"IF THERE IS CONFUSION AND CHAOS EVERYWHERE AND NOTHING MAKES ANY SENSE, THERE IS PROBABLY A SOCIOPATH AT THE HELM."
Michelle Parsons
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"Mizuki! Relinquish the scroll!"
Iruka dodged another kunai as he attempted to steal the clone from the soon-to-be nukenin.
Mizuki sent smirk. "Give up, Iruka! We both no your not a match for me." Mizuki broke into a sprint towards his former ally, 3 shurikens in each hand. Slightly wound from the kunais that had been thrown at him previously, Iruka tried his best to prepare himself for combat.
The tanned chunin wasn't fast enough to dodge all six of the shurikens that had been thrown at him. One of them had been embedded in his thigh and another skimmed his arm. He held his tongue to withhold a scream of pain. He slowly began to regain his footing and was able to parry a blow to the face.
Mizuki grinned as he realized that he was gaining the upper hand. He sent a blow to Iruka's exposed stomach, causing the man to bend over, given the opportunity Mizuki sent his knee into the Iruka's face. A gush of blood came out from his face as he fell to the ground.
Mizuki secured the scroll on his back before he made his way to his former teammate. Amusement could be clearly seen in his eyes.
"If if makes you feel any better before the demon brat left the village, I was going to use him as bait to get the scroll. At least this way you didn't have to kill off your prized student."
Iruka sent Mizuki an angry scowl. Any subject related to Naruto was always a soft spot for him. It was no secret that Naruto had left the village around six years ago.
The third had sent out a search party but nothing positive came out of it. Everyone had assumed it had been a kidnapping, seeing as how he house the kyubi. The citizens of Konoha had spent a whole month celebrating the loss of the boy while shinobi's mourned the loss of a weapon.
"So you planned to manipulate a child? That's a new type of low, even for you, Mizuki!"
Said nin shrugged as he reached into his pouch for a kunai. "Would've taken the blame away from me, but seeing as how he left, I had to improvise." A slight grin adorned his face as he gestured to the scroll. "And seeing as how I was steal the scroll without the use of the demon I'd say I never needed him in the first place! "
Mizuki brandished a kunai in his hand before he brought it down hard on Iruka's thigh.
The chunin couldn't stop a scream from escaping his mouth as the metal dug into his skin.
Mizuki pulled the kunai out ready to finish off his former friend, until a rock came from the bushes, knocking the kunai out of his hand.
On instinct Mizuki brought out a kunai that had a paper bomb attached to it, and he threw at the bush where the rock had come from.
Moment passed before the bush had exploded and had been enveloped in fire. Mizuki eyed the bush for a moment before he turned his eyes back to Iruka, ready to kill him and flee from the village.
"Hey! That almost hit me ya ass!"
Mizuki and Iruka turned their heads towards a tree were the voice had come from.
Mizuki unlatched the fuma shuriken that had been strapped to his back. "Show yourself!"
It took the voice a second to respond.
"But where's the fun in hiding if I have to reveal where I am?"
Pin pointing where the voice was Mix up I threw his fuma shuriken in hopes of silencing the person.
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Silence passed in the forest until Mizuki's fuma shuriken came right back at them landing a few feet away from Mizuki and Iruka.
"That wasn't very nice! That could've killed me!" The voice still sounded amused as if his life wasn't being threatened.
Mizuki let out snarl as he stared at the tree the voice was coming from.
"I said show yourself coward!"
Silence reigned again in the forest until the voice replied. "If you say so."
Mizuki and Iruka both looked at the tree branch where the voice had come from. Sitting atop the branch was a presumed male figure with a fox mask covering his face.
A single thought passed through the chunin's heads. 'No ANBU in the Leaf has a fox mask!'
Iruka from his stance on the ground took a look towards Mizuki, believing that the figure was his accomplish. Iruka saw that there was rage and confusion on Mizuki's face.
'He's not working with Mizuki!', the chunin thought with realization. 'were their other shinobi who knew of Mizuki's plan?'
Mizuki turned away from Iruka and grabbed his fuma shuriken his eyes never leaving the fox masked man.
"Ya know," the figure said as he held up a kunai, "these things are really sharp. I'm surprised your mom allows you to run with sharp object" the figure's should began to vibrate it was obvious that he was laughing at his joke.
Mizuki gave the man a murderous look. His fuma shuriken in one hand and a set of kunais that had paper books attached to them, in the other. "No ANBU in the Leaf where's a fox mask and I was signed assigned this job alone. So I'm gonna ask one more time. Who. Are. You ."
The figure shrugged. "Well I was in the forest passing by, when I heard some yelling, I got curious so I decided to see what was going on, simple."
Mizuki's eyes narrowed Orochimaru didn't send this man and he was positive that the snake Sennin didn't let information slip about his mission.
The figure seemed to eye both Mizuki and Iruka childishly, as if they weren't a threat to him.
Mizuki finally spoke. "Did Lord Orochimaru send you?" He wanted to make sure his theory was correct.
The figure let out a sigh. " I just told you, I was in the neighborhood and I heard a noise so I came running. Your Snake friend didn't send me."
Mizuki eyes narrowed not at the way he described Orochimaru, but at the fact that Orochimaru didn't send this cloaked man.
'If Orochimaru didn't send him then word got out about my mission. When I get to the hideout I'll have to alert him of this'
Mizuki didn't waste anymore time he quickly threw his fuma shuriken at the figure followed by his paper-bomb kunai.
The masked man seemed to lean away from the large shuriken. But the kunai's had reached his face and had exploded.
The explosion covered the tee and the ones behind it. Mizuki let out a grin, even if the figure got jumped away from the tree, he wouldn't be able to have dodged that much explosive.
"Wow that explosion was a pretty big explosion if I do say so myself."
Mizuki turned aroundaround wide eyed the cloak man was there. Unharmed. The only proof that he'd been near the explosion was the small amount of gunpowder on his face.
"Gotta say you almost got me. I mean you almost singed my jacket and I paid extra for this thing to be durable."
Snarling Mizuki quickly drew a kunai and threw it at the figure.
A thud was heard but the figure didn't seem to be hurt.
Mizuki drew another kunai and threw it at the figure.
The results were the same nothing happened.
'Is my aim off' Mizuki thought.
He drew 4 kunais from his pouch and threw them at the figure. Each kunai should've landed in a vital organ.
Nothing changed.
The figure seemed amused, he began to rock back-and-forth like a child.
"Would it help if I came closer?" Without waiting for am answer them masked figure started to take steps closer until he a few yards away.
The light of the moon gave Mizuki and the immobilized Iruka a clear look at the masked figure. He wore black ninja pants and a black jacket that seemed durable.
It was obvious to both that his clothes were designed to help him with stealth.
The figure began to rock back-and-forth again. "Shinobi-san aren't you gonna throw your sharp kunai at me?"
Mizuki let out a growl as he repeated the procedure.
The moon's light allowed Mizuki to see what was happening. His aim wasn't off.
His kunais went threw him.
The figure seemed to be mocking him. "You missed again Shinobi-san."
Mizuki stared at the figure wide eyed before he quickly regained his composure. The blue-haired man broke off into a short sprint towards the figure.
'Whatever he's doing it's stopping me from using kenjutsu. Let's see if taijutsu works.'
Quickly reaching his target Mizuki began to engage the mysterious man in hand-to-hand combat.
The two began to engage in a short taijutsu match.
The figure threw a punch towards Mizuki only for the man to dodge to punch and send his fist towards the man's mask-covered face.
The figure titled his head, allowing the fist to wizz past him. The figure grabbed unto Mizuki's arm and pushed him a few feet away from him.
Mizuki tumbled before landing on his feet.
He didn't waste a second as he instantly ran towards the figure and they began to fight in taijutsu again.
Things started to look brighter for Mizuki when all the masked man could do was defend.
'He seems to not have my experience in taijutsu'
The mysterious man changed Mizuki's view of thinking when he began to put up a fight.
Mizuki sent a blow to man the masked man's face. To avoid it, the figure ducked, seeing an opening, Mizuki sent his knee into the man's head.
'How' Mizuki thought.
His knee had went right through the man's head.
Mizuki didn't have time to question what had just happened. The masked man grabbed one of Mizuki's arms.
Mizuki instantly began to feel a loss of strength and a surge of pain. He tried to pull away from the man's grip but to no avail.
Mizuki let out a grown of pain as his knees gave out.
The masked man now towered over him Mizuki's hand still in his grip.
"What are you doing to me?"
The masked man titled his head on confusion. "Isn't it obvious what I'm doing?"
Black soon began to fill Mizuki's eyesight until all he saw was darkness.
The masked man finally released Mizuki's hand. His attention now seemed to be on the scroll strapped to Mizuki's back.
Iruka's eyes were glued to his fallen friend.
"W-what did you do to him."
The man looked at Iruka with annoyance. "I obviously killed himan. Is there a problem with that Shinobi-san?"
Iruka was silent. "He was my friend."
The man let out a chuckle as he opened the scroll of sealing. "Some friend."
Remembering the importance of the scroll. Iruka tried his best to stand. He ended up using the tree as support.
The man, his back turned away from the wounded nin, let out a snort. "Don't bother the moment your within reaching distance I'll make you end up exactly like your friend. So if I were you I'd stay were you are."
The scroll was now opened in his lap, as the man took of the fox mask he had on.
While using the tree as support, Iruka starred at the figure it quickly became clear to him that the figure the physique of a teen instead of a full grown man, it also seemed that the man had spiky hair. From his distance though,he couldn't see the color.
The boy let out a sigh as soon as the fox mask was off his face. "Its hard to breath in this things. I'm thinking of getting one that easier to breath in."
Ignoring the boys comment Iruka began to silently take steps closer to him. His mind set on returning the scroll to the village.
The boys shoulders visibly slumped. "I told you not to come any closer. You really should have taken my advise."
Iruka took another step forward. "I h-have a duty to my h-hokage to my village." It was clear to both him and the figure that walking was a challenge to him."
The boy raised a hands a waved if flippantly, "Relax I'll give it back when I'm done."
Iruka stopped a few yards away from the boy and reached into his kunai pouch. It was clear that he was dead set on killing the mysterious teen to protect the village's secrets."
"Shinobi-san I just killed your former friend easily, and he was a challenge for you. To make matters worse you're currently injured. What makes you think that you can beat me in your state?"
Iruka didn't answer. He was now in striking distance.
The mysterious person sighed," have it your way."
Before Iruka could bring down the kunai a force slammed into him sending back to the tree he had used for support.
Iruka struggled to get up and ran at the figure warily. Only for the same thing to happen, but this time with much more force.
Iruka grunted in pain as he tried to move again. He eyed the mysterious ninja. A single thought occurred to him.
'He hadn't moved'
The boy was sitting reading the scroll as if nothing happen.
Another thing occurred to Iruka, the boy hadn't moved the first either.
The boy let out a sigh. "Great I only manage to learn one technique and now I have to worry about your village's damn ANBU.
Eight figures suddenly came into view. Iruka was thankful that all of these ANBUs were from his village. After seeing the man had an ANBU mask he began to fear that there were more foreign shimobi in the forest.
Two if the ANBU went to Iruka's aid, while the other six surrounded the figure.
"Relinquish the scroll!"
A moment passed before the figure tossed it to the one who had spoken, both he and Iruka assumed he was the captain. "Alright there's no need to yell."
It was safe to say that everyone was put off by the teen's statement.
The ANBU captain secured the scroll to his back while another one with a neko mask took an intimidating steps towards the figure.
"What was your business with the scroll? And What were you doing in this part of the forest?"
The boy gave a out of annoyance. "This is the third time I had to repeat myself, I'm not doing it again. " Before anyone could comment he began to speak again. "I was in the forest because I felt like it. I heard noise so I became curious and went to see what happened. And as for the scroll I got curious so I read it."
The ANBUs looked at the figure strangely he talked as if stealing the scroll of stealing and sneaking into a village wasn't a problem.
The Neko ANBU looked at the body of Mizuki. "And him?"
"Who?" The boy followed her gaze and looked at the body of Mizuki. "Oh him! Well he was the one who stole the scroll he did most of the damage to shinobi-san over there." He gestured towards the Iruka who was being supported by two ANBU. The figure turned his attention back towards the ANBU interrogating him. "Anyway blue haired guy tried to kill me so I killed him and stopped him from leaving the village. So as a reward I believed I earned a peak at the scroll."
All the ANBU became tense when they heard that mysterious person has gazed at the secrets of the scroll.
The Neko ANBU eyed the suspiciously. He had killed a chunin for someone so young that was a feat itself. "Who are you?"
The boy gasped and his face seemed to be feigning three feeling of depression. "I'm hurt Yugao-chan! You don't remember me?"
Everyone tensed as the boy had named a Konoha shinobi.
Yugao stared at the and quickly drew a kunai from her pouch. "Who are you?"
The boy titled his head. "I guess you could call me the bane of Konoha."
No one responded, they were all thinking about what that meant.
A few minutes passed before the boy let out a groan.
"SERIOUSLY! You guys don't know who I am?!"
The mysterious figure was met with silence.
"Some of you know me as a monster? An abomination?"
Again the boy was met with silence.
The boy let out a loud groan."Some of you call me the kitsune demon". His hand went to his mask and removed, as he said this, all the ANBU facing him saw who he was.
"I-its you!"
The boy shrugged. "I gotta say you guys have really let yourself go. You couldn't catch a chunin. That sad in my opinion."
Iruka who stood at the boys back wasn't able to see his face. But seeing as how a quick kunai to the head to kill a person, the chunin immediately threw one at the boy in hopes of protecting the village secrets. "
Yugao slightly gasped as she saw the kunai traveling towards the boys head, she knee that she wasn't fast enough to stop it.
As luck would have it she didn't need to.
The plucked the kunai out of the air the moment it was an inch away from his head.
The boy glared at Iruka. His blue eyes stared at him annoyed. "Ya know Iruka-san it rude to throw stuff at people."
The chunin took in the appearance of the boy. His hair color was sun-kissed yellow, his cheeks had whiskers marks on them. Iruka's eyes widened as he saw who it was that he had tried to kill.
"N-naruto?"
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Hiruzen Sarutobi was in the council room with the rest of its members, they'd all gathered to interrogate whoever it was who had stopped Mizuki from taking the scroll. The ANBU members hadn't disclosed the person identity to them but the had said that the boy had read through the scroll. And while he was being admitted to the hospital Iruka had said that the person had memorized a jutsu before the ANBU could resecure the scroll. All the council members, civilian and Shinobi, were dead quiet. Tension filled the air as everyone waited to see the person who had read one of the villages most sacred scrolls. There was a knock on the door, it was an ANBU member who had walked through.
"Hokage-sama, we have apprehended the boy who had read the scroll." Hiruzen nodded. Outside his face seemed stern, but inside he was shocked the person who has read through the scroll was a boy, a mere child.
"Neko-san, could you bring him in." Neko bowed before leaving the room for a moment.
The Sandaime notice that her personality seemed different almost as if she was troubled. Sarutobi dismissed it believing to be something related to her personable life. Another moment passed before the door was opened again. Hiruzen's eyes widened when he saw the person Neko had brought it.
'It can't be!'
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Naruto stood in the council room, slightly rocking back and forth. A playful grin was on his face as he lock eyes with everyone that was in the room.
The whole room was silenced until a civilian broke it. "I-it's the demon child."
Naruto playfully pouted at the man's remark. "I was gone for eight years, the least you could do was say hi before we started calling each other names."
Everyone stared at the boy taking in his appearance. His hair was the same. He looked the same just slightly more matured. They were a bit startled by the way he dressed. Black ANBU pants, black traveling shoes, a dark colored jacket that seemed built for durability but it also seemed light. His jacket was unbuttoned so everyone could clearly see the T-shirt he had on with the Uzumaki symbol on it. But what shocked everyone was his personality. He seemed to be happy, cheeky,and in a joking mood. Everyone wondered how he could feel like that when he had just killed a chunin.
The Sandaime was the first to speak. "Uzumaki N-naruto?"Naruto looked at the third and sent him a playful grin.
"Sandaime-sama."
Everyone could tell that the boy's words were meant to have mocked the elderly kage. The third look at the child who he had considered his own grandson. It had been nearly eight years since they had seen each other. The third look as though he wanted to hug the boy, while Naruto seemed as though the nostalgia the kage was going through wasn't of any importance to him. The third cleared his throat before speaking.
"Y-you've been away from the village for eight years." Naruto shrugged he began to eye everyone in the room again as if he was daring them to subdue him.
"Well ya, know I decided that I shouldn't be in a place that had so much negativity so I decided that I should travel around for a while." The Hokage stared at the boy it was obvious that there was some anger in the old man's eyes.
Its was understandable to all the Shinobi present. The boy, who he treated like family had left the village at the age of six. And it took said boy eight years to return.
Hiruzen Sarutobi gave Naruto a stern look. "By who's authority were you permitted to leave the village." Naruto didn't respond right away, he was to busy looking for a chair. Everyone stared at the boy as he pulled a chair and put his feet onto the table.
"I was a civilian, I didn't need anyone's permission."
A pink haired councilwoman's voice was heard after the boy had said that remark. "You shall talk to the Hokage with respect boy!"
Naruto gave the girl a bored look. "You're a bit loud. Ya mind bringing it down a couple notches."
Certain council members let out a chuckle, while the rest gave Naruto dirty looks.
Before the pink haired woman could yell at the boy, Hiruzen raised his hand. "Thank you councilwoman Haruno Sakiri."
He turn attention back towards Naruto it was obvious that the boy had gone through major changes.
'This isn't how I remembered him
' "Naruto-kun could-"
"Let's stop you right there Hokage-sama you're gonna have to drop that 'kun' honorific. We not as buddy buddy as we use to be before." Everyone was silent. Last time they'd seen the boy he adored the village's Hokage, there were times when the boy had even called him 'jiji'. The Leaf kage felt a prick of pain go through his heart.
'He really has changed'
The Sandaime sighed before he spoke again. "Naruto can you tell us where you've been for the past eight years."
The blonde titled his head before replying. "Traveling."
"Can you tell us what you were doing during that time?" Naruto seemed to have had a thoughtful look before he replied.
"Nope."
Danzo glared at the boy. The lack of disrespect he was giving to everyone that was present not tolerable. "You will do well to remember that we are the council of Konoha, boy. And you are to answer the Hokage's questions."
Naruto glanced at Danzo before he rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say Danzo."
Danzo let out a growl, the boy had been in the room for less than an hour and yet he seemed to be getting on his last nerve. "That's Danzo-sama to you boy."
Looking at Danzo again, Naruto snorted at the man, before turning his attention back towards the Hokage, "You were saying."
Hiruzen gave Naruto a sad look, before asking his next question. The old kage wondered what had made the boy change so much.
"Can you tell us about the Mizuki incident."Naruto shrugged.
"Sure." He took his feet of the desk before planting his elbows onto the desk making a solid 'thud'. Naruto took a deep breath before starting. "Like I told Yugao-san, I was in the forest when I heard some yelling, I became curious so I went to see what was happening. I saw Mizuki about to kill Iruka. I subdued Mizuki."
The Sandaime eyed the before responding. "The ANBU found Mizuki dead."
Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment. "By subdued I may have meant killed."
There were multiple murmurs heard throughout the room.
Hiruzen stared at the person his considered a grandson. "You killed Mizuki?"
Naruto nodded. "It wasn't to hard" A smile appeared on his face as he finished saying those words.
Hiruzen's eyes widened at the way the boy had reacted to the memory of killing someone. 'He killed Mizuki and he seems to feel no remorse...he almost seems to have...enjoyed it.'
Inoichi Yamanaka analyzed the boy, before asking a question that was on everybody's mind. "Uzumaki Naruto, you seem as if you have no qualms that you have killed a man. Have you've killed before?"
Naruto playfully shrugged. "That's for me to know and for you to find out." The council mulled over what the blonde had told them. It was obvious to them that even though Naruto hadn't answered their question, it was clear that the boy had taken a life during his exodus.
Inoichi asked another question. "Can you tell us what made you leave the village?"
The playful look on the blonde's face seemed to disappear the moment that question was asked. Naruto seemed to game a faraway look. A couple moments passed before the blonde answered the question. "I guess you can say that I was tired of the secrets that were being kept from me."
Hiruzen look at the boy, regret was obviously in the old mans eyes. "I'm assuming by 'secrets' you mean you're tenant?"
Naruto nodded. "Yea I know about the Kyubi." Every person in the room besides Naruto seemed to tense at the name. Naruto seemed to have not notice everyone discomfort as he kept talking. "I mean it's hard to not realize that you contain a being of unimaginable power when every one call you the 'Fox Boy', or the 'Demon Brat'."
Hiruzen let out a tired sigh. The old kage seemed to be weary as if he demons had now cornered him. And in a sense they had. "How long have you about 'it'."
Naruto looked at the man he once considered family. "The moment I turn five I kinda figured it out." There was a smile on the boys face. "I mean the stories you guys made up were kinda flawed when you think about it. The Yondaime, a single man, being able to kill an being condensed of charkra? That sounds like the things you'd hear in a fairy tale if you ask me."
Hiruzen didn't know what to say. The boy had known about the beast. It was now starting to make sense about why the boy had left the village unaccounted for at the young age.
He look at Naruto regret was the only thing that was seen in his eyes. "I'm...I'm sorry. I should've told you about the burden you had carried, the moment you asked why everyone seemed to isolate themselves from you."
Naruto slammed his hand unto the table. Everyone saw the boy's eyes flash red. "He is not a burden."
Murmurs could be heard throughout the council room. All conversations were about Naruto's outburst.
Naruto glared at everyone in the council room. His blood red eyes sizing them up.
"If anything having the Kyubi has been a blessing."
The boy didn't give any of them a moment to question him.
"The Kyubi is the only reason that I am alive. If it wasn't for him, I would've died all the times the villagers had beaten me near death."
Silence was all that was heard until a council member reminded his colleagues the it was the Kitsune that had destroyed the decent part of the village. The moment was said all the council members began to speak their opinion of the boy and the beast.'
"Kill the boy and the beast!"
"That child is an abomination!"
Everyone was sure that more opinions would be heard if Naruto hadn't drawn out a kunai and had pointed it threateningly at all the council members.
The boy gave each of them a murderous look. "It would be best for your health if you would all shut up, and let me finish talking."
Sakiri Hurano seemed to call the boy's bluff. "And what will you do with that demon? Have the people in this room are shinobi! They'd strike you down the moment you laid a finger on us!"
A snort was heard from the shinobi side of the council, but seeing as how everyone was eyeing Naruto, no council member could tell where the snort had originated from.
Naruto locked eyes with Sakiri Hurano. His red eyes facing off against her silver ones. "Lady. I had no qualms killing the Mizuki guy." He sent her a smirk. " What makes you think that I'd have a problem killing you?"
The boy's gaze was beginning to make the woman feel nervous about her well being.
Hiashi Hyuga spoke up. "Uzumaki! If you do not lower your weapon we will be forced to subdue you."
Naruto stared at Hiashi, the Hyuga's byakugan staring right back at him. The boy pocketed his kunai and his eye returned back to their natural color. The boy sat back down in his chair. "As you wish Hiashi-sama."
Hiashi stared at the boy before deactivating his doujutsu. The boy was odd, to say the least. A moment ago he was ready to killed the pink haired(and annoying) council woman, and now he backed down easily and even used an honorific when referring to him.
Danzo also seemed to catch on to this but the warhawk didn't say anything about the matter.
Shikaku Nara lazily looked at the boy. "Uzumaki-san, it'd be very troublesome for everyone if you spent the whole meeting trying to kill certain council member."
Naruto nodded. "Alright Nara-san, I'll keep myself in check as long as those council member watch the way they speak of me."
Hiruzen was now eyeing the boy.
He went from playful.
To annoyed.
To angry.
To murderous.
'I fear that Inoichi will have to see if the boy if mentally stable'
Hiruzen cleared his throat. "Naruto when the medics identified the cause of Mizuki's death they said that it was charkra exhaustion. But Iruka claims that no jutsus were used in the fight you had with him. Can you explain that?"
A thoughtful look appeared on the boy's face, before he looked the Hokage. "I'll tell what I did, but you have to tell me something first, deal?"
Hiruzen nodded. Wondering what the boy wanted from him. "That seems fair."
Naruto nodded before asking a question no one thought he'd ask. "Is the Yondaime really my father?"