Legacy of the Sealmasters

by Jakroth

The three with Sealmaster blood running through their veins are born. Their time has come to show the world what the great Demonclan is capable of. Naruto of the Foxs, Gaara of the Racoons, And Kamibatsu of the dragons. Time for Chaos. Hope your ready.

4. Bad Omens

AN: Welp me again, you know, that one guy... the one who keeps writing these annoying little inserts in front of your long awaited chapters. Could be just because I like to delay. I might be sadistic, who knows. Anyways enjoy the omens. They speak of the FUTURE!

Bad Omens

There would be few times in his life that he had a total breakdown, but this was one of them. Hinata held Naruto close as he cried like he had never cried before. He didn't know why people hated him, but he had gotten used to it. He could ignore the trembling in his heart when they cast withering looks at him, or ignored him altogether. He could take that, but when they actually attempted to kill him... it hurt. Not the physical pain, although that hurt too. The pain that people from his own village were trying to kill him. Even now he didn't know why he was alive. He wasn't stupid, he knew what had been done to him had been fatal. He assumed someone had saved him, but whom that was, he was kept in the dark about.

This was a time that would never be spoken of. Neither of them would ever tell a soul about him breaking down like this. Neither would speak of it again, not even to each other. She didn't ask what happened. She just waited for him to recover so he could tell her if he wanted her to know. He would have told her too. But after he was done crying he thought about it, and knew she would just worry about him even worse than normal. She knew people treated him worse than most dogs. Neither of them knew why, and it caused her to worry about him constantly. Knowing what had happened would make her worry even more, and he couldn't do that to his only friend. So when he finished crying he took a second to dry his tears, then started asking her things that had no real relevance to anything. He wanted to take both their minds off it. She saw what he was trying to do. And assumed that meant he didn't want to tell her. She felt sad that he didn't trust her to be able to keep whatever secret this was, but she would never pressure him. So she went along with his ploy to change the subject of their thoughts. But it was an incident she never forgot.

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It was nearing graduation from the academy, and they would soon be testing to become genin. Naruto, despite his low grades had a high enough average that passing wouldn't really be a problem. Hinata was quite a bit higher in the class rankings than Naruto was. Her taijutsu while not topnotch was still near the higher end of the class rankings, as was her score in the classroom areas. Naruto and Hinata sparred frequently after class, and he had greatly improved in the taijutsu area. Although she still had the advantage. Unfortunately his chakra control was severely lacking. Making his abilities in genjutsu and ninjutsu below average. Not to mention even though he put greater effort than he used to in the classroom section he still found it incredibly boring, and therefore had a hard time with it. Even so, with all his troubles in many different sections passing still wouldn't be to difficult, as in every section his score while low, was still high enough to pass.

However, little did Naruto know that there were people not only waiting for him to fail, but intending to tweak things in order to make it impossible for him to pass. The night before the exam he made sure to go to sleep soon enough that he would be fully rested on the day of the exam itself. However a certain ninja had anticipated this, and had planned to use it to his advantage. He had been part of a plot a few years ago to kill the young blond, but they had been thwarted by a misguided anbu who seem to think his duties meant he was supposed to protect everyone in the village, including this damned demonchild. Well this man was the only one of the group who had managed to avoid being ratted out, and therefore planned on finishing the job.

However after last time he had decided not to be so obvious about it. He had no intention of being publicly executed, as his fellow comrades had been. No this plan was one that had taken years to set into place. Now he was just laying on the finishing touches. The young boy apparently ate ramen frequently, so Mizuki slipped a special herb into every single container in a way that made it look like none of them had been opened. This herb made molding chakra ten times more difficult, as well as causing the victim to have difficulties concentrating on any tasks. Having completed the first part of the final steps he silently left again. A shadow in the night.

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Naruto wasn't feeling to good. He had made sure to spend extra time sleeping yet for some reason his head felt fuzzy. He tried to remember what Iruka had said would be the most covered sections for testing, but his mind couldn't seem to recall. When he saw Hinata he said good morning, but the way he said it immediately caused her to ask if everything was alright. He looked ill. He declared he was fine even though looking at her, she seemed blurry. They sat down and waited to be handed their tests. Despite his fuzzy head he knew Hinata would be able to help him out unnoticed on any questions he was having problems with. He waited patiently for the test to be announced.

Iruka was mad. He was beyond mad. He was furious. They were doing this on purpose, and they weren't even bothering to pretend they weren't. The school council had taken a great interest in this last years grades from his class. Naturally at first he was delighted. It was rare for the school council to take interest in one teachers class. Gladly he gave them any information they asked for. It was shortly afterwards that he found out WHY they wanted that information. They only cared about the grades of one student. Uzumaki Naruto. Then right there on the spot they announced that one third of the final grade for the test would be the bunshin jutsu. It wasn't even really that important of a jutsu, but the reason they chose it was that it was the jutsu Naruto had the most difficulty with. Then then announced taijutsu would be barely worth anything in the final grade, and that the classroom section would be worth another third. Practical exercise which was normally the highest graded section was put as not really important this time.

Needless to say Iruka wasn't in the best of moods. Even so he knew Naruto could still pass. Even though he had difficulties with the bunshin jutsu he could still make a good enough one to pass. And the classroom section also he could do well enough to pass. Granted he knew Naruto would probably get some answers from Hinata, he figured it was fair considering how much out of their way the council was going to make it harder for him. Then the final straw was drawn. He found they had rearranged the seating in the classroom for the test without notifying him. Naruto was placed in the front right hand corner, closest to the examiner. While Hinata was placed in the back left corner. The obviousness of it was galling. They were making no bones about it, they did not want Naruto to become a ninja. Finally however he managed to clear all of that out of his mind. It was time to administer the test. Even without Hinata he knew Naruto could pass if he really tried. And this was something Naruto wanted badly. He would try.

After the test Iruka was looking at the tests as they were graded by the examiner. When he saw Naruto's he was shocked. The score was appalling. Naruto had never done this bad, EVER. It couldn't be possible. He looked over the questions and noticed nothing significant about them. There was no reason he should have gotten such a low score. Yet there it was. During the session where the students had to use the bunshin jutsu was where once again he was appalled. The students of course were at their best. Doing as good if not better than they ever had before. They wanted to be ninja. They had gone through years of boring classes for this final moment. Nothing would stop them. All of them passed with flying colors. All but Naruto. His attempts at the bunshin jutsu were worse than his very first attempt when Iruka had first introduced the jutsu. Iruka was shocked. Had Naruto decided to act out once again in an effort to say he would not conform to their antics? Did he not know that no matter what he was trying to pull, if he didn't pass he would have to go back through years of the academy? Without Hinata by his side? But seeing the expression on his face he knew this to be untrue. Naruto was clearly as frustrated as Iruka on this matter. He tried over and over yet could not produce a normal bunshin. Eventually the graders said enough time had passed and they could waste no more watching him fail repeatedly. Iruka reluctantly nodded and escorted the irate Naruto out of the room. All the children were escorted out back into the big yard to wait for the results. Once the results were done all of the children were gathered up and made to stand in a formation while they called off the names of the ones who passed one by one. They walked up and were given their forehead protectors, that had the insignia of the leaf village on it. One by one all of them were called up... all but Naruto. He was left standing alone as the council walked off to congratulate the families of those who passed.

Hinata wanted to console him, but her family was there, and she couldn't risk them seeing them together. Naruto walked off slowly by himself to sit on one of the tree swings by himself, while the rest of them laughed and played, happy they had passed. Only one teacher walked over to console him. His name was Mizuki. He talked to him for a bit, telling him that despite everything he shouldn't be to depressed. There was always next year. Naruto glumly stated that he wanted to pass now. He would do anything to pass. But for some reason he just couldn't. Mizuki spoke up again. "Naruto, there is one way you could pass. But it's incredibly difficult. You probably wouldn't be interested." He got up and started to walk away when Naruto grabbed his hand the light gleaming in his eyes once more. He didn't care how difficult it was, he would do anything. Mizuki smiled and spoke again. "Well there is a scroll in the Hokages tower. This scroll was created for the sole purpose of letting students who were unable to pass the first exam to have a second chance. The scroll is a two fold test. First off getting it from the tower without getting caught be the guards shows your abilities in stealth. Second part of the test is you have to learn one jutsu from the scroll. All of the jutsu are very difficult. However if you manage to do both of these things then the instructors have no choice but give you the rank of genin. Of course if they know you know of this second way they might send someone else to hide the scroll so you can't find it. Some people are just mean that way."

Naruto nodded. The council didn't like him and they were pretty obvious about it. But he could trust Mizuki. Aside from Iruka he was the only one who had been nice and actually helpful to Naruto while at the academy. Knowing this secret he ran off shouting a quick thanks to Mizuki as he began the plans in his head. He would pass. He would prove to them he had what it took to be a ninja.

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Later that night Naruto prepared to sneak into the Hokage's tower. He was feeling much better. While at home he had been about to prepare a meal of his favorite instant ramen when he noticed it had a bad smell. He opened another container and it also smelled the same. Naruto had an epiphany that moment. Apparently contrary to what he had always thought, instant noodles can spoil! Despite his heartache at the waste, he threw away all the hordes of his favorite food in the garbage. Instead for dinner he went to his favorite ramen stand. He ordered so much he couldn't possible eat any more when he finally finished. He was celebrating in advance. He would make genin. He would not fall behind. He would be able to stay by Hinata's side. Paying for his meal he rushed off to begin his plan.

Using all his knowledge of the many times he had been in the tower to his advantage he snuck in undetected. Of course several time he would have been spotted... if he had been the size of an average adult. But he was a child and small even for his age. He was able to fit in places that the guards on patrol didn't bother to look. Finally he reached the location Mizuki had informed him the scroll was kept. It took him several minutes to find the scroll, but he did find it. Silently crowing his success he turned around to prepare to escape when he came face to face with the greatest ninja in the entire village. The Hokage himself. "Hello Naruto. And where exactly do you think your going with my scroll?" Naruto had a sort of reputation if you will. A few actually. And two of them were being thought of by both of the two people in the room. The Hokage was thinking of his prankster reputation, as it wasn't uncommon of Naruto to do something that normally would be seen as possibly a crime, however Sarutobi knew Naruto only thought of it as a prank. The reputation running though Naruto's head however was that of the number one unpredictable student of the academy. He showed his secret jutsu, the one that he had learned was incredibly effective against adult men. He transformed... into a nude girl who had smoke just barely covering the parts of the body that were considered indecent.

Well the most powerful ninja in Konoha was unfortunately an older man, who had long since passed the days when he was able to gaze on young female flesh without being considered a perverted old man. Seeing a beautiful young girl who had no clothes on posing in a way that could only be interpreted in a few ways, had only one possible course of action that he was capable of following. He passed out, blood streaming from his nose as thoughts which cannot be described ran through his poor brain. Naruto transformed back into his fully clothed male self and snickered at the old man, calling him a pervert, and quickly before making his escape.

Several hours later some of the ninja on patrol found the Hokage passed out on the floor and an unhealthy amount of blood puddled in the general area of his head. Naturally they thought the worst and called in an emergency medical team, only to have him wake up shortly after and wave them off. He had unfortunately had a bad nosebleed and that was all. However the news he informed them of next was most disturbing, and they were told to call in all available ninja to the tower at once. Once they all arrived he informed them of the situation. "A very important scroll has been stolen tonight from my office. The scroll has jutsu that are for the eye's of no one but the Hokage himself. Should it fall into enemy hands we would have grave problems. The who took the scroll was Uzumaki Naruto. How he knew of the scrolls existence I cannot begin to speculate. While I'm sure he means no harm, I believe he does not fully comprehend its value or the the danger he has put himself as well as us in. Bring me back the scroll. It cannot be allowed outside the village. Go!" with a signal from him they all disappeared into the night. He had already sent out those Anbu he thoroughly trusted to go after Naruto first. He only hoped they made it before the main group. If his personal Anbu reached Naruto first he was sure they would not hurt him. But as for the main group he could not be sure of his safety. There were many in the main group who were among those who wanted him dead from birth. If they killed him now there was no way he would be able to punish them, as technically Naruto had stolen a forbidden scroll. Reaching his office he prayed silently for Naruto's safety.

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Naruto had reached one of the nearby forests and found a spot to rest. Learning the jutsu would have to be fast. He was sure by now that as part of the test there would be ninja sent after him. He would have to learn the jutsu before they found him, then he could hand it over without any problems. He figured the first jutsu in the scroll would be the one he would learn. After all the scroll was nearly as long as he was tall. It must have hundreds of jutsu. No point in spending time he didn't have to search for a good one. After all Mizuki said all he had to do was learn one jutsu, it could be any one right? So he opened the scroll and found the first jutsu on the list, and his heart sank. It was a bunshin jutsu. The worst possible type for him, as he had difficulties with even a normal bunshin. This one was called the kage bunshin jutsu (shadow clone technique). Nonetheless unwilling to go back on his word, even to himself he gritted his teeth and began to read through the jutsu.

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Iruka felt like he hadn't run so fast in his entire life. After all he was merely a mid ranked chunin, and he was trying to find Naruto faster than several squads of jounin as well as other chunin. But he had one advantage over all those other ninja. He knew Naruto personally. He knew the type of person he was, and he knew the types of places he would most likely go. After several hours of searching he found him. Exhausted and barely able to stand, but there he was. He was also grinning like a maniac. "I did it Iruka-sensei! Now you have to make me a genin! I not only managed to get past all the Anbu guards in the Hokage tower, I defeated the Hokage himself, snagged this scroll, and learned a jutsu from it! Now you have to pass me just like Mizkui-sensei said!"

Iruka frowned. Something was definitely going on. "Naruto, did Mizuki tell you to steal the scroll?" Naruto nodded.

"Mizuki-sensei told me that if I managed to steal the scroll and learn a jutsu from it you would have to promote me to genin. Well I did both! Wanna see?" Naruto's grin kept shining brightly oblivious to the obvious insinuations in what he had said.

Iruka spoke up "Naruto, what Mizuki told you was a lie. There is no feature in the system in place to promote you for stealing that scroll or learning a jutsu from it. But I think I may have an idea of some of the reasons why he lied to you..."

A shrill laughter echoed through the forest. "Poor Naruto even Iruka doesn't like you. All those times he pretended to be nice but even now he WANTS you to fail!" Naruto's grin faltered and his eye's began to show his fear of betrayal. Had all this time Iruka just been pretending to be friendly, when he really hated him just like the rest of the village? Mizuki spoke up again. "Naruto do you want to know why he and everyone else hates you? Do you want to know the reason why you have no parents or anyone who cares for you?"

Iruka yelled to interrupt him. "Stop it Mizuki! It's forbidden and you know it is! Don't do this!" Mizuki laughed again and jumped down into the clearing.

He had a smug smile on his face and he spoke up again. "Hear that Naruto? He doesn't think you deserve to know why he and everyone else in this village hates you. He's just like all the rest. But I'm not, I want you to know Naruto. I want to be your friend." Pain showed in Naruto's eyes as the betrayal from one of the few people in his life who he thought cared from him sunk in. Iruka really didn't like him. Mizuki continued. "Naruto do you remember the story of the fourth Hokage, and his battle with the nine-tailed fox Kyuubi?"

Naruto went back into student mode and answered his by the book answer of that he had been taught at the academy. "Thirteen years ago the village was attacked by the nine-tailed fox Kyuubi. After three days preparing the fourth Hokage went into battle with the Kyuubi and used a forbidden jutsu to kill the kyuubi at the cost of his own life." Naruto smiled after he finished knowing he had answered correctly. However Mizuki proved him wrong.

"Actually Naruto thats just the version children are told, to keep them in the dark about the truth, since they don't want to scare them. In actuality the fourth Hokage was unable to kill the nine-tailed fox, and was forced to instead transform him into a human child. Inside you lies the spirit of the nine-tailed fox. The reason they hate you Naruto is because your not human. You are the nine-tailed fox kyuubi!" Naruto was struck dumb. He couldn't believe it. It had to be a poor joke or something. He had heard Iruka's parents had been killed by the Kyuubi thirteen years ago during the attack. He wasn't a fox, he was a boy. He turned to Iruka expecting to find out that it was just a joke or something of the sort. But the look on Iruka's face didn't say it was a joke. Iruka wasn't laughing and the pain on his face as real. Suddenly it sunk in. It all made sense. Everyone hated him, because he had killed their family and friends. They wanted to kill him because he had killed them. What if he went out of control and it happened all over again? Hinata's face ran through his mind. What if he hurt her...

Unable to bear the burden of his own thoughts he turned and ran. He ran to clear his mind. To dry the tears that streamed down his face. He wanted nothing more than to gain the respect of the people of Konoha, but he was the cause of so much pain. He couldn't bear it. He almost wanted to die.

Meanwhile Iruka managed to shake himself out of his shaken mind. Memories of the night his parents died had resurfaced and he had been unable to contradict Mizuki as he was lost in his memories. Mizuki smirked for a moment before taking off after Naruto. Iruka would take a moment to recover and he would use that time to find Naruto... and kill him. After a short time he saw Naruto running blindly through the forest in a relatively straight line. He was being such an easy target. Taking a giant shuriken off his back he threw it towards the oblivious Naruto who continued in a straight line. At the last moment a blur jumped in the way of the shurikens path and stopped its progress. Iruka had managed to catch up, and seeing the shuriken had used a massive amount of chakra to get in front of it and tackle Naruto to the ground to prevent it from hitting him. However he was unable to avoid it himself and it struck his back with a sickening thud. Naruto looked back at Iruka who was on top of him and saw the giant shuriken lodged in his back. Iruka who hated him had saved him from death by Mizuki? Everything kept switching itself around. One moment one person hated him while the other was his friend, the next moment the person who hated him saved his life from the person who was supposedly his friend? It made no sense!

Iruka spoke up first. "Naruto it's true that my parent's were killed by the nine-tailed fox. And it's true that at first I was no different than anyone else, and I despised you. However over time you opened my eyes. You are not the nine-tailed fox, you are Naruto. And no matter what you must remember that. You are human." Naruto's entire body quivered as his words washed over him, even so it was still to much to handle and he took off again. Mizuki smirked his triumph and continued after Naruto, assured that with a giant shuriken in his back, Iruka would be unable to interfere any more.

Naruto hopped from tree to tree, with the giant scroll on his back. Escape could be the only thing running through his mind. However Iruka had managed to catch him despite his injuries. "Naruto give me the scroll! If Mizuki finds you he will kill you and take it for himself! We must return it to the Hokage!" Naruto just landed on a branch and glanced back. Iruka was in mid-jump when Naruto launched himself towards him. However instead of handing him the scroll he brought his leg forwards and delivered a kick into the wounded Iruka's stomach with a force that was not proportionate to his size. Both landed on the ground below, Iruka barely managing to land on his feet, while Naruto landed in a crouched position.

Iruka released the jutsu he had been holding and transformed back into his real self. Mizuki. "Damn, that hurt. How did you know I wasn't Iruka?" He asked holding his sore stomach.

Naruto took the scroll off his back and set it on the ground before sitting down and leaning his back against a tree, before replying. "Because..." He released a jutsu he also had been holding and transformed back into himself. "I'm Iruka." Iruka had predicted what Naruto would do, and unlike what Mizkui thought it wasn't run blindly for as long as possible. Naruto, while it was a fact he screwed up a lot, he rarely made the same mistake twice. The first time he didn't know Mizuki was trying to kill him. Now that he did it was highly likely he would escape using stealth. Iruka felt his energy draining away. The blood loss from his wound was taking it's toll. Normally he could probably stand on about even ground with Mizuki, perhaps slightly higher. But he was not only wounded, but he had spent a great deal of energy to get ahead of Mizuki to distract him and give Naruto more time to escape. Right now he simply didn't have the energy to fight Mizuki.

Mizuki despite everything felt a need to know. So he asked. "Why do you continue to protect him Iruka? He is the reason your parents are dead! I know what your life was like growing up, he is the reason for that. You saw the look in his eyes, he's a beast. If we don't kill him now he could easily go back and terrorize the defenseless villagers. All he wants is revenge. We have to stop him before it's to late."

Iruka spoke slowly as even doing that was starting to seem difficult. "Yes. Your right. That is how a beast would act... But that's not Naruto. I have watched the boy growing up. I have a vague idea of the hell he's been through. But all this time not once did he threaten anyone for how they treated him. No instead he did something I'm not sure even I could do. He tried to get them to like him. Instead of trying to hurt them back for how they treated him or getting angry, he seeks to change how they see him. He's trying to gain their respect. That's not how a beast would act Mizuki, thats how a truly good hearted human would act. And despite everything I'm saying I can see on your face that you still plan on going after him to kill him. Well to my dying breath I will get in your way. I will not let you hurt him if it takes my very life."

Mizuki's face twisted in his vile smile and he spoke up. "Well then I was planning on letting you live, but since it seems you intend to be a nuisance I guess I'll just kill you now." He pulled a second giant shuriken from off his back and began twirling it, preparing to finish Iruka's life right then and there. Iruka rested his head against the tree trunk that he was sitting against. Despite his words he knew he really wouldn't be able to delay Mizuki any further. At the moment he was unsure he could even stand. He had lived a good life he supposed. True there was many things he had planned to do one day that he had yet to accomplish. However to die protecting his student... what more could a teacher want? What more honorable way was there to die?

However unknown to them Naruto was not only close by. He was listening to their entire conversation. And once more tears streamed down his face as Iruka's praise of him fell on his ears. Iruka recognized him. He had spent his entire life trying to get people to do that. Iruka was the first person to do that. Yes Hinata had been his friend since he could remember. But she didn't know the truth about him yet. Iruka did, and even with that still saw him as a person. A happiness he had never felt before held his heart in its warm embrace. And then he heard it end. He heard Mizuki declare that he would kill Iruka, his own co-worker. And Naruto's friend. And Naruto would have none of it. Naruto used a burst of speed and appeared in front of Iruka holding the scroll under one hand, glaring at Mizuki. He bared his teeth in the most feral growl he was capable of and said "You lay one finger on my sensei... And I'll kill you!"

Mizuki laughed. This child who couldn't even pass the exam to become the lowest rank of ninja in the village thought he could take on a chunin? True he held the nine-tailed fox within him, but he was a long way form controlling its power at whim. "Well well. How nice of you to come to me. It seems I won't have to track you down after all. You have made things so much easier for me. Looks like I will get to kill you first." His twisted smile gleamed as he prepared to strike down Naruto instead of Iruka.

Naruto stood his ground, the majority of his face shaded due to the forest's darkness. "Iruka-sensei. I'm going to beat up Mizuki-sensei. Is that ok with you?" Iruka couldn't believe his ears. True Mizuki wasn't the greatest ninja around, but he was still a chunin. And Naruto wasn't even a genin. He couldn't possibly win. But as Naruto turned his head slightly he saw the look on his face. Grim determination. Unable to bring himself to deny Naruto of this moment he simply nodded his head. Some of the light returned to his eyes as he saw Iruka's nod. Grinning brightly Naruto said "Well sensei it look's like you will get to see the jutsu I learned from this scroll after all. It was pretty damn hard, But I think I managed to do a pretty fine job if I do say so myself." Naruto crossed his hands in a hand sign. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow clone technique)

Both Mizuki and Iruka were stunned. Naruto who had problems with a mere bunshin illusion had created so many solid bunshins that they filled the entire clearing. Then one of the many Naruto's spoke. "Let's go wild!" Mizuki's scream was heard throughout the entire forest. In the aftermath a very bruised, yet alive Mizuki was tied to a tree unconscious. While Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "He he. I may have overdone it a bit."

Iruka shook his head in wonder. The progress Naruto had made in such a short amount of time was astounding. Iruka decided now would be a good time. "Come here Naruto." Naruto's sheepish look appeared and he figured he was probably going to get his head rapped for going to far on Mizuki. He sauntered over to Iruka only to be pulled into a hug. For a moment he was confused. Then he just enjoyed it. It felt like what a family hug was supposed to feel like he was sure. Just as suddenly as he had hugged him Iruka pushed him away. Naruto noticed something felt different, and glanced around. He usually wore a pair of goggles on his forehead, but he saw them instead on the ground next to Iruka. Reaching up he felt to see what was on his head taking its place. The symbol of the leaf village greeted his searching hand. It was then he noticed Iruka's own Forehead protector was missing.

Naruto began to sputter. "B-b-b-but you said that there wasn't a feature in place to be promoted to genin for the scroll!" His confusion so apparent on his face that Iruka had to laugh.

"Thats correct Naruto, it seems for once you were listening." He laughed again at the embarrassed look on Naruto's face before continuing. "However ultimately I have the power to promote you, and based not on your skills with stealing the scroll, but based on your skill in defeating Mizuki as well as many of the choices you made tonight. I think you deserve genin. And even the council won't dare disagree after I file my report on Mizuki. Congratulations Naruto. You're officially a ninja of Konoha."

Later an Anbu discovered them, and they surrendered the scroll without hesitation. Despite the things he felt like saying, getting the scroll back to the Hokage was the most important thing at the moment, so he took it and left. Later several other ninja showed up and helped Iruka to the hospital where he was treated for his wounds. Naruto had been sent home by Iruka to get some sleep as he was sure the next day would be filled with activity. Mizuki was taken into custody and never heard from again.

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Gaara stared at the instructor who seemed extremely nervous and who's fumbling hands seemed to make the irritating process of waiting on him to grade the exams drag on. Finally unable to take it anymore the instructor told the children to go outside to wait for the results. Normally they would have to wait inside, and the children while eager to find out if they passed or not, gladly went outside to play while they could. After they left the instructor slumped down in his chair. He hated this position. That demon scared him shitless. He was the third one in a year to be placed in charge of the class. Apparently the two previous had "Annoyed" the intimidating redhead. They had lived just long enough to realize their mistake. He was trying his best but honestly even A class missions were not as scary as teaching with "Him" there. This had to be the first class in the history of Suna that if a student didn't like the curriculum for the day it was changed immediately for their entire class.

Of course it wasn't that he couldn't get the stuff he didn't like. It was just annoying. Gaara had a perfect memory. He never forgot anything. Everything was done how he wanted it. His room was perfectly neat, though void of any toys but one old teddy bear. Anyone who dared to touch that toy died on the spot. He had a thing for perfection. If it wasn't perfectly how he wanted it, then he had them change it... or he changed them.

Due to his likes and dislikes he was never forced to learn or graded on kunai or shuriken throwing. He learned only basic taijutsu but never lost. The only ninjutsu he learned was what he created himself, and a few basic other ones. Genjutsu he didn't consider worth his time. Yet despite his personal interests he never lost to anyone in combat. As a matter of fact he never even got touched. Even chunin were unable to do anything to him. And all this before he even graduated to a genin. So naturally it was no surprise that he got a perfect score on the exam, after all they only tested him on areas he himself agreed to.

While they waited outside Gaara kept to himself. He associated with no one. And no one was stupid enough to try and associate with him. There was only one person who he ever kept in his confidence. And she didn't go to the academy. He had met her shortly after he had entered the academy, one evening at sunset. He thought back briefly to that day.

Flashback

Gaara gazed at the setting sun and the blazing red sky that accompanied it. His first week at the academy was almost over and he found it to be a most irritating place. However they did have some knowledge that he sought, so he went anyways. He didn't like the instructor much however and was considering getting rid of him when a voice spoke up.

"M'lord? M'lord is that you?" He turned his head to gaze at the source that had interrupted his thoughts. His eyes fell on what appeared to be a young girl, however there could be no doubt that she was not human. While she had mostly human features, she had pointy ears that stuck out of the top of her head, and none on the side where most people do. The skin around her eyes also was dark in almost like a mask, but the most noticeable feature about her was the tail. Yes the big furry striped tail. She appeared to be a cross between a human and a raccoon, which of course isn't possible. After all humans do not breed with raccoons. Yet her appearance was definitely different from that which he had found to be relatively normal.

He answered short and simple. "Who and what are you?" If she was a threat he would not hesitate to kill her. Sand accompanied his subconscious thoughts and began to shift around until she was completely surrounded, even if not yet touched by it.

Seeing the sand moving apparently by itself she decided that it was in fact the one she sought. Bowing down she answered him. "I am Makari a raccoon demon, and your humble serf. As you have been gone for quite a while I decided to come see if you had decided to change locations again, and if so to request that I continue to serve you as I have in the past."

He reasoned for a few moments and it occurred to him that the Shukaku was a raccoon demon. Perhaps she thought him the actual Shukaku? "You seem to be confused. I am not the Shukaku. My name is Gaara. The Shukaku merely lives inside me. You should leave now. I have no need for anyone. People cannot be trusted."

She raised her head slightly. "M'lord I am aware that you are indeed human and that my actual lord lives inside thee. However as long as he lives inside thee you are my master. I have served him for over two hundred years, I assure you I would never betray you. I swear on my soulstone that that I will serve you both to the end of my days."

He was slightly confused however he betrayed none of it on his face. "Soulstone? What is that exactly? Don't use words that I don't understand unless you explain them." He said menacingly.

She realized that of course he would not know what a soulstone was and apologized. She reached inside her shirt and pulled forth a necklace, that had a golden stone glowing faintly attached to it. "This is my soulstone. As the word implies my very soul is contained inside this stone. Unlike humans who's souls are contained in their body, demons souls are contained inside these. I will leave my soul itself in your hands as a sign of my commitment. At any time should you will it you can destroy it with your sand. If you do so I become mortal and lose most of my power." She held the stone out to him in a manner that told him it was her most precious object.

Cautiously taking it from her he noticed it was faintly warm to the touch. But even more so he noticed that by merely holding the stone he could sense her. It was like he could sense her emotions, not thoughts, just emotions. He could tell she was anxious, but meant everything she said. At first he was unsure if it was a trick. But the more he felt it the more sure he was that it was genuine. It truly felt like he was holding her soul in his hands. He supposed he could probably trust her. After all, she wasn't human. And humans were the ones who couldn't be trusted.

End Flashback

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Kamibatsu was enjoying his day off. He and taken the day to go up into the nearby hills to go on a picnic. The sun was shining, and the birds were singing. Truly a peaceful day. So he was pretty unhappy when he felt the summons coming from some of the dragon elders. They of course could not send him the reason, it was simply a feeling telling him he was being summoned. But he was irritated enough with having to do that damn angels bidding during his vacation. He would be damned if his own kind would not give him his space during his time off. So he ignored them. His "Sister" was much more important that some minor dispute they always wanted him to settle. Being the emperor of dragons was just annoying at times. They wanted you to decide everything, even if they could find a solution themselves. Well this time they could find it themselves as far as he was concerned. They needed to grow up.

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The summoner sighed as he continued to send out the summons, and continued to receive no answer. Granted he knew that Neo Bahamut was often busy with the duties of being a tailed beast as well. But at least usually he sent a reply of some sort. This time it felt almost like he was being ignored. Then he heard the footsteps of one of the elders approaching. This was going to be a long day. "You there. Why have you not contacted his majesty yet? We don't have all day. This is of the utmost urgency."

The summoner sighed inwardly before replying. "M'lord, I have been sending the summons for several hours. He won't reply. It is possible he is busy with his duties as a Tailed beast."
The elder shook his giant head. "Nonsense. Tailed beast duties while they take a great deal of time, do not interfere with his duties as our leader, and emperor. I don't care what you have to do. Get in contact with him. Our own lives may depend on it." Turning around he walked out, his giant footsteps resounding throughout the large caverns.

The summoner drooped his head. He was trying but there really wasn't much he could do beyond what he was. He could send out actual messengers normally, but leaving the mountain strongholds had been forbidden recently. Ever since dragons had started to be hunted by some group of humans the leaders had become paranoid, and refused to let anyone leave their place of safety. To make matters worse most of the dragons did not keep their soulstones in the stronghold, as they were kept by humans they trusted in shrines elsewhere. Apparently some of the stone had been found by this group and the dragons who owned them had no choice but to attempt to retrieve them. The names of those dragons who left disappeared from the scroll which held all their names, meaning they had been killed as well. They had seen no signs of any of the dead ones attempting to reincarnate themselves, meaning their soulstones had most likely been taken as well.

He smelled ill omens for the future. But all he could do was attempt to summon the emperor back to assist them, and he was not answering. Even the idea sent chills coursing down his lengthy spine. Humans who went out of their way to hunt down one of the strongest race of demons in existence, And the worst part was that they were successful. There were theories of demons at work behind the scenes, but no proof as of yet. Things wouldn't get better until someone showed them the real power of dragons, The problem was that the strongest dragons were in fact the elders (and the emperor of course) and the council while strong physically had become weak mentally. They were afraid. Eventually the others would get tired of being cooped up in the mountains, and fly outside to eliminate the human threat in mass. Kami-sama wouldn't be happy about that. After all he prized the lives of humans above demons.

He sighed one final time and got back to sending the summons. Indeed, bad omens for the future.

AN: Well I decided to leave it at that for this chappy. I normally take a REALLY long time to finish each one so I figured I would release this one just a bit sooner than normal. Next one should be out sooner than what most of them have been also. Anyways... READ AND REVIEW! You know you want to. Also yes I'm sorry sorry if this chapter was mainly something most of you have already seen or read several hundred times, but I felt the need to put my input on how it went, with my own twist of course. Hope you enjoyed it, until next time!