Aiko Inuzuka Chapter 1, a naruto fanfic

Okay! Hello – I'm taking a temporary hiatus from my other story until I finish this one: few reasons, I already have a story line for this one to follow and it is comfortably finished, and my other story is.. well, not good x)

He's still there… doesn't that swing ever get boring? Why doesn't he play on something else? He's not even swinging… A small brunette studied a younger blonde sitting on a park swing, his bangs covering his eyes, a small dog's bark by the girls side brought her from her observation,

"Neh, Chicho, you want to swing too?" that earnt a second bark from the puppy, she smiled and approached the boy.

"Hey, if you're not using it can I swing?" The small blonde looked up from the ground, briefly making eye contact before glancing at the dog sitting by her side, nodding stiffly he stood up from the wooden swing. He returned his gaze to the floor he took a few steps away and crouched, picking up a twig he began drawing shapes into the dirt, hugging his knees. The small dog only yawned at the scene paced next to the swing, settling quickly for a nap.

"If you sit there I'm still going to hit you…" again the boy lifted his eyes from the ground, more brief eye contact before he shuffled out of the swings reach, satisfied the brunette sat on the swing and began to swing her legs beneath her washing a curious eye over the younger boy,

Blonde hair… blue eyes… those whiskers… He's the one my mom used to warn me about? She mentally scoffed. He doesn't look like much of a demon, though the kid was always pulling pranks… trouble maker probably brought it on himself, silly kid. As the girl began to swing higher and higher she suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring at her, she glanced around the playground to see a pair of bright blue eyes watching her intently. She felt herself grin at the mild awe on his face… she didn't like to brag, but she was pretty good on the swings…

A few minutes passed before the girl slowed her pace and climbed off the swing, sparing a passing glance at the blonde who was still openly gawking at her… She returned the boys stare for a second before flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"What are you staring at?" the boy stumbled over his words for a few seconds when she spoke… it was almost cute how flustered he got.

"I- well- Um… C-can y-you teach… me to play…?" she raised an eyebrow

"How old are you?" the boy ducked his head in embarrassment

"Six…" she let a superior smirk wash across her face as she spoke

"Well lucky for you I learned when I was four, so I guess I can teach you a thing or two" the boy lifted his head fast enough to give a normal person whiplash, an ecstatic grin plastered proudly across his face.

"Really!"

A few minutes later the small blonde was sitting on the swing staring intently at the girl in front of him, his legs dangled beneath him barely touching the patch of dirt beneath the swing…

"Remember: swing your legs out when you're going forward, and in when you're going back" the blonde nodded with a rare look of seriousness, the girl then walked behind him and gave the swing a gentle push, a look of fear washed over the boy as his body lost balance, his hands tightened their grip on the ropes instinctively and he snapped his eyes shut…

"Remember to swing your legs kid!" The sound of the girls voice chased some of the fear away as Naruto swung his legs inward as he reached the height of the swing, falling back he felt a thrill as air rushed past his ears, then he started to fall again,

"Swing!" Following the shouting girls orders he kicked out with his legs and pushed himself through the air like he was rowing with his legs,

"I'm – I'm doing it! I'm swinging!" the boy shouted across the playground as the girl folded her arms across her chest and gave an approving smile.

"See? It's not hard" Her voice fell on deaf ears as the blonde was now laughing with exhilaration, his heart beating in his ears from the thrill, the girls eyebrow twitched when the boy didn't respond…

"Ignoring me!" still standing behind the swing she pushed as hard as she could when the boy started to swing towards her, the new force knocked him instantly off balance sending him sprawling to the floor, the instant the boy hit the floor he kicked off again, quickly heading towards the entrance of the park, dodging past a few parents who yelled as he passed… the girl glanced at the spot where he hit the ground, Blood? She instantly felt bad… she hadn't meant to hurt him… just meant to tease him, like she used to do to her brother. She stared off toward the entrance as the boy disappeared around a corner…

"Neh, Chicho why'd you think he ran?" the dog only barked in response,

Ω - Four years later - Ω

How could I fail the exam! I can do all three of those techniques perfectly! Damn it… Nerves must have gotten the better of me… the girl growled to herself as she walked through the halls of the academy,

"I guess I'd better meet my new class mates… How bad could it be?" the small dog in her hood barked in response, she felt herself smile… Chicho really would follow her anywhere…

"Hey! Settle down everyone! Naruto! Everyone includes you!" she slowed down as she passed the class room door, checking the number of the door with the note Mizuki had handed her before she left the examination room. She briefly looked around the class to see Iruka stood at the front fuming, feeling her stare the chunnin cast a glance in her direction, a smile forming instantly.

"Okay guys, today we've got a new student joining our class today! She's a few years older than you so be nice!" with that said the teacher waved the girl over, blushing slightly from the attention she stepped through the door and stood at the front of the class with her head bowed to hide her redness.

"She failed the exam then? What a loser!" the second the words left the boys mouth a eraser knocked the boy out of his seat, Chicho barked at the small dog on top of Kiba's desk, obviously recognising each other's scents from the compound.

"What did I just say Kiba! Settle down!" the boy climbed back into his seat, nursing the growing bump on his forehead. Aiko raised an eyebrow, was that Kiba… The clan heir? No way… she shook her head, if that was the future of the clan then they were in serious trouble.

"Now Aiko… You can sit…" the man looked around the room deciding where would be best

"At the back? You know all of this stuff anyway" she nodded to the man and made her way to the back of the room, ignoring the stares.

"Okay! With that settled…" And Iruka instantly carried on with his lesson… it was strange to be back in a first year class, everything was common sense to her now, whereas at the time everything was so complicated… she glanced at the other students faces around the room… Are any of them having as much of a hard time as I did? As if on cue a blonde boy jumped from his seat in front of her clutching his hair, screaming.

"Iruka-sensei! This is all too hard!" The teacher instantly fired an eraser at the blonde who fell backwards over his chair after the eraser knocked him on the forehead,

"Don't do that in the middle of class Naruto!" the blonde picked himself up with a mischievous grin and threw the eraser back at the teacher who substitutioned with a chair, easily dodging the eraser…

"W-where did Naruto go?" the teacher instantly ran over to the open window and leaned out as far as he could

"Damn it! He escaped again… Class review the Substitution Jutsu until I get back!" with that the man climbed out of the window and began to track the blonde… a few seconds passed before said blonde climbed out from under his desk grinning,

"N-naruto? Didn't you run away?" the blonde laughed at the expression Ino was giving him and quickly jumped out the window, running in the opposite direction Iruka took,

"Have fun studying, losers!"

"How did he even do that…" Aiko grinned, she'd seen it all the way through… apparently she was the only one who had

"He made Iruka-sensei perform the Substitution Jutsu, then when while the smoke caused by the technique cleared he hid under the desk… everyone's attention was on Iruka because of the Jutsu, and Iruka couldn't see because of the smoke… then Iruka assumed he'd escaped out the window and all Naruto had to do was wait until the teacher left the room to escape" Everyone stared at the girl as she explained the situation

"Well done Akio, that was very quick thinking… but you left a bit out" all heads turned to the front of the class to see Iruka holding a now tied up and wriggling Naruto over his shoulder,

"When Naruto left the class room he made one big mistake by shouting about it… that's what got him caught" Everyone nodded at the teacher sternly, a few jotting notes into their journals about the experience. As the teacher replaced the still tied up boy into his seat in front of Akio… the pair briefly made eye contact as the boy was placed into his seat… What is this feeling? … Why do I recognise this kid?

The boy growled at the teacher who'd gagged him with a piece of thick rope,

"Now Naruto, learn something from this… you can never fool you're teacher" the man patted him on the head and returned to the front of the class continuing with the lecture.

The bell began to chime around the academy, causing the students to rise from their desks and pack their note pads into their bags, Iruka only double checked his watch to make sure it wasn't another prank before sitting down at his desk wishing the class a happy weekend. As the students finished filing out of the room Iruka noticed Aiko still seated behind Naruto seemingly wide eyed and bushy tailed… the teacher narrowed his eyes and stalked toward the girl, his eye brow twitched when a quiet snore came from her… she was… sleeping… in class? And he was none the wiser? Sure enough when the teacher searched for a genjutsu he found it, cancelling it he discovered the girl leaning heavily on her desk and drooling onto her books. Naruto allowed himself a chuckle as the teacher raised a hand and slammed it onto Aiko's desk causing her to rocket from her seat. She spent a few startled seconds grasping on reality before looking up at Iruka in slight fear… the dog on her desk only looked up in mild irritation from being awoken so rudely,

"N-neh sensei… I a-already learned this stuff, s-so it's okay… right?" the man sighed and nodded, pointing towards the door.

"Have a good weekend Aiko, we'll be finishing off the transformation jutsu on Monday, so practice hard, you can help me teach it" the girl nodded slightly and stood to leave, picking up the small puppy and placing it in the hood of her coat, completely missing the longing stare on the man's face completely… So much like Ana-chan… The short brown hair, onyx eyes, slim figure, the only thing that was out of place were the Inuzuka tattoos on either cheek…

The man shook the thoughts from his head and turned his attention to the blonde in front of him, pulling out a kunai he sliced the ropes. Immediately the blonde bounced from his chair and dived to for the class room door.

"Naruto, sit down now." The blonde flinched at the tone of Iruka's voice, he was rarely this angry… probably best to face the consequences than make a run for it, with a small sigh the blonde sat in the nearest seat and stared hard at his sensei, a few minutes passed where Iruka tried to find how to place his words while the blonde just stared him down.

"Neh… Naruto, do you remember what Hokage-sama said all those years ago? When we first met?" as the man spoke he sat on the nearest desk and stared out the window, casting his mind back to the changing point in both his and Naruto's lives…

Iruka was standing in front of the Hokage with a proud smile… he'd finally been accepted as a teacher at the academy… and he was about to get his first group of students, needless to say he was excited. The old man caught wind of this and gave an encouraging smile,

"Iruka I see you're very much looking forward to the new academy year" the man nodded his enthusiasm

"Hai Hokage-sama! I want to thank you on accepting me into the staff" the Hokage nodded approval before narrowing his eyes slightly.

"That is all well and good Iruka, but I have a request for you… I warn you it may be quite over baring…" the man didn't even flinch

"I accept Hokage-sama! You can count on me!" the man smiled and made a hand signal, the chuunin by the door nodded and stepped outside the room,

"Good! Good Iruka, I would very much like for you to watch over a certain child for me… to make sure no harm comes to him during his time at the academy… you will have to be vigilant, a lot of the other staff may be out to get him" Iruka raised an eyebrow… for the staff to actually target and penalise a student was un heard of…

"O-of course Hokage-sama… But if you don't mind me asking, why would the staff target a mere academy student?" the door behind Iruka opened to announce the return of the chuunin guard. The Hokage merely gestured for Iruka to look behind him… his eyes widened in shock… So that's it… the Kyuubi kid, the man turned once again to look at the Hokage who studied his expression very carefully…

"Neh… will you be my new sensei?" the man slowly nodded… what had he got himself into…

The blonde narrowed his eyes… of course he remembered but what does that have to do with anything?

"Yeah what of it sensei?" Iruka sighed at the memory… how blind he had been, he'd been the same as everyone else… assuming Naruto was just the demon in disguise… it had taken nearly a year before Iruka was finally able to see the blonde for who he was. But Naruto knew none of this… as the teacher was seemingly just staring out the window…

"I was asked to protect you, by Hokage-sama…" The blonde rolled his eyes

"Yeah I just said I remembered, what of it?" another pause filled the room as Iruka collected his thoughts

"I can't protect you all the time, you know that… don't you?" Naruto flinched, catching on to the man's line of thought, the villagers… but why was he bringing them up at all?

"Yeah… I'm not stupid sensei" the man grinned at Naruto's attitude… obviously a defence, seems he still didn't fully trust him, not that he could blame him… he sighed and turned to face the blonde.

"But I can protect you while you're at the academy" Naruto sighed, finally seeing the man's point

"So you don't want me to run away from class again, neh?" the man nodded

"It's for your own good Naruto… remember what happened last time?" the boy flinched and looked away, this was a different approach than he was used to… Usually Iruka would scream himself stomach ulcer, but this time he seemed genuinely concerned, the blonde shook his head… so what? Concern isn't that hard to fake, he'd done it before. A few seconds passed before Naruto snorted and stood from his seat, slowly walking toward the door he paused for a second,

"Have a good weekend sensei…" Iruka sighed and ran a hand through his hair before returning to his desk to plan the transformation lesson…

"Yeah what of it sensei?" Aiko froze outside the room, her hand poised over the door handle… The blondes voice seemed aggressive somehow, where as their teacher seemed almost… desperate, this wasn't a situation she should interrupt… she'd have to wait until they were done. Retracting her hand from the door handle she made a move to walk a few yards away from the door when Iruka spoke.

"I was asked to protect you by Hokage-sama" Akio felt her heart beat rise and her eyes widen, protection? Was the kid a target? Her mind flooded with bizarre situations which might have led a missing nin or the Diamyo's son to be at the ninja academy, none of the situations were realistic though… she sighed at her own imagination before pressing an ear against the wood of the door… This was a situation she needed to know more about, she recognised the blonde… it's as if her mind was trying to force a memory that didn't exist… she sighed and rubbed her temple to avoid the growing headache… she would have to get to the bottom of this, Inuzuka's were, after all known for digging up secrets.

"Have a good weekend sensei…" the girl felt herself tense and quickly dodged into the girls bathroom as the classroom door squeaked open, a few seconds later she poked a head out of the toilets, seeing Naruto walking in the opposite direction, both hands in his pockets she allowed herself a small smile and began walking towards the class room door, a few seconds later she gave it a gentle knock.

"Come in" she slowly opened the door and peeped her head inside the room, looking for Iruka

"Oh Aiko, I figured you'd be coming by… here's your bag, try not to forget it again" the man held out her school bag, that she'd accidently left behind earlier, she nodded and walked into the room, taking the bag and slipping it over her shoulder

"Arigato sensei" she chirped… studying the man's expression there was a short silence

"Neh… sensei? Are you okay?" the man raised an eyebrow

"I'm fine Aiko, why do you ask?" she waved it off and walked towards the door… it was a silly idea to try and get information out of him… he was a chuunin after all. Not stupid.

"See you on Monday sensei!"

"W-what is this?" Aiko stared forward…. Not caring to glance around the familiar scenery, the entire world was built of black and white, all movement leaving a thin wisp behind it, but all she could do was stare, wide eyed at the scene in front of her… Suddenly she was a child again, no older than seven. The feeling of utter terror caused her knees to shake wildly beneath her, the only colours present in the greyscale world are that of blood running down the pitch white fence … an entire body above the waist is lying at her feet, the lower half still standing in pose before collapsing to the ground, blood begins to pool around both parts of the body… but she doesn't cry, she doesn't blink or breath or speak… she just stares… seconds pass like hours before familiar words sound across her mind,

"This is important Aiko, you can't forget" a flash in her memory… her father standing before her with a simple smile, one hand on her shoulder… but it doesn't feel natural, she doesn't like that look… it seems nice but there's something beneath it…

"You can't forget"

Aiko bolts upright in bed spending a few seconds grasping on her bed sheets, the voice still echoing in her mind… You can't forget… she took a long shaky breath before swinging both of her legs out of the bed and planting them firmly onto the dark wood of her shack, she rubbed her temple in a vain attempt to remove the image of her father's smile from her mind, she growled and glanced at her alarm clock, almost 6 am… she didn't have to be awake for another few hours. Pulling her shirt over her head and throwing it into a pile by her front door she made her way into the bath room before stripping off the rest of her night clothes and climbing into the shower. Washing away the last of the memories from the dream. A few minutes later she heard a gentle scratch at the door to the shower and glanced through the glass.

"Go away Chicho, I'm having a shower…" as usual the dog only barked in return and sat down on the girls disguarded night clothes making himself a makeshift bed while he waited for her to finish. A few minutes later the girl climbed out of the shower and grabbed a towel off the rack, instead of wrapping it around herself she rubbed her skin dry before replacing the towel on the rack and re entering her bedroom. Opening her dresser she picked up some underwear and threw it onto the bed, followed by a simple black t shirt and a pair of dark slacks, quickly getting dressed she grabbed the standard Inuzuka jacket and pulled it on. Heading towards the door she grabbed a key out of a small bowl near the entrance and called for Chicho to follow her, of course he did and soon the pair were walking through the familiar paths of the Inuzuka compound.

"Good morning Akio, how was the exam?" the girl flinched at the question… she didn't really want people to know about her failure,

"She failed! Now she has to retake the last year again" both people present snapped their heads to face a now grinning Kiba, Akamaru barked from the top of his head, Chicho quickly returning the bark from his perch in Aiko's hood. The elderly woman who had asked the question narrowed her eyes at the obnoxious boy, reaching for a broom she gave him a not so gentle tap in the gut,

"Be nicer to your clansmen Kiba-kun" she turned back to face Aiko with a healthy smile

"As for you, don't you dare worry about the exam, the teachers obviously see something in you or they wouldn't have sent you into Kiba's class, there's a lot of clan heirs in that class from what I hear" Aiko nodded and cast her mind back to the class… from what she could tell there was a Hyuuga, Yamanaka, Akamichi, Nara, Uchiha, Aburame, and an Inuzuka, every major clan was being represented in this year group… she couldn't let the clan down… this year she needed to be number one.

"Yeah… I won't let the clan down, don't worry" the girl gave a swift bow to the woman and carried on down the path while the elderly woman continued to lecture Kiba, who was still nursing his gut.

Yeah… there were a lot of clans in this year group… was that a common occurrence? There was a Hyuuga in her old class. And he was strong, the teachers always called him a prodigy… but he was always a stick in the mud, droning on and on about fate. But despite that he was still undeniably strong… the rookie of the year no doubt. The title this year seemed to be leaning towards the last Uchiha, Sasuke was his name? she hadn't seen a lot from him but his aura radiated silent confidence, unlike the blonde who was always sitting in front of her… the loud confident kind, probably next to no skill but a lot of will power, kind of like Lee from her previous group… no skill in ninjutsu or genjutsu but made up for it with at least high level genin taijutsu, maybe even low chuunin. A short bark brought the girl from her thoughts, she glanced at the small dog who merely gestured in front of her… Is that the blonde kid? What's he doing here up so early on a Saturday? She glanced around to see where her walk had taken her… A training ground? This early?

The girl decided against interrupting the blonde and chose to sit on the grass a short distance away, leaning against one of three large wooden columns she watched the boy train out of idle curiosity… let's see if this kid is as bad as Lee… she mentally laughed at the idea. A few minutes passed and she found herself cringing at the boys stances and form...

"It's as if they taught him to be bad on purpose… how can anyone be in their third year and still be that sloppy?" Chicho didn't respond to the question, instead just rolled onto his back and began to nap… Aiko sighed and stood up walking toward the blonde.

"Oi, kid!" the boy glanced at her, Major De ja vu…

"Hey you're the new girl in our class" she nodded and stopped her approach, leaving a few meters between the two.

"Your form sucks" Naruto narrowed his eyes… he didn't want to hear this right now

"Oh don't ask my name or anything then" she shrugged

"Fine, I'm Aiko Inuzuka. And you are?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, the next Hokage!" the girl raised an eyebrow

"With that form?" again the blonde narrowed his eyes

"What can I do? None of the teachers except for Iruka teach me anything" a short silence passed before Aiko spoke again,

"Take a stance kid" Naruto looked at her with mild confusion before taking a basic fighting stance, the girl rolled her eyes and corrected the stance by moving his feet and arms.

"There, does that feel better?" The boy blushed at the contact and only nodded in response to the question, not entirely trusting his voice…

"Well don't just say yes, try it out! Run through a kata" The boy nodded and threw a punch at an imaginary opponent, followed by several others and a few blocks and a final kick, when he finished he glanced at the girl, stunned. Her memory flashed.

She suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring at her, she glanced around the playground to see a pair of bright blue eyes watching her intently.

She shook the memory from her mind and looked at the blonde, why was he so familiar…

"Feels better then huh?" he only nodded dumbly…

"So much easier to move from one form to the other…" she nodded

"Yeah it's called fluidity, I'm surprised the teachers never corrected you… it only took a few seconds" the blonde scratched the back of his head,

"I don't really know, none of them seem to like me… except maybe Iruka" the girl narrowed her eyes… Why would the staff not want to teach a student? It's not like Naruto was a slow learner… sure he seemed to cause a lot of trouble, but to stop teaching all together? She shook her head…

Does Iruka even know? I guess I'll have to talk to him on Monday…She glanced back at the blonde who was now swiftly making his way through a few more kata's, a large smile plastered across his face… it was by no means a large improvement… but just large enough to bring him up to a similar level to the rest of the group… excluding herself and the Uchiha of course…

Ω - Monday Evening - Ω

"Iruka-sensei?" The man glanced up from his desk to see Aiko standing in front of him, a serious look on her face… he nodded and leaned back in his seat, gesturing to the seat nearest the front for the girl to sit in, a few seconds later she pulled the seat towards the desk and took a seat, leaning on the wood.

"What's wrong Aiko?" she sat in silence for a few seconds before meeting the chuunins eyes… choosing her words very carefully

"What is the… situation with Naruto?" Iruka's eyes flashed for a second before returning to normal, he let a small sigh off before meeting the girls eye contact full force,

"What do you know Aiko?" she moved her vision to look at her hands on the desk, unable to maintain such intense eye contact,

"I know that the teachers don't like him… they never taught him proper taijutsu, and from what I can tell he never learned how to control his chakra" Iruka let a small sigh of relief out as the girl revealed what she knew… The man rebuilt his composure quickly and studied Aiko's expression for any indication there was anything else she knew… he narrowed his eyes.

"What else Aiko?" Damn he read me... the girl straightened in her seat and tried to meet the chuunins gaze.

"I also know that you're protecting him from someone" the man's eyes widened in shock momentarily, before he snapped them shut and rubbed his temple… this was not a good day.

"How do you know that Aiko…" the girl ducked her head in embarrassment

"I over head your conversation the other day…" the man sighed at his own stupidity… talking about such a secret in the academy? What was he thinking! A few seconds passed in silence

"Aiko… I suggest you stop digging for information about Naruto…" she girl raised an eyebrow at the man

"You're in danger of coming across a dangerous secret, for your own good… leave this alone" the girl narrowed her eyes, what is this…? Why is her sensei telling her to stay away from someone in need? She shook her head and stood from her seat.

"I won't turn a blind eye, the kid will end up dead if he ever goes on a mission" Iruka sighed in frustration and stood as well

"Fine, you can help him learn… just don't try and dig up his past… it won't do either of you any good" the girl nodded and stepped out of the classroom, a frown evident on her features… what is so secret about that boy? Iruka on the other hand was holding his head off the desk… Hokage-sama needs to hear about this… I had no idea the teacher were being so bias against him…

Iruka tried to return the steady gaze of the elderly Hokage as he stood in front of the man's desk, his steely gaze penetrating in through Iruka's eyes and figuring out everything from the inside out… a few seconds passed before he spoke,

"This is about Naruto then…" The chuunin nodded stiffly and placed a thin folder onto the Hokage's desk, pushing it towards the man, who released the seal and flipped through the pages.

"Hai Hokage-sama… It seems the other instructors discrimination against him is far worse than I previously thought… I can't look after him while I am teaching my own lessons, I request that there be hidden guards to properly determine the severity…" the old man nodded and closed the folder

"Accepted, I will have an ANBU watching him at any one time… thank you for admitting you were out of your depth Iruka" The younger man bowed respectfully at the comment

"Not at all sir, I'm sorry I failed you up to this point" Sarutobi sighed heavily and leaned back into his chair, resting an arm on each arm rest,

"It wasn't me you failed Iruka, but you mustn't blame yourself… it was only natural you trusted them, they are your peers after all" Iruka only nodded in response and turned to leave the room,

"I must be off then Hokage-sama… I need to see someone" Sarutobi nodded, with the faintest of smiles on his face, already fully aware of where the chuunin was headed.

Aiko was leaning heavily on a small boulder, staring at the mysterious blonde… between the teachers ignoring him, Iruka protecting him and Iruka's warning to her, she was sure that this boy must be elbow deep in serious problems… yet he looked completely indifferent, drawing attention to himself all the time, surely if he was some kind of fugitive he'd have the common sense to keep himself hidden? Though maybe it's a double bluff? Making himself stick out, to blend in… she milled around in her head various ideas while the boy finished off his current kata,

"Was that better Aiko-sensei?" she felt herself blush lightly at the addition of 'sensei' to her name but only nodded in response

"Ah, much better. Are you starting to feel the flow of the attacks now?" the boy nodded as he slipped from a blocking form into an aggressive stance,

"Yeah, it's a lot quicker going between forms as well" Aiko shifted her weight off the rock and walked towards the boy, stopping a few meters short

"Okay for our next lesson we're doing Justu" the boys face grew serious and he nodded while she spoke

"Last year the exam was on the substitution Justu so I'm assuming this year will be either clone or transformation, so show me your best transformation" as soon as she finished the sentence she felt herself being choked by the chakra the boy was producing… even at a few meters small pebbles were trembling on the floor, she quickly made a note of this before he screamed the technique and a huge plume of smoke exploded around the boy, as it cleared it revealed a disappointed looking Naruto, He botched it?

"What happened kid?" he looked at the floor in embarrassment

"I-I can't really do it" she shook her head

"I'm not really surprised, you used about a thousand times too much chakra, and most of that was wasted…" the boy raised an eyebrow

"Wasted? How do you mean?" she sighed to herself, either he really didn't listen in class, or the teachers were a lot worse than she thought,

"Okay… when you were building your chakra, did you notice the pebbles on the floor?" he nodded

"Well the fact that they were moving shows you were wasting a lot of chakra, you have to keep all you're chakra in your body when building it up or there's no point" he remade the seal and began building his chakra again, Aiko nodded, this time not feeling the choking presence.

"Good, now you feel all that chakra you've got? You only need about a tenth of it" the boy made the faintest of nods before repressing as much of the chakra as possible.

"Henge!" A few seconds later a slightly smaller plume of smoke erupted around the boy, revealing a seemingly accurate duplicate of Aiko. The girl did a small double take and examined the technique, this kid was a fast learner…

"That was good Naruto, but Aiko? Do you see the problem?" both children glanced into a nearby tree to see a smiling Iruka waving casually at them, Aiko raised an eyebrow and re examined the boy. She made a small smirk and nodded, pointing at his trousers.

"Naruto, you have your kunai holster on the wrong leg" the boy glanced down and sighed to himself… something so simple gave him away?

"Transformation is about deception Naruto, and the key to deception lies in the details" the blonde nodded at Iruka's speech and reformed the seal,

"Henge!" the same smoke exploded around the boy and revealed a replica of Iruka, both Aiko and Iruka washed their eyes over the boy, searching for faults, finding none the pair smiled and nodded, a second passed before Naruto dropped the technique, revealing a large smile. Iruka found himself smiling fondly at the pair in front of him, but quickly remembered the reason he came in the first place,

"Naruto, would you like some Ramen? There are a few things I'd like to discuss with you… Aiko is free to come along if she wants, my treat" both children nodded at the offer and watched as the chuunin leapt from the tree,

"Let's go then! I found this great little ramen shop, I think you'll like it"

Naruto glanced nervously at the tender behind the bar, a young woman in her early 20's was smiling as she took Iruka's order, a few seconds later she turned and took Aiko's, then glanced at Naruto with a large smile

"And your order?" the boy was instantly confused… why was this woman being so nice to him? The civilians hated him… something wasn't right here, a few seconds passed in silence before the girls smile faltered slightly, she glanced at Iruka in slight confusion before the man leaned toward Naruto and whispered in his ear.

"This stand just opened up, the staff come from far away so they don't have any problem with you Naruto" the man grinned at the expression he found on the blondes face, a mixture between awe, hope and pure joy, Aiko also watched the exchange… though she had no idea what the man had said, the effect was instant. The loud blonde was awakened once again and he quickly announced he was going to try everything on the menu, the girl gave a lopsided smirk and yelled the order to her father who agreed without question much to the surprise of Iruka, rebuilding his composure the man glanced at the blonde sitting next to him, then to the brunette on the blondes far side.

"Naruto… Thanks to Aiko here, I've learned some disturbing information… I just need you to confirm a few things for me" the blonde nearly flinched at the man's tone, but nodded slightly, searching the man's eyes for any clue, seeing none he waited in rare silence for the questions, Aiko narrowed her eyes… this was a perfect opportunity for her to gain some info on Naruto, and his… 'situation'

"Okay… the other instructors at the academy… they treat you, differently?" the blonde nodded slowly not entirely sure where this was being taken,

"Hai… they yell at me for anything and blame everything on me, mostly just make me stand outside the class all the time" Iruka mentally made a note of the information before continuing,

"Who would you say is the worst?" Naruto remained silent for a few seconds before replying

"Mizuki-sensei… he acts nice to me… but there's something not right, some of the looks he gives me scare me" Iruka ducked his head in mild shame... Mizuki… even you?

"Is there anything else Naruto?" the blonde paused for a few seconds while a few bowls of ramen were placed around him then shook his head, Iruka nodded and began to eat his own ramen, slightly relieved that this seemed to be the extent of the instructors damage, he was very aware that it was a very real possibility that an instructor could have attacked him, or put him in real danger. Mean while Aiko only listened and stored the information… this kid was becoming more of a mystery… even Mizuki-sensei… her own instructor for the past few years was a culprit… she couldn't see it. Yet she could tell that Naruto wasn't lying, he has no reason to after all. A few seconds passed as the trio ate their noodles before Iruka spoke again.

"Naruto… I want you to come to the training field every day at 6 am before class, okay?" the blonde raised an eyebrow as he finished his second bowl.

"Uh… okay, how come sensei?" The man gave a small smile

"I'm going to make up from what the other instructors didn't teach you" Naruto felt his eyes widen in shock as he could only nod dumbly at the elder man, Aiko grinned as well… she was already planning on joining the pair, at the very least she'd get some training done… maybe even do some more digging.

"You know this Ramen is actually really good…" Iruka could only smile at the boy

"I'm glad you like it Naruto"

"Really really good…" Both Iruka and Aiko felt a shiver run down their spines, as if something awful had just happened.

"N-nani?" Aiko smirked at Choji's dumbfounded expression, not only was Naruto not unconscious after one blow, but he'd actually landed an effective counter attack. All the academy students turned their heads to the spar. All had thought Naruto's usual performance would mean the spar would be over quickly. Aiko turned her gaze to Iruka for a few seconds to take in the proud twinkle in his eyes, this is clearly what he wanted as a teacher.

"Naruto's not gone down?" Sakura raised an eyebrow at the scene, Choji was standing facing the blonde with open confusion, heavily favouring his right leg. Returning her gaze to the boy Aiko could see Naruto's lip twitch as he bit back a smile, feeling everyone's eyes on him… and for once, they weren't judging him, the confusion in their eyes was obvious.

"Looks like you're getting rusty Choji!" Kiba grinned at the Akamichi who only shook his head and retook his normal stance. Strictly speaking Aiko knew Naruto was at a disadvantage. Choji was from a clan that was well practised in mainly taijutsu arts, so they had their own clan forms that Naruto didn't know, where as Choji had studied the academy forms for almost his entire school life. She mentally shook her head, no this was definitely going to be a hard fight for Naruto, but already she could see his improvements, and she wasn't the only one either.

"The dobe has improved" Sakura and Ino flinched at the voice before giggling madly and shyly waving at Sasuke who was still watching the match,

"At least someone noticed…" Aiko grinned to herself and ignored the short glare Sasuke sent her, ever since she'd joined the class a few weeks earlier he'd sent her all manner of glares, it was fairly easy to ignore… I feel sorry for whoever gets landed with him…

"Victory goes to Choji" Aiko glanced at Naruto who was climbing to his feet and nursing his shoulder where Choji had knocked him off balance. Instead of anger or embarrassment she saw that Naruto had a small smile, he caught her eye for a second and his smile grew, sending her a small wink that made her feel like they were sharing some kind of private joke. She approached him and sat down on the grass, ignoring the curious stares sent in their direction.

"Seems like you're not too worried about losing to Choji" the blonde nodded and gently prodded at his shrinking bruise, Aiko raised an eyebrow at the speed the bruise was disappearing.

"Hey, your bruise is almost gone" the boy smiled and nodded

"Yeah I'm always a fast healer" she narrowed her eyes slightly, There's a slight difference between healing fast and this… This is like lightning speed..

"Aiko, You're up next!" the girl raised her eyes to glance at the teacher, who was staring at her firmly, clear caution in his expression… she could immediately tell he was worried about something, she could only nod as her brain collected the facts for her to put together later.

"What do you mean… a test?" Naruto looked with confusion at his teacher, The silver haired man gave a short chuckle and pulled out a small scroll,

"The information is all of this scroll, a special exam Naruto, specially designed for you" The blondes eyes sparkled slightly at the idea

"You've been improving a lot recently, so the Hokage and myself talked about a special exam. If you pass you will be promoted straight to chuunin" Naruto's mouth dropped to the floor as the man spoke. This was an opportunity he couldn't miss

"Okay! I'll do it Mizuki-sensei! What's the mission?" the man nodded and smiled broadly

"Excellent! I knew you would, Now the mission is simple. There is a certain scroll in the Hokage's main library, called the scroll of sealing. Your mission is to take it and take it to a drop point of my choice" Naruto's smiled faltered ever so slightly

"Break into old man Hokage's? That's… impossible isn't it?" Mizuki shook his head

"It's far from impossible Naruto-kun, and you didn't think this would be easy did you? This is the hardest exam you'll ever face, do you think you can do it?" The blonde was silent for a few seconds

"Well?" Rare determination sparked across Naruto's eyes as he glanced at the teacher,

"I'll do it! Where's the drop point?" Mizuki grinned and flipped the scroll over revealing a map of the nearby forest, his finger rested on a clearing a few hundred yards from the main gate, Naruto nodded and made a run for the Hokage's tower, leaving Mizuki alone outside the boys apartment.

See you soon, Naruto-kun…

The man grinned and walked toward the stairs, this was almost too easy… a quiet creak sounded behind him, his eyes widened for a second as he quickly glanced behind him, retrieving a kunai from his holster… He narrowed his eyes sharply. Whatever it was… it was fast, but now it was long gone.

A cat? He sighed and continued walking down the stairs, replacing his kunai.

The elderly Hokage was leaning heavily in his chair when three heavy knocks sounded on his door, refilling his pipe he called the person to enter, a second later two ANBU were kneeling in the centre of the room, both with their masks staring firmly at the floor.

"Speak"

"Yes sir, whilst observing the target a short exchange took place between him and a suspect. Here is the file detailing the event" the slightly smaller ANBU held a file up for the man to take, he did and quickly scanned over the information.

"He's using Naruto to steal the scroll?" both ANBU nodded

"What are your orders?" the old man stroked his beard and took a long drag of his pipe… This could go wrong in any number of ways,

"Let the events play their course, cover the drop site and all escape routes, let's see if Mizuki was working alone in this" both ANBU chimed affirmative and disappeared in a plume of steam.

"Iruka will want to hear of this…"

AND that is chapter one! Am I a bad man?