Naruto looked up at Mizuki. "Another chance?"

"That's right Naruto, here's what you have to do." Mizuki grinned and explained his "final test."

Naruto shot off in the direction of the Hokage's tower.

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Naruto sat on the ground, tired but happy. Iruka grimaced and walked up to him. "Naruto, you really don't know what kind of trouble you're in now..."

Naruto looked up when he heard Iruka's voice. "I learned a technique from the scroll, do I pass?"

"Wha??? Who told you that you'd be able to pass if you used that scroll?" Iruka questioned, angry.

"Mizuki, he..." Naruto was cut off as a hail of shuriken and kunai was launched at Iruka.

"Mizuki!?" Iruka shouted, and Mizuki jumped into the clearing.

"Naruto, give me the scroll!" Mizuki demanded, a mad gleam in his eye.

"No, Naruto, don't let him have it!" Iruka shouted, hastily.

//cut off cause I don't like writing this scene, and I assume you all know how it goes, perhaps I'll finish it later//

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Iruka looked down at the beaten form of Mizuki, and shook his head. "Naruto... if only you'd shown this kind of skill at the academy..."

Naruto looked at him. "What do you mean, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka sighed. "Naruto... even you should know of this rule... That the Third Hokage created to protect our village's children."

"Huh?" Naruto said, confused.

"No student may become a ninja if they fail their test three times. It's too risky. Not only may they be inadequate for the job, they will be placing themselves and their team in danger. These are the words of the Third Hokage. If it were up to me, I would make you a Genin right now... but I can't change the reality of your situation. You're out of second chances, Naruto. You'll have to become an apprentice to a craftsman like all failed academy students."

Naruto looked stricken.

Iruka tried to cheer him up. "Look at it this way, Naruto: You'll never have to sit through another boring academy lesson, eh?"

Tears began to well up in Naruto's eyes, and he turned and fled, leaving the scroll to drop to the ground. Iruka sighed mroe heavily. "I guess it was a weak comfort for a broken dream... He'll probably be back in the morning." Iruka collected the scroll and Mizuki's body, and trudged back to the village, too weak to jump in the trees any longer.

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Naruto slowed down, finally stopped crying, and tumbled to the ground several hundred meters from Konoha. He did not wince at the pain of the fall, nor at the taste of the dirt in his mouth, but slowly sat up and looked himself over.

"I didn't even bring any of my equipment..." he said to himself, not sad so much as regretful.

He briefly considered turning around and heading back, but then he reminded himself in Iruka's words. "I'm out of second chances," he whispered to himself.

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Naruto wandered from town to town, in somewhat of a daze, wondering what he would do. He couldn't go back to Konoha, even to become a craftsman... because he would remember his failed dream too well. He begged where he could, and stole where he couldn't, scraping by on bread and generosity.

One day, many weeks after he had left his home for good, Naruto came upon a drunk being beaten by a thug in a small village between Konoha and the border of Fire Country near Wave. Feeling like he should do something, he screamed out a challenge.

"Hey you! Pick on someone your own size!" Naruto yelled from ten feet away.

The thug drew himself up to full standing height after being hunched over to kick the old drunk, and Naruto gulped. "Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut..."

"Hey kid, mind your own business or I'll gut you!" The thug drew a dagger from his belt and smiled a grisly smile.

Naruto frowned, but put his hands into his only familiar hand seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Ten Narutos stared back at the thug with a mixture of defiance and fear.

The thug stared at ten Narutos with a mixture of disbelief and fear. "A ninja? But where's his stupid headband?" He took an involuntary step backwards.

Naruto sensed that somehow, he had an advantage, and struck, using an array of shuriken and kunai thrown by his clones. He used about the amount of skill needed to throw another person of his level off balance, perhaps forcing them backwards or making them dodge. In other words, his throws were meant to gauge skill.

The thug, never having been trained as a ninja, was sliced and diced. Peppered with kunai and shuriken, he fell backwards, barely breathing.

Naruto gasped, and began to try and sneak away without getting caught when the drunk groaned and began to stand up. Feeling as if his work would be for nothing if he didn't help the man out, he sent two of his clones to help the drunk to stand.

Beginning to run away again, he stopped when the drunk called out. "Hey kid, what's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto replied, and turned around.

"The names Tazuna, and I think I have a job for you, if you'd take it..." the drunk said, cautiously.

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The Hokage sighed. "Alright. Kakashi has informed me that he believes you are ready for a C-Rank mission."

Sakura was overjoyed. "What kind of mission?"

The Hokage sighed again. "Our client was supposed to get here a week ago... But he recently sent word that he's found temporary help and made it to his home without our escort. Unfortunately, this means that you will be going to help him finish work without a guide..."

Kakashi blinked. "Temporary help? What kind?"

"He wouldn't say. Anyway, this is a simple mission, preventing thefts and scaring away bandits from a work site. The location and the identity of the client are in this folder." He handed the folder to Kakashi.

"Alright! Akamaru, we finally got a C-rank mission!" Kiba yelled.

Sasuke sighed.

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