Warning – This is unbetaed. Feel free to point out all the mistakes you see.
Chapter 3
Mizuki got back home tired and angry. It had been a long and difficult day, to say the least, and he was in desperate need of a shower and of a good night of sleep.
The plan had not gone like he expected it to, and it was all the bastard demon's fault.
As he thought this for the umpteenth time in the last day, he stumbled inside with a loud yawn and closed the door behind his back after switching the lights on.
He immediately noticed that something was off. The door leading to the kitchen was not like he had left it, being almost completely closed instead of open, and there was a dim light coming from the room beyond.
Mizuki stealthily made his way to the opening and pushed the wooden door just a little bit more before gasping.
From behind the open fridge, the head of Uzumaki Naruto snapped in his direction at the sound, peering at him with surprise.
"Oh, Sensei, it's you!" he shouted with a munched piece of cheese in hand. "About time! I waited for you for ages!"
Mizuki calmed himself after an instant of shock and could only grit his teeth dangerously at the blond. He had been here all this time! In his own house! And he lost so much time running all around the Village! Almost a whole day of wild chase! The bastard had not gone where he had told him and couldn't be found anywhere! Dozens of shinobi and teams were sent on his tail but no one had been able to find him! Finally, the Hokage had called the search off and assigned the task of bringing both the boy and the scroll back to a single tracking team, and meanwhile, he had been-
His fuming mind suddenly elaborated what it had just thought.
"The scroll!" he whispered and his eyes settled on the big object on the corner of the kitchen. He recognized it from all his study and research.
The Forbidden Scroll.
"Yeah, I took it like you told me! Had to knock out the Hokage to do that, though… I hope Ojiisan doesn't punish me for that," Naruto said with a wide smile. It dimmed though a second later. "But I couldn't learn anything on it. It's so complicated! I thought you could give me a hand in reading all those kanji, though. Can you, Sensei?"
As Naruto finished his plea, Mizuki burst out laughing.
"Oh my!" he said excitedly. "You brought it to my house! I hadn't hoped that much after the last day!"
Naruto's expression was puzzled. "Sensei?"
The chuunin laughed again.
"After I waited for you in front of the house in the woods and you didn't show up, I had thought you had seen through my trick," Mizuki said grinning like a mad man. "But now you're here. In my house."
"Trick?" Naruto asked uncertainly and the man snorted.
"Did you really think I would tell you to steal the Forbidden scroll just to let you pass the Genin exam?" Mizuki asked derisively. "You're an idiot! I only used you to get my hands on it and put all the blame on you!" He laughed again. "You made me sweat for a moment, but you did a good job, demon!"
Whatever the chuunin expected, it wasn't for Naruto's confused expression to suddenly disappear. The blond idiot then folded his arms slowly and raised an eyebrow.
"Don't you have enough now?" he asked looking to the left.
Mizuki frowned slightly at that, and was about to say something when he suddenly sensed them.
Ninja.
His next scowl was slower to appear than the kunai in his hand. Instinctively, he did the best thing he could do in his current situation.
He attacked the demon.
The kunai had just left his hand when he felt a stinging pain on his neck and found himself completely paralyzed. He was able to smirk a little in satisfaction, though, at the helpless look on the brat's face as he watched death fly towards him.
And then, another kunai appeared out of nowhere, hit Mizuki's with a loud clang and deflected its course. Both weapons embedded on the wall behind the blond, one on each side of him.
There was a moment of complete silence during which Mizuki's thoughts turned even more murderous.
"Wow…" the demon then whispered in awe. "That was so cool, ANBU-san! Like, superfast!"
Two masked men entered Mizuki's field of vision, but there was no answer whatsoever from any one of them. The wonder in the kid's eyes didn't lessen in the slightest as he shrugged his shoulders with a smirk.
"Well, gotta go now. Naruto wanted to know about this meeting as soon as possible," the blond said to the two ANBU before turning to the confused Mizuki. "Well, thank you for the food, Sensei. And... for everything else. Bye!"
An instant later, the Shadow Clone disappeared with a puff of smoke, the Forbidden Scroll with him.
Mizuki could only curse the demon brat inside his mind once again, while his captors advanced towards him.
As soon as Naruto had blinked owlishly in front of him, Sarutobi Hiruzen, third Hokage of Konoha and God of Shinobi, knew that the Shadow Clone had been dispersed and that its memories had passed to its master. And the following grin marking the boy's features told him also what kind of memories they were.
"ANBU are awesome!" the blond cheered, looking around at the two masked figures standing at his side. "Mizuki-sensei practically didn't even have a chance!"
The Hokage puffed a cloud of smoke out, bringing the pipe down to his lap.
"I gather that all went according to plan, then?" he asked the boy, continuing after his affirmative nod. "Good. Now, while we wait for the ANBU to bring their report, what do you think of trying and explaining what happened since yesterday? I only know what you told me after you almost sneaked past my personal guard. That was impressive, by the way, especially considering the whole Village was looking for you at the moment." When he saw the boy just smile at the praise, evidently pleased, Sarutobi's face got more serious. "Now explain."
Naruto squirmed a little on his seat, glancing self-consciously at the masked men in the room, and it only took a look for the Hokage to order them out of his office.
"Bear," he called, and one of the two ANBU stopped for a moment. "Iruka-kun should be waiting outside. Tell him to handle Mizuki's report and whatever non-classified paper comes. The rest can wait. I don't want to be disturbed for the time being."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," the masked ninja nodded and then disappeared behind his fellow ANBU.
The next thankful look on the boy's face made Sarutobi smile back, but that serene expression on his old features could only last so long. Because then Naruto started talking.
It was like he had expected at first, the boy's words only confirming what he already thought. Mizuki had approached the boy after he had failed his Genin exam and had tricked him into stealing the Forbidden Scroll with the promise he would pass the 'special test' if he could learn one of the jutsu in there. He had told Naruto where to go to train with it, so as to find him immediately after making sure everybody was blaming the boy and no one was after him.
It was all very predictable, reassuringly so, the Hokage would think soon after, when the tail started derailing towards Demon Foxes speaking with their host and magical spheres of chakra.
He could only stare back impassively at Naruto at the end of the report, his mind thinking furiously about the implications of what he had just been told.
Naruto was in speaking terms with the Kyuubi no Youko. That alone was mind-blowing. No one except Minato knew the exact functioning of the imprisoning seal, but Sarutobi had assumed that jinchuuriki and bijuu were two distinct beings not in contact with each other. The first eleven years of Naruto seemed enough proof of that. Instead, although there still was the possibility of the Seal having been altered, it seemed like the Demon had consciously kept his distance from the boy, only to then reveal himself and the truth when his host had stumbled upon one of those Materia just two days before. And speaking about those mysterious weapons...
"Ojiisan?"
Naruto's voice effectively pulled him away from his thoughts. He had stood up at some point of his reasoning and had walked over to the window of his office, his gaze lingering on the Hokage Monument. He sighed tiredly as he looked at his own carved face before turning around with a serious expression.
"Naruto," he started, "is the Kyuubi listening right now?"
The blond waited a moment before nodding.
"I need to ask him something," the Hokage said, not showing his hesitation. "I need to know why he contacted you."
Naruto tilted his head to one side and then spoke after a long second.
"To help, of course," the boy said simply, but it was clear he was quoting his inner prisoner.
"Help Naruto?" Sarutobi asked furrowing his brow.
"Myself, mostly, he says," Naruto related with a perplexed frown. "What does that mean?"
Another minute of silence followed before understanding descended on the young blond's features.
"Oh. He says he will die when I die, so he hopes he'll help with postponing that."
The Hokage nodded, having already guessed that much.
"He says he gave me a hand many times in the past by healing me and keeping me healthy despite atrocious conditions," the boy resumed, making a face at the end. "What does 'atrocious' mean, Ojiisan?"
"It means bad, Naruto," Sarutobi answered quietly. "Very bad."
"Oh." The young blond shrugged. "It wasn't so atrocious."
That earned him a sad smile from the old man in front of him.
"Anyway," he continued, "he says he didn't have to talk to me to help me at the time, but he was the only one who could have possibly explained me what Materia was and how it worked, so he did."
"I understand," the Hokage said nodding, a little freaked out by the Demon... loquaciousness.
"He also wanted me to become a genin and finally train for real, and he even..." Here the boy stopped abruptly and scowled harshly, most probably at his inner tenant. "Hey! I'm not like that! That's cheating!"
He was quiet for the next few seconds while his brow furrowed even more.
"What does that mean, 'cheating is kinda the point of being a ninja?" he shouted angrily. "It's not! Not mine, anyway!" And a second later, "Not yet, but I will ace the next exam for sure! I even learnt the Bunshin no jutsu now!"
There was some more grumbling and then the boy went quiet again.
Sarutobi, who had watched the little show with some uneasiness, finally managed to attract the blond's attention.
"Uhm... what was all that about?"
Naruto scowled.
"The stupid fox wanted me to cheat at the exam!" he grunted. "But I said no."
"Care to explain?" the Hokage tried again, not much more informed than before.
"He knew the answers to the written test, but I didn't want him to tell them to me. It just wasn't fair," Naruto murmured grumpily. "He bothered me the WHOLE exam about it, and I swear I botched it because of all his nagging!"
The boy huffed irritably and continued pouting.
The Sandaime, on his part, couldn't keep the smile off his face.
"While I commend you for your great sense of rightness," he began with a soft voice, "it is true that as a ninja you will find yourself in situations where cheating is the only route available or simply the best one."
Naruto shifted a little on his seat.
"The Kyuubi says it is almost a job requirement," he said.
"Something like it," Sarutobi agreed.
The boy thought about it for a moment before evidently making up his mind.
"I don't like it," he said simply.
"And that," commented the Sandaime while his smile widened significantly, "says a lot of good things about you."
This last argument... it had been unimportant, almost silly, per se, but at the same time, it had told the old man something essential, something he needed to know.
Uzumaki Naruto was still Uzumaki Naruto.
Or at least, it seemed so. He had countless years of experience in the shinobi field to be reasonably sure that there was no deception in the boy's words and features. The Demon Fox didn't seem to be controlling or manipulating the young blond in the slightest. It was such a relief. The Hokage had to admit that dangerous thought had crossed his mind upon hearing Naruto's story, and although he still couldn't rule out the possibility, it surely seemed far, far less plausible now.
"Naruto," he started in a small voice, "how much... in contact are you two?"
"Eh?" Naruto asked, blinking quizzically. "He just talks with me, Ojiisan."
"Is that so?" the Hokage insisted suspiciously.
The blond was about to say something else when he stopped, tilting his head to the side.
"The Kyuubi says that he sees what I see and hears what I hear," the orange-clad kid explained. "He's aware of my whole body as well, although not as if it was his own. He says it's a strange feeling." There was a short pause and then Naruto continued. "But my mind is my own and so it's my chakra. He doesn't have access to those."
Sarutobi nodded. It made sense, being mind and chakra – at least partly – spiritual. Jinchuuriki and bijuu shared the body, but nothing else.
"I have another question for him," the Sandaime suddenly said. The Kyuubi had seemed to be open about everything for now, and it didn't hurt to ask. "Why are you telling me all this? Aren't you afraid I'd do something about it?"
The orange-clad kid cleared his throat before quoting.
"You say that as if I had a choice on the matter, he says. Naruto is..." The blond stopped and pouted for a while before dutifully reporting what he was being told. "Naruto is a stubborn idiot. He wouldn't even listen to me when I tried to explain him why secrecy was the best route to take here." At this, the blond scowled harshly, letting the Hokage know what his own opinion on the matter was. "Besides, what could you do, old man?"
Sarutobi blinked a little at those words. Even through Naruto's voice, there was something strange in them.
"I could always take this... Materia from him. I could even try to alter the seal in order to-" He stopped, his eyes widening. "And maybe that's exactly what you're aiming at," he whispered in understanding. "You hope that me tinkering with it will give you a chance to escape... something to exploit..." The Hokage narrowed his eyes. "Is that so?"
Naruto tilted his head to the side before speaking up again.
"Then why did I wait this long before speaking to Naruto?" the blond reported as the Sandaime frowned. "It would have made more sense for me to alert you immediately, if I thought that plan could work. I make it no mystery to anyone, let alone Naruto, that if I could get out of this damn body at all, I would do it at once. But I also think you idiots are not idiotic enough to risk that so easily."
At that point, the blond boy had joined the Sandaime in the frowning, but continued talking nonetheless.
"As for the Materia... Naruto is a ninja, or... or would have been, probably, if he had listened to me during the exam." Another scowl. "It would make no sense for you to take a weapon – and such a useful one to boot – away from him."
"Unless I deemed it dangerous for the Village," the Hokage pointed out. "Or for Naruto himself."
"Then," Naruto started, and it was almost like Sarutobi could hear the Kyuubi's smirk in the kid's voice, "I must probably be certain that you will not deem it dangerous. Be my guest, Sandaime. Take the Materia and examine it to your heart's content. I have nothing to hide."
The old man thought it over for a short moment before extending his hand.
"May I see this so called Materia, Naruto?" he asked the boy directly, making it clear his conversation with the Demon was over.
The boy, a frown still on his face, quickly fished inside his pocket and produced a second later a plain round rock of small proportions.
"Here, Ojiisan."
The Sandaime took the sphere and examined it with all his senses. Well, he didn't taste it, really, but he did everything else. And the result was... nothing. The rock looked exactly that – just a simple rock. Grey, cool, coarse under his fingers... even with his chakra senses he couldn't find anything unusual.
"That's strange," he murmured. "Are you sure this is the Materia?"
The boy nodded, looking at him strangely.
"Hmmm..." Sarutobi continued to turn the thing over in his hands for a while before finally making up his mind. He gave it back to Naruto. "It seems a normal stone to me."
"Iruka didn't notice anything either," the blond admitted. "The fox says I'm the only one who can see it green, gleamy and all that. He says that it's because the Materia's chakra and mine are similar. Similar to his."
The Hokage nodded a little unconvinced, but he made a note to himself to send a Hyuuga to check it out and see what came up. He could ask Kakashi as well. Who knew if his Sharingan could-
And then the thought struck him.
Kakashi! Of course...
As Naruto yawed widely and blinked tears of tiredness out of his eyes, the wheels in the Sandaime's head started turning furiously.
'Yes,' he thought. 'It could work...'
Sarutobi looked at the boy in front of him and could not see anything else but a hyperactive blond kid – now tired, though – and in need of acknowledgement. Not a demon, or a monster. Just a kid.
He chuckled a little.
"I've come to my decision, Naruto."
As he said that, he opened a drawer on his side of the desk and pulled out a Leaf head-protector. He then put it on the wooden surface under the boy's widening eyes.
"This hitai-ite is yours, genin Uzumaki Naruto. You earned it." Seeing as the blond didn't seem to have the intention of doing anything, the Hokage spoke up again. "Come on. Take it."
At that point, Naruto quickly reached out with his hand and closed his fingers around it.
"Really?" he asked excitedly before jumping high, pumping a fist in the air. "Hell yeah! I'm a Genin! I'm awesome!" He turned to the Sandaime. "You are awesome, Ojiisan!"
Sarutobi laughed heartily at that and waited for the boy to put the head-protector on and eventually stop with his rightful celebration.
After he had dutifully informed the young genin about responsibility and privilege of being a shinobi of the Leaf, the Hokage swiftly directed the conversation to another interesting topic that they had yet to handle fully. What followed was a long and serious talk about the Kyuubi, the law of secrecy regarding him and Naruto himself, and what to do about it. Naruto admitted he didn't find the situation as bad as the Sandaime, but that he too preferred to keep the truth secret for the time being.
Noticing Naruto yawning again, Sarutobi put all those matters aside for the time being.
"Well, it is time for you to take a rest," he said gently. "Remember that tomorrow you will be taking the photo for the shinobi registration book. It will take place two floors underneath us."
"Yeah, yeah, you already told me, Ojiisan," Naruto said dismissingly, standing up and stretching contentedly. "I won't be late."
Sarutobi walked with him to the doors and opened them.
"I wasn't worried about that," he said. "More about-"
"Naruto!"
Iruka's voice interrupted them from the far corner of the room, where the chuunin was sitting at a desk and managing files and papers. He quickly abandoned them, though, in order to approach the blond boy.
"Naruto, are you..." the man started only to trail off at the sight of the head-protector, "wearing a hitai-ite?!"
"Yeah!" the young ninja cheered. "I'm a genin now, Sensei!"
At Iruka's confused, although happy, look, the Hokage decided to speak up.
"You have already read the report, haven't you, Iruka-kun?" he asked with a smile. "And don't you agree with me that what Naruto did, given the situation, was deserving of the title of genin?"
"Yeah!" Naruto nodded his head repeatedly. "I totally owned Mizuki-baka! Plus, I learned a supercool new jutsu, together with the Bunshin no jutsu! Take a look!"
And that said, he scrunched up his face in concentration and performed the familiar hand-seals. Soon enough, the whole room was packed full of small excited genin laughing and jumping excitedly around.
Iruka boggled at that but recovered as soon as he noticed how some of the incorporeal clones were making faces at the Hokage's back. After some initial difficulty, the chuunin managed to find the real Naruto and swat him on the head. He then proceeded to give him an earful under the amused look of the Sandaime.
A contented sigh escaped Sarutobi's lips as he watched the two young shinobi walk to the door and out of sight, Iruka chiding Naruto and Naruto shrugging at him as they went.
"Bear," the Hokage called. "Keep me up to date about Mizuki's situation. I want to know if there's anything else other than greediness behind what happened."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," was the prompt reply.
The old man started going back to his office but stopped after a couple of steps.
"And, please, get rid of all these Bunshin," he said tiredly. "All this orange is giving me a head-ache."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
When Umino Iruka and Uzumaki Naruto exited the Hokage tower, the chuunin was still reprimanding the younger ninja with a lecturing tone. The genin could have probably avoided that if he hadn't insisted so much about the fairness of free ramen in this situation. The older man was evidently of a different opinion, and he made sure to list all the reasons why to his young charge.
"And then, making faces at the Hokage!" Iruka was saying exasperatedly. "What possessed you to do something like that is really beyond me. It's not polite to do that to anyone, but he is the leader of the Village and the most respected person in Konoha. It's even your dream to be in his place some day! So doing that was really... are you even listening to me?"
Naruto had stopped just outside the tower and had been left slightly behind by Iruka who had kept on walking. His eyes seemed rooted to the tall building in front of him, though his eyes wandered up and down it.
"Naruto?"
"Huh?" The boy spun around to face the chuunin. "Sorry, what were you saying?"
Iruka rolled his eyes at his often inattentive student. "Nothing," he said eventually, sighing. "Come on. I'll buy you ramen."
But Naruto was no longer listening to him. Again. His eyes had gone back to the tower and he was now blinking them repeatedly.
"What's the matter, Naruto?" Iruka asked with his brow furrowed. He then nudged him on the side, smiling slightly. "Still green spots in your vision?"
"Green spots?" the genin asked confusedly before remembering their conversation on the Hokage Monument.
Very slowly, a large grin appeared on Naruto's face as well.
"You can say that."
There was silence for the next few seconds, then Naruto started walking again.
"So, you mentioned ramen, right?"
Iruka snorted.
"You have good ears when you want to."
While the two shinobi made their way towards Ichiraku ramen stand, the Kyuubi no Youko lazily stretched his limbs.
'You saw it, didn't you?' he whispered amusedly.
There was no evident answer on Naruto's part, but as far as the Demon was concerned, there was no need.
Author's notes – This was the third chapter. I hope you liked it. Till next time.
Uncle Stojil