A/N: Just a reminder - This is AU, so there may be some things that contradict what you understand about the series, but for the most part that is intentional. There -may- be some mistakes I make in this regard in the future, but those will be few and far between.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, this will be the only Disclaimer for the entire fic. It's for the entire fic.
Coming from the Shadows: Graduation
Eagerly bouncing on his toes, Naruto eyed the clock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Just a few more seconds...
"Naruto, your examination will be in room 203, Mizuki-sensei will be overriding your exam. Good luck." Iruka said before turning to the others in the room.
"Shikamaru, your examination will be in room 206..." the rest of Umino Iruka's voice drowned out as Naruto left the classroom towards his examination.
He was finally going to be a genin.
Stopping in front of the door, he knocked.
"Enter."
Opening the door, Naruto entered and leaned back on only unoccupied piece of furniture in the room. Meeting Mizuki's eyes, he motioned for the Chuunin to proceed.
"Perform the three basic academy jutsu: Henge, Bunshin, and Kawarimi. After which, we'll head to the field for your target test and taijutsu test. Afterwards, you'll get your results."
Naruto nodded, before bringing up his hands before running through a few hand signs. Dog. Boar. Ram.
With a small cloud of smoke, standing in Naruto's place was Hyuuga Hiashi, clan head of the Hyuuga clan. Eyes cold and hard, he said, "What did you bring me here for, Chuunin Mizuki?"
Clapping lightly, he said, "Nicely done on the Henge, Naruto."
With an unnatural smirk on Hiashi's face, Naruto released the technique before substituting with the chalk on the blackboard behind his instructor. And like with the Henge, Naruto ran through three quick signs. Ram. Snake. Tiger.
A single unhealthy clone popped by next to Naruto. Pale, collapsed, with its tag lolling out. Naruto smiled with a sheepish expression. "I can never get that technique right. I swear it hates me or something," he grumbled out.
"Moving on, though. Head to the fields, I'll be there momentarily." Mizuki said, as he jotted down a few things on his notes.
Fingering his kunai holster, Naruto waited down at the field where the target dummies sat patiently.
He didn't have long to wait before Mizuki arrived.
"Pick two targets. Five kunai and five shuriken each. One you aim for glancing blows, assume your weapons are coated in a paralytic poison and you need to capture the target alive. The other you aim to kill, assume it's a foreign shinobi that is faster than you and is trying to escape with sensitive information."
Grinning, Naruto palmed a kunai and let loose. Thirty seconds later, seven shuriken, and six kunai litter the grounds in front of him.
"Dammit," he cursed under his breath, did worse than usual.
Writing down the results, Mizuki put the results to the side and gestured for Naruto to join him.
"Now for the Taijutsu test. Notice the circle surrounding us. Your job is to stay in the circle for as long as you can, and try to be the only one in the circle." Mizuki paused here. "Of course, it's not like you can push me out of this circle anyways," he finished with a smirk.
Growling, Naruto said, "Bring it on, sensei."
The two circled each other warily, each taking it seriously. Without any hint of intent, both launched themselves at the other, exchanging a flurry of blows. Mizuki ducked under a punch before kicking and launching Naruto to the edge of the circle.
Narrowing his eyes, Naruto dug his toes into the ground before launching at Mizuki with increased ferocity. "No way am I losing this quickly."
Widening his eyes slightly at the speed Naruto showed, Mizuki blocked the attack before moving back to use Naruto's momentum against him. He grabbed Naruto's forearm and went to throw him from the ring.
Naruto grabbed Mizuki's forearm himself, and after twisting himself so he landed straight down and not out, he threw Mizuki from the ring.
Mizuki twisted in mid-air and landed gracefully outside the circle.
"Unfortunately, Naruto, this is your loss." He gestured to Naruto's feet.
He swore under his breath once more, he took half a step outside of the circle when he threw Mizuki.
"Report to room 103 at ten, tomorrow for your results." Mizuki said before disappearing in a shunshin.
Naruto groaned as he made his way through the streets of Konoha. He was so close to winning that spar against Mizuki-sensei. Smiling sadly, he gazed at the other villagers in the area. He wished he had just a little more attention. He was neither swarmed with attention nor ignored. Hated or loved. Mistreated or favored. He simply was just there. Alone.
Entering the Yakiniku shop, he spotted a few of his classmates. "Hey Shika, Choji, Kiba. How'd your exams go?"
Kiba grinned widely, "Kicked my examiner's ass, of course." He boasted proudly, like the Alpha male he thinks he is. "I can just taste the Rookie of the Year award."
Smiling cheekily, Naruto said, "You sure it's not the Yakiniku you're tasting?"
Gaining a smile from his heftier friend, he said, "And you Choji, Shika?"
"I think I did well. Probably." Choji mumbled in between bites of food. This wasn't his favorite restaurant in Konoha for no reason.
Shikamaru just sighed, muttering under his breath about nosy blondes.
"Who do you think is going to be on your team, guys?" Naruto continued, not wanting to let the conversation die out.
"It'd be nice to be on a team with Hinata and Shino," Shikamara said. "Nice and quiet..."
Naruto snorted. "Right. Have fun with that." Pausing momentarily, he said, "I'm not entirely sure who I'll be on a team with, though. I'd like to think I did better than average on the exam but... I swear Bunshin hates me, I'm telling you. I completely messed that up, and on top of that I did horribly with the targets, too. I'm usually top of the class with that." He groaned in frustration.
"It'd be fun to be on a team with you and Choji, Naruto." Kiba said with a wide grin. "No one could stop us."
"Right. Until they learned what a jutsu was." Naruto deadpanned at the thought of three close-range specialists with no long-range jutsu between the three of them in a team.
He sighed, and then got up. "Got to get going now, hopefully some of use will be in a team together. See you guys tomorrow."
Heading out, he left the restaurant and headed to his apartment.
"I'm home." He muttered softly to himself, the empty dwelling was as chilling as usual. "Kaa-san...Tou-san...why'd you have to leave me all alone?" He whispered painfully, tears prickling the corners of his eyes.
Taking a few deep breaths, he calmed himself down. "Right. Training. He headed to his room, before grabbing the scroll his parents left behind. The only thing he had of them.
"Right. I just mastered the vertical-surface walking technique the other day, so it's onto this next one now..." he muttered as he unrolled the scroll. "Mmm... Kage Bunshin. Shared awareness... Requires at least average Chuunin level Chakra to use safely... Can be used as a training tool, but relatively easily dispelled. Sure, why not?" He mumbled to himself.
Slowly, he crossed his fingers into the ram seal and began channeling his chakra.
He was pretty fortunate to have this scroll, it was pretty detailed, but it was fairly advanced. after he learned a technique, that technique would disappear from the scroll. And he couldn't see the next technique until he finished with the shown one.
Closing his eyes, he calmed his breathing and felt as his chakra began to change shape. Opening his eyes, he seemed to be staring at his twin... no, his clone. It dispelled almost instantly, a sign that the jutsu wasn't performed correctly.
'Here we go again...' he thought to himself. He never got one right on the first try.
Naruto blinked tiredly as his alarm clock woke him up. Stretching as he got out of the bed, he ran his fingers through his crimson mane, his most noticeable inheritance from his mother.
Taking a quick shower, Naruto headed to his closet. Pulling out some clothes he threw a soft-brown shirt with a black jacket and pants. Rubbing the last dregs of sleep from his eyes he opened his front door and softly said, "I'm off. Tou-san... Kaa-san."
He entered room 103 at the academy to find he wasn't the first one there. Most of the other clan heirs were already there, Aburame Shino, Akimichi Choji, Hyuuga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru, Uchiha Sasuke, Yamanaka Ino. Only one missing was the brash Inuzuka heir, Kiba.
Pulling up a seat next to the Akimichi and Nara heirs, he said, "You guys excited to finally get out of the academy and onto a team?"
Shikamaru didn't answer, as he was, predictably, resting on his desk waiting for their instructors to arrive.
Choji nodded, "Yeah. I hope I get on a good team to make my dad proud."
Naruto nodded in understanding. He lived alone, but even still he wanted to make his parents proud of him.
The door to the classroom opened as their Academy sensei filed in. "Everyone in this group is deemed having enough overall attributes or potential worthy to be placed in the Shinobi force. When I call up your name, take your hitai-ate and return to your seats."
"Aburame Shino." The heir to the clan of Kikaichu silently strode forward and claimed his hitai-ate, attaching it to the traditional place upon his forehead.
"Akimichi Choji."
"Haruno Sakura."
"Hyuuga Hinata."
"Inuzu-"
The door to the classroom burst open. "Sorry I'm late!" Kiba declared loudly, with a yip from his ninken, Akamaru.
Iruka just sighed, "Seeing as you're already up here..." he said, silently handing Kiba his hitai-ate.
Coughing once, he continued on.
"Nara Shikamaru."
"Naruto."
"Uchiha Sasuke."
"Yamanaka Ino."
As the last individual took their hitai-ate and sat back down, Iruka began to posture into his lecture mode. As was inherently obvious by the stiffening of the students in front of him. "You nine are the decided individuals to be chosen for this years group of Genin.
"Be warned that you're merely potential Genin at this point. It will be up to your individual Jounin-sensei to decide if you're ready for the responsibility to be a shinobi of Konoha, if you need more time at the academy, or if you're unworthy of being a shinobi of Konoha for whatever reason."
A thick, heavy silence descended upon the Genin hopefuls before Iruka spoke up once more.
"I will now read off your teams. Teams 1-6 are still in rotation, as is team nine. Aburame Shino, Naruto, and Yamanaka Ino, you three will be the core of team Seven, your Jounin-sensei will be..."
A/N: I'm a brilliant author, aren't I? First chapter completely destroys one of the most common teams (Ina-Shika-Cho) and then right after that I leave you guys with a cliff hanger.
I do have one question to ask, though. I've already decided upon the pairings in this story, but...I'm uncertain on if I should tag it as such (so those who look for it can find it easily) or not (so it's not extremely obvious as to who will be with whom). Please answer in any reviews. Thank you.