Knight of Honor
By: Kandomaru
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me (not in this reality anyway). I do not earn any money by writing this story.
Author's Notes: This story came about because of a what if. What if Naruto had not been left to fend for himself as an orphan? What if someone had been tasked with looking out for him, acting out as a paternal figure? What would change?
This story is an AU (Alternate Universe). Lots of things have changed from the original story. Some characters might appear OOC (Out Of Character), but that's because they have different pasts. I asked myself, "What would this person be like if he grew up differently?" So, that's why some characters are different. You'll see for yourself.
Prologue: Betrayal and Truth
Inside a small, modest house that served as both a home for a family of two and a tea shop, a young blond slept. He lay splayed across the bed, the covers kicked to the floor where they lay uselessly. The boy's snores filled the dark room, coming and going like the tides of the ocean.
The walls of the room were filled with movie posters deemed cool by the owner of the room. All the posters followed one single constant, ninjas. If it didn't have ninjas in it, then it just wasn't good enough to deserve a spot.
On the wooden desk, next to the head of the bed, a solitary picture frame stood. Displayed on the frame was the same sleeping boy accompanied by an older man with short, auburn hair. The two of them were mussing up each other's hairs, happy grins plastered all over their faces.
Light filtered in through the window as the sun finally decided to get up from its habitual slumber. The sunlight shined on the boy's face, urging him to wake up. He turned his back on the annoying light, ready for a few more hours of sleep.
The alarm on the clock came to life with a shrill sound that grated on the nerves. A quick slap of the snooze button and the room was once more silent, not counting the sound of the boy's snores. He settled in into his bed, not about to let the world wake him when he wasn't ready.
"Naruto." Someone walked into the room, holding a toothbrush in one hand and some toothpaste in the other. "Get up. Today's the day of the exams to graduate from the academy."
The boy ignored the evil intruder that tried to stop the nice dream he was having regarding a certain girl with dark, aqua hair. "Hinata-chan," the blond mumbled in his sleep, hugging his pillow tightly. "Forget that jerk, Sasuke. I'll be your boyfriend."
"Naruto," the intruder repeated, shaking the boy by the shoulder. "Get up." Once more, the boy just opted to ignore the man trying to wake him. Leaning in close to the kid, the tall man whispered into his ear, "Hinata's right outside waiting for you to come say hi to her."
"Really!?" The boy exclaimed, standing up faster than the eye could see. The blond looked around the room, his gaze resting on the older man as he tried futilely to hold back a laugh. "That's not funny," the blond muttered, realizing he had been had, as the man finally descended into fits of laughter.
Wiping away tears from his eyes, the adult responded, "Yes it was." The boy scowled as he stood up, grabbing some clothes before going to the bathroom to shower. "Don't take too long!" The man exclaimed as he went to the kitchen to finish brushing his teeth on the kitchen sink.
"I won't, dad!" The boy responded, going through his morning routine while he thought back to that nice dream he had just a few minutes ago. Today was the day he graduated the academy, got Sakura to notice him, and maybe even put Sasuke in his place. Believe it!
--
The boy approached the academy, where a bunch of other kids his own age were also arriving. He wore an orange jogging outfit with a fuzzy white collar and blue, open-toed sandals. Some goggles were strapped to the boy's forehead, just below his spiky blond hair.
"Do your best," Naruto's father commented as he hugged him tightly, catching the boy off-guard.
"Dad..." The boy complained, embarrassed. "I'm not a little kid anymore." The blond caught a few boys snickering at him, he blushed and pretended like they weren't there, breaking the hug.
Acting hurt, the auburn haired man said, "You're never too old to give your old man a hug." He smiled warmly, mussing up his son's hair as he frowned at him. "Do your best, Naruto. Remember what we practiced."
"I will," Naruto responded, going into the school. Casting one last look back, Naruto saw his father give him a confident smile and a thumbs up. Pretending like he didn't know the man, he turned back around and entered the building.
Inside was almost everyone, except for one or two stragglers that were coming in right behind the blond. He took an empty seat, hoping that the exam wouldn't be too hard. On his left sat a boy with red marks on his face and a gray cloak with the hood up. On his right sat a platinum blonde wearing a purple dress.
"Are you ready to fail?" The boy with the red marks said to Naruto, grinning wolfishly. He had a look of confidence about him that bordered on smugness.
"You kidding, Kiba? I'm going to ace this test so easily they'll promote me straight to Chunin. Believe it!" Naruto returned Kiba's smile with one of his own, showing that he was ready for whatever the teacher had cooked up.
The blonde next to Naruto shook her head and sighed, muttering under her breath, "Boys..." She looked toward the other side of the room, where a certain black haired heartthrob sat next to a girl with auburn hair. The blonde gave the girl an evil glare which was returned with equal intensity.
A quick poof of smoke and the teacher suddenly appeared. The students immediately settled down as they waited for their teacher to get things going. He wore a dark blue outfit with a green vest over it, dark open-toed sandals and a headband with the symbol of Konoha displayed proudly on it.
His long, brown hair was tied back tightly and his dark brown eyes accentuated the horizontal scar that ran from one side of his face to the other, running through his nose. "Okay class, listen up." He looked around the room, making sure he had everyone's attention.
"The graduation exam is going to consist of two parts." Everyone groaned at that. Two parts meant two tests which meant double the hassle. "The first part is the written exam." Once more the children all chorused a loud groan together. "The second part is the practical exam, where you'll have to do a jutsu successfully." Naruto, who had awful chakra control, was the only one to groan at that last part.
"Mizuki," the scarred teacher said to his fellow blue haired teacher, who poofed out of nowhere just like he had done. "Pass the tests, please." The Chunin in question did as told, giving everyone a piece of paper and a pencil.
"And... Begin!"
Naruto got started quickly. He wrote down his name, the date, and which group he belonged to. Then he looked at the first question and frowned. "What is Ninjutsu?" He asked quietly, scratching his head confused.
The boy thought back to when he had studied with his father. He concentrated and concentrated, but couldn't remember anything. The fear of failing the test messed up Naruto's memory so much, he was coming up with nothing but a blank. The boy sighed, thinking quickly.
The blond tried to peek at Kiba's paper, to see what he had written down. Kiba frowned at Naruto and hid his paper from the boy's cerulean eyes. The boy turned to look at the blonde's paper, who also hid it from view.
"Naruto. No cheating." The teacher said to the boy.
"Yes, Iruka-sensei," Naruto responded, smiling sheepishly. Left with no other course of action, he wrote down an answer he thought sort of resembled what the answer might have been. Done with that question, he moved on to the other one. "What is Taijutsu?"
The boy smiled victoriously. This was one question he knew. Taijutsu was basically just hand-to-hand fighting. Which is exactly what the blond wrote down. Proud of himself for answering a question and being sure it was right, he moved on to the next question on the paper.
"What is Genjutsu?" He muttered. The blond scowled and said in a tone of voice that was louder than he had originally intended, "What is this? Advanced science?"
"Naruto..." Iruka warned the boy once more.
--
When finally the horrors of the written exam were over, the students all lined up to take the practical exam. Naruto stood at the very back of the line, silently praying that Iruka sensei didn't choose a particular jutsu. "Please don't choose the clone jutsu. Please don't choose the clone jutsu. Please don't choose the clone jutsu." Naruto droned on and on the same sentence.
"Everyone's going to be doing the clone jutsu," Iruka stated, eliciting a defeated yell from Naruto. One by one the students walked up and did the jutsu, being graded by Iruka and Mizuki. Finally, it was Naruto's turn.
Naruto closed his eyes and thought back to all that extra training he had done with his dad. It had taken countless nights and tons of effort, but he had managed to create a halfway decent clone. So if he could do it then, he could certainly do it now.
Opening his eyes with confidence burning in them, Naruto did the appropriate hand-signs and yelled, "Clone Jutsu!" An exact replica of Naruto appeared next to the blond, perfectly symmetrical with the original boy in every way. Well... except for the fact that it was on the ground and appeared half dead.
"Wait!" Naruto yelled as he dismissed the clone, a quick burst of smoke signaling its departure. "I know I can do better!" Once more the boy did the hand-signs and yelled, "Clone Jutsu!" Another clone appeared, this one just as dead as the first one.
"... one last try." Naruto dismissed the clone and concentrated, searching within himself for the chakra he knew he had. Feeling himself well up with energy, Naruto did the hand-signs one last time and yelled, "Clone Jutsu!" The third clone appeared. Naruto closed his eyes, afraid that if he opened them he'd see his clone on the floor.
Tentatively cracking an eye open, Naruto looked at his clone. Well... it wasn't on the floor half dead at least... Naruto's clone was on one knee, breathing heavily. A ninja used his clones for fighting, but this clone wouldn't even be useful for doing household chores.
Naruto was psyching himself up for one last try when Iruka yelled out, "Naruto. Fail."
Feeling despondent and angry, Naruto quickly left the classroom. He stormed his way past his classmates, ignoring Iruka-sensei as he called out his name. All that training... All that hard work... for nothing!
--
Naruto sat on the swing and brooded, watching the other kids leaving with their parents. How would he tell his dad he failed, after he worked so hard to prepare Naruto for today? How could he even face the man, who would probably be disappointed he ever adopted the blond in the first place?
Naruto knew he was adopted. Everyone did. It wasn't hard to figure out when you saw the two of them together. Sure, they acted the same, but their physical traits were vastly different. For one thing, Naruto's face was rounder while his dad's face was skinnier.
The blue haired Chunin, Mizuki, approached the distracted Naruto, trying his best to hide a smirk from his face. "Naruto," he said, bringing the boy out of his thoughts. "It's too bad you failed. I heard you practiced really hard."
"Yeah..." Naruto cast his eyes down, not wanting to look at Mizuki-sensei's eyes for fear of seeing disappointment in them. "You must be angry at me for being such a failure..." If Naruto had looked at Mizuki, he could have seen a look of contempt on the man's face.
Quickly donning his usual mask of a friendly, smiling face, Mizuki placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and knelt down so he was eye-level with the boy. "Don't say that. You tried your hardest, and that's what counts." Mizuki looked deep into Naruto's eyes, radiating empathy for the boy's plight.
"But..." Naruto looked off to the side, doubt plaguing his mind.
Mizuki erected himself to his full eight and placed a hand on his chin, pretending to think something over in his mind. When he was sure Naruto was intrigued what he had in mind, the blue haired man stated cryptically, "What if I told you you still had a shot at graduating the academy?" Naruto's eyes went wide. "Would you be interested?"
"Off course!" Naruto quickly leaped up from the swing with a huge smile plastered on his face. "Let's do it right now!"
Mizuki quickly shushed Naruto and said, "Not so loud!" Leaning closer to the boy, he whispered into his ear, "This test is a secret. A student has to be especially selected by a teacher to even attempt it." Naruto nodded in understanding, hoping that he'd do better in this test than in the last one.
"What do I do?" Naruto asked, keeping his voice low so no one could hear him. "Whatever it is, I swear I'm going to succeed. Believe it!"
Mizuki smiled a smile that Naruto confused for one of a teacher proud of his student. "Meet me in front of the school tonight. "I'll tell you what your task is then." Turning to leave, Mizuki said one last thing, "Oh, and Naruto..." He gave the blond a friendly smile and requested, "Don't tell anyone about this, please?"
Naruto nodded in response, trying as hard as he could not to start jumping and cheering. Sure, he still had a test to take, but that just meant he had another chance to succeed! A chance the boy would not let go to waste...
--
Naruto and his dad sat at the table, eating. The older man wanted to ask the boy he had raised as his own how the graduation exam had gone, but the boy's sour mood and silence pretty much answered that question. Best not to poke recent wounds.
Naruto, on the other hand, wanted so badly to tell his dad about the special test that Mizuki-sensei was going to give him tonight, but he couldn't. The blue haired Chunin had asked to keep the test a secret, so that's what the blond was going to do. Maybe if the auburn haired man kept quiet, he wouldn't find out about Naruto's failure that day.
"... so, how's your food?" The adult of the pair asked, trying to break the silence with a little small-talk.
"Edible," Naruto responded, stuffing his mouth full so he wouldn't have to say anything else. The blond stared at his tea as he chewed his food, acting like all of life's mysteries could be solved by inspecting the hot liquid. The green tea sat inside the clay cup, waiting the inevitable.
"So how was..." The auburn haired man stopped himself as he saw a look of fear in Naruto's eyes. Fear of him? No... That seemed more like fear of a kid having to let his dad know he let him down. Quickly thinking on his feet, he finished the sentence, "... your day?"
That was not the question the man had in mind. Naruto might not have had the best social skills, but he knew his father well enough to read him like a book. Thankful that he had not asked the other question, the blond responded, "Good."
The two of them finished their meal in silence. The older man wanted Naruto to tell him everything, but he didn't want to force the answers out of the boy. He wouldn't have to, anyway. The boy would come to him sooner or later, when he was ready.
"I'm going to sleep," Naruto quickly blurted, darting up the stairs. "Good night, dad."
"Good night..." Naruto quickly disappeared out of view. "... son." Sighing, the single parent cleaned up the table and brought the dishes to the kitchen with him to clean them.
--
Later that night, once Naruto was sure his father had gone to sleep, he sneaked off to the school. He approached the building silently, hoping he hadn't made Mizuki-sensei wait too long. The blue haired Chunin stood there; the wind blowing his hair into his face.
"Sorry I'm late," Naruto said apologetically, scratching the back of his head. "I had to wait for dad to go to sleep and..."
Mizuki held up a hand to silence the boy. Giving him a fake smile, he said, "Don't worry about it. I haven't been waiting long."
Naruto nodded, glad that Mizuki hadn't decided to not give him this new test after all. Running right up to the Chunin instructor while smiling widely, Naruto asked, "So? What am I gonna do? Just say it and I'll do it. No questions asked."
Mizuki smiled a predatory grin. No questions asked, huh? Well, that certainly served his purposes well enough. "Okay, Naruto, here is what you're going to do." Mizuki leaned in close to the boy and whispered into his ear what he wanted him to do. Naruto's eyes went wide once Mizuki-sensei was done. "Don't get caught, or you'll fail instantly."
"Yes, sir." Naruto dashed off to the Hokage tower, to steal the Forbidden Jutsu Scroll like he had been instructed to. "Such a feat would take a ninja of great skill..." Naruto commented to himself. He smiled proudly, thinking that Mizuki recognized his true potential.
The blue haired Chunin in question took off to the designated area he had told Naruto to bring the scroll to, hiding out of view in case the blond didn't arrive alone.
Naruto approached the tower. It wasn't actually a tower; it was just a large, red building; but it was called tower. One of those things that doesn't really make any sense, but people just nodded along and accepted it as normal.
Naruto headed for an open window, keeping his eyes open for any traps or irregularities. Entering the building with ease, he inched his way forward. Naruto got closer to the room Mizuki had told him about, both worried and happy.
On one hand, he hadn't tripped up any alarms or encountered anyone, which was a plus. On the other hand, this was all just too easy. Chalking it up as just being really lucky, Naruto entered the sealed chamber, not once dropping his guard, and grabbed the large scroll he was after.
"Naruto." The blond turned around, surprised that someone had sneaked up on him. He saw an old man wearing a red and white cloak with a red hat. The blond had heard about this man from his father. He was the Hokage. The greatest ninja in the whole village.
"Hey, old man..." Naruto smiled nervously. How was he supposed to get past the Hokage? ... And how did he know his name?
The Hokage frowned, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "I expected better from you." The old shinobi looked at Naruto with the same look of disappointment he had dreaded seeing on his father's face.
"How do you know me?" Naruto asked. Sure, a lot of people knew he was adopted, but that didn't mean he was famous. Especially with someone as important as the old man before him.
"Let go of the scroll." The Hokage's order was delivered in a cold voice with a stony expression. Naruto frowned, keeping his hand on the item. "Let go of the scroll, before I am forced to make you let go."
"No," answered Naruto, clutching the scroll tighter to his body. "I need it to graduate the academy." The old man was surprised by that statement, though he hid it very well. "Step aside."
The old man shook his head, curious about the boy's last comment. "What makes you think stealing this scroll will help you graduate the academy?" The Hokage had his suspicions, but he wanted to hear it straight from the boy.
"Sorry. I promised I wouldn't tell." Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, using a Jutsu to escape. The Hokage knew where he went, and could have stopped him if he wanted to, but he let the boy go to see where he was going to go.
Naruto quickly ran to the meeting spot Mizuki had told him, not realizing the Hokage himself was on his tail. Naruto quickly reached the clearing, seeing no one around. "Hello?" He called out, wondering where his sensei was. "Mizuki-sensei?"
Naruto sat at the foot of a tree, cradling the important scroll in his lap. The blond looked at the item, wondering if he should open it or not. He opted to open it.
"Mizuki-sensei didn't say anything about me not reading it..." Naruto poured over the information inside the scroll. It described in detail how to do a few high-ranking Jutsu. Naruto committed as much information as he could to memory, figuring that Mizuki-sensei might show up any second now.
True to form; Mizuki, not realizing that the Hokage was within eyesight, came out of his hiding place and berated Naruto. "What do you think you're doing?" He asked angrily, snarling at Naruto. "Who told you you could read the scroll?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, you didn't say I couldn't, and I was curious... I hope you're not angry..."
Mizuki stormed up to Naruto and snatched the scroll from his hands, making the blond cringe in response. "I have the Forbidden Scroll..." Mizuki stated, laughing maniacally. "Now I can leave this disgusting place forever..."
"Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto started to grow worried as Mizuki turned to look at him with a crazed look in his eyes. "What is..." The blue haired Chunin backhanded Naruto hard, silencing him.
"Shut up! Don't speak to me, you filthy animal!" The blond looked up at his teacher, tears welling up in his eyes, as Mizuki brandished a kunai. "I've waited years for this moment..." Mizuki stabbed at Naruto, intent on ending his life. He yelled with anger and hatred, "Die, demon!"
Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, waiting to feel the cold steel plunge into his flesh. Not feeling any pain, he slowly opened his eyes. The blond gasped in shock.
The Hokage stood before Naruto, holding the wrist of the hand Mizuki held the kunai with while he used his other hand to hold the Chunin by the throat. "I've seen enough of this travesty," The Hokage stated, speaking to Mizuki. "You should be ashamed of yourself."
"Ashamed? Me?" Mizuki guffawed merrily, amused by the old man's words. "Why should I be ashamed of trying to destroy that creature?" Somehow, the crazed look in Mizuki's eyes grew even stronger. "He's a demon! A foul creature! A monster! He should be eliminated! Killed!"
The Hokage poked Mizuki in the forehead, right below his hitai-ate. Sending a surge of chakra into the man's brain, he rendered him unconscious. The old man threw Mizuki over his shoulder and looked back at Naruto, who was still on the ground.
"What...? What happened...?" The old man looked at Naruto with concern. "Why...? Why did Mizuki-sensei call me those things?"
"It's nothing," answered the Hokage. "Just forget about it."
"Tell me." Naruto stood up with a look on his face that said he wouldn't let it go. "Why did Mizuki-sensei say those horrible things about me?"
The Hokage sighed, regretting not knocking Mizuki out faster. "Naruto... What do you know of the Kyuubi No Kitsune?"
"The Nine Tailed Fox? It attacked the village twelve years ago, but was defeated by the fourth Hokage."
"Yes, but how did the fourth Hokage defeat it?" The blond shrugged, not seeing how the fox had anything to do with the situation at hand. "What the Yondaime did was seal the Kyuubi inside the body of a newborn baby. You."
Naruto remained still. He did not blink, or breath, or anything. The blond just remained frozen in time, like a photograph. The Hokage's words repeated themselves in the boy's head over and over. "I'm... a demon?" Naruto asked, looking at his hands and not recognizing them.
"No! Don't say that!" Naruto didn't hear the Hokage speak, too lost in his own depression. "You're a hero, Naruto." This caught the boy's attention. A hero? Him? "The last wish the Yondaime had before he died was for you to be seen as a hero."
"...Why?"
"By acting as the cage for the Kyuubi, you saved Konoha."
Naruto slumped down to the ground, emotionally exhausted and mentally drained. His mind was a chaotic tempest of thoughts and memories. Fears and doubts. In one short exchange, everything he knew, or thought he knew, about his life was turned upside down.
Anbu arrived at the scene shortly. The Sandaime happily handed the blue haired Chunin over to them, instructing them to throw him into the darkest cell in Konoha's prison. The old man remained with Naruto, concerned for his mental health.
The Hokage offered Naruto a hand and said, "We should take you home before your father realizes you're gone."
... His father?
Naruto thought back to all the years he had spent with the man that had adopted him when he was still just a baby. All this time, had he known of the monster that slept within him? Why hadn't he said anything to him? Didn't he trust his adoptive offspring?
The blond took the Hokage's hand automatically, walking on auto-pilot while his thoughts were elsewhere. Within a few short minutes, the two arrived at Naruto's home. The lights were off, which meant that Naruto's dad had not woken up. "Here we are."
"Lord Hokage." The old man motioned for Naruto to say what was on his mind. "I have a favor to ask of you. If it's okay."
"A favor?" Smiling warmly at the boy, Sarutobi said, "Sure thing, Naruto. Ask and I'll see what I can do."
Looking into the old man's eyes with a look of serious determination on his face, Naruto asked, "That scroll I stole for Mizuki-sen- ... I mean, Mizuki-baka." Naruto and Sarutobi both smiled, not seeing any reason to respect the traitor. "It had high level jutsu inside it."
"Yes..." Where was Naruto going with this?
"If I learn one of those Jutsu, will I be allowed to graduate the academy?"
The old man smiled. Technically, he shouldn't give preferential treatment to anyone, but part of him felt like he owed the blond something. Still... "I can't allow you to look at the forbidden scroll again, Naruto. I'm sorry."
"That's okay," responded Naruto. "I already memorized how to do a few of the jutsu." The Sandaime corked an eyebrow with surprise. Was the blond bluffing, or was he being serious? "Just give me a chance and I won't disappoint you."
Stroking his chin thoughtfully, Sarutobi thought about Naruto's request. Certainly, any ninja that could learn one of the forbidden techniques written on the scroll deserved to graduate, but he couldn't just halt the Genin process for the blond's sake. "Team placement will occur one week from today," Sarutobi commented. "If you can't learn the jutsu by that time, I'm afraid you will just have to wait until next year's graduation exam."
Naruto nodded. "One week? Heck, it won't take me one day to master those jutsu!"
Sarutobi smiled at Naruto as the blond oozed confidence from every pore in his body. Maybe telling Naruto the truth about the Kyuubi hadn't been such a bad idea. Turning to leave, the Hokage said, "Say hello to Shingo for me."
"Huh? You know my dad?"
Smiling knowingly, Sarutobi replied, "I know everyone in the village." Sarutobi left, laughing heartily along the way. Naruto stood there, scratching his head in confusion, wondering what was so funny.
Shrugging and deeming it not important, Naruto sneaked back into his room. He headed straight for bed, eager to go to sleep so he could wake up early tomorrow and get started on his training. He wouldn't disappoint his father. He would become a Genin. That was a promise.
-End Prologue-
Author's Notes: Well, here's the start of the epic trilogy I've been talking about. There are lots of differences between the original source and this story. First and foremost is Shingo, Naruto's adoptive parent.
Next chapter: Naruto trains on memory alone. Will he be able to learn the jutsu he read, or will he fail and be doomed to wait a year for the next graduation exam? It doesn't take a Shikamaru to realize which option is the right one.