Chapter 2: A New Bond and Promise
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter 2: A New Bond and the Forbidden Scroll
Here we last see our hero in front of a mysterious cage with a strange entity behind it glaring at him.
"Well… you gonna answer me meat bag or am I so damn interesting that words will only ruin your petty little gay moment" said the mysterious entity.
Naruto was frozen solid, he felt this presence was familiar, but where had he felt it before. "Who are you?" Naruto asked hoping to get an answer from the giant shadow with with red glowing slit eyes. "Why do you ask, am I really that interesting to you" mocked the shadow, "Well… yeah actually" Naruto replied, which had surprised the shadow. "Why should I tell you" the shadow snarled, "Because I feel like we're connected, ya know?" answered Naruto, "Like we need each other". "I don't need you!" yelled the shadow, "Yeah, you do" Naruto replied, which had angered the shadow a bit, "I can sense it you're afraid", that was it, that sentence threw the shadow over the edge that with a booming roar it tried to attack the boy, but the cage was in it's way.
"Don't you ever dare say I'm afraid of anything you little bastard! Nothing strikes fear into The Nine Tailed Fox!" roared the shadow which revealed itself as a gigantic nine tailed fox. Then it clicked, Naruto remembered who this was, it was one of the creatures the man from his newly acquired memories created from the ten tailed monstrosity. "What's wrong, did you shit your pants after my little jump scare" said the Nine Tailed Fox in an insulting manner, "Your… your… your…" this little reply put a cocky grin on the Nine Tails face, "About damn time you showed some mortal fear", "You're Kurama!" and just like that, the Nine Tails was frozen in place. How, how can this child now his real name, the one his creator, the man he saw as his father had given to him "How do you know my name boy?" asked Kurama, but Naruto was still frozen in place staring up at Kurama in awe. "ANSWER ME NOW" roared Kurama with a demanding tone.
"I saw you and your siblings, in the old man's memories" he replied in defense, 'the old man?!' thought Kurama in surprise. "I saw all of you, Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Goku, Kokuo, Saiken, Choumei, Gyuki, and you Kurama", this had left Kurama stunned, not only did the kid knew not only his name but also his sibling's as well and he knew about the old man. Kurama looked at the boy and noticed his new look, but what really caught Kurama's attention was the necklace around his neck with the single magatama attached to it. "Boy, where did you get that necklace and do you know where my siblings and I came from?" asked Kurama, "Oh, well I was in the forest of death and I fell into a hole, sensed the power radiating from this thing and when I put it on my body changed and I got these memories and the answer to the latter is that the man created you guys from a ten tailed monster", Kurama thought as much.
"Listen kit and listen good 'cause I'm not gonna say it a second time, that man was who you hairless monkeys call 'The Sage of the Six Paths' and that's his necklace which he laced with his chakra and memories" lectured Kurama. "The Sage of the Six Paths!" yelled Naruto in surprise, taking the magatama in his hand Naruto held it with gentle care, now it all made sense, except one thing, "Wait if this was his, how come there's only one magatama and not six, I mean if he put his chakra in this thing then shouldn't it preserve the others?". "Guess the kid isn't as dumb as he lets on" thought Kurama, "You got me there kid", "Damnit!" swore Naruto, "Woah, careful kit do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" mocked Kurama. "Shut up! That's not Funny!" then Naruto realized, "Wait… you said I was your jailor… since when?" asked Naruto, "Why should I tell you?" questioned Kurama, "Please… I'm desperate…" answered Naruto in a sorrow filled tone. Kurama recognized that tone, it was the same one he had after the sage left, "Please don't go… I'm desperate…", with a heavy sigh Kurama decided to be a good fox for once since for thousands of years. "Fine, I'll tell you everything" said Kurama, Naruto looked up with hopeful eyes and said "Really?", "Yes, now quit your blubbering… it all started twelve years ago on your birthday when your mother Kushina Uzumaki who was also my second jinchuriki and if you raise your hand or interrupt me I won't tell you jack shit" Kurama said to Naruto who was sitting cross legged and raised his hand like an eager little students, then slowly lowered his hand.
"Good, now where was I, ah yes when your mother was giving birth to you, it was the perfect chance for me to escape from the seal that was keeping me inside of her. Your father, Minato Namikaze, better known as the Fourth Hokage, tried to keep the seal in check, and then you were born, so the only thing to do left was to fix the seal, but a mysterious masked man held you hostage and used you as bait so your father was separated from your mother, which succeeded and I was ripped out of your mother, lucky for her she was an Uzumaki or else she would have been dead. The masked bastard used his doujutsu the Sharigan, meaning he was only one person, the man who had once controlled me before, that rotten bastard, Madara Uchiha. Your father saved your mother and went to fight against Madara and used a contract seal to free me from his control, but he then had to come around and seal up half of my chakra into you and the rest into him, there any questions…" said Kurama after finishing his little story. "Uh ", "Good, well goodnight", "Wait! I have so many questions!" yelled Naruto, Kurama sighed and said "I'll only answer one" said Kurama in an irritated manner. "D-did my p-parents… love me", of all the questions it had to be that, not wanting to be bothered anymore Kurama decided to tell Naruto the truth, "Yes kit… they loved you with all their heart that it killed them to put such a heavy burden on you… well that and me". In the corner of his eyes Kurama could see Naruto crying tears of both sadness and joy, Naruto looked up at Kurama and said "Thank you, Kurama-sama". Once again Kurama was floored; maybe some humans weren't so bad. Maybe.
"Don't mention it kit… now get some sleep" replied Kurama heading back into the shadows to slumber. Naruto awoke back into the real world only to fall back asleep not a moment later. For once Naruto was truly happy, not only did he learn that his parents loved him, but he made his first real friend. Things might be looking up for our young hero.
Naruto woke up to the sound of his alarm clock which he grabbed and threw it at the wall and broke it into pieces and also leaving a dent in the wall. "Oh that's right, I got super strength, oh well good riddance" and soon enough Naruto went on to do his daily routine, except for breakfast because of a deep voice in the back of his mind. "You know, Ramen is the reason you were always so short" said Kurama, "What?! No way!" shouted Naruto in disbelief, "What did you expect you eat that crap everyday", "Damnit… well looks like I'll be eating an apple on the go". After taking his apple Naruto left his apartment and started his walk to the academy that is until he passed the Hokage Monument. When he looked up he thought his father didn't look good with a scowl so he decided to change that. After a whole afternoon of painting Naruto had finally finished his work of art, the faces of the Hokages looked like the real deal with color and they had smiles, plus he made old man third look younger. Down in the village, villagers were about to protest thinking it was a prank, but when they got a good look they actually liked the new look for the monument, they still don't like him, but turns out he could actually be useful. Hiruzen Sarutobi, third Hokage of Konohagakure was also admiring the handiwork of his surrogate grandson, especially his own face on the monument.
After the deed was down Naruto started walking to the academy again only to bump into someone, when he looked up he saw a brunette man with a scar on his face. "Hey Iruka sensei what's up" at first Iruka wouldn't of thought this kid was Naruto, but the whisker marks on his face was a dead giveaway. After getting punched upside the head and being called a baka, Naruto was being dragged backed to the academy, perfect.
The Academy
In the class of Iruka Umino everyone was talking freely since their sensei went to hunt done the blonde baka known as Naruto Uzumaki, or as he is better known as 'The Dead Last'. Everyone was having a moderately good; until the door slammed open revealing the class sensei Iruka Umino, and a white haired boy that the girls, and the possible gay students, found very attractive.
He had well-toned muscles for a twelve year-old which drew the girls wild, especially since he had a tank top like shirt with a red swirl in the middle of his chest area, a necklace with a single magatama , red pants and black ninja sandals. He had spiked up white hair that was as pure as freshly morning snow, his face angular with no trace of baby fat, gorgeous cerulean eyes and six whisker like birth marks, three on each cheek.
Then it all clicked
'Cerulean eyes and whisker like birth marks?! Holy crap it's Naruto!' was thought that went through every students minds.
The girls couldn't believe they were attracted to Naruto, same with the gay students, even though subconsciously they still are, but one thought came to their minds, "What happened to the dobe?"
"Well Naruto what do you have to say for yourself" said Iruka in a voice with much authority, "I regret nothing" was reply, to which some of the students chuckled. Iruka had to control himself since nothing will come from yelling at him, "Just take your seat" said Iruka in an irritated voice, "Yes sir" replied Naruto in a surprisingly respecting manner, which surprised both Iruka and the students. Naruto took his respected seat without any showing any sign of anything immature which was another big surprise.
"Your showing signs of Maturity" said Kurama in the back of Naruto "Glad to see you doing so Naruto", "Thanks" muttered Naruto, "Thanks for what?" asked the voice next to him. Naruto turned to see the one person Naruto thought had to be an angel sent from heaven to brighten the world itself, Sakura Haruno. Sakura had long exotic pink hair that had the bangs to the side showing her wide forehead, jade green eyes, and a petite frame. Her clothing style consisted of a red short sleeve battle dress, green biker shorts, blue sandals, and a red bow tied around her head. She stared at Naruto with a confused look, luckily he had just the cover up, "Thanks for not hitting me", "Nice" said Kurama actually happy Naruto came up with a simple and effective lie. "Why would I hit you" said Sakura, which earned her a 'Are you serious' look from Naruto, which made her blush in embarrassment and feel a little shallow.
"Okay now that everyone is here, it's time to start the Genin Exams" announced Iruka as he then led his students outside to start the exams. 'Shit!' thought Naruto, how could he forget today was the Genin Exams "Calm yourself kit, remember you have the power of the Sage on your side" said Kurama succeeding in calming Naruto's nerves. Thanks to the reassuring words of the fox spirit, Naruto had kept a cool attitude and breezed through the shuriken throwing and obstacle course in the exams with flying colors which genuinely surprised the students and teachers. Next came the taijutsu part of the exams, and oh how Naruto loved this.
Naruto had been put up against his old arch-rival, Sasuke Uchiha, the only survivor of the Uchiha massacre and one of the coldest bastards you'll ever meet. Naruto wasn't the only one who was tingling with excitement; Kurama as well couldn't wait to see Naruto wipe the floor with this little Uchiha prick. Ever since Madara came along, Kurama had always hated the Uchiha Clan with a burning passion.
The girls of the 'Sasuke fan club' cheered for Sasuke to beat the crap out of Naruto, but Sasuke didn't care for his fans at all, he only cared about his revenge, reviving his clan, and her. Just as Iruka began the match, Sasuke charged at Naruto with his fist cocked back, but just as he was about to send the blow, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's wrist and threw him out of the ring and into a tree, but Sasuke managed to land on the bark of the tree and launch himself toward Naruto. The results didn't go so well in Sasuke's favor. Just when Sasuke was close enough to Naruto, with astonishing speed Naruto kneed Sasuke in the gut with such force that some blood trickled down the side of Sasuke's lip.
Sasuke with the wind kicked out of him, fell upon the cold ground. History had been made today, a dead last loser had defeated a prodigy in just two moves, everyone, including the teachers, were speechless. Naruto looked at Sasuke with a bit of concern, hoping that he hadn't killed the Uchiha, while the fox spirit that shared Naruto's body roared with laughter at the display of entertainment and hoping the Uchiha finally kicked the bucket. Just then, all of Sasuke's fan girls had screamed at Naruto for what he did to their precious Sasuke-kun and was ready for blood, but that all left their bodies immediately after seeing the dead serious look Naruto had given them. "What did you expect" answered Naruto darkly "It was a match, one of us had to lose, and if you all are still too ignorant to accept the truth and still want my blood, then I dare you to come up and face me".
Naruto had made it clear, whether they were a boy, girl, teacher, or any kind of shinobi, Naruto would gladly knock some sense into them, which made all the fan girls too afraid to even say a word. This made Naruto grin happily on the inside.
Everything was going so well for Naruto today, he made some great art work that the villagers actually appreciate, he breezed through the physical part of his exam, he finally gave Sasuke the beating he deaerved, and he stopped fan girls from beating the living shit out of him by scaring them. Today was becoming the best day of his life.
Until...
"You failed Naruto" announced Iruka. "What?!" screamed Naruto "I don't get it, I did everything perfectly", "Except for the Bushin no jutsu" corrected Iruka. "Aw come on Iruka Sensei, the clone jutsu is useless, the kawarmi jutsu is more useful" Naruto had said in a whiney voice. "I'm sorry Naruto, but rules are rules" Iruka really did want Naruto to pass, he didn't know what had gotten into Naruto, but it was like he did a complete turnaround, except for his whining, brash attitude, and cocky personality. Naruto would've made a fine ninja, but the academy had regulations for graduating; if you couldn't create a clone, you can't graduate the academy.
Naruto had left the testing room with an angry expression on his face; this had made some of the students uneasy. "Excuse me Naruto, but are you okay?" Naruto turned slightly to his left to see the timidly concerned voice came from Sakura, which was a genuine surprise considering that it was a common fact that Sakura hated Naruto with a burning passion for getting in the way of her and her precious 'Sasuke-kun'. After what Naruto displayed today Sakura saw that Naruto was hiding his true self this whole time, so against her inner self's judgement, Sakura decided to get to know Naruto a little. The thing was, even though Sakura actually was showing concern for Naruto, he wasn't in the mood for any bullshit.
"Why do you care, you hate me remember" Naruto said rather coldly, which made Sakura feel hurt on the inside and made her feel like crap. Sakura left Naruto alone, but for some reason, Sakura actually want to get closer to Naruto. Why? Heck if she knew.
After the academy ended, Naruto angrily stomped back to his apartment, not wanting to see all the lucky graduates' parade around their parents with their new headbands. He'd like to see them escape groups of pissed off ANBU, little bastards. "There you are" Naruto heard a voice from behind him say, he turned around to find a man with shoulder length white hair, wearing a chunin outfit, "I've been looking everywhere for you". "What the hell do you want Mizuki" said Naruto coldly, the man known as Mizuki crinkled his eyebrows and said "I came to inform you on your make up exam", "Make up exam?" questioned Naruto. "Yup, Iruka gave you another chance to become a ninja" said Mizuki in a very friendly manner "Is that so" said Naruto suspiciously "Then how come he sent you to tell me and not him in person?". "He had to do paperwork" replied Mizuki, Naruto knew this was a trick, but he decided that this could probably help him vent out his anger, "What is this make up exam?"
Konoha Woods
It had been an hour and a half since Naruto took 'The Scroll of Forbidden Jutsu' from the old man's mansion. Getting in was easy, but getting out was a different story, thank kami he created the Sexy no Jutsu, that gave him the ability to transform into an attractive naked woman, or else the old man would've beaten him down for taking it. Thank kami most of the men in the shinobi world are perverts, especially the old man. While Naruto was waiting for Mizuki he had learned a new jutsu from the Forbidden Scroll, the Kage Bushin no jutsu. Sure Naruto said earlier that the Bushin no jutsu was useless, but this was Kage Bushin, which was a solid clone, not an illusion like the crappy regular Bushin jutsu. After a little while of waiting Iruka had found Naruto and had an angry expression on his face, which proved Naruto's suspicions. Naruto had told Iruka everything about what Mizuki had plotted, just then a gigantic Fuma Shuriken was thrown at them. Both Naruto and Iruka dodged the giant deadly ninja tool in time, "Congrats Naruto you pass, now give me the scroll" demanded Mizuki who was in a tree with a bandana on his head and another Fuma Shuriken on his back. "Oh sure I'll give it to you, when hell freezes over!" yelled a clearly pissed off Naruto, "I was hoping you'd say that" said Mizuki as he made a seal. Suddenly the sounds of sizzling were heard from the thrown Fuma Shuriken on Naruto's left, which had roughly fourteen on them. Naruto's eyes widened then were closed tight preparing for the explosion.
BOOM
The explosion occurred, but Naruto didn't feel a thing. He carefully opened his eyes to see such a he never thought would ever happened sight.
Iruka had protected Naruto from the explosion.
Iruka had suffered the full effect of the explosion. The clothing of his torso burnt off showing the charred skin he had received from protecting Naruto. The left side of Iruka's face had third degree burns.
"A-are y-y-you alright N-naruto" Iruka asked with pain evident in his voice.
"W-why?" questioned Naruto trembling, why did Iruka sacrifice himself for him? Didn't he hate Naruto like the rest of the villagers?
"Because we're alike" answer Iruka shocking Naruto "Like you I wanted to prove myself when I was your age… I even wanted attention so I acted like a clown… You remind me of myself Naruto… you're my favorite student". Tears were pouring down Naruto's eyes after hearing the heartwarming words from Iruka, "Naruto… t-take the s-scroll and get b-back to the h-hidden l-leaf village" order Iruka "B-but w-what about y-you" Naruto tried to speak in a trembling voice. "I-I'm d-done for… you have t-to go", "NO!" yelled Naruto in protest, "N-naruto..." before Iruka could protest Naruto hugged him tightly and said with tears in his eyes "I'm not leaving you". Iruka was touched, even though the secrets of the village were important, Naruto still refuse to leave his side, even if it was a reckless decision.
"Naruto…" Iruka said quietly but loud enough for Naruto could hear "… I'm glad I got to meet you" Naruto looked up at Iruka with eyes full of tears to see Iruka smiling down at him with compassion… and like that… his heart had stopped.
Iruka Umino was dead
Fresh tears were beginning to poor from Naruto's eyes. The only person that had showed him so much compassion, that showed him such kindness, the man who gave him comfort… was now gone.
Up in the tree Mizuki grinned sickly deranged, feeling pride in harming the demon brat like no other did, "This is what happens when you befriend a demon" sneered Mizuki, but suddenly felt fear from the killer intent that Naruto was emitting. "No" said Naruto still holding Iruka's burnt corpse "This is what happens when sick bastards like you feel they can get away with whatever they want!" roared Naruto glaring at Mizuki with pale sky blue rippled patterned eyes. Mizuki feeling so much fear couldn't even move a single muscle, he had angered the nine tails jinchuriki, and now he had to pay the price.
In a swift motion, Naruto had lifted one of his arms and spoke "Shinra Tensai", suddenly everything infront of Naruto's palm had been attacked with so much force. Mizuki was barely alive for the moment, but that ended when Naruto pulled out a kunai and once again spoke the words "Shinra Tensai" that it launched the kunai with such force that it impaled straight through Mizuki's skull, instantly killing the rotten bastard.
There he was... In the middle of a half destroyed area of the forest… trees uprooted, burnt bark from explosions, and the scent of blood in the air… but none of that matter… the only thing that mattered to Naruto was to not let go of the body of his deceased sensei.
'Please let it all be a dream, please let it all be a dream, please let it all be a dream' was the thought that kept going over and over in Naruto's mind. He didn't care if he ever became a ninja anymore… he just wanted Iruka sensei back.
The Next Morning
It was a dark and dreary day in Konoha. The funeral of Iruka Umino was in progress with friends and students there paying their respects to the fallen shinobi. Soon after burying the casket people started leaving, the only ones left were Sakura and Naruto. Sakura had always seen Iruka as a sort of father figure; he helped her whenever he could and always listened to her problems. She found herself staring at Naruto, who had been seen as a hero in their graduating class for defeating the man who took their sensei's life.
"Naruto…" Sakura started "It's my entire fault" said Naruto "I knew that bastard Mizuki was just using me, but I still went ahead and did his dirty work… it's my entire fault… I killed Iruka sensei. Sakura put her hand on Naruto's shoulder and said "Iruka believed you Naruto "that was all Sakura said then left the grave site. It may have been a few words, but it spoke a lot to Naruto, he looked down at the grave and said "I promise… I promise I'll bring peace to this world… for you" and with those simple words Naruto left Iruka's grave whispering "Thank you Sakura"