"Okay, Naruto, just make a clone now." Iruka smiled encouragingly
The blonde tensed his shoulders slightly, sighing as he went through the proper hand seals quickly, "Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique)!"
Naruto tried to tame his chakra, force the astonishing mass down into three normal clones. However, when the small puff of smoke cleared, what came out of his effort were three deformed masses slumped on the ground. Not even the facial features were correct; they looked like they'd been poorly drawn on by some five-year-old with no artistic talent. Even his whiskers on his cheeks just looked like meaningless scribbles. Closing his eyes, he pressed back the tell-tale stinging feeling that went hand in hand with tears and forced himself to look at the two men sitting at a desk in the front of the classroom. Mizuki-sensei looked savagely happy, which made Naruto's gut twist and turn. However, Iruka-sensei's expression hurt him even more. Disappointment in his eyes, shining like a beacon, as he looked at Naruto with sadness and pity.
("Yuudai, you don't want to do this."
He was knee deep in mud, a katana held in his hand and his breathing heavy. A man with brown hair stood in front of him, disappointment in his golden eyes and a frown marring his lips. He looked at Amahiko with pity and thinly veiled anger.
"Oh, but I do."
Rage boiled in his veins, "You were born here! This is your home! How could you betray us like this? How could you betray me?"
His voice cracked and his chest hurt and the stench of blood permeated the air and he tried to stare at the traitor in front of him rather than look at the dead bodies of those laying on the ground all around him. Oh, Kami, he was supposed to protect these people-!
"Power is a dangerous thing, Amahiko, and you have too much of it yet you have no idea how to use it. The Nidaime was wrong to train you, but I guess he didn't know you'd be a weak-willed coward." Yuudai's smile was twisted, "To think, your uncle would probably cheer for your death if he saw you now."
"We grew up together." His voice was rough, "We were in the same graduating class. You don't want to do this. You know I only do what is best for Uzushio!"
"I'm sure you do, in your own eyes." The golden eyes man stilled, his face going grim, "You have so much power, but so little ambition. You're running Uzushio into the ground!"
"So you decide to wreck it instead?" Blood was running down his face, and red hair was beginning to fall in his eyes and he knew his voice sounded hysterical, "That is not a solution! Look at the dead and wounded, Yuudai! Look at what you've done, because soon you will be lying with them for your crimes!"
His smile was savage, "I'm going to raze this village to the ground with you in it, then I'm going to raise it up once more to be something better! The Uzumaki have reigned for too long, don't you agree? I think it's time for a shift in power!"
Then Yuudai rushed him.)
Disregarding the shiver running down his back, Naruto looked at Iruka-sensei and tried to ignore the scene playing out in the back of his mind. Grief, disappointment, anger, resentment; all of these emotions flushed through him along with embarrassment as he dispelled the three failed clones. Iruka frowned upon seeing the boy's face, not sure if Naruto knew just how much his expression gave away what he was feeling.
"I'm sorry, Naruto." Iruka pursed his lips, "You have failed to meet the requirements to pass. You can always try again next year."
Biting his lip, the blonde boy nodded before rushing out, leaving the room behind and trying to ignore the burning and condemning eyes of his classmates. Soon all the exams were over, and Naruto lowered his eyes so he didn't have to watch all the excited children with hitai-ates running out to embrace their equally excited parents. Now, he wasn't even dead last. He was just the only one he didn't graduate.
"Look at it. I almost feel sorry for it."
"I don't. Serves it right, after everything it did."
"It was the only one who didn't graduate."
"Like I said, serves it right after-"
"Shh! You can't talk about that!"
His shoulders slumped further, hearing the whispers of the mothers as he sat in the shadows on the swing right in front of the academy. He wasn't dumb, he knew that much. He just couldn't focus. He couldn't control his chakra. He could trace calligraphy he shouldn't know on the desk with his fingertips, he knew a taijutsu style instinctively that was so different from the academy style, he could run through hand seals for jutsu no academy student should know exists. Most of all, he could create seals. Things that are renown in the shinobi world, things he excelled in. He could trace them out in his mind, know what they do and how to use them. Still, he was labeled as the dead last. It was understandable, he never paid attention in class and during tests, he couldn't find the words to dumb down all the knowledge in his head to fit into the tiny lines they provided.
Now he would never be what he was meant to be, he would never be more than the demon kid. He wanted to be more, though, he wanted it with every fiber in his body.
("She's the future clan head. It's expected of her." He rolled his eyes, "I don't wanna be like her. I don't just wanna be a clan head, or just a jounin. I wanna be more, kaa-san!"
"Maa, where'd you get all that ambition from?" She sighed, "For the love of Kami-sama, become Uzukage then! Take the hat when Tenma is done. Do it so your poor old mother won't get pestered to."
His smile was wide and blinding, "Only for you, kaa-san.")
He closed his eyes, ignoring his fantasies for a moment as he tried to figure out a way to get his chakra under control. Normal techniques had never worked for the loud-mouthed boy, as he'd tried tree walking and he'd tried meditating previously, but he had trouble concentrating his chakra into such small amounts. He'd be an awful medic, he knew that much for sure. He had the knowledge he just didn't know how to apply it in real life situations, which was almost as bad as not having it at all. Hands tightening around the ropes of the swingset, Naruto looked up to see Mizuki-sensei approaching him with an alarmingly kind smile on his face. Mizuki had always hated Naruto, the blond boy could tell, despite attempts on the white haired man's part to hide his hatred.
"Naruto, are you doing okay?" He smiled, but it seemed more patronizing than anything else, "I know it must be hard to be the only one-"
"What do you want?" Naruto sighed, looking at the man with a sad expression, "If you're here to tell me what I already know...please don't."
Mizuki seemed thrown off momentarily because for a split second he didn't see the blond demon sitting on the swing in front of him. His eyes looked so much older, and he was pinned under the gaze of someone who knew what he was trying to do. However, he kept up his smile and continued to speak placidly to the boy in front of him.
"Unless you know of a way to graduate despite failing, I'd say this is new information." At the boy's astonished look, Mizuki couldn't help but laugh, "Exactly. All you need to do, Naruto, is trust me."
Every fiber of his being told him to run away, to go find Iruka-sensei and tell him what Mizuki had just said. However, something halted him. He wanted to be a ninja, he wanted to prove people wrong. If he was going to be something more, he needed that hitai-ate and he needed to be a genin. So he controlled his racing heart and kept his urges to flee locked down and stared Mizuki down, raising his eyebrows and silently prompting the man to continue.
The chunin was unnerved by the boy's silent stare, blue eyes intense and looming, but he merely smiled and explained, "All you need to do is sneak into the Hokage Residence and learn one technique from the Scroll of Seals. If you can manage to do this and meet me in the forest surrounding the residence, you'll graduate."
"Why didn't Iruka-sensei tell me about this?" Naruto's eyes were narrowed now, "Why would you take the time to tell me?"
It was no secret Mizuki hated Naruto, even Iruka could tell that much. Not that this was new, Naruto couldn't count the number of people that despised him the same way he couldn't count the number of stars in the sky. There were simply too many, probably the majority of the civilian population and most of the shinobi population, as well. It had been that way for as long as he could remember, with Hokage-jiji and Iruka-sensei the only ones to really care about him nowadays. In his younger years, there were a few ANBU agents, like Dog and Crow, who would give him clothes and food occasionally. Now there were no ANBU agents and Naruto spent most of his time alone with his ramen and his false memories.
"I don't...hate you, Naruto." Mizuki's smile was just as fake as Iruka's when he had first met Naruto, "I want all my students to succeed."
"How long do I have?"
"Until midnight. Don't get caught, remember this is a test to see if you have enough skill to be a genin."
Don't do it, a voice spoke desperately in his head, Don't fall for this. It sounded familiar, like a whisper from another life. He shook it off as Mizuki left, Naruto began to plan to sneak into the Hokage Residency. It couldn't be the hardest thing he'd ever done, but he was sure it wouldn't be the easiest, either. So hours later, after sneaking past the jonin guards and while the ANBU were changing stations, he snuck in. In the pitch black night, the moon hung shallowly in the sky above as Naruto lugged the heavy scroll out of the heavily chained cabinet that held multiple others as well. This one was on the top shelf, though, and the kanji clearly spelled out its name as well as the consequences of opening it. Nevertheless, he closed the doors and relocked the lock he had picked with a kunai minutes earlier. It had been easy, and he didn't notice the looming figure behind him that wore a cat mask, watching him dash off towards the forest.
Unrolling the great scroll, Naruto's eyes widened as the massive parchment laid exposed in front of him. It must've been fifty feet long, if not more, and Naruto didn't have a clue how he was going to learn one of these long ass techniques in the squandering hour he had left before Mizuki showed up. But he forced himself over to it, looking at the first jutsu on the list. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique) was the first one, and it sounded decently easy and not all that difficult. Looking at the hand seals, he was about to try it when something stilled his fingers from moving. Horse, rat, monkey, ram; that was it, only four hand seals, yet something guided his fingers into another set of seals. Dog, snake, rat, horse, ram, and much more; he knew the pattern, but his fingers only came together to form a 'T' shade as he released a great amount of chakra.
That's better, he thought, before realizing he didn't even know what he was doing. Energy lashed through his veins, chakra rising in a wave as it poured over him and suddenly he wasn't surrounded by trees but by the ocean and smiling faces and his sensei was teaching him and he was happy. When the high ended and he opened his eyes, he was in the same place he'd been before. The lush trees of Konoha surrounded him, and grass tickled his toes through his sandals, and he was back in Konoha instead of that village on the ocean. One new thing, though, was that there were about five perfect copies of himself blinking back at him. Panicking, he spiked his chakra and they all dispelled, but he had no idea what the hell that was.
As usual, the answer came unbidden to him. Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Clone Technique).
Sighing, he looked down at the scroll and shrugged. Well, he could make a clone now so he guessed he'd call it a day and wait for Mizuki to get there. He still had a bad feeling about that, and there was that ever present voice in his head that told him he was in trouble, but he was used to being in trouble by now. It didn't really phase him, at this point. So when he felt a chakra presence above him, he automatically assumed it was Mizuki. It'd have to be, who else would know where the meeting place in the forest was. Mizuki was the 'test conductor' so he'd be the one to assure Naruto passed.
"It's all over now, Naruto."
"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto leaped to his feet, "What're you doing here? I thought-"
"What am I doing here?" Iruka seemed incredulous, "Naruto, you stole the forbidden seal. Why wouldn't I be here? Everyone is looking for you-!"
"They make that big of a deal out of this test?" Unease settled into his stomach, and doubt lapped at him like the ocean does the shore, "Wow. I mean, I guess this was kinda unnecessary. Turns out I can make a clone! I was just gonna explain it to Mizuki-sensei once he got here but you beat him. You're quick, huh, sensei?"
"Test?" Iruka's eyebrows drew together, "What are you talking about, Naruto?"
"The test." He should've known, he should've known, he should've known, "If I learn a jutsu from this scroll, I can become a genin. Mizuki-sensei told me that's how it worked, you got an extra opportunity if you failed but your sensei still thought you had potential. Iruka-sensei? Are you okay?"
The man had grown exceedingly pale during Naruto's explanation, "Naruto-kun, we need to go to the Hokage! Right now, come one!"
"Naruto!" There was Mizuki, "Give me the scroll now! This is part of the test, some people in life are going to want you to fail. Iruka does. Give me the scroll, Naruto, and you'll be a shinobi."
Iruka's eyes grew wide as he gave Mizuki a furious stare, "Stop lying this instant, Mizuki! What are you thinking?"
"Come on, Naruto." The man was fiddling with the senbon in his hand, and when Iruka moved to grab the blond boy's shoulder he threw them straight towards the pair.
Iruka shoved Naruto behind him, senbon sticking out of him like a pin cushion as Mizuki laughed, "Give me the scroll, Naruto. I haven't got all night."
Traitor. The voice in the back of his head growled with anger, hissing and spitting as Naruto watched Iruka-sensei's blood drip to the ground in small drops. Just like Yuudai, kill him now before he destroys everything. Kill him now. He was scared, his heart was beating way too fast, and yet his blood was boiling. He was angry, furious at Mizuki for tricking him and furious at himself for buying into it. He should've known. It was obvious, no one ever made genin if they failed the exam. He was so stupid, so oblivious. It'd get him killed one day. Just as Yuudai struck me down for my blind sightedness. He didn't want to die now, though, and he never wanted to see Iruka-sensei in pain again. It hurt his heart, made his chest ache to see the kind man bleeding because of him. Just as my people bled for me.
His thoughts were blending with something else's, someone else's, and he watched in a daze as Mizuki jumped from the tree branch to land on the ground and began to walk towards them.
"Iruka doesn't want you to graduate, Naruto. Don't blow this for yourself."
"I already told you once to stop lying." Iruka growled, further placing himself in front of Naruto, "You'd better listen this time, traitor."
The white-haired man's face darkened, "Do you really want to talk about lies, Iruka? Do want to enter that territory?"
The brunette man's body seized, and he jerked in panic, "It is forbidden, and I will not allow you to speak of it!"
"Says the one who's blood is dripping to the ground." Mizuki shot Iruka a loathing look, and Naruto has never hated someone so much in his entire life, "Naruto, do you know why the village hates you?"
"Stop!" Iruka roared, "Naruto, do not listen to him!"
"It's because the Kyuubi is sealed within you. The same beast that killed Iruka's parents has possessed your body. You are the nine tailed fox, Naruto, and I'm doing the village a favor by eliminating you here."
"Naruto, run!" Iruka staggered forwards, "Go now!"
"Why are you still protecting him?" Mizuki grabbed the fuma shuriken off his back, "He's a demon! He's the Jinchuriki to the Kyuubi!"
(The woman had her vibrant hair arranged in two buns, tags hanging from both of them as she stood with her hands clasped together. A purple diamond marked her forehead, and her white kimono swayed in the village's wind.
"Mito-sama, it's an honor."
He bowed towards her and watched her smile, "It is my honor to meet you, Amahiko-san. You are now the Sandaime Uzukage, correct."
"Yes, Mito-sama." He inclined his head towards her with a wry grin, "My uncle grew tired of the paperwork."
She clucked her tongue, "Tenma always was lazy. You've made a name for yourself, though. Akai Kami (The Red God), so I hear they've been calling you."
At her raised eyebrow and calm disposition, he felt horribly belittled by her presence, "Well, they call me a lot of things."
"I'm sure."
He laughed, a little nervously if he was honest, and felt like he was two years old again and clutching his mother's skirts. This woman had sealed the nine tailed fox within her own body, she was a fuinjutsu master, she was the wife of the first Hokage. Sure, he was a fuinjutsu master too, but when this woman who was so many years his senior, this woman who survived the Feudal Era and came out on top, this woman with the audacity to seal the strongest of the Biju inside her own gut...when this woman looked at him, he felt like an ant.)
Naruto blinked, and he was pulled back to reality when he heard Iruka-sensei grunt in pain and that's when he noticed he was now on the ground and Iruka hovered above him with a grimace of pain and sadness on his face. That's when the blond noticed the giant weapon sticking out of his sensei's back. All of a sudden he was in the rain again, and it was a fight or die situation and he wasn't going to die here and he wasn't going to let Iruka-sensei die here. Instincts took over and he scrambled out from under his sensei, blood boiling when he saw the man collapse to the ground before struggling to set upright. Turning his gaze on Mizuki, he felt a sick sort of pleasure curl in his gut when the man froze under his eyes.
"You aren't going to hurt Iruka-sensei, traitor." He spat the last word out with only the venom someone betrayed could, "You'll never hurt anyone in this village again!"
He said it with such an air of finality and confidence, and he never saw Iruka's astonished but proud look. Mizuki sneered, recovering from Naruto's cold gaze, and charged at him with a kunai in hand. Raising his hands, his fingers formed a few seals and the next thing he knew a wave of chakra flooded his body and he could taste the salty air and see his mother, red hair flowing loosely in the breeze and his siblings were there and he was home. Water swirled into existence, condensing out of nothing except the moisture in the air. Forming quickly, quicker than Mizuki could respond to, a large water dragon came crashing towards him with eyes glowing yellow.
"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)!" Naruto thrust his hands forward, watching in solemn silence as Mizuki was thrown back by the force of the jutsu, falling into a tree and drowning in the water as it crashed down on him and tore him apart like a hurricane. Left in a huge puddle, crumpled on the ground and silent, Naruto wasn't sure if he wanted the man dead or not. Turning to see his sensei's wide eyes and the proud quirk of his mouth, Naruto decided he didn't care what the traitor's fate was. He cared that Iruka was safe, and right now the man had removed the giant weapon from his back but was still bleeding at an alarming rate.
"I-I'm sorry, sensei." Naruto knelt by the man, swallowing thickly, "I should've known."
"Did you...learn that in the scroll?" Iruka looked a bit confused, gesturing to Mizuki.
Naruto went with the easiest to explain answer, "Yeah."
The man seemed impressed, "I'm proud of you, Naruto-kun. I think...I think you've earned this."
The whiskered child's breath caught in his throat as his sensei reached up and untied his headband from his forehead. He held it out, and Naruto accepted it with reverence. This wasn't the shiny new ones every graduate got at the academy, no, but it meant so much more than those. It meant so much more than any person would ever know. Looking at Iruka with wide eyes, the blond boy blinked tears out of his eyes.
"I-thank you, sensei!"
"I'm not your sensei anymore, Naruto-kun. You're a genin now." His smile was pained but kind, "I want you to listen to me though, young man. You take everything that-that filth said and you ignore it! You are not-!"
"A demon. I know." His smile was plain, "I'm just the container. I've seen the seal before."
Iruka's eyes were wide from not only pain, "You...already knew?"
"No." Naruto admitted, "But I know about my clan. Whoever my dad was, it's not surprising he could work with seals. Any Uzumaki can, you know, and the seal on my stomach is definitely Uzumaki fuinjutsu."
Letting out an only slightly pained laugh, Iruka pulled the boy into a tight hug, "I'm proud of you, Naruto-kun."
("I'm proud of you, Amahiko-kun." Her violet eyes sparkled, and Tatsu Yoshida looked as though he'd just given her the moon and all the stars, "My own student becoming Uzukage. I'm not surprised, of course. You, Akane, and Raiden always had so much potential. So much, and now look at what you've gone and done."
He smiled, his eyes slightly damp, "Thank you, sensei."
He hadn't spent long under her tutelage, but she'd played such a big role in his life. His team, Team Tatsu, had a short-lived but successful career as genin. Bumped up to chunin only ten months after their graduation, and making jonin not long after that, the Yoshida woman had only had so much time to teach them. Teach them she did, however, and none of them would ever forget her kindness or her sternness. The way she saw them as individuals when they all came from such big families that normally the clan was just blurred together. Amahiko and Akane especially, both of them being Uzumaki if only distantly related. She helped them with a kind hand and taught them what they had to do to succeed in the shinobi world. Trust your teammates, never give up, and be prepared for anything.
"Don't thank me, kid." Her smile was infectious, "Do you know how good of bragging material this is? Shoji can shut his mouth now about how his student got a jonin promotion. You three did that years ago. Now one of mine is the head medic at the hospital, one is a fuinjutsu master, and one is the Uzukage. Every other jonin sensei out there can suck my dick, cause I think I win at this point."
They heard a snort from behind them and turned to see Tenma Uzumaki, the Nidaime Uzukage, for once just wearing normal shinobi clothing rather than the ceremonial Uzukage garb that Amahiko now donned. He shook his head, not put off at all by her language.
"Watch it, Tatsu." He rolled his eyes at her, "Kiddies might overhear you."
She smiled, or rather smirked, "Sorry, you're not Uzukage anymore. Hiko-hime, you got a problem with my vocabulary?"
He twitched slightly at the nickname, but shook his head nevertheless, "Of course not sensei."
"Oi!" Tenma protested, "I'm sensei!"
"Hah!" Tatsu smiled triumphantly, "I'll always be his sensei, I taught him as a genin. It forms a special bond, you know?"
"I'm his uncle though!"
Amahiko just laughed.)