ANBU: Leaf
Naruto
Chapter one: Becoming
I do not own Naruto
A darker style of ANBU story and of the general Narutoverse. I hope to make this one story I put my all into, aswell as give joy to people the same way I feel joy from reading a good story.
Without further ado i give you.
Naruto Uzumaki.
The heat and steam of the small ramen stand brought a smile to young teenage Naruto's face, the smells assaulting his sense's causing a rumble in his stomach. He sure was hungry. He had been working since just after dawn, cutting the vegetables and meat just like Teuchi Ichiraku liked them. After they were prepared he would begin to cook just as mister Ichiraku arrived to supervise adding in the extra special ingredient when it was the right time. Once breakfast customers had been served it was time for Naruto to do lunch time deliveries, jumping onto the bike with its large basket full on Ramen orders attached to the handle bars the boy would go to each destination on his route to give the food out, mostly to office workers or school children, after he had returned it would be cleaning all the pots from the cooking this morning which was why he always took that little bit longer going back sometimes stopping off by the river that ran through Konohagakure at a bench and buy a soda from the pop-up cart that was always there. Basking in the sun was always one of Naruto's favourite thing to do unlike the other boy he sometimes saw who would always be a little further down under the tree's shade 'What a waste of a such beautiful day' Naruto would think. His stomach growled again.
"Hey Teuchi-jiji can I have a break now? Only the 2 big pots left!" Naruto shouted through the curtain to get his bosses attention. The not-so-old stand owner poked his head into the back to inspect Naruto's work before giving a content smile and a nod.
"Sure thing Naruto, In fact call it a day, Ayame should be finishing school soon and it seems a silly to have you both here with so little to do." His head pulled back from the curtains before he walked through seconds later a dish held in his hands. "Some food to take home with you." Placing down the container he then reached into his back pocket to pull out a small wad of cash. "And here's your pay for such a great job today." He practically beamed as he counted out the money to Naruto. "Business is sure looking up!"
'Not if you keep giving me too much money for what I do' Naruto's musings put a small smirk like smile on his face which to Teuchi looked like a thankful one towards paying his charge that little extra to get by. His smirk changing into a bright smile. "Gee thanks Teuchi-jiji!" Naruto Pocketed the cash in his own back pocket before taking off his hat and apron and heading towards the exit at the back of the stand Naruto threw the items of clothing up, landing them perfectly on the hook.
As Naruto stepped outside, the light disappearing from behind the doorway he had left from, he pulled out a carton of cigarettes glad to finally have a break from the days grind. Some passers-by may wonder why a boy so young would be smoking and why his parents would allow it but Naruto needed not care about both of these questions. His parents had died in the Kyuubi attack 15 years ago and as for why he smoked, well, they didn't do the kind of things he did for a living. Naruto took a deep drag flaring up the end and inhaling the smoke slowly into his lungs, it was more of a therapeutic past time than an addiction, controlling his breathing helped him unwind from the constant moving of the day. The blonde let out the smoke as he tilted his head up into the darkening sky, the stars weren't out yet but they would be soon. The strange time between dusk and night was another of Naruto's favourite times of the day but for entirely different reasons, noticing the silhouette of a medium sized bird painted on the dark blue black sky Naruto sighed. "Time to get going I guess." He walked a few paces finishing the cigarette and throwing it into the gutter behind Ichiraku's.
Naruto sat with the small piece of paper in one hand and chopsticks held in the other. Sat in his small apartment he slurped his ramen noodles, the only light coming from the candle on the dining table he currently sat at and the soft glow from the street lamps cast half shadows around the room. He contemplated how long it would take to get to the destination on the message and what he would need to pack for the trip. Uniform aside Naruto decided he would take 2 days of simple rations, 10 kunai, 4 shuriken, 1 sealing scroll, his chokuto would be of little use this time however he would take 2 silencing tags and 5 trip wire sensitive tags. Both were his own original idea's, he sold the sealing method to a weapons shop, the girl and what must have been her father were very curious as to how he learnt sealing but very receptive to the idea of the tags and quickly bought the schematics and offered him more money if he happened to come up with anything else. It was a business after all and competition was tough. The money he gained from Ichiraku's paled in comparison but Naruto would invest all his extra earned money he could into helping the ramen stand. Teuchi and Ayame had been there for him always.
Naruto held the piece of paper over the small candle he had on the table, he didn't have to do that, it was a routine he was used to. Any mission he went on didn't happen. Tipping the bowl and slurping down the last bits of ramen Naruto stood and made his way to the bedroom to prepare.
It was pitch black by now, well into the late hours of the night. The warehouse seemed like nothing on the outside but 4 thug looking men stood by the door meant no honest work was done here. Each had their face covered in some way and each wore simple black and dark blue clothes. These were civilian thugs, not too difficult at all for Naruto to handle. He watched as they chattered, a chuckle shared at someone's expense and then 2 of them broke off doing what seemed like a sweep around the building. The guards had only just got around the corner of the building before a kunai lodged in each of the remaining doormen, gurgled cries silenced by a gloved hand over their mouths, gently resting them on the ground Naruto put a henge on them turning them into rocks. He cast two Kage bunshin and had them duplicate the downed men. 'Once the other 2 guards get back the clones would deal with them.' Naruto thought. Stood facing the 'guards' his black mask shimmered from the moonlight. A large beak protruded out between were his nose and mouth would be. The mask of a Crow.
One of the 'guards' picked the lock and silently opened the metal door, Naruto glided in through the small crack before it closed behind him, plunging him into sheer darkness, no windows on this floor. Naruto used his well attuned senses to 'feel' the warehouse. Cold was his first feeling, building was made of concrete mostly, corrugated metal roof, high ceiling with huge lights; barely swinging, very open; very, very open. A few wooden crates here and there different sizes. Naruto sniffed. Straw, metal and oil. Must be weapons. The boy closed his eyes and listened, there was something very slight in the distance at the very back of the warehouse. Naruto made his way there quietly and effortlessly. He wasn't a shadow, he wasn't there, the air didn't feel his presence. Naruto felt them before he saw them, stairs going up 1 floor to a small platform like room, jumping straight up Naruto got to the structure right in front of the door. The something he heard before was louder now, to him anyway. He waited a moment, learning everything he could about what was in the next room. A large desk like the Hokage's, smelled like oak. Leather chair behind it coloured with dye maybe green or blue, behind that a large window with the blinds half open. 2 snake plants. 'Note didn't say he was a gardener.' Naruto grinned inside himself some kind of sword on the wall. 'Focus.' A daisho. Ornamental, the edges were dull. He knew were his target was, sat with his feet rested on the desk slumped in the leather chair with a hat obscuring his face. Naruto could feel no chakra from the man, but it never hurt to check. Deeming everything well Naruto pulled his chakra in and around himself slowly letting it seep through the door frames edge and with a small burst he flickered inside the room, careful not to shift the air in the room.
'Perfect entry.' If Naruto could have smiled we would have, proud in his accomplishment and improvement. 'First things first.' Naruto brushed the Silencing seal tag onto the door locking every sound inside the four walls he and the man occupied. Naruto stalked towards the man and steeled himself for his next task. Standing behind the dozing man in the chair Naruto pulled a kunai from his pouch. In a flash Naruto spun the around chair shocking the man awake and blinding his eyes with the little slivers of light that crept into the room. Brown, almost black eyes met piercing blue, the black mask made they man's eyes widen, every cell in his body screamed for him to run or find some way to survive. Naruto drove the kunai through the man's shoulder and deep into the chair, pinning him in place and ending the man's hope of escape.
"AHHHHH! YOU SON OF A BITCH! GUARDS! GUARDS!" Naruto back handed him across the face, slapping his head against the chair. As the man recovered Naruto hit him again with the reverse swing. The man groaned and coughed, his conscious fading until Naruto drove another kunai into the other shoulder. "AHHHHHHHHHH-ahaaha! The scream turned into a whimper. 'Good thing I put that seal up.' Naruto amused himself as he waited for the man to quieten down so he could begin talking.
"Eishi Toru. I am here for one thing only and that, is information." Naruto turned his back as he spoke, walking over to the window he peered through the blinds making sure to stay off to the side in-case anyone were to look up. "Make this quick for me and we can be done here before you lose too much blood. Or before things… escalate." The threatening undertone was not lost to Eishi Toru.
"What do you need to know?" The panic in his voice evident to his unspoken co-operation.
Naruto smirked under his mask. "Thank you Toru-san. Now my commander would like to know exactly where and to whom these weapons are going to."
Eishi shivered, he could 'see' the smile under the mask. "They're going to a guy named Kabuto. We're to drop them off somewhere in Kusagakure." Eishi heaved from the pain in his shoulders and how it hurt to move his jaw, the masked man must have broken it in one of those hits.
Naruto brought his foot up and balanced it on the kunai in the man's shoulder. "Where in Kusagakure?" he managed to say between the screams.
"AHHH! THE TENCHI-AHHHH! THE TENCHI BRIDGE!" Naruto pushed off making the man scream once more, slowly dying into a pathetic sob.
"The Tenchi Bridge. Fantastic. I must say Toru-san I am glad you helped. Kabuto is a main target of ours. And when exactly is this exchange supposed to take place?" Naruto had taken to wandering around the room, looking for any evidence the man could be lying to save his own tail. But all he found were a few accountancy ledgers and some older documents about past transgressions, all useless.
Eishi Toru began to slow his breathing the pain he had been enduring so far was nothing he knew to what could happen and he was rather fond of his fingers, toes, eyes, ears and other appendages that could be cut off or mutilated so he decided to just keep on talking. "3 weeks from now…we meet him there… at high noon." Taking small gulps of air as he spoke.
Naruto paused in his meandering. "How… cliché. Is there anything else I should know? Think carefully, this could save your life." Naruto began to pull wire string from out of his back belt pouch, twisting it around in both hands before testing its tension. Business
Eishi got the message and started to stutter. "Th-th-th-the man kabuto! My intelligence tells me that he could be the middle man to Orochimaru!"
Naruto's arm and neck went slack in a bored stance. "Your intelligence is shit. Not surprising." He began to make his advance.
"WAIT! WAIT! A MAN CAME BY- a man came by the other day asking if we could deliver a message to Kabuto."
This caused Naruto to pause. "…tell me about him…"
Eishi took in a shuddering breath. "He wore- he wore a-armm A CLOAK! ABLACK CLOACK! With red clouds! Red hair, really pale. Had a Suna hitai-ate but it had the line through it. You know. Missing-nin like. Said that when we meet Kabuto we should tell him that the tailed beasts were starting to get collected and that he needed Orochimaru's ring back. Something about Akatsushi or some shit!" Eishi trailed off as he noticed Naruto had stopped listening.
"Now that IS interesting. Well done Toru-san you seem to have helped a lot more than you originally could have." Naruto put away the wire, but kept on walking towards the man. Gently he placed both hands on the kunai. "How would you like them taken out? One at a time or both together?"
"Fuck you!" was Eishi Toru's final defiance.
"Together then" Naruto smiled as he pulled the kunai out, one left the man's shoulder sideways and sliced through Eishi's throat. "Oops." The blood spray spattered the window. The man died in under a minute, shock being the main cause. 'The wounds didn't help though.' Naruto flicked the kunai free of blood before pocketing them. His Tiachuo had taught him all he needed to know in interrorgation methods. This method was a classic one, firstly; using surprise as a way to draw in the subjects attention making them focus on the interrogator. Naruto had certainly done that with a practised and precise ease with the kunai, covering both the first step and also covering his back if the man made a move to get out of the seat he would surely have damaged his arm beyond repair. Secondly; allow the subject to assess its situation, just by looking into Toru-san's eyes he knew he had him straight away and capitalised driving the proverbial 'point' home with the second kunai. Proceeding from here with the third step the masked blonde decided to use the surrounding environment to help with getting what he needed, the room was quite obviously a meeting place where deals took place day in and day out so Naruto offered the man a very simple business proposition, some information for his life.
One last job remained and with the new Intel this option would be Naruto's preferred plan of action. Ripping off the silence seal and jumping out into the warehouse. Naruto brought out the storage scroll and laid it out on the floor, some hand signs and all the Boxed weapons disappeared in smoke, the seal flaring on the paper. Once finished and the smoke cleared Naruto rolled up the scroll and placed it in his jacket. 'Time to get going. This job was nice and easy at least.' He left the same way he came, this time dispelling the clones. Placing the trip wire sensitive tags in an arranged manner by the door Naruto leapt away into the surrounding dark, only pausing to hear the snap-twang of the tags doing off and the steel hum of the wire cutting air, the wires wrapped around the last two guards slicing through flesh and tissue, dissecting the bodies into slabs of meat. Naruto let out a sigh he didn't know he was holding, letting his eyes close slowly. 'Best report back to Chujo.'
Naruto stood in the middle of the medium sized room in front of the simple wooden desk, still wearing his mask and uniform as was mandatory. The man behind the desk, sat on his metal chair, knew exactly who was in front of him under the all-embracing black crow mask. The man wore a white dog porcelain mask with blue markings, tufts of brown hair stuck out from the sides but the large cream jackets hood covered the top of his head from view. The ANBU Commander steepled his fingers considering what his subordinate had told him, loosening a hand to reach out to the storage scroll located in front of him on the desk, fingering the rolled up paper he regarded the young man who had silently waited.
"This is quite the development now that Orochimaru is involved." The Commander stated. "He's been a thorn in our side for far too long and his actions 3 years ago cannot go unpunished. We must use this opportunity to finally shut down the snake once-and-for-all. But we must tread carefully, this is the first concrete lead we have had since he murdered the Sandaime and assaulted Konoha. He must not slip through our fingers again." His steeling voice cut through to Naruto. "However, there is a slight complication." He locked the eye holes of his dog mask with the blondes crow mask. "You know the Uchiha child went to him to obtain power. His return is of upmost importance to this village, we cannot allow Orochimaru to claim the sharingan for himself. Since we haven't heard anything yet we must take it that he has not yet been able to take the boys eyes for his own. Also we can assume that he has not been able to return the use of his arms after the Sandaime used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal and Tsunade-Sama refused to heal him… I need you to go speak with her Crow. Go, rest. I will inform the Hokage in the meantime… Good work."
Naruto snapped the heels of his boots together his arm moving into a crisp salute. "Hai Chujo-san." The Boy turned and exited out of the singular door in the corner, once outside he walked along the blank corridor before him was a door, another to his right, he headed for this door first. Once inside he headed for one of the 5 cubicles screwed to the wall, changing quickly out of his ANBU uniform and into his civilian clothes, a green long sleeve shirt with a red sleeveless vest on top along with a pair of black harem pants, white tape tying them to the mid of his calf. Slipping on his Kung-Fu like slippers and packing away his uniform into a black canvas rucksack which hung from a peg on the back of the cubicle door. Slinging the rucksack over his shoulder he headed towards the door at the end of the corridor, walking through Naruto entered into a small quaint café, the early morning light spilt into the room onto 5 small circular tables dotted around the establishment. Naruto looked to his left at the side wall were the counter was built and smiled to the old lady who returned the smile with a wave. She spoke to him as she wiped down the café counter. "Chujo-san says not to worry about doing your cover work for old man Teuchi today, he sent someone to say you had a bit of a stomach bug. He should buy it, the girl he sent was pretty cute." The old lady wiggled her eyebrows toward Naruto who chuckled at the idea of Teuchi's reaction to this girl. With a wave of his own Naruto stepped out onto the dirt road heading in the direction of home to get a little sleep before going to meet his Kage.
Walking down the road Naruto placed his hands behind his head and smiled soaking his face in the warm morning light. 'Such a wonderful morning. It's a shame I'll be missing out on it having to go see Tsunade obaa-hime.' The young ninja's smile turned into a grin but was soon broken in his musings by the sound of a heated argument, he stopped and looked over to the 3 ninja. 'Hn a Yamanaka, an Akimichi and a Nara. Must be Team 10, the new Ino-Shika-Cho trio, from the Konoha 11.' Naruto smirked now. 'To think I could have been one of them.'
"OI! Blondie! What are you smiling at huh?!" Naruto's eyes snapped open to meet with the girl who stood defiantly with her hand on her hips.
The young man raised an eyebrow in response to her statement. "Blondie? Is that an insult? Because it doesn't really work. Don't you know you're a blonde to?"
Ino blanched at Naruto's remarks. Before she could bite back a reply she was interrupted by the black haired boy. "Ino leave him alone."
"Yeah Ino. It was a pretty stupid start to an argument." The large Akimichi let out a small chuckle as he scoffed his bags of chips. "What's with you today anyway? You're very wound up."
This was the last straw for the blonde girl. "URRRH! YOU MEN ARE SO INFURIATING THAT'S WHATS!" She quickly turned around and marched off as fast as she could to get away from them.
The 3 boys were left staring as she disappeared down the road. With a sigh the Nara turned to Naruto. "Sorry about that…"
Said Boy took his eyes from the retreating form of the female member of Team 10. "Oh. I'm Naruto. Sorry to be the cause of that, I was just enjoying the sun before I heard you guys arguing." He sheepishly scratched at the back of his head.
"Tch. Don't worry about that it happens at least once a week. Anyway we best go find her." With that the 2 boys began to leave but not before Naruto heard the Akimichi speak a soft word into the Nara's ear, unfortunately for him Naruto easily picked up what was said.
"Man that guy must be stupid to start an argument with Ino, she could have killed that poor civilian."
Naruto almost let out a laugh but decided to instead to forget about it and get back to making his way home loosing himself in thought again. 'I can't even begin to imagine what it would have been like going down the academy route like them.'
-Flashback-
A young Naruto collapsed onto the dirt and grass exhausted, breathing in deep tugs of air as the sweat cascaded from his's brow, the-was-orange shirt now almost completely dark with perspiration. Naruto tried to stand and failed. 'God Damn this jutsu! God damn being a ninja! God damn everything!' Naruto screamed into the sky with all the last bits of his energy. He had been training none stop since the early evening, practising his skills with the kunai and shuriken, trying his best to get down the 3 basic academy jutsu but to no avail. His taijutsu was simply a combination of self-taught improvised kata and shadow fighting until he couldn't move anymore. Every day he would come to the small unoccupied training ground and repeat the same miserable failings, training himself further and further onto the wrong path. Naruto knew this, every test he did at the academy was a glaring sign to him that he wasn't improving in anything, the other children would come in with new jutsu taught to them by their families and taijutsu that would be stronger and faster every time he came to spar with them. The small boy grit his teeth forcing the tears back.
"That was quite a display young man." Naruto hiccupped shooting up too fast to find who was speaking to him. Sat on a short wooden stump to his right only a few feet away was an old man in white robes beaming at him as he rested his wrinkled, liver spotted hands on a gnarled old walking stick. The old man raised his eyebrows. "Might I suggest you try again? Maybe I can give you a few pointers along the way."
With new energy Naruto stood up and clenched his fists. "Whatever old man. I'm training to be the best ninja the world has ever seen! What do you know about being a ninja?" He was in a bitter, foul mood at the moment and he was not prepared to put up with this old man's bullshit. Spinning on his heel Naruto turned his back on the walking coffin dodger and made to storm off, but with his first step he found himself falling to the ground, his foot pulled away behind him. Snapping into a roll he found the old man stood next to him walking stick swinging in his hand. 'How the hell did he do that?!' Naruto crawled and jumped away from his attacker. "I don't know what your game is old man but you better back off!" he growled.
The old man gently smiled closing her eyes. "No games. I'm deadly serious. Now do you want my help or not?"
Naruto Scowled at the jesting old man. "Why do I need your help? What can you teach me, huh?" The boy studied the old man closer this time. Noting the way the old white robes hid him very well, with speed like that he must be strong, yet the billowing cloth covered his physique. The brown eyes seemed more piercing now, more critical and calculating, concealed in the sockets set in the weathered face.
"Well I was trained to be a shinobi, I fought in the second and third shinobi world wars and I'm still here. That's got to prove something right?" The small blonde child gawped up at the man in shock. He realised what he had just been saying and doing was a huge mistake, this man was a seasoned shinobi and if what he remembered from the history lessons held any truth then this old man must be very seasoned to have gone through two shinobi world wars and still live. "So what do you say? Got any energy to carry on?"
Naruto scrunched up his face, weighing his options. It was rather one sided thinking about what he could gain from learning from the old man considering all studies in the ninja arts he could pass on to him. But it was more than that, the young boy was asking himself if he could trust this person. Life wasn't easy for the child, he didn't understand why but he knew that he was treated differently. Being ostracised from the villagers' daily lives, they would glare at him and mistreat him, mumble under their breaths when he was nearby. Naruto felt pain when parents would take away their children if he went to play with them and fear when he saw some ways others would look at him, he could feel danger radiating from them knowing they wanted to do him harm.
Casting his gaze at the old man Naruto reassessed for what felt like the tenth time. The tanned old hands still rested on the walking stick supporting his slightly hunched back and aged frame. His wispy white hair moved in the summer breeze, but only what was left of it the receding follicles. The crinkled skin at the edge of his eyes seemed like a second smile. Naruto couldn't help the smile that crept onto his own face and the soft look in the old man's brown eyes. 'Maybe… Maybe this time…'
Naruto leapt to attention. "Yes sir!" The blonde faltered. "Eh. Sorry what was your name?"
The barking laugh from the old man echoed around the clearing. Smiling down at the child he said. "You can call me jiji." Before sticking out his tongue. "Bozu."
Naruto blanched before raising his fist. Who you calling bozu, jiji!"
"That's the spirit, now take up your taijutsu stance…. No, no, no! Legs further apart! Bend those knees! No, not that much!" Naruto had no idea what he had agreed to.
Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and eventually a year passed. Naruto was soon one of the rising stars in the academy in all aspects of combat from hand to hand; close and multiple opponents, in throwing projectiles he was ranked 1st place in the entire school, he had finally began to start listening in on theory and history, tactics and politics however he still could not produce the bunshin jutsu, even the kawarimi jutsu and the henge were still hard but sometimes he could manage them.
"Try again Naruto." The withered old man squatted at the wooden stump a scowl wrinkled his aged brow. He watched as the boy shook in exhaustion, the shine of perspiration glistening off his face and arms in the midday heat. Bringing his arms up and hands into the ram seal, snake then tiger.
"Bunshin no jutsu!" An explosion of blue chakra, a puff of smoke either side of Naruto and 2 very ill looking clones appeared either side of him only after a few seconds did they disappear again in a rather large puff of smoke and chakra. "Dammit!" Naruto spun and collapsed in frustration. He flailed and kicked at the ground beating his fists in the dirt screaming, all the while the old man looked on in humour.
As the thrashing slowed the old man tapped his staff on the ground 'It would be quite irresponsible of me to teach the child a forbidden technique but I see no other way he can progress.' stroking his small goatee he addressed the sweating mess on the ground. "Naruto I think I may have a solution to your problem." His statement perked the panting boy's interest. "It seems you either use or have too much chakra" 'And from what I know it's definitely the latter.' "Now the technique I am about to show you is called the Kage Bunshin. Make a crossed ram seal. Good. Now channel exactly the same amount of chakra through you and into the seal."
"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he let more chakra, with a resounding puff of smoke a clone appeared next to him. The grin on the boy's face quickly died as he took in the clone's appearance, it stood there wearing a more red than orange shirt which stretched over the rather rotund belly of the clone. "Eehhh! What is this all about! I thought clones were supposed to look just like the creator? What's going on old man?" The clone in question waddled slightly before falling backwards and exploding away in a large cloud of smoke and wind.
With a deep breath Naruto focused the same amount of chakra just like the old man said. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Again a burst of chakra and two clones appeared either side of Naruto and to his astonishment the clones either side of him were not deathly pale but perfect replicas. "DATTEBAYO! I did it!" Naruto gleamed up at the man, his sensei.
"Yes, yes, well done Naruto. But now I must tell about the technique itself. As a demonstration I would like for you to ask one of your clones to do something… anything."
Naruto was bemused by the request but simply shrugged his shoulders before turning to the clone at his side. "Take off your shoes." Naruto then watched with widening eyes as the clone did as he said.
The old man was just chuckling to himself now. "That's right my boy. The clones you just created are not anything like the clones you create at the academy. These are sentient, which means they are free thinking beings. The shadow clone jutsu is one of Konoha's greatest jutsu, there are many variations in other nations but this one is ours." The old man smiled. "Now these clones can mould chakra just as much as you can, which means they can perform jutsu. This technique has so much more to offer but for now it will do as a replacement for your lack of ability with the regular bunshin."
Naruto glanced back and forth between his clones before he finally addressed the clone which still had its shoes on. "Can you kawarimi with that stone over there." He said nodding in the direction of the stone. With a nod the Clone disappeared in a puff and was replaced with the rock. "Woah… cool." Naruto smirked thinking of all the possibilities this would bring and if what the old man said was true then there was even more this technique could do. He was going to blow everyone in the academy out of the water.
With a cough the old man got Naruto's attention. "Now Naruto I must leave. You may carry on your training but I suggest you don't stay out too long and do not exhaust yourself." The small boy thanked him and sped off to carry on using his new jutsu until he had it mastered completely. The old man knew he would do this, he knew Naruto too well to just expect him to heed his words. 'To be young and full of such passion and yearning.' Smiling to himself the elder vanished in a swirl of leaves and smoke.
A blonde tuft of hair poked out from beneath the scrunched orange duvet, early sunlight bathing the small room and the clothes littering the floor. A hard knock on the door made the small boy grumble and rustle in the soft quilt, the knocking came again forcing Naruto to throw off the offending bed cover with a huff, swinging his legs over the end of the bed he made his way down the corridor of his apartment towards the front door stretching his arms above his head with a yawn he answered the door. Standing there smiling down at him in a standard chunnin uniform was his academy teacher Iruka.
"Good morning Naruto glad you're awake." Iruka addressed the pyjama clad child. "I was wondering if you would like to get some breakfast before you take the genin test today."
Naruto's eyes bulged. "The test is today!" he exclaimed before slamming the door and rushing back into his apartment. Shortly arriving back at the door fully clothed mouth turned up in a grin. "I'm ready Iruka-sensei let's do this!" His statement made Iruka laugh, clutching his stomach.
"Naruto the test isn't for another hour and more, let's go get breakfast first. A ninja can't be his best on an empty stomach." Taking the blonde boy by his shoulders Iruka led him down the stairs of the complex and towards the Ichiraku Ramen stand.
Naruto smiled as he walked with his academy sensei, his teacher had helped him much like the old man had. Iruka would always explain jutsu theory if he ever got stuck, bandage any sprains or cuts on him correctly and adjust his hold on kunai if Iruka saw any flaw in his form. The other teachers were quite abrupt or down right dismissive of Naruto whenever he came to them for help, Mizuki was always one to go extra hard on him during taijutsu spars. At first Naruto thought this was to improve himself in speed and strength but once the boy caught him smirking after a good shot sent Naruto to the floor he realised that wasn't the fact. With his new training from the old man Naruto was much more equipped to deal with the fighting and could now easily avoid a beating from Mizuki. Naruto wondered why Iruka hadn't helped him with the bunshin technique like the old man had but concluded that maybe Iruka didn't know the Kage bunshin no jutsu, the old man also said it was a forbidden technique, maybe that was why Iruka had not shown it to him. Either way Iruka was a good sensei and a good person to him, he had even offered Naruto breakfast on the genin test day. Naruto was sure of himself, he would show Iruka and the old man that their combined efforts would make him a shinobi of Konoha.
As they entered the stand Teuchi-san gave them a greeting and asked for their orders, offering Naruto an extra-large to help him through the day which the child accepted with gusto. The teacher and student ate and listened to the world waking up around them. Shutters on shops rattled up and good mornings were thrown to each passer-by.
"ahh…" The boy sighed in content over the empty bowl. "That was amazing old man Teuchi thanks so much. Iruka-sensei I know I can definitely pass the test now, with all this energy I think I could pass it twice!"
Iruka chuckled at his little blonde student. "Well make sure to pass the first time and maybe I will let you take it again." With an enthusiastic nod from Naruto the academy teacher placed some notes onto the counter, thanking Teuchi for the food Iruka set off to the academy with the boy in tow.
Arriving early Iruka asked Naruto to go to his seat and study as he prepared the other room for the exam, after a small argument about Naruto wanting to help and possibly getting a sneak peek Iruka left Naruto to his shinobi books. As he read through his book the minutes passed by and his classmates began to wonder in their collective social groups, soon the whole classroom was filled with children and chatters of excitement each one speculating what the test would be like and if there would be trick questions. Naruto simply ignored his peers and focused on the writing in front of him, no one would speak with him much, each of the other students tried to keep as much distance and as little interaction with him as possible. The boy never minded, it allowed him to train without distraction and with how some of the other students performed he was glad to be left alone to develop.
"Class attention please." Iruka gained the attention of the class walking in, closely followed by Mizuki. "Please be respectful of our guest, may I introduce the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi." The room became silent as a withered old man walked in dressed in the official Hokage robes his walking stick clacked against the floor. The veil of the Hokage hat shielded his full features from view but cast a dark silhouette of his face. Following him came an ANBU covered from hood to toe in a long brown cape, brown hair jutted out from around his dog mask.
Naruto had placed his book down to look in awe at the Hokage the most powerful shinobi in all of Hi no Kuni. Possibly the world, Naruto had learnt about all the legendary shinobi over the centuries of recorded history and the Third Hokage was among them. Sarutobi Hiruzen, attaining the moniker 'the God of Shinobi' due to his battle prowess and impressive arsenal of jutsu, his list of accomplishments almost matched his capacity of jutsu; having fought alongside the First and Second Hokage in both wars, learning every known jutsu in Konohagakure, feared by every Kage of his generation, teaching the Densetsu no Sannin and being the longest reigning Hokage to date. Yes Sarutobi Hiruzen was a God amongst men. The young blonde watched on in rapt fascination as the Hokage of Konohagakure made his way to the podium in front of the students he was about to address. As he studied the leader of the village Naruto noticed the all too familiar walking stick, the gnarled wooden crutch was something that had rattled his skull to many times to count. Upon second glance the robes this great man wore were the same cloth and colour as his jiji-sensei. 'No. It can't be.' The small boy's brain began to fire off more connections, the way the Hokage stooped in his posture, the liver spotted hands, black Kung Fu slippers poked out from underneath the robe; the exact same worn away slippers his teacher would kick him with. 'There is no way…'
The old man turned to face the assembled students and removed his hat to reveal the blonde's teacher for the past year, Hiruzen smiled up at the class and caught the eyes of his pupil. "Good morning young shinobi, or should I say shinobi hopefuls." He again cast his eyes around the room. Lingering slightly on Naruto the edge of his mouth lifted in a smirk before again surveying the class. "Today you will take the genin academy test which will be the beginning of your shinobi careers. I hope you have all prepared well and practised hard, it will not be easy. After today those who pass will start on their path towards serving the village of Konoha and protecting everyone within our borders of the fire nation." His smile faded as he turned quite serious. "As Hokage I am responsible for each one of my shinobi, but you will also be responsible for what Konoha stands for, which is why I ask that anyone not prepared to put their life on the line for these beliefs to walk away now. It is not cowardice, in fact your bravery here and now could well save a life in years to come." No one moved. Some of the children shuffled in their seats but when looked at by the Hokage they hardened their resolve. With a final sweep of the room the Old man grinned. "Outstanding! I wish good luck to all present. May your minds and your hearts guide you." With a tap of his walking stick the old man turned to leave but not before throwing a wink at the dumbstruck blonde sat at his desk.
'That no good stinking old man! He deceived me this entire time! He was the Hokage and he never told me! ...oh god I called the Hokage an old man…I questioned his abilities as a shinobi… I am such an idiot!' Naruto's face paled, turning clammy as cold sweat dripped down his spine. His dread kept him frozen as Iruka addressed the class again.
"Firstly the written exam please take a test sheet and pass it on to the person behind you." Mizuki began handing out a stack of papers to each pupil sat at the front of the classroom as Iruka continued to explain. "Once everyone has a test sheet we will begin the exam you have 1 hour to complete all questions in the exam, there will be no cheating or sharing of answers those found doing so will be asked to leave and will not be allowed to take this test again. Everyone understand?" A chorus of yes's and nods answered him.
The boy, lost in his thoughts, was awoken to a glaring set of green eyes belonging to Sakura Haruno blinking in confusion he noticed the stack of test papers she was holding towards him and took them from her, in turn she replied with a huff and faced the front of the class again. Taking a paper he passed the rest on behind him to Shikamaru Nara, looking back at his own test paper he read and re-read the writing on the front. 'Konoha Genin Academy test. 40 Questions. 1 hour to complete…there's no way the Hokage would train me if he didn't think I had a shot! Yeah… I was personally trained by the THIRD Hokage. God of shinobi.'Naruto smiled with Glee. 'This will be easy.'
"Alright." Iruka barked. "Please write your name on the front of the exam paper." He paused as the sound of 30 pencils scratched on paper. "You have 1 Hour. The Test begins now." The sound of paper sheets being flipped over and then silence, the occasional swish of a pencil as answers were written down. Iruka sat down at the desk and scanned the room as Mizuki slowly and silently walked up and down the columns of students glancing back and forth for any underhanded techniques, some of the clan jutsu were known to certain academy students and it wasn't unheard of them to use said techniques during exams.
The bright haired boy furiously began to answer questions, not once hesitating so sure he was of his knowledge. Answering politically based, weaponry usage and maintenance, hand sign, code words and other espionage related questions in deep specific detail; recalling all of the pages he poured over day in and day out. Before he knew it Naruto had answered all 40 of the exam questions looking up to the clock fixed to the wall above Iruka's desk. It had taken him all of 40 minutes to complete the test, releasing the breath he seemed to have held during the time Naruto's shoulders relaxed. He went on to observe his classmates, noticing only the pink haired girl, Sakura Haruno, in front of him had finished. Continuing to look around he noticed also that Shikamaru Nara, the lazy clan heir behind him had finished… or not even started; Naruto was never sure when it came to the boy. 'That's always a good shinobi trait.' Naruto grinned to himself turning back to face the front of the class. After a few moments Naruto felt a focus on him, turning to face it he came eye to eye with Mizuki who seemed to be measuring him and stealing small looks towards his answer sheet unashamedly.
The scowl on Naruto's face was response to the reptilian like smirk that appeared on Mizuki's visage. 'Fucking Mizuki. I wish I could show him. Think you can beat me around? Heh, if I tried my best I bet I could mess up that face of yours.'
"Ok everyone, Pencils down please." Iruka instructed Mizuki to begin collecting the test papers as he continued addressing his pupils. "Now we will move on to the second and final part of the Genin academy shinobi eligibility test. As I call your name please come across the hall and enter the room adjacent." Looking down at his clipboard Iruka read off the first name. "Choji Akimichi. Come with us. Everyone else please either read, you may talk amongst yourselves but be mindful of those taking their test." With that both academy teachers lead the young Choji through the classroom door.
Naruto immediately began to pull at his chakra, focusing and feeling it flowing through him. Moving his power the same way he would when about to perform the kage bunshin technique. 'Best to be prepared now and get a more comfortable feel for it. Come on Naruto you got this!' His amazing blue eyes became hard, pure determination set on his face. This act went unnoticed by every student in the class except one black haired boy with eyes cold and sharp. Sasuke Uchiha had no doubt now that Naruto Uzumaki would pass the test. Only a year ago Sasuke would have never dreamed of thinking the same thought, Naruto was a terrible ninja in training. Barely able to achieve the basic skill required yet in the past months he had started to see a slow increase in the blonde's form. Soon enough Naruto was on par with himself in nearly all aspects of the academy curriculum. The last Uchiha was not amused and very intrigued by how this had come about. 'You will be a good rival to test myself against Uzumaki. But only if you continue. Do not disappoint me. I must have some way to measure myself and how I have grown.' Finally the jet black eyes left Naruto and again seemed to fog over as Sasuke lost himself in thought.
The chatter that had begun to fill the room soon died as the door opened to reveal the small rotund Akimichi, the grin on his face as he proudly displayed the Konoha shinobi hitai-ate upon his forehead; even if it did look like he had stuck a pair of briefs on his head the class stared on in envy. Iruka stepped in following his student a smile on his face. "Well my first student has passed to become a ninja of Konoha; congratulations Choji you have made your father proud I'm sure." Letting said boy return to his seat Iruka Called out the next name. "Hinata Hyuuga, please come forward." Again Iruka left with Hinata,
Student after student was called forward to take the test, Naruto soon became agitated to the point he was almost shaking in his seat. "Naruto Uzumaki." He almost froze with fear, stealing himself the boy stood from his seat and made his way toward the smiling Iruka. Nodding to his sensei Iruka motioned him into the corridor. "Ready Naruto?"
The grin the chunnin received almost made him chuckle. "You bet Iruka-sensei! I'll pass this time just you wait and see." Iruka stepped in front of Naruto and opened the door to the test room and stepped inside making his way toward the desk Mizuki also sat at. With a deep breath Naruto slowly exhaled with one final smile he walked into the empty classroom and stood facing his teacher's. "Naruto Uzumaki you are required to make one bunshin, if myself and Mizuki-san deem it to be satisfactory you will have passed the academy exam. Your written exam scores are one of the highest of your peers. I am proud with the progress you have made in this current year especially after the previous two years. I wish you luck, you may begin when ready."
The corners of Naruto's mouth twitched. 'You wouldn't believe who helped me Iruka-sensei.' Closing his eyes Naruto began to focus his chakra, bringing his hands up into the familiar crossed ram seal. 'And thank you for all your help. I couldn't have done this without you either.' His blue eyes flashed open a spark in his eyes. 'I won't let you down! Dattebayo!'
"Kage bunshin no Jutsu!" The shout could clearly be heard in the other room. The students blanching at the unheard of technique.
Copies of Naruto began to appear either side of the blonde stretching from one wall of the room to the other. Iruka and Mizuki could only stare wide eyed at the, what should be impossible, occurrence. Once all of the clones finished massing the two teachers looked on at Naruto whose head was bowed covering his eyes but not hiding enough of his gritted smile. "So Iruka-sensei… Mizuki-san… do I pass?"
Mizuki's jaw seemed to quiver with shock, Iruka was barely sure what he was doing as he picked up a headband from the desk and held it out in a shaking hand. Naruto sniffed as tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. The small boy could barely contain himself from running forward and snatching away the symbol of his achievements. The endless days of training he had endured at the hands of his sly and mysterious master the Third Hokage. Stepping forward Naruto did all he could to hold back the tears of joy clenching his teeth into a smile, the pain distracting him just enough to keep himself in-check. Reaching out an equally shaking hand to match Iruka's Naruto took the hitai-ate and clenched it in his fist.
'We did it jiji-sensei…I did it. I won't let you down. I'll protect everyone in the village just like you said!' Naruto ran from the room unable to restrain himself anymore. "YATTA! EVERYONE I DID IT!" The boy didn't register the clones disappearing or the fact his teachers hadn't moved at all since he had performed his jutsu. Only a knock at the door woke Iruka from his stunned state, with a few blinks Iruka turned and faced the man at the door. "Iruka. We need to talk."
So far so good .
Let me know what you think.
Title and chapter titles may change I just wanted to get the first chapter out there.
Thanks for reading.
Forger