AN: This is a plot bunny that wouldn't leave me alone, so it is very rushed and not polished at all. I might expand on it sometime, but for now it's a oneshot.
Son of Man
Naruto ran like he had never run before, breathing heavily and clutching the scroll to him as if his life depended on it.
At last, he reached the hidden grove where he was to meet Mizuki, and opened up the scroll.
"Let's see. Kage Bunshin no justu, creates a solid clone… Awesome! Okay, here are the seals."
Naruto had just started forming the seals when Iruka burst into the clearing.
"Naruto! Just what do you think you are doing?"
"Hey Iruka sensei! I'm just finishing up the second part of the make-up exam!"
"Make-up exam? There's no such thing as a make-up for the genin exam, Naruto!"
"Heh-heh-heh, he's right you stupid little brat. Hand me the scroll and I won't kill you."
Mizuki slid out of the bushes like a snake.
"As a matter of fact, I might just kill you anyway."
With that, he pulled a giant shuriken out of nowhere, and sent it hurtling toward Naruto.
Naruto closed his eyes in anticipation of the impact, but it never came. Impaled in front of stood Iruka.
"Run Naruto! Don't let him have it!"
Iruka coughed up some blood and fell to his knees.
Naruto stood there horrified. Iruka-sensei! Why did you have to do that for me?
"Do you know why everyone hates you Naruto?"
Naruto glared hatefully at the man who had just skewered one of his only friends like some demented shish-kabob.
"I don't see why he's concerned about you at all. You're the one who killed his parents. Naruto, you are the Kyuubi no Kitsune!"
Naruto continued glaring at the man as Iruka moaned in pain.
"Guess what? I don't care. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
The glade was instantly filled with a hundred screaming Narutos who quickly beat Mizuki into submission. Unfortunately, he was a little overzealous, and Mizuki quickly died from his injuries
A squad of ANBU arrived to find a herd of Narutos busily fixing up a litter to transport the injured chuunin to the hospital. One of the ANBU busied herself with stabilizing Iruka and removing the giant shuriken from his back without causing him to bleed out.
Morino Ibiki himself arrived shortly thereafter, and sought an explanation from Naruto of the situation.
After a thorough explanation(from which Naruto omitted any mention of the Kyuubi), the ANBU took possession of the scroll and started to haul Iruka off, but before they could do so Iruka regained consciousness, unfastened his Hitai-ate and stopped them.
"Naruto, come here and close your eyes."
With that, Iruka tied the cloth around the young boy's head.
"Congratulations Naruto, you are now a genin of Konoha."
Iruka smiled, and then promptly passed out again from the effort expended.
Naruto sighed. He had a lot to think about. He and the clones sat in the small grove for hours staring at the sky. Was Mizuki right? Am I responsible for killing off a large portion of Konoha's ninja and citizens? He dispelled the shadow clones all at once like he would have done with normal Bunshin, and was immediately wracked with pain.
Naruto screamed. At first in agony, but as his mind cleared he screamed to release the grief of a tortured soul.
In that instance he knew.
He, Naruto Uzumaki was the Kyuubi reborn.
Naruto had been assigned to Team 7 with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno.
This did not exactly thrill him, despite the fact that he had been crushing on Sakura for years.
They waited for their sensei for hours, with Sasuke standing there bored, Sakura fuming on the other side of the room, and Naruto curled up the corner sleeping. Naruto slept a lot lately—it was the only way he could learn more about who he really was, as dispelling hundreds of Kage Bunshin at once was painful and appeared to work only once.
The moment Kakashi entered, Naruto twitched in his sleep, kicking the wall and causing a pencil stuck in the roof for decades to fall down and hit Kakashi in the head.
"My first impression: I hate you all. Meet me on the roof."
The three young children met him on the roof as soon as they could.
"Okay, time for introductions. I'm Kakashi Hayate. I like some things and dislike others. My dreams are private. You next emo."
"I am Sasuke Uchiha. I like training to grow stronger, and I dislike useless people. My dream is to kill a certain man and revive my clan."
"Now you, pinky."
"I am Sakura Haruno. I like some people," she turned to Sasuke and giggled.
"I dislike others," she said as she turned to Naruto and frowned.
"And my dream is to become a great Kunoichi!" And capture Sasuke-kun's heart!
"I am Naruto Uzumaki. I guess I like ramen. I don't like some other stuff. My dream-I don't know if really have one anymore."
Their true genin exam went as well as could be expected, and even with an angry emo, a depressed emo, and a fangirl they still managed to pass.
"Sakura has excellent chakra control, so she is going to become the teams genjutsu specialist." Hopefully they shape up. I got them this C-rank so that I could see if they have any chance of becoming decent shinobi.
"Hn. Genjutsu is worthless anyways. The Sharingan can easily defeat any genjutsu."
Kakashi glanced at his students. Pinky looks ready to cry. Angry-emo looks smug after that statement. Sad-emo looks furious. Wait, what? Naruto is actually showing another emotion than depression?
Kakashi could have sworn that Naruto's eyes turned to slits for a split second, but the vision was gone as soon as it came.
An inhuman growl came from Naruto, causing the other members of the group to look at him rather fearfully. Memories started unlocking in his brain like a self reconstructing puzzle.
"Let me tell you a story, little boy, about how genjutsu nearly destroyed a village and brought ruin upon one of the most powerful beings in existence." Naruto paused, and all emotion on his face was replaced by a detached expression.
"The King of all Kitsune used to roam far and wide around the world, but he would always return to his pride and joy, his children and his mate. One day, he returned home to find his entire family slaughtered for their blood, skin and bones. He was enraged, and immediately followed the scent trail."
Naruto paused briefly as if stumbling over some mental block.
"He—I never considered that that it could be a genjutsu. After all, my eyes were far superior to even those of the famous Hyuuga clan."
Naruto laughed bitterly, as his companions looked on in horror. Anger returned to his face and his eyes became red and slitted.
"I followed that scent all the way to Konoha, and began slaughtering the ones with my clans blood staining their scents when in an instant, the scent completely vanished, and imprinted on my brain was a vision of Kushina Uzumaki staring at me, with one eye being that of the accursed sharingan. By this point, the Yondaime had summoned the Shinigami to kill me. In desperation, I touched his mind and showed him what happened. It was too late for him to dispel the summon, but he took pity on me and asked only that I take care of Konoha and crush the traitor Kushina."
Naruto was glowing an orange-red color, and 9 tails could be seen glowing behind him.
"I am Kyuubi no Kitsune, and I will no longer wallow in depression! Today I renew my vow to the Yondaime to protect my new family, and to crush its enemies beneath my feet!" roared Naruto.
"Er, Naruto?" inquired Kakashi.
"Yeah?"
"You're sure you're really the Kyuubi?"
"Yes Kakashi. And I'll answer to either name. But don't we have a mission we need to attend to?"
"I think we'll camp here. You seem to have broken everyone else."
AN:
I know it is horribly unpolished, but I really only wanted to write the last discussion where Naruto was berating Sasuke for discounting genjutsu. In case you're wondering, this particular Kushina got her Sharingan eye by killing Madara and taking the eye she didn't destroy as a trophy. Now I should be able to continue writing for A Sunny Place No Longer.
Adios.
~earthrise