A/N: Hey guys, SamHetfield on the road again. This one story is that other side project thingy I was telling you guys about as I was writing The Trial Of Time. It's basically another revamp of Naruto discovering his heritage, while kicking ass and taking names. Since he's becoming Genin right now, he will not become quite mature just yet. I might as well read Kenchi618's stories all over again to try and get the badass, acid-humored, ladies' man Naruto that I've always wanted to write, despite the fact that he looks like a dumbass in this one particular chapter. Don't worry, I'll work on that.
Speaking of ladies' man Naruto, I want to explain my reasoning for this character building. There's something about a well-written Naruto/many-girls story that it just feels… right. I mean… the guy is a fucking saint. He solves problems, uses the almighty Chiryou no Jutsu to make people think over their pain and suffering, he saves the day and the world AND still manages to be the good old-fashioned loud and obnoxious shounen hero that we all love. And he's too honest and kindhearted to simply hurt a girl's feelings, so you get the idea. After reading a few nice NaruXHarem stories, you kinda broaden your horizons, you know? I'm still a diehard NaruXHina fan, though, so you can expect that as this story goes on.
And not only that, I'm practicing something I've been eager to do in TOH but I was never able to. And that is putting soundtrack on the fanfic. I've seen it in rasEnshur1KEn's The Element Of Time, and it is downright awesome! Basically, I put a track, and you play it, either on your media player or finding it on the Internet. When it's finished, you either wait for the song to end, because it's closing off already, or you skip it to the end, because that's how Pierrot Studios works. If it works out alright, let me know. And if you want me to implement this on TOH, let me know as well.
And with that said, let's get this thing moving already. And as I told everyone previously, The Orange Hokage will have its next chapter updated by next Tuesday or earlier, so wait for that too. And that's a wrap. Enjoy the story!
Konohagakure no Sato, somewhere around the southwest forest, 1 AM...
In an old and abandoned part of this forest, around a small wooden house once used for training and weapons storage, a young boy sat down, carrying a large scroll wrapped around his back. He had blonde hair as bright as the sun and deep cerulean blue eyes, as striking as the sky itself. But the most noticeable aspect of the young boy was certainly the three little whiskers on each side of his cheeks, which looked a bit like fox whiskers. Another noticeable trait was the bright orange jumpsuit he wore, which seemed to say "KILL ME NOW", considering the world that he lived in. Seriously, who the hell could wear that, for Kami's sake?
His name is Uzumaki Naruto, known as the most notorious prankster that the almighty village of Konoha has ever seen in its history. Just yesterday, his latest prank was painting the Hokage Monument with buckets and buckets of wall paint. How did he get those, no idea. And how did he maneuver Chuunin, Jounin and even ANBU itself with that hideous and attention-drawing orange jumpsuit, even less so. Maybe he might have SOME talent as a shinobi, if his stealth says anything. But his performance at the Academy says otherwise.
He had just failed the Genin Shiken for the third time IN A ROW this afternoon. His taijutsu was barely passable, his usual grades at written exams were far below average and his genjutsu was one of, if not THE worst seen in ages. He couldn't even make a Bunshin to save his life. Even if he did pass, he would have passed as the dobe, the dead-last. No one expected anything great coming from him. He was shunned, looked down upon and downright ridiculed for his pranks, grades and goofy attitude. Forever a loser.
And yet... he kept his foxy-grin in his face. Yet he kept trying, and yet he dreamed and went on and on about how he was going to become Hokage. Not only that, a Hokage even greater and stronger than all who came before, including the Yondaime. Everyone knew of him, of course they did. Namikaze Minato, the legendary hero responsible for the death of the almighty Kyuubi no Youko, the strongest and deadliest of all Bijuu. His feat was one all would remember forever...
Except it wasn't entirely true. As a Bijuu, the Kyuubi is immortal. Even if someone did manage to "kill" it, in a few years the chakra that was part of its constitution, alongside negative feelings would simply resurrect it. So the Yondaime had another approach on this. He decided to seal the creature away in a newborn baby. The Hakke Fuuin no Shiki he performed on the newborn would slowly seep some of the demon's chakra inside the boy's natural coils, granting him unimaginable powers, and talent beyond equal to become the strongest Jinchuuriki (Power of Human Sacrifice, aka Bijuu Host) in the Elemental Nations, and the one true hero of Konoha. The one who kept the Kyuubi caged, and saved Konoha every day by just breathing air.
The baby that was chosen to endure this task was none other than Uzumaki Naruto himself. He became the Jinchuuriki, but all hopes and dreams the Yondaime had on him were buried in the mud by the villagers, who didn't tell the difference between the container and the beast contained within. Their anger, fear and hatred on the Bijuu made them shun, mistreat and ignore him. Naruto hardly ever heard his own name being spoken. They only called him 'that boy', 'monster', 'him'... his name was not even mentioned. Nor his surname. Out there, somewhere in the ethereal planes, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina were probably weeping. Their sacrifice was not duly respected, and their son was in deep pain.
Yes, there was this particular point. Minato was secretly married to a beautiful red-haired woman, remnant of the legendary Uzumaki clan of Uzushiogakure no Sato, and Naruto was their son. The number of people who knew of this secret could be counted with one hand. In a way, it was better that the other hidden villages did not acknowledge the presence of the son of both the Kiiroi Senkou and the Akai Chishio no Habanero, otherwise war would be inevitable. On the other hand, if the villagers knew that the Yondaime was so brave to the point that he sacrificed his own son with this burden, people would not look down so much upon him.
But what's done is done. Because of his condition, shops overcharged him and gave him all kinds of spoiled and poisoned food. Weapon stores would give him blunt equipment. One of the many fabrics stores came up with the idea of giving him that hideous orange jumpsuit, so he could be easier to spot and kill. And finally the reason why he was in the forest, with that large scroll on his back: the Academy instructors completely screwed up his education and learning. There was but one Academy instructor who didn't mistreat him.
Umino Iruka felt some empathy for the young Jinchuuriki. Just like Naruto, he lost his parents to the Kyuubi. For some time he couldn't see the difference between Jinchuuriki and Bijuu, but after a while, watching and observing the boy and receiving advices from Sarutobi Hiruzen, reinstated Sandaime Hokage and surrogate grandfather of the young Jinchuuriki, he saw within him a dedicated and clever boy. Sure, his grades were terrible, but his creativity for pranks and his stealth skills were incredible. Seriously, avoiding ANBU-nins wearing that much orange? The kid deserved a fucking award. But it was the lack of knowledge in the basic Academy skills that didn't allow him to hand over a hitaiate to his somewhat surrogate otouto.
It was in this moment that Touji Mizuki, one of the many instructors who despised Naruto, decided to make his move and get what he truly wanted. He approached Naruto and told him about a special test within the Academy to help out some potential talents who could not go to waste. The test was simple enough: go to the Hokage's office, grab a huge-ass scroll hidden in one of the drawers, go to the forest to hide for a while and practice one or more jutsus from the large badass scroll, wait for Mizuki to come, deliver the scroll and Bam! You are now a proper, bonafide shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato. Thanks for your time and have a nice day.
And that was precisely what Naruto went on to do. Getting the scroll was much easier than he first thought. Yeah, he did get caught red-handed by Hiruzen, but one single Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy Jutsu) rendered him unconscious from nasal bleeding. Old pervert... Naruto simply looked over a few drawers here and there, and easily enough, he grabbed the scroll and dashed towards the southwest forest borderline to practice the jutsu before delivering it to Mizuki. He was very happy with this new opportunity to achieve his dream.
"He he he he!" young Naruto cheered, sitting on the side of a tree. "Great! With the jutsus of this scroll, Mizuki-sensei will surely pass me and I'll get my own hitaiate! And then... Oh man, I can't even wait. Just one of the jutsus of this scroll will kick Sasuke-teme's ass! Sakura-chan will finally go out on a date with me, and then I'll be taking that hat off of Jiji's head in no time! Yosha! Let's do this, -Dattebayo!"
Naruto: The Gutsiest Of All Tales
Chapter 1 – Rise, Uzumaki Naruto! … … Or Is It… Namikaze?
Naruto unlocked the small tag that locked down the scroll and started unwrapping it to read it through. Since Naruto was not too good at reading, he felt the need of saying out loud what he read, to make sure that: One, he didn't make any mistakes while reading. Gee, what a dumbass. And two, to memorize it faster. So he read aloud the contents of the scroll, which were as followed:
[Naruto OST: Kakashi no Theme]
WARNING: The techniques you are about to see are all labeled as Kinjutsu (forbidden jutsu). The concept of Kinjutsu is fairly simple, as its name suggests. It shall be labeled as such whatever jutsu that meets these two particular characteristics:
1 – If the jutsu takes a considerate amount of risk to use it, whether affecting the user, his comrades or even the battlefield in general. Anything that is used as a last resort, but takes too much of its toll is immediately to be considered forbidden to use, unless at the most inevitable situation possible.
2 – If this jutsu goes against the laws of nature or moral conducts of men, not only the use of this jutsu will be forbidden, but the user itself may be brought to justice for whatever laws he broke to create or perform it. Honor might be reserved for samurai rather than ninja, but we are still human before anything else. Anyone who dares to disregard life so effortlessly for the sake of power and other petty ambitions will be punished, and hopefully its forbidden arts will be either forgotten, or improved on a more moral basis.
If you had particularly memorable experiences using or facing people who used the jutsus, please write them down in the special section built just for that purpose. And remember to honor the Will of Fire and protect your home and friends every day.
Senju Hashirama, Shodai Hokage.
Naruto was impressed. Are the jutsus on this scroll really so powerful that no one should learn to use them? Maybe Mizuki mistook it for another scroll, that's the only thing he could think of. Oh well, might as well go on with it and see what the fuss is all about with these jutsus.
"Let's see... first on the list is... Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu... Aw, man! Why does it have to the a damn Bunshin? I suck at these motherfucking things, -Dattebayo!" Naruto just frowned and scoffed. Why the hell was there a Bunshin technique in this scroll? Wasn't it supposed to have only the most badass jutsus known to men? It was in this very moment that something hit him...
"Wait... It has Kage on the name... maybe it's some kind of overpowered Bunshin that only the KAGE could be able to perform it! Hah! Sometimes I impress myself with my cleverness... well, Bunshin or not, I'm so mastering this, -Dattebayo! Now, let's see how this thing works..." His trail of thought was a bit farfetched, but oh well. It was a very neat Bunshin nonetheless. But to hell with it, let's just read through the contents.
Kage Bunshin and Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu
Basic Nature: Youton Ninpou;
Classification: Ninjutsu, Non-elemental Bunshin;
Recommended rank: Tokubetsu Jounin, B-rank kinjutsu;
Required hand signs: Tora (Tiger). But instead of the usual interlaced fingers, you turn the left hand 90° to the right (clockwise) to make a cross shape with your hands, and channel as much chakra as you can.
Creator: Senju Tobirama, with collaborations from Sarutobi Sasuke and Uzumaki Ikamuzu.
[End OST]
Naruto widened his eyes as he saw this particular point, and for three reasons. One, the name of the creator. The Nidaime Hokage was one of the most powerful shinobi in existence due to his unheard mastery over the Suiton techniques. He never knew he was a creative mind. Well, there you have it. He learned something new about one of the old dudes he wanted to surpass, and it felt nice.
The second reason was the first collaborator. If he considered how much time must have been since this jutsu was created, and using basic math skills, he would assume that this Sarutobi Sasuke guy was probably Jiji's father. Who would have known that Sasuke's own name was inspired because of this old guy? Maybe he was really awesome. No, wait, cast those thoughts aside, you're not supposed to praise the Uchiha-teme, dammit!
But what really caught his attention was the Uzumaki name. Did that mean that Naruto had a family? And by the looks of it, a pretty badass one? He had to ask Jiji later. One so old as he was sure knew something about the Uzumaki name, he was certain of it. Naruto put these thoughts aside. He decided to keep reading through the scroll. Maybe he would find something else that was interesting while he was at it.
[Naruto OST: Taiji / Naruto Shippuuden OST: Ninmu also fits just fine]
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is the improved and final version of the basic Bunshin, and takes it to a whole new level of usability. The first aspect is that, with the Youton nature, instead of creating distracting illusions, it actually creates physical copies, that can fight and think for themselves, allowing the user to create a vast number of strategies with it. Not only that, as long as the Kage Bunshin keeps itself active, once the caster focus some of his chakra, the clone will restore most of its strength to keep fighting. The clone usually dispels itself after a solid hit, but depending on the amount of chakra put into it, the clone might last longer.
Another positive aspect of this jutsu is its ability to return mental memory for the caster once the clone is dispelled. It means that, if the Kage Bunshin is sent on an enemy base to investigate it, once dispelled, the caster will regain the memories of the clone. It also means that the experience gained from mental training of any nature will be returned to the user, meaning that if the user is capable of creating, let's say 9 clones, and they all train for 2 hours, then the caster and its clones will accumulate a total of 20 hours of training, making it the ultimate training tool.
That's the part where Naruto got really excited about learning this jutsu. But then again, if you got the chance of using it for training and making yourself train to the bone, you could easily accumulate days, week, maybe even months of training in a short amount of time. That would probably make him have, by the end of a few months, or years, more training experience than all four Hokages combined. Another reason to be happy and eager to start practicing this jutsu and kicking their old fatasses. But let's keep reading, because it's not over.
There are two drawbacks from it, though. The first is the mental backlash provided by the dispelling. If the caster of the jutsu has too many clones dispelled at the same time, the number of information flowing in his head will mostly make him have mental strains, making it a risky technique to use, even for most experienced shinobi.
The second drawback is the chakra used for it. Not only the amount of chakra burst to use the technique is high enough, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu also disperses the user's chakra among its clones. That is why it's able to return experience in the first place. Being composed of the person's own chakra, any kind of mental experience and strain will be returned to the original caster. But it also means that the caster will have part of his chakra reserves heavily affected.
Picking the previous example of 9 clones being summoned, that would mean that the original caster has now only 10% of chakra within his system, which would mean certain death from sudden chakra depletion. The second being that with the 20 hours training regiment would also mean 20 hours of mental fatigue drilled in his head in a few seconds, also enough to kill most people from mental breakdown if not properly balanced. Unless you are an Uzumaki, don't try to use the Tajuu version.
The original idea of the jutsu came from a battle against the Uchiha clan in the Warring States in a castle at what nowadays is the Imperial City of Hi no Kuni. Since the Kage Bunshin was formed of the user's chakra, the Sharingan could not easily pick the difference between clone and caster, fooling the enemy with numbers rather than the overall quality of the shinobi. It proved to be effective, and it was one of the main triggers for the victory of the Senju-Uzumaki alliance against the Uchiha, which lead to the treaty of peace that ended up with the founding of Konohagakure no Sato.
"Wow..." said a flabbergast Naruto, amazed with everything he read so far. "Man, I gotta learn this awesome jutsu right now, -Dattebayo! Let's see if there's anything more that I should know..."
[End OST]
Special Comments Section – Tell us about your experience with Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.
"Well, first of all, I gotta hand it to my otouto. He was clever enough to come up with this technique. He was always the cold and calculating strategist of the bunch. And the Uzumakis! Dayum, whenever they used the Kage Bunshin it almost seemed like we had a couple extra armies. Gotta love the Uzumakis' amazingly high chakra levels. Can you imagine them having the chakra control of a medic-nin? Many memorable moments with this jutsu. Specially with Mito-chan. Having an Uzumaki for a wife is the best thing that ever came to me, I swear to Kami..."
***Senju Hashirama, Shodai Hokage***
Naruto sweat-dropped when he read that particular line from the Shodai. Who would have thought that the legendary and almighty founder of Konoha was such a pervert? And wait a minute... once more the Uzumaki name appeared. Wife of THE Shodai? Damn, how come he never learned of these things? He had a Kami-damn family after all! Jiji owned him some serious explanation after this... Off to the next comment, then.
"If I had one thing to say about the jutsu created by Tobirama-dono, is that it was our ultimate life savior. Uzushiogakure has been looking for a way to implement Bunshins in our Academy curriculum, but most of our young children already have too much chakra and too little control to perform them, and we can't afford to use disruption seals on children who haven't hit mature chakra coils yet. Having the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu improved everything."
"It's unfortunate that it cannot be implemented on Konoha due to its dangerous nature, but oh well, they have many strong clans as it is. Uzushio belongs to the Uzumaki clan alone. This great step forward in our educational system will certainly make Uzushiogakure become the Sixth Great Village one day. Our eternal debt to Tobirama-dono for this amazing technique. I'm glad to have tagged along."
***Uzumaki Ikamuzu, Shodai Uzukage***
Naruto widened his eyes in surprise with his possible ancestor's statement. Did they really had this jutsu as part of the curriculum? Wow, the children back then must have been fucking awesome! The whole Uzumaki clan must have been awesome! He was probably awesome as well! He wish he could have been taught about these things at the Academy. Damned instructors, all of them useless, good-for-nothing, sons of... Not Iruka, though. Iruka was cool. Oh well, let's just keep reading.
[Naruto OST: Fooling Mode]
"When Tobirama-san asked me for help with his new Bunshin I though to myself 'Are you fucking joking me, Tobi?' But then he told me about the true conception and nature of the jutsu, and then I realized it truly was a challenge worthy of his caliber. Me, Tobirama-san and Ikamuzu-sama were inside the Senju's bathhouse brainstorming, when we reached a stalemate, until I got this great idea of implementing Youton. After all, despite the fact that it's a chakra-splitting kind of jutsu, it still requires the imagination of creating something purely physical."
"When Ikamuzu-sama tested it out (he had the Uzumakis' huge chakra reserves to avoid dying, after all), guess what. Success! We were so happy with the end result that we ran around the Senju compound shouting 'Eureka!' Of course, Mito-sama beat us to a bloody pulp because we were running around wrapped in our towels. Damn it, I forgot how strong she was when she was angry. But then again, all the Uzumakis are... Hashirama-sama is so damn lucky to have her as a wife, she certainly knows how to kick some ass when the situation demands it."
"Anyway, I left the idea of extending the Kage Bunshin to our kunai and shuriken, but Tobirama-san said he would entrust this task to my yet unborn son, whom he promised to adopt as apprentice in that new Genin cell formation Hashirama-sama and Madara-sama were talking about. I'm certain Hiruzen will be up to this task. Heck, he might make it to Hokage if he's taking apprenticeship from Tobirama-san. Well, that's all I have to say about this wonderful experience with my good friends. I think I can now join my ancestors with honor in my heart."
***Sarutobi Sasuke, Head of the Sarutobi Clan***
[End OST]
"Whew, that was long..." said a panting Naruto. He really had to learn how to read in silence. Maybe if he learned this jutsu, he would work with that more often. The next two comments were from some guys named Jiraiya and Hatake Kakashi. Not that it mattered much to our blonde friend, anyway. "Okay, last comment. After that, I'll be practicing, -Dattebayo!" He started reading the last comment. Which was probably the one who would turn his whole life upside-down. Well, more than he had anyway, being a loudmouth prankster and all.
"The first time I saw the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was when I sparred with Kushina a week before our first date. I heard of it, but not even Jiraiya-sensei performed it during training sessions. But then again, he left to fight at the war right after the first few months. I never thought she could be able to create such a large amount of them, even being an Uzumaki. If I knew back then that all my experiences with her would be so amazing and memorable I should have asked her out earlier."
"When I became Hokage, Kage Bunshin was my life savior against that cursed paperwork. Once again, I gotta thank Kushina for that. She was complaining about me never having time for her, and I think that it hit her that I should put the clones in service while I'd take care of her. And now I officially loath pregnant women. And I swear to Kami, if my son ever, and I mean EVER inherit her -Dattebane twitch or something alike, I'm finding Orochimaru, forgiving him for all those awful crimes he committed and have him be his Jounin sensei, commander and senpai!"
"Anyway, if you don't praise The Log, at least praise the Kage Bunshin. But if you're a Hokage like me, don't use it for paperwork 24/7, the mental strain will be unbearable. Maybe that's why I ended up impregnating Kushina in the first place, I was too stressed to be worried about birth control... Naruto, if you're somehow reading this, don't repeat your old man's mistakes. And don't pick up your mother's -Dattebane twitch, I've had enough as it is!"
"... … … Don't tell your mother that, though, unless you want to know why she is called the Akai Chishio no Habanero..."
***Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage***
A loud thud echoed through the forest. The scroll slipped off Naruto's hands and fell on the floor. Damn, that thing was heavy to produce that sound! Meanwhile, the young Jinchuuriki just stood there, processing what he had just read. Did he really read what he just read? Did the Yondaime motherfucking Hokage just called Naruto his son? He messed around with that monument yesterday, hell, he kept admiring it for years by now, and neither he, nor anyone in this entire Kami damn village ever bothered to see the resemblance. It just hit him. He was the son of the Yondaime. THE YONDAIME!
And if this Kushina woman, who apparently was her mother, was scary enough to bring shivers to the Kiiroi Senkou, then she was also a force to be reckoned with. And once again, she was an Uzumaki, just like the Mito woman, the Uzukage Ikamuzu and him. Damn, he was part of a whole family of nobles! Badass nobles, to top it all off! But if that was the case then, why did he keep failing the Academy exams? Why did everyone shunned , despised and wanted him gone, maybe dead? Why couldn't anyone call him by his name, nor his surname? Both of them, by the way. It was only 'him', 'that thing', 'monster'... He then did something he haven't done in 5 years.
He started crying.
He cried for his life, that was as shitty as shitty could get. He cried for his performance, which labeled him as a major failure, a denial, a true pariah. Never to be acknowledged, never to be recognized. And he cried for his parents. But unlike the previous times, which he would simply wonder where or who they were, and why did they leave him alone... This time he cried because they were truly gone. He was slightly relieved to know that they died protecting Konoha, at least that was good enough.
After a few minutes, Naruto swept away his tears. He had to. He was the son of the Yondaime and a badass Uzumaki. And he'd be damned if he ever looked weak in front of others. "Okay then..." he though, taking a deep breath. "I turn my left fingers clockwise to turn the Tora seal into a cross, and I focus as much chakra as I can... And I have to think of something truly physical... … … … … Got it!"
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
A puff of smoke appeared, and it seeped away to reveal... nothing. He focused chakra, but he didn't get quite right the physical aspect. "Dammit! Okay, let's try it again..."
Meanwhile, at the Hokage Tower...
[Naruto OST: Nervous]
"The boy has gone far enough, Hokage-sama!" shouted a random Jounin, with a few shouts of agreement of the others gathered there. A Chuunin stepped forward to speak. "That scroll has techniques labeled forbidden by you and the other Hokages. If anyone uses whatever is on that scroll, Konoha might be in great danger!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, was thinking about what happened in the last 30 minutes or so. Naruto knocked him down with that perverted Oiroke no Jutsu of his, stole the Forbidden Scroll and was never seen again since that. Even he knew Naruto was not a petty thief. He must have had a reason to take the scroll away. But before he could try and locate Naruto with his crystal ball, he had to make sure that he was still around Konoha.
"He must still be around Konoha." he said. "I want you to find him and bring him to me. And please, don't harm him. Disperse!"
"Hai!" was the shout in unison of all the Chuunin and Jounin gathered, who quickly scattered around to find the young Jinchuuriki. Among them, there were two in special. The first was Umino Iruka, his instructor and somewhat surrogate aniki. Jumping across rooftops, his only thought was finding Naruto before anyone else did something bad to him. "Damn it, Naruto. Where are you...?"
The second person was Touji Mizuki, the one who gave him the idea of stealing the scroll in the first place. He was also thinking of nothing else but finding Naruto... but unlike Iruka, he had no intentions of helping him out... "Hu hu hu... everything is going as I planned. All I have to do now is to find that demon and kill him... Then, I will take the scroll with me and my mission will be complete. The storm will be unstoppable!"
[End OST]
Two hours later...
One REALLY tired Uzumaki Naruto was sitting beneath a tree close to the old warehouse in the forest. He was panting heavily from all the strain, both physical and mental, of his training. But hey, he's done it. He finally managed to learn some-fucking-thing. And he was damn good at it, too. Maybe that thing he read within the Scroll of Seals about Uzumakis having ridiculously huge chakra reserves was right after all, he still had some gas left.
But before he could finish resting up, he felt something closing in. Before he could raise his head and see if there was someone nearby, he heard footsteps and a faint shadow forming in front of him. He gathered some of his remaining strength to look upwards and see Iruka, who seemed a bit tired, and very, VERY pissed off. "Hey... Na-ru-to..."
Naruto simply had a sheepish grin planted on his face, and a hand scratching his back. "He he he... I knew I could find you here, Iruka-sensei!" he said. Iruka couldn't help but cast his Ninpou: Dai Kitou no Jutsu at the young boy.
"I WAS THE ONE WHO FOUND YOU, DAMMIT! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING WITH THIS SCROLL ANYWAY?"
The young Jinchuuriki just blinked, a bit curious about Iruka's reaction. "...What? That's easy, sensei. I was training my ass off in here!" Iruka raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised with Naruto's answer. He took a better look at him. Indeed, Naruto's clothes were all ragged, and he seemed awfully tired. "He's been training here by himself... all this time...?" he thought. But there was still something off about it. What was he doing all the way here, anyways?
"Naruto..." he said, drawing his attention. "What are you doing with the Scroll of Seals anyway? And who told you of this place?" The blond knucklehead blinked again. What was the meaning of this? He knew that Iruka knew of the extra revaluation exam. Why bother asking? But he wasn't the friendly Jinchuuriki of the neighborhood for no reason, so he answered simply and bluntly.
"Why, Mizuki-sensei of course, -Dattebayo! He told me about everything. You know, the scroll, this place... and, of course, the extra revaluation exam so I couldn't fail the Genin Shiken!"
Iruka just stood there, trying to make sense of what Naruto told him. Why would Mizuki say something like that to poor, gullible Naruto? Did he try to take the Scroll of Seals for himself? Did he hope to drag Naruto in this mess to look as if he was innocent? "Naruto, there's something I have to tell-"
[Naruto OST: Nervous]
Before Iruka finished talking, though, a volley of kunai flew towards them. Iruka was quick enough to shove Naruto away and receive all the damage. Despite the damages suffered, he looked upwards to check out the source of the attack. And there he was. Touji Mizuki, on top of a tree branch, carrying 2 Fuuma Shuriken on his back.
"So... that's what you were planning after all..." said Iruka, removing a kunai stuck on his leg and wincing in pain doing do. Mizuki merely chuckled. "Well, I am indeed surprised you found him before me..." he said. "But I'm quite in a hurry. That is why I have to ask you, Naruto, to hand over the scroll to me, pretty please."
Naruto was shocked at the scenery he found himself into, with one sensei stuck on the wall, bleeding from all those wounds, while the attacker, which happened to be another sensei, asking bluntly and without hesitation for the scroll. "Anosa, anosa... what the hell is going on here?" he asked.
Iruka, removing another kunai, kept glaring at his traitorous colleague as he addressed the young Jinchuuriki. "Naruto... no matter what happens, don't let him have this scroll! It contains techniques too dangerous for anyone to possess. Mizuki took advantage of you to try and get his hands on it!" Naruto took a step back and glared at the traitor, who simply shrugged.
"Naruto... Can't you see that Iruka is actually afraid of seeing you hanging around with the scroll?" he asked. "Just look at him! He's quivering in fear of you as we speak!" Naruto gasped, as he turned around to face his sensei. Iruka couldn't believe at what Mizuki was trying to pull off. He really wanted to crush poor Naruto's head. "Damn you Mizuki, what do you think you're talking about? Naruto, please believe me, don't listen to what he's saying..."
"Oh, he will listen to me..." said Mizuki. "Specially when I'm about to tell him something that is of his most concern..." Naruto widened his eyes. What in the world was supposed to be of his concern? Iruka knew well what Mizuki was up to now. "Shit... No! Stop, it's forbidden!"
"You know of the story of the demon fox, don't you, Naruto? How the Yondaime killed it and saved Konoha and all... it's your favorite story, isn't it? But you see, that day, October 10, a bit over 12 years ago... the villagers created a new law..."
"A law...?" asked a curious Naruto. This was something he didn't expect to hear all of a sudden.
"Yes. And this law forbade anyone to talk about the events that transpired that night, specially what concerns your direct involvement that specific night! You were forbidden to know the truth!"
"Me? Wha... what the hell is this all about? What kind of law is that? Could it be... about my parentage?" he thought for a moment. No, it felt somehow different. But what the hell was all that about, really?
"STOP, MIZUKI!" Iruka's shout fell on death ears. Nothing would stop Mizuki from telling the truth now.
"*chuckle* A law that forbids people to say that the demon fox was never killed by the Yondaime, but rather sealed inside a baby born on that night. More specifically... YOU!"
"... … eh?" was all that Naruto could say now. It wasn't THAT particular shocking news he expected, but oh well.
"What I'm trying to say... is that YOU are the Kyuubi no Youko that killed Iruka's parents and nearly razed our beloved village to the ground! Did you never stop to think about it...? How the villagers blatantly cursed you, ignored you, looked at you with contempt? THAT'S WHY!"
Naruto remembered all the suffering in his life for a moment. All of them, pointing at him, whispering things and calling him names that weren't his own... He finally knew why. He was finally aware of his condition... and yet there was something wrong. It was the Yondaime who did this to him. His own father... why? It was probably the greatest question in his mind. Tears filled his eyes. Then Mizuki's voice roared loudly.
"Everyone here hates you! Even Iruka hates you as well! And now, I'll put you out of your misery, demon... DIE!" he shouted, trowing one of his fuuma shuriken straight at the young Jinchuuriki.
[End OST]
Naruto only thought about getting the fuck out of Dodge now, but his legs betrayed him. He was desperately trying to run, but he just couldn't do it. That's when he heard Iruka's voice telling him to get down, which he immediately complied to, closing his eyes in terror. When he heard the sound of steel stabbing flesh, his eyes opened to see Iruka in front of him, shielding him from the fuuma shuriken. He coughed some blood, and a few drops fell on Naruto's face, who had the same question from before on the tip of his tongue.
"…why?"
[Naruto OST: Sadness and Sorrow]
"Because… we are the same…" Iruka answered, panting heavily and wincing in pain from the large weapon impaled on his back. But the pain was nothing compared to how sorry he felt about his young student.
"When my parents died… I had to live by myself, my classmates' parents couldn't look out for me… I was all alone, and even the instructors didn't look out for me… So I resorted to pranks and goofiness, so I could have all the attention… even if I was the one being laughed at… It was painful, and I never felt so bad before in my life…"
"Earlier this afternoon, after you failed the exam… Sandaime-sama called me to talk about you. He said that you are just like I was back then… No one at your side, no one to be proud of you, no one to say how much they loved you… people don't even call you by your name… So you resort to pranks and goofiness… just like I did… so you can draw people's attention… so they can see that you exist… "
Tears started to fall from Iruka's eyes. Some of them found their way towards Naruto's face, who was also on the verge of crying once again that night. "It's so painful, isn't it, Naruto…? It must be so much hard for you… *sob* to be all by yourself, to suffer so much because of something beyond your control… I'm so sorry… *sob* I'm truly sorry… If I had know how much the loneliness affected you I might have done something earlier… I could have done more for you, I SHOULD have done more for you… *sob* Please forgive me… Naruto…"
Mizuki stood there, watching that poor scenery with an amusingly cold smile. " *chuckle* Oh, pull the other one! Surely you won't believe him, Naruto… Iruka hates you for killing his parents, and he's afraid of what you can do with the Scroll of Seals!"
Naruto looked at the two sensei. Iruka's pain was not fake by a long shot. And Mizuki's words were not true at all. His mind was racing with unanswered questions, negative feelings and lack of trust towards anything else. But he knew he could always trust Iruka. And to protect this one precious person he did what he thought to be the best course of action.
He ran, hoping that Mizuki would go after him and Iruka would be safe from more harm. Iruka could merely watch Naruto running for his life. "Naruto...! NARUTOOO!" he shouted, afraid of the worst-case scenario. Mizuki just chuckled as he jumped from the tree branch.
"Naruto is not one who changes his heart just like that… If I had to guess, he ran towards the village. He will use the power of the Scroll of Seals and get his revenge on Konoha… You saw those eyes, didn't you, Iruka? Those eyes… they're not human… The demon fox already took over. *chuckle* Terrific. Now I can kill him and become a hero myself, even greater than that stupid Yondaime!"
Iruka lift himself up, and used some of his remaining strength to remove the fuuma shuriken from his back. "Don't say such things about Yondaime-sama… And don't you dare to address Naruto that way anymore. He. Is not. A DEMON!" he shouted, throwing the shuriken towards Mizuki, who dodged it easily enough.
"*yawn* Oh well. The way you are right now, I don't even have to worry about killing you just yet. I still have to get that scroll, so I'll just kill Naruto first!" Mizuki then jumped towards the trees to chase the young Jinchuuriki. Iruka winced in pain, but he was ready to give chase to Mizuki. "I won't let you touch him!"
[End OST]
Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen watched everything from his crystal ball. He saw how Naruto reacted to the news of his condition, and Iruka's actions to defend him. He sighed. He hoped things would have worked out better for Naruto... Oh well, no point crying over spilled milk now.
"Damned Mizuki…" he thought."Now Naruto's head is filled with questions, rage, but most of all fear… I don't know much about what he can do with the Scroll of Seals, but he does have the power of the Kyuubi, even if the chances are one on a million of the seal breaking apart. But if he does break the seal, there won't be anything I can do but pray for all of us…"
Back at our friendly Jinchuuriki of the neighborhood, he was hopping from tree to tree, when suddenly Iruka appeared at his side, jumping alongside him. "Naruto!" the sensei shouted. "Everything that Mizuki said was a lie, you know it! He's after the Scroll, and we can't let that happen. Hand it over to me!" But in less then 2 seconds, Naruto suddenly jumped towards Iruka and punched him in the gut, sending him quite a few yards away, both of them landing on the ground.
[Naruto OST: Bad Situation]
Iruka was panting heavily and groaning in pain. "Damn it, that hurt... How did..." he said, puffing in smoke and turning out to be Mizuki. "How did you find out that I wasn't Iruka...?" he asked. Naruto chuckled and puffed in smoke as well, turning out to be Iruka. "Does that answer you question, traitor?" he asked.
The other Chuunin chuckled. "So... you really are going to defend that chibi demon? That thing killed your parents, you know...? You could use the Scroll to do it, I'll let you have it for a few moments..." he said. Iruka coughed some blood and gave Mizuki a cold glare. "Even if I have to die..." he answered. "I won't let you... have the scroll... and hurt Naruto!" Meanwhile, the Jinchuuriki was behind a tree, holding the scroll in his hands and listening to everything.
"You're so dumb, Iruka..." Mizuki said. "Naruto and I are the same. Haven't you noticed yet?" Iruka's eyes showed some confusion. Mizuki enlightened him. "With the Scroll... and his powers... Naruto would be able to do anything he ever wanted to!"
"Think about it for a second, Iruka. You're supposed to be the brains here! The demon fox would definitely make use of the powers the Scroll of Seals has to offer!" Iruka chuckled, despite the pain. "You know... you are right. The demon fox would most certainly do that..."
Naruto's eyes widened. Did he just hear Iruka say that? Damn it, damn it, damn it all to hell! Not even Iruka, who was supposed to be his best friend in the whole wide world acknowledged him as a normal person. "Not a single person..." he thought. "Not even my sensei... no one recognizes me!" he felt something dark slowly taking over his heart. But then Iruka said something that made his eyes widen again, and the dark feeling to go away.
"But only demon foxes do that, anyway..."
[End OST]
"Huh?" Mizuki asked.
"Naruto isn't a demon fox, though... I know that... I always knew that... he's a dedicated student. And a very caring soul, always wanting to help and be recognized by his own efforts... Too bad he's clumsy, though... if only it weren't for that, maybe more people would acknowledge him..."
"He already felt too much pain in his heart to know how it feels like, and how it sucks to see people sad and being unable to do something... His dream is to become Hokage, be acknowledged and maybe then he can reach out those who feel pain like he does. He doesn't like to see people hurt, his pain is enough as it is. And let me tell you something, Mizuki... He is not a demon fox..."
[Naruto OST: Naruto Main Theme]
"He is... Uzumaki Naruto from Konohagakure no Sato!"
Naruto, still hidden, cried tears of joy. Someone did acknowledge him, after all. Then, Mizuki's voice cut the mood. "Feh... I was going for Naruto, first. But since you're a pain in the ass... I WILL KILL YOU RIGHT NOW!" he shouted, spinning his fuuma shuriken and going straight for Iruka.
"So this is the end..." Iruka thought. When suddenly, a orange blur appeared in the air. When he took a better look, it was Naruto kicking Mizuki in the jaw. The large shuriken flew throughout the forest aimlessly and Mizuki ate dirt. Serves the fucker right. "N-Naruto? What are you doing here? Hide, you idiot!"
Mizuki groaned in pain once more. "Damn you, gaki..." Naruto held a side of the Scroll under his right hand, and his eyes said it all. He was pissed. NO ONE hurt his precious people and get away with that. "Don't you dare lay another finger on Iruka-sensei..." he said, his blue eyes cold as ice from hell, emitting killing intent like nothing ever seen. "OR I'LL KILL YOU!"
Mizuki quickly reacted. "Feh! As some brainless stupid demon brat such as you would have a chance against me! I'll get rid of you with one blow!" Naruto made the cross-shape he trained his ass off for the last 2 damn hours. "Yeah, you try that, teme. I'll just make sure the pain comes back to you a thousand fold!" Mizuki was fumed in anger as it was, and that stupid kid just added fuel to the fire. He shouted once more. "Well then... Give me your worst, Kyuubi gaki!"
Well... it was his funeral.
"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"
Smoke erupted in the forest, and when it seeped away... Boom, motherfucker. There, surrounding Iruka and Mizuki, stood one thousand Narutos. And they were all physical copies, who could say Dattebayo and kick Mizuki's ass. And the night was still ahead. Way ahead.
Iruka couldn't find words to say how impressive his student looked right now. But then again, Naruto was already feeling as if he was the bee's knees. Seriously, though, making a thousand Kage Bunshins? Hide yo' kids, hide yo' wives! But first, he would have a word with Mizuki for pulling a fast one on him and Iruka. Next was Sandaime-jiji for hiding both his parentage and the Kyuubi from him. "Alrighty then..." said a few Narutos. "You told me to give my worst..." said another bunch. Then one approached Mizuki, clenching his fists.
"And I'll gladly do it, Mizuki-teme!" Said teme, though, was already shaking his legs and about to take a leak. He was not looking forward to the end of the night. He did the best thing he could do right now.
He shrieked. And many fists and kicks found the source of the noise and took care of it.
[End OST]
Around one our later or so, there was, lying on the floor, a bleeding Mizuki, along a few broken tooth and a strange fluid coming from his lower parts. Naruto looked at the mess he's done with the traitor and scratching the back of his head, he simply gave Iruka a sheepish grin. "He he he he... Not sure if I overdid it or if I went easy on him... What do you think, Iruka-sensei?"
Iruka smirked. "Nah, I'm sure that your punishment is something Ibiki would do in a quiet interrogation and torture room, so you're cool with me. I'm just not sure you're still up to Anko's level of pain yet." Naruto just gave him a 'I don't know who you're talking about, but I assume that's a nice comparison' look and shrug.
As Naruto cleaned up the mess and picked the scroll so he could return it to the old Hokage, the good sensei looked at the young Jinchuuriki, impressed at his accomplishment. "You know..." he though. "He just might surpass the previous Hokages indeed if he keeps going forward... Oh, right! I almost forgot! Hey, um... wait a moment Naruto!"
"Hmmm? What is it, Iruka-sensei?" the blonde boy asked, stopping mid-track. Iruka lift himself up from the tree and walked towards him. "Close your eyes, I have a gift for you."
Meanwhile, close to the Hokage Tower...
The sun was almost rising far on the horizon as many Chuunin and Jounin assigned to find Uzumaki Naruto were gathered and very worried about the results of the hunt. 'Did anyone find him?' 'Do you think he ran away from Konoha?' and 'how about we try looking over again?' were many of the murmurs that could be heard in the vicinity. Hiruzen's voice came from the Tower's door. "You don't have to worry anymore."
The shinobi gathered all turned around to look at their leader, curiosity in their faces. "Hokage-sama...?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen simply puffed some smoke from his pipe. "He's coming back."
Back at the forest...
"Sensei...? Are you done yet?" asked Naruto.
"Hold on..." he answered. "Just a little more... aaannndd... done! Alright, you can open your eyes now!"
[Naruto Unreleased OST: Naruto Main Theme Slow Version – YouTube is your friend here]
Naruto opened his eyes to see Iruka without his hitaiate, smiling and holding the blonde's goggles in his left hand. In this moment, the clouds were gone, giving space for the sun to shine deep down in the forest. The reflection of the sunlight was strong and Naruto simply heard Iruka say:
"Congratulations... you graduated. Welcome to the shinobi ranks, Uzumaki Naruto... genin of Konohagakure no Sato."
Naruto touched his forehead, and to his surprise, he indeed felt the cold steel of Iruka's hitaiate. His mouth gaped like a fish, and his eyes slowly filled themselves with water.
"Yosh!" Iruka shouted. "Now how about we celebrate your graduation with some Ichiraku's ramen, uh?" But before he could say anything else, he felt something heavy pushing him to the ground. It was Naruto, who in his state of bliss, jumped and embraced the one person in the whole village aside from the old Sarutobi and the Ichiraku family who acknowledged him.
"IRUKA-SENSEI!" the young Jinchuuriki yelled, tears of joy running down his face. Iruka stood there, sat on the ground, comforting his surrogate otouto, with a smile on his face.
"Naruto..." he thought. "The life of a shinobi is a hard one... well, I'll go over in more details once we go get your ramen... Alrighty then, young boy! Let's not forget to return the Scroll of Seals to Hokage-sama! You're still in a heap of trouble, you hear me?" he said in a authoritative tone.
"*groan* Fine..." answered Naruto. As he picked up the scroll on the ground, he remembered the contents of that special comments section of the Kage Bunshin, more specifically regarding his Uzumaki heritage, and also his bond with the Yondaime. He also had in his mind what Mizuki said about the Kyuubi... Was it really sealed inside him? Sandaime-jiji had a lot to answer him for. But he still had one predominant thought in his mind:
"Tou-chan... I'm gonna be a Hokage even better than you were. Kaa-chan... I'm gonna be even stronger than you were. I'm gonna make both of you proud, or else my name isn't Uzumaki Naruto, -Dattebayo!"
"… … …Or is it…Namikaze?"
[End OST]
A/N: And we're done! Wow, I thought this was gonna take very little time and effort. Looks like I was wrong... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the start of this story, and I'm looking forward to write the next chapter. Don't miss it, by the way. And don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of it. If you have any suggestions or constructive critics to point it out, do it. I'll see you soon!