Chapter I

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (due to an unlucky coincidence)

A/N: Yay! My first fic ever! please read it and review people!

Naruto glanced up from where he sat in the classroom; front row, carefully not quite next to Sasuke, as per usual. He had looked up just in time to see the door quietly swinging open to reveal the kid that Naruto was still thinking of as the 'new boy', even though he vaguely remembered that this boy had been showing up to class for a good three weeks or so. He had even sat next to Naruto once or twice in that time. Which didn't necessarily mean that Naruto knew his name.

The boy stepped forward and then hesitated before proceeding. He had brownish skin in addition to brown eyes and hair. Most unusual in Konoha. Naruto assumed that he was looking for somewhere to sit, until he realized that the boy's eyes were fixed on the wall above the top row of seats. He was not trying to catch anyone's eye. The kid turned slightly, his hands clasped behind his back and meandered over to where Sasuke sat, by the left-hand windows, until he was standing right in front of the broody emo. When he got there, he unclasped his hands from behind his back and propped them on the edge of the desk, leaning forward to peer into Sasuke's face. Naruto stared, intrigued.

The Uchiha glanced away from the window to find the new boy studying him with frowning concentration, his face uncomfortably close to Sasuke's own. When he had the emo's attention, the boy nodded decisively. "Yup. It does look like a duck's butt." Sasuke froze for a moment, as did a few of his nearby fan girls, before contemptuously breaking eye contact and turning to look out the window once again.

At that moment, just as the boy dropped his hands from the desk to stand up straight again, two of the Uchiha's most adamant fans burst into the room. "I'm going to sit next to Sasuke-kun!" shrilled Sakura.

"No, I am! I totally got here first!" declared Ino.

"No, I did! I'll sit next to him!"

"No, me!"

"Ino-pig!"

"Forehead!"

"No!" screamed the new boy, scaring the shit out of everyone nearby. "I'M going to sit next to Sasuke-kun!" So saying, he vaulted over the desk in front of him and slid onto the bench beside to Uchiha, who was staring at him with round, shocked eyes. The boy sidled along the bench, crowding Sasuke up against the window before shooting him and enormous, insane grin. "Hey, Sasuke-kun."

Naruto stared at the boy along with the rest of the class. "Who are you?" he asked. He was currently filled with admiration for the boy. He had just shut up the entire class with only two sentences.

The boy shot him another grin. "Oscar Junomaru!"

Naruto looked at him skeptically. "Really?"

Oscar gave him a wounded look, still squashing Sasuke up against the window. "Well, yeah. I know it's a weird name, but it works for me. You're Naruto Uzumaki. Future Hokage and currently on your third try at passing the genin test, and frequenter of that little ramen booth in town."

Surprised, Naruto asked the obvious question. "How'd you know that?"

"I have been here for a few weeks. Even though not many people actually talked to me, there's some stuff you just pick up. Even if most of it is just crap about ol' duck-butt here." He nudged Sasuke in the ribs.

At that point, Iruka entered the classroom, necessitating Oscar to scoot over away from the Uchiha and sit up straighter. As he did, Naruto recognized a genin headband hanging around the boy's neck. Confused, he leaned forward enough to see the village symbol on the plate. It was the overlapping ovals of Kumo. Naruto resolved to talk to him after class.

Naruto caught up with Oscar as they were leaving the academy building, catching hold of the other boy's hand. Oscar swung around, surprised. "What? Do you need something?" he asked.

"I just want to talk'" the blonde boy said. "Will you walk with me?"

Oscar gave him a slightly uncertain look. "I guess so…."

They began to walk. Neither really had a destination in mind, so they began to meander in the direction of the training fields. Naruto took a breath. "I have some questions for you," he said, in as close to a level voice as he had ever come.

"What about?"

"Well firstly, why did you give me that funny look when I asked you just to walk with me?"

"I was just surprised," the dark boy looked down at his feet. "No one's ever just asked to talk to me, even back home and especially not here. That's why I yelled my head off today in class. I wanted to be sure that everyone knew me and my name." He grinned. "Also, that was fun!"

"Yeah it was! That stunt you pulled was pure genius! Were you planning it all along?"

"Well, yeah. I'm kinda getting sick of the way everyone treats that Uchiha kid. Not good for anyone."

"How do you mean?" Naruto asked, frowning. He privately agreed that the way everyone pandered to the Uchiha was annoying, but he was used to it and he didn't think it was doing any harm.

Oscar frowned, slightly frustrated. "It's like…they don't view him as a person, more like some precious artifact. Everyone teaches him and follows him around, thinking they're treating him right when they're really doing more harm than good. When he finally gets sent on a mission to a foreign village, he won't be used to assimilating because here, everyone treats the fact that he's different and isolated as a good thing. Also, they're doing untold harm to him by not allowing him to grow up a normal child. I know the death of his clan would have made it hard for him to enjoy life for at least a while, but really, if you step back and take another look, the kid has no friends and no family figures, he has no one to turn to that he can intimately trust, and none of the support he needs. Everyone treats him like an adult and he puts up with it, thinking that he's fulfilling their expectations and doing his mind and personality untold harm!"

Naruto marveled. "You've put a lot of thought into this."

Oscar snorted derisively. "Not like I've had anyone one else to talk to. Until now." He gave Naruto a warm smile. "Sasuke's not the only one I've been evaluating. Information gathering is part of a shinobi's job."

Naruto remembered something else that he had wanted to ask. "You're already a genin, right? Why have you been coming to the academy?"

"My parents sent me with a note to the Hokage. In it, they apparently asked that I be allowed to attend the academy until the genin exams so I could meet some of the people my age. That way, once the team assignments come around, I'll already know the people on whatever team I'm assigned to."

"Oh…so, you came from Kumo, right? That's where you must have gotten the headband. Where are you staying?"

"Staying?" Oscar's face took on a haunted expression. "You mean as in sleeping? Indoors? I actually couldn't afford to rent a place yet…I mean I have some money but it wasn't quite…I mean I haven't really had time to look for a place what with going to school and stuff."

Naruto took pity on him. "Well, there are a bunch of empty apartments in my building, you could probably take one of those…after all, nobody cares what goes on in the top floor. Yeah! You could definitely use of those!"

Oscar stood frozen. "Really?" He whispered.

"Um yeah. Are you-?"

"Yay!" Oscar gave a cheer at the top of his voice and threw his arms around his startled companion. "You are the awesomest! Can you take me there? Now?"

Naruto was not entirely sure how, but he ended up giving his new friend a ride on his back up the stairs to his new apartment.

When they reached the top floor of the apartment building, Naruto let Oscar slide off to the floor. He opened the second door along. "This is my room," he explained "You can look around if you want to." The shorter boy peered around the edge of the door.

"Are there more rooms?"

The blonde nodded in confirmation. "Here. You take this one." Naruto lead him back up the hall to the first door they had passed. "Do you want to get settled, or do something else?" Naruto asked, awkwardly standing in the door.

Oscar glanced at him. "I think I'll get settled in here, if you don't mind. What about you? What do you do once the academy lets out for the day?"

"I'm going to go down to the practice fields and try to do a little training, actually."

"Maybe I'll join you later."

"Okay!" Naruto closed the door and bounded away; relieved to get a chance to do some training, although he knew he would probably end up pulling up a new prank instead.

The next day at the academy, Oscar came in and immediately sat himself between Sasuke and Naruto, giving all of the awe-stuck fan girls a hard stare to keep them off his back. Then he turned to Sasuke and began to make conversation, or tried to. From where Naruto was sitting, it didn't look like the Uchiha was doing any of the talking. Because of this, it seem that Oscar was getting a little exasperated, demonstrated by the statement, "Alright, so you don't want to talk. Why don't I ask you questions and I'll take silence for yes and an eye-roll for no."

Sasuke quickly closed his eyes before they betrayed his 'no' to this suggestion. "You can do whatever you want. It doesn't matter to me," he replied flatly.

"Oh so you're not mute!" Oscar cried out gleefully. He twisted around in his seat and stared up at Kiba, who appeared to be lying low. "Oi! Kiba!" he shouted. "Pay up!"

"You made a bet with Kiba?" Naruto asked, incredulously.

"Yeah. He bet me that I couldn't make Sir-emo talk," he grinned triumphantly. "I can make almost anyone talk. Especially if they really don't want to."

"You should be in Torture and Interrogation," Naruto said, respectfully.

"That's what I'm aiming for," the brown-eyed boy replied, soberly. Then a thoughtful expression came into his eyes. "I have an idea. Lets go for ramen later. Kiba's treat."

"All right!"

"And Sasuke will come too."

"What? Why?" Naruto asked, almost distracted from the prospect of ramen.

"Because if he had completely refused to talk, we wouldn't be going," he explained, not unreasonably. He turned to the sulking boy on his left to consult him. "What do you say? Wanna come?"

Sasuke regarded him for a few seconds. Then, when everyone was sure he would either refuse or stay silent, he gave a tiny nod, not so much as shifting his expression. "Very well."

Oscar grinned even wider. He got up, edged past Naruto, went up the aisle and stood before Shikamaru, who had his head down on the desk. "You," Oscar said, pointing at Shikamaru, much to everyone's confusion. "You pay up, too. I got him to agree."

The lazy boy gave an indistinct mutter. Oscar frowned. "Pay me after, then. You can come too, if you want." Shikamaru seem to deliberate for a second, then agreed. Oscar gave a nod and went back down the aisle to his seat between Sasuke and Naruto.

Naruto gave him a disbelieving look. "Are you inviting everyone?"

The brown-haired boy shook his head. "Not everyone, just enough people to make Shikamaru and Kiba hard-pressed to cover the bill," he said blissfully. He slid down in his chair, crossed his legs at the ankles, leaned back and sighed happily. "I love getting here early."

Just then, Iruka walked in.

"You know, the genin exam is in a couple of days," Naruto commented to Oscar as they walked back to the apartment (Oscar wanted to drop off his books before heading to the training field.)

"I know," The shorter boy replied, "but I don't have to retake the test, remember?" He indicated his Kumo forehead protector that was hanging around his neck.

"Oh yeah." Naruto brooded for a moment, allowing himself to remember his past failures in that area. "Listen, do you mind if I go and get a head-start in training? I still need to practice cloning. Can you go by yourself and then meet up with me?"

"No problem," He responded. "You go on."

"Thanks," Naruto said, relieved. The fact was, his clones were still looking like they had been put through a mangle every time he succeeded in forming some. He was starting to panic slightly at that prospect of repeating a year at the academy once more. He hurried off.

Oscar walked back to the apartment on his own, absorbed in his own thoughts. After he dumped his books on his bed, he made his way down the stairs and out into the street. Walking slowly, he made his way toward the large training field that his friend preferred to use. People hardly ever used it, so Naruto had figured that no one would see him there, wrestling desperately with the clone jutsu. Oscar had already offered his assistance, but Naruto had turned him down.

Not quite paying attention to his surroundings, as people who know a route quite well often do, the dark boy came to his senses in the small wooded copse that bordered Naruto's preferred training ground. He was not alone. Standing roughly thirty feet in front of Oscar, her back turned toward him, was an unmistakable dark-haired girl. She was standing peering out from around a tree, watching her favorite blue-eyed boy. With this attraction occupying her attention, she had not even noticed Oscar standing behind her.

A wicked smirk graced his lips. Yes he knew it was cruel, but the opportunity was too good to miss, and, anyway, he would make it up to her by helping her out later. He sneaked forward, careful not to let her hear him. When he was almost directly behind her, he stretched out two fingers and poked her hard in the ribs "TAZER!"

Hinata jumped about a mile and whipped around, her hand snapping out in reflex and catching Oscar in the side of the head sending him reeling. When she realized what she had just done, her face flooded red and she snatched her hands back. "O-Oscar-kun!" she gasped, "are you a-alright?"

He sat up in the long grass. "Ow. Yes. That'll teach me to sneak up on a taijutsu specialist." He groaned, getting to his feet and rubbing his head. "I think I really need to work on that whole 'look before you leap' thing. Really, Oscar, what were you expecting?"

Oscar's berating himself was not doing anything for Hinata's guilt. She was almost in tears as she stuttered, "I'm s-so s-sorry Oscar-k-kun. I didn't m-mean… I mean I d-didn't expect… I-I mean… I'm s-sorry!"

"What's happening?" Hinata started and blushed even harder as her long-time crush peered around a tree and into her staring face.

"Nothing," Oscar said smoothly, dropping his hands to his sides. "I was only asking her a question." He turned to Hinata, who was watching him lie with mixed terror and embarrassment. "Do you think you can hang around to explain it to me, or do you have to leave now? You said you had something that you have to get to soon. Do you think you should go now so your escort doesn't worry?"

The shy girl was extremely grateful. He had just provided her an excuse to leave and not look like she was running away while at the same time, providing an excuse to stay and talk to him and Naruto for a little while longer if she wanted to. However, as she knew she was something of a coward, she took the easy way out. "Th-thank you f-for reminding me Oscar-kun. I th-think I ought to g-go n-now. G-goodbye Oscar, N-naruto-kun." She scuttled off, highly ashamed, but relieved all the same.

Both boys watched her go. "Weird," Naruto commented. "What were you talking about?"

"Oh, nothing," Oscar said, waving away the question. He paused, "What do you think of her," he asked, probing his friend for Hinata's sake.

Naruto gave a halfhearted shrug. "She's quiet." He thought for a moment. "She also doesn't hit people just because."

Oscar supposed this was as good as it was going to get, for now.

On the morning of the genin exam, Naruto woke early to fit in a little last-minute clone practice. He was certain that this was the year he would finally pass. His clones were looking a little misty and like they had hangovers, but Naruto figured that if he forced himself to look like that too while he was performing the jutsu, Iruka would think that the clones were in fact perfect copies. Armed with his own certainty, Naruto roused Oscar, an unusually tricky and dangerous task that morning. After ensuring that his friend could stand without assistance, they set off for the academy together.

Once they were inside, Naruto headed for his customary front-row seat, but was once again surprised when his groggy friend set off up the aisle and plopped himself down next to Shikamaru. Naruto followed Oscar up the aisle to ask why.

"Because I didn't get enough sleep and Shika won't make too much noise," Came the muffled reply, Oscar having put his arms on the desk and buried his face in them. "Go away."

Naruto shrugged and went down to his own seat to take up his usual vigil of glaring daggers at his rival, Sasuke. When Iruka entered the classroom, Naruto for once quit glaring and sat up straighter, a look of eager anticipation on his face. Iruka smiled softly at his student, trying to give the impression of being certain of Naruto's passing.

Naruto beamed and settled own in his seat to wait for his own turn. He soon grew bored of waiting for his own turn and of watching his classmates go up one by one and performing the three basic jutsu perfectly. "There had better be a hitai-ate left for me when the rest of them finish," He muttered, sliding down in his seat and closing his eyes.

He was jerked out of his fantasies of becoming a ninja when he heard his own name, "Uzumaki Naruto."

His eyes opened and he shot out of his seat, arms raised above his head. "I'm gonna make it this year!" he yelled, oblivious to the eye rolls he was getting from his peers. He stepped out into the aisle and strode forward until he was standing before of Iruka at the front of the classroom.

Iruka gave him an encouraging nod. "Okay, Naruto. You know the drill."

Naruto smirked confidently as he executed a perfect kawirimi with the chair that had been hauled out for this purpose. Then he formed the handseal for a henge and became an exact double of his sensei, Iruka. After letting Iruka examine the henge for imperfections and receiving the word to continue, he dropped Iruka's form to concentrate better. With perfect certainty, he went through the hand seals for bunshin no jutsu, focusing on forming two clones. Because he had made it this far, he rushed a little, his fingers fumbling. He felt the clones spring into being behind him and the chakra he was channeling falter and knew that something had gone wrong. One look at his sensei's face confirmed his worst fears. He slowly turned around and stared hard at his clones, the results of hours of practice. They resembled nothing so much as two corpses that had been run over by cart horses and then stuffed into orange jumpsuits.

His shoulders slumped in disappointment. Miserable, he turned to head back to his seat, though he would have desired more to flee from the scene of his humiliation. He numbly sat through the rest of the day, sat through Iruka's instructions to the new genin to arrive at the academy tomorrow to receive their team assignments. When everyone was dismissed, Naruto stood up and shuffled out, head hanging and eyes downcast so as not to catch anyone's eye. If he had been looking around, he might have noticed a certain lavender-eyed kunoichi gazing after him in sympathy and concern.

Naruto found that he felt too tired, all of a sudden, to walk all the way back to his apartment. As soon as he was outside, his feet carried him to the nearest swing and he sank on to it. He was not aware of how long he sat there, nor was he aware of the parents of his classmates passing him. He only came to his senses when he heard someone behind him clear his throat. Naruto raised his head slowly and twisted around. Behind him stood Mizuki-sensei. Apparently he had a proposition to redeem Naruto and earn him the genin title at last. Naruto's ears pricked up.

Naruto sighed. He had been waiting for Mizuki to show up for what felt like hours to the hyperactive blonde. Could it be that he had turned up early? Maybe. He had certainly left himself enough time to steal the scroll and get to the meeting place specified by his sensei. Ah well. Nothing left to do but kill time.

After a few minutes of boredom, it occurred to the boy that stealing the huge scroll had been relatively easy. Would it really be accepted as a replacement for knowing the basic three jutsus? Perhaps this was a new kind of test. Infiltration mixed with Information-gathering? If that were so, it would follow that the blonde was supposed to profit from the scroll he had lifted. His actions justified to the boy's satisfaction, he hastened to sit down and spread the scroll out in front of him. He eagerly began to read.

He was, however, slightly annoyed to find that the first new jutsu on the scroll, the shadow-clone, was a more difficult version of the ever-elusive clone. He supposed that, since this was a different variation, despite being more complicated, it might, in fact, be easier to accomplish with his huge chakra stores than the normal clone jutsu, seeing as it was the volume of raw chakra that had caused his normal clones to form mangled most of the time. The scroll seemed to indicate that it took an awful lot of chakra to make a shadow-clone.

In the past, he had always tried to form normal clones two at a time, that being the required number for an academy student to form in order to become a genin. Naruto decided to try making just one of the new shadow-clones, focusing on chakra control as he formed the seals. He was not to know that channeling too much chakra into a shadow clone would not screw it up like it would with a normal clone. He knew that it took more control to form just one normal clone than it did to form an army. For a large number, he could channel all that chakra he could spare without restraint and then form the seal, ending up with a ridiculous number of clones, but for a single clone, he had to ensure that he didn't let too much chakra flow or he would overload the clone jutsu and produce a clone good for absolutely nothing. Naruto thought that these same principals applied to shadow-clones as well. Naruto thought his control probably wasn't good enough to bring off a single perfect shadow clone the first time. He knew he should start with a large number and work his way down in order to hone his control along the way, but hey- the boy wasn't exactly known for his patience.

So he focused fiercely on only letting out a tiny bit of chakra (from his perspective) and formed the seal indicated in the scroll. With a poof of smoke, a perfect shadow-clone appeared sitting in front of Naruto on the grass. "Yes!" The original cried, extremely smug at producing his first-ever perfect clone of any kind.

The shadow-clone before him blinked confusedly. "Who are you?" it asked dazedly.

Naruto was a little put off that it would have to ask, but that wasn't quite enough to curb his boundless enthusiasm. "I am Naruto Uzumaki, soon to be the fifth Hokage! I created you! You are my clone," the boy said eagerly. It was so cool to be talking to himself.

The shadow-clone was not impressed, however. "You can't be Naruto," It said, a touch heatedly. "I'm Naruto! And I'm the one who's going to be the fifth Hokage." It glared at him with his own blue eyes.

Naruto was kind of confused and definitely starting to get annoyed. "We're the same person! It's just that I'm the real one and you're a copy of me! It says here," Naruto indicated the secret scroll spread out between him and his clone, "that when I create a shadow-clone like you, you start out with all of the same memories as me until you start to make your own. And when you're dispelled, I get all of the memories you made!"

The shadow-clone glared at him. "But I remember making a clone! You must be the clone! I can't be wrong! I am Naruto Uzumaki! Everyone will respect and recognize me, even if I have to prank this whole village to achieve that! You will respect me! You must be that clone I made!"

Naruto stared at the irate shadow-clone. Maybe it was defective or something. He didn't really act like that, did he?

The clone wasn't finished with his rant. "No one has ever shown kindness to me! Not even my own clone! Why can't you be kind to me? Why can't I even hold a civil conversation with myself? I can't trust anyone, can I? I mean, you know how badly I was treated as a child! After all, you were the one who said," The clone faltered a little before going on, "that's right. You were the one who pointed out that a clone has all of the memories of the creator. You have to remember all of those mobs! Why can't you just cut me some slack? I was all happy about finally making a good clone for once but then you have to go and be all rude and annoying…no respect…after all, I did make you…." The clone glared at Naruto, breathing heavily. "Brat," It spat.

Naruto was sitting back leaning against a tree by this time, his head on one side, considering the glaring clone. "Are you done?" He asked patiently. "'Cause if your not, I advise you to wrap it up. Mizuki will be here soon, and I have things to think about other than defective clones."

The clone's eyes flashed in hard rage. Naruto was not impressed. He was used to angry looks wherever he went. Although, as it seemed, the clone was not quite done. "You do not yet respect me, do you? You can't possibly be my clone. Who are you? Is this some kind of villager trick? Are you some other shinobi who is determined to make my life even more miserable by playing a prank on me? Did you just henge into a copy of me just to raise my hopes by making me think that I had finally achieved a perfect clone? Out with it! Who sent you? Isn't there anyone I can trust in this log-damn village?"

Naruto was appalled. "Hey, I know your upset, but you must not use the log's name in vain! What kind of clone are you?" he shouted.

"Clone?" The copy shrieked, "Clone? I'm not a clone and neither are you! This must be some sort of villager prank!"

But Naruto was no longer attending. His ears pricked up as he heard the bushes rustle. He turned hastily to the clone. "Dispel," he told it, "quickly." The clone opened his mouth to continue ranting and showed no inclination to dispel. So Naruto dispelled it instead, hastily rolling up the scroll and slinging it across his back.

He turned as the bushes parted, not to reveal Mizuki, but Iruka. Iruka stared at him, just as confused. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Naruto was wondering the same about his sensei. "I came to meet Mizuki-sensei," he explained. "Did he send you to meet me instead? Does he want me to give you the scroll to give to him?"

Iruka's eyes widened in shock as he recognized the enormous scroll that his student was reaching for, "Where did you get that?" he asked, his voice feigning calm but shaking a little with the effort.

Naruto was a little suspicious now. It caused him a little jolt to realize that he did indeed become paranoid and suspicious as hastily as his shadow clone had. "I stole it," he explained. "Mizuki told me that if I stole the Forbidden scroll and gave it to him, he would make me a genin. Didn't he tell you?"

Iruka looked suddenly alarmed. "No he did not. Naruto, whatever you do, you are not to give that scroll to Mizuki, do you understa-" Iruka was suddenly cut off by a hail of kunai which flew from the trees and pinned Iruka to the side of a shed, several of them piercing his skin. "Go!" he gasped at Naruto. "Don't give it to him!"

Naruto tilted his head back to see his other sensei, Mizuki, standing in the tree above him. "What's this all about?" Naruto asked quietly, trying to master his feelings.

Mizuki didn't even hear him. He held out a hand. "Give me the scroll," he said calmly, staring straight into Naruto's eyes. "You have no need of it. Do you want to know why? I bet you will. It has to do with why everyone hates you. Even Iruka over there. He hates you too. Do you want to know why?"

Behind Naruto, Iruka began to yell. "No! Don't say it, Mizuki! Don't listen to him, Naruto! Don't give it to him no matter what he says! Run!" But no one listened to the trapped man.

Mizuki's eyes narrowed, knowing he had the attention of the boy. "You know the story, don't you? How, twelve years ago, your idol, the Forth Hokage, defeated the mighty Kyuubi, the Nine Tailed Demon Fox."

The boy nodded, almost unconsciously, eyes still fixed on the figure in the tree.

"Well, most people know that story," Mizuki continued, "but only some people know the true story. The Forth Hokage, no matter how powerful he was, was nowhere near strong enough to actually slay the Kyuubi. So instead, he sealed it- at the cost of his own life. Sealed it inside the only baby born on the day of the Kyuubi's attack, October 10. Your birthday, I believe." He smiled the cold satisfied smile of someone who knows he's right and that there's nothing you can do about it.

Naruto's mind reeled. He was the Kyuubi? Was he then responsible for all of those deaths on the night of the Kyuubi's attack? No wonder the villagers hated him. No wonder he had grown up so suspicious and unfriendly. No wonder… Naruto shook himself mentally. He had been standing frozen to the spot, something no good shinobi would do. Mizuki was trying to weaken his defenses by catching him off guard. Well that was not about to happen. For the first time since Mizuki had started his speech, Naruto came to a decision and spoke. "Well," he said, loud enough for both of his senseis to hear. "It's interesting and all, but so going to repress those feelings right now. I can think about it later, but right now, the most important thing is to keep you away from this scroll!" Naruto had broken eye contact with Mizuki, but he looked up again to find that the man heaving and enormous shuriken at him. With great presence of mind, Naruto's fingers began flying to form the sign for a kawirimi, but he was interrupted in his jutsu when Iruka, who had worked himself free, threw himself into the path of the shuriken. Naruto was thrown onto his back, staring up into Iruka's face.

"Run," Iruka whispered. "I understand why you always acted like nothing could hurt you. It was because you were hurting so much on the inside that you had to find some way to let it out. I know because I acted the same way after the Kyuubi killed my parents, acting like I didn't care because I didn't know how to tell people that I did. I do not hold you responsible for what happened on the night you were born. I'm sorry. But now, I need you to run. Protect the scroll and yourself and run." Naruto stared searchingly into Iruka's eyes before sliding out from under him, scrambling to his feet and dashing off into the trees.

He stopped running before long, out of sight but not too far. He calmed himself, repressing his feelings of shock. He was the Kyuubi? No. He mustn't think of that now. Iruka had bought him some time, but he wasn't going to run away. Iruka understood him. He had to go back, but he also needed a plan. The only thing that sounded remotely like a good idea to him was to form as many of those solid shadow clones as he could and hope the sheer numbers would stop them from rebelling against him.

Suddenly he heard voices behind him. He listened closely and recognized his two senseis' voices. Talking about him. He was touched at the way Iruka defended him; calling Naruto one of his best students. Iruka's loyalty lit fire in him. He stood up, determined to defend his teacher. His friend. He peeked out from behind the tree to see Mizuki bearing down on Iruka. Without a moment to lose, Naruto leapt out of hiding, knee up, and kicked Mizuki, hard, across the face.

Mizuki reeled back and fell to the ground, his second giant shuriken spinning out of his hand. Without waiting to engage in banter, Naruto formed a handseal and called out, "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" He poured every ounce of his chakra into the jutsu and the results were staggering. In no time at all, the clearing was awash with orange-clad figures. They all leered at Mizuki and, at the original's signal, pounced.

Iruka watched with astonished admiration as the Narutos proceeded to beat the crap out of Mizuki. When he was sure Naruto was finished and that all of the shadow clones had been dispelled, Iruka called the blonde boy over and instructed him to close his eyes. When Iruka gave him the okay, Naruto open his eyes again, to find that he had Iruka-sensei's forehead protector tied around his own head. He barely heard the words that Iruka spoke as he tackled him, hugging fiercely.

A/N: Wow. feels great to have finished the first chapter. You'll find Oscar very thoroughly involved in all future events, though it's still Naruto's story. And guys, I am not about to change Oscar's name. I'm not sure what to say. Sorry? If it makes you feel any better, I had to come up with a last name for Oscar a few days ago. So his full name is Oscar Junomaru. In addition, my other OC has as Japanese-sounding a name I could make up without actually knowing if it really means anything already. His name is Jaitan.

If you want to check out their bios, they're on my author page. I'm not entirely sure when I can next update, and it feels a bit optimistic to say I'll have it in a week, but I certainly will try to have it up soon. Enjoy! Review!