Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any other elements that I will use in this story. Those rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto and their proper owners.

Chapter 4: Awakening

Spring, Hokage Tower 2:25 p.m. (4 years later)

Calm: a state of time when everything is tranquil. Years have passed and Konoha has once again regained their shinobi from the night the Kyūbi attack. In the office of the Hokage, sat the Sandaime in all of his glory…or what's left of it from the surrounding paperwork. All of his hair has either fallen out or has turned gray from the content bane of Kages worldwide. His stress had only elevated from Naruto defiling the Hokage Monument in less than 2 hours yesterday. Leaning into his desk, Hiruzen begins to think to himself. 'If this paperwork doesn't kill me, I am sure that Naruto will'.

Getting out of his desk, Hiruzen decides to take a late night stroll through the tower to clear his thoughts on the genin exam results that had come in that afternoon. Once he had looked at it, he felt an ache in his heart that Naruto didn't pass the exam again for the third time.

Flashback

Iruka had explained to the Sandaime that due to increase of civilian applicants, the standards for the Academy had to increase so that the students could survive if they choose to continue with their shinobi careers. That was the explanation that Iruka had received from the forms received from the council. When Hiruzen asked from which council that form came from, Iruka showed him the papers. Upon closer inspection, these forms where from several of the new civilian council members that have been selected to represent trading of foreign countries and stability of the village. 'So why were these councilmen medaling with shinobi affairs? Several of them haven't even been in their designated positions for more than 4months, they wouldn't have been able to get these forms unless they…' as he continued his thought, he scrunched the paper in his hands before storming out to find these individuals.

End of Flashback

The Sandaime had to go to each person responsible for signing these papers and dragging them to the Intelligence building to give them an 'appointment' with Ibiki. With them out of the way, Hiruzen now had to wait for Ibiki's report and continue the planning of the next genin teams and to review Naruto's test scores from before this incident. "Paperwork truly is the bane of Kages, now I understand why Tobimaru-sensei had a scowl on his face whenever we returned to the village from a mission…sigh" Hiruzen said before closing the door to his office and giving his legs some much needed exercise. Walking pass several doors, his ears pick up something from behind one of the locked doors. Deciding to take some of his frustration out on whoever was in there, unlocks the door. When the door swung open, allowing the hall lights to show the inside, Hiruzen was surprised who he had found. "Naruto?"

Naruto (12 years old) had stood where he was, spooked by the sudden turning of locks and the appearance of the Hokage. Deciding that he needed to get out of here brought his hands together in a ram hand seal. "Oiroke no Jutsu". The room was filled with white smoke and the sounds coughing coming from the Sandaime. Once Hiruzen moved some of the smoke, he looked around to see if Naruto was just doing another prank for retaliation from today's exam, only to hear the sounds of a girls giggling coming from Naruto's general direction. In a fell swoop, the figure jumped out of the smoke and Hiruzen got a look at what was making that giggling sound. The figure was still surrounded in smoke, and that was it. Hiruzen saw, for the most part, a naked woman in a provocative pose winking at him with a look he hadn't seen since his late wife. "Sa-ru-kun" the women said in a sultry voice. There was silence in the air for several more seconds before Hiruzen tumbled backwards with a small blood trail coming from his nose. All he could think about was 'Forgive me Biwako, forgive me' over and over.

"Sorry Ojii-san, but I have a too become a genin, no matter what. I'll apologize to you later once my test is done." Naruto said undoing the jutsu before strapping a huge scroll over his back and running out into the hallway to meet Mizuki-sensei. If he could just get to the area he was supposed to meet him, he can finally begin his ninja career to become Hokage.

2:48 p.m. Cabin in the Woods

"All right, I'm here Mizuki-sensei" Naruto said while landing from in the clearing. Looking around, the area looked deserted and the cabin appeared to have not been in use for some time. "Maybe he isn't here yet?" shrugging at the thought, he removes the scroll from his back and places it on the ground. Turning his head to the left and back to the right to see if he was alone, he allowed a small grin to cross his face. He grabs the tassel that binds the scroll and unraveled it across the clearing.

"Well, there would be no sense in letting this go to waste now. Let's see…" Naruto began looking at the first jutsu that was written in it. 'Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu…'it took Naruto several seconds before "WWHHAATTT!? Aw come on, I'm not good at that!" scratching his head in frustration at the one thing he can't do. It was a simple Bunshin or clone jutsu that the Academy teaches, but also the one thing that failed him from becoming a genin. Shaking that particular thought away, he looks at the hand sign for the jutsu and begins to practice them.

"I don't care if I have to wait all night, I am going to master this jutsu!" he said while adding his chakra to perform and shouting out "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu". White smoke surrounded Naruto as he began chanting to himself 'please work, please work, please'. Opening his eyes to see several clones of himself that looked like they were deathly pale and lying on the ground. He had to force himself to not yell out his frustration. "Why is it like that ever-" "HEY BOSS!" startled by the voice coming from behind, Naruto turns around to see…himself?

Standing in front of him was an exact replica of himself in all of his orange glory. Blinking at the clone, he began to rub his eyes from either lack of sleep or the constant stress he was under. When he looked back, the clone was still there grinning at him. Several seconds had passed before he raised his hands into the sky and "WO-HOOOO. ALRIGHT, I FINALLY GOT A BUNSHIN TO WORK!"

He ran over to see if the Bunshin was stable and the moment he got close, his foot gets snagged by a tree root. The next thing that Naruto expects to feel would be the ground rushing towards his face and yet is forcefully grabbed by the neck of his coat by his clone. "W-what the? How the hell are you grabbing me?" stuttered a shocked Naruto at the clone's sudden catch. Getting into a heated discussion with his clone before the clone *Poof* out of existence. Blinking at the wonders of what had happened; he makes his way back to the scroll to see if it would provide any help.

Looking over the scroll several times, all Naruto could make out was that the clones were solid as he was. After looking at the hand seal once more, began rolling it back up and continued to practice. Adjusting his goggles on his head so that they weren't crooked, he began to wonder about the one who had originally given the goggles to him all those years ago. No matter how many people he had asked, all of them had been in the classroom and didn't notice anyone leaving the room. All that Naruto had on Shirayuri-san was that they would leave white lilies on all of the places he/she went to. Every so often, Naruto went to the park to test his strength on the statue, there would sometimes be a small bouquet of lilies at the base of it.

He never could find out who would leave them there, but it always brought a smile to his face that someone care enough to honor the man who fought alongside the Yondaime. Once Naruto was out of his self-induced trance, he could see that there were 4 more Bunshin that actually looked presentable and not on the verge of death. For reasons beyond him, whenever he thought about those lilies, he would always do a little better than any of his past attempts. "Alright, let's keep it up. We're not going to rest till we master this jutsu. Let's Go!" he said to inspire them work harder and the Bunshin replied with a "YEAH!"

3:21 a.m., (Dreamscape?)

Darkness continues to flood this realm. Wither they are animal or human, it matters little for this is a realm between mind and matter. The only thing that can be seen is an enormous, illuminated stained-glass pillar rising from the unseen depths of this realm. On the surface of the pillar was a simple design of river with several lotuses floating on it. Some of the details were put into the ripples around the flowers and the waves moving along the imaginary wind. In the center of this pillar was a sleeping Rune laid out across the ground. There were several patches of ice covering his body.

*Click Clack* the sound of footsteps could be heard from everywhere. The steps continue to vibrate the area in a calm fashion at what appears to be heading towards the pillar. When the sound had finally reached the pillars top, it came from the sandal of Kyoko Yuki. Kyoko still looked the same as the day that she had frozen Rune in Konoha, except for the fact that she is now transparent. She looked at her hands only to see the outline of it and a blurry floor. She lifts her head up from her hand to look at the sleeping form that was now sleeping in its center. Kyoko had to stifle a laugh at the scene before her as she walked over. Once she had gotten close enough, she kneeled down to the floor to find a comfortable spot. Even from this angle, she couldn't get a good look at his sleeping face. She sighed and patted the top of his head in a motherly way.

"So this is what grandfather was talking about. I always thought that he was a little odd but now I see that the Hyōton: Akuma no hitsugi was meant for. 'To give up the ability to channel chakra, one is able to protect our children to see a new day'. So for this part, I can assume that it is the part that I need to wake up Rune and say my final farewell" she said with a little sorrow in her voice. She then moved her hand from atop of Rune's head towards his heart from when she had first started the jutsu all those years ago.

Her body began to glow a faint blue at using the last of her chakra to awaken the teen. She began to push the chakra into him to melt the remainder of the ice that covered his body. While doing so, she was smiling and shedding tears at the fact that she would be the one to release what she thought of to be a curse. "I-If you-u ever…hic…r-run into H-Haku" Kyoko couldn't stop crying at this point as her lower body began to vanish while she still remained in place. "Pl-lease tell h-him…hic…that I love h-him s-so much…hic…a-and tha-that I will al-always watch…hic hic…o-over him" she said, the tears wouldn't stop as they fell from her face and landing on Rune's black coat.

The ice was slowly turning into particles of light that were ascending towards the pitch dark sky. While she still had her hands, quickly wiped away the tears and seeing the teen slowly vanish with the light. Putting on a genuine smile, she looked at the sky to see the lights still floating upwards. "It's time to wake up, Rune-kun. You helped me to achieve what I wanted, so now it's my turn to help you" Kyoko said while the last of her body vanished into the void.

3:21 a.m. Konoha Park, The Ice Statue

Clouds were obstructing the night sky, covering Konoha from the light of the moon. All that could be seen was a soft blue glow around the Statue. *Crack* from the center of the first crack, a larger one ran parallel with it showering the ground in several snowflakes. *Crack CRACK* the statue had continued to receive more cracks when the glow began to glow brighter until it light up the entire park. The glow had continued for several minutes when it began to dim.

Once the glow vanished, the ice statue was no more. In its place was now a sleeping Rune spread out on the grass. There would be a twitch of the muscles as there was blood running through his veins once more. After a few minutes more, his breathing had started up in a calm manner while lifting his heavy eyelids. Still feeling very tired and unworldly cold, was trying to remember what had happen. 'Where am I? Why is it so cold' he asked himself while trying to get off the ground but failing miserably at the fact that his arms are still numb from underuse. Rune began to squeeze his hands together to get them some heat so that he would be rid of this cold feeling that surrounded his body. He remained in his position until he was warmer and finally sat up right looking straight at the area where there were still pieces of ice embedded into the ground. Rune brought his hands to his head to search for any injury, that he finally gets a good look at his arms.

His arms were fine; nothing broken, not frozen and definitely still there. They now just had light pink burn marks running in multiple directions up and down his arms. Pain shot through Runes head as he was starting to recall the events that had happened. "That's right. The Yondaime and I were distracting Kyūbi while Kushina-san and Kyoko-san were waiting for the right time to immobilize it. The Hokage and Kushina were rushing towards an altar when…" he grew quiet, not wanting to finish his own sentence. The thought alone made rune want to punch something. Deciding to get off his ass and do something about it, he hears a small 'Thank You' in the wind. Turning around to see who it was he was rewarded with only that; a small gust of wind that lifted the snow particles off the ground in began to soar in the air.

Seeing the snow sway like filled him with warmth. Sensing a rather large chakra source coming from the forest, Rune took one last look at the scene before him as he ran to the chakras origin.

5:18 a.m. Cabin in the Woods

The clouds have parted to show the moonlight through the tree line. In the clearing beneath the trees leaning over the scroll, heaving heavily at the trainging that Naruto was doing. When the moonlight was being blocked by something, Naruto looked up to see the twitching face of Iruka. "Hey, Naruto" the teacher said with his face showing annoyance at the constant chase he had to find the blonde knucklehead. From Naruto's perspective, Iruka was trying to smile and thought and not yell at him. So he returned the smile with his own and scratched the back of his head while chuckling to himself.

"Oh man, guess I got caught. I could only learn one jutsu" Naruto stated while still chuckling. Iruka had gotten a good look at Naruto; his clothes were covered in leaves and dirt, there was sweat falling down Naruto's brow as well. 'He practiced out here…until he was worn-out' Iruka thought before being interrupted by Naruto. "Hey, Iruka-sensei, I'm going to show you this really awesome Jutsu, so let me graduate if I can do it! If I can show a Jutsu from this scroll, I can graduate from the Academy, right?" the blonde asked looking hopeful.

Iruka was caught off guard by this; he needed more answers as to what is going on. "Where did you here that from, Naruto?" asked the scared Chūnin while ignoring the slight rustling coming from the trees. The next word spoken from Naruto had sent Iuka's mind completely blank. "Mizuki-sensei did."

*cling* Iruka heard the sound of metal scratching against each other and proceeded to push Naruto out of the way. The next thing he knew, he was being bombarded with several kunai from above not having enough time to block them. A majority of the kunai had embedded themselves into Iruka flak jacket while several had found their way into his right thigh and shoulders. Blood was slowly pouring out of the open wounds. Iruka quickly removed them while holding onto one as a precaution. He looked up at the tree branch that now supported Mizuki with a harsh glare.

"Well done Naruto, you have now completed the mission. Hand over the scroll to receive your Hitai-ate" Mizuki said with a satisfied smile. Iruka continue to glare at him while listening to Naruto trying to make sense of what was going on. "Naruto don't listen to him. He used you to steal the Forbidden Scroll. RUN AWAY NOW!" the scarred Chūnin yelled trying to get Naruto out of the way. Hearing this, Naruto's turned from shocked to disbelief and then to anger.

"Oh, Naruto, why do you have such a hateful look in your eyes? Perhaps to get back on your good side, allow me to tell you the truth as to why everyone detests you so" Mizuki said with a grin at the looks on both of them. Iruka was screaming at him to not speak of it while Naruto had on a scared expression at what his former sensei knew. "There was a rule that was established around 12 years ago to keep you in the dark. Everyone knows about it."

"What Rule?" Naruto asked wanting to know why everyone hated him so much. "DON'T MIZUKI!" Iruka yelled pulling out a second kunai with a flash bomb attached. He was about to throw it to shut him up, but it was too late. "Because you are the Kyūbi no Kitsune that destroyed the village" the bandana wearing Chūnin said. Silence was all that could have been heard as terror had been riddled into the faces of Iruka and Naruto. There were too many thoughts going through Naruto's head that he couldn't hear anything around him. Unable to handle the stress, he collapsed to the ground clutching his head while scooting backwards.

"No one will ever accept you, Kyūbi brat. Why not face reality and just DIE!" Mizuki screamed as he threw one of his Giant Shuriken from his back towards Naruto. Naruto didn't see anything. The moment he had closed his eyes and reopened them, Iruka was over him in a protective stance. He began coughing up blood which descended onto Naruto's face with widen eyes. He scooted back further away from the Chūnin before making a dash for the woods. "Naruto" Iruka said as tears were slowly descending down his check.

"Naruto isn't the type who is willingly going to change his mind. He's going to take revenge on this wretched village with that scroll. You saw it in his eyes, didn't you?" Mizuki said while falling from his position in the tree to the ground. Iruka reached behind his back to remove the giant shuriken from his back to regain movement. Iruka was beginning to feel dizzy from losing to much blood. "Those were the eyes of the Kyūbi" Mizuki said with a feral grin while staring down at Iruka.

"SHUT UP" the scared Chūnin yelled as he threw the shuriken with all of his might at Mizuki. He simply turned his body and allowed the shuriken to continue its course towards the woods behind him. The bandana wearing Chūnin cast one last look at Iruka before rushing after Naruto to retake the Forbidden scroll. Iruka seeing this begins to chase after them both.

5:27 a.m. Clearing in the Woods (1.2 miles away from Konoha)

Rune was running through the tree tops trying to locate the source of this massive chakra that was zigzagging through the forest was becoming a rather annoying task. When the chakra had finally stopped running, rune increased his pace to catch up with them. When he was close enough, rune hid himself to check his surroundings. What he saw was a ninja wearing a bandana rushing straight towards a fallen Chūnin. 'Is he planning to kill that man?' Rune thought trying to pick up what they were trying to say. The next thing he knew, there was a streak of orange shooting out of the forest and attacking the bandana ninja.

Seeing that the giant shuriken was heading straight towards him, rune took a side step and caught the shuriken through its holding. Pressing the mechanism on the holder, the shuriken slowed down considerable thus allowing Rune to continue this new outcome. Taking a look at the orange blob, Rune's eyes widen at the head of blonde hair while one thought had come to mind. 'The Yondaime Hokage?!'

"If you ever lay a hand on Iruka-sensei, I'LL KILL YOU" the blonde knuckle head said in a threatening tone as rune felt that the massive spike in chakra was radiating off this kid. Mizuki got back off the ground, glaring daggers at the blond before recomposing himself and said "Not bad, Little Kyūbi. I hope that you're ready to die".

That comment had caught Runes attention. 'Little Kyūbi? If that's true, this that blonde kid would have to be…Kushina-san's child!' with widen at how much time had passed sense the fight against the Kyūbi. Deciding to hop down to the ground, wondering what was going to happen next. "Bring it on, I'll throw everything back at you a thousand times over" Naruto said creating a cross hand seal and pouring a massive amount of chakra into it. "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu". White smoke had filled the entire clearing and several parts of the forest. When it had finally cleared; Mizuki, Iruka, and Rune were dumbfounded at what was before them. Dozens of Naruto's had filled the clearing and the trees. Some had even been above Rune not noticing his presence. 'Yeah, he is diffidently your son Kushina-san. He's just as crazy as both you and your husband' Rune thought while clutching his burned arms from the Bijūdama that the Yondaime had diverted from Konoha to a safe location.

The clones had begun their charge on the poor shinobi, beating him to a pulp with their fist and feet. After several minutes had past, Mizuki was lying on the ground breathing ragged from the onslaught. Naruto made his way back to where Iruka was sense the teacher had asked him. From Rune's position, Iruka had removed his Hitai-ate from his head and proceeded to put it on Naruto. He pushed the goggles down to his neck and tied the Hitai-ate around his head. He sat back down at the base of the tree admiring his student. The sun had decided to begin its ascension over the horizon and light up the forest.

Rune couldn't help but smiling at the scene before him. He looked about to see if he could get out of here but saw Mizuki bring out one more giant shuriken and threw it at Naruto and Iruka before passing out. Eye's widening, Rune ran through had seals (Snake, Horse, and Dog) and slammed his hands to the earth Hoping that his aim wasn't off. "Kōton: Supaikusupia" (Spike Spear). The giant Shuriken was coming dangerously close to them when a steel spear of 5 feet shoot up from the ground but never went airborne. It shoot straight through the hole of the shuriken and caught it with a loud *Clang*. Iruka was shocked that something had appeared from the ground, when he and Naruto looked behind they saw that the spear (from what they could guess) had caught the giant shuriken. "W-What…" they both said astounded.

"It's good to see that you are unharmed" Rune said as he came out of his hiding spot knowing that he couldn't hide a spear coming out beneath the ground a few feet away from them. Seeing that both of them had turned to see Rune and were surprised at what they saw. "HEY, it's the frozen statue guy" Naruto yelled with wide eyes at the person before him. Rune chuckled at the nickname and felt something coming from the sky. Deciding to look up, he continued to speak "You remind me of them, Naruto-kun". Before Naruto could ask, dozens of ANBU had surrounded him and Iruka. But a massive amount of the ANBU had surrounded the cloaked statue guy with their tantō's against his neck. "Unidentified ninja, for illegal entry into Konohagakure, you are here by placed under arrest" the white coat ANBU with a Tiger mask said before pulling out chakra surprising cuffs.

Alright, Rune is finally free from a 12 year slumber. I would like to give my thanks to those who had decided to review my story; jack hopper, 4fireking, Ayrmed, and NaruHinaUntilTheEnd. Thank you so much for the reviews and to those who are following this story as well. I was doing a bit of research and I think I have found a good team for Rune. I'm going to tell you all in the next chapter. Take care and keep reading.