Summary: What if Iruka didn't come to Naruto's aid when Mizuki struck? What if he was unconscious at the time and someone else came instead? Watch, as Naruto defies all odds thrown against him and becomes the stuff of legends, with some extra guidance of course.

Time: Set after the Gennin Exams

Major Pairings: KakashiOCItachi SasukeSakura

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, if I did, I'd be sitting in up in Hawaii somewhere baking in the sun in a string bikini. But unfortunately enough, I do not have that privilege. Do enjoy, read and review please.

Extra Need-To-Know Information:
1 yard = 0.9144 meters
1 feet = 0.3048 meters
Canis Lupas = Scientific name for Wolf
Fuin No Sho = Scroll of Seals

Chapter 1
Guidance

A black silhouette approached the village at an alarming rate, moving so fast that it seemed almost like a blur. The Chunnin hesitated, unsure of what to make of this development.

It was a dark night, no presence of the moon could be seen from behind the thick gray clouds and it greatly affected the guard's vision. There was a fickle or something, and then another would appear ten seconds later almost 15 yards away. Umino Iruka could barely tell if it was just his own imagination, or it was truly something to be worried about, but an acidic pool began to build at the pit of his stomach. Instincts, gained from so many years of being a ninja, regardless the fact that he was mostly just a schoolteacher, warned him about this strange black figure approaching him, but nevertheless, it would be a shame to summon an ANBU just because of a slight suspicion, after all, it could just be another visiting ninja.

Iruka hurriedly walked down the steps towards the front of the gate, on guard and his hand on his kunai. Konoha was calm and aside from the occasional padding (although little) of feet of the ninjas on duty, there was an almost eerie silence to the area. Normally, there would be two ninjas on guard, but recently, because of the time of peace, Konoha's shinobis have been concentrating on more missions than on the safety of the village. Indeed the lack of security did not really bother Iruka all that much, ever since the Kyuubi incident 12 years ago, nothing posed a threat towards the Great Village of Konohagakure. However, right now, he was a tinsy bit annoyed at the Third Hokage for the lack of guards.

Just his luck things had to happen when he was on the very occasional duty.

But Iruka was a Chunnin for a reason, the exam was not simple to pass and he had been proud he was one of those that did. His quick mind anticipated the speed of the oncoming shadow and both mentally and physically prepared himself for a confrontation if it were to occur. However, he didn't expect that it would be possible for the figure to come closer any faster, there was a very small flicker about 5 feet from where he stood and the last thing he remembered were a pair of clear, beautiful, blue eyes, before he was met with darkness.

Strange, those eyes didn't seem too human to him.

XXXXX Time Skip – 2 Days XXXXX

Her head shot up as she both heard and smelt something coming towards the forest. Strange, the presence, whatever it was, didn't walk or move with the same grace or likeliness of an animal. Her right ear twitched twice whilst she cocked her head in an almost comical fashion, trying to listen out for more information about the thing coming closer.

Maybe that small action could even be described as cute if not for the fact that she looked like she could both kill and swallow an average human in one mouthful. The she-wolf stood 4 feet tall on all fours and from nose to tail, was about 5 feet long, definitely too large to just be another ordinary Canislupus. She had pure black fur and not an inch of white or any other form of colour could be found on her body. The only bit of thing that made a difference between herself and the shadows of the forest were the fact that her fur held such a shine that even the slightest streak of light would cause her fur to obtain a dazzling, glitter-like effect where the light hit, and her eyes.

The unknown thing just continued to walk deeper into the forest and the wolf took a step back from the carcass of a dead rabbit she had just been devouring. The scent was familiar, it was obvious, and it was definitely human.

Warning bells erupted within her head as she fought against instincts to run the opposite direction. Humans, especially those from these parts held a terrifying stature and were less likely to feel threatened by a wild animal such as herself. But the wolf knew she was not like most animals and forced herself to hold her ground.

This was, after all, her territory.

XXXXXXXXXX

The Third Hokage of the Hidden Village of the Leaf let out a great sigh as he watched the ninjas in front of him disappear after his dismissal. It was one of those days where he had wished he didn't take up the supposedly glorious job of being the leader of one of the greatest villages in the world.

If only they knew.

Hiruzen Sarutobi walked back into his office and placed his Hokage hat on the table before sitting down heavily onto his chair just behind his desk. He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb, trying to push back the headache he could feel approaching.

As always, it proved to be futile. The Sandaime sighed as he stood back up and turned around, looking down at the village from the large window.

Aside from the occasional flicker and stops of the ninjas that he had previously dismissed, the rest of the village was still. His weary eyes took in the picturesque view of the somewhat peaceful village in its prime and its gorgeous landscape.

It was brighter now than a few days ago, too bright almost. The full moon shone large and clear just above the horizon and loomed over the village, whether the presence of it felt threatening or safe, Sarutobi could not be sure. He closed his eyes as he reminisced upon the reason that he had given almost all of the ninjas remaining in the village, Chunnin and above not too long ago, that particular mission.

XXXXX Flashback XXXXX

"Hokage-sama!" a white-haired Chunnin gasped as he burst into the office of the Third much to the protest of the two ANBUs guarding the door. The Hokage looked up in slight alarm and surprise, curious at what was so urgent to cause the man to blast into the office in such a hurry.

Mizuki was one of the ninja academy instructors, besides Iruka, that Sarutobi really liked. The man had a talent with handling children and was always soft spoken and benevolent. Whatever brought the man to cause such a commotion must definitely be something drastic indeed. Only just earlier today when he had went down to visit the students at the academy before the exams, the man had to be told off (although only very slight) by him for being too lenient on the examination scores of his students. Uzumaki Naruto being such an example.

The Hokage sobered down as he remembered the particular reason why he had to do so. Their usual examiner, Umino Iruka, has been unconscious since his guard duty from two days ago. Two ANBU found him, knocked out right at the gates of Konoha. Searching they found no prints or anything of such to suggest it was an offensive attack. There wasn't even any physical injury on the man. The only conclusion that could be offered was that he suffered from exhaustion and passed out in the middle of duty. Although it didn't sound very much like Iruka, the fact that already two days had passed and the man has yet to awaken worried him. He sighed, there wasn't much he could do now, medical jutsus had always been Tsunade's strong point, not his.

Sarutobi quickly pulled himself out of his reverie and looked up at the man in front of him. "Yes?"

The man gasped for air, his hand holding onto the door handle for support. He quickly caught his breath and managed to stutter out. "It-It's Naruto! He has taken the Fuinn no Sho!"

The Hokage glanced back down in dread, not only did the Scroll of Seals contained much valuable information and ninja techniques belonging to the village, the fact that Naruto had taken it would mean that he would have to work incredibly hard to get their Jinchuriki back into the Coucil's good graces. Not that the boy was ever really inside them.

It took two seconds for Sarutobi to use a chakra search on the scroll he previously had in his library to know that it was missing. Apprehension filled him as he allowed his worry to show clear on his face.

The old man sighed as he placed his pen back into its holder. "Wolf," he said as he addressed the ANBU standing outside his door wearing an artistic black and white mask of a, as you can guess, wolf. The man nodded in acknowledgement. "Gather all ninjas available, Chunnin level and above to my office now. This is a B-level security threat[1]. They are to be here immediately."

The ANBU nodded at him before vanishing. The Hokage shook his head. Exactly what was Naruto thinking when he took the scroll he had no idea.

He was too busy contemplating upon that to notice the strange gleam in Mizuki's eyes.

XXXXX Flashback End XXXXX

Naruto sat back down onto the filthy ground in the middle of the forest with a large tired sigh. "Maaa. This is getting so troublesome!" he whined, using his fellow classmate's favourite words.

Naruto had been in this same clearing for the past hour, trying to memorize and learn the jutsus in the scroll. So far, he had only managed to complete one, the first one: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. It wasn't too particularly hard and definitely much easier than the normal Bunshin Jutus that they learn at the academy. But the second Jutsu on the list proved to be a challenge.

His face faulted as he remembered exactly why he was even here in the first place, Mizuki-sensei had been really nice, wanting to let him pass just because he had been through the exam three times already, even though he failed at making a proper bunshin. But the Hokage had stopped him, telling him that he could not play favourites. Thank God Mizuki wasn't as cruel and gave him a second chance.

Which brought him back to why he was here.

He reopened the scroll and glanced back at the second Jutsu on the list. "Ram, Ox, Boar…" Naruto said out loud slowly as he tried to follow the instructions on the scroll.

Needless to say, his efforts were useless.

Naruto collapsed back onto the ground, groaning. How many Jutsus did Mizuki-sensei said he had to learn again?

Wait.

Shit.

Naruto groaned again as he slapped himself on his head for being such an idiot (something that happens quite often, surprisingly enough). Sensei had said he only needed to learn one.

His entire demure changed, face lighting back up again. He clapped his hands together gleefully. "YOSH!" he cried out excitedly as he punched the air with his right hand, feeling regenerated.

Now all he had to do was show his technique to Mizuki-sensei and he would finally be able to become a full fledged shinobi!

"YATTA! I am Uzumaki Naruto! The greatest ninja that would ever grace this earth! I will become the best Ho-"

A growl, low and menacing cut Naruto off his mid praise/rant. Naruto froze in fear as the leaves behind him rustled. He moaned to himself, why on earth does he keep doing that? Drawing unwanted attention to himself by his loudmouth ways. Naruto slowly turned around as he took small steps backwards, hands placed in front of him as though to defend the wild animal that came into view.

Another growl, deeper this time, angrier too. Naruto's eyes widened as the animal stepped out of the bushes, its fangs bared, flashing its pure white teeth towards its prey, which in this situation, just happened to be Naruto.

The wolf-resembling thing was so large it was bigger than Naruto himself if he were to lie down. It was strangely beautiful if he could call it that, but now was not the time to admire a potential death threat. He swallowed his saliva, trying to quench the fear that was threatening to envelope him. Even the sheen that gleamed off its black coat felt sinister. Naruto kept taking steps backwards until his back hit a tree, causing him to yelp in alarm.

"N-now boy," the animal growled even louder at that. "Or girl," he said, quickly correcting himself. "I don't mean you any harm. Y-you can go now. Sh-Shoo." he did a chasing motion with his hands.

The animal stopped and straightened from its pouncing stance. Almost as though sending a suspicious glare at the blonde boy, the animal turned around and took off back into the forest. Naruto let out a huge sigh of relief before falling onto the floor.

Now that was a lucky break.

Another rustle, this time above him cause Naruto to freeze once again.

What had Iruka-sensei say again about throwing Kunais?

"Hey Naruto." A familiar voice called out from above him.

Naruto once again thanked the gods for his luck. He was afraid for a moment there that maybe a giant mutated monkey wanted to eat him or something. Damn this forest can be scary.

"Hello Mizuki-sensei!" he cried out, grinning as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Guess what, guess what, I've learnt one of the techniques on the scroll!" he exclaimed proudly.

Mizuki's eyes widened in surprise, before hatred filled his eyes. So the fucking snob though he could lie to him huh? Mizuki wasn't stupid, he knew what was inside the scroll, and he knew that Naruto definitely did not even have the brain capacity to learn one fourth of a technique inside the scroll, not to mention a whole thing. Who was the boy deluding himself to be?

Naruto took a step back in surprise at the level of hostility he could see from the Chunnin's eyes. "Mi-Mizuki-sensei?"

Ever heard of out of the pan and into the fryer? This was exactly the situation Naruto was in at the moment.

The man grinned ferally, oh how long he had waited for this day, acting and pretending to be a calm, nice sensei when all he wanted to do was stab the blonde idiot through the chest. "You stupid child, did you think you could lie to me so easily? I highly doubt a dumb blonde like you could even understand that scroll. Now, give it to me."

Naruto took another step back, utterly confused now, he was not used to the voice that Mizuki was using. "What is going on sensei?"

The man addressed took out a large shuriken from behind his back and began spinning it threateningly, "I will tell you exactly what is going on you idiotic Naruto-kun. Have you ever heard of the Kyuubi?"

The boy nodded dumbly, half in fear and half in dread. He almost wished that the wolf-like creature would come back. He would have rather dealt with it than his estranged teacher.

"You see, 12 years ago the Kyuubi rampaged the village and nearly killed everyone. The Fourth Hokage came up with a plan to seal the demon into a child. Long story short, you are that child."

Mizuki jumped off the branch and stood to his full height, the Shuriken still spinning in his hand. He relished the fear and realization that dawned in Naruto's eyes.

"Have you not wondered why people stare down at you in disgust and fear and hatred? Have you not noticed?" Tears leaked into Naruto's eyes as he shook his head pathetically. No! It can't be true.

"You are a demon Naruto. From the day you were born. Everyone hates you. The Hokage, the villagers, even your darling Iruka-sensei. We all hate you."

The blonde boy crumpled to the ground and onto his knees. Tears dripping down his face now as he gasp for breathe. No, it wasn't true. Iruka doesn't hate him. Not his Iruka. Not the Iruka that brought him for ramen and chastised him every time he did something wrong. Not the Iruka that would always feel guilty after punishing him and apologizes.

Not that Iruka.

Mizuki took out a hand-held recorder and played it. From it voices came on when Mizuki had taped their earlier conversation.

"Of course Naruto has Kyuubi in him. Who doesn't know that?" Naruto's eyes widened in horror as the voice of his beloved teacher filled the clearing. "Kyuubi is a demon, a monster, something that deserves death. If I could have, I would have delivered death to him myself. But-"

Mizuki cut off the tape. Grinning as he watched the boy in front of him suffer and die slowly inside. Had Mizuki continued to play the tape, Naruto would have heard how Iruka felt about him, that the older man loved him and cared for him as a brother.

But what Naruto doesn't know. Can't hurt him.

Or in this case, will kill him instead.

"I'm doing Iruka and the rest of the village a favour my getting rid of you demon." He spat out his disgust. "Die."

Naruto watched weakly as his vision began fading into darkness even before the weapon hit him. He was a demon, he deserved death. Iruka-sensei himself had said it. What else was there to live for? Naruto closed his eyes as he accepted his fate. But the pain never came. Opening his eyes slightly he saw a large black figure knocking Mizuki off his feet and pouncing onto him.

As black flooded his sight all he could think of was…

"Beautiful wolf."

XXXXX End of Chapter 1 XXXXX

So? What do you think? =] Much better than A New Dawn now isn't it? For those who do not know I am officially discontinuing that story and implementing some of those aspects into this story instead. I would very much like to hear from your opinions.

Do review.

Oh and I have yet to come up with a pairing for Naruto. Any ideas anyone? Just either send me a message or review and tell me who do you think Naruto would do good with. Or anyone else for that matter. I always do love taking in ideas from other people if it can help out with the story. =]

[1] – about the security threat. There are several levels, like missions. Ranking from E to SS. Here's the information:

E – barely any threat, maybe like a pick pocket or two.
D – again, not too much threat, maybe a band of harmless thieves
C – slightly higher, something that could possibly damage the village's stature
B – relatively high, would call for an immediate meeting for all available Chunnin and above, something that if get outs would definitely hurt the village, although not by much.
A – high, all Genin and above would be called in for an immediate plan to be taken. Could possibly be very damaging to the village.
S – all ANBU, Jounin, Chunnin and Genin would be called back from all missions to help the village with this security threat. Very serious and hardly ever called.
SS – Very serious, all help from allied countries and what not are asked in. Probably a full scale invasion or something that would lead to many deaths. The last SS Security Threat was the Kyuubi.

Hope you liked it!

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