Hi! Thanks for the reviews and advice guys! This is the first chapter in Mask of the Fox. I hope you guys like it. Please leave reviews! And please look at my first story, Away From Konoha.
"Talking"
"Kyuubi (Nine-Tailed Fox)"
Thinking or talking to Kyuubi
Chapter 1
The Ninja Academy
"Naruto, wake up! You're going to miss your first day of school," shouted Kyuubi.
So what? I don't care. No one wants me to be there, said the blonde haired boy. "Whoa, where am I?"
"You are in my office," said the Hokage. His face turned from one of seriousness to a calm and pleasant expression.
"Why am I here?" asked Naruto groggily. He was still waking up from his morning daze.
"You need to go to school today, so why don't you just run along," said the old man, trying to avoid Naruto's question. Naruto was about to leave before the Hokage said, "Before you go, take this." The old man opened a desk drawer and took out a leather pouch. He handed it to Naruto and said, "It contains all the materials you need to start class today."
"Thank you very much," said Naruto in great appreciation. The blonde haired boy opened the door to leave the Hokage's office. He ran downstairs and ran straight to the academy.
"Haha, look it's the demon brat!" shouted a kid sitting on the swing. Everyone laughed except for the Hyuuga girl, who stared blankly at Naruto with her colorless eyes. Naruto went inside and was followed by other children, snickering and making loud, obnoxious comments.
"Hey, demon brat, you forgot something," said one of the instructors. The man threw a paper bomb at Naruto, which exploded in a matter of seconds.
"I know the drill," said Kyuubi. He quickly mended Naruto's many wounds.
"What the-" said one of the instructors before being cut off by the school bell.
Naruto walked into the classroom and sat in the back of the class, where he usually sat. He waved at the teacher to say hi. The teacher for that day was Iruka, the only person besides the Hokage that actually showed Naruto any kindness.
Ok, let's see who's here today. There's that Uchiha kid. I kind of feel bad for him after the killings. There's the Hyuugas. Funny, they usually never sit next to each other. Why is Hinata looking at me like that? There's Kiba. His family never tried to hurt me before, so I guess he's cool. Sakura Haruno, wow, she has a really big forehead. Here comes the dumbest blonde in the world, Ino. Her dad was always nice, though. Shino…there's not much to say about him. The Nara kid is probably just like his dad, lazy. There's Chouji. I don't like to criticize him, but he needs to lay off the chips. Tenten is still the same as always, completely oblivious to everything. Lee…overly enthusiastic, nothing else. I guess that's it, thought Naruto, criticizing everyone in the class.
"Good, I think everyone's here," said Iruka. He picked up some chalk and wrote on the board:
SHADOW CLONES
"Today I will be testing you guys by checking how many shadow clones you can produce by using all of your chakra reserves. Raise your hand if you don't know how to produce a shadow clone," said Iruka.
Sakura, Ino, Chouji, Lee, and Shikamaru raised their hands. Everyone else looked at Naruto, expecting him to raise his hand.
I guess it was a good idea for you to teach me how to make shadow clones that summer, said Naruto.
"I told you so!" said Kyuubi mockingly.
"Naruto, don't lie! You can't make a shadow clone!" yelled Sakura.
"Sakura, be quiet. Naruto, would you mind being the first one to produce the shadow clones?" said Iruka.
Naruto got up from his seat and walked down to the front of the class.
"Alright Naruto, use up all of your reserves, ok?" said Kyuubi.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" yelled Naruto while performing a hand sign. Over 200 shadow clones appeared in the class room. Everyone's mouths were left agape.
"N-Naruto used that demon in him didn't he!" yelled Neji. He ran up to Naruto's clones in attempt to destroy them with a single Gentle Fist technique. Once he saw that the technique had no effect, he activated his Byakugan. He then ran in front of the first hundred clones and performed the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms technique. Only about 30 clones were hit. The others grabbed Neji's arms and held him down.
"Neji, calm down!" yelled Naruto. After Neji realized it would be hopeless to break free he stopped struggling and Naruto released him. "What's wrong with you today?!" Naruto then forced his shadow clones to disappear. Neji walked back to his seat, embarrassed.
"Ugh…Good job Naruto," said Iruka with a bit of unease in his voice. He called each student that already knew how to make a shadow clone. The few who didn't know were taught and quickly grasped the method of cloning. The only person who couldn't create a shadow clone was Lee, but everyone knew he couldn't access his chakra reserves due to some strange deficiency.
Why does everyone think I'm some sort of idiot? thought Naruto. He watched as each person created numerous clones. The most shadow clones made, besides the 200 that Naruto made, were 20 by Sasuke Uchiha.
"Good job everyone!" congratulated Iruka. He walked across the front of the class and stood in front of the board. "That's it for today. You all can go now." Everyone got up from their seats and exited the classroom. "Naruto, I need to talk to you."
"Yes Iruka-sensei?" asked Naruto.
"I just wanted to tell you not to listen to what everyone says. You have a…special gift that allows you to do extraordinary things, like those 200 clones you made," said Iruka.
"Yeah, Kyuubi had to teach me for a month so I could make just 30 clones," said Naruto.
"Anyway, just be yourself," said Iruka.
"Ok, bye," said Naruto. Naruto ran out the door and left the academy. Then, four students, Sasuke, Neji, Ino, and Sakura, confronted Naruto before he left the courtyard.
"Where do you think you're going?" asked Sasuke.
"Home," said Naruto, pushing pass the four. Neji struck Naruto on the spine with a Gentle Fist technique. Naruto didn't stumble or fall like they expected him to.
"How are you still standing after that?" asked Sakura.
"It's the demon obviously," said Ino.
"Try that again and the ANBU will come to get you," said Naruto.
"You're kidding, right?" asked Neji.
"Hit me again and you'll see," said Naruto.
"He's bluffing!" yelled Sasuke. He ran towards Naruto, hand curled into a fist, and tried to punch him. Then, almost out of nowhere, Yugao appeared and blocked the hit.
"Do not harm this child," said Yugao. The four children ran away in fear of being caught by the ANBU captain. "You really have to learn to stick up for yourself instead of calling me or Kakashi for help."
"If I stood up for myself when people would try to beat me up, those people would be dead," said Naruto plainly.
"What has Kyuubi been teaching you?" asked Yugao.
"Stuff," said Naruto. He showed a small smile.
"Whatever, just try to handle at least one situation by yourself," said Yugao.
"Ok, see you later," said Naruto.
Yugao immediately disappeared and Naruto walked home and prepared for the next day.