3.

The entire class had gathered outside the appointed classroom on the day of the graduation exam a month later. It was not their usual classroom, but one randomly assigned for exam time. In addition to Umino Iruka, they would be proctored by a younger class's teacher, Touji Mizuki, who was supposed to guarantee neutrality.

Naruko bounced up to Hinata, grinning, shifting from foot to foot. "You ready to ace this?" Her voice was louder than usual. Some people gave her annoyed looks.

Hinata smiled. "Naruko-chan, you will pass," she assured her gently, seeing through the nervousness immediately.

Naruko paused, her smiling fading into something more tentative. "I've been studying old academic tests like crazy," she said. "And I've been training for ages but I still don't have the Clone Technique down."

"Relax," said Hinata. "We only have one practical exam. What are the odds it will be on the Clone Technique? I'm more worried about my pass." She winced.

"Nah, you got this in the bag," said Naruko casually. "You get amazing grades in everything. Don't let your Dad's voice in your head keep you from passing."

Hinata smiled. "Thanks."

Iruka opened the classroom door. "We are ready for you," he said, and pulled the door wide to let them through. The classroom was small and plain, just a series of wooden desks with chairs in long rows. They each sat down - Naruko beside Hinata - and Iruka began handing out written tests and pencils. Naruko could see Mizuki, a quiet young man with long white hair, standing motionless at the front of the room.

"You have forty-five minutes to complete the written portion of the graduation exam," Iruka called.

And in the stifling, deafening silence, swallowing, they began. Naruko looked over the questions, trying to take deep breaths, remain calm, analyze and answer the ones she knew. To her relief, most of the questions were from the previous tests she had studied. She answered as best she could, anxiously checked and double checked her answers - even as other students brought up their tests and she didn't, Sakura looking smug - then at last she put her name firmly at the top: Uzumaki Naruko.

She wrote her name in hiragana because she thought it looked cuter that way. She surrounded her name with smiley faces and hearts, because fuck it. She liked hearts, smiley faces, and glitter, and she wasn't going to let anybody shame her for that.

She finally took her test up to the front of the room, where Iruka was waiting expectantly at the teacher's desk before the blackboard. He took her test, looked it over answer by answer, then put the grade at the top: B. Naruko relaxed in weak relief, and Iruka gave her an amused, approving smile, nodding her back to her seat. Naruko sat back down, feeling elated, beginning to hope she had a chance of passing. Hinata and she exchanged a victorious thumbs up. They both had passed.

Then Iruka came up to the front of the class and said, "Forty five minutes. Finished or not, please turn your papers in." A few papers were shuffled to the front. "Mizuki-sensei will grade the final exams as the two of us go into the room connected to this one. We will call in students one at a time by the time when they finished the written test. There, if you passed the written test, you will be expected to perform the practical. One randomly selected ninjutsu will have to be shown to myself and Mizuki-sensei with a high level of skill.

"The ninjutsu selected this year is the Clone Technique."

Naruko barely processed as the two teachers moved into the adjacent classroom, her head spinning. "Shit. Shit. Shit," she gasped out, shaking, staring straight ahead of herself at the blurring, swimming blackboard -

"Naruko-chan, calm down," said Hinata with worried urgency. "It is vital that you remain calm, or you definitely won't pass."

Naruko took a deep breath. "This is even worse than that school rumor that I was knocked up with an alien baby," she said in a tiny voice.

"Naruko, you went along with that rumor," said Hinata in confusion.

"Yeah, well, you have to live your life, you know?" said Naruko.

"And that applies here," Hinata reminded her meaningfully.

"You're right," Naruko said, making an effort to soothe herself. "You're right. After passing Suzume-sensei's classes despite her hatred of me, after truly passing the first written exam of my life through sheer memorization and effort, I can't be failed just because they're testing us on the one thing I can't do. I can't allow myself to believe that will happen.

"I can do this," she whispered to herself in a pep talk. "I can do this because I have to."

"That's right," said Hinata, but she was frowning in concern. She sat with Naruko until she herself was called in. She came back out wearing a hitai-ate, the marker band that symbolized a true, graduated ninja, a blue cloth with a metal plate carved with the leaf symbol. In her case, she was wearing it tied around her neck like a kerchief. Different ninja showed off their graduation in different ways.

Naruko attempted a smile. "Good job," she said. "Congratulations."

"When you pass, you can wear your hitai-ate just like mine," said Hinata firmly. "We'll be twins. Just focus on that thought."

"Right," Naruko gasped out. "Focus."

"Uzumaki Naruko!"

"Yes?!" She stood quickly in a jerky, awkward movement, stumbling a little. The class laughed and heated flush crept up Naruko's neck and into her face.

"Come with me," said Iruka, exasperated, and Naruko followed him sheepishly into the next room. It was small, a long table piled with new hitai-ate cutting it in half. Iruka sat behind the table alongside Mizuki. Naruko was suddenly very aware of their own hitai-ate, and their dark green flak vests, which signaled an upper level Konoha ninja.

Stay calm. Stay strong. Picture being twins with Hinata.

Naruko would do this. She had to.

"Please present us with the Clone Technique," said Iruka, raising his eyebrows, and Naruko realized she was just standing there. Right.

She did a stance, made the correct hand seals quickly, formed a strong, steady amount of chakra - and then she focused her entire being on trying to control it as best she could. "Clone Technique!" she called, letting the tingling chakra flow from her hands and out into the world around her.

She paused, and looked around…

She had made one clone. It lay still on the floor, pale and pathetic, its glassy eyes staring straight ahead. It was near death. She felt something in her stomach drop like a stone, and had the strangest urge to laugh. What was wrong with her?

"You fail!" Iruka snapped, going back to his usual scowl, and she saw him write an F on the clipboard sheet. A moment ago, her insides had been heavy, but now she didn't seem to have any insides at all.

"Iruka-sensei, have some compassion," said Mizuki softly. "Her stance was superb, her hand seals were quick and good, her chakra stamina was amazing - and she did replicate." Mizuki leaned forward with quiet earnestness. "Perhaps we could pass her?"

Wild hope leaped into Naruko's heart, only to be brutally crushed again by Iruka's next words. She should have known. She had never gotten any sympathy from Umino Iruka before.

"Mizuki-sensei, this was an incredibly lax exam, and I'm testing them for battle readiness," said Iruka, frowning. "That is not battle ready. Everyone else managed at least three workable clones. Naruko created a single near-dead one. I can't pass that. The test said the student had to successfully replicate. Naruko didn't."

And Naruko wanted to say so many things. She wanted to say that she could do everything else in the curriculum to perfection, that she'd by some miracle passed the written exam, that she'd mastered the Water Weaving Fist, that she could do Wind and Water ninjutsu, that her bloodline ability gave her supernatural powers of longevity and healing to both herself and others, that her clan had their very own advanced sensory type technique using their huge chakra, and that she'd mastered sealing techniques.

But none of that mattered. Because Naruko couldn't replicate.


She only registered that she'd just wandered past her class out of the classroom, without a hitai-ate in full view of everyone, when she was sitting on the tree swing out in the front courtyard. There was no smiling this time, no humming or laughter, no waving the problem away. No tears either. She thought she might be in shock. She just sat there.

Then the parents started turning up. The families. The older siblings. One group by one group, they gathered together in the courtyard, talking excitedly. And then the doors threw themselves open and the cheering children sprinted out to meet their parents.

Every one of them had passed. She was the only one who hadn't.

Students were hugged and lifted into the air, chatting together, laughing and victorious. Mothers promised special dinners. Fathers said they were proud - it was exactly as expected from their precious child.

Naruko sat alone. The chasm between herself and everyone else had never felt so enormous.

Hinata came over tentatively. "... Naruko-chan?" She looked between Naruko and everyone else. "My clan guard should be here in a few minutes. I wish my family were here in person too."

Naruko let out a forced, humorless laugh. "You think I wish my parents were here? Exactly the opposite. I wouldn't want them to have to face up to their child being such a fucking failure." The words were bitter, a tone she had never tasted in her mouth before.

Hinata frowned. "You know, Naruko-chan, when you left the classroom. No one was happy that you failed. And no one blamed or judged you either."

Suddenly, they heard two mothers talking from the crowd a ways away, glaring coldly at Naruko from the edge of the group. "Hey. The one the Hyuuga is nice enough to be talking to. That's the kid. She's the only one who failed."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't want my child talking to her! Thank goodness she didn't pass. If she became a ninja, it would only be more trouble. She would ruin everything. After all, she's -"

"Quiet!" the first mother hissed. "You know it's forbidden to speak any more than that!"

Naruko felt a strange smile stretch her face. Suddenly, she felt tired. "That's where you're wrong, Hinata-chan," she said. "The only person who wanted me to become a ninja is you.

"Congratulations. You'll have to move on without me. Make sure to visit. I don't suppose I'll be allowed back into the Academy anymore."

"Naruko-chan -!"

"What? Give me one sentence of that which isn't true."

And again, Hinata was lost for words.

"It's over, Hinata. I lost." Naruko stood. "I was always in the process of losing. It just took me six years and a failed graduation exam to admit it."

"Naruko?" They both looked around. Mizuki was standing there. "Can I talk to you privately?"

Naruko paused briefly, but she didn't suppose she had anything better to do. "See you later, Hinata-chan," she said over her shoulder, her voice still strangely flat, and she followed Touji Mizuki off campus. Hinata fell slowly behind her.

Mizuki led them to a quiet, flat rooftop overlooking the sunset. They leaped up to the roof in a ninja move and sat themselves there, legs dangling over the edge. It was a weirdly romantic scene, but somehow Naruko didn't think that had been Mizuki-sensei's point. He talked quietly, watching the sunset instead of the failed student beside him.

"You know. Iruka's an orphan too."

"... Wonderful," said Naruko at last. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything," said Mizuki. "He wants you to prove yourself in the right way, to become truly strong. That's why he's so harsh with you."

"Well, that's fantastic," Naruko sighed. "But all he really ended up doing in the end is screwing me over. I'm so glad he had noble intentions, though. Somehow that makes everything better."

"Cut the attitude."

"Why? It's not like you're my teacher anymore, or even my ninja rank superior. I'm just some civilian who knows how to fight."

"You really wanted to pass, didn't you?" Mizuki asked, looking over at her at last with a frown.

"I wanted to -? You don't get it. You know everyone hates me, Mizuki-sensei. Everybody does! But the one shot I had - the one person the entire village has to respect - is a powerful ninja. Even a Hokage. Without my dream… what's really the point of anything anymore? What do I have? A best friend who's moving on into a life and new friends I will never get to experience. A lonely single house in the middle of nowhere. A village full of people who hate me. No significant life skills, outside of maybe becoming a geisha, or a gardener, or a chef. And a couple of civilians who kind of like me and might be willing to take me in.

"I mean, what do I even do? I could start a dojo! Try to teach little civilian kids hand to hand skills. Hope to God someone wants to learn from me. In fact, that applies to everything. People don't even like touching me, Mizuki-sensei. Who would want me to entertain them? Who would want to eat my meal? Who would want me anywhere near their house? For that matter, who would want to marry me?

"I mean, what the hell, exactly, would you like me to do? What kind of attitude am I supposed to have? What would you like me to say? What, you want me to try to get back into the Academy? Beg on bended knee so I can go start out again as that stupid twelve year old learning in a class full of eight year olds? I didn't even like school in the first place. I'd suffocate there.

"I'm sorry, Mizuki-sensei, if I seem a little temperamental. My deepest apologies. Because my entire fucking life just fell apart."

Naruko stopped, taking deep breaths. She realized she was on the verge of choking tears, and never before had she despised her own emotions so thoroughly. That was what she was going to do now? Cry? Was that all she ever did? What did she think she was in, a soap opera? Crying never fixed anything. She should know that by now.

"And now I'm going to cry," she muttered, looking away. "Which will fix absolutely nothing. Fantastic." She looked away from Mizuki-sensei.

"Naruko… what if I told you that you could still pass this?"

Naruko paused, and looked around. "What." It came out as more of an angry, confused statement than a question.

Mizuki smiled. "There's a secret test," he said. "A last ditch one for desperate cases. How would you like to try that one? It's a little more practical. It involves stealth, breaking and entering. How good are you at that, Naruko?"

That was it. It was her last shot. Stealth, breaking and entering, she could do. And that was the only reason why she said fiercely:

"I'll take it."


Naruko landed that night in the dark forest clearing next to the old shack that was the abandoned spy outpost. Moonlight gleamed through the leaves, spattering the forest floor. Finding this place had not been hard. Naruko knew these outskirt forests like the back of her hand.

Strangely? Stealing the scroll had not been hard either. Memorizing and working around the guard shifts, a bit of jumping, sliding hand over hand around the corner and to the wall next to the window, jimmying the window open, flitting into the Hokage's office, finding the scroll and strapping the giant length of it to her back, flitting back out of the window and across the rooftops at the guard change signal -

No, stealing this scroll of jutsu had not been difficult. No wonder it only made for a Genin rank exam.

Now to learn a jutsu from it. She plunked herself down in the dirt, took out the scroll, broke the seal fearlessly, and unfurled it, looking it over. When she was sitting down, it was as tall as she was, forbidding black characters written top to bottom all along its length. She leaned forward, squinting, in the moonlight. "First technique: Shadow Clone Technique. Makes physical copies of the user with all their power and abilities. So, as in, not Academy afterimages? Huh. Damn technique is my worst one and it's following me around everywhere.

"Wait." She grinned. "This could be perfect. When Iruka and Mizuki get here, I can show them I can replicate after all! That way they'll have to pass me!" She leaped to her feet. "Ha! VICTORY IS MINE!" An owl flew out of a tree nearby and she ducked her head, sheepish, as the shout echoed.

"Okay. Now to master the jutsu."

She had to do this in under two hours. That was what Mizuki had said. This was it. Do or die, she had to learn this technique. She leaned forward to read the hand seals on the scroll.


Like clockwork, roughly two hours later someone was fast approaching her clearing. She felt it through the Uzumaki sensory technique, Mind's Eye of Kagura, which threw the massive Uzumaki chakra stores in a great arc around them and allowed them to sense everything within those boundaries. She could feel someone approaching - Iruka, she decided. And he was running. His chakra was panicked.

Confused but interested, Naruko rolled up the scroll and strapped it to her back once more. She'd been working hard, was covered in dirt and sweat, but she was sure she had it down: the Mass Shadow Clone Technique.

Iruka dropped from the tree branches into the clearing, and Naruko strolled over to him, pleased. "Excellent. Iruka-sensei - I'm going to show you a technique from this scroll, and then you'll pass me, okay?"

"I'll pass you - who told you I'd pass you if you learned a technique from this scroll?" Iruka wondered, straightening.

"Mizuki-sensei. He told me everything," Naruko admitted. "About the scroll, this place. Don't be too hard on him, Iruka-sensei! He was trying to help me -"

But she paused. Iruka's eyes were wide and his face was pale; a look of horror had crossed his features.

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruko wondered, softer and more cautious. Then her eyes widened. Damnit! She'd been so distracted she hadn't realized -! "Iruka-sensei, behind you!" she shouted suddenly.

But Iruka had already moved. He shoved Naruko to the ground and took the full brunt of the attack himself. Kunai and shuriken ate into his arms and legs and he was thrown backward into the spy outpost wall. One of his legs was injured - he probably couldn't move properly.

"I'm surprised you found this place." Smirking, Mizuki emerged from the trees. He had two giant shurikens strapped to his back. Why would Mizuki attack Iruka? And why was he surprised that Iruka had found the place for the final exam?

"So that's how it is," Iruka spat, still conscious but bleeding heavily.

"Naruko. Give me the scroll." Colder now, Mizuki held out his hand.

"Don't do it, Naruko! That's a scroll of forbidden jutsu! There is no secret test; Mizuki lied to you!" Iruka forced out through his pain, and there was true hatred in his voice. "He used you to try and get his hands on a powerful scroll! He was probably planning on killing you here."

Naruko stood, glaring at Mizuki but also cautious. Two of her teachers had just turned on each other, both of them were of a much higher rank than her, and she wasn't sure what was going on, how she could protect herself, or who to believe. She realized that in all her years learning under Iruka, she didn't know even his ninja alliances or abilities.

"Naruko! Iruka's lying; he's just afraid of you having the scroll," said Mizuki dismissively.

"Mizuki's lying; Naruko, don't listen to him!" Iruka said in a panic.

"Perfect," said Naruko distinctly. "That clears things right up." They were both on edge, too, though neither of them looked it. Her Mind's Eye could tell her that. Fucking ninja, thought the girl who wanted to become one.

Mizuki seemed exasperated. "Look, Naruko. I'm going to do you a favor and do something no one's ever done before. I'm going to tell you the truth."

"No! Mizuki!" said Iruka in a sudden panic.

But Mizuki plowed on, increasingly delighted, a sick, fanatical gleam appearing in his eyes. "You see, Naruko, we all know the story. The fox demon attacked Konoha twelve years ago. The valiant Fourth Hokage died defeating it and the whole village was saved. But how was the demon defeated?

"They never told you that, did they?

"You see, the Fourth didn't kill the demon. He just gave it a different form. And after the attack was over, the Third Hokage - our current Hokage, who came back out of retirement - passed a decree. A law. Part of the law, Naruko, was that you were never allowed to find out about it. No one of your generation or younger was. But most particularly, the law applied to you. It even mentioned you by name. You want to know what it was?"

"Mizuki, stop it!" Iruka spat, looking disgusted and appalled at Mizuki's slowly revealing joy almost as much as he was afraid.

"Tell me!" said Naruko suddenly. "Tell me what the law was!"

"The law is that no one in Konoha is ever allowed to talk about one singular fact. And that fact is that you, Naruko, are a new incarnation of the nine-tailed fox demon." Mizuki's eyes gleamed in triumph as the full realization hit Naruko.

She'd first read about jinchuriki when she was nine. She'd been going through Uzumaki special seals scrolls, and she'd come upon this one. It read:

Jinchuriki - Humans who have a demon placed within a containment seal somewhere on their body. The human's chakra and the demon's chakra are connected. The human can if it chooses use the demon in battle, or even unseal it. Demonic power controlled through a human element. Often used by villages as sentient, walking weapons. The stronger the human's chakra, the more likely they are to survive a demon being sealed within them. Someone as strong as an Uzumaki might even be able to survive a demon being pulled back out.

She'd been born the day of the fox demon attack - the day her whole family had died. The whisker shaped markings on her cheeks. Her unusually sharp incisor teeth. Now it all made sense. The seal must be invisible-until-visible, triggered by something like chakra usage. She'd tattooed many such seals upon herself over the years. Never had she dreamed she'd already had one.

She clutched her hara - her navel - underneath her dress, the chakra center, the place the seal had to be.

"In other words, you are the demon who killed all those people! You wrought all that destructive damage! You even killed Iruka's parents! He was ten. Why would he want you to have a scroll of power? You never thought it was weird," Mizuki sneered, "the way everyone hated you so much?"

It wasn't her family. It was never about her family. It was far more personal than that. She realized she could see chakra glowing around her form. She must look upset, she realized distantly. She must be upset.

At least the chakra was blue instead of red.

Because it hit her, then. Mizuki was technically incorrect. She didn't do it. The thing sealed inside her did. She wasn't a demon anymore than a storage scroll was a kunai. Why was that depressing?

Because it meant - no matter the easily readable facts - that everyone probably saw her this way. Probably always had. Even the children. Did they think "demon" when they looked at her? No. Did they trust her when they looked at her? … Also no. They'd spent their entire lives eating up prejudice, maybe without realizing it.

And now what they expected her to do was figure out how to release the seal and use the scroll of forbidden jutsu to take her revenge out on Konoha. Right?

That was what upset her. Because in reality… she was going to do nothing of the kind. But how did a person even begin to prove themselves to a whole village full of people who were paranoid of being murdered at the first opportunity? Her dream of becoming a ninja and a Hokage… not only was it still up in flames, but had it ever been possible at all?

Yes, she'd won over a couple of civilians, and she'd won over Hinata. Hinata, who didn't know. Hinata, who was ignored by her family. But as far as Iruka was concerned, she'd murdered his parents when he was ten. Everyone in power was like him.

And how did she change that?

And if she didn't have that, why did she exist?

"No one will ever recognize you, you delusional monster!" Mizuki spat. "Iruka's not the hero in this story! Has he ever been nice to you? Iruka hates you just as much as everyone else! Anyone would hate you, if they knew! Do you think the magnificent Hyuuga clan lost no one when the demon attacked? How do Hinata's older relatives seem to feel about you?" He smiled slowly.

"Hinata-sama!"

The two of them whirled around. A man Naruko would learn later was Hinata's clan retainer for the day, a tall dark-haired man with silvery Hyuuga eyes, was standing there, furious and thunderstruck.

"Y-yes?" said Hinata, puzzled but instinctively cringing at any sign of anger. It was a very peculiar mix on her round face.

"You must not speak to this thing! Come with me!" He stormed over and hurried her away, even as Hinata struggled, looking back over her shoulder.

"But - wait - she saved me -!"

"It doesn't matter. Come."

"Die, Naruko!" Mizuki spun a giant shuriken straight at her, intending to cleave her in half. And in that moment, there was no one for Naruko, no one to save her. She was alone. She watched the silver whirr toward her -

And she did not move. She just stood there.

"Naruko, duck!" Iruka's voice. Instinctively, Naruko did just a little - and then Iruka had shoved her to the ground and taken the attack himself. Naruko lay there, stunned, Iruka crouched above her, his hands on the ground. A giant shuriken ate into his back, but that was not why he was crying.

For he was crying. Great tears were running from his eyes and down his face. Blood and tears fell onto Naruko's face as she lay there below him.

Finally, one word made itself known, the only word she could think of: "Why?" Why a lot of things. First and foremost: Why are you crying, and why would you bother to save me?

"Because you're a lot like me," he whispered. "After my parents died… there was no one left for me. No one to recognize, or treat me like a person. When I was a good student and an obedient pupil, no one at school ever paid any attention to me. So I was the class clown, the rebellious boy. If I acted out and played the idiot… it wasn't a good kind of attention, but it was attention at least, right? It was very lonely.

"And you, Naruko. You're the weird girl, but that's what's behind it. On some level… you're lonely. You do these things to be recognized. And I didn't figure it out until just now. Behind every rebellious class clown is someone wanting to be recognized as a person worth seeing. And behind every quirky, weird girl… is someone who wants to be recognized as an individual. That day with the nakodo - Suzume-sensei told me about it later. You wore that outfit and did those things, hoping to be recognized. When you weren't, you ran out crying… and I turned you away. I continually, for years, turned away the person who was most like me. All out of some stupid, meaningless grudge.

"I'm sorry, Naruko. All this, these past four years…" He was sobbing. "None of it would have had to happen if I'd realized sooner."

It was uncomfortable, Naruko realized, for something to impact with her so spot-on. Iruka was right, whether or not he realized it. All her life, Naruko had been trying to be seen as an individual worth recognizing. And here was someone, sobbing as he told her he'd noticed.

At the same time… wasn't the timing just so very convenient? She had no idea what was going on in Umino Iruka's head.

Mizuki scoffed and walked up behind them. "Naruko, you know the truth. Iruka's just afraid of you possessing that scroll. The whole story makes me laugh; you killed his parents. Okay? He wants the scroll back. Do you really think he's going to defend you against Hokage-sama once he has it?"

Mizuki may have been a gigantic dickweed, but he had a damn good point. But there was one way Naruko could think of. One way she'd know for sure.

She leaped to her feet and ran off into the trees, ignoring Iruka's calls after her. He'd get his time. If she was right… Mizuki would go after her before Iruka, so Iruka would go after her before Mizuki. And that was where things got interesting.

Sure enough, they both followed her - Iruka unevenly because of his injuries.

She knew these forests and they didn't. Advantage one. She could use her Mind's Eye and make it so she was just out of their range. Advantage two.

So she did. She ran an aimless path through the darkest parts of the forests, taking random twists and turns, sensing whenever either ninja became too close. She got out of their sensing range at last, leaped down into a well-hidden bush, and perched inside there in meditation position, closing her eyes but broadening her chakra. And thus seeing more than her eyes could ever show.

She'd never stretched her Uzumaki size chakra reserves so far before, so this should be one hell of an experiment.

As to be expected from two Academy teachers, they both used the Academy Transformation Technique to perfection. Mizuki turned into Iruka. Iruka turned into Naruko. "Mizuki-as-Iruka" found and approached "Iruka-as-Naruko." "Iruka-as-Naruko" attacked "Mizuki-as-Iruka." They both turned back into themselves in a forest clearing, and as far as she could tell, began talking. Their mouths were moving at any rate. She realized why - Iruka was still bleeding, and out of chakra, and they both knew it.

Naruko opened her eyes. Both were distracted. Neither were expecting her. Now was her chance.

She darted through the trees, taking a shortcut no one else would know about until she stealthily crept up to the clearing Iruka and Mizuki were talking in. She hid there, listening. When she was not around, what would they say?

"You're really protecting the thing that killed your parents?" Mizuki was asking disbelievingly.

"I'm not letting an idiot like you get that scroll," said Iruka fiercely.

So they were fighting each other. Iruka found Mizuki having the scroll worse than Naruko having the scroll.

"Idiot. That demon bitch is the same as me. She'll use the scroll to take her revenge on the village, not that I care," said Mizuki scathingly. "You saw those eyes, didn't you? Before she ran away? They were the eyes of a monster fox."

"... Maybe you're right. That could be true," said Iruka at last.

Naruko slumped for a moment, defeated. Then she rallied. She took up the scroll and prepared to venture her way with it, past the wall and out of the village. It was the only thing left to do. Run. Then Iruka spoke again.

"If she were a demon fox. But she's not." There was a smile in Iruka's voice. "I've known Naruko four years, Mizuki, and she's a lot of things. She's a strange, random, eccentric loudmouth who constantly surprises everyone, but she's not a killer. Naruko is not going to willfully use that scroll to hurt anyone. She doesn't always succeed, and everyone gives her such a hard time. But she has known pain, and that will make her strong.

"She is not the fox demon. She is my prized student that I recognize. She is Uzumaki Naruko of Konoha!" he finished stoutly.

Naruko was crying. It was embarrassing, but she was. The snotty, runny-makeup kind of crying. Not exactly pretty.

Then she heard Mizuki say testily, "You know, I was going to kill you last, Iruka, but you're getting annoying and I've changed my mind. You can just go right ahead and die right now!"

Naruko wiped her face and flew out from her position, landing in front of Iruka as the giant shuriken came flying toward her again. This time, she held out palm and channeled chakra. A containment release seal appeared. The attack was sucked up inside the seal, and gone.

Then she turned her hand and released the giant shuriken again, right back at Mizuki.

It flew past his head, and he smirked. "HA -!" he began, and then the giant shuriken caught his vest from behind and pinned him against the nearest tree with a startled yelp.

"Idiot," said Naruko, smirking. "Iruka-sensei, I apologize," she called back idly over her shoulder. "I did have clan abilities. The Uzumaki were a foreign clan who moved to Konoha. I've been hiding my skills from you. I'm sorry, I haven't exactly been truthful.

"But I heard what you said. You are now under my official protection. Anyone who ever touches a hair on your head gets ripped limb from limb. And unfortunately, Mizuki, you qualify."

She made a hand seal.

"Mass Shadow Clone Technique!"

Suddenly, in a blur of orange, hundreds of clones filled the clearing. They surrounded Mizuki on all sides, on the ground, in tree branches, everywhere. They filled the dark clearing, between hair and clothes, with gleaming brightness.

"Chakra control was my problem, Iruka-sensei," said Naruko, smiling at Iruka's silent, stunned expression. "Not chakra power, yes? It's an Uzumaki thing. I'll explain later. First! Hold him down."

Two Naruko clones made hand seals. "Water Whip Technique!" Water appeared from the air, a signature Uzumaki move. Two whips of water lashed out from either side of the clearing, wrapping around Mizuki, tearing him away from the giant shuriken, and leaving him hanging there in the air.

"Wait! Wait! What are you doing?!" He struggled.

"Cut his arms and legs," said Naruko flatly.

Two more clones called out, "Wind Knife Technique!" and cut Mizuki's limbs as he screamed so they were useless.

"Pull his arms and legs out of their sockets."

Clones went to work, ripping Mizuki's arms and legs out of their sockets as he screamed louder.

"Mizuki. I want to make sure you can still see me." Naruko lifted his head up by the chin. He stared at her in blind, sweating, shaking, incoherent fear. Naruko's face twisted in a snarl. "Nobody - but nobody - calls me demon bitch. Fuck you, too, asshole!"

She reared her fist back, and punched him so hard across the face he passed out, cold cocking him in a single blow.

Then she stepped back. "Wow," she said brightly, "that feels better! Okay, girls, take it away!" She jumped backward, waving her arms in the air. The Naruko clones cheered as they went at Mizuki, beating the ever loving crap out of him - just for good measure.

"I have my own style of taijutsu," Naruko told Iruka informationally, "Water Weaving Fist. It involves quick, devastating attacks to vital areas. Pretty incredible for situations like this. I'll wait till they're done and then heal him."

Iruka was still silent with shock.

"Oh, in the meantime, see these?!" She channeled chakra and seal tattoos appeared along her arms and legs. "Chakra augmentation and control seals. I've done whole, like, tattoo reveal videos."

"Videos?!"

"... Never mind. Anyway, that's how I had the chakra strength to figure out how find you! I have a sensory technique."

"Anything else?" Iruka asked disbelievingly.

"Uh… well…" Naruko thought about it, staring upward airily, finger to her lips. "There are seal barriers, which are shields and domes. Seal trap tags for traps. And… oh! I can slap a chakra suppression seal on someone just by touching them. I can do both touch placement sealing and touch removal sealing. And then there's sealing chains for entrapping massive chakra beings.

"Oh! And I can use Wind and Water ninjutsu together, when I want to!"

"Anything else?" Iruka asked again. "Is there anything else I should know about in the one student I didn't pass?" He was starting to look annoyed.

Naruko laughed nervously. "Uh. I think that's it for now. Oh look! They're done!" The clones were dissipating. Naruko walked forward - and paused. "Hey, I just got all the memories of beating up Mizuki," she said, disoriented. Then she beamed. "Neat!"

"You mean, for ninja purposes?" Iruka asked, bewildered.

"No, that means I get all the memories of beating the crap out of each person whose day I ruin! Isn't that cool? Oh, and I bet I get to learn what it's like to die! Wow, wouldn't that be neat?" said Naruko enthusiastically.

"Naruko, I recognize you, I recognize you. Go heal Mizuki." Iruka waved her off, exasperated.

Naruko paused, beamed, and trotted over to the ruins of Mizuki. She leaned over. "Yup, still breathing!" she said cheerfully. Then she paused. "Hey - should I heal all his wounds?"

"Uh… maybe if you can, leave the stuff that means he can't use his limbs," said Iruka nervously.

"Roger dodger!" Naruko stuck out her arm, put it in Mizuki's mouth, and had him bite down. Healing seals on her body suddenly glowed, and she carefully controlled which things her chakra moved into his body to heal. "I can do this to myself, too!" she called out informatively. "I bite myself and chakra floods my body to heal me!"

At last, Mizuki was completely healed except for the cuts to his arms and legs.

"The medic nin at the prison can fix those," said Naruko, smirking, standing to her feet. "Anyway, we'd better get this scroll back to Grandpa Hokage. Thank God I have you here to vouch for me. You okay, Iruka-sensei?"

She walked over and knelt down before him in concern.

Iruka smiled. "For a heavily injured man, I'm actually pretty good," he confirmed. "Naruko, close your eyes. I want to give you something."

"Uh… okay." Naruko closed her eyes, confused but curious. She felt her hand opened - and something placed inside it. It was kind of heavy, half cloth and half metal, a bit long…

Wait. No way. She opened her eyes.

Iruka had taken off his very own hitai-ate, and placed it in her hand. "Congratulations, graduate," he said, smiling.

Naruko just knelt there, staring at him, thunderstruck.

"Well, I have no reason not to pass you," he said, shrugging. "You passed the academic test through great personal effort, you do have clan abilities, and you can replicate. You can even break and enter. And you did nothing wrong. Hey, how about this? You like ramen, right? Ichiraku's is still open. How about a late night celebratory dinner? I knew you could do it," he told her, leaning forward with effort, winking.

She wasn't sure if he knew. Maybe as an orphan and an Academy teacher, he did. That was the kind of stuff… the parents said every year at graduation.

Naruko's lip trembled - and she flung herself at Iruka in a hug, even as he cried out. And she totally wasn't crying again. Really honestly.


When they appeared at the Hokage's doorstep, a Naruko clone leaning Iruka by the shoulders and Naruko herself dragging the massive Mizuki over her shoulder like a war trophy, the Hokage himself was waiting for them. He was a tiny old man with a wizened brown face, a silver goatee, and a pipe in his mouth. He always wore the traditional red and white robes, and smelled of wood smoke.

"Sorry, Grandpa, I -" Naruko began, handing the scroll back.

"Hokage-sama, she -!" Iruka began earnestly.

"I know. I know. Mizuki." The Hokage held up a hand. "Mizuki will be sent to prison and the scroll is back in my possession. All is forgiven."

ANBU Black Ops in black body armor and animal masks jumped down, grabbed Mizuki and the scroll, and leaped away.

"Grandpa," said Naruko, relaxing, "how do you know so many things?"

The Hokage smiled. "I never tell," he promised. "But let's just say, Naruko, that it's a good thing I like you." Naruko held up her pinkie and grinned, miming a string being wrapped around the finger. "Yes, yes. Iruka, go to the hospital. I know, ramen," he said when Iruka opened his mouth. "You go to the hospital, I talk to Naruko. Then after that, you go meet the Ichirakus and Hyuuga Hinata for ramen."

"Hinata -?" Naruko began, surprised.

"I happened to run into her this evening," said the Hokage in equal indignant surprise. "What are the odds?"

Naruko beamed.

"So, Hokage-sama… does that mean my decision to make Naruko a ninja… is upheld?" said Iruka uncertainly.

The Hokage rose feathery grey eyebrows. "Iruka, you are the instructor. The gods know I would never gainsay you," he said earnestly. "And as she was deceived by a superior, no crime has been committed, so why would I?" Iruka relaxed. Naruko smiled, took his hitai-ate, and tied it around her neck like a kerchief. She smiled down at it, her whole inner being lit, as if by a candle. The hitai-ate was beat up, but Naruko would never give it up. Not for anything. "Hospital. Go. She will meet you at the restaurant."

An ANBU jumped down and helped Iruka away.

"Naruko. Come with me." Naruko followed him slowly into the vast, wooden, red-roofed council building and upstairs to his office. It was a vast, gold-gilded, mahogany desk with calligraphy scrolls on the walls. Grandpa Hokage sat down, windows behind him, and Naruko sat down across the desk from him. Behind his figure, the lights of Konoha gleamed in the quiet.

"Iruka made me believe," she realized. "He made me believe that if I can prove myself to him, I can prove myself to other people as well. I can be Hokage."

The Hokage steepled his fingers. "That road will be hard," he said.

"I know," she returned, determined.

The Hokage smiled. "... But I think your parents would be proud of you for having it." Naruko's eyes widened with wonder. "I do have to tell you, after all this, do I not?

"The Uzumaki are cousins of the Senju - Konoha's founding clan. There used to be a tradition, wherein an Uzumaki would be sent to be Konoha's jinchuriki, as a sign of diplomatic faith between Uzu and Konoha. Why did you never hear about this? Because it was an S class secret. Your mother, Uzumaki Kushina, was the last fox demon jinchuriki sent before Uzu was destroyed. She brought all her clan scrolls with her, which is how we still have copies.

"You've never noticed? The Uzumaki swirl symbol is on every single Konoha high rank Chunin vest. Middle back. This is because the Uzumaki are heroes, who have done our village a great service by housing the demon that once lived on our land.

"Your mother went on to marry the young and handsome Fourth Hokage, Konoha's Golden Flash. He is your father. Their pregnancy was kept a well-guarded secret, because labor weakens the jinchuriki seal and back then bubbles were not available.

"Kushina was taken out of the village for the birth. The demon escaped despite every precaution. She and your father, Namikaze Minato, died sealing the demon inside the only Uzumaki left - you."

"I… I thought my Dad didn't want me," Naruko said, tears filling her eyes.

"Quite the contrary," said the Hokage. "He wanted you too much. I saw it in him each and every time I talked to him. He was so excited to have a daughter.

"But I kept your father hidden, because he made many enemies in the Third War. He killed many opposing soldiers. I kept your parentage a secret for the same reason I made the decree - I was trying to protect you.

"The children don't know anything. The adults know only about the demon. You can tell anyone you want. The law does not apply to you." He sat back, finished.

Naruko nodded, looking down. "Thanks, Grandpa," she whispered. "It's nice, after all this time - just to know. I am Namikaze Uzumaki Naruko, and I am Konoha's nine tailed fox demon jinchuriki."

"Third, to be precise," said the Hokage, smiling. "Third jinchuriki. And, perhaps - future Hokage."

Naruko smiled.


She met a healed Iruka at Ichiraku's. As she walked down the road, and saw Iruka, Hinata, and the Ichirakus waving from the warm restaurant up ahead… she smiled and broke into a run.

Hinata looked delighted as she saw her friend running toward her, a twin hitai-ate tied around her neck.

Naruko didn't think she was ready to tell anyone yet. But someday - someday she would let everyone know who she was.