"Speech"

Thoughts

Jutsu's


I don't own Naruto? Well, no one told me that!

Naruto: The Flame Soldier
One Year's Difference
By: Draco Kamikaze

Naruto grumbled as he slowly smacked at his alarm clock. He had been having one of his better nights, where he didn't have nightmares, and was surrounded by a sea of ramen, lots of well endowed women, and wearing the Hokage's robes. The women would even call him, 'Hokage-sama', while he told them of different exploits that he had before becoming Hokage.

But, all good things must come to an end, as his clock continued to tell him. Rolling over, he glanced at his clock; he figured that he had at least an hour before he had to go the Academy. Grumbling, he finally connected with his clock and knocked it off his night stand. He rolled over and sighed. At least I didn't break it again. He thought as prepared to start his day.

Sighing silently, he sat up, looking around sleepily. Swinging his feet over the edge of the bed, he slowly stood up and stumbled to his shower. He quickly stripped down and turned the shower on, jumping in as soon as the water started to come out. The shock of cold water hit him as he began to clean himself, completely awake him from the small amount of sleep he had left. While he would not admit it to anyone else, he was glad that the owner of his apartment had not fixed his water heater. It meant that he could wake up faster and train longer before the Academy. That didn't mean he liked the cold water, just that he was used to it.

As soon as he'd finished, Naruto got quickly pulled a towel off the rack and glanced towards his calendar, noting the date. Today was the day before the end of this year in the Academy. He planned on trying to pass early again, and was certain that with the kind of training regiment that he was currently going through, he would pass with flying colors. That thought brought a grin to his lips. Him, graduating before Sasuke-teme. That was something that would make his day; if he could just do a Bunshin.

He twisted his neck, slowly pulling on his orange jumpsuit. He had no reason to worry about the coming test, after all he was training extra hard to perform the Bunshin no Jutsu, and he could not fail. That was a fact.

After boiling some water and cooking his ramen, he made his way out the door to the nearest training field. Today was the day he would make a Bunshin, he was sure of it! Nothing could stop him from doing so! He slurped his ramen happily as he made his way to the field.

Nearly a full hour later however, Naruto found himself running at high speeds to the Academy. Not only had he not been able to perform one good Bunshin, but he was now running as fast as he could to get to the Academy on time. He cursed his luck as he heard the bell ring, signifying that the Academy was beginning. Why did Kami him?

Skidding through the halls, he quickly ran towards his classroom. He knew Iruka-sensei wasn't going to be happy with his sudden appearance.

= ^_^ =

Iruka silently counted down the seconds to when Naruto would violently burst through the room as he started calling out student's names. Mizuki sat in the desk next to him, looking bored. He couldn't really blame him. This years overall subject had been strictly Taijutsu, and it wasn't that interesting to watch kids beat each other up. Although they would never admit it out loud, it was rather entertaining.

"Uchiha Sasuke?" Three.

"Here."

"Uzumaki Naruto?" Two.

For a moment, there was silence. "Uzumaki Naruto!" One.

"HERE! I'M HERE IRUKA-SENSEI!" Naruto yelled out as he violently shoved the door open and ran in, panting and sweating.

There were snickers from several of the kids in the kids in the back of the classroom as Iruka pinched the bridge of his nose. "Naruto, did you not wake up to your alarm again?"

"Uh, yea. Sorry Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said, nervously scratching the back of his head.

Iruka glanced up. He'd noticed there was a small pause before he had answered him, as if he were hiding something. But, if he had woken up at the proper time, why would he have to hide it? He brushed it off for the moment, with more important things on his mind. "Alright class, single filed line outside. We're going to be working on Taijutsu now, and I want to see everyone doing their best."

There was a slight cheer from the s as they watched their 'Sasuke-kun' walk out of the room, a vacant, bored expression on his face. Iruka sighed. He wasn't sure what to think of Sasuke, but he hoped that when Naruto was out of the Academy, he was hoping for a long vacation from pranks.

Unknown to him, similar, yet darker thoughts were running through the mind, of the individual sitting next to him.

= ^_^ =

Naruto was panting heavily as he ran through the basic forms again. He'd been doing the same form at least a thousand times now, but still wasn't sure if he was doing it exactly right. He'd had his behind handed to him by Sasuke again, and looked like a fool in front of everyone. And worse of all, Iruka had already gone home for the day. No one else was going to give a rat's ass about him, or even bother to help him. He sighed as he ran through the steps again.

In all truth, most of the kids had an edge over him with that. They all had a family who they could go to and ask for help. When they messed up, they could correct their mistakes, and help them to improve. Naruto had only himself.

Gritting his teeth as he hit the last step, he silently wondered if he should just give up on learning a style till after he was out of the Academy. If he didn't learn the Bunshin no Jutsu, by the end of today, he wouldn't be able to pass tomorrow. As these thoughts rose unbidden into his mind, he shook his head and started from the beginning of the move again. He always found that when he couldn't concentrate, he could do Taijutsu to help clear his head.

"You're extending your fist too far."

Naruto nearly stumbled. Turning around, he was surprised to find that Mizuki was sitting in the tree behind him. "Eh?"

"I said, 'you're extending your fist too far'. If you keep your fist even a little bit closer to your body, you'll be faster in your next movement."

Naruto glanced at his fist, then back at Mizuki. Is he helping me? "Uh, ok. I'll try it."

Slowly moving forward, he was surprised to find that the form he'd just been having troubles with, flowed in a smooth, flowing motion, much faster than it previously had been. "Hey, it worked! Thanks Mizuki-sensei!"

Mizuki smiled. "No problem Naruto." He hopped down from the tree he'd just been sitting in. "You know, I think I know why you were late for class this morning."

Naruto gulped. "Y-you do? Really?"

Mizuki nodded. "Perhaps. Were you practicing the Bunshin no Jutsu? I noticed that you've been focused more on your chakra control recently. I guess that would be why Sasuke beat you so easily; you normally don't go down without more of a fight."

Naruto flopped down on the ground. "So, you noticed?"

Mizuki smirked. "Naruto, I'm pretty sure that even a child would've noticed." Noticing the sulking look on his face, he quickly changed tactics. "Naruto, why do you want to perform the Bunshin?"

"Because, then I can graduate early and get into some real training!" Naruto said, enthusiastically punching the air with his fist.

Mizuki grinned. "Well, that is an admirable goal. So I'll tell you a little secret."

Naruto's eyes widened. "What is it?"

"There is more than one kind of Bunshin, and the Academy doesn't care what kind you do so long as you do a Bunshin."

Naruto's head snapped up, his eyes sparkling. "Do you know any? Are they easier to do than a normal Bunshin? CAN YOU TEACH ME!?!"

Mizuki smirked. This was too easy. "Well yes, no, and no. I do happen to know of one kind of Bunshin, but the only way to get the scroll it is written in is by passing a test."

"What do I have to do?" Naruto said, suddenly serious. If he could pass early, he could get away from the angry glares that he constantly received and closer to his goal of Hokage.

"It's just one little thing. In the Hokage's tower is a secret room. In that room there's a scroll on the far corner, usually guarded with numerous traps. In it is the Bunshin I was telling you about. It's so much more powerful than the one you know, that only elite Jonin know it. If you could perform that jutsu, then you could even be placed under a sensei all to yourself." Mizuki smiled at Naruto, in an almost gentle, kind way. "Trust me Naruto. I'm only here to help you."

Naruto considered it for a moment. Mizuki could be lying, but he had helped him many times before, like that Taijutsu technique. And besides, why would he want to lie to him? "Ok Mizuki-sensei! I'll get it in no time! Just you wait; tomorrow, I'm going to be a Genin!"

= ^_^ =

Iruka silently glanced over the few tests that he had scatted across his desk. He already knew what most of the kids would get based on their previous grades. Take Naruto, he usually got within the low sixty percent. But then, Naruto was the most unpredictable person he'd ever known. He might just pop out of the blue and actually do good on a test.

Suddenly, Mizuki slammed open the door. "Iruka!"

Iruka jumped up. "What's going on?"

"It's Naruto! He's stolen the Scroll of Sealing!"

Or, he could go and do some thing like that.

Quickly getting up, he motioned for Mizuki to follow. Once they were outside and jumping across roofs, he turned to Mizuki. "Mizuki, go find out what the Hokage wants us to do. I'll go to Naruto's apartment and see if he's headed home."

Mizuki nodded. "All right."

Iruka stopped on a roof, watching Mizuki go by. As he turned towards Naruto's apartment, a sudden thought stopped him. 'Is Naruto really that stupid to go to his own home?'

He toyed with the thought for a moment. He was one of the most unpredictable people he had ever met, so it was well within the bounds of his imagination. But there was something else that was right there in the back of his mind, taunting him. Something that told him why Naruto wouldn't go home.

He smacked his forehead. Naruto had stolen the Scroll of Sealing, a scroll filled with all kinds of illegal Jutsu. And if Naruto didn't know the difference, he'd go to the nearest training ground to practice.

Changing his direction, he headed off towards the training grounds.

= ^_^ =

Naruto was panting heavily as he sat down. He was a little exhausted from the amount of chakra he'd used, but he was proud of his achievement. Surrounding him were several other Naruto's, looking just as pleased with themselves. He'd been working on this technique for over an hour, but he'd finally figured out how to do the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Grinning triumphantly, he glanced over at the scroll again, with his clones peaking over his shoulder.

"Hm, let's see. Bunshin Bakuha. Aw, but that's easy! All I have to do is overload my Kage Bunshin with chakra!" Naruto groaned. Most of the techniques he'd seen so far had something to do with more advanced Bunshin's. There didn't seem to be any about super cool jutsu's.

"Yo! Boss, look at that!" One of his clones suddenly called out, jabbing his finger at the scroll.

Naruto glanced over to where the clone was pointing. "Um, I've already seen the Kage Bunshin. That's what you are, remember?" He laid on his back and sighed. If his clones were that stupid, it made him wonder how he'd ever gotten along in life.

The clone shook his head. "No, look underneath it! In the fine print! 'If Kage Bunshin gain knowledge, then the user of this jutsu will gain that knowledge when the clone disperses'!"

Naruto suddenly sprung up again. "What! Where?" After skipping a few lines, he finally came to the section where his clone had been pointing. "It says, 'The user of the Kage Bunshin essentially splits up a part of his conscience when he makes said Bunshin. He can then use that Bunshin to help him in various tasks such as; chakra control, studious learning, as well as patrolling areas, and fighting. However, due to the consumption of chakra, this technique has been labeled, a kinjutsu...'"

Naruto and his clones stood there in shock for a couple of seconds, their minds slowly wrapping around this new concept.

Finally, one of his clones spoke up. "Ano, this is a technique? Because it consumes too much chakra?"

Another one of his clones spoke up eagerly. "But I don't feel to bad. So, maybe it's a misprint?"

"Or maybe, there's something wrong with us." The real Naruto spoke up sullenly, silencing his clones.

"Wait! If you get all the information that we get, doesn't that mean that we'd learn faster?" Another of his clones spoke up, grinning like a fool. When the others gave him a questioning look, he quickly dispersed himself.

Naruto noticed that the clone's thoughts seemed to be flowing into his mind. And as these thoughts suddenly flooded their minds, they were quickly wearing similar grins. "Heck ya! I'd be able to beat Sasuke-teme without breaking a sweat!"

"All right you knuckleheads, release!" Naruto said, watching as they quickly poofed out of existence. A grin was still plastered on his face as he glanced back at the scroll.

Another Jutsu caught his eye. Reading through it, he scratched his head. "This one's weird; they only wrote down the theory of the jutsu…maybe they want for more advanced shinobi to make their own version! I'd better copy it down so I can practice it later."

After nearly ten minutes of rewriting the Jutsu onto a blank scroll, he quickly closed up the scroll, and placed it into the little bag on his back. He needed to practice the Bunshin Bakuha before anyone found him.

It was hours later when Iruka finally found him in the clearing. He was dirty, and incredibly tired, but triumphant in his efforts. He looked up at him from his seat on the ground as he suddenly growled, "Hey, Naruto!"

He gave him a grin and a nervous laugh. "Iruka-sensei! You've found me! I've only learned two skills so far…" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he waited for his reaction. He looked at him, shocked, which sent up a red flag for Naruto. Why would he be shocked? Was it because of the jutsu's? Or was he simply over reacting? He decided to plunge on ahead with his explanation. "I just did what I was told, and guess what! I can do a different Bunshin now! I could pass the Gennin exam this year!"

Iruka's eyes widened. "How do you know about that?!" he demanded. While it was common knowledge for the students to know that a person could do a different kind of Bunshin, he had a feeling that Naruto had slept through that lesson…no, no he'd actually he'd skipped that day in favor of pulling pranks.

"Mizuki-sensei told me! About the scroll, and about how only the elite know of this jutsu…" He trailed off at the look of horror, and the brief flash of anger in Iruka's eyes. For a moment, he thought that it was directed at him as he reached out to push him…but was startled to hear the soft whistle of kunai in the air. He could hear the hard thuds of kunai hitting wood and the softer, almost squishy sounding thuds of kunai driving into flesh and bone.

He hit the ground with a gasp, the wind knocked out of him. "Impressive that you found him Iruka." His head snapped up as he heard Mizuki's familiar voice, surprised at this quickly growing group.

"I see…so, that's what's going on…" Iruka commented, pain obvious by his tone.

Mizuki was crouched high in a tree, overlooking the clearing. "Naruto, give me the scroll."

Naruto looked up at him with wide eyes, confused by the sudden turn of events. After all, when does a kid see his two sensei's trying to kill each other.

"Hey…what's going on here?" Suddenly, everyone seemed like an enemy, and it didn't seem like anyone could be trusted. Finally using his brain, he reasoned that they both had ulterior motives to their actions, although he didn't know what they were just yet.

Iruka pulled a kunai from his leg with a soft grunt, never taking his eyes off Mizuki as he said urgently, "Naruto! Don't give Mizuki that scroll, even if you die! That is a dangerous scroll, with ninjustu sealed in it! Mizuki used you to get his hands on it!" It made sense…a little too much sense for him. If Iruka knew that, who was to say that he wasn't a part of it?

He could hear a hint of malice in Mizuki's voice as he countered Iruka's accusation, noticing the smug superiority in his eyes. "Naruto, Iruka is afraid of you having that." That made sense too, though he didn't want to think of Iruka that way. But in this situation, he couldn't trust what anyone said.

"Mizuki, what are you talking about? Don't be fooled by him Naruto!" The urgency, the seeming sincerity…but he'd seen too much in his life to take those things at face value. Tone, even body language, could be made to lie. The happy-go-lucky kid that people saw from him was a form of that.

Mizuki smirked. "Don't worry Naruto, I'll tell you the truth." He seemed to be taking an unholy enjoyment in Iruka's pain, and his own confusion.

Naruto was surprised to see the fear that suddenly appear in Iruka. "No, don't!"

The other Chunin ignored him, continuing on with a ic laugh. "Thirteen years ago, after the Kyuubi attacked, a law was created in this village."

Naruto suddenly felt his insides churn, and an overwhelming feeling that this law was of incredible importance. It was something that he wanted to know, but he was also afraid of what it could be. He was somewhat surprised as he softly echoed Mizuki, "…a law?" What kind of law could possibly induce this kind of fear in his normally even tempered teacher? And even worse; reduce himself to the quiet whisper of his true self without having even heard it.

"This is a law that no one was allowed to tell you or the kids of your generation about." Mizuki seemed to be delighting in his confusion. Naruto felt a small stir of anger as he realized that Mizuki was trying to milk out his reaction.

He stood, straightening as he glared at Mizuki. His patients was running thin, as he yelled out, "What kind of law is it? What are you hiding from me?" He could dimly hear Iruka pleading with Mizuki not to tell him, but he could feel that this was beyond important, something he had to know. Something that explained everything...

Mizuki watched her face as he drawled, "The law is…that no one is allowed to speak the truth about you, that you are the Demon Fox." His eyes widened in shock as he continued. "That means that you…are the Kyuubi no Yoko that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed a large portion of the village!"

For a moment, his heart just about stopped. He could still hear Iruka screaming for Mizuki to stop as he continued on. "You were lied to by everyone. Didn't you ever find it odd how everyone despised you even though you did nothing wrong?" It all made terrible sense…the way the grown ups looked down on him for no reason he'd ever been able to find, the reason that they taught their children to do the same. It all fit together, it all made sense.

He could feel his anger and frustration surged as the full import of this truth hit him. Was he really was the Fox, deep down somewhere? The world faded to a dim, background pulse as he slowly struggled to digest this information. And still, he could hear Mizuki continue on, "No one will ever acknowledge you! Even Iruka despises you for what you are!"

The world paused for a mere heartbeat, that moment seeming to stretch on forever as he waited for something from Iruka…waited for a denial, for anything really. When nothing came the world lurched into motion, suddenly going far too fast as Mizuki reached behind him for one of his giant shuriken. So, he did the only thing he could...he submitted to the instinct that had been pounding in the back of his head take over, and bolted.

He had no idea where he was going, or what direction he was going, but at the moment, he really didn't care so long as he was away from Mizuki and Iruka. He needed to get as far away as possible. He subconsciously understood that he wasn't running out of fear for his teachers, but rather with the fact that he was being dumped with this unholy amount of new insight to his life, one that was making him question the people who were old enough to know about him, but didn't appear to care.

He continued at full speed for several minutes, before finally dropping down behind a tree…he could tell that he didn't have much energy left. Luckily, he was pretty sure that his two pursuers were far enough behind for him to rest.

Moments after he dropped to the ground he heard multiple thuds, and then voices, from the other side of the tree. First came Iruka's voice. "It can't be…how, Naruto? How did you know…I wasn't Iruka?" By the end of that, the voice was Mizuki's.

He was shocked for a moment to hear laughter in his own voice…and then the reply came in Iruka's voice. "Because, I'm Iruka." The prankster in him silently appreciated the trick, despite the situation. He might just use that later, if he survived. He held his breath as he strained to catch every bit of the conversation between the two. He didn't want to give himself away, after all.

Mizuki sounded amused as he answered. "I see…you'd even transform into the thing that killed your parents to protect him? After all he's done to you?"

Naruto wished he could lean out to see more as he listened to Iruka's answer. "I won't let the scroll fall into the hands of an idiot like you!" He wasn't sure what to think of that. Was he more worried about him, or the scroll?

Mizuki sounded smug. "You're an idiot. Naruto and I are the same." Was he really? He thought it over for a moment before he realized that he couldn't be sure now…he pulled his attention back to the present as Mizuki continued. "If you use the skills in that scroll, you can do whatever you want. I plan on using it to gain entry to a place where I can grow more powerful without weaklings like you holding me back. There's no way that the Kyuubi no Yoko won't try to use that power!"

"Yeah…" He gritted his teeth at Iruka's answer, and his mind began to black out. Iruka, his brother-like figure, was admitting he was a monster. Had it been an act from the beginning? He was in such a rage that he almost missed what Iruka said as he continued on. "He would…if he were the Demon Fox. But he's different. I've acknowledged him as one of my excellent students! He's hard working, and dedicated. But because he's clumsy, no one acknowledges him, no one helps him exceed. He already knows what it is like to feel pain, true pain. He isn't the Kyuubi no Yoko…he's Uzumaki Naruto, a future shinobi of Konoha!"

Mizuki snorted derisively. "You're hopeless Iruka." Naruto could hear the soft clink of a weapon being taken out. "You know, I said I would take care of you later, but I've changed my mind! Time for you to die!"

Naruto suddenly charged out from his hiding spot. He could feel the world slowing down, coming to a crawl as he moved to intercept the person attempting to kill the person who had acknowledge him. The world looked sharper, as all of his anger, intent, and focus was centered on his former sensei. Then, his world sped up as he kicked the traitorous Chunin with a foot to the face, knocking his weapon from it's intended target to spin uselessly off into the woods. As Mizuki went flying, landing and skidding back several feet, Naruto landed in a crouch that was far more graceful than the usual sprawl he managed, though in a feral sort of way. He quickly stood up, slamming one end of the huge scroll on the ground, and balanced it there with one hand as he growled out, "If you touch Iruka-sensei, I'LL KILL YOU!"

Mizuki stood, all trace of his previous smug amusement gone as he yelled angrily, "Shut up! I can kill a punk like you in one shot!"

He felt his anger surge, and he brought his hands up to form the seal for his newly learned jutsu. "Try it, trash! I'll return the pain a thousand times % " As Mizuki rushed him, snarling almost incoherently, Naruto glanced back at Iruka. "I didn't really want you to see this till tomorrow Iruka-sensei, but it's the only thing I've got! Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A large cloud of smoke suddenly filled the clearing, forcing Mizuki to stop in his tracks. When the smoke of the jutsu cleared, the stunned Mizuki was surrounded by hundreds of Naruto clones, all just as angry looking as the original.

Mizuki's eyes widened as he realized that these were physical clones, and could deal out real damage. Naruto grinned darkly as he stared at his former teacher. "What's the matter Mizuki-sensei, I though you could kill a punk like me in one shot! Well, if you won't move, I'll take you down first!" The suddenly frightened Chunin trampled under the falling Naruto, and beat within an inch of his life as the original Naruto headed over to Iruka.

When Mizuki had fallen unconscious, he released the jutsu and crouched in front of his teacher. "Iruka-sensei, are you okay?"

The Chunin was obviously in pain, but smiling as he nodded at her. "Yeah, I think I'll be fine." A smile quickly formed on his face. "You've been having problems with the Bunshin no Jutsu, haven't you?"

Naruto chuckled nervously. "Yea, I guess so." Then he glanced at the ground, looking almost ashamed. "But, I can do the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu without any problem. Iruka-sensei, is there something wrong with me?"

Iruka looked at Naruto curiously. "Naruto, Mizuki may have been lying to you about everything else, but he most certainly right in saying that that jutsu is something only elite Jonin know how to do. Which means that you must have more than enough skill to do so."

Naruto's jaw dropped. He had no idea that he'd learned such a cool jutsu. Now he'd definitely be able to kick Sasuke-teme's ass! But another thought quickly came into his mind. "So, does this clone really count as a kind of Bunshin?"

Iruka nodded. "Yes, it is. Although, we usually figured that kids actually listened when we talked about different clones. But, I'll make sure that when you pass the Genin exam tomorrow, I have a full pocket to buy you lots of ramen!"

Naruto looked confused for a moment before what he said finally hit him. And as he figured it out, he flung himself at Iruka, enveloping him in a tackle. "Thank you Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka just chuckled, wincing slightly in pain. "You're welcome Naruto. You're welcome."


AN: Alright, this is my first fanfiction; yay me! For all those of you who are confused, I've decided that the Gennin are generally fourteen when they graduate. This is because it makes any future romance a little more believable (future romance not including lemons or other such things). That, and it makes a more mature Naruto seem a little more believable because he's been through more. However, this doesn't mean that he can't act as childish as he does in Cannon, he'll just be a little bit smarter where it counts. Also, please don't ask about pairings; they've already been decided.

For those of you who complained about missing things, their filled now! So please, REVIEW!!!