A Single Wire

A nine-year old Naruto lay on the bed, thinking about past events. He had tried to take the graduation exam early, and failed miserably. Then Mizuki, the assistant teacher told him of a super-secret make-up exam. It was to steal the Forbidden Scroll of Seals from the Hokage Tower, learn a jutsu from it, and then give it to Mizuki. He had opened it, and the first thing he saw was something called the Kage Bunshin Jutsu. Naruto was terrible at bunshin, in fact they were the reason he failed his exam. So he kept looking. He saw something else that said Raiton no Yoroi, but he still kept looking. But his eyes caught on two partnered jutsu: Saibā: Tekuno Inkan, and Saibā: Tekuno Henkan. While Tekuno Henkan was useless on its own, Tekuno Inkan had some use without its partner. Neither could be used as he was, so Naruto made sure to memorize all he could about the techniques, and write down what he couldn't. Just as he finished, Iruka, his academy teacher caught him with the scroll. Thinking it was about the exam, Naruto blurted out what Mizuki told him. Suddenly, Iruka burst into motion, throwing Naruto on the ground. Everything was a blur. But when Naruto blinked back into full conciousness, Iruka was just about to kill Mizuki, but not before Mizuki told Naruto of his secret. That he held the Kyuubi no Yoko. That he WAS the Kyuubi no Yoko. Iruka killed him before the words had barely left his mouth. Everything became a blur again. He remembered Iruka-nii and Hokage-jiji telling him that he wasn't the Kyuubi, but not much else.

He sighed. And froze. The Kyuubi was sealed in him. The KYUUBI of all things. What better situation that to use Tekuno Inkan? But he still needed to make a template. He could learn how by going for a blacksmith apprenticeship. Plus, then he could make his own weapons, AND it would make him stronger. Scrambling out of bed, Naruto ran, looking for any blacksmith that would apprentice him.

Iruka looked at his class. They had a year to go before their graduation exams, and most of their futures looked promising. Even Naruto's. Even though the boy in question was sleeping in the middle of his lecture. Continuing to speak, he picked up a piece of chalk, then suddenly swiveled, throwing it at Naruto as hard as possible, while shouting "NARUTO! WAKE UP!" Naruto's head instantly shot up, and completely by instinct, shot out his hand and grabbed the chalk just before it hit. Everyone was still turning around while this happened, so the only ones who caught it were Iruka and Shikamaru, who was sitting next to the blonde. "That's what you get for sleeping in class, baka!" screeched Sakura. At an equal volume, Ino shouted "Yeah, dead-last! Now look what you did! Sasuke-kun's ignoring me!" The rest of the class turned back around. Iruka had a surprised look on his face, aimed at Naruto. The blonde grinned in return.

Naruto was walking out of the Academy when he was confronted by Ino and Sakura. "You embarrassed us in front of Sasuke-kun, you baka!"

"Yeah, and now you're going to pay! We're going to kick your ass, dead-last, and then take that orange thing on your arm!" Ino let out the strongest punch she could muster. Naruto easily slipped past, and elbowed her in the stomach. Before Sakura even had a chance to react, an orange claw the same shade as Naruto's jacket appeared out of nowhere and smashed into her back, sending her flying into Ino.

"Do not EVER, EVER threaten my OS-KRMA again. If you do, well, I won't kill you, but you'll be in the hospital for a very, very, long time." Naruto stalked off, not sparing the two girls another look.

"That was close."

"No it wasn't. If you had been beaten by those sorry excuses for kunoichi, I would have killed you myself."

"They threatened to take you. Don't you care? At all?"

"I care enough to delete myself afterwards, however that is only because my carriers would have been absolutely pitiful had I not. This relationship is for our mutual benefit. Do not mistake it for friendship. You should be training. You have to get used to the power rush. If you get killed because you overstep your boundaries, it is your own fault."

"Right." A flash of orange light flooded the room.

"Now, Kakashi-sensei. Sakura-kun. Sasuke-teme. I have something to show you all."

"What, dobe? What could you have that would be so interesting?"

"Yeah, baka! Sasuke-kun's right!"

Naruto lazily dug out of his ear with his pinky. His shoulder-length hair slightly shifted. "If you're finished... OS-KRMA, on. Fyrefox, materialize."

Burnt-orange energy instantly flowed out of Naruto's bracer. It formed into a humanoid, broad, fox-like shape. Mainly made from the burnt-orange energy it materialized from, crimson armor covered its torso and shoulders, ending where its stomach and arms would be if it was an animal. Its face was made of the same crimson armor, and its eyes were solid scarlet. The orange energy flared out behind its head, in an imitation of hair. The armor covered its hands as well, however it was coloured the same shade of neon orange as Naruto's clothes. Its claws shot out of the armor, the same orange energy that comprised the main body. It had no legs, floating above the ground, the energy thinning down to a wisp. Finally, nine tails of energy sprouted from its back, raking the ground.

"Everyone, meet Fyrefox." As they watched, pale, ice-blue slitted pupils appeared in its eyes, completely clashing against the rest of the body, commanding attention.

"Hmph. Humans."

"Naruto..." asked a wide-eyed Kakashi. "What is this?"

The blonde grinned. "No questions till the end please. Now, Fyrefox, let's show them! Saibā: Tekuno Henkan!" The blonde slammed down on his bracer as he said the last word. Fyrefox dissolved into the energy he was comprised of, completely surrounding Naruto. It covered one arm in the crimson armor that had adorned Fyrefox, the other arm completely devoid of the armor past the elbow, instead being covered by the orange energy. His torso was fitted with scarlet, streamlined armor, as were his legs. A helmet pushed up his hair until it was gravity-defying, and covered his entire head except for his face, which was covered by an orange visor, appearing as four triangles attached at the bases. A broadsword materialized in his armored hand, completely bone white, with an extremely long bonelike hilt and handle, and having a fang design at the beginning of the blade. Nine orange tails swished behind him.

Naruto's mouth, the only part of his body not covered, opened, and he spoke. "Oh, Kami! You have NO IDEA how great this feels! I feel like I could take on anyone!"

"How long have you had this... this... thing?"

"Since I was nine, Kakashi-sensei."

"That's impossible, dobe! You couldn't have hidden this for that long!"

"Baka! You probably stole it!"

Naruto grinned once again. "Really, Sakura-kun, Sasuke-teme?" His grin got even wider, while his now ice-blue pupils shrank, giving him an insane, feral visage. "Don't you know the skills all genin should have? Lie. Conceal. Spy. And steal. This power is MINE, and mine alone. It is what I created, my agglomeration of those four skills. Don't like it? Fine, I don't care. Because with this... I'M BREAKING MY LIMITS!" He blurred out of sight for the two genin. His fell blade, devoid of all colour, rushed towards Kakashi... and was stopped by a kunai.

"You are powerful, Naruto. More powerful than you have any right to be. I'm not going to deny that. But..." Kakashi shifted his weight, Naruto falling forward as a result. Kakashi grabbed him and put a kunai to his neck. "Any jounin worth his salt could stop you. So could most chuunin." He let go of the boy. "But with the right training, you could be a legend. I was ordered by Hokage-sama to train this team. And honestly, I didn't want to. When I met you yesterday, I thought you guys were boring. Sasuke, Sakura, I still think you are. I still don't want to train this team." He held out his hand. "I want to train you."

Naruto took his hand.