It had been nine years since Naruto had found his sword, that he still affectionately called Aka-chan, and Anko. Sarutobi had never found the traitors, though he had come close, they slipped through his fingers. In that time he had started his training with Aka-chan.

It was slow going at first, but when you're six years old and the village demon, that would be expected. As stated before it was slow at first, Naruto not really understanding what to do or much of what Aka-chan was saying most of the time. In fact they had spent the first two months alone with Aka explaining the reasoning behind everything she was going to teach him in a way that a six year old could understand. The first thing they did, much to Naruto's ire, they started with control of his spiritual powers. First with meditation; Naruto didn't really like that much because he had to sit still for hours on end and when you're used to having to run from a mob on a near weekly basis, not sure of what day, you tend not to want to stay in one place for very long.

Once he was able to meditate for a good two hours they moved on to making small orbs of spirit energy in his hand. It was quickly decided, by Aka, that Naruto just didn't have the knack for spiritual control like his mother, not that she told him that. Even though Naruto had a lot of trouble with his control his will to never give up and his near endless stamina allowed him to practice and train much longer than a normal person. After nearly four months of practice Naruto was able to make and control a spiritual ball about 10 inches in diameter.

If a civilian or a shinobi that hated him saw how long and hard he trained, for a six year old anyway, they would be seen running down the main street of Konoha screaming that the demon was training to kill them. Luckily he had found, after a lot of support from Anko, an area of Training Ground 44 that he could use to train in private.

After a year of training and building up his spiritual power Aka had taught him how to suppress it. As with all subjects relating to control, Naruto struggled with it. So when he wasn't actively trying to increase his spiritual power he was working to suppress it. He was finally able to actively suppress it after a good seven months of training.

When he was 7 and a half, Sarutobi had informed Naruto that he had been signed up to attend the shinobi Academy that started in four months. With that Aka had started training Naruto in basic Katas for Hakuda, or the Uzumaki's clan taijutsu. His ability with control and taijutsu were like the sun and the moon; complete opposites. While it still took him a while to get accustomed to having to do all that physical work, with the Kyubi's help in healing his muscles after an intense workout, Naruto had excelled through the beginner levels of Hakuda. His normal workout was to run around his training clearing five times, then fifty push-ups and sit-ups, then stretches to get his muscles ready to perform the Katas. That slowly increased as the years went by.

On his first day at the Academy Naruto had not liked it one bit. The teachers threw him out of class for the smallest things; sighing in class, asking a question, answering a question, doing better than everyone at the physical workouts, and one even threw him out for sitting in the wrong seat, even though seats had yet to be assigned. That had continued on for almost two weeks and Naruto got sick of it. Eventually he just showed up once a week to class and did enough work so that he would be able to go on to the next level, which made him the "dead last" or "dobe" of his class. Everyone, save three, made fun of him for it, but he didn't care.

When Naruto was nine a great travesty befell the village. The Uchiha Clan had been killed off by one of their own. Naruto didn't really care; they had been the cause of more trouble than he cared to count. Sasuke and his twin sister, Katsumi, were the only survivors of the massacre. Sasuke had been subjected to Tsukuyomi by Itachi, his older brother, and was in the hospital for nearly two weeks. When he was released he was quiet and brooding, spending all of his time thinking of ways to kill Itachi. Katsumi on the other hand had luckily been sent to get ingredients for a special dinner from the only store that sold them on the other side of the village, near the Academy, when all of this happened. She, too, had been absent for several days but unlike her brother she moved out of the Uchiha complex and into her own apartment. She didn't spend all of her available time trying to think of ways to kill Itachi, but she did swear that if she was strong enough the next time she saw him she would do her best to kill him.

When Naruto was in his third year at the Academy one day he had gone to Anko's apartment to ask her to help him with his stealth training. He knocked a few times and when no one answered he thought she was out with another friend since he saw her get back from a mission the day before. But when he heard a muffled scream he reached for the key around his neck that she gave him in case of emergencies and opened the door. He ran to her room as he heard another scream but what he didn't understand was that these screams didn't sound like she was in pain. When he reached her room he threw open the door and came face to face with a naked Anko who was relieving her stress. They both screamed. Naruto ran out the door and Anko covered herself before putting on some clothes and running after him. Their relationship had been … strained to say the least for almost a month. When Anko finally cornered him to talk about it Naruto ended up getting an early sex education from Anko, who used her own body for examples, which in retrospect strained their relationship a bit more. Though it was eventually resolved Naruto couldn't look at Anko without blushing and looking away for several weeks afterword, and though he didn't know it, it jump started his feelings for the purple haired woman.

Also when he was in his third year Aka had begun to teach him low level Hado and Bakudo. At first he had a lot of trouble doing them because they kept blowing up in his face, though thanks to Kyubi he healed fast and was back at trying it again in a matter of hours. By the time he would graduate he would have several Hado and Bakudo under his belt, and considering his skill with Kido, he was quite happy with himself being able to get that far.

During Naruto's fifth year at the Academy, when they were allowed to carry weapons to the Academy, Naruto had brought Aka. During his first class he was kicked out and told he had to take the sword home, that they weren't allowed to have swords in school, but when he looked over to Katsumi he saw that she carried a wakizashi, he didn't complain though because he had learned a long time ago that whining about such things only got him hurt. When he tried to come back to class the teacher made him stand in the hall for being late.

He had also met Anko's best friends that year. He first met Kurenai Yuhi when he went to Anko to ask her to help him with his kunai and shurriken training. He had opened the door to Anko's apartment and walked right into Kurenai's breasts. He sputtered apologies and started to walk away, thinking that in his excitement he had gotten the wrong apartment. That is until he saw Anko behind the woman and ran to her. After a somewhat lengthy introduction and explanation Naruto was forgiven.

He met Hana Inuzuka about a month after that when he brought an injured bear cub to Anko asking her to heal it. She told him she didn't know how to but that she had a friend that could. With that they went to see Hana, who was the sister of one of his classmates, Kiba. She quickly took the bear into another room and healed it. She told Naruto to bring her any hurt animals in the future and that she would be glad to heal them. Naruto in all honesty thought she was really pretty; nowhere close to that of Aka-chan, of course, but still really pretty.

Naruto had even met Hinata Hyuga, another of his classmates, outside of class when Kurenai was watching her. He thought she was really weird at first because she never talked to him. She always turned red and feinted whenever he tried to talk to her. Kurenai, though, told him that she was just a very shy person and that it may take a while before she talks to him. She did just as Kurenai said, even if it took nearly two months and even then she never looked him directly in the eye and stuttered; though after being around her for so many years she could look him in the face when she spoke but still stuttered a bit. She had even admitted that she had feelings for him since she first met him when they were fourteen. He let her down however saying that he didn't see her that way and at best saw her as a sister. She was devastated by that for a while. She didn't even come out of her room for nearly two weeks after that, and though it took a while the two were back to being friends in a matter of months.

Back to Naruto's training, he and Aka had practiced nearly day and night ever since those first two weeks at the Academy, and since Naruto barely ever showed up for class anyway, that meant that they had a lot of time to train. When Aka started him on Zanjutsu or Kenjutsu however you want to put it, in Naruto's fourth year at the Academy and just like Hakuda took to it like a fish to water. Although he wasn't as skilled in Zanjutsu as he was Hakuda that quickly changed as he started to get the hang of it.

Naruto, for stealth training, testing his trap making and ability to make strategies, and under Anko's suggestion, had started to prank the village. He would paint homes, cause people to set off booby traps that would cover them with glue and feathers, his most notable prank was taking the underwear of the civilian council members and hanging them from the top of the Hokage's Tower with pictures attached to the underwear so everyone knew whose was whose. They were pissed to say the least and it wasn't uncommon to hear a call for his death at least once during the weekly council meetings. They were shot down of course because, although they knew Naruto did it, they didn't have any physical proof.

Naruto spent most of his time, after he turned nine and the villagers had desecrated his apartment again, living in the forests surrounding Konoha. He quite enjoyed it there; at least the animals didn't hate him and try to attack him. Well they didn't most of the time. Any of the animals that he didn't intend to hurt when he hunted for food he took to Hana to be healed.

Naruto had figured out that he was the Kyubi's vessel by mistake when he turned twelve when he overheard Anko and his Jiji talking about whether or not he should know about it or not. That night he spent nearly the entire night and most of the next morning training and had passed out sometime around noon from exhaustion. That was when he met the Kyubi. Naruto had to admit at first he thought the fox would be scary, just like the stories he had heard, but that was not the case. Even though the fox didn't particularly like the blond after a few meetings it admitted he was at least tolerable. The fox mostly kept to itself, never really bothering Naruto and Naruto would visit every now and again.

And now we find our blond friend currently being dragged to class by his favorite teacher Iruka after he was caught. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt with the Uzumaki spiral on his back, black ANBU style pants that had many pockets of storage, a pair of black sandals and an orange sash, where he usually had Aka-chan when he wasn't going to the Academy and were he standing he would be 5ft 8. Naruto could have gotten away easily by just using his chakra to stick to the ground long enough to get his hands free to perform a Kawarimi, but he liked Iruka too much to do anything that would make him angrier at the blond. Iruka dropped Naruto in front of the class and turned to them.

"Alright everyone, since Naruto decided to skip the day before the Graduation test we will have a review on the Henge. Line up single file." He said addressing the class, causing them to groan.

"Thanks a lot you idiot." A platinum blonde said as she passed him, known as Ino Yamanaka.

"Naruto, why do you have to be so troublesome?" A black haired boy whose hair tied was up and looked like a pineapple, known as Shikamaru Nara.

"Alright be quiet. When you step forward transform into me." Iruka said. Several students stepped forward one by one and transformed into the scared Chunin. When it was Naruto's turn he stood there for a second and just as Iruka was about to tell him to perform the Jutsu Naruto did. At least that's what everyone thought. Instead of another Iruka there was a female version of Naruto there with twin pigtails an ample chest, and a round ass and who was completely naked with only small clouds covering the more important areas. Truth be told the rest of that day was not good for Naruto as he had to endure the wrath of the dreaded Female Fury.

Later that day Naruto could be seen walking to Training Ground 44 to meet up with Anko because he had asked her to help him with his Bushin no Jutsu problem. He was able to do the other two Academy Jutsu just fine, he just couldn't do this one. They always came out pasty white and sick looking.

"ANKO!" Naruto shouted at the edge of the Forest of Death. This is how he always got her attention when she trained inside the forest, at least further than he went. About 10 minutes later a kunai grazed his cheek and the purple haired woman appeared behind him and licked the blood from his cheek, just like last time and the time before and so on.

"Man, your blood is still as tasty as ever." She said licking her lips to make sure she got it all. "So are you here for help with your Bushin?"

"Yea, even with the control exercises I've learned I still can't do it." Naruto said with a sigh.

"Well, Gaki, why don't you show it to me and I'll see what I can do."

"You know I don't know why I ever told you my name, you almost never use it." Naruto deadpanned.

"Well, I know something we could do that I know we'd both love and I would have to use your name. What do ya say?" She whispered in his ear as she twirled her finger on his chest. Truth be told she really liked our blond friend but since he wasn't a shinobi or eighteen yet he was still underage and should she really try anything she would be considered a pedophile. Something she didn't want to be. Well if she was at least she was straight unlike her ex-sensei.

After being around Anko for as long as he had, Naruto knew how to handle her when she was like this.

"Well, there's nobody to stop us right now. And if you won't tell, neither will I." Naruto replied with a smirk seeing her blush slightly. "Okay enough with the innuendo, can you help me or not." Naruto said getting straight to business, he was sure he heard Anko say something along the lines of spoil sport.

"Alright let's see it." She said stepping back.

"Bushin no Jutsu!" Naruto said. With a puff of smoke on either side of him two clones appeared. They didn't look much like Naruto at all. They were both lying on the ground, almost as if they were dead. Anko stood there and analyzed his clones and after a few minutes decided to share her hypothesis.

"Well I think it's due to the furball. You never really did have an easy time with control, and the Bushin no Jutsu, though E-Ranked, takes so little chakra that you just can't do it. Though it may also have something to do with your spiritual power you have." Anko said not really paying attention to what she was saying. She didn't notice Naruto become shocked that she knew about his powers or him becoming furious.

"Why the hell do you know about that? I haven't told anyone." Naruto snarled. Anko suddenly realized that she had let that slip and was immediately trying to save her ass.

"Well, I watch you practice sometimes to make sure you don't hurt yourself too much. I heard you talking one time about it to your sword about two years ago." She said waving her hand dismissively in front of her face.

"You were spying on me? Anko I trusted you."He said as he turned and began walking away. He didn't get more than thirty feet however before Anko grabbed his wrist and turned him around.

"Look, Naruto, I'm sorry you think I was spying on you, but I didn't want you to get hurt. I …" She mumbled the last part as she looked away.

"What? What did you say?" Naruto said as he tried to squirm free.

"I said…I said…I love you." She repeated and smashed her lips to his, unable to control herself anymore.

Naruto was shocked at first, completely unsure of what to do. He had never done something like this before and although this was a woman he knew and freely admitted he liked, to people besides her, he was confused. He believed that she saw him as that annoying little brother that you never wanted but loved anyway. And even if she did he had planned on telling her that he loved her for a while now the day he graduated the Academy, even if she did reject him.

After a few seconds she pulled away and looked him in the eyes. He was silent as they stared at each other and he knew she was waiting to see what his response would be. They just stayed that way for several minutes. She was honestly scared of what his reaction would be. Would he accept her feelings? Or would he say that she was like his older sister, like he did with Hinata?

"You know, I'm pretty sure the man is supposed to make the first move." Naruto said with a slight chuckle.

"So does that mean…" She trailed off hoping he would finish.

"Well, to be honest I was going to tell you that I loved you tomorrow after I graduated." Naruto said sheepishly.

"So you do like me?" She said letting him go, and after he nodded grabbing him again and pressing him into her D-cup chest. Naruto struggled for a few seconds before she let him go and he could breathe again while she just laughed at him.

"Hey, I may like you Anko-chan, but I'm still mad that you were spying on me." He said in mock anger.

"Oh dear, however will I make it up to you? Maybe I'll be your slave. Oh I would love to serve you Master." She said seductively.

"Oh my slave needs to be punished for misbehaving and spying on her Master. Let's see, you were paddled last time so you get the whip today." He said playing along.

"Yes Master, I love being punished by you. Please whip me as much as you want. I want to feel the sting of the whip on my naked body." She said. She hugged herself and seemed to be imagining being hit with the whip and enjoying it. She stayed that way for only a few seconds before they both stepped back laughing their asses off. "Oh man that was good." Anko said through her laughing.

"Yea it was, though, honestly I wouldn't mind having you as a slave like that." Naruto said looking at her with a serious expression.

"Seriously?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Nope. You aren't one to take orders like that." He said with a huge grin on his face and causing Anko to face fault. She silently admitted though that he was right, she would never be a slave to anyone, even if it was role playing for sex. She would be the Master if they ever tried that.

"So, back to your clone problem. I do know of a Jutsu you could use, but I would have to get Hokage-sama's permission to teach it to you because it's a Kinjutsu and very dangerous." Naruto looked down, saddened, at this news. Then a sudden thought occurred to him.

"So, uh, Anko-chan? What exactly does this make us?" He said referring to their kiss earlier.

"Well, technically it makes us boyfriend and girlfriend, but that can't be let out until you make Genin since then you'd be considered an adult. If it does I may be locked away for being a pedo. So you had better pass tomorrow Na-ru-to-kun." She said leaning in and kissing him again. This time Naruto returned it slightly as he still did not know what to do, but as soon as he became a Genin he planned on getting as much practice as he could.

"Well you had better get to sleep soon you wouldn't want to be too tired to take your exam tomorrow." Anko said when they broke apart. Naruto simply nodded and with a quick kiss on the cheek, like he had seen couples do in the village, he was off to his little clearing that he stayed in.

***The Next day***

Naruto walked into class early for once and sat down in a seat near the middle of the classroom. He put his head down and started to think. Last night he had remembered something he had forgotten from when he first met Anko. She had made that shirt appear from inside a scroll. He knew that it was called Fuinjutsu and was becoming increasingly curious about it. Aka-chan, who he was carrying with him that day since it was Graduation, had once told him that the Uzumaki Clan was known for their sealing abilities. He also knew that the art was extremely difficult to learn, that there were few who studied it and fewer that were masters, and that you had to be an official shinobi to begin even learning it; just more motivation to become a Genin if you asked him.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the rest of the class come in. Luckily for him Hinata sat next to him instead of the brooding Uchiha male. When Naruto noticed she was there he mentally sighed thanking Kami it was her. They exchanged greetings and began talking about what they would do when they became Genin. They could hear the other students talk about how they were gonna save beautiful princesses, and be a hero. Others, the female population, save Katsumi and Hinata, were talking about how they were going to marry their "Sasuke-kun". Minutes later Iruka and his new assistant, Mizuki, walked in; not that anyone noticed.

"Alright everyone be quiet so we can start the Graduation Exam." Iruka said calmly. When they didn't stop talking to each other his head blew up to nearly five times normal size as he yelled "SHUT UP YOU BRATS!" that immediately caught their attention and they did as they were told. "Okay, now that we are settled down we can begin. The first part is the written exam."

After the written exam Iruka collected the papers and began to grade them while the students had free time until he was done. It took nearly 45 minutes for him to finish them all and he was quite surprised by one of the scores.

"Ahem, alright everyone, I finished grading the papers. Naruto, although you didn't get the best score yours was the most improved. Congrats, you got an 82%. Now onto the top three; Shino in third, Sasuke in second and, as usual, Sakura in first with a perfect score. Everyone outside for the Taijutsu exam." The scared man called and walked out the door.

Outside everyone was, once again, talking to each other and after a quick shout from Iruka for them to pay attention, said man began to explain what they were to do.

"You are going to be given three minutes to either get a solid hit on Mizuki-sensei here, or at the very least last that long. Any questions?" He paused to see if they had questions. No one did so he continued. "Alright then, Takuya you're up first."

Naruto stood next to Hinata, Katsumi, Shikamaru and Chouji during the matches commenting on how the others did.

"Takuya won't make it. He's too slow and he already has a broken arm." Katsumi said. She was wearing a blue short sleeved shirt that hugged her luscious C-cup breasts and had the Uchiha crest on the back, a black miniskirt with biker shorts underneath, and shin high heels with straps that interlaced up her leg to her knee. Her hair was down and straight, not much going on there.

They commented on the others as they were called. The civilian students never made it more than a minute before the match had to be stopped because they were too injured to fight anymore. Surprising enough, although not really, Sakura Haruno, the weakest in the class physically, lasted the three minutes. But the four knew better as Sakura's mom was on the council and it was clear Mizuki was pulling his punches, more so than he did on the other students.

When it came to Hinata's turn Naruto whispered some encouraging words to her and told her to do her best, as did Katsumi, who despite the hatred usually shown between the Hyuga and Uchiha clans, was Hinata's best friend. Naruto and Katsumi weren't exactly the best of friends but they got along well enough. Hinata did fairly well for herself only being hit three times and finally getting Mizuki at just after two and a half minutes with a solid, chakra-less, strike to the abdomen.

Katsumi was called next and did just as everyone expected as she was the best female student at Taijutsu in their class, though if Hinata was more confident in herself even Katsumi knew she wouldn't last long against the Hyuga. She ended her fight in just under two minutes.

Some of the other students went next. Kiba who did well landing a blow 10 seconds before Iruka blew the whistle. Shino went as well and he managed to last the three minutes with a few bruises, as did Ino Yamanaka. (A/N:they are wearing the stuff they wore in pre-shippuden unless I say otherwise.)

When it was Sasuke's turn all the girls, save Katsumi and Hinata, started screaming about how Sasuke was the best in the world and how they would marry him and have his children one day. This only infuriated Katsumi as it reminded her that the village had all but forgotten that she even existed. It was always, how Sasuke survived the massacre, and how Sasuke was the hope of the village. It's like they completely forgot that she too, was an Uchiha. Hell she had even unlocked the Sharingan already, even if it was only one tomoe in each eye, yet they praised the so called genius that hadn't activated it yet. She was calmed down by Hinata after a minute or so, thankfully. The last time she hadn't been calmed down she had broken two windows and a desk before storming out of the classroom.

The four, and the Sasuke Uchiha Fan club, watched Sasuke's match, seeing him slide into the Uchiha Interceptor style, which Katsumi commented that he couldn't even use it properly since he didn't have the Sharingan, and that, when the match started Mizuki was clearly taking it easy on him allowing Sasuke to punch him at just after a minute. When he did his fan club quickly rushed him, praising him, saying that he was the best there was and that nobody could ever be better than him and making similar comments, while the brooding bastard just ignored them and went to sit near a tree.

Naruto was called up next and was wished luck by Hinata along with a nod from Shikamaru, Katsumi, and Chouji. He walked up front and stood in front of Mizuki.

"Naruto, you can't use that sword during the match, please put it down. This is Taijutsu only." Iruka instructed. Naruto just nodded and walked back to Hinata and handed her his sword, and then walked back up front.

"Are you ready Naruto?" Iruka asked. To which Naruto slid into a different stance than what the Academy taught, which confused Iruka because he didn't know that Naruto knew any styles. Naruto stood there with his body turned sideways, his left foot forward leaning back on his right a bit with his knee bent. His left fist was extended out in front of him and his right was near his chest. Naruto then nodded to Iruka's question. "Hajime!"

Naruto just stood there watching Mizuki who, just like him, was waiting to see who would attack first. Just as both were about to attack each other a loud piercing scream was heard coming from where the Uchiha was followed by the sound of a bunch of girls screaming "I want Sasuke-kuns spit!", and other more disturbing things. Iruka just told them to continue while he went to break it up.

"Yes, now I can kill this demon spawn and I will be hailed as a hero." Mizuki thought as he grinned. Naruto caught the grin and was quickly reminded of the grins the people who used to attack him had right before they tried to kill him. Those attacks had luckily, for the most part, stopped when news spread around the village that he hung out with Anko, and that she had a soft spot for him.

Mizuki then rushed Naruto at speeds a normal Academy Student wouldn't be able to follow. Fortunately Naruto wasn't a normal student. He was easily able to track Mizuki with his eyes thanks to the evasion training Anko had given him when he asked her to help with some of his training and it was that time of the month. She ended up chasing him for three days though the different Training Grounds surrounding the village while firing kunai and shurriken at him. Naruto mentally shuddered at the memory.

Anyway, back to the fight. Mizuki came in with a quick right jab that barely missed our blond friend and then spun around and dropped for a leg sweep. Naruto jumped up and did a flip while doing a heel drop. Mizuki jumped back to dodge it and then went in for another punch aiming for the blonds' stomach. The punch connected and Naruto bent over as the air left his lungs, while Mizuki grabbed Naruto by the back of his head and attempted to pile drive said blonds head into his knee. Naruto, still out of breath, managed to block the knee and dived to the side to get away from the Chunin.

Naruto then stood up, his back to his instructor, and just waited for the man to attack. Now to anyone that was watching, which was just Shino, Shikamaru, Katsumi, Hinata, and Chouji, the others, like Kiba, were watching the girls fight over the Uchiha's spit and were even making bets as to who would get it, thought that Naruto had lost it. Mizuki smirked at the blonds' stupidity and dashed at him thinking the demon had finally given up and was letting him kill him.

Naruto could hear Mizuki getting closer and closer. He knew that this move was all about perfect timing, one slip up and he would be hit hard by Mizuki. He had barely even practiced this move. He had usually practiced it when he was fishing. He would kick the fish out of the water, turn around and wait for it to be at the right height, then with blinding speed turn around and kick it over to the bank so he could eat it later. It wasn't the most efficient way to fish, he knew that, but this was the only way he could practice this move, even now he still only got it six out of every ten tries. But he was still gonna go for it.

Naruto felt Mizuki get in range, and began to turn. Time seemed to slow down as he did. He could see the birds in a tree as he spun chirping, almost like they were cheering him on, he saw some of the younger, first or second year students, get caught up in watching him, while the instructor was glaring at him. He saw Mizuki out of the corner of his eye, and with a quick shift in his foot brought as much power into his kick as he could.

***With Iruka***

Iruka had heard the screaming and immediately rushed over to the growing fight between the girls over the Uchiha's spit, which utterly disgusted him, while telling Mizuki and Naruto to continue. As soon as he got to the girls he started pulling them off of each other and tying their hands and feet together in a simple Chunin level knot before moving on to the next girl and the next girl. Soon there were only two left. The two co-founders of the Sasuke Uchiha Fan Club, Sakura Haruno, whose father was a very wealthy merchant and mother was the head of the Civilian Council of Konoha, and Ino Yamanaka, whose mother ran one of the best flower shops in the village and her father was one of the best Interrogators of the village, Inoichi Yamanaka.

Iruka was baffled at the viciousness and effort the two girls displayed trying to get Sasuke's spit. He briefly wondered if their Taijutsu would be better if they put even half of that viciousness and effort into their training. He was brought out of his thoughts when Ino gave Sakura one hell of a left hook and made a dash for the spit before it dried out. Unfortunately for the platinum blonde, Iruka was in her way and captured her. While he was tying her up Sakura saw her chance and ran as fast as she could to the spit on the ground. With a diving slide the pink haired girl grabbed the spit in her hands and quickly shoved it in her mouth. She swished it around a few times, completely ignoring the dirt, before she swallowed it with a bright smile on her face.

Those that were watching, including Iruka who had been watching since she started her dive, were completely disgusted by what she did. Even Sasuke was a bit creeped out, though his face didn't show it. Those that had made bets on who would get it looked on in disgust. They had all thought that whoever got it would have put it in a jar for safekeeping, not eat it. That didn't stop those that bet on Sakura from collecting their money.

Iruka walked over to Sakura and grabbed her wrist, pulling her out of her daydream of Sasuke telling her she could have as much spit as she wanted from him and that she only needed to ask, and dragged her over to the other girls. He finally had them all tied up and sitting in front of him, he had even beaten his old record of one minute and five seconds by nearly seventeen seconds, and was quite proud of that. Just as he was about to lecture the girls on what they were doing, when suddenly, from behind, he heard a crash and "Holy Shit" from, who he knew was Katsumi, and quickly spun around to see Mizuki in a small crater and his legs slightly twitching. He was stunned for but a brief second before he asked the question that was on his, and the girls behind him as well as Sasuke's, mind.

"What the hell happened?"

"Naruto did a high kick and latched Mizuki-sensei's neck in between his foot and shin, then dragged him along and slammed him face first into the ground." Shino replied in his usual monotone voice and pushed up his glasses, while surprising several of the students as they had never actually heard him talk before.

Iruka quickly looked at the stopwatch in his hand, subtracting a few seconds from when he stared and Shino gave an explanation to determine how long it took Naruto to defeat Mizuki.

"Good job Naruto, you got the fastest time; fifty seconds. Excellent!" Iruka, along with Naruto's friends congratulated the blond, who just scratched the back of his head nervously, not used to being praised by anyone other than Anko, the old man, and on occasion Hana and Kurenai. The congratulating was cut short however as the girls woke from their stupors at seeing their sensei on the ground.

"Iruka-sensei, make Naruto-baka do it again. There is no way that loser did that good. Only Sasuke-kun could have done something as amazing as that. He just didn't do it earlier because he didn't want everyone to feel bad about how badly they did. He's just so amazing like that." Sakura explained, struggling with her bindings, though mentally she was thinking about trying this with Sasuke when they had their moment of intense passion together, along with some other things this author refuses to write about.

"Yea, everyone knows the idiot is the worst at Taijutsu in the whole class. There's no way he did that. Even if he did, he's too stupid to come up with it on his own; he would need someone of Sasuke-kuns genius to come up with it." Ino said, as she too was trying to get free, but not having the same thoughts as Sakura. The rest of the girls, and the guys that were watching them, all agreed that Naruto could never do something like that, though the guys disagreed about it being something only Sasuke could come up with. They didn't say that out loud because the last time someone (CoughKibaCough) had said something like that about the Uchiha he had been on the receiving end of seven girls with the wrath of Female Fury; nobody had seen him for almost a week and when they did, he had a broken arm and stitches on his forehead as well as several bruises across his body.

"While I am surprised at what Naruto did, you can't just dismiss the possibility that he didn't do it. Plus I have the testimony of five students who saw him take Mizuki-sensei down. There's also the fact that this was his fight. Naruto you pass the Taijutsu portion." Iruka said with a smile. He turned to the girls and released them. "Alright, everyone to the classroom. I will take Mizuki-sensei to the infirmary. When I get back we will have the Ninjutsu portion." Iruka then went to Mizuki and lifted him over his shoulder and carried him inside. The students slowly made their way to the classroom with Hinata giving Aka-chan back to Naruto. Naruto sat together with his friends who soon started to ask him where he learned how to do what he did.

"Naruto where the hell did you learn that?" Katsumi asked with a curious glance. "You've never shown any aptitude for Taijutsu."

"Yes, Naruto-san, I too wish to know where you learned that move." Shino said, not even looking at Naruto.

"Hehe, well, it's like this. Where I learned it is…" Naruto paused for dramatic effect as the others, save Shino, leaned in to hear the answer. "a secret." Naruto whispered with a grin on his face as the others just face-faulted.

"Damn it, you blond idiot." Katsumi growled before looking the other way and pouting.

"Man you know, I just noticed how Katsumi changes moods a lot. I wonder if it's just that time of the month or if she has Multiple Personality Disorder. I'd ask but I'm pretty sure that she would try to beat me with her Feminine Fury. Well if she did at least she isn't as strong as Anko-chan. You know I think her birthday is coming up in about four months. I wonder if she would like…" He couldn't finish his thoughts as Hinata shook him to tell him Iruka-sensei was back.

"Okay, Ayaka, you are first." Iruka said as he opened the door to let the other students out into the hall. "And I don't want to hear any sound during the testing." Iruka said giving the students a quick glare before shutting the door.

Almost an hour and a half later Naruto was called in. He had watched as student after student had come out with a headband tied somewhere on their bodies, most recently was Sasuke, who looked at Naruto with an arrogant smirk.

Naruto walked into the room to see Iruka standing next to a table with only one headband left on it.

"Okay Naruto all you have to do…" Iruka started only to be interrupted by the door opening and revealing Mizuki with a bandage on his head.

"Sorry it took so long to come back Iruka. The nurse just wanted to make sure I didn't have a concussion." The silver haired Chunin said as he sat down at the table.

"Well, it's good to see that you're feeling better Mizuki. Now as I was saying, Naruto, you have to perform the Henge, Kawarimi, and the Bushin Jutsu's to a satisfactory level to pass. Please begin with the Henge."Iruka stated, before adding on, "And don't use you Oiroke no Jutsu, if you do I will automatically fail you."

Naruto was a bit bummed that Iruka would think he would do something like that on such an important exam, but he would admit he thought about doing it. Even though he knew Iruka wouldn't fail him if he did, he knew Mizuki would hold him to it so he wouldn't push it. That didn't stop him from doing something though. Naruto just grinned devilishly at the two Chunin instructors as he made the hand seals and called out the Jutsu. Iruka was mentally sweating at this as he knew that smile. It was the same one Naruto had before he flooded the entire Academy by clogging all the toilets up and flushing them at almost the same time. He still didn't know how he did that. He mentally shuddered as he remembered that several students threw up seeing a piece of, well, feces float down the hall with a cockroach on it that had a sail with Naruto's face grinning and doing a peace sign.

When the smoke cleared there stood Anko Mitarashi, clad in her normal mesh body suit, burnt orange skirt, tan trench coat, shin guards, and sandals while licking a kunai. She was perhaps the scariest kunoichi in the village next to Tsume Inuzuka. Naruto, as far as Iruka could see, got everything right. Naruto then dispelled the Jutsu and placed the kunai back in his holster.

"Good Naruto, now for the Kawarimi." Iruka said as he threw a blunted kunai straight at Naruto. Naruto did the Jutsu by switching himself with an eraser.

"Good, now for the last part. Perform the Bushin no Jutsu."

Naruto put his hands into the ram seal and concentrated with all his might to get as little chakra as he could. He kept making the amount he was drawing smaller and smaller, until he couldn't make it any smaller. He then pushed it out of his body while calling out the Jutsu. It was going good until he felt something wrong in his system and tried to take care of it while at the same time still doing the Jutsu. The result was one pale and dead looking clone lying on the ground next to Naruto.

"You fail, Naruto." Iruka said, hiding the fact that he was disappointed, though Naruto caught it.

"Come on Iruka, the kid got pretty good scores on the other parts of the exam. Surely he could pass with those."Mizuki said, feigning concern for our blond shinobi in training.

"No, the exam states that to pass, regardless of other test scores, if a student cannot perform the Bushin no Jutsu then they cannot graduate. I know it's a stupid rule, but we don't have to like it; just follow it." Iruka stated.

"But sensei, what about that kid who graduated last year. He couldn't use Jutsu at all from what I hear." Naruto half yelled at Iruka trying to get him to pass him.

"He was a special case Naruto. You aren't. Now just go home." Iruka said as he walked out of the room. Naruto followed him a minute later. Neither saw the grin on Mizuki's face.

***Later that Night***

Naruto sat in a clearing on Training Ground 16 slightly panting with a huge scroll sitting next to him with the words "Forbidden" written in kanji. After Naruto had failed the exam he had snuck out the back not wanting to see his friends at the moment. Too ashamed that he was the only one in their class that didn't graduate. He was eating at Ichiraku's when Mizuki had come and told him that there was a supplementary test that he could use to graduate. All he had to do was take a scroll from the Hokage's library and learn a Jutsu from it. This immediately put Naruto on edge as he knew that taking any sort of document or scroll from the Hokage's office was considered treason but didn't say anything. He just nodded and went on to do it.

When he got to the office he quickly flew passed the civilian secretary yelling at him that he wasn't welcome here and was calling for the ANBU to stop him before he killed another Hokage. Lucky for Naruto the ANBU on duty didn't hate him and let him pass. He burst into his Jiji's office, catching him with a certain orange book and giggling like a little girl. As soon as the elderly man was aware of Naruto's presence he opened a draw and shoved the book inside hoping that Naruto didn't see the book. When he looked at Naruto with slightly pleading eyes he saw that his blond surrogate grandson's eye was twitching.

When he asked why Naruto was there, Naruto told him what Mizuki had said to him. The Hokage was unnerved that Naruto would say someone would do that, especially an Academy instructor. They had argued for several minutes, and finally after Naruto argued that there would be no harm in him taking a fake scroll to prove to him that Mizuki really was trying to steal the scroll, Hiruzen agreed. The old man quickly pulled out a scroll similar in proportion to the original and wrote "Forbidden" on it in kanji using the original as reference.

Sarutobi then told Naruto that he had to make it look convincing and that the young blonde should hit him. Naruto immediately refused to do this, because, well, it was his "Jiji". Sarutobi had told him that if it looked like he just let Naruto take the scroll then his leadership may be in question. If it was he may be ousted as Hokage and then someone who didn't like Naruto may become the next one. After some thinking Naruto finally settled on a solution only Naruto could. He used his Oiroke no Jutsu and the old man soon fell over unconscious with a spray of blood coming from his nose. Naruto then grabbed the scroll and ran to where he was to meet Mizuki, never noticing he had made a mistake.

That brings us to Naruto's current situation. They had spent so much time trying to make a copy of the Forbidden Scroll and Naruto, in his rush, accidently grabbed the real one. He couldn't go back and trade it for the fake as he knew that the old man had recovered and sent out the other shinobi to "capture" him. He sighed as he thought of what to do as he had about an hour or so before Mizuki would come to meet him.

"Maaan, what the hell should I do with this thing? I mean I could learn something from it but then Jiji may get in trouble with the Council. Though I guess the fact that I knocked him out would make it seem like he wasn't involved." Naruto thought.

"That is a very well thought out idea Naruto. You are getting better." Aka said from inside his head.(A/N:Sorry it took so long for her to make an actual appearance XP)

"Why must you be so cruel, Aka-chan?"Naruto thought, sending mental image of him with tears pouring down his face. "Well, time to learn something." Naruto thought as he opened the scroll to the first Jutsu.

Kage Bushin no Jutsu-("Great another clone technique," Thought Naruto.) The Kage Bushin is a B-Rank Kinjutsu for two main reasons. The first being the amount of chakra needed to make them and second is because of the Kage Bushin's unique ability to pass information from them back to the creator once dispelled. This is where the second reason comes into play. If too many are dispelled at once the user risks overloading their brain causing them to either become catatonic or to die.

The Kage Bushin is mainly used to infiltrate enemy territory when it is too dangerous for a living person to get in. They, unlike other variations of the Bushin, can also use Jutsu, but they dispel when hit with one well placed attack. It has been said by the creator of the Jutsu, Tobirama Senju, the Nidaime, that if one were to ever master this Jutsu well enough, they could become the greatest spy master in the Elemental Nations.

As Naruto finished reading he looked at the hand sign need to perform the Jutsu and got started.

About an hour later Naruto was sitting on the ground with bruises and small cuts that were slowly being healed by Kyubi, panting slightly.

"Man, that Jutsu is tiring." Naruto mumbled to himself. Suddenly he heard a noise coming from the trees. He looked over, grabbing a kunai just in case. He waited a few seconds and out came Hinata. She tensed when she saw Naruto holding a kunai thinking he was going to attack her but relaxed when he just sighed and put it away.

"So Hinata-chan, what are you doing out here?"

"W-well, there is a p-patch of herbs I use to m-make my medical salves just over there." She responded quietly and with a slight stutter.

"I don't understand why you still stutter around me Hinata-chan. I mean we've been friends for years." Naruto said with a sigh. Hinata just looked down at this as she replied.

"I-I am too weak. The E-Elders w-wish to banish m-me to the Branch House, for I am too w-weak. I lose to m-my younger s-s-sister all the t-time."

"You know, Hinata, I think it's fairly easy to just go and hit someone know is an asshole, but it's hard to be kind to that same person. In my opinion that makes you pretty damn strong."Naruto said with a smile. "But I also think that sometimes you just have to, in a sense, steel your emotions and do what you need to do. As shinobi we will eventually be expected to kill others. I know you aren't all too keen to attack others Hinata, it's not in your nature, but you have to think, will your hesitation cost your team their lives? I mean honestly, I'm not too keen on killing others either but I've resolved that I will only kill certain types of people; those who attack the village, obviously, rapists, and people who find no worth in other human beings. What I'm trying to say, Hinata, is that maybe you should think about how you want to live as a kunoichi before you are faced with a situation where you will have to kill someone or it could mean your end, or that of your team. You should talk to Kurenai about it, I'm sure she will help you figure it out." Naruto said as he looked up at the stars that were visible in the sky.

Hinata was kind of upset that Naruto would say something like that to her but knew it was the truth. She didn't like hurting others, but at the same time he had made a good point. Would her lack of confidence cause her friends to die? Or even the village to fall should another war start? She was having a real problem with it. She knew that if she quit being a shinobi then the Elders would either marry her off or throw her into the Branch house and use her as breeding stock. She would have to talk to Kurenai later about all of this. She was about to ask Naruto why he was all the way out here when a figure dropped down from the trees. She turned to the figure to see that it was Iruka, and he looked pissed.

"Naruto, what the hell do you think you're doing? Stealing the Forbidden Scroll. That's treason Naruto; you can be executed for this." He then noticed Hinata. "Hinata, were you in on this as well?"

"N-No sensei, I j-just found N-Naruto-kun a few minutes ago." She said in her usual quiet tone.

"What are you getting all worked up about anyway sensei? I passed the test so now all I need to do is show you my new Jutsu and I get to become a Genin." Naruto said as he stood up and brushed the dirt from his pants.

"Naruto, what are you talking about?"Iruka asked genuinely confused.

"Ehhh, Mizuki-sensei said if I took this scroll and learned a Jutsu from it I would be made a shinobi." Naruto replied pointing to the large scroll on the ground.

"Naruto there-" Iruka started but was cut off as he heard the sound of cutting air coming straight at them and dived, knocking his two students away and taking the hit. When Naruto and Hinata looked up to where Iruka was they saw him with several kunai imbedded in his body at various places.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting you here Iruka." A voice said from behind the two teenagers. They turned to see Mizuki with a smirk on his face. "Oh, and what's this? The Hyuga Princess is here too. Well I wasn't expecting that. Now Naruto all you have to do to pass is give me the scroll."

"Why did you attack Iruka-sensei?" Naruto said, still feigning ignorance, while thinking "Damn I'm a good actor. If this whole shinobi thing doesn't go well I could be an actor."

"Naruto, don't give him the scroll! It contains powerful Jutsu known only to our village. Take Hinata and run!" Iruka said pulling a kunai from his leg.

"Ha, like he could run from me. Besides, no one here is going to make it out of here alive, except me and even then I will be rewarded and cheered on in the village as a hero even greater than the Yondaime for finally ridding this village of this demon filth." The silver haired man said with a sneer.

"Why does everyone keep calling me that? I've never done anything that bad." Naruto growled at him.

"Oh, that's right. You don't know. Well I guess since you're going to die I'll tell you."

"No, Mizuki, it's forbidden."

"Sixteen years ago the Sandaime made a new law. A law that everyone knows about except you and the younger generation. The truth is, the Kyubi never was killed that night. Instead the Yondaime sealed you into that body and wiped your memories. You are the Demon, Kyubi."

"Wow, is that it? You know, Jiji told me about that years ago. And to be honest, the Kyubi may not have a wide range of emotions, but it's a hell of a lot nicer than almost everyone in this village. Of course it spends most of its time sleeping. I think it's just lazy." Naruto said putting both of his hands behind his head and closing his eyes.

Mizuki didn't show it on the outside but on the inside he was fuming. This was supposed to throw the blond off so that he could quickly kill the demon and then, depending on how much trouble it would be, take the Hyuga to Kumo and sell her. He looked over to said Hyuga as he thought of that and saw that she was in a lot of emotional distress. Then an idea struck him. If he couldn't directly kill the demon, he would make it "save" the Hyuga and kill it that way. With that he unlatched one of his giant shurriken from his back and threw it at Hinata.

Naruto noticed this and dashed towards Hinata, pushing her out of the way. Time seemed to stop as Naruto felt the weapon pierce his back, just below the right side of his ribcage, slightly puncturing in liver slightly. Naruto then fell to the ground, hearing Iruka and , surprisingly Hinata, yell out to him. Naruto tried to stand up, only to fall to one knee. He watched as Mizuki grabbed his other giant shurriken and spin it in his hand before throwing it at him. Naruto watched as the spinning weapon got closer and closer to him. However everything slowed down as everything around Naruto darkened. He was confused at what was going on. He had never experienced anything like this before. He was about to panic before someone behind him spoke.

"Naruto, do you wish to have the power to win? Or, perhaps you wish to live? What is it?" Naruto recognized that voice. He turned his head to see Aka in her usual clothes.

"I…don't know."

"You must choose. So I will ask again; do you wish to win or live?"

"I…" Naruto began before looking at Hinata's and Iruka's scared faces. He looked back and forth between them for a few seconds while thinking about what he should say.

"If I win, they may live but Mizuki-teme may have others coming. If I just want to live, it may mean I have to sacrifice Hinata-chan and Iruka-sensei to do it. I don't know what to do." Naruto growled in frustration.

"Choose." Aka repeated, her voice sounding slightly agitated; something Naruto had never heard in her voice before. Finally, as he turned to her once again, he made his decision.

"It would mean nothing if I were to win or live if I can't protect my friends and the people I care for like my own family." Naruto said, thinking of Anko, Hinata, the Ichiraku's, the old man, Kurenai, Shikamaru, Chouji, Inu, and, strangely, Katsumi. "I don't want the power for either, I want the power to protect them, they are my reason FOR LIVING." Naruto shouted at Aka.

"Hmm, you always did choose differently. Never the less, I shall make it so. All you have to do is say my name."

"What is it, Aka-chan?"

"My name is…"

Naruto's eyes snapped open and quicker than either the Hyuga or Academy instructors had ever seen Naruto move, the blond reached behind him, grabbed the shurriken there, ripped it from his back and threw it at Mizuki's own. The two giant shurriken collided mid-air and went off in separate directions.

"Hinata." Naruto said in the most serious tone anyone had ever heard him speak. "Go to Iruka-sensei, and I want you two to just relax and breathe as normally as you can." Hinata hesitated and stuttered a "Hai" and rushed over to Iruka. Naruto stood there and unsheathed his sword, pointing it straight at Mizuki, who started laughing.

"Hahaha! Like you can really beat me. Even with a sword, which I doubt you can even use, you will never be able to beat me." He said, pulling a kunai from his pouch.

"We will see about that, wont we. Now, Okiro, Bennihime!"

AAAAAAAND Cut! Guess you'll have to tune in nest time to find out what happens.

Rate and review.

I still need a Beta, PM me if you're interested. Thanks.

Longest Chapter I ever wrote. 10,323 words!