A shinobi's Path

by Venom Spirit

Mizuki the traitor does more than reveal Naruto's burden, he damages his trust in others. The trauma awakens an unknown kekkai Genkai in Naruto and the actions that follow will cascade to shape who Naruto will be from there on. What will the result Be on this new path he takes?

1. Of foxes, Dolphins and Dogs

Hello readers. During my downtime without internet and unable to do research I made more stories, so here's another. This is not a crossover, but it will take inspiration from other sources, such as this having a heavy, though initial, Assassin's creed influence, but not enough for me to justify a full crossover I think. Anyway, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or other media alluded to in this story.

Naruto smiled as he took a seat in the clearing by the small wood house, breathing hard and sweating, but he finally got it down pat now. Looking to his hands, he couldn't feel better now that he had a jutsu to blow that regular bunshin out of the water. Snickering to himself, thinking what he could do with just a few clones, to a hundred clones and exploding clones? Oh he can do many things with those, but could he make Kage bunshin explode as something else, like a mass of glue or slime? That would be an awesome prank tool. However before he could continue that line of thought, someone dropped down in front of him and he looked up to see Iruka standing there before him.

"Found you Naruto!" Iruka proclaimed, making Naruto snicker, it was always Iruka who found, not eve the chunin, jonin or anbu who chased him after pranks could catch him. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing Naruto?"

"I'm passing is what I'm doing Iruka-Sensei, I managed to learn jutsu from the scroll before anyone found me, just like Mizuki sensei said. Now I pass and become a shinobi right!?" He called to his favored sensei, who was now wearing a confused and weary expression.

"Mizuki told you that?" He asked, to clarify for sure this is what naruto meant.

"Yeah, he told me about a secret test, that I have to steal the scroll from the hokage vault and learn a jutsu from the scroll before I'm found since it represents real situations ninja may find themselves in. And since I did all that, now I pass." He stated as if it was the most assured thing in the world. Iruka however was now on alert, aware that naruto had been tricked, but for what purpose?

"Very good Naruto, you've done an excellent Job. Now hand over the scroll to me so we can treat you as a proper shinobi." Mizuki called out to the young blonde.

"Mizuki! Just what the hell are you doing? Why would you trick Naruto this way?" He asked, fishing for information while grabbing Naruto's shoulder to prevent him from moving, and now the boy was on alert hearing this. They both saw the light and kind expression from Mizuki's face drop into a sneer, the kindness gone and Naruto recognized his eyes, they were all too familiar to him.

"Come now Iruka, is it really that hard to piece together, especially since my little rouse is broken now? Naruto was desperate to prove he was a Shinobi, I simply gave him the means to prove him right, stealing the forbidden scroll is quite a feat." He stated, Naruto having mixed feelings over his words. "But it's not like he'd ever be a Shinobi of the leaf with what he is. You know it as well as I do Iruka. So I thought to give him a little gratification with a shinobi mission that kept me out of harms way and suspicion while he did all the hard work to get the forbidden scroll for me." He enlightened, and now Iruka could see it clearly.

"You're a traitor and you used Naruto to your own ends." He seethed through gritted teeth, while Naruto felt betrayed, he trusted Mizuki, he'd always spoken well and kind to him, even when the other teachers were disdainful to him. So why?

"Indeed, but it's not like using Naruto is that big a deal, given he's been used by this village before and still being used." He stated with a smirk, making Iruka's blood run cold by what he meant and where this was leading. "Naruto, would you like to learn why people hate you? Why they glare, despise, isolate, beat and ignore you? It has to do with everything that's ever happened to you." He stated, baiting the boy.

"Mizuki no! It's forbidden!" He hollared, but Naruto was already stepping forward, looking up at Mizuki in the tree.

"What is it?" he asked quietly, Mizuki's words jogging his memory to the many instances where he suffered just as Mizuki described, the hate behind their eyes, keeping their children away from him, not being acknowledged and the times those others would corner him and beat him when he couldn't escape before learning how to outrun most of them. Most.

"13 years ago, the Nine tailed Fox attacked the hidden leaf village. The story is the yondaime killed it by sacrificing himself in a suicide jutsu. This is only partially correct, as he did die using a suicide jutsu to defeat the fox, but couldn't kill it. You can't kill something like that. Instead he sealed it away inside a new born babe, to remove the threat, make it harmless, powerless. You see Naruto, you were sacrificed to the village to have the fox sealed within you...or rather, the naruto that was born that night was sacrificed, since your soul replaced that babe's when you were sealed into the babe, kyuubi." He sneered, articulating his words to do the most damage he could.

"And ever since then, this village has been using you as it's punching bag for their pain and grief or ignoring you outright. Everyone knows kyuubi, the villagers, your teachers, the hokage and especially your dear Iruka sensei right there all know." He enlightened the boy with the taint, smirking when he saw his expression change.

Naruto's mind shook with the delivery of the news he was given. His mouth went dry and his body trembled. He was the nine tailed fox? He was...what attacked the village that night 13 years ago? A baby was sacrificed along with his idol to see it..him? But that couldn't be true, he was Naruto, not kyuubi. But all the glares, isolation, abuse and anger directed towards him even before he started pranking, it fit. Feeling a cold sweat build up as he processed this, his breath came out in short rapid shudders as he started to hyperventilate, panic setting in and a skull splitting headache wrenched at his head.

The world seemed to become that much sharper to his eyes, sounds more intense, he could taste the air, feel the uneveness of the dirt under his feet through his sandals, the temperature in the air and he was aware of exactly where Iruka and Mizuki were standing without looking, and knew mizuki was reaching to his back. Was this why, his life was so bad? Tears began to well up n his eyes, was this really why he was hated?

He heard a heavy clanking and the sheen of metal moving swiftly through the air. "Now, be a good demon Naruto and DIE!" Mizuki raored and naruto looked up to see mizuki hurl a large spinning shuriken at him. Adrenaline kicked in, but as t did, Naruto was caught off guard with the world suddenly blotting out grey, but a red glow tinting Mizuki's being and his shuriken he threw, seeing a trail of red from it to mizuki's hand and the trail moving away from the shuriken, heading for him. But before he could react, Iruka moved swiftly, knocking Naruto and covering him, taking the shuriken to his back. To Naruto's eyes though, Iruka was shrouded in a blue glow, tinted with gold.

"You're not a demon like mizuki says Naruto. Only it's prison, you hold back the demon so it doesn't go on a 't believe what Mizuki says, he hates you and wants to hurt you. gehn" he grunted, pulling the shurikien from his back, blood dripping from the point that stabbed his back, clear for naruto to see as he stood and turned to look at Mizuki, the armor of his vest saving him. "Don't ever think you are the demon Naruto, I don't hate you, now or never will. Now run! Mizuki can't have the scroll, there's no telling what hell do with the secrets contained in the scroll. Now GO!" He yelled and Naruto still weirded out by the glow but not questioning it any further turned tail and ran as fast as he could.

They all knew, but Iruka didn't hate him? But what about the hokage, the ichirakus? The other students? Sakura? He whimpered to himself, even if Iruka said he wasn't the demon, what about the hate, abuse and being used like Mizuki said? Looking around, he saw a blue/gold path in the grey tinted world of his vision and since it was the same glow as Iruka, he followed it, ducking int a bush that glowed green and hiding behind a tree, the glows fading as he kept himself quiet, holding onto the scroll.

He heard a commotion ad peered around the tree and bush, seeing the two chunin fight, though Iruka fell to a tree, sitting up against him. They were discolored again, though to their colors of blue and red, they had a white glow and as he focused on them, he could suddenly hear them much better even from this distance.

"Why do you protect him Iruka, he's just a demon, not even worth the effort to use as a weapon like the demons the other villages keep." Mzuki stated and Naruto held back a gasp. He wasn't the only one/ But used by the village as a weapon? "Admit it, you feel the same way as I do about the kyuubi, it's a monster."

"You're right." Naruto's heart sank, was Iruka using him too? Was all that a lie before? "The Kyuubi is a monster." He stated, and naruto remembered mizuki telling him he was the kyuubi earlier. "But that's the Kyuubi, Not Naruto Uzumaki, who is the kyuubi's prison. Naruto is many things, but not a demon and certainly not a monster. He is Naruto Uzuamki of the Hidden Leaf Village." He declared shakily with his weakening voice, fatigue and damage over taking him faster than it should. Poison. He grimaced, great.

Naruto however was shook from his despair and looked at Iruka and saw he still had his blue glow, while Mizuki's red glow seemed to intensify, as he sneered at Iruka. "Really, all the time I spent sabotaging the kid's education and training to make him malleable for this purpose and you come in and fuck it up. No matter, he can't have gotten far and he can't return to the village right now anyway. Finding him will be simple... all though I should take care of you so there aren't any more surprises. Good bye Iruka, I'll be sending Naruto to meet you in a little while." He stated, pulling his second shuriken off his back, and began to spin it on his hand. Naruto didn't need to see the red trail begin to form from it to Iruka to know what he was doing.

He rushed, without thought, out of the bush, leaving the scroll with a kage bunshin to guard, as he flew from a jump with a knee to Mizuki's face and deftly caught the shuriken by the hole even as it continued to spin on his hand. Landing, he growled at Mizuki, throwing the shuriken to the ground. "Don't you dare Touch Iruka Sensei, or I'll kill you!" He proclaimed, committing to every word as he says them. Mizuki stood and grimaced, looking at naruto who stood before him and noticed a very subtle glow to his eyes in the darkness of the forest. it was so subtle he almost missed it, but it made the blue of his eyes stand out, and the feeling they portrayed sent a slight shiver through him.

"Oh yeah, and what are you going to do about it? I'm a chunin and you're not even a genin." He smugly stated, before he saw Naruto form a cross seal and suddenly the clearing was filled by Naruto clones.

"You hurt Iruka-sensei, someone who believes in us, now you'll pay." The clones spoke in unison before rushing Mizuki. What followed was a brutal beating and breaking of mizuki's body, leaving him battered on the forest floor. He saw the red glow of mizuk fade to a grey tinted by red. He didn't know what that meant, but he left it alone and turned to Iruka who was gaping at him.

"Those were Solid clones...the kage bunshin Jutsu, that was the Jutsu you learned?" He asked and Naruto nodded. Iruka smiled, waving Naruto over. "Come here Naruto, I have something for you." He stated, and naruto came forward. "Close your eyes." He did and felt his goggles shifting, being taken off and a cloth with weight on his head. "Now open them." And when he did he saw Iruka without his headband. "Congratulations Naruto, you passed." He spoke and Naruto was shell shocked, before pulling Iruka into a hug.

[Hokage Tower - Office]

Hiruzen, who managed to zero in with the crystal ball partway through the encounter, smiled as he watched, having seen most of the event. He grabbed a paper from his drawer and filled out the form. "Naruto Uzumaki for field promotion to Genin, accepted." He stated to himself, before filing it away into Naruto's file. Now though he had to think on how to deal with the fall out of Naruto knowing his burden. Ending the Jutsu on his crystal ball, he went to go inform his ninja of the update on the search for the scroll.

[Woods]

"Alright Naruto, that's enough, I need to get to a hospital, Mizuki had poison on his shuriken and it's still affecting me. Grab the scroll and Mizuki and let's head back to the village." He stated and naruto nodded.

"Gotcha Sensei." He called, making Shadow clones to do just that, but the shadow clones grabbing Mizuki didn't trust him to not be a threat, despite his injuries, so they field stripped him of his equipment and handed all the weapons to another clone to carry, even down to his vest and anything he might have hidden. The original Naruto helped haul Iruka over his back and shoulder to support him as they walked back to the village. Along the way though Naruto brought up what Mizuki said.

"Iruka-Sensei...is it true, what Mizuki said? That I was...sacrificed, to the village?" He asked, and Iruka stiffened, but he answered.

"There was no choice Naruto. People were dying and as far as I know that was the only way to stop the kyuubi. You were supposed to be a hero, like the yondaime asked everyone to see you as for the sacrifice, but you know differently."

"The yondaime, wanted me to be seen as a Hero?" He asked and Iruka nodded.

"Yes Naruto, he must have realized what a terrible burden being it's prison was going to be and asked you be seen as a Hero as the hokage stated when news was spread about what happened. But the people ignored the yondaime's last wishes and you know the rest."

"So everyone knew? About me? All the teachers, villagers, even the kids? That's why they are stayed away from me or were kept from me by their parents." He asked.

"Not everyone. Only those who already knew back then know, Once the Hokage saw how the people were reacting, he made a law to prevent those who already knew from telling the younger generation and you, to try and let you have a normal childhood. but those that hated you just made sure their children knew to stay away and hate you too. They don't know, none of your classmates do, actually they might treat you the best out of all the village kids to be honest." He spoke, deciding to come as clean as he possibly could without infringing on anything he could.

"So that's why...but that's all he did, Jiji I mean, did he do anything else to help me?" He asked Iruka and he knew this was going to cause some damage no matter the answer.

"I don't know what all exactly he did for you Narut to help you. The law was one, others was to see you. But he's a busy man as Hokage, and the shinobi and civilian council can only do so much for the village by running it day to day that the hokage can leave to them to free up his time. So you might have to ask him yourself this one, since I just don't know." He spoke and saw naruto look down. He sighed, knowing that answer probably wasn't what he was looking for, but it's the best and most honest answer he could give, he wasn't about to start lying to him now.

"And the village using me to vent their grief and pain on...and what mizuki said...about me being a weapon?" He asked, and felt Iruka stiffen considerably, hesitating, but sagging a bit as he began.

"People are cruel Naruto, especially when they think they are justified in what they are doing, or won't get in trouble and can be guilt free. Those people can't let go of their grief and pain, and take it on on you, ignoring your own grief and pain. I can't answer for them, nor will I. I'm not them."

"And I'm glad you aren't." Naruto interrupted, pulling Iruka a little tighter and closer to him, a gesture Iruka picked up on and smiled.

"And as far as being a weapon... well, You are what's called jinchuuriki. Power of the human sacrifice... There are Nine great beasts Naruto, the tailed beasts, Biju. Each of them are monstrous not just what they are, but in size, power and ability. They have from one to nine tails, the nine tailed fox being the strongest by far. Jinchuuriki contain the biju within them, but it's practice in most villages to use the biju as weapons, either to start or deter wars. However that's in the case of villages who willingly seal a biju into one of their own for that purpose. Far as I know, you were used as a defense when we were being attacked by the kyuubi. I don't see you as a weapon, your not a sword to be wielded naruto. You're a shield that defends us from the kyuubi. That's how I see it." Iruka stated, hoping it got through to Naruto.

"Thanks Iruka-sensei." He spoke, looking up to Irua with a fatigued smile, though weak, it did touch his eyes, and Iruka realized this wasn't his usual smile, or any smile he'd seen before. He was seeing Naruto's real smile now. Returning it, he held onto Naruto tighter for a makeshift hug. However looking at Naruto, he noticed the glow of his eyes.

"Naruto, what is that with your eyes. They have a slight glow to them." He spoke, looking right at his eyes.

"I...don't know. When Miuki-teme was going on about I'm a demon and I started to panic, everything suddenly changed." He spoke and went on to describe what he experienced from that moment till now, the enhanced senses, the glow, the other details, not leaving out a single thing. Iruka pondered this a moment, really thinking over the details given.

"I'd say you activated a dojutsu and that it required great mental strain or trauma to activate."

"Dojutsu?" He asked, and Iruka remembered what Mizuki said about purposely sabotaging Naruto's education, something he'd be investigating for himself later.

"Yes Naruto, a dojutsu is a particular condition of the eyes that changes the eye and allows you certain abilities through the eyes. Like the uchiha sharingan or the hyuuga byakugan. It looks like yours may give you the abilty to assess the state and intention of others, and what you recognze as certain areas that are safe or something to that effect. We'll have to test it more and see what all it can do. When we talk to the hokage we'll inform him about it-"

"No! Please, no. Don't tell him, Please!" He suddenly interrupted and panic returned to Naruto. Iruka was taken aback by this reaction, seeing Naruto so worked up so...scared. This was a true to form first for Iruka, actually seeing Naruto so scared, if not terrified. He realized then the damage Mizuki did went far deeper that he previously imagined. Naruto's trust in the few people he held close was being shattered one by one with every word Mizuki had been allowed to speak, and it came to him that he might be the only one in the entire village that Naruto now trusts as much as he does, if at all. Cursing Mizuki in his mind, he settled to ease Naruto.

"Alright Naruto, we won't tell him about your dojutsu, it'll be our secret alright?" He spoke and saw Naruto calm down, who nodded gratefully. Iruka was seething at just what Mizuki did to Naruto and knew that he'd have to report truthfully on what the hokage asked of him, but he decided to keep it as minimal as possible and do his investigation on his own. However a thought came to mind.

"Naruto...do you still want to become Hokage?" He asked and Naruto stopped. He seemed to think it over a moment, his emotions visible with his shifting expressions, showing the turmoil he felt.

"I-... I don't know..." He spoke, and his voice just sounded so vulnerable right now.

"Do you still want to be a leaf shinobi?" He asked, and got a nod from Naruto. "Why?" He decided to follow up.

"Because you're a leaf shinobi, I worked hard and you helped me despite everything that's happened to help me get here and you mean a lot to me. I don't want to fail you and the effort you put into me to this point now by not being a shinobi anymore."

"What about making people respect you?" He asked and Naruto bit his lip.

"Would they ever really respect me?" He asked back and Iruka had to think on that.

"Some of them will, those who know better than to think you're the kyuubi will. Your classmates don't hate you, not like the vllagers do. So what about them?" He asked, trying to get Naruto to see something of worth in more people.

"...Maybe. I just..don't know anymore, about before tonight. I think I want to be a leaf shinobi, but it's all I ever thought about, so its all I know. I couldn't be a regular civilian, since how they treat me before when I was one. I just..." He trailed off and Iruka decided this was enough.

"It's okay Naruto, things are still confusing right now. Once we make our report and get to the hospital, you can take the rest of the time until team assignments three days from now to think things through. Alright?" He suggested and naruto nodded. That was good, he needed time to think things through. Hopefully his words left some hope in Naruto opening up to others, though the adults of konoha may never have the chance. "Is your Dojutsu still active?"

"Yah, I'm not sure if it can turn on and off." He spoke and Iruka nodded.

"Try altering the flow of chakra to your eyes, that should do something." He advised.

"Kay" he spoke, and did as instructed, trying different rates and patterns of flow, getting some odd effects on what he was seeing till it all faded away and he was seeing normal again, well, normal-ish. "Huh, it went away but everything still so clear and vibrant...wow I didn't know my pants and jacket were actually different shades of orange. But yeah, I can still hear everything, even feel the ground through my sandals. I can even smell ichiraku's from here." He spoke.

"Probably a side effect of activating your dojutsu, enhancing all of your senses to a new and natural level. Might want to talk to an inuzuka for help on how to control your senses."

"I'll ask kiba at team assignments. We're almost at the village- What the hell are you doing?" He asked his clone who was reading the forbidden scroll.

"I'm bored! Figured why not read it now since we have it to read."

"Naruto...clone, um, whatever. Roll it back up, there are a lot of dangerous Jutsu in that scroll that could do a lot of damage or be used as suicide techniques. Close it up." Iruka warned.

"Fine, whatever you say Iruke-sensei." The clone spoke, rolling it back up. After that it was quiet till they came to the village proper, where Anbu took mizuki away, but Naruto held onto the scroll insisting on returning it himself, and Iruka spoke for him. A med nin came to patched up Iruka on the way, giving him an antidote when they identified the poison through a jutsu and healed his wound.

"Wow, that's impressive. Anyway I could learn those?" He asked Iruka and the med nin, who chuckled a bit.

"Maybe. How's your chakra control?" The med-nin asked, but Iruka answered for him.

"Abysmal due to massive chakra reserves." He stated and Naruto huffed.

"Ah, well sorry to say but Medical Ninjutsu requires a very high level of chakra control." He stated and Naruto Deflated. The med nin thought a moment before smiling. "But you could learn the old fashion ways of healing and maybe a few tips and tricks on how to use chakra to help, maybe a few things we med nin use to train and help others if you're interested." He offered and Naruto brightened up a bit.

"Sure, I think I can do that."

"Alright then. Come to this address between 7am and 6pm when you have the time and we'll see what we can do. We can always use more healers regardless of skill level." He stated, writing down an address, directions and his name, with who to ask for. Naruto took it and waved to the Med nin as he left.

"See, not all bad." Iruka stated and Naruto nodded a bit.

"Not all bad I guess." He replied, and they walked to the Hokage tower to give their report. However on the way he suddenly felt and remembered something, Taking Mizuki's weapons and gear back to his apartment? But his clone had them so why would he remember doing them and why do it in the first place. He might be a little bit of a klepto...though Mizuki wasn't going to need them he guessed. However he realized then that he remembered what his clone did and smirked a bit, so they did that too...

Entering the tower and the Hokage office they gave their report of what happened, leaving out certain things as they agreed to. "Well done on stopping a traitor Naruto. Konoha could have been irreparably damaged if Mizuki had used the scrolls contents against konoha, or if he gave it some one who could use it's jutsu. I'm assigning this as your first ever mission as a success. A-rank, along with pay for the mission."

Naruto smiled wide at that. "Sweet." He commented, though Iruka knew better than to assume that smile was more than anything but on the surface.

"Indeed. That and along with your field promotion to genin wraps up the night's events...Naruto, I know what Mizuki told you, about your burden. Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, seeking to help his surrogate grandson. Iruka saw it, the slight twitch that told this bothered him, but he hid everything well from the hokage, Iruka only saw it because he was looking for something like it.

"Nah, I'm good Jiji, Iruka-Sensei talked to me about it already. I'm not the demon, just it's prison." He stated and Hiruzen nodded, glad Iruka was able to help Naruto so well.

"If you're sure, if you need to talk I will be here when you want. However if you wish, go on and head home, get some rest. Report tomorrow for your ID picture and registration at 10am, alright?" He asked and Naruto nodded. Taking his payment, he left the office, intending to pick up sme dinner before heading off to home for sleep.

Hiruzen meanwhile turned to Iruka. "Was there anything else that happened Iruka?" He asked his ninja who nodded.

"It's what Mizuki did, or things he did rather. According to him, he'd been actively sabotaging Naruto's education and training for what sounded like some time. But he couldn't have been the only one judging by what I've seen." He stated, and Hiruzen nodded.

"You think the Academy is corrupt." he asked.

"When it comes to Naruto, yes. However since he's graduated, I'm not sure what could be done about it."

"And Naruto?" He asked, wanting his opinion on naruto now knowing of the sabotage.

"Naruto is clever, adaptable and unpredictable, despite the sabotage he manages to make his shoddy level of training work, even adapting what I now see as a heavily flawed taijutsu style to work for him with his acrobatics and wild maneuvers. I intended to spend some time with Naruto now to help him correct the flaws and gaps in his education and training." He stated and Hiruzen nodded.

"See to it it's done. Naruto doesn't deserve this kind of treatment. In fact I'll make it an on going c-rank mission for you in tandem with your pay from the academy, with access to the academy resources to see it done properly. Times for training and methods I'll leave up to you since you know him best. Was there anything else?" He asked.

"Yes... Mizuki, when he told Naruto his secret, he didn't just tell him, he manipulated him through it, causing some damage to his trust and ability to likely see the better in people...at least, for the adults of konoha." He admitted, this would be the last thing he'd report if given the chance to.

"That' not good." He stated and Iruka nodded.

"Well to be honest, with how the village treats him it has been a long time coming."

"Treats him?" He asked and now Iruka was confused.

"Well yes, because they know he's the jinchuuriki they mistreat him." He informed and Hiruzen absorbed this.

"Well, I knew they avoided him and some things, but the way you make it sound like..."

"Sir. From how Mizuki spoke and naruto reacted, it's much worse. Hate, glares, isolation, ignoring him, other forms of mental abuse, and as I understand, physical abuse from beatings, though I can't attest to many details on it." He stated, and Hiruzen was shocked.

"How can that be? The ones who I have to check up on him report to me he's doing fine-" he cut himself off as silence prevailed through the room, that was heavy and tense with pressure now. Hiruzen's shock was replaced with a stone calm like a mountain, ready to blow like a volcano. "Iruka, I want you to help Naruto as much as possible. If this is true I have much to attend to. If there's nothing else, you're dismissed." He informed and Iruka nodded, takig his leave. Hiruzen tightened his grip. "Anbu, I have a group of individuals I want you to gather to take to Ibiki for questioning." He spoke, and felt the presence of his anbu drop down before him to receive their orders.

[Naruto's Apartment]

Naruto sat at his kitchen table as he looked over everything. All the gear, weapons and supplies Mizuki carried was of really good quality, better than what he could get from stores and free too. His clones had dispelled and now he remembered all his clone did who read more of the forbidden scroll and was copying everything down now into their own scroll, somehow able to remember every single detail and word clear as day. Lastly, he had the note the med-nin gave him on the table directly in front of him. This was everything he gained as a result of the nights events, including knowing about his burden now. Sighing, he sat his head down to the table. His head hurt, he honestly didn't know what to think or do about all of this. He wanted to be angry, but he wanted to think better of jiji...he just didn't know.

Deciding he wasn't going to get anything good done right now, he packed everything away and set out the clothes and gear he'd put on tomorrow, setting the scroll in a space under his floorboards for safe keeping. Getting showered and changed, he got himself into be and decided that tomorrow would be better for him to thin things through. After registration, he could go see that med-nin and find out what they could offer and then see Iruka-sensei for help on his new Dojutsu. Plan set, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

[Next day]

Ninja registration was easy enough, however it's what came after that became the problem. Konohamaru had rushed into the room during registration, and attempte to 'beat' his grandfather for the title of hokage. Now while he might have been confused on what he wanted in his goals and dreams now, he knew too well that Konohamaru wasn't going anywhere fast, nor would he. After a double smack to his head, the boy had followed him around and on a lark after he buttered him up a little, Naruto decided to teach him his special Henge, the Oirioke. However he had problems with it and Naruto barely escaped a beating from women who took offense to Naruto's instruction. Thus he didn't even bother taking him to the hotsprings for inspiration of the bare form.

However, talking with Konohamaru got him thinking about his goals and dreams. For the longest time he'd been after the hat, to make the village respect him. But after what he learned about himself and the fact the village knew about it in the adult populace, would they ever respect? To them he'd always be the container at best, at worst the kyubi itself who took their loved ones from them. He didn't understand why they had to keep venting that out on him though he wasn't that. But like Iruka said people can be cruel when they think they are justified. So he was forced to re-evaluate his goals. This thought came after Ebisu dropped in on them and Konohamaru showed his perfect Orioke jutsu. Naruto followed it up with the Harem to knock the closet pervert out, but what really jogged his mind was when he told the boy there was no shortcuts in the slightest, no matter your dream.

"What's your dream boss?" The boy asked innocently. Naruto considered a moment before he answered.

"I...don't know. Two days ago I would have told you I wanted t be Hokage, but yesterday I learned something that...makes me question a lot of things." He stated.

"What'd ya learn?" He aske, but Naruto shook is head, not wanting to answer, Kono didn't know, and he wanted to stay that way, for now anyway. "Well, what about it made you change your mind?" He asked instead and Naruto felt better about answering this one.

"Well, I wanted to be hokage for as long as I could remember to make people respect me and see me for me. Same as you... But what I found out made me think that, would they respect me even if I was Hokage? This village hates me, not for my pranks but for something else. I didn't have a choice, but they hate me for it anyway. I just don't know if what I would get if I became hokage was respect for me...or just respect for the title, and still hate me in the end, same as ever." He thought aloud, and Kono seemed to really think on this.

"Well, if that's the case, then why not just be stronger than the hokage?" He asked, a child's thinking.

"What do you mean?" He asked the younger sarutobi.

"Well what you're saying is that the village hates you for something you couldn't help, and like me you suffer from what everyone thinks about it. But you want people to respect and see you for you, not for why they hate you. From what you're saying you make it sound like they will always hate you, which I'm not sure is possible, but if you become so strong that not even a hokage can compare. I still want to be hokage to show I can do it better than my gramps, make my own name with it. I don't know much else, but people respect strength, part of why they respect the hokage, right? So just become stronger than that." He reasoned, simply, and Naruto gave it a moments honest thought.

"I'l think about it... Thanks Kono, I needed that." He spoke with a smile and the boy nodded.

"No problem Boss, just know that, no matter what, I won't hate ya, and if you do decide to come back for the race to be hokage, we'll be rivals to who can get there first, got it boss?"

"Heh, got it Kono, just so long as you remember there is no such thing as a short cut, it's all nose in the dirt and grit hard work. See ya Kono." He spoke, waving off as he left.

[Hokage Office]

"Mizuki really has done a number to you Naruto. I am sorry you had to find out that way. I only hope Iruka, Konohamaru and any friends you make can repair the damage this village has done to you." Hiruzen stated, having watched the confrontation between the two youths and ebisu. Ending the jutsu on the crystal ball, thinking on how to help Naruto. Ever since he ordered his anbu to haul in those he had overseeing Naruto who reported to him on his status, he learned a great deal of the mistreatment that had been hidden from him.

What he learned infuriated him, but the damage was done, and he only had circumstantial evidence on any connections these individuals had with others directly or indirectly. What he estimated though was his civilian council had a hand in this. Tightening his fist on the edge of his desk, he had to figure out how to deal with them without overtly enforcing his will and notifying other elements he was on to them. On the other hand he had asked Inoichi that morning before Naruto's arrival his professional opinion on Naruto's situation with the new knowledge and the Yamanaka painted a grim picture. Inoichi spoke that Naruto should be far worse than he was, all facts considered, showing a great strength of character, however due to mizuki, his psyche had been damaged more than the village had apparently done. Though Inoichi advised silent observation of Naruto from there on out to evaluate his mental state and prevent further damage.

Naruto had a road to recovery ahead of him, one Inoichi advise they couldn't directly guide him on if they wanted to help him, seeing as he didn't have trust for most anymore, especially those who knew his burden. It left those who wanted and could help in a tricky predicament, but he was thankful he had opened up to kono and his grandson had talked, even just a little, to his surrogate grandson. For now, he could only do what he could... How those words felt damning now that he was aware of what his village was doing and he said those words various times before in regards to Naruto while he was unaware of his suffering. Sighing, he set back to his paperwork, needing to get it finished for the day if he wanted any time for anything else.

[Naruto]

Checking the time, he still had enough to make it to the Med-nin building and took off at a brisk pace. He healed fast so the medic training wasn't for his benefit, but he learned early on others didn't heal like him, and it did concern him if others got hurt and weren't able to heal like him, what would they do? This thought forced him to think of Iruka who'd been hurt because of him and poisoned. He didn't like that, it was his fault Iruka got hurt, and if he couldn't prevent those close to him from being hurt, he wanted to be able to heal them at least.

He got to the building soon enough, it was fairly close to the Hospital actually, it made sense considering their specialty. Taking out the piece of paper, he took a breath and walked through the door, expecting to be yelled at or thrown out. Walking to the front desk of the main lobby, he saw a woman working on several documents. She wore an off-white garb he guessed was the standard uniform of med-nin. "Um, Excuse me?" He spoke up, getting her attention.

"Ah yes how can I-" The woman paused when she looked at Naruto, recognizing him if her expression was anything to go by. Naruto was sure she would become violent. "How can I help you?" She finished when she gathered all her faculties, her tone cordial and soft. Naruto's eyes widen a moment before he realized he was staring an coughed.

"Um, yes. A med-nin said if I was interested in the healing arts, I should come here." Naruto spoke, deciding to come on out with it.

The woman looked down at the boy surprised, narrowing her eyes, she scrutinized the boy for any falsity in his words, knowing him to be a prankster, but seeing none, rather apprehension she never heard of from the boy, she made her decision. "Who referred you?" She asked.

"um, Shou Niikura. He was the one who healed Iruka-sensei when he got poisoned by Mizuki-teme." He spoke, grateful to the man for doing that. The woman nodded, realization dawning on her for why he was here. That incident colored his decision no doubt, and not in a negative way either.

"Well Niikura-san isn't in at the moment, but I can run you through an evaluation and see what you can do. My name is Megumi Takane, let's head over to another room to do an assessment." She spoke, rising from her seat and leading the boy off to a empty room. The room was a classroom, with a wooden body analog marked with the pressure and tenketsu points of the body on a table ad various other equipment no doubt used for instruction around the room.

"You're...not going to throw me out?" He asked, and the woman turned to him.

"Not unless you're going to give me reason to. Are you?" She asked, and Naruto shook his head. "Good. Now I'm going to assume you've not had any prior medical training aside from the first aid taught at the academy correct?" She asked and he shook his head. "Then what other training have you had?" She asked, surprised he had more than the bare basics.

"No that's not it...the teacher of that class threw me out for 'disturbing class' when I was just trying to ask a few questions, so I never got to learn first aid." He informed and the woman just stared at him. The prejudice against this boy now shown to the woman. Who denies anyone instruction in first aid?

"So we're starting from scratch then. Well that just means we have a clean slate to make sure your instruction is done properly. So first Let's see what you can learn. How is your chakra control?" She asked and saw the boy flinch. Bad sign. "Not good?" She followed up.

"Well...Iruka sensei said it's abus- ambis-...ugh, abysmal, that was it, due to my massive chakra reserves." He said and the woman regarded him a moment.

"How large are your reserves?" She asked.

"Well, I can make over 200 shadowclones without feeling tired, though I haven't tried to find the limit to how many I can make." He stated and Megumi's eyes jumped out of their sockets. She shook her head to get her composure back.

"That is quite a massive amount of Chakra you have. However we'll continue with procedure. Here take this paper and channel chakra through it." She spoke and he looked at the small piece of paper he had.

"What's this for?" He asked.

"That is a special paper made from trees that are fed with chakra and thus very sensitive to chakra when made into paper, that reacts to your chakra and determines what your elemental affinity is, to see which element you are naturally aligned with. Meaning it would be easier to learn elemental ninjutsu you are aligned with as well as being more powerful."

"So like Sasuke-teme's fireball?" He asked, and the woman chuckled at the suffix.

"Exactly like his fireball, as the Uchiha are known for their fire jutsu. Now give it a try." She pushed and naruto did as instructed. A moment later the paper split in half. "Wind Element. No wonder you chakra control is abysmal."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well you see elemental affinities are responsible for a lot of things that happens within and without our bodies. Many don't know the relation between our affinities and our characteristics as individuals, physically and mentally...er, our minds and bodies." She corrected, seeing his confused expression. "In this case, elemental affinity plays a role in chakra control. Earth and water affinity people have greater natural chakra control, since earth and water are stable, like how you can shape a clump of dirt into a ball, or fill a glass with water, follow?" She asked.

"I think so." He stated and she nodded.

"Fire is harder to control, but not impossible, though it will take more work, since you can make fire, and if you can control the separate parts that makes fire, you can adquately control fire. Like a lighter, you have the fluid, the striker and air, the lighter controls the fluid and the spark, so you can make it, right?"

"Right. Why can't Iruka sensei explain things this way, this is easy to understand." He said, and the woman giggled, seeing now Naruto may have a different method to learning things than sitting in a classroom.

"Lightning is harder next, since it is difficult to control and create, you've seen lightning strike down in a thunderstorm right? Well try to imagine controlling that. It's not neccessarily something you control fully, as much as you guide."

"What about my element, ugh, wind?" He asked.

"Wind is actually right there with Lightning if not the hardest to control. Can you catch the wind? Shape air? make the wind blow where you want to?" She asked and Naruto shook his head. "Exactly. we can affect the air, but we cannot do these things nor create it. So with it's nature, it is the hardest of the five elements to control. But not impossible to gain some measure of control in most cases. However with your massive reserves, this is made worse. So the chakra control required to use medical ninjutsu is likely beyond you for these reasons and likely other reasons we're not yet aware of." She stated.

"...um...another reason for my chakra control being so bad? um...do you, know about me?" He asked, a hand reaching over his abdomen. The woman got what he was hinting at and was gobsmacked at the implication.

"You know?" She asked, though didn't give it words, since the law was still in effect.

"...that I'm the kyubi's prison...yeah." He spoke, his voice somber and forlorn. The woman gave a small empathetic smile, setting a hand on his shoulder.

"I can't speak for anyone elese besides myself, but I see you as the prison, not the kyubi itself. But yes, the kyubi sealed inside you is likely another reason for your bad chakra control if I had to guess. It's common sense that with another source of chakra in you your control will worsen." She stated, and seeing his deflated expression she smiled and spoke softly. "But that doesn't mean you can't learn to heal the old fashion way like civilian doctors. Knowing how to set bones, stitch wounds and other physical treatments is required by all med nin since most med nin don't have the chakra reserves to use our healing jutsu for every single injury on every single patient we have. So we can learn this and in the meantime, we can help you pick up what you need to learn for chakra control alright? Just because your control is bad right now doesn't mean it has to stay that way."

"Right!" The boy spoke, now a bit happier knowing it wasn't impossible.

"So let's start with setting you up. You'll start with basic courses in the coming semester. What team are you on?" The woman asked.

"actually I don't have a team yet, I have team assignments in 2 days." The boy informed.

"Then you haven't passed the genin test yet-" she cut herself off, realizing she wasn't supposed to reveal that to him.

"No I didn't, I failed my genin test again yesterday...but Iruka passed me and gave me his headband and Jiji said I got field promoted to genin since I dealt with Mizuki-teme." He said proudly.

Now the woman was once again surprised, but smirked a bit seeing the chance Naruto had in front of him with this bit of information. "Well since you were field promoted that won't be a problem. Well, we'll discuss your arrangement for classes after you've had team assignments and your official meeting with your sensei, usually the day of team assignments or the day after. After that, come back here and we'll set up your learning schedule. Keep this in mind, no matter what team you're with, you'll be a genin of konoha and have to perform as such." She stated and he nodded, his spirits lifted a bit with that knowledge.

"Hopefully I won't be paired with Sasuke-teme, I can't stand him, always broodig and when he isn't brooding he's acting like a self-righteous jerk who's better than everyone else. Doesn't help I couldn't win a fight against him." He grumbled that last part, and the woman thought a moment.

"Naruto, you're the type to fight right? Like you'll be going at it with an enemy with taijutsu and ninjutsu right? with your stamina and chakra reserves it'd be a waste not to." Se spoke and naruto nodded.

"That's right, though I never could learn Genjutsu, I guess for the same reason I can't do Medical ninjutsu." He rambled a bit, but Megumi stored that away for a moment.

"I see. Well, hold that thought I'll be right back." She spoke, leaving the classroom to just Naruto. He was in there for five minutes before she came back with a few scrolls. "Here we are."

"What're those." He asked, looking at the scrolls she sat on the table.

"Well these are scrolls to help you in you're future training. Normally these would be handed out in your classes, but no reason you can't get an early start right?" She asked, seeing him smile, she continued. "The lion's share of these on chakra and jutsu are Chakra control exercises, starting from the leaf exercises and their variants, on up to higher forms of chakra control exercises, with various notes and tips on how to enhance the training."

"Awesome, so my control can get better?" He stated, and she nodded.

"If you follow and complete each exercise and combine them as directed, then yes. Now these scrolls here are on Taijutsu. We medic-nin prefer not to fight, as our time is better used for healing and we can't heal if we get hurt ourselves. But sometimes it's required we fight, so the taijutsu we utilize is meant to keep evading your opponent, to preserve our stamina and chakra while making our enemy waste their on and then we strike hard and fast, or let our team or support do it for us. The other taijutsu scroll is on combatives, tactics and strategy we use when we must fight, but for you I think they'll be of great help, however their admittedly not a complete taijutsu on their own, so you may want to learn something else to pair it with. Understand?"

"Got it!"

"Good. Now the last few scrolls are on anatomy, human biology, first aid and field aid, botany to learn what plans make wat medicines and what poisons and their cures-" she went on for a few more and Naruto's head was rolling.

"That's...a lot." He muttered when she finished, overwhelmed by the amount alone.

"Well Medic-nin need to know these things so they can be adequately prepared to heal as many patients as they can regardless of their condition. You still want to do this, don't you?" She asked and naruto nodded.

"I do, I just didn't expect there to be so much. It's a lot. But I'll still do it, I promise! and I never go back on my promises!" He stated, and Megumi smiled at the boy. He was actually different to what the rumors said when you got past his pranks and the kyubi.

"Good, well you have a lot to study, on your medics start first with the basics of first and field aid as instructed by the scrolls, don't move on to other scrolls before you complete each one. Now remember what I said, after you've had your team assignments and official meeting, come back here and we'll set up your training schedule. Now get going, you have a lot to study and I have to get back to work."

"Alrighty then. Take care Megumi-Chan!" He hollered out as he left, his scrolls in a storage scroll she prepared for him. The woman giggled softly at the boy's exuberance. Not at all like the rumors suggested once you got to know the boy.

Naruto ran for the academy now, that out of the way and feeling pretty good with his progress so far. But now that he was thinking about it, since he was going to see Iruka sensei to test our more on his dojutsu, he figured why not use it. Using the Advice Iruka gave last night he channeled more chakra to his eyes, and suddenly the world was shrouded in a greyish blue glow, a lot of people were tinted grey, but in a number of people, they had a light red glow, especially when they looked at him. On the ground was a golden trail and in the distace he could see a pillar of blue white light. "Whoa" he muttered to himself under his breath.

Following the trail, he found soon enough it led to the pillar, which was situated right above the acadmey, both of which faded when he reached it. "Did that just...lead me to where I wanted to go? And those people, some were red tinted, others grey and then a few were blue Like Iruka sensei..." He remembered his sensei's words on hs dojutsu reading intent, so it could see who was hostile and who wasn't, towards him so far as they knew.

Keeping his eyes active, he walked into the academy, if was still between semesters before the next class would start again, so the teachers were mainly doing their busy work of setting grades, setting up for next semester and so on. Walking to Iruka's class, he knocked on the door before walking in. There at his desk was Iruka, shrouded in blue like before, smiling at him.

"Ah, Naruto, good you made it, I was wondering when you'd get here."

"Sorry Iruka sensei, Konohamaru tagged onto me this morning after registration and then I went to the med-nin building."

"Oh? and what happened there?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Well the woman at the desk was Nice. Megumi-chan, and she tested me to see what I could learn. Like you said my chakra control is whack, but it's not just because I have so much. Turns out I'm wind natured, which makes my chakra very hard to control to start with, plus with there being so much and...well, the kyubi, my chakra control was doomed to begin with. But she said it was okay, I can still learn how to heal the old fashion way and got me a bunch of scrolls to learn about the body and all that, plus chakra control exercises and the taijutsu med-nin use, though she told me that I'd need to pair it with something else to get my money's worth out of it."

"That's a lot, you sure you're going to be up to learning all of that?" He asked.

"Of course, I promised I would, and Megumi-chan explains things so that I can understand it, It's easy to pick up then. Though she told me I'd have to wait until after team assignments and the team official meeting with our sensei to go back to schedule my training with them." He stated.

"Official meeting? Oh, team test. Yeah your sensei will likely test you in some way in a day or so after assignment to see how you operate as a team to judge what to do with your from there on. All the sensei will be doing that to judge how to train their team from there on, and they usually establish their meeting times for training and missions after that. So that make sense. Just be sure to study hard and learn well naruto, it's not easy learning how to be a medic, but we always need more of them. Though speaking on learning, there's something I want to talk to you about."

"What's sup?" He asked his sensei.

"Mizuki." The blondes smle dropped instantly at that name. "When he was going on, he spoke of how he sabotaged your education and training. I want to assess what you can and can't do, to see what he did so we can fix it. I'm not comfortable sending you out on missions knowing you might not be completely prepared for what's to come. Alright?"

"But I beat Mizuki, surely I'm pretty good since he was a chunin right?"

"Perhaps, but you used swarm tactics, something mizuki wasn't good at dealing with anyway was numerous opponents, and on top of that, he underestimated you, and neglectful to his training recently. So you had several advantages against him that was in your favor to win. I'm talking raw skill, ability and intellect without those. Come on, we're going to start with your taijutsu." He stated, pulling a groaning Naruto to one of the Dojo for privacy rather than outside.

"Now come at me seriously, though this is a taijutsu fight only. Now come." He stated, and Naruto sighed, before he charged Iruka. What followed was a one sided beating the likes of which Naruto felt only when he was a kid and couldn't escape those beatings when he was younger. Naruto was panting on the ground after it was finished. "Like I feared, Mizuki implanted all kinds of flaws into your form. Though you've seemed to have adapted around some of them with your use of acrobatics and tumbling. But that doesn't get rid of them, only covers them up." He stated and naruto sat up at the assessment, grumbling at Mizuki.

"It's alright Naruto this can be fixed now that we're better aware of it. Though if he screwed up your taijutsu, it's likely he screwed you over in other areas. For now we'll work on the bread and butter of any combat ready shinobi, their taijutsu and bukijutsu. You'll be relearning the Academy style from the ground up as well as how to throw and wield kunai and shuriken properly." He stated.

"Great...ugh this is going to be a lot of work." He stated, before a thought crossed his mind. "Well, it'd be a lot of work for one person, but what if there were more of me?" He spoke, remembering what kage bunshins could do and made a group of them.

"What good is that going to do?" He asked.

"Well Kage bunshins transfer all their knowledge, memories and experience back to me, every single thing they learn I learn as a result." He stated and Iruka's jaw slowly dropped at the implication such a jutsu could have. "Hey, would you like to learn it Iruka sensei? I bet this would be good for paper work and you can teach me a whole lot faster too!" He spoke, his inspiration hitting him.

"Sure Naruto, how's it work?" He asked, and they got to work. Iruka picked up the Kage bunshin jutsu fairly quick, and found with his reserves, a max of 20 was his best, though it left him heavy breathing, but when he dispelled 5 clones, he felt the chakra return to, so he was back on his feet.

"So 15 clones to oversee your training. Let's say you make 5 for every 1 clone of mine to start and have each group work on something different, good?"

"Yep!"

"Good, now let's get started. One group will relearn the academy style, another will work on the scrolls you have, another to learn and do chakra control exercises, another on weapons. Another on an academic run through to see what you got right and wrong, and the others can figure out on their own what to do, though one group to work on your dojutsu." With that they all split up to their groups, the originals sticking together. "What are we going to do Iruka sensei?" He ased.

"Conditioning. I doubt you can condition with your clones, so we'll be doing that. You're pretty strong and fast on your own now, but we'll be working on improving that and using your stamina to our advantage. I picked these up so even with your stamina the conditioning will be a challenge." He stated, pulling over a box, opening it to reveal weight bands with what he assumed was weight bars sewn inside a pouch on the bands. There was two large ones for his legs, two smaller ones for his wrists and a long one for his waist.

"Weights?"

"Not just any weights Naruto, these are special. The weight bars on them are made of a special metal, that when you channel chakra to them their density increases, making them heavier. This type is adjusted so you set it and forget it, but there's another type that requires constant circulation of chakra to maintain the weight, so its also a chakra exercise and suppresses your chakra to make you use what have more efficiently. I'll get those for you when your chakra control is good enough. For now slip these on and channel chakra until it's hard to move around."

Iruka watched as the boy did as instructed and huffed once he adjusted the weight as described. "Geez, if they can weight this much, why not just make a sword or a weapon out of the stuff?" He asked.

"Because it's not good metal to make a sword with by itself, what they said when I asked the same thing. Now come on, time to run you through calisthenics." He stated and they got to work on the workout regime, doing stretches first followed by the workout, really pushing Naruto to the brink of physical exhaustion.

"Hey sensei, what about my chakra Nature?" He asked as he continued doing his push-ups.

"Wind natured right? Wind is actually a rare element in most of the elemental nations, Suna is the only village boasting a moderate number of wind users. The only wind user I can think of here in Konoha would be Asuma Sarutobi, the Hokage's son. If I remember right, he's taking a genin team this year, so you might get lucky there. Otherwise you might want to go find him for advice on it, I'm earth and water natured myself." He stated, and Naruto nodded as he continued on.

A few hours later the clones started to dispel, both stopping to recall what they learned from their clones. "So a group went through your ninjutsu huh? Kawarimi is fine, Bunshin is still dead but you have kage-bunshin now and henge is..-!?" He choked when he remembered that bit. "Real!?"

"Isn't it supposed to be?" He asked.

"No Naruto. The henge we learn here in the academy is an illusion laid over top your body. The other henge is the advanced henge which placed a physical construct overtop of your body to give your illusion a physical presence that can hit and take hits, but it's not real, then there's the combination henge, it's similar to the advanced henge, but the mental image for the henge, chakra and control of the henge's actions are divided between the users and needs teamwork to do. Your henge though, if what the clone is saying, is real, flesh and blood, even pain, and doesn't dispel. That's...disregarding the perverseness of it, that's sill amazing. Maybe because of the kyubi?"

"Nah there's no Kyubi affecting it, I taught it to konohamaru, he can do it to!" He said and Iruka paled, Konohamaru was in his class...

"What's the full hand seal sequence again?" he asked and looked closely as the original naruto went through the hand seals, and spotted it instantly. "That three hand seal sequence is used for the 'body' portion in kawarimi, while that last sequence I'm not so sure. But it looks like you accidently created a true shape shift. Amazing..." He stated. "Make a new batch of clones for the next one I make naruto, they're going to be doing a bit of R&D on this henge of yours."

And they did, with the clones moving away, they experimented with the different Handseals and sequences, managing to shorten the full sequence and streamline the seals themselves, creating a more complete variant they redubbed the Kaihen. Exploring the limits showed there really was no limits, as far as for Naruto, though Iruka found, as Naruto taught it to his clone, the activation was chakra heavy, though it's upkeep was the same as a henge and maintaining the mental image wasn't required. They transformed into all manner of things from other people to naruko for naruto, to various animals and even inanimate objects. When those clones dispelled, it shocked the orignals who smiled.

"This is going to be of a lot of use. Though do you want it to remain secret?" He asked and Naruto thought it over.

"Well, not so much a secret as just don't teach it to anyone. I'll have to catch kono to teach him the new version sooner or later." He spoke and Iruka nodded.

"Let's see it's getting about that time, make a clone to dispel and alert the others to finish up." Iruka notified his student and they both did. Soon after the clones started dispellng and the mental drain was obvious on them both. "Oh boy, didn't expect that...Gonna have to watch for that in the future. But it looks as though we made good progress today. We've got a good understanding of all your weaknesses and flaws and how to fix them, plus some work into doing just that. Even started picking out a couple of taijutsu styles to consider after you've relearned the academy style. But most of all we learned more of your Dojutsu. Few to no active combat applications, but it's one hell of a tool outside of combat. Why Takegan though?" He asked. (Hawk Eye)

"A clone turned into a Hawk and used it. That was wicked and it just kind of stuck with me." He said and Iruka considered that.

"That really is a good scouting and tracking application for it and the Kaihen. Good Idea. Well, since you're not busy tomorrow, come here bright and early and we'll get back to work. Do you still want to wait for team assignments to ask kiba about the enhanced senses?" He asked.

"I was thinking about it, though it's getting really overwhelming to put it off." He stated, aware of the senses he now had was really getting to him. How did they deal with this?

"I'll ask around then, see if I can get an Inuzuka to come by to help tomorrow. I'll see you tomorrow Naruto." He told the boy who nodded and took off, ctching a bit of dinner at Ichiraku's before heading home. Naruto set clones to work on everything he had, including what he had copied from the forbidden scroll of seals before heading off to sleep.

[Next day]

The next day was easier on Naruto, as he was adjusting better now to all the things he learned. Today though he felt better and reviewing everything his clones did last night, he smirked, feeling apt and ready for the day. Getting dressed and eating, he left out, but decided to have some fun so he transformed into a hawk and took off.

Flying had quickly become a favorite activity of his now, the freedom that came with flying was sheer euphoria. Diving down to the academy, he landed on the roof and dispel'd back to normal, before heading down to meet Iruka, though with him was a woman with brown hair pulled back into a low ponytail, she had red marks on her cheeks like kibas and similar eyes. Around her was three wolf like dog, and when he entered the classroom, the dogs all suddenly barked at him and he covered his ears, not prepared for the piercing volume the barks had.

"That's enough boys." The woman spoke, and the dogs calmed. "So you were right Iruka. Enhanced hearing at least." She stated, and Naruto pulled his hands away while warily looking to the dogs. "Sorry about that, but when it comes to test of sensory enhancement, catching you off guard often gets the best results. I'm Hana Inuzuka, Kiba's elder sister."

"Um...Naruto Uzumaki. I didn't know he had a sister." He said, though when he got a better look at her, he colored slightly and looked away. Before he could just ignore it, now though he was paying attention to areas he shouldn't since he could see every little detail, it was maddening, like the fairness of her skin where her vest and shirt was unzipped. Not only that, but looking away didn't help since he remembered what he saw in perfect clarity.

"Noticing every little detail now aren't you?" She asked teasingly and he nodded. "Heightened visual acuity too. That can be troublesome for young adolescence given certain hormones. But we'll work on those and anything else you display and Iruka tells me your starting your studies to be a healer correct?" She asked him.

"h-hai! I got some of the learning Material yesterday from the med-nn building, though I report for actual training after team assignments." He stated and she nodded.

"That's in two days if I remember right. Well I'm a trained medic and a veterinarian as well, if you want you can come to me for help on anything you don't understand since you'll be training with me anyway on handling your sensory enhancement. We inuzuka usually grow up with it, but some of us bloom late in that regard or develop it at puberty, so it's not pleasant when everything is suddenly turned up to 11 on you. Now I believe from what Iruka told me you have a wonderous training tool in your clones. Shall we start with a group of clones with me to start while you do your usual with Iruka?" She asked and naruto nodded, making the groups as directed.

The rest of the day was spent on further training and retraining, working on fixing him to the best of their abilities. Hana was very helpful both for his senses and in helping him understanding his new medical scrolls he was reading. He might be able to memorize them perfectly from reading them once, something Hana and Iruka both commented was just unfair, but that didnt mean he understood it. Though when this was revealed, Iruka had a large group of clones start back on academics right from the ground up, much to Naruto's ire but he didn't complain.

There was no way even with clones 3 days was going to be enough to fix him, but he could at least start on it strong. The clones indeed made it a strong start and carried him through with the sheer mass of learning they could do. However a number of clones finished their work such as ninjutsu review and they were dispelled and new ones made to go on to chakra control exercises, while the original was doing calisthenics again, still wearing the weights. Though there were a few clones who went off and did their own thing, even one who started playing with the Haimaru triplets, even Kaihening into a dog to keep the play going, which was an odd sight, though Hana appreciated Naruto keeping her boys busy and working off their energy, even advising to use the play as training.

The day's training had about as much results as yesterdays to say a lot, and with Hana, he was now getting a better grip on how to use chakra to numb the senses and gradually get used to them by letting off the numbing slowly. She told him it was just something he'd have to adjust to overtime, then train to use those senses to their best. It was going to be a challenge to say the least, but it was something Naruto knew would be useful to him once he could. That night proceeded like the last, using clones to keep learning before he went to bed. This process continued for the third and final day before team assignments, and Naruto was actually making good progress, though Hana decided Naruto required a...female touch.

Training was cut short so Hana could take Naruto shopping.

"But Hana-chan, I don't want to waste all my money on the shops." He complained.

"This isn't wasting money Naruto-kun, this is getting you a new outfit. its not all that great to be a walking shuriken target when you're trying to hide from enemies." She reasoned."Those shades of orange aren't great for Stealth."

"Says you, have you seen me evade, hide and outrun the ninja, even the anbu after I pull one of my pranks? They can't even touch me, the only one who ever catches me is Iruka sensei, and I still can't figure out how he does it." He spoke, now that he was thinking about it, he'd ask next chance he got about that. "Wait, you can see their different shades too?"

"And think how much better you'll be wearing colors that make it even harder for you to be seen. They'll never find you. And yes Naruto-kun, I can. Though most inuzuka males probably couldn't, females, enhanced senses or not generally have a wider visual acuity for color, something you apparenty have now too. So that's no excuse for not matching anymore." She spoke, leading on Naruto with that line of thought, though his seeing more colors was surprising. "As for Iruka, he's a sensor, he has a technique he uses to sense ninja beyond your normal senses. Some sensors have barriers they form that says when a person is within the space of their barrier, others make a pulse, others feel the vibrations ninja make through chakra, and others just sense as a feeling when someone is there and when they're not." She listed off the few she was vaguely aware of when it was explained to her.

"Wait, you mean they know when they're there and when they're not?" He asked, thinking.

"Naruto?"

"That's how I stayed ahead of the Anbu! I could feel when they tried to circle around me so I'd change directions when they did and keep them going in circles." He spoke, smiling at what this meant.

"So you're most likely a sensor, another surprise to tell Iruka. We'll have to see what kind you are there...Naruto-kun, has it gotten stronger since your senses have enhanced? Like you're constantly aware of where people are around you?" She asked, using the distraction to lead him on to the market.

"Yeah actually, I didn't pay attention to it before because my senses were being overloaded, but sense you helped me numb it, I can feel everyone around me, even civilians now, I couldn't feel them before. It's wild now that I'm thinking about it." He spoke, looking around.

"Well, whatever happened to enhance your senses looks like it enhanced all your sensory capabilities, even your chakra based sensor ability. So perhaps it was a release of a mental component that resulted in the enhancement. Well, it hardly matters without more testing. Oh look at that, we're here." She stated, pointing out that they arrived to a clothing store, one she frequented herself.

"I'm still going to be wasting money here." He whined.

"And why is that Naruto?" She spoke, getting a bit irritated now.

"Because everything is so expensive." He said plainly, now making Hana confused.

"Naruto, this store sells good clothes on even a genin's budget. It's not expensive." She said, and Naruto deadpanned.

"Come in after me and just watch." He told her, walking in, he grabbed a black shirt with a red swirl on the back and a pair of khaki shorts. Walking up to the counter, the man running the register quirked an eyebrow, before ringing him up. Four times the price of the clothing. Hana's eyes widened before they narrowed. So this was what Naruto meant.

Stepping forward, she looked at the clothes then t the register. "Wow, I've never paid that much for a shirt and shorts here." She stated, before looking up at the man.

"Well nothing short of what he deserves." He stated, despite the fact that Naruto was right there in front of him.

"Oh, do tell, what does he deserve?" She spoke, her smile sweet.

"Well everything we were forced to endure thirteen years ago of course." Then finding his face buried into the counter, nose broken and bloody. Grabbing naruto's wrist, Hana pulled Naruto away.

"I'll be telling the Inuzuka to no longer shop here, sir. Have a nice day." She said sweetly despite the violence she had just inflicted upon the man. Naruto who had been a spectator by that point was speechless as he was dragged off, questioning how she could get away with that, while incredibly happy that someone else besides Iruka had actually stood up for him. "I'm sorry about that Naruto...I wasn't thinking, I should have known that they'd have-"

"It's fine Hana-chan, it's not something I haven't dealt with before. I just haven't had much luck finding shops who will charge fairly or give me good quality goods. Most of the shops here either overcharge me or sell me crap."

"That's not right..." She spoke immediately, but held her tongue when she realied she'd be repeating Naruto's own thoughts he had to have had before. "Well we'll find a shop that will treat you right. No point giving your money to someone who won't, even with a henge." She stated, giving Naruto a idea, but accepting they'd be hunting down a shop he could go to freely.

It took over an hour, a lot of failures, an a few more injured shop keeps, before they found one.

Heading into a shop on the outskirts of the markets, the two looked around. It was a well stocked weapon shop, with plenty of clothes fit for a shinobi. Naruto had never seen this shop before, so he was hopeful, he started looking around when he heard a voice. "Welcome to the wolf claw. Can I help you with anything?" Turning around, they saw a girl about naruto's age, maybe a little older, wearing a pink shirt and buns in her brown hair, a headband of a shinobi on her forehead.

"Yes, we're looking to get Naruto-Kun here a change in wardrobe before his team assignments." Hana spoke.

"Ah, I'm sorry then, He'll have to leave, we cater to fully vested shinobi only. He's not considered a full shinobi until after his team assignments." She stated, carefully avoiding the real genin test. Naruto's expression dropped, but Hana was quick to pick it up.

"Not a problem, he was field promoted to Genin, not academy test." Hana supplied, and saw Naruto's expression rise. He had a very expressive face, something else to work on in his trining to mention to Iruka and his sensei.

"Oh, okay that works then. Sorry about that, we sell quality work so we try to make sure our goods don't end up with civilians or those that can't use them properly. My name is Tenten Higurashi. So dropping the kunai target for real clothes?" She spoke with a smirk and Naruto's eyebrow was twitching dangerously, while his eyes told he was planning horrible things.

"Seriously, what do people have against the orange, I can evade and hide from Anbu!" He shouted to no one, stomping off to the clothing aisle, much to the two girls amusement.

"So that's the Infamous prankster. I thought his outrunning Anbu was an exaggeration." She stated, but looked back to Hana. "So what are we doing for him?" She asked, professional once more.

"Full wardrobe change, new gear, and maybe something special if he wants something. Dark colors preferably, definitely a hood to cover his hair." She stated and Tenten nodded to the older female before walking over to the clothing racks. Grabbing a few sets of different clothes, she tossed them into Naruto's arms with what he already had and sent him into a changing room.

"Try them each out till you find something you like." She told him, and then got to work collecting a standard set of gear. Hana helped out getting a few things Naruto would want as a future Medic, which got Tenten's attention.

"He's training to be a field Medic, chakra control is bad so he's having to resort to older methods." She stated and Tenten nodded.

"Then we'll include some Senbon and needles too and larger leg holster and pouch, or maybe a another pouch. Senbon and needles tend to be useful for manipulating pressure points." She stated, apparently having gotten orders like these before. Hana decided to get a second thigh holster with tag sheaf on both and various pouches to hold everything.

After a while longer, Naruto came out garbed dark colors mostly. Black simple pants bund at the ankle and shins with gray bandages into black Zori sandals. Gray t-chirt that clung to him somewhat snugly, with a black sleeveless hooded vest left open. Around his neck a black and burnt orange shemagh worn as a scarf. On his wrist wide sweat bands to cover the weights. He wore a burnt orange sash around his belt that had a spiral belt buckle, and his headband now sported a black cloth rather than blue.

"Hmm, not bad and a tasteful use of orange while staying minimal. Here put these on your thighs and belts." Hana told him, giving him the holsters and pouches, already loaded. He strapped the holsters on, a black bandage used to bind the pant legs rather than white, and a top strap connecting to the belt to better secure the leather thigh holsters. The pouches were also settled onto his belt, deciding on a couple of scroll holsters and additional small pouches. He made sure his weights were also secure and easy to remove and replace shuld be need to.

"Now you look like a shinobi. Imagine how much harder it'll be for anyone to find you now." Hana said with Tenten nodding.

"I'd have to agree, it's simple in look with enough added to be nice, and still effective for combat." She followed up. "So will there be anything else? I'll set up several changes of the same clothes for you. Maybe a dedicated weapon?" She offered and Naruto thought a moment before checking everything he was wearing and looking to the stuff on the walls.

"How about a combat knife, something I can use for just fighting and some storage scrolls." He stated, getting a nod from the other genin, she grabbed several storage scrolls to fit his scroll holsters on his belts, stanard size scrolls, and picked a few knife designs. Handing him the scrolls and displaying the knives, she allowed him to pick.

"Why a Knife Naruto, we have Kunai for just about verything?" Hana asked, curious.

"Well, Kunai are nice, but having a knife I can rely on seems like a good idea since kunai are disposible and usful for anything really, the knife won't be and it'll be something I can train with easily without sacrificing much in taijutsu training." He stated, showing his decision was more of a just because rather than anything deep.

"Here we are a wide selection of knives, all different designs and styles." She stated, letting him see the cases she had brought out for him. Looking through the choices, he couldn't decide on which one.

"Got anything that will work well with taijutsu to get in close and deal a lot of damage quickly? Something unique too?" He asked, trying to Narrow it down. Tenten thought a moment before getting an idea.

"Hold that thought I'll be right back." She spoke, heading for the back. A few minutes later she returned with another case. "Now look at these. These are some of the designs my father has made but didn't really take before. You might find something you like in here." She stated.

Looking over the new selection, he found some were oddly shaped. There as one that looked like a slithering serpent, another with a heavy forward arch in the blade the size of a big knife. One with several serrations and hook like looks to it. But one did catch his eye. It looked like a sickle, with a curved blade slightly longer than the handle and ring, sharpened on the inside and outside of the curved blade, with a ring on the end. Picking it up, he noticed the handle was too short to fit his entire hand, so he put his fnger into the ring, finding it a perfect fit then. But the feel and hold of the knife felt different.

"That one my father designed off a hand sickle some herb gardeners tend to use. You can cut with it then just let it dangle on the pinkie when you need your hands. However he said it didn't feel quite right." Tenten spoke, shrugging. Naruto listened and thought a moment, giving it a try with the pnkie thing, before a different idea came to mind. He switched ring rings, from the pinkie to the index finger, hodling it in reverse grip with the point forward in lin with his fist like a punch dagger.

Now tenten was intrigued, she didn't think about handling it this way, but seeing it done now, she could see some uses of it like that. Naruto did a few punches, hammer fists and so on with it against an imaginary opponent. He couldn't explain why, but he liked it. "What's it called?" He asked.

"A karambit." She asked simply.

"It kind of reminds me of a talon a bird has, or a fang wolves have even." She commented, finding it quite perplexing some of the movements naruto was using with it, however they looked effective to say the least.

"I'll take it...So how much for everything?" He asked, and now Hana was focused off his selection and on tenten.

Tenten felt a sense of impending doom, but from what she couldn't determine, so she quickly rung everything up. "Everything so far tallied up, brings you to." She spoke, adding everything up on the register from the small list she had written everything up on. What they saw on the register was surprising and a welcome relief. It was actually fairly priced and though it ate through a large part of what Naruto was carrying, he had more back home. He'd have more than enough money to keep and be well geared. Putting the knife onto his belt where he could comfortably pull it and loading the rest of his purchases into one of his new storage scrolls, he paid for his bill.

"I know where I'll be shopping from now on for clothes and gear." He informed.

"Same here. If I knew this place was here I' have been coming from the start of when I was a genin." She spoke, appreciating the wide array of merchandise and variety of product they had.

"I and my parents appreciate that. Keep the money flowing, the forge burning and needle sewing, Wolf claw at your service." Tenten spoke with a small flourish of the hand, making both her customers smile.

"Well, we best be heading back. Naruto is properly geared and ready for genin life. We'll catch you some other time Tenten-san. Take care." She spoke and walked out followed by Naruto.

"See ya Tenten-chan. Thanks for the help." He called out, smiling as he left. Once out n the street, the reaction was immediate as no one, not a soul, recognized him with his hood up. When he activated his hawk eyes, he noticed no red aura from hardly anyone. "This is so different." He spoke, looking around from under his hood.

"The lack of glares and animosity?" She asked, and got a nod in return. "I'll bet it is. People often let their eyes differentiate too much for them, we're different with our enhanced senses, we can tell people by their scent and other factors you'll learn as you adjust to your senses. For now, we still have some time for a few more lessons we can do over a meal before calling it a day. Interested?" She asked and Naruto nodded.

"Would you mind take out though?" He asked, getting a curious look. "Me and shops remember?" He stated.

"Right, well I'll get food and we can eat at my place, I don't live at home so you don't have to worry about kiba." She spoke and Naruto nodded, though kept his hood up for good measure. Hana grabbed a meat heavy meal for them, telling Naruto he needed more than just ramen if he wants to pack on muscle and height. Naruto wanted to complain, but she was a medic and he was learning to respect the opinions of medics, plus Hana was already high up in his list of people he liked and respected seeing what she did for him in two days alone.

They ate and had relative small talk and discussing his future lessons as a medic in training. "You know it's not going to be easy right?" She asked and naruto nodded.

"I know that, but when Mizuki-teme hurt Iruka-sensei...well, he got hurt because of me. He had to take the poisoned shuriken for me because I couldn't move after what miuki-teme said." He spoke, regret ver that incident still there.

"Naruto, you were in a state of emotional shock from best as I can tell through what you and Iruka tell me of what happened. That shock was what triggered the mental release of your senses no doubt, but that kind of shock makes people freeze, it's not something you just deal with and move on. I'd be surprised if you could. So it's not your fault Naruto, alright? Iruka doesn't blame you from what I see so you shouldn't blame yourself, alright?" She spoke and naruto nodded.

"I know it's just... Mizuki doing all that and seeing Iruka sensei hurt. I nearly lost Irua sensei, one of the very few peple who care about me. I don't know what I'd do if I lost Iruka-sensei." He said and Hana could see the turmoil in naruto.

"I understand Naruto, Iruka is special to you. Is there anyone else special to you?" She asked. She kept it to herself that Iruka informed her of the damage Mizuki did and she was helping keep an eye on naruto as a medic and a female eye.

"Well, there's Iruka sensei, Konohamaru, Teuchi and Ayame at Ichiraku's, Sakura-chan, and I guess Jiji." He stated, countingt he old man though he was still confused on him though. "But...there is one more." He said, a blush rising to his face.

"Oh? and who's that?" She asked, a bit tasingly seeing his blush now.

"You." He said simply.

"Me?" She asked, now a bit taken off-guard by that. "Why's that Naruto-kun?" She asked.

"Well, aside from Iruka and the ichiraku's, your the only one that's really stood up for me like you did today. So I want to consider you someone special." He said, his reasoning simple, but honest and sincere.

Hana was touched by his answer, she got up from her seat and walked over to him, wrapping him in a hug. Though she noticed he stiffened when she did hug him and looked down at him to see him frozen and loking aroud, before she realesed him. He looked back up at her before he spoke somethng that changed her view of him entirely.

"That...was a hug, right?" He asked, having seen it before, but he could honestly say that was the first one he cold ever remember getting. "That felt nice." He stated, smiling softly, remembering the warmth he felt it give him.

Hana for her part used her training to control her emotions. "Well, keep being good and training hard and you'll get more in the future, alright?" She told him, getting excited nods from the boy. "Alright, it's getting late and you have team assignments tomorrow, bright and early. Be prepared and behave for your sensei, and please, if Kiba decides to make an ass of himself, well...just take care of yourself and he'll do the same, alright?" She asked and Naruto nodded.

"No probem Hana-chan. I'll see you when I have time. Take care." He said, before he left. After he was gone, Hana took a little while to make sure he was gone before she punched a wall, then collapsed to her knees. It was sad that a boy like naruto had to go through so much, to not even know what a hug was and how it felt, but to be intimate with abuse and pain. She cried, muttering to herself how it wasn't fair to him how he was treated. Unaware that naruto's dog clone was able to hear everything before dispelling and the original learned everything his clone learned.

The original was taken off guard by the fact that she was crying for him, hearing what she said about him and how she reacted. It was odd, but he could see she cared for him, at least enough to be sad and cry for him, though he didn't understand everything, he felt he understood enough. Not knowing what to do, he did get that Hana didn't want him to see her like this so he continued on home, a small smile on his face knowing she did care for him. He got home and didn't use any clones, deciding to be well rested as he prepared everything for the next day. Tomorrow was team assignments and he felt it was going to be a big change for him.