." said the towering Anbu wearing a bear mask. Receiving a deceptive grin in response.
"Before I help I have a question for you." Bear began. "How did you figure out where I lived and who I am." He was on edge, he was running through every possibility on how a kid he spends a lot of time shadowing could figure out who he was. Was there a spy, is he hiding his skills, did he break into headquarters? Bear was hoping for the last one so he could throw the brat into jail for a few nights, so he wouldn't have to shadow him the rest of the week till Dog came back. However, he also knew that he would be on Dog's shit list for a while if he did so maybe not. Naruto finally interrupted his thoughts with a reply.
"It's your hair. I have no clue why all of you Anbu have such unique haircuts but all I have to do is match them up, it's not hard anyone can do it. I honestly have no clue how you have kept your identity secret from the rest of the population like that." Naruto exclaimed completely unimpressed. 'Humph, that's how, the brat is immune to the mask's genjutsu. That's impressive considering even the Hokage isn't immune to it.' Bear let a smile break from behind his mask at that thought. What Naruto didn't know was that the Anbu masks had a genjutsu applied by the second Hokage that makes anyone who wears it look like they have a generic look, essentially it changes their appearance entirely. Hence why their numbers are limited, and they have been able to keep themselves so secretive.
"Anyways kid what is it you need from me, you never ask us Anbu for help." Bear decided to switch gears as his curiosity also switched.
"This." Naruto stated as he pulled the scroll Mizuki gave him from the inside of his jacket. "I know you don't follow me from school, so you missed it but Mizuki gave me this scroll and said it was from Iruka-sensei, and that it would be how I graduate from the academy."
Bear took the scroll from Naruto's hand and opened it. "Did you read it?" Naruto shook his head side to side to affirm that he had not read the document. "Here read it, we are going to the Hokage." Naruto raised an eyebrow in question after taking the scroll back from bear. "I'm going to have you do exactly as the scroll says." Bear grins before grabbing Naruto by his shoulder and disappearing in a swirl of leaves.
'Damnit Naruto where are you' Iruka thought as he was searching for the genin in a panic it was one in the morning and the emergency signal went out to all Chunin and higher ranked ninja. It was the theft of an important asset signal. Iruka didn't have much urgency at first because he was unsure of how helpful he would be to stop someone able to steal an important asset to the village until he overheard from passing Jōnin that it was quote "That damned Demon brat who stole the Forbidden Scroll."
Iruka was making his rounds to all of Naruto's usual hiding spots inside the village, but inside he knew Naruto wasn't in the village. Naruto was too good, deep down Iruka knew Naruto could have gotten that scroll without anyone knowing and escaped if he wanted to because that was the one thing he excelled at more than anyone, hiding his tracks and presence, his childhood made sure of that. So why all the noise and attention it just didn't make sense for Naruto if this was supposed to be a prank. There is more going on than what he is aware of and he was determined to find out before Naruto was in danger.
His gut was gnawing at him to go to the one place only he knows Naruto visits. The reason is because Naruto let him follow him there once. It was after the third month of classes when Iruka took Naruto out to ramen. At the time Naruto refused to tell him why he came to class covered in bandages. He could never tell if it was from other kids or the villagers all he knew was that Naruto was distracted and refused to talk about it. Iruka felt like he was making progress with Naruto at that time because he began to open up and talk about his past but never his feelings, but it was truly a wake-up call once he followed Naruto at training ground 23. There he stood underneath the few rays of the setting sun through the extremely dense trees. He stood crying hand up touching the lone hanging rope, scrawled into the tree from which it hung 'remember the victory! The Demon almost died!" the kunai used to scrawl the message was still imbedded in the thick tree trunk. Iruka was mortified by the sight then it hit him. This was the first time he ever saw Naruto cry, never had he seen Naruto show real emotion all he could do was hug the grieving scared child from behind. Naruto wordlessly turned around and cried into his shoulder. It was at this point Iruka knew that this child was truly not the Kyubi the village claims he is and that he is still a child who needs guidance and support.
Iruka knew where he needed to go and started a mad dash to training ground 23 to get to Naruto before anyone who wants to cause him harm does.
Iruka made it to training ground 23 faster than he could have ever thought and at the exact spot, under the remainder of the noose sat Naruto reading the Forbidden Scroll. Iruka's first thought was relief that he found Naruto before anyone else had. Deciding to make his presence known to the young teen Iruka calls out to him. "Naruto I'm glad I found you! What are you doing with the Forbidden Scroll?"
Naruto jumps at his trusted teacher voice. 'Shit he wasn't supposed to get involved.' Naruto thought before responding running through several scenarios to try and get Iruka to leave. "Iruka-sensei look I got the scroll just like you told me to!" Naruto began. "I just need to finish learning a jutsu from it then I can graduate as a genin right?" Naruto decided to question Iruka.
Iruka was baffled. "What are you talking about Naruto I never told you such a thing."
"Of course you did Iruka-sensei, you gave Mizuki the scroll with the instructions for him to give me." Naruto pulled out the instruction scroll that Mizuki handed him at the academy. "See it even has you signature." Naruto got up and handed the scroll to Iruka to inspect.
Iruka opened the scroll and his eyes narrowed in thought something was still not adding up but he didn't have too much time for thought as the sound of displaced air as a fumma shuriken came flying towards the pair looking to decapitate the pair. Iruka jumped on top of Naruto forcing the pair to the ground. The shuriken made a loud thud into the tree behind them before beginning to spin in revers and return the exact same trajectory it originated from.
"Well isn't that sweet Iruka, you saved the demon spawn, but the game is over you don't have to fake being kind to the thing anymore we can kill it together." Mizuki announced as he slowly walked towards the student-teacher pair.
Iruka grabbed Naruto by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him behind his back as Iruka squared up against the approaching Mizuki kunai in hand. "Naruto is not a demon and I will not help you kill him." Iruka replied glaring at him as he stopped about fifteen feet away.
Mizuki just laughed before pulling the second fumma shuriken from his back and begun to spin the pair in his hands like fan blades. "This is just great!" Mizuki replies after breaking from laughter. "Not only do I get a chance to kill you Iruka, but I get to kill the demon brat in the same spot I almost succeeded seven years ago." Both Naruto's and Iruka's eyes widened at this proclamation. "Yes, Naruto I was the reason the mob was able to find you all I had to do was a simple henge, go around to several of the local bars and rile up all the drunks in the village still morning their family and friends that you killed. Then just had to lead them to you. It's just a shame that you didn't die then, you began to become harder to track after that year." Naruto fell back against the tree in a shocked state as he couldn't process this information.
Iruka enraged at this point charged Mizuki intent on cutting his throat and silencing his voice. Pulling out another kunai Iruka and Mizuki began to exchange dual wielding blows. Though slower Mizuki's constantly spinning fumma shuriken where a serious threat to the limited reach and size of Iruka's kunai. "hahahaha, you were never better than me Iruka why are you even trying. When the tools you use make the difference between winning and losing. All you have ever done is learn the fundamentals what good do the do you in a real fight." Mizuki goaded while steadily pushing Iruka back inch by inch closer to Naruto.
Iruka knew the second he tried to switch positions and give Mizuki a line of sight to Naruto then he would throw one of his fumma shuriken at him. Luckily because Iruka spent so much time with fundamentals he knew he could beat Mizuki. I mean come on they are the fundamentals because they work consistently. What Mizuki didn't know is while they were exchanging blows Iruka was analyzing every single movement and attack pattern Mizuki was using in order to find a flaw and he did. While Mizuki was trying to goad him into making a mistake he overextended his left arm when he thrusted the spinning shuriken. Iruka waited patiently for that attack pattern again and then Iruka made his move.
In one of the academy text books about substitution it tells the story of a ninja who hated the use of weapons, so in order to level the playing field he would substitute himself with his opponent's weapon when they made a flaw in their stance and then counter attack. Iruka loved this story but thought it was reckless so he had it removed from the texts however he got together with the other instructors and attempted to see if it was even possible. Mizuki was always invited, but he always declined because he thought it was an absurd and useless skill. For five years Iruka has been practicing this move because quite literally the fundamentals can kill.
The second Mizuki overextended his left jab again Iruka quickly spun around and substituted with Mizuki's fumma shuriken. His hands appeared holding Mizuki's wrists and he performed a shoulder throw taking Mizuki by surprise and not missing his chance the second Mizuki hit the ground Iruka pined his free hand but taking one of his kunai and stabbing it threw his palm and into the ground before making some quick hand signs. "Earth Style: Terraform Jutsu" Iruka said before earth began to wrap itself around Mizuki's wrists, neck and ankles rendering him immobile. Iruka stood up and smirked at Mizuki. "What good are your tools if you don't have the proper fundamentals to use them correctly. Also, for the record Mizuki I've always been the better ninja." Iruka let himself relax a little as now that he caught Mizuki he can get this whole mess sorted out and keep Naruto from the civilian council's prosecution. But first Iruka had to check on Naruto and get everything sorted out. 'Man this whole mess reminds me of why I left field work behind in the first place.' Iruka thought as he sighed and scratched his head in a very Naruto like fashion.
Turning his attention back to the bound Mizuki, Iruka glares at the man as he is still looking at the distraught looking Naruto. "Alright Mizuki here is how we are going to do this, you are going to tell me exactly why you made Naruto steal the scroll and who it was for, and if you don't give me the answer I want I will begin to cut off body parts and then cauterize the wounds so you don't bleed out. Understand?" Mizuki just glared back at Iruka like he wasn't actually going to do it. *sigh* "Guess this has to be the hard way then." Iruka took his kunai began to channel fire nature chakra into it as it glowed a bright orange and stabbed it into the top of Mizuki's eye socket pulling the now boiling eye out of its socket. Mizuki started screaming bloody murder before Iruka shoved a rag into his mouth quieting him because he didn't want to attract the attention of other Kohana-nin in the area because to Iruka this was personal. After a minute Mizuki stopped screaming and Iruka pulled the rag out of his mouth. "Now lets try this again. Do you understand how this works?" Mizuki replied with a pained yes absolutely terrified of the man before him. This was not the Iruka he knew, the soft teacher that left the field because he couldn't handle the mental strain.
At least that was the reason he was told by the Hokage after their last mission together, however the real reason which was classified to Jōnin and above, if one wished to inquire, because Iruka was being trained to be a field interrogator for the Torture and Interrogation division, however he had a really bad problem of torturing the target to the point of dying soon after which caused problems because they could never bring his targets back alive for a Yamanaka to go through their memories for additional intel. So, he decided to request a transfer into teaching because he had an obsession with fundamentals. The Hokage accepted his request immediately.
"Now who were you stealing the scroll for and why did you get Naruto involved?" Iruka asked almost bored. At this point Naruto stood up and started to walk over to the pair just becoming earshot of the low volume conversation. Iruka didn't notice as he was focusing entirely on Mizuki, however, Mizuki noticed Naruto's sobered approach.
"I wasn't hired by anyone I was trying to steal it to present it as a gift to Orochimaru in return for his assistance on a project. As for the reason I chose Naruto is because it finally gave me a chance to kill the Kyubi." Iruka eye's widened as he heard Naruto's gasp from behind him. Before Iruka could respond Mizuki continued feeling more confident now that Iruka is focused on Naruto instead of him. "That's right brat you are the Kyubi no Kitsune incarnate, you are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Konohagakure ninja and civilians, you even wiped out an entire clan and killed the fourth Hokage." Mizuki begins to laugh as Naruto freezes and Iruka had enough of Mizuki's torment of Naruto and lies. Goes to turn and jab a kunai into Mizuki's throat but finds himself frozen in place by a shadow, Iruka goes to scream at Naruto to come to his senses but the shadow quickly extends and covers his mouth. 'Damnit another enemy! How could I miss this?' Iruka thought. Mizuki completely focused on his verbal attack of Naruto didn't notice the sudden rigidness and struggle of Iruka. Mizuki then reaches out to the fumma shuriken still connect to his chakra strings on his right hand and wills the shuriken into Naruto's back with a sickening slice Naruto was in two while Iruka was struggling to cry out to his student.
The two halves turned into smoke and disappeared. Mizuki was in shock and began to look around the are till he hear some footsteps from above his head to see Naruto looking down on him with a huge grin on his face. "Bet you weren't expecting a shadow clone or my acting skills to be so good." Naruto taunted before a squad of anbu and the Hokage appeared from their spots in the trees and one Shikaku Nara casually walking out from a bush mumbling something about how troublesome this ordeal has been.
Iruka was extremely confused and remained still after the shadow possession jutsu was released and Shikaku confirmed that he was not going to lash out and kill Mizuki. "You should be proud of your student Iruka, he is going places one day." Shikaku comments before leaving the area because staying would be more troublesome then just reading the report later.
In that moment the Anbu had released Mizuki from his earth jutsu and shackled him in chakra sealing chains and were leaving to take him to T&I. The only two that remained where Naruto and the Hokage. Iruka walked up to the pair and bowed slightly before talking. "Hokage-sama I apologize for my language, but what the fuck just happened." Hiruzen just chuckled at Iruka's unusual lack of decorum around him.
"Well Naruto here got his hands on a disturbing scroll from Mizuki after he failed the Genin test. Acting above his station he made the call to bring it to an Anbu operative who deemed it a relevant threat to bring to my direct attention." Iruka stared at the Hokage clearly hoping for more than what could have been figured out by his students.
Hiruzen began to chuckle again at Iruka's dumbfounded look "That doesn't explain why Shikaku was here and why Naruto knows about the fox?" Iruka asked in response. "Shikaku was hear simply because he was in the office when Bear showed up with Naruto and decided he would come watch the show rather than deal with the chaos unfolding in the village." Iruka had to smirk at the Nara's impeccable ability to avoid anything he deems troublesome. "As for Naruto well, he was smart enough to figure that out himself about a year ago."
"Sorry Iruka-sensei, Ojiisan said I couldn't tell you because it would be better if you didn't get involved." Iruka looked at Naruto and how he was looking at the ground almost scared Iruka only has one thing on his mind however and he bends down and gives Naruto a hug and whispers in his ear. "All that matters is that you are safe." For the first time in his life Naruto truly feels like someone cares about him.
"Can we go get some Ramen Iruka-sensei? Naruto asks and Iruka choked up nods his head yes before grabbing his opposite shoulder and leading him towards Ichiraku and before they step out of the clearing they hear from the Hokage speak up.
"Oh! Before I forget Naruto." Sarutobi stated before tossing a Konoha headband to the newly graduated genin. "Congrates!" he states before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.
"WOOHOO! I'M FINALLY A NINJA!" Naruto declared in utter excitement in his favorite Ramen stand in the middle of the night. Naruto finally began to relax from the events of the night after eating four bowls of the gods ramen and is full.
Iruka was deep in thought contemplating the evenings events Naruto seeing this decided to bring him back to reality. "Iruka-sensei now that I'm an official ninja I can learn cool ninjutsu and go on cool missions like you used to tell me about" Naruto declared with unrestrained passion and excitement. With a stupid grin of one dealing with an obvious child Iruka replied. "Not so fast Naruto, you still need to get your new sensei, team, and train loads more to get to that point " Naruto grunted and mumbled about how it is going to take too long before he could use cool jutsu like Iruka and the Hokage.
Deciding to get back on point. "Then who is my new sensei Iruka-sensei?" Naruto questioned in anticipation. "I'm not at liberty to say, you will just have to wait till tomorrow like everyone else." Iruka chucked at Naruto's quickly changing demeanor.
'Thank god for the Hokage's forethought and included Naruto in the teams, it's almost like he knew what was going to happen.' Iruka disregarded that thought as outrageous and turned his focus back to Naruto who was starting to stand up to leave knowing Iruka had the Ramen tab.
Iruka deciding he still had something to say rested his hand on Naruto's shoulder stopping him from leaving just yet. "Hey Naruto before you go I want to share something with you." Naruto picked up on the fact Iruka was struggling for words and gave his full attention, after all it was the least he could do for the man he considered a father. Naruto doesn't realize that just yet, but he still subconsciously gives the man his attention. "Naruto I can't tell you how proud of the man you have become and the path you are bound to follow. I know I am not the only one who sees it so try and give this team a shot okay?"
"Fine, I'll see you tomorrow Iruka sensei thanks for the Ramen." with that goodbye Naruto disappeared into the night.
After Naruto had ran out of ear shot. "You saw the hesitation in his eyes at the thought of a team, didn't you Teuchi?"
"How could I have missed it after all I see him as my own son sometimes, I just wish he wasn't on the restricted adoption list otherwise I would of given him a home a long time ago" Teuchi replied in a sorrowed tone.
"Well thanks for the Ramen, How much do I owe you?" Iruka asked while standing up and pulling out his wallet.
"This time it's on the house" he replied with a large smile.
The next morning
"Hey what the hell are you doing here Naruto? I thought you had failed again" Ino said in spite and shock as Naruto was the last to arrive in the class. Naruto sighed internally at the snappy welcome into the classroom from one of his classmates.
"I have my headband now don't I" Naruto retorted as he took his seat in the back corner of the class away from everyone's slight questioning gaze. More specifically Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Ino who despite her comment was actually surprised.
In the back right corner of the room one shy girl was elated to see the object of her affection make it as a Genin.
'Now let's see who made it? Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Ino Yanamaka, Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuga are the ones I know, I really hope I don't get paired with any of them' Naruto thought in frustration and fear. In the room sat a total of 39 students who graduated this year from the academy making a total of 13 possible teams. Naruto was confident he could avoid his former classmates in team selections.
Even though he had a crush on Sakura he did not want to be on the same team as her because he knew she would just harass him and beat on him. As for Hinata right now he believes she can't speak to him or not faint at his touch because she is afraid of him. Do to this he tends to try and give her space, so she doesn't have to be fearful of him (or so he thinks). He shared similar thoughts and reservations about the rest of his classmates.
He did have neutral opinions about a few of the guys who would associate with him during recess or taijutsu training and would appreciate his pranks but other than that he never associated much with them. Naruto was broken from his pondering when Iruka walked through the door.
"Alright class settle down I'm about to announce the teams for this year." Iruka said as he walked in the class. "This is an interesting year because you all have the perfect number to only be paired with your class mates."
'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!' was all Naruto could think fighting off a panic attack. IT was his worse fear realized.
Sakura raised her hand and spoke. "Excuse me Iruka-sensei, but I thought Naruto had failed the graduation test?" 'Oh, here we go' thought Naruto as he put his head down on the desk and quickly lifted it back up. Can they not just believe the headband and leave me alone.
"He did, however his actions during a crisis in the middle of last night more than earned him a spot on a genin team. As for what happened and what Naruto's role in the event was is classified due to the Hokage's orders." Iruka stated with no emotion throwing the class a bone and giving Naruto some credit he himself probably wanted to keep secret. 'Naruto needs to change his view of his classmates and he is not going to do that the way he is now.' Iruka rationalized.
After a few disappointed and disbelieving looks "Alright anymore Questions? And no I will not answer why I'm all bandaged up." Iruka said as two more hands flew up then went right back down, but still curious about the bandaging all the way up his neck.
"Okay, the teams you all will be filling are teams 1 through 13." Iruka began as he started to list off names of genin prospects Naruto never realized existed till today and probably would forget.
Eventually Iruka got around to his own class of students. "Team Seven will be Sasuke Uchiha." A humph was all that was heard from the Uchiha. "Sakura Haruno." "YES!" Sakura declared at the top of her voice. "Take that Ino-pig I get to be with Sasuke and win his heart." 'CHHAAA, True love always comes out on top.' "And Naruto Uzumaki" Iruka finished. Instantly Sakura's high drops and Ino starts laughing at her luck. "NOOOOO!" Sakura jumped out of her seat and exclaimed as she heard she had Naruto on her team. 'Fucking loser is just going to become a cock block for me and Sasuke." Naruto just smashed his head on his desk as he heard this. 'My life is over she will try to kill me every chance she gets and now she will never go on a date with me because I have to compete with Sasuke. Wait why is that even a concern? They are both going to abuse me.'
Naruto just kept his head down as Iruka waited for the class of mostly fangirls to settle down and get over not being on the Uchiha's team, so he could keep reading from the list, but he was more distracted with his own thoughts going through his head. 'What are you thinking Hokage-sama? Putting Naruto with the two most verbally abusive kids in his class. He may not have enough mental strength to keep his mask on much longer.' Iruka wasn't the only one disappointed by this team.
Unnoticed by anyone a young Hyuga was taking this just as hard. 'Naruto's not on my team, now I will never get a chance to tell him how I feel. How will I ever get the courage to talk to him now, or even look at him, Oh kami this sucks.' Hinata thought in sadness not sure how
"Ok now with the theatrics out of the way how about we continue. Also, your instructor will be Kakashi Hatake" Iruka said as he rolled his eyes getting back on track. "Team Eight will be Kiba Inuzuka." Kiba got a wide grin as his patience was wearing thin. "Shino Aburame" If one was listening close enough they could hear his bugs buzzing in excitement and approval as Shino appreciated the Inuzuka as he never treated him differently despite his clans jutsu like others had. "and Hinata Hyuga, with Kurenai Yuhi as your sensei." Hinata elated that she had the women she considered as an older sister to be her Sensei, even though still clearly in dismay over Naruto not being on her team.
"Team Ten will be this generations Ino-Shika-Cho trio with your sensei being Asuma Sarutobi." Iruka finished off with his class with no surprise of the last team selection. After finishing the remaining three teams from another teacher's class Iruka made closing comments "Alright I wish you luck and your sensei's will be here shortly to give you further instructions please head back to your original home rooms and good luck."
Right after Iruka and all of the additional students left Team 8's sensei came in and told them to meet her at training ground 8. Five minutes later Asuma arrived to instruct team 10. It has been two hours since that point and team seven is still waiting.
"I bet our Sensei is taking such a long time to get here because he is dreading to teach Naruto, which is just not fair to poor Sasuke." Sakura proclaimed while looking at the clock for the fourth time in five minutes.
"Hhhhuuu? You say something Sakura?" Naruto said as he lifted his head off the desk he was sleeping on in the back a little drool hanging out of his mouth becoming moderately aware of his surroundings.
"CHHHHAAAA!" Sakura shouted before she climbed up the steps next to the drowsy kid and punched Naruto on the top of the head as hard as she could effectively knocking him out of his seat.
'Why meeee?' Naruto thought as he was slowly getting back up into the chair with a huge headache and a large cartoonish bump on the top of his head.
"That's what happens when you disrespect me." 'Don't you ever ignore me again loser' Sakura was very angry at Naruto's unusual choice to ignore, and for a fleeting moment wondered why he didn't cheer when he found out they were on the same team together.
"But what did I do?" Naruto asked in complete confusion of what happened not sure of why he deserved to get punched.
"You passed and got on this team loser." This time it was Sasuke who answered, but never turned around. "Ya! What Sasuke said." Sakura quickly mimicked in order to hopefully get on the broody kids' good side, this only served to annoy him more not that he let it show or that it was noticed.
'I feel like I should already retire' Naruto thought in dismay. 'All well might as well have some fun while I'm still here' A large grin spread out on his face.
Naruto rose from his seat and grabbed a chalkboard eraser and wedged it in between the tops of the sliding doors so it would fall on top of whoever opened it. "Hehehehe, this is what he gets for being so late." Naruto snickered.
"No self-respecting Jōnin would fall for a stupid trick like that Naruto." Sakura said, but on the inside 'I really hope this works he deserves it and it will be kind of funny.' About two minutes after Naruto put up the eraser the door opens, and the eraser falls right on Kakashi's head.
'Hahahaha it worked' Naruto thought in glee. With a stupidly huge grin plastered on his face. 'No way it actually worked' Sakura thought in amazement as she had to pick up her jaw off the floor. 'I'm going to need a new sensei cause clearly this guy is a joke' Sasuke thought in dismay. As they stared at the gravity defying hair, with the eraser still stuck in it, of their new sensei.
"My first impression... I hate you all." Was all Kakashi said in response to Naruto's childish antics. "On the roof in... five minutes." Before he closed the door and disappeared from the children's sight.
"Alright here we go." Naruto said in his breath as he was felling that his sensei would treat him like everyone else. 'Might as well get this over with, I wonder how long till he tries to demote me.'
On the roof they started a basic introduction. Their sensei went first, introducing himself as Kakashi Hatake, a jonin. This was all Team 7 got out of their sensei as he sort of refused to give any specific details about himself personally.
Naruto followed up. Unlike Kakashi, Naruto basically said everything he loved, stating his dream to become Hokage and his love for ramen. His hobbies included eating ramen and pulling pranks. Kakashi sent him an intriguing look, Naruto had noticed but choose not to dwell on it.
Sakura followed up with literally everything was Sasuke except the hates. That was reserved for Naruto. and Naruto subconsciously flinched at the jab.
Sasuke unlike Naruto and Sakura had no likes, no dreams just an ambition to kill someone, revive his clan and become the strongest ninja in history. Also, he had a deep dislike for Naruto and choose to share that. By this point Naruto's confident facade had cracked a little to show how hurt he was, this did not go unnoticed by Kakashi.
'Interesting I will have to keep an eye on him and his facade.' Kakashi thought before he addressed his new pupils. Kakashi didn't show it but he was concerned about the mental state of his sensei's son, he had seen some disturbing signs he had addressed to Inoichi the villages leading psychologist and head of the Torture and Interrogation department. But choose not to dwell on it this moment.
"Alright now that we know more about each other meet me at training ground seven tomorrow morning at seven Don't be late and don't eat anything you will throw up." Kakashi said in a lighthearted tone, and with one of his famous eye smiles vanished in a swirl of leaves leaving the almost genin alone.
"Man I want to learn that, but anyway why tomorrow morning? Missions don't start till next week?" Naruto asked while scratching his head as he stepped up on the edge of the balcony.
"Beats me." Sasuke responded in turn to Naruto as he walked to the door, hands in pocket trying to ignore the coming question from his female teammate. "Hey Sasuke, do you want to go get lunch with me?"
"No." Sakura dropped her head in shame at the sharp and quick response from the last Uchiha. Deciding to be nice to try and lift her spirit. "I'll go with you Sakura." Naruto stated with the biggest grin he could muster. "Now why would I go with a block headed loser like you?" she asked in response quickly responding as his question brought her out of her funk.
"Because I'm the funniest guy around" Naruto answered with confidence before spreading his arms and falling off the top balcony and disappearing into the tree below.
"YOU WERENT SUPPOSED TO ANSWER IDIOT!" Sakura yelled then ran after Sasuke.
In a undisclosed location
"How are they together?" Sarutobi asked in a sense of unease.
"They clearly despise Naruto and if it wasn't for his mask breaking right before I left I would have never known it was there." Kakashi said with a pained face. "He hides his emotions better than anyone I know, even Hiashi Hyuga would be hard pressed to contend with Naruto in repressing his emotions. It is almost like he chooses not to feel anything at all and it is just an act."
"You picked all that up from one meeting with them?" Sarutobi said in a surprised tone.
"It was kind of hard not to when Sasuke and Sakura were belittling him every chance they got." Kakashi stood up and looked at the single picture of the fourth Hokage in the room as he said that.
'I swear I will make sure these mistakes are corrected sensei, I had failed to look out for him and now he is too far gone, please forgive me.' With that thought he left the room and the Hokage by himself.
Alright that is the end of my very first chapter ever and the first chapter of Voicefell, I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. This is the rewritten chapter that I hope you all will enjoy and add much needed depth to the story. Thank all of you who have stayed with the story please look forward to more updates like this one in the near future.