AN - alright everyone, here's the whopping, 4,257 word, chapter two of A destined heart, a bit drier than last time possibly, but hey, what can you do? I'm not sure I put this up last time, but this is a naruxharem fic, as I simply cannot decide on who to pair him with. Ah well, in this chapter, to the loser go the spoils. R&R!

Disclaimer - I do not, in any way, own Naruto or Kingdom hearts. They belong to their respectful owners and not me. Any specific heartless that are not cannon, along with characters in the storyline that are not from either, do belong to me, aside from hearless in general in that case.

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Chapter 2 - To the Loser Go the Spoils

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"Haruno Sakura?"

"Here!"

"Uchiha Sauske?"

"Hmph"

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

Silence.

Looking up from his role-sheet, Iruka sighed at the empty seat where Naruto usually sat, doodling along the edges of his table before being yelled at, or propping his book up and eating behind it, or simply falling asleep while he lectured. But now, the seat was empty. Sighing, he did, as was thankfully required, and called out the student's name again.

"Uzumaki Naruto?!"

A sudden crash at the window was his answer as all the heads in the class turned to look at the window, which had the body of Naruto, swirly-eyed and half-unconcious, plastered to the pane of kunai-proof glass. Rounds of laughter erupted in the room as Iruka sighed and got up, walking to the window and opening it inwards for his favourite student to fall to the floor, before shaking his head and standing.

"Here!" he called out happily, grinning and giving a thumbs up.

"Dobe..." came the call from Sauske, causing a twitch of annoyance from Naruto.

"Baka.." Sighed an exasperated Sakura, as the blond boy moed up the rows to sit on the oppicite side of the pink haired girl from Sauske, a mutter of "Duck-butt-head" as he passed Sauske, and earning said Uchiha to slide his chair back enough for Naruto's foot to catch the leg of the chair and tumble forwards onto his face.

"So, stupid, and clumsy, ne, dobe?" sauske actually grinned, causing a squeal from all of his fangirls in the classroom, their squeal however automatcally causing his face to return to it's stotic and emotionless facade.

"Yaro..." Naurto muttered, before standing again, moving into his seat as Iruka resumed calling roll, not noticing the look of mild anger on his partner's, Mizuki's, face.

Once roll was done, Iruka stepped before the class, crossing his arms over his chest and giving them one of his famed 'stern-but-kind' looks as he did, indicating that today was the day that they were waiting for. Most of them atleast, because today, was the day of their final exams as academy students.

"Alright everyone," He said, his smile broadening and the sternness vanishing from his face to be replaced by a gentle confidence in each of them. "Today is your Exam to graduate from the academy and enter your lives as Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village!" He announced, his eyes softening further.

"I hope you all do well and pass, to join all of those that came before you as ninja, and all the responcebilities that come with the title." The round of groans that followed this announcement earned a chuckle from bolth teachers.

"We'll call you off one-by-one to enter this room and display a pre-chosen technique for this test." Mizuki stated, moving to stand beside his chuunin colluege, clipboard in hand. "The chosen technique will be the Bunshin no Jutsu, or Clone Jutsu." He said, causing all but a single student to perk up at the easy prospect at passing.

Quietly, Naruto sunk back into his chair, , hiding slightly from the eyes of his sensei as he becan to sweat.

"kuso..." Thought the distressed shinobi-to-be, wringing his hands under the table as they shook, "Of cource they had to choose my worst jutsu for this test! Now i'll never pass!" The worry on his face was only viewed by the floor as the others chatted lightly about the easy prospect of becoming ninja. Mizuki cleared his throat.

"Alright everyone, now, i'll begin to call off names to follow us into the next room and preform the technique. Regardless of wether you pass or not, you will then go into the second classroom to await the final student's passing...or failing" The last part of that statment was ominous, dangerously so. And the fact that he was staring straight at Naruto as he said this was very unsettling to the young blond.

"Akimiki Chouji, You're up first" Mizuki then stated, stepping with Iruka into another room to await him, before he followed at a leasurely pace, snacking on a bag of potato chips as he did.

--

Naruto looked around the barren, empty room. He was the only one left, and he knew it wasn't a coincidence either. He just knew it. It was like he had been singled out to fail or soemthing like that.

"Why is it always me..." He muttered quietly, before images of that strange empty place surfaced in his mind. The black creatures, the oddly familiar, deep voice that had guided him, it all seemed so strange in it's reality. Then again, when had reality ever made sense to the young cerulean-eyed academy student?

The door opened. and Iruka stepped through, smiling warmly at his favourite student.

"Alright, Naruto. You're up, now do your best" he said kindly, stepping aside as a nervous and shaking Naruto made his way down from his seat and through the door into the testing room.

Mizuki was sitting in his chair, grinning with either anticipation, or was that hope? The difference between the two was unfathomable in the silver-haired chuunin's case. As naruto stepped up, the grin spread. Iruka took his seat next to Mizuki, smiling warmly in contrast to the terrifying grin that Mizuki wore.

"Alright Naruto, you know what to do I hope?" Iruka asked cheerily as Naruto stood before him, calming his shaking hands before nodding and forming the seals to preform the bunshin no jutsu. Swirling blue energy began to circle his form, creating a spiraling dome made of lines of that blue energy. Closing his eyes in concentration, Naruto focused on the image of a second him standing before him, taking his place in trivial things.. before those creatures appeared in his mind's eye.

Twtching and insect-like, with those glowing yellow eyes that seemed to strike fear into his heart at the first sight of them. They came in drones into his mind, just as they had before in that place. Quickly he tried to clear them before preforming the jutsu for what he hoped was the final time.

"BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Naruto cried out, hoping that he handn't messed up.

It seemed, however, that luck was not on his side. The clone he produced was disfigured and twisted. It's head was backwards as it layed on the ground, a blank expression on it's face. It's skin was a dark grey, nearly black and it's eyes, rather than being blue, were a bright gold, his hair had also lost some of it's brightness and the texture loss, as it slicks down slightly. The sight of it sent shivers down his spine. It was one of them.

Stepping back slightly in bolth shock and fear, the bunshin stood, still blank and expressionless, before grinning to reveal dark grey, jagged teeth that curled into a sinister smile, before waving once and dissapearing in a cloud of black smoke. Naruto's confusion and shock weren't the only ones present in the room by this point.

Iruka and Mizuki's faces betrayed nothing that was passing through their minds. Mizuki's calm exterior held intrest at the boy's attempted clone. Rather than flickering out like a regular bunshin, this one had dissapeared in a cloud of smoke like another type of bunshin he knew well. Even more strange, was it's appearance. It was twisted...evil...powerful. He needed it. Maybe advancing this brat to genin would be a good idea...

Iruka however, was in complete and utter dis-belief. Naruto had created a clone, but due to it's shape and form, he still did not manage to create a working clone, as it's coloring would give it away instantly. He would have to do something he did not want to do again. He would have to fail Naruto a fourth time. Turning to discuss with Mizuki, he saw the pleased look on his fellow teacher's face.

"I say we pass him." Came the silver-haired chuunin's reply, the smile on his face was genuine for some reason.

Iruka shook his head.

"No, he isn't ready. You saw that bunshin, it wasn't like him enough to even be a distraction. We bolth have to agree on this, and as much as I'd like to pass him...I'm afraid we cant." he said regretfully, sighing and turning back to Naruto, who was hanging his head in defeat.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but we can't pass you with a bunshin like that. I'm truely sorry..." Iruka hung his head as well as his favorite student moved twords the door back to the first classroom, walking out of the door and leaping through the window, tears streaming down his cheeks from his eyes.

--

Naruto sat on the swing infront of the academy, watching all the families that came to pick up their children, all of whom wore leaf headbands proudly somewhere on thier person. He could hear the wispers from the children and their parents alike.

"I heard he's the only one that didn't pass..."

"He's such a freak... it's no wonder he failed"

"That demon dosn't deserve to become a shinobi... he's a disgrace..."

The list went on.

Getting up slowly, Naruto walked twords the exit to the courtyard, not noticing two pairs of eyes that watched him leave in particular. One that held care, and the other that held interest.

Hyuga Hinata and Hanabi watched naruto leave as their father acknowlaged Hinata's becoming a shinobi with a firm clap on the shoulder and a stiff nod. The former watched him go with the gentle care and compassion that only she could radiate, her imense love for naruto known to everyone but her family and said 'blond bombshell,' in her opinion atleast although she would never admit to thinking such a thing.

Hanabi however, wondered why he was the only who failed. He couldn't possibly be that bad, could he? Neji-neesan's team mate with the funny haircut and creepy eyebrows had passed, and he could not use chakra at all. Perhaps this boy could not do anything? No, he would have left long before now if that were the case. Why could he possibly have failed?

Others looked upon naruto, with pity and sorrow. Akimichi Chouji and Nara Shikamaru among them, while others scoffed as he passed, namely Inuzuka Kiba and, of cource, Sauske.

"Dobe..."

That did it. That single comment sent Naruto running from the courtyard and into the village to find a place to be alone and cry in peace.

--

It was night. The stars shone brightly above a downcast and downtrodden Naruto as he sat atop his apartment. The calm, cool night winds plew through his hair and made it sway gently above his eyes, which were looking down at the goggles held in his hands. A calm voice from behind startled him from his trance.

"Ne, Naruto... Do you want to know a way you can still become a Shinobi?"

Turning quickly, Naruto saw Mizuki standing a few feet away, calm and stotic as ever, but the reassuring smile on his face worried Naruto slightly. But, he held his head high and took in what his sensei offered.

"What do you mean another way?"

"Well, it's quite simple..." Mizuki stated, explaining what Naruto needed to do in quiet tones.

--

"Lord Hokage! Naruto has stolen the scroll of sealing!" Cried a chuunin, who burst quite suddenly into the Hokage's chamber, interrupting his quiet nap and causing the old man to fall to the floor in shock. Quicky regaining himself he looked sternly at the shinobi who dared to defy his "Don't barge in suddenly" rule he had put down on his gaurd staff at the building.

"Are you sure?" asked the elderly man, staring determinedly at the chuunin in question, who gulped slightly, nodding. "Alright then. Gather every chuunin, Jounin, and Anbu who is on-duty, Naruto is elusive as any can tell you, we will need every available shinobi to track him down." The chuunin nodded and turned to leave, before being stopped by the hokage.

"And by the way... you saw nothing. Understand?"

The chunin gulped loudly and nodded vigorously at the dark look on the hokage's face, before running at break-neck speed out the door to gather the ninja.

"Now... Naruto... What have you gotten yourself into?"

--

Naruto fled at high speeds through the thick foliage of the woods at the edge of konoha's walls, his goggles over his eyes to protect them from stray branches, which hit his face often in his attempt to shake the ninja he knew would be tailing him. Stoping in a clearing to rest, he sat the large scroll down and leaned against the delapidated shack that sat against the wall, opening the scroll and looking inside, glancing over the first justu this scroll held and sighing.

"Ah well... might as well give it a shot... Mizuki Sensei said it might be a good idea..."

--

Iruka dropped into the clearing where he saw Naruto panting and leaning against the shack still, the scroll slightly open before him.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei! Man... I only had enough time to learn one jutsu before you found me!" Naruto said, grinning slightly and scratching the back of his head.

"Wait... he's been practicing out here all this time? But the Mizuki... and the hokage... could he really be trying to get better?" the thought ran through Iruka's head in an instant. This was Uzumaki Naruto they were talking about. He'd pull a prank of disasterous quality if it meant getting recognition. So, the only thing better than that, would be learning a forbidden jutsu and being able to use it. Iruka just hoped that it hadn't been a dangerous one...

"Well, I guess I can show you what I learned so I can become a ninja, right?" Naruto asked, standing and closing the scroll. Iruka was flabbergasted at Naruto's claim.

"What? What do you mean Naruto?"

"Mizuki sensei said that if I got this scroll and learned a jutsu from it, I'd automatcily pass and become a ninja!" Naruto said, grinning even wider, and holding up the scroll. Iruka shook his head.

"That's not how it works Naruto, Now what's this about Mizu- Get DOWN!" Iruka cried, leaping onto the boy as a giant shuriken whistled past where Iruka had just been standing, flying upwards and slicing through branches before dissapearing into the distance with a slight 'ping.'

"Awww...Iruka, why did you have to go and find him first? It would have been much easier to kill him if you hadn't shown up..." Said Mizuki, his leaf bandana gripped tightly over his head, the cold metal plate on it's front glinting dangerously in the light of the full moon.

"K-k-kill me?" Naruto managed, looking up at Mizuki's shilouet, crouched on a branch above them. "Why?"

"It's easy, Naruto. I'd be doing the village a favor actually... Haven't you ever wondered why they all hate you? Why you always failed the exams? I'll tell you..."

"No, Mizuki! It's forbidden!" Cried out Iruka, before a kunai stabbed into his shoulder suddenly, followed by five more that hit him in the chest and midsection.

"I'll tell him why, and you wont stop me!" Cried mizuki, standing and grinning evilly, the crazed look in his eyes visible even through the shadows that the trees above cast. "It is because you, Naruto, are the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox that attacked Konoha twelve years ago!"

Images flashed through Naruto's mind. The Fox, the towers, the creatures, and finally the failed clone he had created. Tears began to stream down his face as Mizuki continued.

"YOU are the reason so many innocent shinobi are dead! You are the one that killed Iruka's parents! That's why he hates you and THAT is why he failed you!"

"That's a lie!" This voice was Iruka's, but it did no good.

Grabbing the scroll and turning, tears streaming down his face and clouding his vision slightly, Naruto ran from the clearing as fast as he could, Ignoring the branches that whipped at his face and legs as he raced through the treetops, away from the two chuunin in the clearing.

--

Sitting, crying behind a tree, Naruto heard somone land gently behind him and set something down. Another tap on the branches above lead him to believe it was Iruka and Mizuki.

"Alright Iruka...Give it up, I know that's you." Came Mizuki's calm and collected voice, even if the underlaying tones of madness could be heard by a deaf man.

Turning to peek around the tree, Naruto saw himself erupt into a cloud of smoke, revealing Iruka holding onto a large log, which had kunai imbedded into it.

":Why did you do this to him?" Came Iruka's question, slight worry able to be heard in it by the mentioned blond boy.

"Easy. At first, I wanted to pass him to see if I could discover the reasoning behind that...odd, clone of his, thinking you would pass him for getting that much right. However...when you failed him, it seemed I'd just have to use him to get what I wanted...that scroll. Unfortunatly it seems..." Naruto could see the maniacle grin on his sensei's face widen as he continued, while images of that 'clone' run through his mind alongside the images before him, "he's gone and become the demon he really is... He'll use the scroll, you know he will Iruka. He'll use the scroll and release himself from that body, then destroy all of Konoha!" Cried out Mizuki, his grin widening further, "Because that's what demons do, isn't it Iruka?"

Naruto was frozen on the spot. What did Mizuki mean 'he was the demon'? And more importantly... Did Iruka really think about him like that? Tears cascaded down his cheeks again as he started to crawl away, hoping to get some distance before Iruka spoke up.

"Yeah...that's what demons do..."

Naruto's eyes went wide, clouding over with tears like never before in his life as he went to scramble away with all his might, before a calm voice spoke up behind him.

"But that's not Naruto. He's stronger than that. He'll never turn bad like you say he will, he has a dream, and I believe that if he pushes himself, he'll be able to fulfill it one day. Naruto will make a fine Hoakge...and there's nothing you'll ever be able to do to stop that."

Naruto couldn't help his eye's widening at that statement, frozen in shock, he could hear Mizuki's dark chuckle, followed by the unclipping of a large weapon. Instinct kicked in, and, just as Mizukilet the large shuriken fly, a left fist collided with his jaw, knocking him back off the branch and collapsing to the ground as the bladed star whirled down and embedded itself into the ground below them.

Naruto landed before iruka, holding out a fist before him and setting down the large scroll, holding it up with his right hand.

"I'll NEVER let you harm Iruka-sensei!" He declared, as Mizuki returned to his feet, glaring and rubbing his jaw.

"So, the demon reveals itself..." Miauki growled, taking a step forwards and reaching over to grab the shuriken from where it had sunk into the moist soil. "Too bad it has to die... He will be very iritatd... but it seems it can't be helped." Mizuki grinned again before drawing back the shuriken and letting it go a second time tonight, but Naruto was ready.

"Oh no you dont!" Cried out the orange-clad shinobi, before drawing a kunai and swinging it with all his might upwards in a gaurd, the blade of the kunai horizontal as it met the overlarge star. Sparks issued from bolth blades as Naruto's hand jerked back from the impact, the shuriken sailing off on a new cource through the treetops and twords the wall of the village. "Now, let me show you what i've learned, Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto's voice had raised and he held out his hands in a cross-shaped seal of which only a handful knew it's meaning.

"No!"

"Yes! Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The clearing exploded with an insane amount of smoke, when it cleared seconds later, the trees, and the forest floor, were a brilliant mix of orange and yellow.

"But...but how! You're a failure! You have close to no chakra control! How can you do this?" Mizuki yelled in shock at the fact that Naruto had been able to complete the jutsu, let alone the sheer number of actual physical clones in the small clearing.

"Now!" They chorused as one "Let us teach YOU something!"

Mizuki didn't even have time to scream.

--

"There we go, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said, tying up the black, blue, and purple, lumped form of Mizuki. Then again, if you handn't known it was Mizuki, you wouldn't have known it was human either. It actually looked more like a large, raspberry like fruit shoved into ninja's clothing and given a wig. Turning as he heard a chuckle, to look at Iruka's smiling face as his teacher spoke.

"You did well...Naruto...Now, close you're eyes. I want to give you something."

Blinking, Naruto did as he was told, only to feel something smooth and slightly heavy be placed against his forhead, before being tied around his head where his goggles usually were, they had fallen off while he was pummelling Mizuki. Sensing Iruka step back, he heard his teacher's calming tone.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now." Said Iruka, standing before Naruto as the morning light shone on his and his student's faces. Blinking in the sunlight, Naruto could manage to make out the fact that...Iruka was not wearing his headband. Reaching up slowly to feel the cool metal of his forhead protector, Naruto's eyes widened drasticly.

"B-b-b-but Iruka sensei? I thought I failed!" Naruto cried out, earning another chuckle from his teacher.

"The test, Naruto, was that you had to create one working bunshin, seeing as bolth I'm now the only teacher in charge of the exam, and that you managed to create an incredable ammount of bunshin just now, I believe that you've earned this. Now, lets go get some ramen!" Iruka chuckled again, tears running down his face to match the ones running down Naruto's.

"Alright!"

--

Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, sat watching happily as Naruto and Iruka dragged a bruised, bleeding, and unconcious Mizuki back to the village proper, all the while joking about what kinds of ramen they would get, and how much of a tab Iruka would have to pick up.

"Well...Naruto...it seems that you've found your path to acheving your dreams, ne?" Chuckling at the idea of a ramen-loving hokage, Sarutobi smiled down at his crystal ball "But...I cant help but worry about what Mizuki meant by 'him'... it's very troubling..."

Standing and walking from his viewing chamber, the third hokage moved to stand before the alrge windows overlooking the village, where, just a few weeks ago, he had seen the most spectacular and beautiful meteor shower that Konoha had ever had the grace of witnessing from this spot. He doubted even the shower all those hundreds of years ago, at the start of the first great shinobi war had been as beautiful...or as ominous. He could feel in his old bones that something bad was about to happen...

--

AN: And there we go. Chapter 2 of "A Destined Heart." sorry about the crappy, boring-ness of it all, but hey, it's a set-up chapter for later action, it's kinda important.

Now that Naruto is a ninja, what lies in store for him? Who was the mysterious person Mizuki spoke of? What is the connection between the first shinobi war and now? And what dose the ominous feeling Sarutobi feels mean? You'll have to read to find out!

Next Chapter - A training exam, or, First Strike.