Naruto: Alicization
Premise: It's time for the Genin Exam! However, foul plans are afoot. The following trauma will awaken the man who is a long way from home.
Chapter 3: Alicization Beginning – Part 3
The Sealed Realm
Who was that terror coming from? Within his cocoon of ice, Eugeo's eyes briefly opened to see the curious gaze of the Kyubi meet his own, before drifting off to sleep once more.
Konoha, 1 day before Genin Exam
Naruto did not leave for school that day. He stayed in bed, crying in agony as he tried to fall back to sleep. He needed to be there! Alice needed him now! Screw the rules of this stupid sleep world! But it wasn't to be. The sleep just wouldn't come again. The scenario kept replaying in his mind as he tried to understand how he hadn't acted when he had the chance. Even Kirito tried! Hell, he abandoned Kirito in there too!
Hours seemed to pass before he heard knocking at his door. He got up from his bed, and gave himself a quick once-over. Naruto was only wearing his sleeping clothes: a set of plain gray flannel pants and shirt. Shrugging, he went up to his door to open it, not really caring about his attire at the moment anyways. At the door was his Chunin Instructor, Umino Iruka.
Umino Iruka had gone to Naruto's apartment with the intent of a derisive lecture, originally. However, the sight of Naruto's red, puffy eyes when he opened the door put that intent on the back burner. He relaxed his features.
"Hey, Naruto. May I come in?" The boy frowned for a moment before letting him in. Iruka followed Naruto into the door and closed it behind him as Naruto went to the kitchenette and put a kettle of water on the stove. Taking a look around, Iruka noted that the apartment was fairly clean, if only a little cold. There didn't appear to be much in the way of decoration in the small studio apartment. The instructor took a seat at Naruto's dining table, and watched Naruto continue. He saw Naruto briefly glance at the expiration date on his box of tea bags, before nodding. Evidently pleased with the remaining time. "You're late to class, by the way."
Naruto paused for a moment. "Oh." He said simply. In Naruto's current state, Iruka had no doubts that he actually forgot about it that simply. Naruto had never missed class before. Never. Really, he was one of his best students, having gotten the title of "Honor Student" even though he wasn't quite the best in the class. He studied diligently, and paid rapt attention during class. He also never tried to forgo the sparring traditions. When he first took the recently promoted Yuhi Kurenai's class, he let himself be clouded in disdain. But, Naruto just went and proved himself to be the best mannered student he had.
"You want to tell me about it?" Naruto came over with the finished tea, and set it in front of Iruka. Picking it up and testing the flavor, he nodded at Naruto's choice. Oolong tea. Great stuff for helping break down the more stubborn foods. Tasted good in general too. He watched Naruto seem to struggle with his choice of words before faintly nodding to himself.
"I suppose, it may have really been just a nightmare." Naruto admitted reluctantly. Iruka motioned for him to continue on. "Maybe when I was seven or eight, I don't really remember how long back it was. I was really lonely. I had no friends, or family. I suppose I still don't, really. I was just so lonely." Naruto paused for a moment, taking a sip, and possible even trying to build up his courage, Iruka thought. "Then, these dreams started. Some fantastic other world. It was consistent too. I would have dreams of this world every single night. Always following it's own timeline. At some point, I thought that maybe it wasn't just dreams. That I was actually living an alternate life every time I went to sleep."
Iruka frowned in thought. Maybe he should take Naruto to the Yamanaka for the day? Confusing dreams for reality could be a problem down the line, especially for a shinobi. He was about to propose such a thought before Naruto continued his tale.
"I had these two really great friends. This girl I really liked, named Alice. She was really smart and skilled. Then there was my best friend, Kirito. He was really clever and brave. I wanted to be just like the both of them. In the village of Rulid that we lived in, we didn't really get to choose our careers. There was some divine law or some such in place where we had to sort of inherit a job. Kirito and I were assigned to be lumberjacks specifically designated to this one super tree. Alice was assigned to eventually become the new Priest for the church. She was really good at the Sacred Arts."
Naruto got up to fetch his sword and bring it to the table. "Really though, all three of us were wanting to become heroic swordsmen for the kingdom, Integrity Knights." The last two words almost came out bitterly to Iruka's ears.
"Integrity Knights?" Questioned Iruka.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, they're the most powerful and skilled swordsmen in the kingdom, and rode on dragons into battle against the monsters outside the kingdom's border." Iruka nodded. He had been wondering about that Henge from a couple days back.
"That tall suit of armor you transformed into a couple days back, was that what that was? An Integrity Knight?"
"That was how Bercouli Synthesis One, the first Integrity Knight and folk hero of Rulid village, was depicted in books from the dream." Iruka frowned at the strange name.
"Synthesis One?"
Naruto shrugged. "I don't really know, but our guess was that Integrity Knights forwent their family names, and took up Synthesis." He paused briefly. "Well, to fulfill my desire to become a swordsman, I took up a sword on this side. I don't have any real training with it yet, but I did a lot of sparring with Kirito and Alice on the other side. While we couldn't be swordsmen, we still fashioned some swords out of wood, and sparred with each other during our designated play times, and sometimes lunch time."
Iruka pondered at the detail of these dreams. It wasn't really normal to seemingly quite literally live another existence in ones dreams. "So, what brings us to today? Did something happen last night in this dream world?"
Naruto took a shuddering breath. "The three of us went on an adventure, and accidentally found ourselves at the border of the kingdom. Alice tripped, and really, only her hand touched the other side of the border, which was still enough to break the law of not crossing the border, apparently. The next morning, another Integrity Knight came to arrest Alice for high treason. Kirito tried to get me to help him with a plan to grab Alice and run away, but I was just so scared and couldn't move. Before I knew it, Alice was gone, and Kirito was nowhere to be found."
Iruka sighed. This was really outside his experiences, but he had to somehow calm Naruto down. "Listen, Naruto. When you graduate tomorrow, you're going to be placed on teams of three. Your two partners are going to be relying on you to have their back, and you're going to be relying on them to have your back. It's possible you are experiencing anxiety about this whole thing. Look, take today off. I'll excuse you from class for today. But make sure you are on time for the Genin Exams tomorrow. Being late is an automatic fail, and I don't want to see you have to retake the year again." Getting up, Iruka thanked Naruto for the tea before walking out the door, leaving Naruto to his own devices.
The Next Day
Naruto had arrived to class early, and waited. Over the course of the next half hour, he watched the rest of the class file in, some of which gave him odd looks. Probably wondering about his absence the previous day, which was a complete oddball for his school record. Before long, Iruka and another man with cobalt hair walked in. Naruto saw the man every once in a while when Iruka needed an assistant. Mizuki, one of Iruka's old Genin teammates. Iruka silenced the class.
"Alright. The test for this year has been decided to be on the more practical side. There will not be a written exam. We'll call your name, you'll come to the next room with us, and perform the test. Any questions?" No-one's hand went up. "Alright, Aburame Shino, please come with us." The heavily clothed and bespectacled brunette who usually sat in the back of the room got up and left with the instructors.
Before long, it was Naruto's turn. Naruto detected the faint frown on Iruka's face. A negative indicator for the exam. "Naruto, please perform the Henge." Naruto formed the hand-seal and intoned.
[Henge no Jutsu]!
The smoke dispersed and in his place was a carbon copy of Umino Iruka, complete with a clipboard in hand. Iruka and Mizuki both nodded and checked his name off on their clipboards. Naruto released the technique and returned to his original form.
"Next is the Kawarimi." Mizuki said. He gestured to the chunk of log in the corner of the room. "Please use that as your material." Naruto nodded, and again performed the ram hand-seal that was universal to the three academy ninjutsu.
[Kawarimi no Jutsu]!
Again, smoke dispersed, and Naruto and the log had swapped location. Naruto repeated the technique to move the log back to where it was. The two instructors marked their clipboards again. This time, Iruka spoke.
"I'm sorry Naruto, but for the final item, please perform the Bunshin technique."
Ah, so that's what it was. Naruto sighed, forming the hand-seal once more. He was never able to get this technique down. He followed every single instruction in regards to this technique, but it just wouldn't form correctly.
[Bunshin no Jutsu]!
With a stroke of inspiration, Naruto once again intoned the words he needed, using the smoke as cover.
[Henge no Jutsu]!
When the smoke cleared, he saw Iruka give him a faint, but sad smile. Not quite standing before the two instructors were three deathly looking images of Naruto.
"Naruto, while I really appreciate the attempt to match the criteria of being indistinguishable from your clones, the fact remains that in a live-fire situation, you would not be able to do the same, and achieve any favorable results. I'm sorry, but I have to fail you." Naruto sighed in disappointment and was about to depart when he heard Mizuki speak.
"Iruka. This is his third time, and he did create a clone. We could let him pass." The words seemed honey sweet to Naruto's ears. "Not to mention, he did use some clever thinking to try and circumvent the requirements of the technique." Iruka contemplated the argument for a moment when Naruto himself spoke up.
"No, Mizuki-sensei. Iruka-sensei's assessment is fair." With two final words, Naruto walked out. "I understand." Iruka looked on forlornly.
"Well, let's get the next student."
Academy Courtyard
Naruto sat on the swing in debate. He wasn't sure if he could set through the last year of the academy again. He already knew that he disappointed the old man who sponsored him in when he failed the first two times. Unfortunately, that stupid technique kept making the requirements, and he just couldn't get it.
He was pulled from his thoughts as he became aware of Mizuki blocking the sunlight. "May I join you, Naruto?" With only a shrug as a response. Mizuki plopped himself down at the base of the tree that held Naruto's swing aloft.
"Iruka-sensei is a serious person. His parents were killed when he was young and he had to take care of everything himself." Naruto nodded. He wasn't aware of this facet of his instructor's life, but he knew how it was. He lived it himself, after all. Mizuki continued.
"He probably sees himself in you. He's probably thinking he wants to see you become strong in the real way. Try to understand Iruka's feeling, since you also have no parents." Naruto cringed. That felt more like a blow, rather than attempt to comfort him. Mizuki regarded the silent boy for a moment longer. "I'll tell you a special secret."
Naruto looked over at him. "Huh?"
That Night
Naruto sat on top of the Hokage Tower checking over his strategy and information. He had a map that marked out all of the patrol routes relating to his target, as well as another map that marked a path for him to reach the rendezvous point. Getting up, he looked down to see the ledge for the window he needed to breach. It didn't take him long to slip in, as it was already open for some reason. Noting the potted fern in the corner of the room, he stealthily crept out of the room he was in and turned right. This section was the hallway to the main vault.
His patrol map showed that the Hokage himself would be coming around to this area soon, and it mentioned that he wasn't a sensor. Thus, Naruto applied the strategy he devised. He went up to a more open end of the hallway, and Henge'd himself into a potted fern similar to the one he saw when he slipped in. Before long, the Hokage rounded the corner and walked passed him without notice. Confirming that the Hokage left the area, Naruto removed his technique and went into the vault. Lying almost haphazardly was the target, a large scroll, big enough to use as replacement material.
A Cabin in the Woods
Naruto opened the Forbidden Scroll of Seals and found the first thing in there. He wasted a little time on the acquisition of the scroll, so he needed to learn this technique quickly. A sweat drop formed on his brow as he saw what the technique was. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Evidently, it's a superior form of the Bunshin no Jutsu.
He formed the strange hand-seal.
[Kage Bunshin no Jutsu]!
Two perfect copies of himself stood before him. They all grinned.
Before long, Umino Iruka walked into Naruto seemingly taking a break from something and chugging water from a water skin. "Naruto." Startled, Naruto put down his water and looked over to him.
"Iruka-sensei! Are you proctoring the make-up instead of Mizuki-sensei?" What? Iruka detected the sound of steel shifting against steel. "Naruto, move!" He rushed over and shoved Naruto out of the way of a flurry of kunai and shuriken. Most of the implements thankfully impacted his flak jacket, but stray kunai still buried itself into his left bicep. "Grk!"
Mizuki landed on a branch of a tree that was in their view, a pair of large shuriken strapped to his back. "Naruto, give me the scroll!" He shouted. Naruto was confused. What was going on? This was just supposed to be a make-up exam!
"What's going on here!"
Iruka cut in, trying to remain as calm as possible. "Naruto! Whatever happens, don't give him the scroll! That's a dangerous scroll that has forbidden ninjutsu written inside it. Mizuki used you to get his hands on it!" Naruto slung the scroll onto his back, and drew his sword, keeping both Mizuki and Iruka in his line of sight.
Mizuki chuckled. "Naruto, there's no point in you having it. I'll tell you the truth." Those simple words set off alarms in Iruka's mind.
"No! Don't!"
"Twelve years ago, you know about the demon fox being sealed, right?" Naruto frowned. What did that old legend have to do with anything right now? "Since that day, a special rule was created for this village."
"A rule?" Evidently, Iruka opted to just let this happen.
"But, this rule was never meant to be told to you."
"If there's a rule, how the hell would I be supposed to follow it if I don't even know it?" Mizuki chuckled darkly.
"The rule is that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that you are the nine tailed demon fox."
Eh?
"It means that you are the nine tailed demon fox that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village. You were sealed up by the Hokage you admire and you have been lied to by everyone! Didn't you find it odd how everyone hates you? Iruka is the same! He also hates you! Nobody will ever love you! That scroll was used to seal you up!" There was a heartbeat as Naruto's eyes widened in shock, and his awareness slipped.
The Sealed Realm
Eugeo's eyes opened. His coffin of ice seemed to suck him backwards, and deposited him on the other side of the gate to where the Kyubi was. He turned around, and before him was a young boy who looked at him in shock.
"Y-you are-!"
"My name is Eugeo. Nice to meet you. What is your name?" Came the calm reply. The boy wore the clothing typical of Rulid village, only with orange coloring. A massive scroll was slung onto his back, and a sword hung from his limp right hand.
"Eugeo? But I thought-. My name is Naruto."
"Could you tell me what's going on?" After a brief synopsis of Naruto's situation, Eugeo nodded. "Alright, I will teach you something to use. This is a Sword Art called Vorpal Strike. It was taught to me by Kirito, and is a facet of the Aincrad Sword Style." The armored man gestured for Naruto to hand him his sword. Naruto gave him the plain sword, and Eugeo nodded. Facing away from Naruto, he leveled the sword at his side, and crouched. "Prepare the thrust as so, and concentrate your will into the blade. Your opponent is older and more experienced. Your best bet is going to be speed, and that is the incarnation of this technique." The sword took on a faint blue glow, and Eugeo's expression made it appear as though he were trying to coil a spring with his will alone. "Once there, release your will." Eugeo shot forward faster than Naruto could follow, sword out in a spearing motion. Once ten meters were covered, Eugeo landed at a standstill and brought the sword back into a guarded stance. He returned, and handed the sword back to Naruto.
"Your turn." Naruto nodded with renewed conviction, and was about to perform it for himself in front of Eugeo, before he was awoken to reality. Iruka had knocked him over and taken a large shuriken to the back, evidently protecting him from the attack. Enraged, Naruto stood up and placed himself between Iruka and Mizuki. He sheathed his sword and formed the seal he needed.
[Kage Bunshin no Jutsu]!
Three clones of Naruto formed, and fanned out to each have their own angle on Mizuki. "Don't touch Iruka-sensei! I'll kill you!" Mizuki cackled in response, clearly not believing the young swordsman.
"I'll kill someone like you in one shot!" Mizuki pulled his second large shuriken off his back.
The four Naruto's pulled their swords from their sheath and crouched, swords leveled at their sides. The form was similar to when he tried to spear through Sasuke in their spar a few days ago, Naruto idly thought. The swords glowed a faint red, flames seemingly licked at the blades as Naruto willed as much of his emotionally charged chakra as he could into himself and the sword.
Mizuki, having witnessed Naruto's previous spar with Sasuke, snickered. He already knew what Naruto was going to do, and how fast he could do it. Or so he thought. There was a whistle, and then there was nothing. Iruka looked on in morbid fascination at what he just witnessed. Naruto moved so fast, that a red after-image trailed behind, trying to catch up with the boy who looked as though he re-materialized with four swords spearing through Mizuki's form. Mizuki bore no expression of shock.
He died instantly, with the confident expression still plastered on his face. For Naruto's part, the three clones dispelled, and Naruto released the sword that was still buried inside Mizuki, as though it were trying to strike him back.
Having finished the field wrapping of his own wound, Iruka got up and walked over to the shell-shocked blonde. "Naruto..." He took off his own headband, and wrapped it around the blonde's own forehead. Clearly, he was still out of sorts, as the boy did not respond to his field promotion. "We'll save the congratulations for later. I'll get you to the Yamanaka's, and go make the report." As Iruka guided Naruto out of the clearing, a contingent of masked shinobi came out of the shadows, and gathered the skewered chunin that was bleeding out on the ground. One of them stayed back, and scored the remains of the battle.