Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its subsidiaries.
AN: Hey guys, I do hope you're not dreadfully disappointed with my lack of continuation of my stories. I've been a little busy for the last year or so. Also, my muse had decided to leave me. She's back for now, but we'll see if it's meant to be, or if it's just as her drunken fling... Haha. Anyway, here's a little something new for you. Hope you like it. If I get inspiration, I might continue a couple of my other stories, so without further ado, let's begin!
XxXxX
"Guren, now!" he shouted as he slid into position.
"Hai!" the purple haired kunoichi responded quickly, hands flying through hand signs. "Shoton: Shoten Kessho!"
In front of the blonde appeared a massive crystal magnifying lens. The edges were a bit rough, but they did not matter too much to the young man. All he needed was the focusing element of the glass like substance. What he shouted was lost in the din of combat all around him as what surviving friends he had kept their foe's minions at bay.
A large burst of blinding light crashed into the crystal lens. The structure bent the light into a single thin line. The beam easily penetrated the sphere of pure darkness that shielded their enemy. Capitalizing on the opening, the blonde rushed forth, jumping into the gap before it closed.
Uttering a cry of a single name, the young man plunged into the orb, the darkness repairing the hole behind him. The dark clothed figure that was the core of the sphere turned to face the blonde. He reached up to remove his white and red mask with one hand.
"Hello brother," said the young man that could have the spitting image of the blonde if not for the mismatched eyes and black hair. He let loose a feral grin and lunged at his counterpart.
XxXxx
Naruto sat bolt upright, a thin film of sweat giving him an odd sheen in the moonlight. His breathing was a little ragged from the intense dream he had. The twelve year old boy shook his head clear and looked at his alarm clock. It read eleven forty-two, exactly 3 minutes before it was due to go off for his secret make up test.
After failing the genin exams, the young Uzumaki had been approached by his teach, Touji Mizuki, with the promise of a make up exam. There would be a scroll hidden in the Hokage's office, and the blonde had to find it in the alloted time. Rather than the normal genin exam, which tested theory knowledge and low level ability, the make up exam was more of a practical exam.
The blonde wiped the sweat from his brow and hopped in the shower. He wanted to be as untraceable as possible, so he made sure to use the unscented soap before getting into his serious suit. Rather than his normal "kill me orange" jumpsuit, this one was a brown and green patchwork outfit that broke up his silhouette.
Taking off as silently as possible, Naruto sneaked through the village as quickly and quietly as he could manage. Considering that his stealth, infiltration, and evasion skills were on par with, if not surpassing, those of ANBU, he damn near invisible.
Taking a moment to check his chakra, he was able to determine that it was now half past midnight. All shinobi had the ability to determine the time by the flow of their chakra. This did not assist in trying to figure out the date, however.
The blonde boy gave his usual foxy grin as he could see his route into the Hokage Tower already. The building was undergoing renovations, and the scaffolding on the back side allowed him easy access directly into the main office. With a few leaps, and a little bit of climbing, Naruto was in the office and looking around.
He saw the safe immediately, and sweat dropped. 'There's no way it's THAT obvious,' he thought to himself, and dug around some more.
XxXxX
Sarutobi Hiruzen waited outside the office with a level of stealth that even Naruto would be envious of. But then, he was the Shinobi no Kami, the Professor, Hokage, and former ANBU, so it was only natural. He smirked to himself, with the thought that Mizuki's alternate test may be on to something big here.
After he felt the chakra signature of the blonde vanish through the window, he waited another full minute before entering the office through the door. He did a double check of the safe and saw the testing scroll was still there before nodding to himself and shutting the door. Then he quickly reopened the safe and saw that the scroll was indeed there.
"If he didn't take the scroll, then what did he take?" Hiruzen muttered to himself, looking around the office, before something caught his eye. The bookcase that hid the secret vault was ajar. The aged shinobi's eyes went wide and his pipe fell from his lips. "ANBU!"
XxXxX
Naruto was having trouble. He had expected minor resistance, and a halfhearted chase. Instead, all of the village's shinobi the rank of chunin or higher were out in pursuit. Luckily for him he hadn't left a easily followed trail, or he would've been caught almost immediately.
After an hour's worth of dodging and skulking, he had made it through the gates. The two chunin on gate guard were so busy watching the lane that they never thought to make sure no one climbed on top of the little stand. The blonde easily clambered on top and vaulted out, just barely making behind the bushes before the chunin's gaze swept the immediate area.
As soon as he was in the clear, he hustled to the shack he was told about. He only had two and three quarters of an hour left to memorize three items off the scroll, and even at a decent pace it was still going to take the blonde half an hour to get to the clearing.
XxXxX
Umino Iruka was unable to sleep, so he just laid in bed with his arm behind his head. The pale scar running horizontally across his face standing out against his tan skin was throwing the moonlight into his eyes. Sighing he sat up to close his blinds when there was knock at the door.
He opened it to see Mizuki, out of breath and slumped over with one hand on his knee the other on the door frame. "It's bad Iruka," the silver haired chunin gasped out. "Naruto took the forbidden scroll from the Hokage's office!"
Iruka thought of a logical response. Running out the door, he said the only thing that came to mind, as loudly and vehemently as he could. "Shit!"
XxXxX
Hiruzen stared intently into the crystal ball that was produced by a jutsu only usable to the one who wore the Hokage robes and hat. In the ball he watched Naruto as the boy sat on the ground hidden near the cabin, but out of sight to weasel a bit more time out for his task if he could. Knowing the boy like he did, the old man knew Naruto would eke out every last second he could.
His frown deepened as he watched the blonde skim lightly through the scoll, using a finger to assist in the reading of the kanji on the page. He picked out two topics and quickly transcribed them onto another, smaller, scroll. As his finger brushed the third choice, the symbols glared brightly before flowing up the blonde's arm, and down the other onto the page, leaving a neat legible copy.
The blonde gawked at the small scroll while Hiruzen blinked at the crystal ball. He couldn't get enough focus through the ball to see what techniques the blonde chose, but he could easily guess at the third one. In the crystal ball, the blonde shrugged after a minute and started reading first section he copied down. Once he started to practice what he learned, Hiruzen couldn't decide whether to face palm, or be scared. He settled for the happy medium.
XxXxX
His time was up. He had only learned the first choice he had copied, and he hoped it would be enough. He walked out into the clearing and was surprised. Standing there was not Mizuki, nor Iruka or the Hokage, but rather a random civilian. He wore the clothes of a common worker, but when he caught sight of Naruto his eyes were filled with a sadistic glee.
"Imagine that," the man said evenly, the barest hint of smile creeping upon his face. "I get to be the one to find the demon brat."
"Why do you all keep calling me that?" Naruto asked. "It's always when you think I can't hear, but I always do. Why?"
The man grinned. "Thirteen years ago, on October tenth, the Yondaime Hokage fought the Kyuubi. But a bijuu can't be killed, only sealed. I don't know why he chose you, but now I can finish what he started." For a moment the man's eyes reflected a small amount of pity toward the boy that was now wide eyed and shaking. "For what it's worth, we don't hate you, just the fox. But killing you is the only way to truly kill it."
With that, he lunged toward Naruto with a kunai. The blonde didn't have time to react, save for the flinch that caused him to tumble backwards over a rock. One arm raised defensively, he braced himself for the worst, expecting the blow that never came.
The man fell over dead, a fixed blade fuuma shuriken imbedded in his back, the point piercing through his heart. The blonde stared motionlessly as two pairs of arms enveloped him in a tight embrace.
