Okay, first off, I apologize for this taking so long. I've been busier than expected and I haven't been setting aside the time to write like i used to back at college. Heh; funny that. But, after the longer than normal wait, here it is. I will try to keep with my old every other week schedule, but i may end going with a once a month (though i really hope NOT!)
Anyways, this will take care of the genin exam and subsequent graduation. However, as you may recall from the last chapter, the Hokage was thinking of a gift for naruto upon said graduation. So, what i need is for some help with ideas. I came up with something that i thought would work well, but i'm still open to ideas. So, whether you have a fanfic account or not, please leave a review with your idea after reading through the chapter, and that would be great!
So hey, enjoy!
disclaimer: blah blah blah, see previous chapters. :)
.
.
.
Naruto slept rather well that night… of course, when your sister figure knocks you over the head for disrespecting her precious dango, you tend to go out like a light for several hours, though perhaps with a bit of a bump on your head the next morning.
This is the state that Naruto found herself in the next morning as she woke up with a pounding headache, still a bit early for her usual awakening hour, but her head wouldn't let her go back to sleep just yet.
"Oooh… man, I've gotta stop telling her that dango sucks when she's mad." Naruto yawned and then tip-toed out to kids bathroom so she could get some medicine. She was wearing her usual pajamas which were blue with orange and red flames at the bottom of the shirt and on the sides of her legs. Her hair was all over the place, however, as she hadn't gotten a chance to tie it up before bed. Even if she tended to be a klutz, she loved her hair. That, at least, was something that the other girls seemed to envy her about, especially since she could still fight off most of them pretty well despite it. Other girls with long hair seemed to have more trouble keeping it out of the way when fighting, but Naruto's rather wild and unpredictable style of fighting seemed to fit just fine with keeping her hair out of the way.
Naruto sighed as she got up on the counter so she could reach the top of the cabinet where jii-san kept the medicines, cursing her shortness. It had been a habit from when she and Konohamaru were smaller and always getting into things to put the pills up there, but now, even though neither of them would be stupid enough to swallow the pills inappropriately, jii-san still kept them at the highest shelf just because he was 'so used to it'.
"Ugh, this sucks." She shook her head as she took out two pills and got the faucet running, waiting till it was cold like she liked it, then took the pills. Turing out the light, she tiptoed back to her room where she found Konohamaru sitting her head bed, clutching his scarf his dad had always worn.
"Konohamaru? Are you okay?" At this the boy looked up, the tears evident in his eyes.
"Naruto nee-chan! I, um…" he looked down. "Can I sleep with you for the rest of the night?" Naruto winced.
"Dreamed about mom and dad again, huh?" He nodded and Naruto sat down next to him, putting an arm over his shoulder. "I'm sorry you never got to know them; tou-san and kaa-san were really looking forward to having you, you know." Konohamaru nodded. "I can barely remember them talking about what to name you; dad was worried about naming you after the village; he always worried about things, I think, but mom, she wanted to make sure you had the best name possible, one that no one would forget, and would always remind you of home. Did you know that?" The young boy smiled.
"Yeah, you only tell me that all the time…still," he continued, smile fading away, "still, it hurts to never know them, and especially thinking about how dad died." He shivered and Naruto held him closer.
"Shh, shh, it's alright, it's alright. I'm here for you bro, I'm here for you." After a few more minutes they crawled back under the covers of Naruto's bed, both falling right to sleep, though of course, Naruto would only get another hour or two of sleep, and soon after that Ebisu sensei would come to give Konohamaru some training… if he didn't run off to try and 'kill' jii-san again. Naruto had mostly toned him down from that, but every now and then he'd do it anyways. Still, all too soon, it seemed to Naruto, she was woken up again and had to prepare for her exam at the academy. Unfortunately, her start to the day had a rather drastic effect on her.
As she was she already had a short attention span, even though she was actually fairly gifted in her shinobi skills. She may not have been the brightest bulb, but she was just about the most clever, and her enthusiasm and 'never say die' attitude made it hard to beat her in a sparring match simply because she had to faint to stop fighting. Of course, she also had quite a bit of difficulty with chakra control, but both Jii-san and Ebisu sensei, though she could tell he didn't want to, had given her some help with that. No matter what, though, there were some basic jutsu's that always gave her trouble, but then again, she should be able to pass with the average of the tests put together. She had almost passed last year, and that was with a lack of sleep, but this was this year… and more distracting than a lack of sleep was thinking about the two people she had called mother and father as a small child, even if she knew her real parents had died in the kyuubi attack.
I wish, I wish they hadn't had to die. Why did those missing nin have to be there of all places? Naruto was simply staring at her paper, only a few questions done, not actually even registering that the paper was there at the moment. Konohamaru had made her dredge up some memories from back then. She didn't think about it much simply because it hurt to think about losing two of the people that cared about her most, when the rest of the village treated her so poorly. Yes, there were still good times, then and now, but it made it harder, for her, to think about her adopted parents since they died in such a manner as they did.
"Naruto," Iruka whispered, standing next to her desk. "The time for the test is almost up you know." Naruto jumped, hearing his voice, then registered the time and how much she had left to do.
"Aw crap!"
"SHHH!" Many in the class were still trying to finish the last few questions, and did not take well to being interrupted, but Naruto could care less as she tried to fly through the rest of the test with the few minutes that she had left. However, when the timer rang out those few precious minutes later, she had barely gotten three fourths of the way through, and she knew that several of those were either wrong or incomplete. This was not turning into a good day. Iruka just sighed as he looked over her paper and she gave an embarrassed shrug.
"Alright, next is the taijutsu portion of the exam; for this section you will put into groups of four and tested by alternate instructors on your use and skill in taijutsu while we grade your papers. By the time you return to this room for your ninjutsu test, we should be ready to combine your scores from the first two portions and give you your final score as each of you finishes your ninjutsu test." He looked over all of his students, hoping that they'd each do well. "Good luck," he finished, as Mizuki directed them go to the academy training ground for their taijutsu test.
Here, at least, Naruto seemed to do well. Fortunately, she was paired with Hinata and two other kids that she usually did well against, even if she never remembered their names. They were first tested on their basic stances, though of course Hinata's was based on the Hyuuga style, so they all had a separate from the other students who knew how to judge her. Hinata was hesitant at first, but Naruto gave her her usual encouraging smile and Hinata ended up doing quite well. Naruto, of course, went through the academic taijutsu forms the fastest. This made her the sloppiest, but despite the instructors remarks to the contrary, she showed that she more than made up for her lack of form with her energy and speed during the one-on-one section of the test; she beat her partner quite handily (who, incidentally, had received the most praise for a perfect stance). The hardest part here was tuning out the fan girls as they watched Sasuke fight more than they focused on their own matches. Morons, she thought. What's so special about him anyways? I mean, yeah, he's okay looking, and he is talented, but who wants to date a guy who only seems to have a five word vocabulary? It was then that her sparring partner managed to hit her in the gut. Sadly for him, especially in his gloat, this only angered Naruto to attack him full force, thus her handy win over him.
Hinata did pretty well against her partner, too, though her gentle nature kept her from ever actually delivering a finishing blow, as this was not a true combat situation. Naruto clapped her on the back telling her how good she did, which of course made the shy girl blush, happy that she had a friend who thought so highly of her.
Of course, one student was going to have to wait a day to do the ninjutsu test while he recovered from his spar with Sasuke who showed little of the mercy that Hinata, or most of the other academy students, did. Of course, all this did was cause all the girls in his fan club to squeal about how awesome and powerful he was. Then, finally it was time for the ninjutsu test.
"Alright, we've totaled all the scores with some help from you taijutsu examiners, and most of you have a good shot at passing, though some," he winced, "are going to have to really pull it through during this next section.
"So, without further adu, the final exam is on… the clone jutsu!"
Aw man! That's my worst jutsu, Naruto though franticly. If I hadn't gotten so distracted on the written portion I could still pass, but man! Why the clones? Hinata saw her friend beginning to panic and she reached over to put a hand on her shoulder.
"Naruto, don't worry. You're a great shinobi; you'll do fine." Naruto managed to calm down, though only on the outside. She knew she'd only ever done successful clones a few times; it was very hit and miss, and all she had lousy chakra control. Jii-san told her it was because she had a lot more chakra than most people, but it was still necessary to learn the proper chakra control if she was going to be a good shinobi and fulfill her dream to become hokage after him.
So, as the students went out one by one, her stress grew and grew. Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man! How am I gonna do this?
"Uzumaki Naruto, it's your turn," said another instructor from the doorway. She got up, not even noticing Hinata's smile, or, fortunately, the grins of many others who hoped that she'd fail again. Alright, she thought, trying to breath slowly and calm herself down, I can do this! I've done it before, I just have to do it now!
"Alright Naruto, good luck," Iruka sensei said. She nodded, put her hands together, and channeled her chakra.
Remember, Naruto-chan, you posses a really large amount of chakra. If you want to make sure you get a ninjutsu right, you should probably aim for putting less chakra into a jutsu than you think you need.
Naruto-chan, thank-you for sparing with me. You're such a good friend. Just remember to slow down on some things.
Hey brat! What did I tell you about over doing it on your jutsus!
Alright Naruto, good luck.
Yeah, I can do it!
"Clone jutsu!" Her chakra seemed to come forth in a rush, just like always, only a small stream this time…at first. Suddenly she felt her chakra output shoot up. What? NO! But it was too late; the chakra had gone into the jutsu. The smoke clear an instant later, and Naruto looked to her sides to see only one clone…and a rather sickly looking one at that. Oh crap…what happened! She started to tear up even before Iruka bowed his head and declared: "failed." Then she looked up in surprise.
"Hey Iruka sensei, what do you say we cut her a break? I mean, according to the reports her moves were good, and she did hang in there, despite the stress that you could tell she had. Besides, we all know that she really wants to become a ninja like Hokage-sama." Iruka shook his head.
"Mizuki sensei, all the other students created three substantial clones. Naruto only produced one and look at it; it's pitiful. I'm sorry Naruto, but I can't pass you." Naruto tried to give her usual smile, but she felt a tear come down her face, and a sob fought to come up, so she ran from to room.
"Naruto! Wait!" As Iruka started to get up and go after her Mizuki caught his arm.
"Iruka, I think she needs to be alone right now; I'll find her and talk to her later, but we need to finish the exam now. Besides, there's only a few left." Iruka nodded, trying not to think about how Naruto, the one person who always had a joke and a ready smile, had run from the room crying. He felt like crap…
.
.
.
Hiruzen jerked up from her position leaning over paper work, a small feeling of dread coming into his heart.
"Oh no; Naruto…" he reached over for his crystal ball to find her, and sure enough, he found her crying in her swing by the academy. He sighed sadly. "Of all the days for Konohamaru to have a bad dream about his parents, why did it have to be now?" He looked over at the box that sat beside his desk. It only made matters worse. He'd been going to give her a present that he could only give to a genin. He looked back at the crystal ball again then stood and walked to the door.
"I'm going to be out for the rest of the day," he said as he walked by his secretary. She nodded, making a note. I need to go talk with her, he was thinking. If only there was something I could do to help her pain…
.
.
.
Why? Why did it have to be me? Naruto was sitting on her swing outside the academy, her tears mostly stopped, but the sadness still there. I let done Jii-san, and Anko-san, and Konohamaru, too. She looked over towards the crowd of children and parents that were now celebrating their own graduations. Even with all that noise, she could still hear what some of them said about her, the ridicule, and the hate. She bowed her head. Why does everyone hate me so much? Just then Mizuki cleared his throat from where he stood next to her.
"Huh? Mizuki sensei? What are you doing?" He smiled kindly and gestured with his head.
"Come on, let's go talk for a little while." She nodded and got up, following him to a nearby building that had a public roof to talk.
Just a moment after they left the Hokage came walking through the gates looking for his adopted granddaughter. However, he was left to be confused as she was not sitting on the swing any more. He frowned. Where did she go?
Just then he overheard some of the ladies talking about Naruto again, about how it was good that she failed and thank-goodness the hokage was always there to keep that 'monster brat' in check. He grimaced. Won't they ever see her for what she really is? Just then he noticed the young Hyuuga girl walking up to him. Ah, Naruto's friend Hinata. Maybe she knows where Naruto went. He smiled as she walked up.
"Well Hinata, I guess you passed, right?" Hinata gave a weak smile and nodded.
"Naruto-chan didn't though, but that doesn't seem right…" Hiruzen bowed his head.
"Yes, I know. She…had a lot on her mind this morning. Something that doesn't come up too often. It was bad timing." Hinata let her smiled drop and instead adopted a sad, but caring face.
"She, she was really sad, about it. I, I heard that she actually ran from the room crying, and her eyes looked all puffy when she was sitting on the chair before Mizuki sensei took her off to talk with her." Hiruzen's eyes widened slightly. Mizuki, while a good shinobi and teacher, didn't seem like one to sympathize with Naruto. His frown deepened.
"Hmm. Thank-you, Hinata. I'm going to see what I can do for her." He then smiled once again and patted her on the shoulder. "But don't let this ruin your day. Naruto's tough, she'll come out fine." Hinata regained her smile at this.
"Yes, you're right. Nothing keeps Naruto-chan down!" She bowed. "Thank-you, hokage-sama. Have a good day."
"You too, Hinata; good day." And with that the little Hyuuga girl walked back over to where her guardian stood. It seemed that her father hadn't come today, but at least her sister was there. However, there were more pressing things on the old hokage's mind as he looked over into the setting sun. What was going on with Mizuki and Naruto?
.
.
.
There were several public roof tops throughout Konoha. They had been integrated in the building plans since the beginning of the village to help in the case of an invasion. The roof tops would allow for semi fortified positions and also as good places to get your bearings and figure out what was going on. However, as Konoha didn't exactly get invaded often, they tended to serve the purpose of being scenic viewpoints. After all, Konoha was a beautiful village. So it was on one of these roof tops that Mizuki and Naruto talked. He was resting his elbow on a railing, looking out at the village while Naruto sat with her back to the railing, arms wrapped around her legs that were pulled up to her chest.
"Why does it have to be me?" She asked. "Why am I the only one that didn't pass?" The white haired man sighed.
"Iruka sensei's not against you, he just wants you to be strong at all costs. He doesn't want you going out there just to get hurt." He noticed that she was still sulking.
I really want to graduate," she said. "I, I just had a bad night, and something weird happened during my ninjutsu test. Why can't I graduate? Why can't I just prove that I'm ready? I'm strong! I can take it." Mizuki straightened up turning to face Naruto.
"Well, if you want to graduate that bad, I guess I can let you in on a little secret. There's an old rule not too many people know about, but it does give you another way to graduate…" Naruto was all ears.
.
.
.
"What do you mean she didn't pass?" Anko slammed her hand down on Sarutobi's desk, anger evident on her face. "She was ready! I tutored her myself to make sure that she'd pass the written portion no problem! And she's not so bad a ninjutsu that it should keep her from passing!" The hokage sighed, holding up his hands in defense. He'd come back to his office to use his crystal ball to find out where Naruto and Mizuki were, but somehow Anko had already heard about her little sister not passing and come storming into the hokage's tower with a bone to pick.
"Anko, I'm sorry, but last night Konohamaru had one of his dreams about his parents, and you know how Naruto get's when my son and daughter in law get brought up." Anko's face softened a little bit.
"Well, still, she's good enough! We both know she deserves to pass!"
"Anko, sometimes things just have bad timing; you and I deal with this all the time; you should know this better than most of your comrades." She gave a minor shudder, remembering things from her past with her old sensei, Orochimaru.
"Well, I, well still!" Just then the door burst open, a young chuunin that, as Sarutobi recalled, had guard duty that night, came in yelling.
"Hokage! Something terrible has happened!" His brow furrowed.
"What is it? What's going on?"
"Hokage-sama! The scroll of forbidden jutsus, it's been stolen!" Anko gapsed and the hokage's eye's widened.
"What? How? By whom?"
"It, it was Naruto, sir."
.
.
.
Meanwhile out in the woods, Naruto was standing in a clearning by an old house. The scroll was open in front of her and she was practicing hard to master the first jutsu, the shadow clone.
"Come on come on come on! Only get one shot at this! If I can't do this, I can never be a shinobi! Come on!" She was pouring sweat, even in her loose tee shirt and skirt. It's no wonder people don't know about this rule, she thought. It's so hard to master these jutsu that no one would want to risk their possibilities to become a shinobi for a one shot thing. After all, Mizuki sensei said that if someone tried to pass this way and failed, the rules would make it so that they could never become shinobi! She screwed up her face in determination. Well, it ain't gonna stop me! I'm gonna pass here and now!
"Shadow clone jutsu!"
.
.
.
Naruto, where are you? Iruka was speeding through the village, wondering where his student had run to. Where would you go? He stopped, leaning over to catch his breath. Okay, think, think like Naruto… you steal something like that, where would you be expecting everyone to look for you? His eyes washed over the village, then he looked beyond the walls. The forest… he picked up his pace once again, running for the best place Naruto would think to hide, then he looked to his side in surprise.
"Anko? What are you doing here?" The purple haired special Jounin grimaced.
"Much as I hate to admit it, you've proven that you know how Naruto thinks even better than I do. I don't know why she's doing what she's doing, but something stinks about this, so I'm gonna find her as fast as I can, so, what better way than to use the person who knows best?" Iruka smiled.
"Heh; of course." So the two of them sped outside of the village, searching the forest based on Iruka's best guesses, splitting up to cover more ground. As it turned out, Iruka found the runaway first, flaring his chakra slightly to alert Anko to their position as he jumped out of the trees and walked over to a huffing and puffing blond.
"Hah; got you," he said, face grim and serious. Of course, in her tiredness, Naruto didn't notice that. Instead she adopted her usual silly grin and laughed, much to Iruka's surprise.
"Heheheheh. Guess you caught me again sensei. I was only able to master one jutsu," she said, then her eyes lit up. "Oh, oh! Yeah! Let me show you the jutsu, then you can pass me!" She started to stand up until she heard Iruka's confusion.
"Huh? What are you talking about Naruto?" She smiled.
"Heh, I guess you didn't know it either. Mizuki sensei said that there was an old rule most people forgot about that if someone can master a jutsu from this scroll, they can pass, but you have to do before someone finds you or else you'll never get to be a shinobi. But I got it! I mastered the first jutsu on the scroll before you found me, so now I can pass!" Iruka's confusion began to become fear. What? There's no kind of rule like that; I've looked through every single rule book and instruction manual the academy has! Just then his danger sense kicked in
"Naruto get down!" He pushed the girl out of the way, taking the barrage of shuriken himself. "What's going on?" He looked around, then he heard the laughter."
"Well, I must say, I didn't expect anyone else to be here, but we can still get this taken care of just fine."
"Mizuki! What are you doing?" Up in the trees Mizuki was crouched on a branch, a couple large shuriken strapped to his back.
"Huh? M, Mizuki sensei! What's going on? Why are you attacking Iruka sensei?" He just laughed.
"Oh come on, it's not like Iruka really cares about you; after all, you killed his family." Naruto's eye got huge and she looked at Iruka in shock. What? How, how could I kill Iruka sensei's parents? What's going on?
"No, Mizuki! Stop!"
"What's wrong Iruka, can't stand to bear the memory being brought up? Naruto," he said, shifting his attention to the girl, "haven't you ever wondered why everyone in this village hates you? Why the hokage himself made sure that he can look after you and keep you in check?"
"Wh, huh?"
"No Mizuki, it's forbidden! Stop!"
"Why? Why should I? Naruto! The reason everyone hates, you, the reason hat Iruka hates you, is because you, you are the kyuubi! You killed Iruka's parents!" He began to laugh maniaclly and Naruto's eyes began to wave and water. No, no, it can't be true! I, no… no! Jii-san, he, he loves me…right? Tears began to poor down her face as she remembered all the people that called her monster and beast, all the hate that they had as they looked at her.
"Naruto, no; that's, that's not true. I don't hate you, and neither does Hokage sama!"
"Ah shut up Iruka! You're just trying to placate the beast; now just sit back and watch as I finally kill her and get revenge for all the people she killed! HAAH!" With that he grabbed one of his huge shuriken and threw it. Naruto just looked at it as it flew at her, not able to make her body move, to many emotions and too much despair filling her, almost wishing to embrace the coming death…but of course, death would wait for another day as two blurs shot in front of her. She looked up in surprise to see Iruka covering her body with his own, and looking around she saw Anko gripping her arm where the shuriken had impacted, leaving it bloody and useless, for the moment at least.
"What? What are you doing here?" Anko glared at him.
"I'm here because you threatened my little sister. I'm here because, unlike what you say, she is not the kyuubi, just like I'm not Orochimaru, even if all most of the village sees when they look at me is him." She spat on the ground. "I know her pain, even if everyone doesn't hate me as much as they hate her; that's why I look after her you piece of filth." Mizuki laughed.
"Of course; one piece of scum protects the other; you know, you should have just stayed with Orochimaru-sama, then you could have been so much…. Different than you are." Anko's eyes narrowed at his seeming familiarity with her old master. This bore looking into. Her face took on a sadistic look as she thought of all the fun she was going to have with him.
"Well, one last question before I take you apart: why use Naruto to steal the scroll?" He chuckled.
"Isn't it obvious? After I fluxed her chakra in the ninjutsu, no one was surprised she failed, and it was a perfect cover: the forlorn kyuubi brat steals the scroll to get more power, and she dies as I 'recover' it, then it's going missing can be explained away by her hiding or destroying it before I could get it back, and then it's all mine!" Anko's killing intent went off the scale.
"You, you messed with my sister's exam," she said.
"Of course!" She looked at him with such hate and anger that had he not been obviously slightly insane, he would have peed himself.
"I'll kill you…"
"No, I will." Anko turned around to see Naruto standing next to a laying down Iruka, eye's slit in anger, but her confidence back. What happened?
.
.
"I, Iruka sensei? Why?" Iruka cried as he held himself above his student.
"Because, because we are so similar. I, I remember when the hokage would give out mission to watch over you and my friends would all talk about just taking the mission and doing nothing. I, my parents did die when kyuubi attacked, and I was all alone, but just like with you, Hokage-sama looked out for me. Even when I used to prank and mess around, just to get noticed, getting into trouble just like you, he was there, and he helped me back on the right way.
"Naruto, I don't hate you, and you are not the kyuubi; the fourth hokage sealed that fox inside you, making you its jailor, not it. You, you are Uzumaki Naruto! And you are my student…" he hesitated. "and, and just like Anko-cha, er, Anko-san and Hokage-sama, I love you, as if you were my sister." He smiled. "Didn't you know, I painted on the kage faces once, too?" Naruto's eyes widened, tears free flowing, and she hugged her sensei; he returned it with one arm.
However, after just a couple of seconds he felt her standing up.
"Rest up, sensei; I may not be a shinobi, but I did learn one of the jutsu's on the scroll, and now I'm gonna back Mizuki pay for hurting you and Anko chan!"
"Wha, huh?" Iruka was about to stop her, but then he smiled. "You can do it," he said, then he laid down as instructed, watching Naruto stand up, picking up the shuriken that Mizuki had thrown earlier, Anko's blood from where it sliced up her arm still on its blades. Then she spoke up.
"I'll kill you," Anko was saying.
"No, I will." She looked up at the traitor, eye's narrowed in anger. "If you hurt my sensei, and if you hurt my sister, I kill you," she said, and then she threw the shuriken back the white haired chuunin who just laughed and jumped to the ground.
"Hah! As if you could do anything! You're no longer as powerful as you were kyuubi; now you're just a kid with no power; show me what you got!" Naruto grinned sadistically, just like Anko would.
"My pleasure. Shadow clone jutsu!" Then the clearing and the tree's were filled with hundreds are Naruto, all smiling the same sickly sadistic grin. "Alright, charge!"
"ah, ah, aaaahhhHH!" Mizuki froze in panic, knowing that a shadow clone was solid, and overwhelmed by how many there were. In his shock, he never stood a chance, and so he ended up laying there, taking the beating of his life in so much pain he forgot to wonder if he'd ever be able to have children after this was over. Of course, like all things, the fun couldn't last for forever, and after those few minutes the clones dispersed, revealing the little blond girl with a lot more dirt on her clothes, not to mention blood, from the beating she gave Mizuki. She was grinning and rubbing the back of her head.
"Heheh; I guess I got carried away." Looking down at the blood on her clothes she continued. "I'm not even sure that I'll be able to get this blood out now…" Iruka and Anko looked at each other and laughed, then Iruka waved her over.
"Hey Naruto, come over here; I have something for you, but you'll need to close your eyes."
"Huh? What is it?"
"Ah, just get over here and take the gift you brat," Anko said as she bandaged up her arm. Naruto chuckled as she walked over to her sensei and closed her eyes. She almost didn't feel anything, but she felt a little extra weight on her head and a slight tightening.
"Okay, open your eyes," he said. So, she did, and reached up to feel her forehead, where most of the weight rested. Her eyes widened. "Congratulations; you graduate!" She screamed for joy and hugged both Iruka and Anko, both of them laughing at Naruto's antics. Iruka reached an arm around and it became a group hug, though Anko gave him a look of surprise as she felt his arm come around and his hand rest on her side to pull them all into the hug.
No one but Naruto's hugged me for years…it's, it's kind of nice… Anko wrapped her own arm around Iruka, completing the group hug.
Heh; she's not quite as scary as everyone keeps saying she is. You know, I think she maybe actually looks kinda cute…
.
.
.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm having fun with iruka and anko here! Thinks might start to actually open up for them beyond the teasing at this point. :)
Of course, going this I'm starting to realize that I'm having fun doing a lot of pairings in this story. I've done some already, and I've got more coming up! And, depending on the results of the KakaRin poll, that one MIGHT come back. I've already got a plan for a future chapter that shows that either a) she died or b) she lived, but for now you'll just have to wait. I haven't even told my brother how that part is going to work yet (who, actually did some proofreading for this chapter; i'm hoping that that get's rid of all spelling and grammar errors, but looking at some past chapters, i've come to the conclusion that many mistakes aren't mine, but the computer messing up as i copy and paste)
So, i hope you enjoyed the new chapter. Going to back to look at Garra and the other sand sibs in...two more chapters i think! Yay! lol
Have a good one, everybody, and don't forget to review!