(To publicly address some comments I received yesterday: Hinata and Naruto getting married is cannon. Their children, Boruto and Himawari, are also cannon. Boruto now has his own show, and I even plan on making a book involving that with a much younger OC, though I haven't decided how I will set them up. Also, the Arugan isn't actually that OP. It merely gives Shade access to more jutsu; that doesn't mean he can use them all immediately. He must train his body, mind, and chakra network. The meditation and other training that he has done is what makes him powerful. Also, he's meant to seem as if he's the perfect example of a ninja with Kekkei Genkai. There is a reason for this that will be slightly evident in one of the later books. Yes, he seems OP, but I assure you, thanks to his own doing, he's not as far ahead as he seems. I OWN NOTHING!)
-o-
"Naruto! Come back here! When I get my hands on you—!" one of the two Chunin shouted.
The Chunin were chasing young Naruto Uzumaki down the streets of the Leaf while Shade followed close behind them.
Shade had forgotten most of his training and all of his battles, not to mention the fact that he was simply in a weaker body now, so he was only as fast as the average ninja his age, meaning he couldn't overtake any of the ninja in front of him.
Shade didn't recognize the Chunin, but he definitely recognized Naruto, who currently had his jacket tied around his waist, a bucket of goldenrod paint in his hand, and goggles on his forehead.
He was also laughing his head off as he ran down the street.
"You've crossed the line this time, Naruto!" the other one yelled.
Suddenly, Naruto began jumping up the walls of the surrounding buildings and did a final jump into the air and back towards Shade, purposely backtracking.
"Give it up," Naruto laughed, "You're just mad because you don't have the guts to do what I do, do ya? Losers! Wannabees! You'll never catch me! Hahahahahahaha!"
Shade smiled and moved out of the way before Naruto landed on him, then began running beside him with the Chunin close behind as they had mimicked Naruto's every move.
"What's all the noise about?" Shade asked with a smile.
Naruto turned his head quickly in surprise and noticed Shade for the first time.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"My name is Shade Aru," Shade answered, "and you?"
Naruto grinned and shouted, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm gonna be the next Hokage! Believe it!"
Shade's grin widened. "Great! Now, let me help you out real quick."
Shade grabbed Naruto's shoulder and dove into an alley. The Chunin ran right on by.
"Well, looks like we're clear," Shade said as he turned towards the whiskered child.
"Thanks!" Naruto said to his brand new accomplice.
"Yeah well, you looked like you needed help," Shade responded. "You were getting chased because you painted the Hokage faces, right?"
Naruto nodded, an apprehensive look now on his face.
Shade held out his fist.
"Awesome! That graffiti was hilarious!"
Naruto's smile returned as he bumped Shade's fist.
"Yeah, it was pretty funny!"
"Oh yeah, Naruto!?"
"AH!" the boys both shouted as they jumped.
Shade turned around and saw another Ninja in the alley entrance.
"Where'd you come from Iruka-sensei?" Naruto questioned. "What are you doing here?"
"No, what are you doing here?" Iruka questioned back. "You're supposed to be in class."
"Oh, so you're Iruka-sensei," Shade stepped in. He then reached into the pouch on his right leg and pulled out the scroll from the Hokage before tossing it to Iruka.
"Oh, what's this?" he questioned after he caught it.
Iruka opened the scroll and read it quickly before looking back at Shade and smiling. "I just received word from the Hokage about you, Shade. He says you should pass the class with flying colors."
Iruka then sent a deadly look towards Naruto before saying, "I just hope you don't turn out to be a trouble maker like the other student the Hokage's messenger told me about."
"No promises," Shade said with a smirk.
-o-
"I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto," Iruka lectured.
Naruto was currently tied up and sitting on the floor at the front of the classroom. Shade was seated beside one kid who was apparently named Sasuke Uchiha (according to the whispers of love from most of the girls in the room) and he was now receiving several dirty looks (from those same girls).
He simply flipped them off and leaned his chair back, kicking his feet up on the desk, which were clad in black shinobi socks and black shinobi combat shoes (The kind that would normally be considered boots if they didn't leave the toes open like sandals).
Sasuke didn't seem to care, which Shade was just fine with.
"You failed the graduation test last time and the time before that," Iruka continued. "Tomorrow you've got another chance and you're messing up again!"
"Humph!" Naruto turned his head snidely away from Iruka and Shade had to stifle a laugh.
"Fine!" Iruka shouted before turning to the rest of the class. "Because you missed it, Naruto, everyone will review the Transformation Jutsu!"
"AW!" almost the entire class said in unison.
Sasuke didn't seem to care, and Shade pumped his fist in the air with a resounding "Woohoo!"
Almost the entire class glared at him, but he just smiled even more.
No wonder Naruto causes so much chaos; this is fun!
I'm beginning to wonder which one of us is the demon.
-o-
"Alright, Sakura here, let's do it," a girl with long pink hair said as she held up a hand sign.
Sakura, huh? She's one of the girls that kept giving me dirty looks, thought Shade.
The entire class was lined up at the front of the classroom, awaiting their turn to show off their Transformation Jutsu. Shade was standing in between Naruto and Sasuke.
"Transform!" Sakura shouted before a cloud of smoke went up around her. When it cleared, an exact copy of Iruka was standing there and holding up the same hand sign as before.
I know that jutsu. This will be easy.
I doubt you'll see any new jutsu for quite a while. After all, you have already seen how this all goes without you around.
"Transformed into me," Iruka said mostly to himself, "Good"
Sakura transformed back into herself and began shouting in celebration.
"Yes! I did it! Yay! Yes!"
She then turned on Sasuke.
"Sasuke, did you see that?" she asked hopefully.
Shade looked at him and whispered, "My condolences."
"Next: Sasuke Uchiha"
Sasuke ignored them both, which Shade somehow thought amusing, and stepped forward as Iruka called his name. He quickly threw up a hand sign and transformed into Iruka just like Sakura did.
"Uh, good," Iruka said as he looked up from the clipboard to see that Sasuke had already turned into him.
Shade suddenly noticed Naruto had switched places with some guy with a ponytail whom was now right beside him.
When did that happen?
Uh… I don't actually know…
Weird.
Agreed.
"Next: Shade Aru."
The class all looked expectantly to the strange looking new kid as he made his way to the front of the classroom.
Shade neither said a word nor did he throw up a hand sign as he transformed into Iruka with his hands at his sides. The real Iruka just stared in open-mouthed shock.
Shade transformed back before explaining with, "One of the Aru clan's Kekkei Genkai is the Arutensu; the ability to cast any jutsu without hand signs without expending any extra chakra or hindering the jutsu in any way."
"Uh, okay, well," Iruka seemed to be at a loss for words, as well as the rest of the class.
Sasuke, however, looked like he was sizing Shade up.
"Well, you did well, I suppose, so uh… good job?"
Shade smirked at Iruka and moved to the end of the line.
"Uh, oh right! Next: Naruto Uzumaki!" Iruka seemed to recover a bit as Shade moved to the end of the line.
Naruto stepped up with a confident grin and Shade noticed his sister blushing and poking her fingers together under her chin.
Mind Reader Jutsu.
Shade used a jutsu he knew he hadn't copied because he remembered learning it from a scroll when he was eight, long before this current point in time.
"Naruto, do your best." Hinata's soft voice echoed in Shade's head and he cancelled the Jutsu.
Yep, she's still totally hypnotized by his mere existence.
It's good to see that some things never change, no matter how much we mess with the universe.
"Transform!" Naruto shouted as a large amount of chakra spewed from him.
Whoa, that's a bit much.
Suddenly, Naruto transformed, but not into Iruka.
"HAHAHAHA!"
Shade fell over laughing as Iruka got a nose bleed from the naked blonde girl now standing in front of him.
"Hahahahahaha! Got ya! That's my Sexy Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he poofed back into himself.
Shade was rolling on the floor. "His face was too perfect! He didn't know what to do!"
"CUT THE STUPID TRICKS!" Iruka shouted with tissues now jammed in his nose to stop the bleeding. "THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"
"I can't breathe!" Shade shouted, struggling to breathe and laugh at the same time.
-o-
Shade walked through the streets of the Village Hidden in the Leaves until he spotted a familiar figure cleaning the Hokage monuments while another familiar figure sat on top of the head that the first figure was cleaning.
Shade smiled as he recognized Naruto and Iruka-sensei. He was about to run towards them when an arm grabbed his sleeve.
"Excuse me, but where did you get those blades?" a firm yet feminine voice asked.
Shade looked behind him to see a girl with buns in her hair and a pink shirt. She was clearly a ninja, as her headband indicated, but Shade didn't know her. Then again, Shade didn't know that many people to begin with.
"What?" Shade asked as he turned around to face her, for some reason getting distracted by the girl's face.
"Those blades on the back of your hips," the girl asked, pointing to Saw and Sabre. "Where did you find such well-made replicas of Saw and Sabre, the legendary blades of the Aru clan?
"Oh, these aren't replicas," Shade said, unsheathing the blades and showing them to the girl.
Saw, which had had its handle jutting out on Shade's right side and was now in Shade's right hand, was mostly rectangular, but had large, one inch long triangular teeth on the bladed side.
Sabre, which had had its handle jutting out on Shade's left side and was now in Shade's left hand, had a straight back, but was curved on the bladed side so that it actually had a point on the end, but it definitely wasn't meant to just stab someone. It was meant to slice.
"I'm the last Aru, so I inherited these," Shade said. "The name's Shade Aru by the way."
The girl's face lit up.
"That's so cool!" she cried.
She began asking hundreds of questions and Shade tried to answer as many as he could to the best of his knowledge, but he just couldn't keep up. Luckily, someone showed up to save him. Unluckily, that someone was Shade's least favorite adoptive relative.
"Tenten, where have you been?" a condescending voice shouted from down the street.
Oh no. Not this jerk.
Good luck.
Shade sheathed his blades, then looked behind Tenten to see his adoptive cousin, Neji Hyuga, walking up the road. Neji froze when he saw Shade.
"What are you doing here, Lord Aru?" Neji questioned. "Or is it Elder? Or maybe Heir? I can never tell since there are so many clan positions which now fall upon you."
Ever since Shade had been taken in by Hiashi, Neji had hated him. So, Neji made it a point to try and bully Shade about his family, which Shade thought of as a whole new level of harsh, especially since he had no clue as to why Neji acted the way he did.
"Well at least that makes me important, Daddy's boy," Shade spat back.
Neji's eye twitched.
"And I'm here because I've decided to become a full-fledged Leaf shinobi and start helping out around the village," Shade continued. "So I decided to walk around the village and get to know my surroundings.
"Um, do you two know each other?" Tenten asked.
"Yeah," Shade answered, staring down Neji as he did the same in return. "The Hyuga have taken care of me since my family died since Hiashi was friends with my father, Gendo Aru. But this jerk has hated me and mocked me since I first showed up."
"Um…" Tenten said as Neji didn't even bother to deny the accusations.
"We'll talk later, Tenten," Neji stated coldly before turning around and walking away.
"Uh, okay?" Tenten responded in an unsure manner.
As Neji rounded a corner, Shade turned back to Tenten.
"So…I take it he's your boyfriend?" he asked, for some reason feeling a little saddened by the thought.
"What? No!" Tenten looked incredulous. "We're just teammates! I mean, Neji's a great teammate and all, but he really isn't my type."
Shade felt a little happier for some reason.
"Oh, okay. Oh, by the way, how is it you know so much about my blades?"
Tenten blushed a little at that. "Well, I'm a weapons specialist. It's kind of my thing."
Shade blinked then smiled. "Well, would you like to use them?"
Her jaw almost hit the ground.
"R-really?" Tenten asked. "You'd really let me?!"
"Of course," Shade answered with a smile. "I'm bad at using almost any kind of weapon; especially Saw and Sabre. So I might as well let someone else learn how to use them, even if I plan on keeping them. I have plenty of scrolls you can look at that teach you how to use them; I just never got the hang of it."
Tenten's eyes shined like stars. Suddenly, she hugged the much taller boy.
"Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" she shouted as she squeezed. When she let go, Shade had to hide his light blush.
"Uh, no problem," he said. "Just come by the Hyuga estate tomorrow before the academy starts. I'll be waiting at the main entrance."
Tenten thanked him one last time before she ran off to catch up with Neji.
Nice girl.
Yeah. Let's hope she doesn't come to hate me like the girls in the academy.
Those are special cases.
How so?
There's little to no brain activity in any of them.
Shade snickered a bit at Bakuda's joke before he began walking home.
-o-
"Thanks again for letting me train with these," Tenten said as she tried to hand Saw and Sabre back to Shade.
The two stood in one of the Hyuga compound's outdoor sparring areas. Several craters and gash marks were visible in the ground everywhere. Tenten had still barely broken a sweat since she hadn't been training very long, so Shade held up his hand.
"You've barely gotten any work in; stay here and keep training while I go finish up the final exam at the academy."
"Really?" Tenten asked, her eyes once again shining like stars.
"Of course."
"Thanks!" Tenten hugged him before she quickly pulled back with a curious look on her face. "By the way, why are you still in the academy? You look like you're at least my age."
"Well, I am a year too old for the class I'm in, but yesterday was my first day. I kind of never left my room until yesterday, so they're making a special exception for me, and if I pass the final exam, I'll be granted the official rank of Genin."
"Oh, cool!" Tenten said. "You'd better get going then! I'll stay here and train."
"Alright," Shade said as he nodded and turned to leave. "Good luck, Tenten!"
"You too, Shade!"
-o-
"We will now start the final exam," Iruka announced. "When your name is called, proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on… the Clone Jutsu."
"Wait, that's all?" Shade asked.
"Yes, why?"
"Nothing, I just didn't expect it to be a demonstration of a basic jutsu like that," Shade said.
"Well, if this were the Chunin exams, it wouldn't be so easy," Iruka said. "But right now, you're just going for Genin."
"Got it."
-o-
Shade walked out of the room with a headband in hand and dispersed the ten clones he had made. He saw Naruto sitting on a bench by himself.
Hm. No headband. Shame.
I'm sure he'll pass next time.
Yeah, I sure hope so.
"There, you see him?"
Shade turned to see a woman with a hateful expression on her face that looked like she was looking Naruto's way.
Who is that?
Looks like some civilian woman; probably a parent.
I can see that, but are they looking at Naruto?
It looks like it.
"It's that boy. I heard he's the only one who failed," another woman beside the first one said, also sending a hateful look Naruto's way.
"Humph. Well it serves him right."
"Just imagine what would happen if he became a ninja. I mean, he's the boy who—"
"The boy who what?"
Both of the mothers turned to see Shade glaring at them.
"No, finish your thought. I want to know why so many of you hate him. He may be a trouble maker, but I haven't heard of anything he's done to deserve this kind of treatment so leave him alone or I might just lose my temper."
Suddenly, two boys appeared beside the women.
"Hey, leave our moms alo—"
Shade didn't even take the time to look at him, much less listen to him before he spun around and struck the one on the left with the back of his right fist, sending him headfirst into the face of the one on the right, launching them both twenty feet away. Everyone grew silent. The mothers looked terrified.
"Like I said; I might just lose my temper."
Shade walked away.
That was an excellent Key Lock strike.
Well, it is the Aru's ancient fighting style. There're more scrolls about it then there are about you.
That's because they had it before they had me, before they were known as the Aru clan.
Yep. Incredible how something that old is still so effective.
Indeed.
Shade suddenly noticed that Naruto was now gone.
"Where'd he go?"
-o-
Shade was panicking. He had overheard a Leaf Ninja talking about how Naruto had stolen the Leaf Village's scroll of sealing.
Damn it, Naruto! What did you do?!
Focus! You need to find him before the others do!
Right! So someone must have tricked him, right?
Definitely; there's no way he would have done this on his own.
Right.
And with that, Shade ran into the woods, tracking Naruto's scent. It didn't take long before he came upon Naruto and Iruka.
Looks like I was beaten to the punch. But luckily, it doesn't look like Iruka's going to kill him.
Looks can be deceiving.
Not helping.
Shade crouched on the tree limb he was in and watched the situation unfold before he made any brash decisions.
"Caught me already; not bad," Naruto said while rubbing the back of his head and smiling, "You're quick, Sensei. I only had time to learn one technique."
Iruka gave a bit of a surprised look.
How in the world was Naruto able to learn anything from that scroll? Isn't it supposed to be coded or something and filled with only incredibly advanced jutsu?
Note to self; if I must attack a village, attack Leaf Village since their leaders are clearly morons and their techniques are simple and easy to learn.
Please don't.
No promises.
You joke stealing son-of-a—!
"Listen Iruka-sensei," Naruto continued, sparing Bakuda of Shade's insults. "I'm gonna show you this amazing jutsu, then you're gonna let me graduate, then everything will be okay! That's the way it works, right? Anyone who learns a jutsu from this scroll passes."
"Huh?!" Iruka had the biggest dumbfounded expression Shade had ever seen. "Where'd you get that idea?"
"Mizuki-sensei told me about it!" Naruto announced before spinning around to show off the giant scroll strapped to his back. "Believe it! He told me where to find the scroll, and this place…"
Naruto trailed of when he saw the horrified look on Iruka's face.
I smell a rat.
As do I.
So, that guy with the silver hair from the exams is a turncoat?
It would seem so.
And that's his scent right behind us, correct?
Correct.
Break him?
No. He's stronger than you. You'll need help from the other two. Low level Chunin beats high level Genin.
Shade heard several blades whiz towards him, but he dropped out of the trees before they could touch him and ran over to Naruto and Iruka. When he reached them, he spun around and faced Mizuki.
"I see you found our little hideaway, eh, Iruka? And Shade, isn't it a bit past your bedtime?" Mizuki asked from his place in the trees.
"Shade, what are you doing here?" Iruka asked as he quickly drew out a kunai.
"I came to help Naruto get out of whatever mess he was in. I may not have known him that long, but I knew enough to figure out that someone had tricked him into doing this."
"Nice work," Mizuki stated. "But I'm afraid it was all for not."
"Wait, what's going on?" Naruto questioned.
"Mizuki tricked you, Naruto," Shade stated, never letting his eyes move away from Mizuki for a second. "He used you to try and get the scroll for himself."
"He's right, Naruto," Iruka said. "That scroll contains vital information that could put the village in grave danger. You can't let Mizuki get his hands on it".
Suddenly, Mizuki threw a kunai at Naruto's heart. Shade wasn't close enough to intercept it in time, but Iruka was. He took the blade to the chest and hit the ground next to Naruto, who immediately dropped to his sensei's side.
"Poor, poor Iruka. Why you would bother protecting the nine-tails is beyond me," Mizuki said as he dropped down from the trees.
"T-the nine-tails?" Naruto questioned.
"Oh, yes," Mizuki said with a smirk. "Let me tell you a little secret,"
"No Mizuki, don't!" Iruka cried, "It's forbidden!"
Mizuki went on to tell a story about how Naruto was the nine-tails' host and no one was allowed to talk about it. Shade didn't really care if Naruto had a demon or not, though he figured this would explain why everyone hated him.
"Naruto, none of that matters!" Iruka shouted. "Just because the nine-tails is locked inside you doesn't mean you're a monster! You're your own person. Mizuki is just messing with your head."
"He's right, Naruto," Shade said. "Just because you contain a demon doesn't make you a demon. I should know; after all, I do contain the ten-tailed wolf."
Iruka and Naruto both looked shocked.
"Remind me to bring you both a scroll about it," Shade said dismissively.
"STOP IGNORING ME!"
Shade realized he had taken his eyes off of Mizuki to look at Naruto and Iruka and looked back a little too late. One of the two giant shuriken Mizuki had been carrying on his back was now flying straight for Iruka, and once again, Shade wasn't close enough to stop it.
"Iruka sensei!" Shade cried.
Suddenly, two Naruto's caught the shuriken together.
What in the…
Shadow clones.
But there's hundreds!
One thousand, to be precise.
What? THAT'S AWESOME!
"If you ever lay your hands on my sensei again," Naruto said in a low voice, "I'll kill you!"
There were hundreds of Naruto's surrounding the four Ninja. Iruka was in shock, Mizuki was terrified, Naruto was pissed, and Shade was beginning to get giddy with excitement.
Suddenly, the Naruto's all attacked Mizuki at once and Shade joined in, simply punching at any piece of Mizuki he saw.
When they were done, it was daylight out and Mizuki was horribly disfigured.
"Hahaha, sorry, guess I got carried away," Naruto said as he looked at Iruka, who had propped himself up against the nearby shack.
All of the clones had disappeared and the area around Mizuki was spattered with his blood.
"I think we should still keep beating him, but whatever," Shade said as he kicked Mizuki in the kidney eliciting a small and high pitched squeal of pain, causing Naruto to look back at him and snicker.
"Hey, Naruto," Iruka called.
When Naruto turned around, he had to think fast to catch something Iruka threw at him.
"That's yours now," Iruka said, "You've earned it."
Naruto raised it up and found that it was Iruka's headband.
"Wait," Naruto said with a look of shock, "does this mean that I—"
"Yep," Iruka answered with a smile before Naruto could finish. "You pass! And to celebrate, we're going out for ramen tonight!"
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouted as he ran over to his sensei and began hugging him.
"Not without me, you're not!" Shade shouted with a smile. "I've earned some free food, darn it!"
"Sure! Why not?" Iruka laughed.
Shade then sat down beside them both and realized something.
"So, uh… how are we gonna explain this to the Hokage?"
Both Iruka and Naruto groaned.
-o-
(Thanks for reading, guys. Please don't forget to review. I know that this story is off to a rough start, but I'm hoping that you guys will stick around to enjoy the plot later on. P.S. If you're enjoying this story, please comment so! All I got last time were depressing flames...)
