Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Chapter Three
Trouble at the Exam

Rushing water sounded in the over-sized bathroom, a constant scrubbing echoing off the walls. Naruto spat the minty froth in his mouth down the drain and proceeded to rinse his mouth out. Grinning into the mirror, he ran his tongue down his right elongated canine and almost cut it on the tip. He grabbed his mesh top and pulled over his head, shuffling it around a bit to get comfortable before he tugged on his shirt.

"Exams today..." he whispered. Picking up his necklace, he ran his finger along the scar before he slipped it around his neck and raised it to his lips. "Wish me luck, Nii-san."

Naruto silently padded out of the room and into the hallway, winding around until he got back to the entrance. Instead of heading out, he walked over to the fusuma opposite the exit and slid it open. He walked into a room that led out through a shoji to the Kazama house and had several shelves and cupboards. The shelves held his normal gear, whilst the cupboards housed pre-prepped mission packs that had different things depending on the level of mission. He grabbed his weapon holsters and ninja packs, but decided to forego his forearm armour. His fingers brushed the sheath of his ninjato and the two scrolls that lay next to it, but he left the room without picking any of them up.

The blond waved to Shigeru, the old man who was the 'head' of the Kazama, and giggled when his big bushy eyebrows waggled in acknowledgment. The old man was a bit of a jokester, something that Naruto appreciated as a prankster himself, but was very respectful of the Namikaze name. He assisted in Naruto's delivery and had also helped in Minato's birth as well, acting as the former Hokage's favourite uncle rather than servant.

He followed the path, enjoying the scenery not for the first time that week. He had taken to morning and evening walks before he ran laps around Konoha, and had both Chouji and Shikamaru around on occasion to play shogi or just watch clouds from the boardwalk over the lake. He had become fast friends with the two as well as Kiba, who had become unofficial sparring partner, and Shino, who enjoyed the peace and quiet of the forest. Naruto's chattiness when he opened up to people evened out with Shino's silence, and the pair had surprisingly intelligent conversations for 12 year olds.

Naruto broke through the line of trees and jumped the large fence, not bothering to unlock it and go through the gate. He strolled along the streets; waving to the few people he had met during his short week in Konoha. Old man Ichiraku and his daughter Ayame, the local blacksmith for ninja weapons, Higurashi Tenma, and his adopted daughter Tenten to name a few. Noticing a large crowd ahead, Naruto's eyes trailed over all the possible escapes. He got anxious around crowds, especially in Konoha.

Jumping up onto a nearby stall roof, he watched the goings on from his vantage point and was shocked at what he saw. Some fat, obviously wealthy, merchant was whipping a pair of street urchins. Blood bored from their arms, chests and faces, and if Naruto was right one of them was a young girl. Naruto's normally mirthful eyes hardened to the point they were a cold near-grey in colour and his chakra flared. A deep rumble came from the back of his throat and he bared his teeth, preparing to jump. The menacing growl echoed across the crowd and despite the fact that they were all civilians; they all felt the overwhelming chakra forcing down on them. The tiles under foot shattered as he took off, blurring in and out of vision slightly at the sheer force of the launch.

He slammed fist first into the merchant's stomach, sending him flying back into his stall with a resounding crash. Naruto was hunched over when the merchant finally got his breath back and had the strength to look up. The blond's head slowly turned up, revealing the most horrific sight the merchant had seen in his greedy life. Pure, unadulterated malice flooded a pair of eyes that were flickering between steely blue and blood red, long canines that seemed to drip with venom and three long whisker marks that were steadily getting deeper.

"D-d-demon! It's a demon! Help me!!"

Naruto took a lone step forward, and the entire crowd took a step back. The blond slowly raised his hand up until his arm was completely horizontal, a single clawed finger pointing at the merchant. In a deep, growling but steady voice, the blond spoke,

"You are the demon here, filthy scum. Trash like you shouldn't be allowed to live, beating on little kids. I should rip your damn arms off, so you can never whip another person again."

Naruto's fingers slowly raised, one by one, until they were all bent slightly inwards, the claws almost touching one another. Cocking his arm back, Naruto shot forward again, a loud roar tearing its way from his throat. The crowd's blood ran cold as Naruto finally reached his mark; his arm swinging down towards the man's left shoulder. A blast of wind rocked the area, dust and leaves flying up and obscuring the scene from the villagers.

When the dust cleared a few seconds later, the crowd was shocked at what they saw. A brown haired man wearing something that looked like a black and gold kimono was standing slightly in front of the enraged blond, a katana in a jade sheath across Naruto's chest. Standing behind Naruto, holding onto the arm that was about to tear off the unlucky merchants arm and his other hand hooked under Naruto's other shoulder, was a masked Konoha Jounin, his slanted grey hair and hitai-ate covered eye standing out from the other Konoha shinobi that suddenly appeared either from rooftops and seemingly out of thin air.

Kenji's dark brown eyes smouldered with anger towards the entire situation, but he reigned it back in. He had an aggravated son to deal with.

"Naruto, you need to calm down. What does killing this man achieve in the long run?"

"It'll show that Konoha doesn't stand for this kind of crap! Why the fuck did you stop me, old man!? Those kids deserve justice!"

"This isn't justice, Naruto!" Kenji barked. "This is revenge. He will suffer the consequences of his actions, trust me. But it will happen the right way, through the Hokage. Have faith in Konoha, son."

Naruto's snarled at Kenji and tried to break the grip the silver haired man had him in. The Jounin winced when he felt the sheer strength of the child, but didn't let go. The blond roared and his eyes went completely red, his pupils becoming black vertical slits. Kenji swore under his breath and twirled his katana so he was holding it in a backhand grip. He slammed the pommel into Naruto's forehead, causing a sharp burst of blue light to erupt from both the end of the sword and the boys head. Naruto's eyes faded back to their normal cerulean before his body slackened and slumped into the Jounin holding him.

"Kakashi," Kenji began, "can you please take him to the Hokage." Kakashi nodded and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Kenji pointed at two chunin he recognized from the gates a week ago. "You two, take those children to the hospital, now!" The pair nodded and picked up the children before taking to the rooftops.

"Thank you, kind sir. Thank you for saving me from that demon..." the merchant trailed off when he saw Kenji's face.

The swordsman picked up the fat merchant with a single hand, holding him by the scruff of his collar, his feet dangling above the ground. "I didn't save you. I saved my son. You will be meeting with a good friend of mine. Her name is Anko, perhaps you've heard of her?"

The merchant whimpered.

"How long will he be out?" Sarutobi questioned.

"Another half hour at most, but I wouldn't be surprised if he wakes up sooner. He is growing resistant to this seal," Kenji replied. He brushed the blond locks away from his sons closed eyes and sighed. "I can't be there when he is on a mission, Sarutobi. He needs a sensei that both Jiraiya and I can trust, and one with knowledge of seals."

Sarutobi nodded and looked out the window overlooking Konoha. "Minato used to say 'The fire's shadow illuminates the village.' How is it then that I have lost touch with my village to the point where I don't even know when the people I try so hard to protect are being seriously injured?"

Kenji glanced across to his mentor's mentor and shrugged. "You can't be everywhere at once, old man. You can't know everything that happens, especially when you have to look after both the civilians and control the shinobi corps. When someone spends as much time as you do cooped up in his office with nothing but paperwork, your skills are bound to be slipping as well, no offence.

"Jiraiya and Tsunade tried to tell you to reform how the village is run, as did both Minato and I. Minato would have, but he died too shortly into his reign. It is not too late to make those changes, Hiruzen."

The Hokage nodded once more, seriously considering what Kenji had said. Of all the people he knew, he truly relied on three for advice. The first was his only pupil that didn't hate him to the point of leaving the village, Jiraiya. The second was once Jiraiya's pupil, Namikaze Minato. The third was the man standing in front of him. A man who was wise beyond his years and willing to tell things as they were; the man who should have taken the position of Hokage after Minato's death, Takezo Kenji.

"Don't tell me you are thinking about trying to make me Hokage again. It ain't gonna happen old man," Kenji said with a grin.

Sarutobi shook his head in the negative. "Just thinking in general... I am going to need help making these changes. Will you be willing to stay in Konoha for a while, to help me out? I know you don't want my hat, but you could easily take the place of one of my current advisors."

Kenji's brown eyebrow raised in thought. That wasn't actually a bad idea... He would be able to keep a closer eye on Naruto and at the same time he would be able to reinforce the ideals he, Minato and even Jiraiya had for the village. It might even convince Tsunade to come back. But, it wasn't up to him really.

"You'll have to give me a week or two before I decide. There is the farm to think about, Miyamoto and most importantly Haruhi-chan's decision. Ultimately, if she says she doesn't want to live in Konoha, I will stick by her."

"Of course," the old Hokage agreed.

Kenji walked up and clapped the old man on the back. "You know, if you want the rest of the village to accept these changes, you can't afford to be the 'old man' anymore. You need to once again take up your place as the God of Shinobi; The Professor, who knows every jutsu within the walls of Konoha and then some."

A croaky question came from across the room. "Who knows every jutsu in Konoha?"

"Certainly not you, foolish boy. What were you thinking back there?"

Naruto shook his head, trying to clear the haze that had settled across his mind. Slowly but surely the days previous events came back to him. Right up to Kenji activating the suppressor seal on the end of Hisui. He glanced down at his hand and noticed his nails back to normal, but his mind superimposed the clawed hand over it. Naruto clenched his fist tightly in an attempt to destroy the image.

"Why did it happen, Tou-san? Why now... Why today, of all possible days? Shouldn't Jiraiya's tinkering have stopped that chakra? The village will know who I am soon enough, if they hadn't already figured it out."

Kenji stared at his best friend's son with a mixture of sympathy sorrow. It wasn't fair that such a young boy had to shoulder such a heavy burden. "It's up to you Naruto. You haven't become an official ninja yet, we can still leave."

Naruto's gaze flickered over to Sarutobi. The old man had a look of disappointment but acceptance, as if he knew Naruto would say he wanted to leave. He looked back towards Kenji and found his face a blank slate. The blond frowned and closed his eyes, falling easily into that state of meditation he found so relaxing. He weighed the pros and cons of staying. He had been training to be a ninja his entire life; it was the only thing he knew. However, dealing with an entire village who despised your very existence seemed far too great a burden to bear. The image of the Fourth slipped into his mind, along with his mother, Kushina. He imagined them staring proudly at him, supporting whatever decision he made.

A long, slow breath escaped Naruto's slightly parted lips as his eyes opened. "I'll stay. I know nothing outside of being a ninja, and shinobi blood runs through my veins. It seems that even if I didn't want to be a ninja, I am forced to it."

Sarutobi's face brightened considerably, however Kenji merely nodded, the blank look still in place.

"Then you best be off," Kenji started. "Your exams start in two minutes."

Before either of the men could blink, there was a blur of yellow and then nothing, only the suddenly open window banging against the outside wall. Kenji shut his eyes and frowned. It was going to be a long few weeks.

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

Iruka looked around at the graduating class, surprised that the blond wasn't there. Normally Naruto was early for everything, generally paid attention and had an actual sense of humour, unlike most of the rest of the class. In Iruka's eyes, he had quickly risen from 'that demon brat' to 'favourite student' in the time span of a week. Now, on the day he had actually come back to Konoha for, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Last call, Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka repeated.

A shadow flew right under Mizuki's nose, making the silver haired Chunin jump back in shock. The shadow quickly formed into the visage of Iruka's missing student. The blond was panting, and sweat was dripping from his chin.

"Running that fast... really hurts..." he got out between pants. "But I'm not too late, am I Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka shook his head in the negative. "Right on time, join the rest of the class on the bleachers."

Iruka continued through the last two names on the class roll, and nodded to himself. A full class, they would have to be split between himself and Mizuki for the Taijutsu portion of the exam. Turning his wandering gaze too his class, Iruka took in the looks of anticipation, excitement and joy that was present even in Sasuke's eyes. Snapping his folder shut with a snap, he grinned broadly at the class and had their immediate attention.

"Welcome to the Genin exam, Class 3-A, I expect all of you to pass today. So I will wish you all the very best of luck and hand over to Mizuki-sensei."

Mizuki stepped forward. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei. Now then class, the exams will be split into four different portions. The first is to test your Shurikenjutsu, which will be graded on accuracy and speed with both kunai and shuriken. Following which will be the Taijutsu segment of the exam, where you will spar against either me or Iruka-sensei. After which is the written exam, which will be held in the auditorium. The fourth and final part section is your Ninjutsu. You will find out which jutsu when you are called for that part of the exam."

"Thank you, Mizuki-sensei. Now then, if you would all make you way to the range, we can get to work."

The class made their way over to the usual throwing range, which had been outfitted recently specifically for the exam. Normally it was just a bunch of trees, stumps and logs that had targets either attached or painted on to them. Now, it had wooden dummies, moving targets that ran along wire, pop up targets that you had to hit in the short amount of time it was there. Naruto's finger itched towards the steel push button that held his weapons pouch closes, his entire body shaking in anticipation. He would ace the exam, and then his life could truly begin.

Iruka called the students in alphabetical order via their surname. One by one, the soon-to-be ninja stepped up and took the throwing weapons provided by Mizuki. Iruka stood off slightly to one side, making notations in his folder and was the one who went to check the targets before the next student came up. Slowly but surely the number of students waiting dwindled down until there was only three remaining. Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and Yamanaka Ino.

Sasuke was the first to step up, taking the provided kunai and shuriken from Mizuki with his usual smirk. Iruka clicked his stopwatch just as the course started up, and Sasuke's attention focused in on the targets. Thud, thud, thud; the first three targets went down in the first second. Naruto studied the Uchiha carefully, watching the slight twitch in his arms and wrist just before he threw his next shuriken. Although he couldn't see them directly, he could picture Sasuke's eyes snapping from one target to the next without blinking. If it weren't for his attitude, Naruto could really picture being best friends with Sasuke. Being rivals was the closest he would probably ever get to being friends with the Uchiha, and Naruto accepted his position with a mere smile.

Iruka's voice broke through Naruto's musing, and the blond stood up and made his way down the stone bleachers. He passed Sasuke, whose smirk grew even wider when they looked at each other, and Naruto grinned. The challenge had been made, and now Naruto needed to match the Uchiha's perfect score. Naruto took the shuriken and kunai from Mizuki, whose grimace was enough to confirm Naruto's earlier suspicion. People knew his status as a Jinchuuriki.

His nostrils flared as in took a deep breath, clearing his mind of his problems and focussing on the test at hand. His eyes narrowed and his muscles fell into a state of relaxed readiness. Being too tense would slow his reaction time, but relaxing too much would throw it off as well. Iruka pushed down on his stopwatch just as the course started up, not saying a word. In the field, ninja wouldn't get a heads up when a target was about to appear, so this would be no different.

A target snapped upwards from behind a rock, followed quickly by a dummy sliding out from the other side of the field and a second target moving across the course on a zip line. Naruto's arms became a blur, dark streaks of grey flying from his fingertips. Thunk, thud, thud, crash. A kunai was so deeply pierced through the first target the tip could be seen from the other side. The target was made of thick, solid Konoha lumber, so it was quite a feat for a Genin. Two shuriken were buried into the dummy, one right between the eyes and the other were the heart of an actual human would be. The target from the zip line was lying on the floor of the range, broken into three pieces.

Naruto heard Iruka sigh in annoyance, and he couldn't help but grin. Sasuke had broken the zip line target as well. More targets popped up, and Naruto kept up his perfect performance. By the time he was finished, a single grain of sweat had appeared on his forehead, and the range in front of him was littered with kunai and shuriken all in bullseye places. Iruka waved him off, a proud smile on his face, and Naruto made his way to where Shikamaru and the gang were sitting. As he passed Sasuke, who was sitting on his own, he nodded toward the Uchiha. Onyx eyes lingered on his own cerulean before Sasuke nodded back, his brooding expression breaking into a smile for a second.

Naruto grinned and ran along to the gang, Shino and Chouji congratulating him on his perfect performance, Shikamaru merely smiling. Kiba glared at Naruto for a minute before he clapped the blond on the back.

"So, blondie... What was that little thing between you and the Uchiha?" Kiba questioned, his loud voice ringing in Naruto's ears.

Said blond merely shrugged and cleaned his ear out with his pinkie. "Don't know what you're talking about, dog breath."

The Taijutsu portion went a little differently. Alternatively, the students would fight Iruka or Mizuki whilst the other teacher stood towards the side and acted as referee while at the same time taking notes. At the end of each bout, the two teachers had a quiet chat outside of earshot, during which the students had enough time to gossip amongst each other about the fight.

Names weren't being called in alphabetical order, either. Iruka seemed to be picking students at random. Naruto noticed one thing however; all of the clan heirs, himself included, were being left until last for some reason. When the final match with Haruno Sakura ended, Naruto finally realized why. Several large sources of chakra appeared on the other side of the training dojo. Naruto's eyes flicked up towards where he thought the newcomers were, but found nothing but a wall. Frowning, Naruto turned back to the match, which was now Mizuki versus Shino. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end though; He knew someone else was in the room, someone that wasn't supposed to be there.

Kakashi's eyebrow was raised in amusement, and Kenji was smiling proudly towards his son. The two men had decided to forgo the Hokage's crystal ball room; the amount of smoke in there was suffocating, and had come directly to the dojo. Kakashi, to see how good his new students were outside of a report, and Kenji, to see the next generation of Konoha shinobi; although he also wanted to watch Naruto's fight in person. That boy could pull some strange but effective moves out of thin air at times.

Said blond's blue eyes had just trailed over both senior ninja, although their camouflage technique had done its job and Naruto was none the wiser. The two watched as the clan heirs stood up for their matches. There were four students remaining, the Nara child, the Hyuuga heiress, the Yamanaka girl and Naruto when Kenji suddenly snapped to attention, his hand already on his sword's handle. Kakashi sniffed the air a few times and smiled, before placing a hand on the retired Jounin's shoulder.

In a hushed voice, so as to not attract attention, he explained. "Just let things carry on. No one will get hurt, too badly. The Hokage's council and Danzo have been pushing for a harder Genin exam for years. The political pressure was getting to the point where Hokage-sama had to act soon. He decided to enact it this year. It's just a test, but the kids don't know that. Let it play out."

Kenji frowned. Why the hell hadn't he been told then? Leaning back against the wall, he glared at Mizuki, who in turn was glaring at Naruto. Kakashi noticed that his sensei's partner's hand never left his sword.

"Uzumaki Naru-"

Iruka was suddenly cut off by a kunai sticking out of his neck. The chunin dropped to the ground, seemingly dead, and Mizuki was soon to follow, three shuriken sticking out of his back. The majority of the class screamed, and tried to run for the doors, but found it blocked by three unknown ninja, wrapped in black garb from head to toe, leaving only a slit for their eyes. Several more appeared from the windows, standing over the bodies of Iruka and Mizuki.

The final ninja appeared slowly in the middle of the room, as if coming out of a mist or haze, who definitely the leader. He was dressed in the same black garb as the rest of the ninja, but he had a red cowl around his neck and strapped over his back was a ninjato. Naruto could almost see the smirk under that mask. He lifted his hand; first and second fingers rose and signalled towards the students. The group shinobi rushed forward, producing kunai and other knives, but didn't throw them.

The class huddled up onto the stands, trying to get as far away as possible. The clan heirs stood forward, along with, surprisingly, Haruno Sakura. Naruto reached over his shoulder for his sword when he realized he didn't bring it with him.

"Fuck!"

Kiba launched forward, he and Akamaru already looking like feral twins, and Chouji had gone double size and was rolling forward like a bowling ball. Shino raised his arms sending a massive wave of kikai bugs towards the students behind him, which turned into a sort of wall. Shikamaru was standing next to Shino, defending Kiba and Chouji as much as possible with his shadow and ranged attacks. Ino had paired up with Sakura, and the pair had dashed forward in a flurry of yellow and pink. Naruto watched was amazement, the girl he thought was probably the most useless in the class was actually a pretty good kunoichi. Sakura's chakra control was to the point where even her standard clones seemed real.

Clones! That's it. Naruto raised his fingers into a cross-shaped seal and called forth a group of clones. Assigning them to protect the group that wasn't fighting, he dashed forward to take on a ninja of his own. Sasuke was fighting one of the ninja just in front of his own mark, the leader.

With an amazing amount of agility, Naruto barrel rolled under Sasuke and used his hands to launch forward into a drop kick. The red cowled shinobi simply side stepped the kick, surprised when a kunai cut his cheek. He looked at the blond, whose arm was now extended and he was crouching on the ground. The leader's eyes narrowed.

'Damn Jinchuuriki brat will get what's coming to him now.'

He launched forward, two kunai appearing in his hands, and went on the assault. Naruto bobbed and weaved, avoiding the kunai slashes as much as possible, trying to find an opening. Every now and then he managed to get a hit in, using a slightly modified form of the academy style Taijutsu. Ducking low under a wild cut, he slipped a kunai of his own from his holster and tried to slash the man's legs, only to have him jump over the attack. Naruto, standing on his hands, slammed his heel backwards and up into the leader's stomach, sending him even higher into the air.

The man spun around. When his front came back into view, three shuriken were in each hand. He threw them at the blond with frightening speed, forcing the blond to the ground to avoid them. He rolled and stood up only to find himself in range of another kunai assault. He had to find a way to beat this guy.

And then he saw it in the form of Sasuke, who was preparing a jutsu no Genin aside from himself should have the chakra capacity for.

"Sasuke, aim at me!"

Sasuke looked around just as he finished the seals for his jutsu, spewing a giant fireball towards the blond. Naruto watched it come with a smile and spiralled into the leader, taking care to avoid the kunai. Latching onto the man's arms, he twisted him around and aimed the man's back towards the oncoming fireball. A feral grin twisted across Naruto's face, showing his fangs. The oncoming flame lit up his eyes which held a glint of vengeance in them.

"Burn, bastard."

The flame hit the man's back and continued around until it enveloped both Naruto and the leader. The clothes slowly burnt off the man, revealing the wide eyed form of... Mizuki!?

Naruto's brain kicked into overdrive, his hand whipping out towards the flames. They were suddenly pushed back before they died out, leaving an untouched Naruto and a severely burnt Mizuki in the middle of the room. The rest of the fighting was over, the ninja revealing themselves as the instructors of the Academy. Kiba had several fresh bruises and cuts, but Chouji was seemingly unharmed. Sakura and Ino both sported new shiners, and both girls were holding their ribs. Sasuke was unharmed except for a single, tiny cut across his left shoulder. Shino and Shikamaru were both fine. What surprised Naruto was the Hyuuga girl.

From what he had seen for the past week, the girl was rather shy and lacked a lot of confidence. But she was standing over three knocked out bodies, the veins around her pale white eyes sticking out and pulsing. Her jaw was clenched and her back straight, as if she were proud of knocking out three instructors. Naruto grinned, he would be too.

Several of the instructors came rushing over to Mizuki, grabbing him and rushing him out of the room, assumedly to the hospital. Naruto dropped to the ground, his fire manipulation technique taking its toll. Every time he used it, he felt drained in both body and mind. The first time he had used it, he had passed out for three days. Kenji had trained him carefully in its use, and now he could use it without passing out, but only just barely. They had assumed it was either an unknown bloodline limit from his mother, or one more 'gift' of being the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.

Kenji stood silently at the other of the room, his face blank. Kakashi shuddered and shuffled away a bit. Every time he had seen that face as a kid, or even as an adult, it meant someone was in trouble. It was usually him, but this time he knew exactly who was going to be on the receiving end of Kenji's wrath. The Hokage.

The rest of the exams went without incident. The injured got treated before the few students that hadn't run out of the academy attended the written exam. The jutsu portion was bad for Naruto; he was forced to make more shadow clones since his normal clones still stank. He was already feeling weak because of the fire manipulation, so he could only manage three with a decent amount of effort. It still managed to impress Iruka, who couldn't even use the Shadow Clone technique.

Naruto stared at the forehead protector he was presented with; the Konoha leaf emblazoned on the metal plate glinted brightly. He was finally a ninja, and in a couple of weeks he would be on a team and completing missions for the village. A soft smile wound its way across his face, as he carefully tied the forehead protector around his forehead in a manner that let his blond locks fall over the front of it.

Kenji stormed out of Sarutobi's office, his black and gold robes flaring behind him. The jade green obi, which was tied into a rather extravagant but still manly bow at the back, whipped around behind him like a tail. Damn that old man, damn him to hell and back!

He had recognized the look in Mizuki's eyes when Naruto engaged him. That look of hatred and disgust, the one he hadn't seen for over 9 years, when he had taken Naruto from this forsaken village. What in Inari's name was he thinking when he brought the boy back here?

Yelling in frustration, he punched the wall closest to him. His fist went straight through the plaster, luckily missing the framework within the wall. Yanking his arm back, he blew the dust from his knuckles and glared back towards the wooden door that barred the Hokage's office. He would have to take up a position as council now; Konoha could not be allowed to run like this. Over half the graduating class had left after that little stunt, effectively halving the new generation of ninja.

Taking a few deep breaths, Kenji counted backwards from ten, calming himself down. He needed to get back to the estate and see how Naruto was doing.

The brunet was running along a power line, one of the many that ran across the village, when he noticed a flash of yellow in a nearby restaurant. Coming to a halt, he turned slightly so he could get a better look through the window. Sure enough, Naruto was in a Korean barbecue restaurant, surrounded by the rest of the clan heirs and the Haruno girl. What surprised him was Sasuke's presence, sitting slightly away from everyone else but still with the group. Looks like the Hokage had been right about one thing. Naruto's natural ability to change people had worked on even the stoic Uchiha.

Shaking his head in amusement and pride, Kenji left the group to their celebration dinner. He would go and pack his things and leave tomorrow morning. There were a few people he needed to talk to, none of which resided in Konoha.