Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Naruto is public domain...right?

Author's Note: Not much to say right now, so without further adeu I present to you all...

Chapter 6: Rising Enmity

As the door opened with a creaking noise, all heads turned towards its direction expecting a triumphant redhead to emerge. Instead, the class's top-ranked student left the testing center with her head down and a desolate expression on her face. There was no forehead protector in sight.

In response to this, many in the class displayed various signs of complete and utter bewilderment, such as sharp gasps, dropping jaws, and bulging eyes. And of course, the one most surprised by this unfortunate event was Naruto himself, who was rendered completely speechless; never in million years could he have foreseen something like this happening to his sister.

Unable to take the bewildered stares any longer, Kurama fled the scene immediately while attempting to avert her gaze from any of her peers.

By the time Naruto or any of the other students had recovered from their stupor, the scarlet-haired vixen was gone. The blonde-haired Namikaze was just about to leave in search of his sister when a voice called out to him, breaking the insufferable silence.

"Hey dead last; what the hell did you do to Kurama-chan, you asshole!" exclaimed Inuzuka Kiba while pointing an accusative finger at the blonde.

"What are you saying, dog breath?" Naruto asked, clearly offended.

"I'm saying that you cheated and sabotaged Kurama-chan's exam somehow! It's the only way you could possibly pass and the only explanation for why she failed!"

"That's the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard! I would never do something like that to my sister!"

Despite Naruto's reply, many of his classmates were nodding and agreeing with Kiba's remark. Irritated by this, the Hokage's son was just about to clock the Inuzuka boy in his mug when Iruka's silver-haired assistant emerged from the other room and called up the next examinee.


Namikaze Kurama sat alone on her favorite swing set while she watched her fellow classmates celebrate their recent graduation into ninja-hood. Kurama was still in shock at having failed the exam, but what puzzled and worried her most were the visions she had experienced during that fateful moment.

Meanwhile, as his sister moped on the swing, Namikaze Naruto pushed his way through the thick crowd of rejoicing parents and students with a single goal in mind; to find his sister. The good feeling he had received from passing was immediately squashed less than ten minutes later when his twin had left the testing room with the saddest facial expression he had ever seen her with.

The whisker-faced boy was roused from his internal musings when another figure crashed into him. The other individual was unfortunately much lighter than him and knocked unceremoniously to the ground.

It was Hyuuga Hinata; the timid, indigo-haired class wall flower. She was sporting a new hitae-ate around her neck, evidence that she had indeed passed the graduation exam and was now a full-fledged shinobi.

"Oh kami, Hinata, I'm so sorry," apologized Naruto profusely while he helped the madly blushing girl up from the ground, "I wasn't looking where I was going and I guess I bumped into you a little too hard. I'm really very sorry.

"I-it's o-okay, Nar-Naruto-kun, I wa-wasn't hurt, or a-anything," stuttered the Hyuuga heiress in response.

"I guess, but still, it was very rude of me to knock you over like that," replied Naruto sheepishly, "Oh! And I noticed that you got a headband, so that means you passed the exam as well. Congrats, Hinata, you really deserved it!"

"T-thank you, Naruto-kun," said Hinata while she poked her two index fingers together nervously, "I'm glad you p-passed too!"

"Yeah, I'm glad too, but I feel really bad that my sister didn't pass. By the way, have you seen her; I need to talk to her and get to the bottom of this mess. I have to find out how someone like her could possible fail the test."

"I-I think I saw K-Kurama-san over that wa-way; n-near the playground."

"Thanks a bunch, Hinata-chan, you're the best!" exclaimed Naruto before he ran off to find his sister.

Hinata just stood there after his departure with a massive blush on her face thinking, 'I can't believe it; he called me Hinata-chan.'


"That look doesn't suit you, Kurama-hime," said a voice out of nowhere, startling the vixen from her melancholic thoughts. Looking up, the Hokage's daughter found herself face to face with a smiling Mizuki, Umino Iruka's silver-haired teaching assistant.

"M-Mizuki-sensei, what are you doing here?" asked Kurama, puzzled.

"I needed to talk to you; I was shocked when Iruka didn't pass you," answered the chunin instructor.

"Me too," replied Kurama with a downcast look, "How could Iruka-sensei do that to me? I was his best student, and I passed every other test we were given perfectly."

"Iruka is a very serious person. His parents died during the Kyuubi attack twelve years ago, and since then he has taken being a true shinobi to heart. But what none of you students know about him is that in the years after his parent's death, Iruka was an infamous prankster."

"N-No way; Iruka-sensei liked to prank people? I can't imagine someone strict like him doing that!"

"It's true, I was one of his best friends at the time, and even I wasn't off limits when it came to his pranking. I think that since you and your brother are both pranksters, he sees himself in you two. That's why he didn't want you to enter the world of shinobi unprepared."

"Is that why he failed me?" Kurama asked

"I believe it is," replied Mizuki, "But I still don't think it was right of him. Tell you what; if I could give you another chance to become a genin, would you take it, even if it was dangerous?"

"In a heartbeat, yes; I want, no I need to become a ninja! I have to make my parents proud of me! Please, Mizuki-sensei, tell me how I can graduate!"

"Excellent, Kurama-hime, I admire your drive. You'll make an excellent shinobi. Now then, just come along with me, and I'll tell you all about the alternate graduation exam to become a genin…" said Mizuki with a sly smirk on his face.


The swing set was empty. There was no red-haired vixen in sight.

"Damn it, I was too late! Kurama must have left before I got here!" raged Naruto in frustration. Squinting his eyes and scratching the back of his head, Naruto looked around trying to find any sign of where his sister could have gone. Before he could actually find any, the twelve year old was suddenly brought into a bone-crushing embrace from behind.

"Oh, Naruto, my baby; I'm soooooooo proud of you, dattebane!" exclaimed Namikaze Kushina while slipping back into her old verbal tic due to excitement.

"K-Kaa-chan; when did you get here?" Naruto asked with his voice muffled by his mother's tummy being pressed into his face.

"Just now; did you really believe that I would miss my children's graduation ceremony? By the way, where is your sister? I want to congratulate her too!"

"Umm, about that, Mom," said Naruto nervously, "Kurama didn't pass the graduation exam."

"C-Come again," stuttered Kushina as her face took on the impression of a startled fish.

"Kurama failed the test," muttered Naruto with a downcast expression.

"How in the world did she not pass?" exclaimed the red-haired woman in anger as her crimson locks billowed outwards in the form of nine tails, "She was the best student in the class! I swear that I'm gonna get to the bottom of this! Where's Iruka?"

"Iruka-sensei should be over there in the crowd somewhere talking to the other parents, but shouldn't we be finding Kurama instead?"

"Wait, what do you mean by finding Kurama? Where did she go?"

"I don't know, Mom, after failing she just ran off, and I've been looking for her ever since," replied Naruto. Kushina rubbed her chin with her fingers, as if pondering some quandary.

"If your father were here we could easily find Kurama with one of his tracking techniques, but unfortunately he's out of the village."

"Wait, dad's not here?"

"Of course not silly; if your father was here he would be congratulating you too. He left last night on important business for the village. I'm sorry I didn't tell you two, but I didn't want you to worry about him with the big test today. "

"When will he get back?"

"Old man Sandaime told me that he would be gone for a few days at most, but he may be back sooner than that," answered Kushina.

Naruto gave his mother a sad look, and Kushina could tell just by looking that the words "I can't believe my own father missed my graduation ceremony" were written all over his face. Her only response was to pull her child into another warm embrace.


Mizuki looked on as Kurama left to go complete the task he had given her. Under the guise of an alternate graduation exam, the silver-haired assistant had successfully tricked the vixen into stealing the Hokage's Forbidden Scroll.

"Deceiving a twelve year old girl into doing your dirty work for you is not something I approve of, Mizuki-san," spoke a voice from behind Mizuki, startling the chunin, "Unless, of course, it is for the good of the village."

The voice obviously belonged to an aged man, a fact that Mizuki confirmed when he turned around and came face to face with Shimura Danzo, one of the village elders.

"D-Danzo-sama, I c-can explain! Thi-this is…" stuttered Mizuki before he was interrupted by the bandaged, old man.

"There is no need to explain yourself, Mizuki-san. Your actions benefit my agenda, and therefore they benefit the village as well," explained the elder.

"H-how so; I could have sworn that I was acting in my own interest here," replied Mizuki.

"You are acting in your own self-interest, but that doesn't mean that what you're doing isn't also benefiting others. You see, I have an interest in that girl you just deceived, and I would like to make a proposal for you."

Mizuki gave the man a smirk before replying, "I'm all ears, Danzo-sama."


Naruto was roof-hopping at breakneck speeds, not caring in the slightest who saw him. After the graduation ceremony was over, he had asked Hinata very nicely to use her Byakugan to find Kurama. The moon-eyed girl was very eager to help. With her special vision, they were able to locate Kurama almost immediately.

After bidding goodbye to Hinata and thanking her for helping him, Naruto rushed off to find his sister. Ironically, it was Kurama who ended up finding him first.

"I was waiting for you, Naruto-nii. I need your help with something very important," said Kurama after locating her brother.

"Where'd you go, Kurama-chan? I was looking for you. And what happened back at the academy? How the hell did Iruka-sensei not pass you?"

Kurama gave her brother a melancholic look before saying, "Why don't I show you how I failed."

Performing a sequence of hand seals, the red-haired vixen released a stream of chaotic golden chakra, generating a loud poof of smoke. When it cleared, Kurama stood over a sickly looking clone of herself, which was lying prone on the ground.

"W-what is that?" asked Naruto, bewilderment written all over his face.

"That was Bunshin no Jutsu; I tried to make a clone during the ninjutsu test, but this is what happened," said Kurama.

"B-but how, I've seen you make tons of clones before. This doesn't make any sense!"

"I think there's something wrong with me; my chakra is acting strange. Maybe that's why I can't make bunshins anymore."

"Have you tried any other jutsu yet," Naruto asked. Kurama shook her head negatively.

"Try a katon, see if that works," suggested the blonde Namikaze.

"I'll give it a shot," said Kurama hesitantly before going through another set of hand seals. Inhaling a great breath of air, the foxy redhead exclaimed, "Katon: Endan!"

Instead of shooting a controlled flame bomb like she normally did when performing this particular technique, a pyrotechnical explosion of heat and flame erupted from her lips, knocking the poor girl almost ten feet away. Realizing what happened, Naruto immediately went after his downed sister with a concerned look on his face.

After helping the redhead up on her feet, Naruto said sheepishly, "Maybe that wasn't such a good idea, hehe."

Kurama just glared at the blonde and said, "You think."

"So, if I were to make a guess, I would say that your chakra control has gone to shit. It would explain why you can't perform any ninjutsu anymore," said Naruto matter-of-factly.

'Yeah, that's what I think too," replied Kurama. "Listen, nii-san. I need to tell you something; something no one else can know. Could you keep a secret for me?"

"Of course; you keep my secrets for me all the time. Just fire away, sis!"

Sitting down, Kurama cleared her throat as if she was a storyteller getting ready to weave an epic tale of heroes and villains. Naruto promptly followed her example, sitting Indian style on the floor.

"Okay, so it all started twelve years ago, on October 10, when we were both born-…"

"Look Kurama-chan, I want to hear how you failed, not your life story! Could you fast forward a bit, more like a lot?"

"Fine, fine, it actually started today, just a few hours ago. Remember how I wasn't feeling well during the test?"

"Yeah, you said you had a tiny headache. I was worried about you but you said you were fine. Turns out that you weren't fine at all," replied Naruto.

"Well yeah, so anyways, by the time the third part of the exam began, my headache was pretty bad. But it hadn't affected my skill at all so far so I was confidant nothing would happen. But during the ninjutsu test, when Iruka-sensei told me to perform the Clone Technique, I did what he asked," continued Kurama.

"But then what happened?"

"Well, when I was right in the middle of creating a clone, my chakra suddenly went haywire, and I saw these weird images in my head. It was like my life was flashing before my eyes, but I didn't recognize any of the visions. Then when it ended, I was standing there with a sickly, retarded clone lying prone before me. I even tried again, and my chakra still wouldn't mold the way I wanted it too," finished the red-haired vixen.

"Then after that Iruka-sensei failed you; man, he sure is strict," said Naruto, "And those visions you had; are you sure they weren't memories that you lost because of amnesia or something?"

"I'm pretty sure. I don't think I've ever met the Shodai Hokage in my life, so I definitely would not have a memory of him, amnesia or not."

"Oh, well then; that's pretty weird. Man, I wish Dad were here. He would probably being able to answer all our questions and solve this mess," said Naruto with a sigh.

"Wait, what do you mean daddy isn't here?" asked Kurama, with a concerned look on her face.

"I talked to Mom after the graduation ceremony; apparently our old man left last night on some really important business," confirmed Naruto.

"So daddy wasn't even at your graduation? Wow, what a bummer, nii-san!"

"I know! I really wanted him to be there. He would have been so proud of me!"

Naruto was about to continue on, but then he noticed the cheerless appearance of his sister's face. The graduation exam was still a sore subject for her, and mentioning their dad was just too much. So Naruto promptly shut his trap.

There was a long, awkward silence between the two before Kurama spoke up, "I found another way to become genin, you know."

"R-Really, but how; the only way to become genin is to pass the test!"

"Mizuki-sensei talked to me after the test; turns out he was just as upset with Iruka-sensei failing me as I was. He told me about this alternate test that the instructors only give in special circumstances and that if I passed it I would become a ninja."

"Wow, that's awesome. Mizuki-sensei is a pretty cool guy," replied Naruto enthusiastically, "But what kind of test is it?"

"Well…it's kind of dangerous," answered Kurama while averting her eyes, "T-that's why they only give it for exceptional cases."

"Tell me what kind of test it is, Kurama-chan," said Naruto seriously.

"I have to steal the Shodai Hokage's Forbidden Scroll of Seals."


Naruto couldn't believe he was doing this. When he woke up this morning, the blonde was planning on becoming a genin today, not a missing nin. And stealing something like the Forbidden Scroll was just the ticket to becoming the latter.

But this was for his sister; he would do anything for Kurama. Even become a missing nin.

For once he was glad that his father wasn't here; if he was, stealing this scroll from the Hokage's Manor would be a lot harder. But today, Sandaime-jiji was Hokage, and Naruto know exactly what strategy to use to get past him.

"Oiroke no Jutsu!" exclaimed Naruto as he transformed into a buxom blonde woman whose heavenly body was fully exposed with the exception of the wispy smoke clouds covering her erogenous zones. Naruto smirked as his jutsu caused the aged Hokage to fly away in a spurt of his own blood, knocking the poor old man unconscious.

After Naruto transformed back into his male form he said, "Oiroke no Jutsu, success, take that, jii-chan. Now I just have to take the scroll and hand it over to Kurama."


Hinata couldn't help but walk faster when her Byakugan spotted the same three, suspicious individuals who had been stalking her ever since the graduation ceremony. At first, she chalked it up to coincidence, but now she could not deny that they were following her.

They were dressed in mostly dark, civilian clothing, but Hinata could see that their chakra was too strong to be non-shinobi. Oh, how she wished she had taken bodyguards with her today like her father asked her to, but she really wanted to be able to train by herself. So now, not only was she alone, but her body was exceedingly sore due to the intense exercise she had put herself through.

Now she was just trying to get home as fast as possible before her three stalkers could catch up with her and do whatever it was that they planning to do with her.

It almost startled her to death when the three stalkers suddenly broke out into a run in her direction. Panicking, Hinata likewise broke into a faster pace than walking; forget getting home, now all she wanted to do was find another Konoha nin who could help her.

But no matter what route she took, or what shortcut she used, Hinata couldn't lose them. They were gaining fast. One of them was probably a sensor nin.

But hope was on the horizon. The village proper was fast approaching, and the indigo-haired girl was fairly confidant that she could reach it and get help before they caught up with her.

Hinata ran as fast as she could and focused all of her Byakugan's attention on the three people chasing her. This proved to a horrendous mistake however, when Hinata suddenly collided with another warm mass which had suddenly flickered in front of her, knocking her to the ground.

"Focusing all your attention on the people chasing you and not even looking forward; I didn't think you would actually fall for a trick like that. But then again, you're just a twelve year old girl, after all," said the tall, bulky man who she had run into. He was wearing the white jonin vest of Kumogakure no Sato.

The bottom half of his face was covered in a face mask that looked like the one that silver-haired, one-eyed jonin who she sometimes saw around the village wore. His eyes were covered in thick sunglasses, and the top of his head was bald. He wore the hitae-ate of Hidden Cloud with a white cloth band.

Letting her ninja instincts take over, Hinata reacted quickly and slammed her open palm against the man's chest. The Kumo jonin grunted in pain before his form exploded in an azure cacophony of dancing electricity. The electrical current engulfed Hinata, shocking her into a state of unconsciousness.

After the girl passed out on to the ground, the real jonin whose Lightning clone had just exploded in Hinata's face appeared. The large man grabbed the unconscious body of his target, before hefting her over his shoulder.

"I love Raiton: Kage Bunshin," said the Kumo nin to no one in particular before using a quick shunshin to flee the scene.


The two siblings met next to a particularly massive tree, about a few miles from the village proper, but still within the borders of Konoha itself. It was almost midnight, and the full moon shone high in the night sky with a ghastly silver radiance.

"You don't know how grateful I am for this, nii-san," thanked Kurama, addressing her brother who had just handed her the thick scroll he had stolen from the Hokage Manor.

"We watch out for each other, remember Kurama. You can always count on me to be there for you," reassured Naruto, "By the way; now that you have the scroll, what are you supposed to do with it. Did Mizuki-sensei tell you?"

Kurama sat down in front of the large tree before unfurling the Forbidden Scroll dramatically. After sitting in awe at all the jutsus she spotted at first sight, Kurama looked at her brother and said, "All he told me was that I needed to learn one technique from this scroll and then I pass the test."

"That's it; seems kind of easy for an alternate graduation exam," Naruto commented.

"Well, if you factor in how the scroll needs to be stolen, which not everyone would be able to pull off, and the fact that everything in this scroll is a kenjutsu, it's probably a lot harder than the official test."

"That's true. Good luck with your test, sis."

"Thank you, Naruto. You should probably get out of here now; if they catch me, I don't want you implicated. You henge'd into me when you stole the scroll like I told you, right?"

"Of course, of course; I don't know what the point is though. I'm the only one in the world who knows the Sexy Technique, so even if I transformed my self into you, it wouldn't fool the old man."

"Still; it's better to be safe than sorry."

"I guess. I should probably head off now. Later, Kurama-chan; I'll give Mom our alibi when I get home," said Naruto in farewell before he vanished in a flicker of smoke.


Umino Iruka lied down in his bed, pondering the events of the day. He had just precided over the graduation of another batch of students; students he had been teaching for over four years now. Thanks to the guidance of the academy, they were now ready to face the real world; the world of shinobi.

Year in, and year out, this was always one of his favorite times. But this year, he didn't feel the same emotion of pride for his students that he felt in the previous years. No; now he only felt guilt. Guilt for failing his prized student, Namikaze Kurama; maybe he had been too strict with her, too technical.

"Oh come on, Iruka, can't you cut her some slack. She passed the rest of the exam perfectly with higher scores than any other student, and we've seen her make a clone before. Can't you just let this slide?" he remembered Mizuki saying after he had failed Kurama. It still ate away at his conscience.

What hurt him the most, however, was not any kind of guilt that he felt over upsetting Kurama. No; what he felt most guilty about was the fact that Kurama was Naruto's sister. And Iruka couldn't bear the fact that Naruto would hate him. He just couldn't bear it.

Truth be told, even though Kurama was his best student, Naruto was his favorite. Maybe it was because they could relate. He saw his younger self in Naruto; they were both seeking attention, just for different reasons. He had felt unloved and unwanted in a world without his parents. Naruto wanted badly to escape the shadow of the greatest man in village history.

But at the root of it all, they both just wanted some attention; a feeling of existing and mattering and having an identity to call their own. That's all.


The first thing Hinata noticed when she came back to conscious awareness was that her body was completely numb, almost like she was paralyzed. She couldn't even move a single one of her fingers.

The second thing she noticed was that she was being carried on the back of a highly muscular individual, probably a man, who was wearing shinobi clothing, including a jonin flak jacket.

Finally, after opening her eyes, she discovered that the jonin who was carrying her was apparently tree hopping at a fast pace through a familiar forest. Looking around, Hinata also found herself surrounded by seven other shinobi, all of them Kumo nins like her captor.

"Ah, I see you're finally awake, Hyuuga-hime," spoke the jonin carrying her. This had the effect of startling the timid girl. "Don't bother screaming for help because we're far out of hearing distance right now."

"W-who are you? And w-why ha-have you taken me away?" stuttered the heiress in absolute fear.

"Isn't it obvious, hime-san. The Hidden Cloud wants the Byakugan, and you were the easiest route to getting it. We were just waiting for the Yondaime Hokage to leave the village," explained the Kumo jonin, "But that's enough talking. Prisoners don't deserve an explanation."

Unbeknownst to them, a certain classmate of Hinata who had also been hopping through the forest that night just so happened to spot the squad of Cloud ninja.

'No way, is that Hinata?' thought Naruto, 'And why is she being dragged away by a bunch of Kumo nin?'

Alarmed by the situation, Namikaze Naruto made a complete U-turn and went chasing after the foreign shinobi at his fastest speed possible.


On top of the Yondaime's statue at the Hokage Monument, a luminous flash of bright, yellow light spontaneously appeared, signaling an important arrival. When the light faded away, in its place were two, almost identical men. The only difference between the two was the color scheme of their otherwise identical clothing, their skin tone, and their eyes.

"Well now; according to my amazing and completely infallible sense of all things temporal, it's only been about twenty four standard hours since we left. That's considered a single day on this planet," said the pale skinned one, clad in white and gold.

"Only a day; I thought you said the trip would take a few days or even a week," said the other.

"We got back early then," replied the first, "I was accounting for any spontaneous detours in my original estimate, anyways. Like say, a detour to the Shinigami's realm, or maybe a little chat with my old buddy, that Sage bastard."

Turning towards his companion, the second individual, wearing a white cloak patterned with red flames, gave the other man a serious look before speaking, "Thank you for what you showed me, Choetsu. This…completely changes everything."

"No need to thank me; changing the course of destiny for entire worlds is just Tuesday for a guy like me," he replied, "After all, I am the Rikudou Hiraishin."

TBC

A.N. And that's a rap. This chapter is all about the build up to my take on the events of Chapter 1 of the canon Naruto manga. I hope you all enjoyed, but if you didn't, well then, I apologize beforehand.

And as some of you may have noticed, I changed the way I write names from the Western first name first, last name last, to the Eastern surname first, given name last. There are two reasons for this. One, I wanted to be more accurate; since this is a fanfic of a Japanese manga, I should write names the way they are in Japan. And two; there is a plot relevant reason why I made the change, but you'll fugure that out later.

As of right now, the previous chapters haven't been amended to reflect this change, but I'll soon fix that over the next few days/weeks.