Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the idea for this story, which belong to their respective authors.

"Naruto Uzumaki has failed his latest academy graduation exam and thus cannot be considered a ninja in training."

The declaration rang in the meeting room of the Hokage tower: the civilian council smirked amongst themselves, the clan council seemed neutral on the outside but were a tad uneasy and the Sandaime was silent though one could tell that he was very displeased. The person in question stood facing the council, the boy of twelve being uncharacteristically quiet.

Naruto Uzumaki, the village's former number one most unpredictable ninja was now a civilian. This was mainly due to prejudice against the nine tailed fox that was currently sealed inside the boy. The Kyuubi had wrecked havoc in the village, killing many before the Yondaime managed to "kill" the demon. Though only the adults knew the truth of the situation, it did not stop the jinchuriki from being isolated and living a generally miserable life.

Despite this mistreatment and sabotage from others the boy held no grudge against the village instead vowing to earn their respect. Naruto could outrun ninja squads from chunin to jonin, even anbu level almost on a daily basis. The blond ninja-to-be somehow also managed to prank users of the Byakugan without being caught despite the bloodline's ability to allow the user to see 360 degrees around them. He even managed to find a way to fool trackers from the Inuzuka and Aburame clans. If it had been any one else, said person would have been praised and considered a future genius, sadly it was not to be.

"But I managed to successfully create clones! I used them to beat up Mizuki before he was about to kill Iruka-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed.

This was in fact true, after his failure one of the academy instructors had told Naruto to steal the sealing scroll and learn a jutsu from it as part of a secret test in order to pass. Both parts were successful as the boy snuck the scroll out and within the span of a few hours learned the Shadow Clone jutsu, one that was forbidden due to the chakra cost of the technique, easily able to sap all the chakra of a normal ninja. Soon after there was a confrontation resulting in the injury of another academy instructor, Iruka and Naruto had used a baffling amount of clones to neutralize the threat.

"You should be executed for the theft, stealing a scroll full of dangerous jutsu." Koharu pronounced while Homura the other advisor nodded as well.

"The boy should be placed under my command. I am sure that he would have some use." Danzo said smoothly, the old warhawk itching to control the jnchuriki's power.

The room went silent as the killing intent of the Hokage washed over them.

"Need I remind everyone that Naruto aided in the capture of a traitor to the village despite the lack of official ninja status? We have more pressing matters to deal with, mainly the fact that the traitor has dealings with Orochimaru. In addition, since the council has stripped Naruto of his ninja status, you have no basis for your demand. Unless you are thinking of forcing a civilian to do things that ninja are not made to do."

Danzo grimaced at the information, while Naruto no longer had the protection of the Hokage, it also meant that he would be technically unable to forcibly recruit the boy into his organization.

In the end, Iruka was unable to pass Naruto due to the civilian requirements for the test and the Hokage was stopped by politics. Most of the civilians were still against him and Naruto was now in dire straits.

He had no resources to support himself with, as there would be no work for a young orphan boy, especially one with his reputation.

The meeting came to a close with the verdict as followed, which was summarized by the Hokage in a resigned voice.

"Naruto Uzumaki is now considered a civilian and will not be allowed to retake the academy exams. He is required to vacate his current apartment as soon as possible."

'This is so unfair! How in the world am I going to survive? I was already on thin ice to begin with.' Naruto raged inside his head, keeping his face as neutral as possible. He was irritated at the old man but knew at the same time that the council had too much power. He turned to the Sandaime and bowed.

"Hokage-sama, since the meeting is done I shall take my leave."

He turned and walked out of the room, ignoring the shocked silence that followed for various reasons. He had not used his usual nickname for the Hokage, he had not yelled but had simply left.

"I hope the council is proud of what they have done: destroyed a young boy's dream and possible sentenced him to death in a sense. He could have been great, but that has been nipped at the bud." The Hokage rose and exited as well, leaving the civilian and clan council to mull his words.

When the civilian council thought that the Hokage was out of earshot, one side of the room erupted into cheers.

"The demon child is finished!"

"Woohoo! No more problems!"

The clan council side face palmed at the stupidity. For once they were all in accord about something and that never usually happened.

"I never thought that I would find something more troublesome then my wife…" Shikaku Nara muttered shaking his head. His friends Inoichi Yamanaka and Choza Akimichi nodded, understanding the implication of the statement.

"The civilian council has always been illogical, however this has breached a whole new level." Shibi Aburame added.

"As much as I hate the Kyuubi, I have to agree." Tsume Inzuka growled.

"You would think that they would eventually learn the difference between the child and the monster inside of him." Hiashi Hyuuga added.

In the end, there was nothing they could do to remedy the situation, however scathing it was that civilians could dictate how ninja affairs were handled. The clan heads silently left the room through varying methods, leaving the civilian council to celebrate their victory.

While this was occurring, Naruto had returned to his apartment after trying to ignore all the dirty looks directed at him as he walked.

'Well then, at least I got something out of this disaster. Somehow I think I have knowledge of my clan techniques.' Naruto then thought back to the moment he had stopped in a clearing with the scroll.

Flashback

"Okay so this scroll has to have something awesome in it for me to learn so I can pass and finally become a ninja."

Naruto muttered as he unfurled the scroll.

Suddenly the scenery shifted and he came face to face with a woman with red hair in twin buns and a white kimono.

Unknown to Naruto and likely the rest of the village, the forbidden scroll was in fact created by Mito Uzumaki to contain her clan's techniques, which would only appear on the scroll to members of said clan. Her husband, the Shodai Hokage also added his own techniques for future descendants. Only he forgot to label the scroll before his death so the reason for its creation was lost. When the Niidaime found the scroll containing his brother's strongest jutsu, he decided to add his own as well as the name Forbidden Scroll was coined. Since only Uzumaki clan members were able to access the clan techniques, knowledge of its existence was lost as time passed.

To make matters worse in a sense, the Uzumaki techniques were sealed and hidden in what was thought to be the patterns on the outside of the scroll. This would have distracted thieves, as they would open it only to find a blank scroll. In addition the sealing contained a part of the sealer's soul, which was the clan secret for passing on knowledge from one person to another. In this case, the leader's soul would judge and teach if the student was found worthy.

"Who are you?" He wildly looked around and added, "Where am I?"

"I am Mito Uzumaki, matriarch of the clan and since you are here, you are a descendent of the Uzumaki clan. As for your other question, we are currently inside your mind."

"Why is my head so empty?" Naruto looked confusedly.

"This is a kind of like a bubble of sorts where I will be imparting onto knowledge of our clan." Mito answered and then raised an eyebrow at Naruto's dumfounded expression.

The seals that made this possible also allowed Mito to see into Naruto's life up until this point and needless to say, she was not impressed.

"They forgot about the Uzumaki clan once the Kyuubi attacked, and treated you horribly due to an extremely biased point of view." Mito muttered, becoming increasingly annoyed.

The seal kept the knowledge out of the Konoha elders' hands as well as any thieves since their knowledge was very tightly guarded and therefore treated as a danger. Others assumed that the information was passed through word of mouth or via apprenticeship, which would explain why, little was known about the mysterious but dead clan.

"The knowledge that I am about to give you must be kept at all costs. No one and I mean no one will know of this understand?" Mito said and Naruto nodded his head.

"Clan secrets are secrets after all. Besides who would believe that I got the knowledge from a vision thing anyway? I swear to uphold this promise on my ninja way!" He gave Mito a thumbs up.

Mito returned the smile and poured the knowledge into Naruto's brain. Once the transfer was complete Naruto was jolted back to reality and without a moment's pause opened the scroll to learn a new jutsu and the rest is history.

Flashback End

When Naruto reached apartment, he quickly gathered his few belongings as angry civilians regularly invaded his house. He quickly learned to hide his belongings very effectively. After packing everything away he gave the apartment that had been his home for years one last look. It was in terrible condition, but it had been home.

'What am I going to now?' He thought, the possibilities were not appealing.

'Kit, you're going to have to find a job of some sort'

'Yeah I know Kurama, but I seriously doubt that will be easy.'

Due to Mizuki's declaration during the scroll fiasco, Naruto now knew about his tenant. During his meeting with Mito, the two had also visited the Kyuubi for the first time.

The meeting was interesting for the both of them.

Flashback

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

The pair of Uzumaki's found themselves in a sewer, the walls made of pipes leading down a hallway of sorts.

"The inside of my mind if a sewer?" Naruto muttered as he followed the path.

"Well, considering past events, I am surprised that it isn't worse." Mito answered and elaborated when met with Naruto's raised eyebrow.

"Well I know for a fact that if I or your mother had been in this situation it would probably be full of corpses of our enemies, despite the fact that love is the key component of maintaining the seal strong. If you were not who you were, the seal could have been released already."

Naruto then came to a larger room with an extremely large iron gate at the end of the room with a single seal in front. The two walked over and whatever was behind the bars also came into view.

"What brings my current and a previous container here?" The voice of the kyuubi rumbled.

"Just checking the state of the seal and to see how you have been faring."

Naruto managed to keep quiet but Mito noticed his confusion.

"How much do you know about the kyuubi Naruto?"

"Well, there was the story about how the Yondaime killed the demon which isn't true since the fox is right there and that's about it. Oh and that everyone hates on him through me." He rubbed his head sheepishly.

The fox snorted, "One would think that after a while, those civilians would realize that there is a difference between warden and prisoner. Too bad no one seems to know that I only ravaged the village after being under the control of a Sharingan technique."

Naruto's eyes grew to the size of saucer's at the information. "So you're not as evil as everyone says?"

"If I was, you would not be alive. It is thanks to me inside your gut that you survived the majority of those beatings from the villagers. You did realize that your healing factor is abnormal."

Naruto grinned, "Thanks a lot Kurama!" and added "What?" when met with silence.

"You do realize that I am the reason you get beaten in the first place right?" Kurama was confused, "You are very strange."

"Hey I take offence to that!" Naruto pointed accusingly at the fox.

Mito giggled, "Looks like you two will get along just fine. Despite not having any help, Naruto you turned out be a great jinchuriki."

"Hey Mito, since this is inside my mind, would I be able to change the scenery?" Naruto asked and Mito nodded.

So Naruto focused and the surroundings distorted into a grassy plain, the iron gates and seal transforming into a collar of sorts. The boy grinned at his success.

Both Mito and Kurama were surprised at the change. Seeing their expressions Naruto said, "Its thanks for keeping me alive, besides hundreds of years inside a cell has got to be boring as hell."

Kurama savored the feeling of grass under his paws and the breeze.

"I considered attacking you, but I am glad I decided against it since you had no choice in the matter of housing me."

"Meh, at least if you attacked it would les painful since it would probably be a one hit kill." Naruto said as Mito giggled.

"You are a definitely strange boy but I am glad that you have a new perspective on Kurama."

"Kit, since you are now aware of me, we can talk through thought."

"Kit?" Naruto parroted and Mito explained the meaning of the word.

"Hey! I am not little!" He yelled at the fox.

"You are compared to me."

The trio had some more conversation and it went pretty well. Naruto explained to the Kurama about what had happened with the civilian council. Kurama snorted and stated that the ignorance and stupidity of the masses had not changed.

Flashback End

Due to the sealing scroll fiasco, Naruto had learned Shadow Clone jutsu, gained information on his clan techniques and was now on good terms with Kurama. There was definitely an advantage to having a voice in our head that had centuries of knowledge.

Since he was the last Uzumaki, he would have to find his own way through life like his ancestors had before him. He surveyed his options: he could not reapply to the academy for obvious reasons, he had failed his first attempt and to further waste time and resources was out of the question for the village. Therefore, Naruto had to find some form of employment to support basic needs.

The village and council would celebrate their success for now, but the consequences of not allowing Naruto to become a ninja would have severe repercussions in the future.