2. Shocking Revelations
Author's Notes: Just a heads up guys. This story is going to be a bit more fast paced than my shadow clones will. I'm mainly sticking to the manga version where there is practically no filler. If anyone actually wants to see a certain arc let me know and I'll see about putting it in. Also, you have to remember that Naruto is one serious speed demon in this one so don't expect too many action packed fights when you read this. The only person who is still alive that could keep up with Naruto right now would maybe be Gai when he opens up as many gates as he could. Now then, let's get started.
A couple of days after the night that Naruto apprehended Mizuki, Naruto was talking with Sarutobi. They were in the ninja registration office but with Naruto's shadow clones keeping a lookout for any of his 'classmates' the two could have conversations and still have an early warning system to tell Naruto when he needs to leave before they arrived.
"So mind telling me which teams you think will most likely make the cut Old Man?" Naruto asked as he leaned back in the chair for the graduated students to sit in while the Hokage went over their id photos.
Sarutobi gave a light nod and said "Well the younger Ino-Shika-Cho team should be able to pass my son's test. The new tracking team comprised of Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame under Kurenai Yuhi will most likely pass as well. And the final team to most likely pass would be Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Sai, under Kakashi Hatake."
Naruto rose an eyebrow and said "Uncle Kakashi actually passing a team? Wow, either the civilian council ordered him to or its going to snow in a desert somewhere. But who's this Sai person? I've never heard of him."
Sarutobi sighed and said "He's one of Danzo's trainees. Said that he would be a good balancer for the team since he is more capable than young Sakura and almost as good as young Sasuke."
Naruto narrowed his eyes when he heard the elder's name. The man had tried to approach Naruto more than once as he trained to become a shinobi, but he gave Naruto really bad vibes whenever he did.
One of Naruto's clones suddenly dispelled itself telling him that a little kid was coming towards the office with a shuriken in his hand. Frowning at the unusual sight, he looked over to the old man and signed what his clone had seen to him.
Sarutobi sighed before signing back not to do anything right as the door opened and said kid came in running with the shuriken held haphazardly up high and yelling out "On guard old man! Today is the day I finally defeat you! Ah!"
Unfortunately, the kid tripped on his scarf halfway to said old man. The kid groaned before getting back to his feet and said "What tripped me?" Turning to Naruto he said "You! You tripped me, admit it! I would have gotten the old man if you hadn't!"
Naruto shook his head and thought 'This must be the Old Man's grandson, Konohamaru, that I've been hearing about. I had wondered when I would meet him.'
Standing up, he went over to Konohamaru and kneeled down before plucking the shuriken out of the kid's hand faster than he could see and said "Ok, first of all, you tripped on your scarf. Either shorten it or stop wearing it completely for a few years because your still too young to actually wear that the way you are. Second, you were holding this wrong. You hold it the way you did, you're more likely to cut yourself than your enemies. You have to hold it between your fingers. And third, what the heck were you thinking of trying to take on the Hokage with a full out charge? If you were an enemy, he could just kill you with a focused blast of his killing intent."
The kid was staring at Naruto for a moment before he shook his head and opened his mouth to say something when the occupants of the room heard "Honorable Grandson? Are you in there?"
A special Jounin came in through the open doorway before noticing Naruto crouched down in front of his charge. The man stiffened before saying "Hello Uzumaki."
Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly at how the man in front of him stiffened but dismissed it and said "Ebisu. I take it this kid is your charge?"
Ebisu nodded and said "That's right, I have been handpicked by the Lord Hokage to train his Honorable Grandson."
Naruto shook his head and said "Why does everyone feel the need to call him that? The kid's got a name, it should be used."
Ignoring the look he was getting from said kid he said "If you need me Old Man, I'll be at my training field on the monument."
Sarutobi nodded and Naruto disappeared making Konohamaru's eyes widen. Turning to his grandfather he said "Hey, old man, how did he do that?"
Ebisu squawked out something about showing the Lord Hokage proper respect but Sarutobi just chuckled and said "Naruto is a very fast person Konohamaru."
Ebisu pushed his sunglasses higher up his nose and said "Be that as it may, I still think he's too young to be a Jounin Lord Hokage."
Konohamaru's eyes widened again hearing that while Sarutobi rose an eyebrow and said "There have been others who have become Jounin at that early if not earlier an age Ebisu. Itachi Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake just to name a couple."
Ebisu frowned and said "With all due respect, Lord Hokage, but one of those went insane and killed his own clan while the other has degraded into a perverted delinquent who has no sense of punctuality what so ever."
Sarutobi frowned and said "That's true." He then brightened and said "But I don't think we need to worry about Naruto going down either of those paths. Especially the on time part. Hard to be late for anything when you can get from one side of the village to the next in less than five seconds."
Ebisu was about to concede that point when he noticed that his charge had slipped away at some point in time. Looking around frantically he said "Where did the Honored Grandson go?"
Sarutobi chuckled and said "I think he went to go find Naruto. He certainly seemed to have made an impression on him."
Said blonde was currently throwing kunai at targets in his training field on the Hokage Monument behind a thin strip of woods hiding it from any of the occasional visitors to the monument. It was a good place for him to train since it was a wide open place that allowed him to place various targets around the area that he could work on his speed against and also had woods all around that he could work on moving through at high speeds.
Throwing another kunai into a target he said "You know Konohamaru, if you want to talk to me, you're going to actually have to come out of hiding."
Said kid came out from behind a tree and said "How did you find me? I thought my hiding skills were the best?"
Naruto rose an eyebrow and said "Maybe for a kid who hasn't had any of the stealth classes in the academy, but it would be pretty obvious to anyone Gennin or higher. Especially since you weren't trying to hide your chakra presence. So what did you need?"
Konohamaru looked down for a moment and then said "Teach me."
Naruto's eyebrow shot back up and he said "Teach you? Why would I do that? Don't you already have a teacher?"
Konohamaru looked him in the eye and said "Yeah, but he never teaches me anything! He just keeps saying that if I do what he says that I'll become Hokage quicker. And he never calls me by my name. He just calls me Honored Grandson just like everyone else. You are the only one besides my family to actually call me by my name."
Naruto sighed and said "Konohamaru, I can't be your teacher, I have missions I have to go on." Konohamaru looked back down before Naruto continued "But I should be able to show you a thing or two every now and then."
Konohamaru's head snapped back up and he said "Really?"
Naruto nodded and said "Yup. Why don't we start with something pretty simple? Come on over where I'm standing and I'll show you the proper way to throw a kunai."
As Konohamaru came over to where he was standing, Naruto went over to the targets and pulled out the kunai he had thrown before walking back to Konohamaru. Once he was beside the kid he started explaining how to throw the throwing knives while Konohamaru listened intently.
In a nearby tree, Ebisu watched the two and thought 'I guess the Lord Hokage was right about him. I think I'll let him continue these lessons every once in a while. It seems to be doing the Honored Grandson some good."
As Konohamaru continued throwing the knives trying to get the hang of it Naruto looked over at the tree that Ebisu was in. The Special Jounin nodded to him before taking off. Naruto rose an eyebrow and thought 'I guess he's not so bad after all.'
One Week After The "Mizuki Incident"
This year's graduates were all in the familiar classroom for the last time. Or at least that's what they thought, Iruka of course knew that quite a few would probably be back here or be out of the program completely.
He quickly shook that thought out of his mind though as he stepped in front of the class and got their attention with his big head jutsu.
Iruka was about to begin his speech when one of the students said "Hey, Iruka-sensei, where is Mizuki-sensei?"
Iruka's face hardened but a voice from the doorway answered for him.
"Mizuki was a traitor that was apprehended a week ago during a sting operation when he attempted to steal the forbidden scroll of sealing."
The class looked to the door and were surprised to see a familiar blond leaning against the door frame.
Kiba looked at him and said "What are you doing here Dead Last? You were only supposed to come here if you graduated."
Most of the other students agreed while Hinata looked at him in hope that he had actually somehow passed.
Naruto pushed off from the doorway and flicked his headband that the graduates only just now realized was on his forehead before he said "Mind how you talk to your superiors Inuzuka. I was under orders by the Hokage for the past three years to draw that traitor into a trap and take care of him. I am not in the mood to deal with some fresh out of the academy rookie who can't accept the fact that someone was working under cover."
The class was stunned with various thoughts running through their minds, some were reevaluating what they thought they knew about the blond while others were furious that the dead last had apparently been stronger than he let on. (Guess who?) Meanwhile, Hinata was just confused. She was glad that Naruto had failed on purpose but was beginning to wonder how much of what she had seen of the blond that none of the others did had been real of if it all was just an act.
Naruto then walked over to Iruka and took a scroll out from his Jounin vest that made the class even more shocked when they finally noticed that not only was Naruto not wearing his kill me orange jumpsuit, but was wearing the uniform of an elite shinobi of their hidden village.
Giving the scroll to his comrade he said "Here Iruka, the Hokage wants you to go over this when you have the free time and tell him what you think once your done."
Iruka nodded before he put the scroll in his Chunnin vest and said "Well do. Thanks Naruto."
Naruto nodded before he turned to face the class and gave a quick salute before seeming to disappear into thin air. Iruka chuckled at the dumbfounded looks on all of the students which snapped them out of their shock and began shouting out questions.
Iruka got a tick mark on his head before he performed his patented big head jutsu again and said "Be Quiet! Now then, allow me to explain a few things that are to be expected of you and then I'll get to the teams."
Ten minutes later, Hinata was sitting on a bench by herself as she slowly ate her lunch as she tried to make sense of what she and the rest of the graduates had been told before their teams were announced.
"Mind if I join you for a moment?"
Hinata looked up and saw the blond that she admired standing in front of her. Her eyes widened before she shook her head with a blush forming on her cheeks.
Naruto sat down beside her and sighed and closed his eyes. After a moment he said "I want to thank you Hinata."
Hinata looked at him in confusion and said "For what Naruto?"
Naruto smiled and opened his eyes to look at Hinata and said "For being the only one to actually treat me as a fellow classmate instead of the class punching bag. You're the only reason why I didn't lose it this year and just let loose on all of them. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to just say to hell with my mission and show them all exactly what I could do. Especially when it came to the Uchiha."
Naruto had a scowl at the end but quickly shook his head and smiled again and said "Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks and give you some advice that should really help you in the future. I know you have some confidence issues Hinata. (Said Hyuga looked down causing Naruto to put a hand on her shoulder to get her to look at him again.) But believe it or not, you actually make a fantastic kunoichi. You're one of the smartest girls the academy has produced this year and when you get really serious your Taijutsu can't be beat without the other person going through hell first. (Hinata got another blush as Naruto continued.) Your only problem seems to be that you're afraid of what others may think of you. Anyway, here's my advice. When you have something that you have to do in front of or for someone, just forget about them."
Seeing her confused look, he elaborated. "Forget that anyone is judging you on what you do. Simply focus on the task and do it. Don't worry about what others think about every single thing that you do. It's you who's doing them, not the other people around you. If it pleases them, then that's great, but if not, then it's not the end of the world. You'll just have to try harder next time. Understand?"
Hinata nodded and Naruto smiled again before standing up. Turning to her he said "I need to get going now, but if you ever need some help or just someone to talk to, I'll do my best to be there for you all right? And if you can't find me, just ask the Hokage, he'll know where I am."
Hinata nodded again and softly said "Thank you."
Naruto nodded with his smile still in place and said "No problem. See ya Hinata." He gave a quick salute before disappearing to go do the other errands that he had been assigned for the day.
Time Skip: One Month Later
Naruto was currently teaching Konohamaru and his two friends Moegi and Undon the leaf balancing trick in his training field on the Hokage Monument when a hawk began circling over head and gave out a cry. The three kids lost their focus and looked up along with Naruto.
Naruto whistled and the hawk landed on his outstretched arm surprising the three kids. Naruto untied the note from the hawk's leg and sent it back to its roost with a small but quick jerk of his arm letting it know that it could go back. As the hawk took off, Naruto looked at the note and frowned a little before putting the note in one of his vest's pockets.
Turning to the kids he said "The Old Man's calling. It's probably for a mission so I'll probably be away for a while. Keep working on this and when you can balance the leaf in your palms for a minute, move to your fingers and do the same. If you finish that before I get back, start adding leaves to each finger."
The three kids nodded and Naruto disappeared from view.
Naruto reappeared in the Hokage's office and came to attention before saying "You summoned me sir?"
Sarutobi nodded and said "Team 7 was just recently assigned an escort mission for a bridge builder from the Land of Waves. Their mission was to escort the man back to his home and protect him while he finished a bridge from any bandits that would turn up. However, the client lied about who would be after him and the team ran into a couple of Chunnin level ninja. Kakashi decided to continue the mission due to what he says are extreme circumstances. He has requested back up though and I am sending you as it. You are to leave immediately. Expect more enemy shinobi, possibly at Jounin rank. Any questions?"
Naruto shook his head and Sarutobi tossed him a scroll that Naruto caught before giving a salute and disappeared again heading to his apartment to pack for the trip.
Once Naruto had everything he would need, he quickly went to the village gate and showed Kotetsu and Izumo his mission scroll as he signed himself out. Once that was done, he quickly focused on the sense of extreme speed and took off.
Minato Namikaze's Hirashine jutsu is heralded as a masterpiece of seals. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Hirashine was nothing more than Minato using his bloodline. When a bearer of the slipstream bloodline uses it, they move so fast that they get tunnel vision making it very dangerous to use in a combat situation. And that is where the pronged kunai comes in. Each seal on the kunai actually contained some of Minato's chakra that would steadily pulse it out allowing him to know where everything was around him.
Now Naruto may not have any of the special kunai, but he could do one better whenever he "joined the slipstream." Naruto instead put his status as a jinchuriki to good use. With his seriously massive chakra stores, Naruto could send out a constant wave of chakra giving him a real time chakra field of "vision" that negated the tunnel vision effects of using his bloodline. And since this "chakra sonar" actually helped his chakra capacity grow as his body adapted to the repeated use of the technique, Naruto was able to keep the technique going for hours on end if needed. And that made for one scary shinobi that even his father would be hesitant to fight.
As Naruto ran and his vision tunnelized, he began pulsing out his chakra. This was really the only way someone could tell Naruto was in the room if he had his bloodline active even if he was running circles around the person. If a Hyuga was ever to try and spot him when his technique was going full blast, they would be instantly blinded by all the chakra in the air which was why Naruto never used it whenever he knew Hinata was watching with her Byakugan active. As he ran, Naruto thought 'Hang on Uncle Kakashi, I'm coming.'
Scene Change: Scene Of First Fight With Zabuza
Kakashi was currently trapped in a sphere of water that Zabuza was holding together with his hand in it.
Kakashi looked out at his team that was doing their best to not wet themselves, well Sasuke and Sakura anyway, and shouted as best as he could through the technique at them.
"Don't just stand there! Take the client and go! His water clones can't get too far from the original. This fight was over the instant he caught me!"
But before the trio of Gennin could say anything, Zabuza suddenly yelled and pulled his hand out of the water to look at his arm that was completely covered in burns from shoulder to wrist. As the water sphere burst apart, Kakashi caught himself from falling completely into the water and looked up just in time to see a knee planting itself into Zabuza's chin. Zabuza shot up and back before hitting the water and bounced five times hard over it before sinking.
As he watched the missing nin sank, Kakashi heard a voice say "Uncle Kakashi, how many times do I have to pull your bacon out of the fire?"
