(Obligatory Authors Note)
Hello, and this is my first humble attempt at writing. I write this little humble piece of fanfiction with a couple of goals in mind.
1) This will be a retelling of how I feel Naruto would have been written, without the Shounen Jump-isms found in those stories.
2) At no point will I go to bash characters in the story. I feel bashing character doesn't allow for them to be interesting plot elements there for, my own like or dislike of characters will not effect the story.
3) I will also be avoiding certain cliches within the Naruto fanfiction community. That means no civilian council, since the only council I know of in canon for Konoha, is the Konoha Council. Also I do not believe in the idea of "fox hunts" or multiple beatings. I feel Naruto's true struggle came from being ignored. There for I want his sorrow to come from being alone, and or ignored, not from beatings or over priced items.
4) I'll try not to include Japanese, just to have it in characters conversations. There will be small exceptions, most pertaining to jutsu, or proper names. Suffixes like "Sama" will be replaced with Lord. I don't disparage against writers who do this, but to me it feels distracting in a story. If I want moments of cross coding, I want them to be heavy plot points, but that again is my humble opinion.
5) I want character interactions to feel genuine, which helps tie into point 1. There for I want the bonds between Naruto and Sasuke to feel like it was a rivalry/friendship, or the romance that build between characters to be believable.
6) If at any point you feel I'm going against the points I established, please give me constructive review and I'll put it through a rewrite. If I chose not to, it will be most likely because I have something in the plot worked out to hit said conflict.
While has a policy about flamers let me say the following; I honestly could care less if you flame or not. I don't take things like that personally, and honestly think its a waste of both the parties time. Don't do that to anyone else, but just know you're wasting your time if you think it will bug me.
And without further ado, Naruto: A Legacy Retold
Once, there lived a fox spirit with nine tails, and he was so powerful that whenever he shook his tails, landslides and tsunamis would result.
The suffering people gathered the great shinobi clans to fight this menace.
Finally, risking his life, one ninja was able to imprison its soul.
Having defeated the demon, the brave shinobi died. That shinobi was the Fourth Hokage, the Fire Shadow, and Champion of the Village Hidden in the Leaves…
It was a quiet day in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The sun was brightly shinning and it was about noon, the busiest time of the day in the village. Overlooking the village was a mountain known as the Hokage Rock. This mountain served as a symbol that the Hokage would always be looking over the village. There were four faces carved into the mountain, the four men who have served the village in the role of the Hokage. On this particular day however, if one where to look upon the faces that were carved into the mountain, they would see various drawings and insults, such as fools and idiots, painted on the four faces. Hanging from a rope was a child laughing like a maniac, armed with a paint can and brush, drawing a spiral on the face the farthest to the left.
"Lord Hokage!" One shinobi cried out to a figure who was painting on a scroll while smoking from a pipe. This elderly man, nearing his seventies, was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, a powerful ninja hailed as "God of Shinobi." His skin was light, his hair grey, and he had wrinkles and liver spots of old age showing, but he also held an element of nobility and wisdom. "Yes? What is it?" He turned around from his painting to look at the shinobi. "Some new outrage by Naruto, I presume?" "That young devil is graffiti-ing the mountainside image of all the heroes of our village-your honored predecessors!" One shinobi exclaimed. "In paint!" The first one added. Hiruzen put on his customary red hat that resembled a kasa, which adored the kanji for 'fire' on it, and drew another hit of his pipe. He sighed as he joined the shinobi to see what mischief the young Naruto had caused this time.
Atop the Academy, the basis and center of most shinobi related business and the spot closest to the Hokage Rock, several shinobi had looked above at the young vandal, and some had even decided to shout out to him. "Enough with the stupid pranks!" "We're sick of it! Grow the hell up already!" "Look at 'im…you're dead when they catch you! You know that?" However none of these comments bothered Naruto as he finished his last bit of painting. He turned around with the biggest smile on his face and retorted "LOOOSERS! You don't have what it takes to do something like this during the busiest time of the day!"
A few of the shinobi who had been listening would never admit it, but they knew he had a point. It was a pretty good display of future shinobi skill shown by the troublesome Naruto. 'Surely they'll be able to acknowledge my awesome skills after this!' Naruto thought. One more shinobi shouted out "How dare you?! Who do you think we are?!" By this time the Third Hokage appeared on the roof with the other shinobi and looked at the now defaced mountain. Beside him a shinobi with a scar across his nose spoke out while looking at Naruto. "Lord Hokage…I can't apologize enough…" The Third turned to the shinobi, "Oh! Is that you, Iruka…?" Iruka was a bit stunned how the Hokage seemed to have forgotten about him. As the Hokage looked up at the young troublemaker, Iruka regained his composure, then shouted to Naruto, "What do you think you're doing, you idiot? Get down from there and get back to class!" Naruto fumbled around from his rope as he panicked. "It's Iruka-sensei! I'm so screwed this time!"
Throwing his brush to the ground and untying his rope around his waist, he jumped to the ground as two shinobi gave chase. Still laughing at his handy work he ran further into the village with the two ninja on his tail. "Naruto! Come back here!" the first ninja huffed out. "When I get my hands on you!" "You crossed the line this time, Naruto!" The second one shouted out as he shook his fist at Naruto. Jumping from roof to roof, Naruto decided to taunt his persuaders. "You'll never catch me!" Naruto always loved to pull pranks and be chased by other ninja. While he would get great joy from his handy work, he also relished the fact that he could get unofficial and practical training from ninja who tried to catch him. He had great speed resulting from running from anyone trying to punish him, and he developed amazing stealth tactics from hiding if his opponents where just a bit too fast for him to outrun alone.
'These guys are a bit faster than those pushovers I outran last week, time to use the most basic hiding technique and see if I can fool them!' Naruto thought. Seeing a fence ahead to his right he pulled out a sheet that let him blend in with the fence. As the two ninja passed by still enthralled with their chase, Naruto dropped the sheet and started to laugh. 'That was too easy, I can't believe Chunin fell for that!' Just then he felt someone grab his forearm, "Naruto, you're going back to class, even if I have to tie you up and drag you!" Iruka had loomed over Naruto, as if to show both authority and anger at the young orange clad boy.
True to his threat, Iruka had managed to tie up Naruto and bring him back to the class room. Iruka had managed to put Naruto in front of his peers as he prepared himself to give another lecture to the orange clad student. "I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto. You failed the graduation test last time, and the time before that. Tomorrow you've got another chance, so you chose now for your stupid tricks?!" Naruto who had been angry that he was tied up and sitting on the ground just let out an annoyed huff.
Iruka was stunned by Naruto lack of interest, so Iruka decided on another approach. "Fine! Because you missed it Naruto, EVERYONE will review the art of transformation!" At these words the rest of the classroom filled with the moans of complaint. The students all lined up in front of the class and each performed the transformation jutsu, doing their best to make themselves look like their teacher. Some of the student waiting in line weren't happy and decided to let their frustration out onto Naruto. "This is all your fault Naruto." One boy stated. "We wouldn't have to pay for your mistakes if you would just behave once in a while!" One girl shouted. Naruto just sighed as he put his hands on his waist. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, like I care." He was less annoyed with his classmates and more annoyed that he let his guard down earlier and got tied up by his teacher. "Next up, Uzumaki." Iruka listed off his checklist of students. 'This sucks.' Naruto sighed to himself. 'But…this does give me a good chance to pay back Iruka for tying me up, instead of just walking me back here.' He chuckled to himself as he formulated a small little way of payback.
In the back of the line was a girl with short indigo hair and pupil-less, but light lavender colored eyes, poking her index fingers together as she looked at Naruto with a light blush on her face. 'Naruto, I know they can be a little harsh, but do your best.' She thought to herself. Hinata Hyuga, knew today would be full of excitment when she saw Naruto wasn't in class earlier in the day, and although she liked to see his smile when he committed pranks, she did wish he wouldn't always get into trouble. Furthermore, she had hoped he wasn't hurting his chances of graduating when he missed their lesson on transformation.
Naruto stood in front of Iruka and put his hands in the Ram formation of hand seals and gathered a blue energy around him as he yelled "Transform!" Smoke had surrounded Naruto and had begun to float away from where he was standing. Gone was the orange clad, blonde haired boy and in his place was a naked blonde haired girl, with two pigtails that reach 'her' waist, and smoke covering 'her' private areas. Sealing the transformation was a sultry look in the 'girls' eyes and a wink and air kiss combo. Iruka was gob smacked by the sudden appearance of this naked female and had to fight from nearly passing out from shock. Another cloud of smoke appeared and Naruto was back to his normal appearance, laughing at his handy work. "How do you like that Iruka-sensei? I call that the ninja-centerfold!" The prankster blonde exclaimed.
Naruto didn't like the idea of using this technique for anything other than a shocking distraction, since he felt wrong doing research to get the anatomy right, but he felt a special exception could be made. "I could have done the jutsu normally, but you insisted on tying me up to get me back to class, so I thought I'd pay you back for that." Iruka, having recovered from the near shock he just went though, had a noticeable anger on his face and shouted, "How big of a fool are you?! You waste all your time and talent inventing these stupid tricks!" The rest of the day in the classroom went off without a hitch after that incident, and the end of the school day came quickly.
From the defaced mountain, one could see a scaffold with a figure clad in orange on it. Naruto was charged with cleaning up his latest prank, and his teacher watched him like a hawk from a bit higher. With his arms crossed Iruka looked down at Naruto, who was making progress on one of the spirals on the First Hokage's face, but grumbling to himself. "You're not going home until you've cleaned off every single drop of paint." Iruka scolded. Naruto looked up from his work, "So what? It's not like there's anyone waiting at home for me." As he hung his head back down to work, Iruka noticed a somber feeling over his student. He thought for a second then spoke up. "Naruto?" He asked, in a calmer tone. Again Naruto looked up to Iruka, this time with a more annoyed looked on his face. "What now Sensei?" "Well…I was just thinking, maybe after you've cleaned this all up, I could take you out for some ramen." It was no secret to anyone in the village that the young aspiring ninja loved ramen, and Naruto's face lit up after the mention of his favorite food. "Sure! Talk about some serious motivation, Iruka-sensei! I'll have this clean in no time!" And before he knew it, Naruto was able to finish his work.
That evening both Naruto and Iruka were eating at a small ramen shop called Ichiraku's. When Naruto received his bowl of miso ramen, the effort of cleaning the paint off of the Hokage's faces was immediately forgotten. Halfway through his bowl Iruka decided to break the silence. "Naruto, why would you deface the Hokage faces, of all places? You know who the Hokage are to the village, don't cha?" Naruto finished slurping up his noodles and took a second to swallow. "Of course I do." He then started to drink the remaining broth from his bowl. "Everybody knows. To inherit the Hokage title, they'd have to be the best shinobi in the village. And the Fourth Hokage save our village by finding a way to beat the demon fox." "Then why did you-" "Because, one of these days I'm gonna be greater than any of them. One of these days they'll be calling me Lord Hokage," Naruto then pointed his chopsticks at Iruka, along with a triumphant smile. "And when that day comes, everyone in the village will have to give me some respect at last!" Iruka just slurped his last noodle with a stunned look on his face. He had no idea that Naruto really was driven towards a goal for the future. All the times in class Naruto would take very little interest in his studies, choosing to go play pranks on different villagers, or doze off in the middle of a lecture, but when he made this statement, Iruka could see a fire in Naruto's sky blue eyes that he rarely ever saw.
"By the way, uh, I kinda want to ask a little favor Sensei." Naruto put his hands together in a pleading manor. "Another bowl of ramen?" Iruka blankly asked. "No, I wanna try on your headband, please?" Iruka chuckled as he reached up to his headband. It was a navy blue band that had a metal forehead protector with a leaf symbol that had a spiral in the middle. "Oh this? No way. You can only wear this when you finally graduate from the Academy, and become a ninja. You've got to pass your test tomorrow!" Naruto just gave a defeated sigh as Iruka chuckled so more. "So that's why you took off your goggles!" True enough, Naruto's dark green goggles could be seen right next to his empty bowl. "Another bowl here, please!" Naruto figured if he couldn't try the headband just yet, he'd get one more bowl on his sensei at the very least.
The next day, Naruto was in class, albeit, hunched over on his table bored out of his mind. Iruka walked into the classroom with a clipboard in his hand. "We will start the final exam. When your name is called, proceed to the testing room. For your final exam, you will be tested on the clone jutsu." Naruto sat up in utter shock at the mention of the clone jutsu. 'Why did it have to be the clone jutsu?! That's my worst technique!' Naruto, despite seeming like a slacker, did have a few theories as to why he can never do this jutsu. He knew he had a much bigger pool of chakra compared to any of his classmates, and ever his teachers, which would make his already abysmal chakra control that much harder to do. He also speculated that because the clone jutsu worked as an illusion only, and not a true clone, he was at a disadvantage again because he couldn't grasp the concept of anything pertaining to genjutsu, the art of illusion.
Finally Naruto's name was called and he went into the testing room. It was rather empty save for the table closest to the two doors where his teachers, Iruka and Mizuki were sitting. On top of the table laid a bunch of navy blue banded head protectors, enough for all the students should they all pass. Naruto took his spot in the middle of the room, and made the ram hand sign, while trying to focus his chakra to make a perfect clone of himself. The resulting smoke revealed an ill looking clone, laying on the ground unable to move. Naruto looked to his teachers in shock, while Iruka looked at Naruto and his sickly clone, his eye slightly twitching. "You fail!"
Naruto could only hold his head down in shame, no matter how hard he tried he could not pull this jutsu off successfully, and this had been his best result. The silver haired teacher seated next to Iruka spoke up. "Iruka, this is his third time, and he did manage to basically conjure up his other self, even if it was a little flawed…" Mizuki paused. 'I'm not so great at the clone technique myself,' he thought to himself. "But what if we cut him a break and pass him-" Naruto's head perked up upon hearing these words and the biggest and most hopeful smile was seen upon his face. "The other students created at least three effective replications. But Naruto could only create one, and he did it very badly." Upon hearing Iruka speak up Naruto smile turned into a look of anger, frustration, and betrayal. Mizuki was willing to give him a break, and Iruka had to shoot it down. Iruka even knew how much this meant to him as well which made it all the more painful. "His performance doesn't merit a passing grade Mizuki; the answer is no."
Several students and parents stood outside the Academy, all gathered and talking to one another. Under the shade of a tree was a swing that Naruto had sat down at, looking at all the proud parents, and happy children. "I'm so proud of you son!" "Congratulations! Tonight your mother is gonna cook up a big feast!" "I can't wait to start missions, we're all adults now!"
Naruto looked at the sight and listened to the various conversations between parents and children. Gone was the usual smile that adorned his face, and replacing it were sad eyes and a look of gloom. His goggles were gone, and his hopes of replacing it with a head protector were dashed. Among the crowd two women could be seen looking at Naruto on the swing. "Hey, isn't he the kid who-" One woman whispered. "Yeah that's him. The only one who failed!" The other replied. At this point Naruto could tell they were talking about him. "Serves him right…" The first woman stated. "Can you imagine if they let someone like that become a shinobi?" The other woman asked. "I mean he's the boy who-" "Shush! We're not allowed to talk about that!" The other woman interrupted.
At this point Naruto had heard enough. He put on his googles, and took off, head hanging down so no one could see the look on his face. Hinata, who had been outside of the crowd for some air, looked towards the swing as the blonde got up and left. 'Naruto…are your parents not here to see your dream come true? Is that why you're sad?' She thought to herself. As far as she knew, everyone in class had passed, so she was perplexed as to why he seemed so sad.
She wasn't the only one looking at where Naruto used to be. Among the crowd Iruka and the Third Hokage had been standing side by side. "Iruka, could I have a word later…?" The Third calmly asked. "Of course." He replied. Mizuki had also noticed Naruto took off and decided to follow him. Naruto had gotten far but finally Mizuki caught up. "Naruto." He stated. Naruto looked back to see the silver haired sensei behind him. "Mizuki-sensei!"
The sun had started to set upon the village, and on top of a balcony Mizuki and Naruto had been sitting, feet dangling off as they started at the golden and orange skyline. "Iruka may have said some tough things, but he's not against you." Naruto still staring at the sunset looked at Mizuki. "But then why was it only me who couldn't pass? Why didn't he give me a break like you suggested?" Mizuki took a deep breath as he looked at Naruto's sad eyes. "Because he wants to help you to be strong, with all his heart, but that will never happen if he goes easy on you. He's like you…" Naruto seemed shocked at these words, but then hid away behind his gloom face again. "No parents, no family. Try to give him a break, you can understand where he's coming from can't you? One orphan to another?" Naruto thought to himself.
It's true he didn't have either of his parents, or a family to take him in. But he strove to be the best he could so that someone would acknowledge him one day. Some day he would know what it's like to feel pride from someone else at achieving his goals. But again, Naruto sighed. "But I really tried hard this time, and wanted to graduate." Mizuki looked at the young boy and smiled at him. "How would you like another chance to graduate?"
Nightfall had come and Naruto could be seen sneaking into a window. He was told that this was a way to test his infiltration and stealth, skills much more practical to a shinobi compared to the clone technique in his opinion. Eventually he had found what he was told to look for, the Scroll of Seals, a scroll containing many techniques, sealed away by the First Hokage.
Naruto couldn't believe his luck, all he had to do was bring it to a Chunin waiting for him in the forest and he could pass. He took off towards the forest in search of the location he was told to meet. However when he got there he didn't see an instructor anywhere to evaluate his performance. So he decided to open the scroll for a bit of bonus learning. If there was one thing Naruto liked as much as ramen, it was learning new jutsu. One of the first ones that caught his eye was listed as the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. It derived from the Shadow Clone Technique, which creates corporeal copies rather than illusions. 'The user's chakra is to be evenly distributed among each clone, and can even fool the Sharingan and Byakugan.' Naruto read to himself. 'I'm not sure what either of those are, but if it's worth noting then it must be important.' Naruto continued to read the techniques notes and description.
The only risk factor Naruto noted was that if a user's chakra is low, they could use up their chakra quickly and die from chakra exhaustion. Naruto smiled, this had been the solution he's always wanted to deal with his massive chakra pool. He immediately started to work through the processes of leaning these jutsu.
Iruka laid in his bed staring at the ceiling, reflecting on the words of the Third Hokage earlier that day. "I understand how you feel about the boy, Iruka. Growing up, like you, without his parents' love." Iruka closed his eyes and reflected on that night fourteen years ago. Fourteen years ago is when the demon fox attacked the village.
Iruka remembered the destruction around him as a ninja took him away from battle for his safety. The children and villagers were being taken somewhere to remain safe, while the shinobi and shinobi clans kept the fox at bay. He knew his parents fought bravely, but in the aftermath of the attack young Iruka was told that his parents were among the many who fell that night. Suddenly Iruka opened his eyes to the sound of frantic knocking upon his door. Iruka got out of bed to open his door, to be met with a shinobi with a worried look. "Iruka, its Naruto! Somehow…he's found out about and stole the Scroll of Seals!"
Several shinobi had been gathered around the Third's home, as he stood waiting for the rest who had been called. Some of the shinobi had been already conversing about recent events. "Lord Hokage, Naruto's gone too far this time! This is not just a prank, this is a serious crime!" A gruff shinobi shouted. "If misused, or fell in the wrong hands it could be deadly to the village, and our entire way of life." Another shinobi with an eye patch interjected. Hiruzen drawing another worried puff of his pipe, looked around and saw all the shinobi he called for had arrived. "Alright now that you're all here, bring Naruto here at once!" And with that he dismissed then with a hand gesture. As the ninja took off, Hiruzen thought to himself. 'Naruto, why would you do this? I know you want to be a great ninja, but surely you wouldn't do anything foolish to jeopardize that knowingly…would you?'
As the shinobi continued to search, Naruto had just finished his study of the new promising technique. Sitting on the ground exhausted, he looked at the scroll again seeing if there was anything else of interest within the time he might have had left. 'Let's see now, since I have time to look, maybe I can write something down to study for later. Won't Iruka-sensei be so proud of me!' As he looked his eye caught something familiar to him. 'Uzumaki? Does this mean I could have family I don't know about?' As Naruto looked at the words and images illustrated on the scroll he took out a small scroll from his pocket along with a brush and ink. He always kept this on hand whenever he needed to make notes before planning his pranks, but now he could use it to add to the puzzle of his linage, and future ability as an aspiring shinobi. 'If Lord Hokage didn't tell me about this, perhaps there is a reason…still I will do whatever it takes to learn more about this.' The first words he wrote down read 'Eight Trigrams Sealing Style.'
As Naruto packed everything up he had almost given up on hope on this bonus opportunity to pass that is until he saw Iruka looking down at him. "Well I finally found you!" Iruka panted. Naruto started to chuckle as he scratched the back of his head. "About time you got here Sensei! I was able to manage to learn one technique since you took so long." Iruka looked stunned and the lack of worry on Naruto's face. Furthermore he was shocked to hear Naruto had learnt something from the Scroll of Seals. 'He's been out here practicing?' Interrupted from his thought, Naruto spoke up. "Wait until I show you! I never dreamed…some of the shinobi arts are so amazing!"
"Naruto, why are you carrying that scroll? Don't you know what it is?" Iruka inquired. Naruto's face lit up when Iruka noticed the scroll he had strapped around him. "Of course I do Sensei! I was told that if I could find and take the scroll without being caught, and meet the Chunin waiting for me out here, it would show my abilities in stealth and infiltration, and allow me to pass!" "Naruto who-" But before Iruka could finish he pushed Naruto out of the way, as a barrage of incoming kunai pinned Iruka to the cabin in the forest, and the ones that didn't pin his clothes, had entered his legs.
"So you found our little hide away, did you?" A sinister voice called out. "Now I understand!" Iruka coughed out. Above in a tree crouched a figure with two giant shuriken strapped to his back, revealed his image from the shadow of night, and revealed his silver hair. "Naruto, give me the scroll, now!" The now revealed figure that was Mizuki called. Naruto looked puzzled upon hearing the urgency in Mizuki's voice. "Wait a minute, what's going on here?" Iruka, struggling with the kunai in his legs and shoulders cried out, "Naruto, don't let him have it! Protect it with your life! It holds the record of completely forbidden ninja arts! Mizuki used you because he wants it for himself!" Upon hearing this Naruto growled at Mizuki, while Mizuki regained his composure. "Naruto, Iruka is just trying to scare you, because he doesn't want you to have the scroll." Naruto growl suddenly became confusion as he looked at his injured sensei. "Stop lying Mizuki!" Iruka hissed, "Don't let him trick you, Naruto!" Mizuki started to laugh. "Oh I'll tell you who's really lying!" "NO MIZUKI!" Iruka shouted. "They've been lying to you your whole life, Naruto, since the decree fourteen years ago." Naruto looked stunned, people had been lying to him? And why since fourteen years ago? The only thing that could be noteworthy would be the attack on the village by the demon fox.
"I don't remember any decree…" Naruto silently said. "You wouldn't. Part of that decree was that everyone would know about it…except you! Iruka's trying to hide it even now!" Naruto was too enthralled with what was being said, but confusion was still racing through his mind. "Why not me? What law are you talking about?" "DON'T TELL HIM, ITS FORBIDDEN!" Iruka shouted, his voice carrying more urgency than before.
Mizuki chuckled at the injured sensei. "That no one must ever tell you, the nine tailed fox is inside you!" Naruto's comprehension for what could have been revealed was shattered at this fact. "The fox spirit that killed Iruka's parents, and destroyed our village, and taken over your body. Didn't you think it was strange? To be so despised, everywhere you went?" At this point, Naruto could only get angry, and growl, his chakra surrounding him in a violent cyclone. Mizuki had seen the 'truth' affecting the boy and decided to drive the final nail in the proverbial coffin. "Even your beloved sensei couldn't if he were just honest with himself! You never knew a parent's love…since the day of your birth, you've been shunned by the entire village. No one will ever accept you! The best you could ever hope for was attention, not love. And you could only do that by doing things that would get you into trouble!" Mizuki paused to let it sink in. "And you didn't care, you were just willing to accept any criticism, so long as it meant someone was paying attention to you. That scroll you've stolen…it was the instrument of your bondage!"
As Mizuki finished he grabbed one of the giant shuriken from his back and started to spin it, to get throwing force behind it. As he released it, Naruto realized it was coming towards him. He tried to jump out of the way but Mizuki must have planned for that because the giant shuriken arced towards where Naruto though he would be safe. All of a sudden Naruto realized he was on the ground, with his sensei looking down at him, as he hunched over Naruto. Iruka had used his body to shelter over Naruto, as he took the giant shuriken to the back. Both Naruto and Mizuki were stunned. Finally something let Naruto speak, "Why? Why would you do that Sensei?" "Because we are both the same…I know I was hard on you, yelling and scolding you…it must have hurt…forgive me. If I'd been a better teacher…a better self...maybe neither of us would have come to this." Naruto choked up a bit, but then a fire lit in his eyes, and he took off into the forest.
Mizuki jumped down from his tree and chuckled as he stared at an injured Iruka. "Did you see that look in your protégé's eyes? Those were the eyes of the demon fox!" As Iruka reached to take the shuriken out of his back, Mizuki continued. "What a pity…but once Naruto sets his mind on something, he can't be dissuaded. I bet he's going to use the scroll to take his revenge on the village!" Iruka tossed the shuriken at the silver haired man, but Mizuki easily dodged it. With that burst of power, Iruka had fallen down again "As soon as I get that scroll, I'll be back to take care of you." Mizuki seethed.
As Naruto jumped from tree top to tree top he noticed he was being followed by Iruka. "Give me the scroll Naruto! It's what Mizuki's after, I'll take it and you can get out of here!"
Naruto jumped ahead to the next tree branch, only to turn around and quickly jump towards Iruka, his fist connecting with the teachers gut. Iruka fell to the ground as Naruto landed near him. As Naruto took the scroll off his back, Iruka was enveloped by smoke. "How did you know it was me and not Iruka!?" Mizuki said as the smoke cleared. Naruto chuckled. "Because…" He started as he was enveloped by similar smoke, "Because I'm Iruka." The injured Chunin said as the smoke cleared. He managed to lean against a tree as he fell to a seated position, as Mizuki stood up from his tumble. "Why are you protecting him? What happens if we let him live?" Mizuki spat out in disgust.
Iruka coughed, then smiled. "Then maybe the scroll is safe from a complete scumbag." Nearby, Naruto was hiding behind a tree as he stared at the two Chunin, protecting the scroll in his arms. "Naruto and I are two of a kind, Iruka. The demon in him and I both hunger for the power in that scroll. That's how beast are Iruka." Naruto was listening, just wanting this to end, but the next words he heard, nothing could prepare him for them. "You're right." 'So it's true…Iruka-sensei really does hold me…in contempt…' Naruto hung his head down to fight tears. "That is what beast would do, but not Naruto, not the boy. I have nothing but respect for him, he's an excellent student." Naruto held his head up, amazed that his teachers true thoughts came to light, and that they were positive. "He works with all his might," Iruka continued as he coughed up some blood. "But sometimes, even so, he's awkward, clumsy…a screw-up…people mock him on a daily basis and shun him…but it's given him empathy. He knows what it is to be in pain. That is not the characteristics of a demon, for he is a citizen of Kohonagakure Village, He is Naruto Uzumaki!"
Naruto, who had been touched by these kind words started to cry tears of joy, while Mizuki fought to keep his disgust from showing. "So, you really believe that shit?" Mizuki reached for his last giant shuriken. "I was gonna save you for later, but I changed my mind…I'll finish you now!" As Mizuki prepared to throw his spinning shuriken, Iruka closed his eyes, willing to accept death as an old friend.
However the pain never came, because Naruto jumped from his hiding spot and sent a kick to Mizuki's jaw, knocking him back a good distance. As Naruto slid to a halt, he took the scroll of his back and propped it up as one would use a cane. "If you try to touch Iruka-sensei again…I'LL KILL YOU!" Mizuki spat out some blood. "Such big words, I could kill you with one blow, you loudmouthed brat!" Naruto crossed his first two fingers on both his hands, to form a hand sign that differed from the basic ones taught to him at the Academy. "Take your best shot. Whatever you throw at me, I'll give back a thousand fold!" "You're welcome to try, little fox!" Iruka looked on in amazement at his student's newfound resolve, as Naruto yelled, "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Suddenly Mizuki was surrounded by thousands of perfect copies of the orange clad boy. The ones who couldn't surround Mizuki were all standing or crouching on tree branches. 'Amazing! He not only generated a thousand clones, but he made them solid, instead of being illusions.' Iruka thought proudly. Mizuki, however had a different reaction. Looking all around him, he started to panic, not believing that this could have been done by a student who couldn't pass earlier in the day. "What's the matter, Mizuki? Come and get me!" One of the clones taunted. "You said you were gonna kill me with one move right? Come on then!" Another clone said. "Well then…I guess we're gonna have to come after you." The original coldly stated. All Mizuki could do was scream out in terror, as a thousand solid clones came down with a beating of a lifetime Mizuki wouldn't ever forget.
As Mizuki laid on the ground unconscious and bloody, the original Naruto looked over him while scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment. "Heh…I guess I got carried away, huh Iruka-sensei?" Naruto chuckled. It was just starting to hit sunrise, and the morning's cool air was a gentle contrast from the night's incident. Iruka, still sitting under his tree, struggling against his injuries looked up at Naruto. "Hey Naruto, come here please. I've got a present for you. But you'll have to close your eyes before I give it to you."
The ninja who had been searching for Naruto, came back to the Lord Hogake's manor displeased with their lack of results. "Did you guys find him!?" "No, he could be miles away by now!" "This is awful! What are we going to do!?"
However the Third walked out to greet the group as he drew some smoke from his pipe. "There's no longer any need to worry." He smiled to himself. The group of shinobi were stunned and understandably confused. "The scroll is safe, and Naruto will be back soon." Hiruzen had been doing his own searching using a technique that channeled images to the user through a crystal ball. It had taken some time to find Naruto's chakra, but once he did he was able to watch the events that followed after Mizuki revealed Naruto's secret to him. He was stunned Naruto managed to learn a technique from the scroll to stop the traitorous Chunin, but to his surprise it all worked out for the better.
'I suppose I'll have to re-evaluate the teams I had made…'
All Naruto could hear was the sound of the birds starting the morning, and feel the warmth of the sun, ushering the new day. However he still had his eyes closed, at his sensei's request.
But Naruto only had so much patience. "Can I open my eyes now, Iruka?" Iruka chucked at his impatient student. "Yes Naruto, you can open your eyes now." When Naruto opened his eyes, he had expected Iruka to be holding something, but what shocked him was the lack of something. Iruka was smiling at him, but he was no longer wearing his forehead protector. Naruto felt his forehead, and noticed his googles were gone, and were replaced. "Congratulations! You can consider yourself a graduate after the events of this night."
Naruto couldn't believe what he was feeling and had heard. Iruka replaced Naruto's goggles with his own forehead protector, and just told him his dream was one step closer to being achieved. "And to celebrate, tonight we can go out for some ramen!" Iruka told his young student. Naruto was fighting a tear of joy, but then decided to give Iruka the biggest hug he could muster. "Haha, ow! Be careful, that hurts still!" Iruka coughed, but laughed. 'Now that you're a full-fledged shinobi, your life is going to be much more difficult…but I suppose I can save that speech for later.' Iruka smiled as he hugged his student back.
