I do not own Naruto!

Graduation day came and Naruto had passed, despite his problems making a clone, Ino had told him it was because he had to much chakra making it harder to control, after months of spartan chakra control training, he had finally gotten it down.

Later that day, on his way to meet Ino and Kiba, Mizuki-Sensei had approached him and told him of the other test, the real Genin test, get a scroll and master a Jutsu from it and then he would really pass the test.

His first question was if Ino and Kiba could come with him but Mizuki had informed him that each student was given a different test and with that Naruto was on his way.

Naruto let his body fall backwards onto the grass, exhausted but happy. He had learned his one jutsu and now just needed to wait for Mizuki-Sensei to come test him on it.

Two minutes later, after which the blonde's body had recovered somewhat, another person entered the small clearing. Someone not Mizuki-Sensei.

"Ha! Iruka-sensei!"

"You idiot!" shouted the scar-faced Chuunin "Ifoundyou!"

The blonde sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Ha,yeah... I guess you did. Anyway, I managed to learn one Jutsu from this scroll, so now I just have to show it to you and I can graduate, right? Iruka-sensei?"

This statement was more than enough to confirm the Academy teacher's suspicions. The boy was being used. "Graduate? you already graduated. Naruto, who told you that?"

"Mizuki-Sensei did! He told me about this scroll and the secret test to actually pass at the academy, if I just learned a Jutsu from it, then he told me where to find it and even gave me a map complete with guard routes! See?" The short blonde was clearly overjoyed with his success, and Iruka-Sensei was not in the least looking forward to what he would have to explain to the boy he had grown so close to. Fortunately, he was saved from having to do this. Unfortunately, the thing that saved him were Kunais flying straight towards the two of them.

Naruto, his body still recovering from the intense training he had just gone through, saw the kunai coming but was unable to react in time. Instead Iruka-Sensei shoved him out of the way, leaving the man himself with no time to dodge the oncoming sharp metal objects. He was able to keep himself from any bad injuries, though. After making sure his sensei wasn't badly hurt, the blonde turned to face the bastard who had just attacked them, only to find himselfveryconfused. It was Mizuki-sensei. Mizuki-sensei had just tried to kill both of them.

"Good job finding the idiot."

"I see, so that's what's going on."

"Naruto, give me the scroll."

"Naruto! Whatever happens, don't give him the scroll! It's filled with dangerous jutsu! Mizuki used you to get his hands on it!"

"Naruto... There's no point in you having that scroll. I'll tell you the truth."

" NO Mizuki DON'T!"

"You know about the Kyuubi attack twelve years ago, right?"

"MIZUKI! STOP THIS!"

"What you don't know is that, that same day, a law was made, a law that only you, Naruto, are not allowed to know about."

"NARUTO! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!"

"A law that no one is to say that you are the Kyuubi no Kitsune!"

"You are the Kyuubi no Kitsune!"

The Kyuubi no Kitsune!

The words hit Naruto like a ton of bricks and he swore his heart stopped for a moment.

Everything made so much more sense now, why the villagers hated him and no one took him seriously. A chill spread through out Naruto as he wondered if Ino and Kiba knew...they were his only friends if he didn't have them, then what would he have?

What would they think if they knew Naruto was a demon and that he'd killed the fourth hokage?

"SHUT UP!" Naruto yelled in all his anger.

"What's wrong? Do you not want to accept what you really are? Well I don't care! SO HURRY UP AND DIE, KYUUBI!" He could see the giant Shuriken clearly as it flew through the air towards him. Dodging out of the way wouldn't have been difficult, but did he really want to? What was waiting for him back at the village.

Wouldn't it be worth giving up his life to fully remove the Kyuubi from this world? He wouldn't even have to do anything, just stand there and let Mizuki's large Shuriken cleave through his neck. It would all be over soon.

"schlick"

There was the unmistakable sound of metal sliding into flesh, but the sudden burst of pain the blonde had expected never came. He was still alive.

It took him a moment to realize what had just happened. "I-Iruka-Sensei? Why?"

The scarred chuunin, his face only inches from Naruto's own, was smiling, crying, and trying to hold back his pain all at once. "I-I understand... a bit of what you've been through. When my parents died... no one really seemed to care about me. I would act like an idiot, just to get people's attention. I was never very good in school, so it was all I could do to make people notice me. But the whole time... I was always in so much pain. It must have been so painful for you too, right Naruto? I'm so very sorry... If I had just paid a bit more attention, maybe you wouldn't have had to hurt so much...but I'm glad that you at least had Kiba and...Ino"

"HA! Don't lie to the damned brat, Iruka! You hate him just as much as I do! HE'S THE ONE THAT KILLED YOUR PARENTS IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

The young demon container was horribly confused. He didn't know who to believe or what to think, so he did the only thing he could. He ran.

He ran and ran, as fast and as far away as he could and slumped up against the base of a tree. For the first time he could ever remember, he was completely lost.

He had no idea of how long he spent just sitting there, trying to figure things out and breathing heavily, .

A voice suddenly caught his attention "H-How, Naruto? How did you know... ...I wasn't Iruka?"

"Because...I'm Iruka."

"Iruka, you sicken me. You'd even transform into the monster that killed your parents in order to protect him."

"I'll never let someone like you get their hands on the Forbidden Scroll!"

"You idiot! With the secrets in that scroll, you can do anything! There's no way the Kyuubi wouldn't use that kind of power!"

"You're right..."

Still behind the tree, having not moved an inch the entire time, Naruto felt like his heart had just broken. "So that's it, then. Iruka-sensei never believed in me."

"The Kyuubi would do something like that. But Naruto's different. He's one of my students! He may not be the best, but he always tries hard, he's brave and he never gives up! People may not accept him, but he knows what it's like to be in pain, he's true to himself and no matter what he went through he's still here! He's not the Kyuubi at all! He's a future ninja of Konoha! He's Uzumaki Naruto!"

Iruka-Sensei's words were everything at that moment,they were like a lighthouse in a storm or hot soup on a sick day but were they enough? Naruto still felt as though he were losing himself even after everything he'd gone through.

"Whatever," it was Mizuki-teme talking now, "Iruka, I was going to get rid of you later, but now I've changed my mind! JUST DIE!"

The young ninja-in-training didn't even think about it. He launched himself around the tree and, seeing the pale-haired bastard running at his sensei with his second giant shuriken ready for the kill, leapt directly in his path. It was so sudden that the traitorous jerk didn't even have time to react until after Naruto's foot had firmly implanted itself in his head, sending them both flying in different directions.

"Why you little-"

"If you ever lay a finger on my sensei again...I'LL KILL YOU!!!!" He could feel himself overflowing with rage. Something inside of him was laughing, daring him to kill Mizuki but he was Uzumaki Naruto, damn it, and there was no way he was going to lose to some oversized ball of fur.

"Ha! A stupid failure like you? I'll kill you in one hit!"

"Just try it, you troll faced bitch!!! I'll deal back any pain you give me a thousand times over!"

"THEN DO IT, KYUUBI!"

Naruto made a set of hand signs. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

There was a huge burst of smoke, and suddenly over a thousand grinning Narutos littered the area. Mizuki-Sensei was too terrified to even speak.

"What's wrong?" all the clones said at once, "Weren't you going to kill me in one hit? Well then, I'll go first!"

Nearly fifteen minutes later, the boy's white-haired former instructor was little more than a bleeding, twitching lump of bruises on the ground. Daylight was beginning to creep into the sky. "Hehe, I guess I might have over done it." He gave Iruka-sensei a sheepish grin.

"Naruto, come over here a minute." The scar-faced chuunin was still sitting propped up against the tree. That wound in his back must have really been hurting him.

"I wanted to say thank you, Naruto, for saving my life," he was slowly making his way to his feet as he spoke, "and tell you how proud I am of you for being who you are."

"Whaddya mean, Iruka-sensei? I should be the one thanking you. After Mizuki-Sensei told me about the fox, I was about ready to forget who I was. You saved me by believing in me back there."

The man smiled. "Okay, I've decided. Close your eyes, I'm going to give you a present."

Naruto could hear what sounded like Iruka-sensei fiddling with some kind of cloth. After a moment, the sound stopped. "Can I open my eyes now?"

"Go ahead." The blonde opened his eyes to see Iruka-Sensei's smiling face, his own goggles held in the man's hand. Wait, if he had the goggles, then what was that on his forehead? And where was Iruka-sensei's...?

Hardly daring to believe it could be true, Naruto slowly moved his hand up to the object tied around his forehead, his fingers tracing the cool metal and the symbol of Konoha etched into it but he also felt a line through it, a scratch running across the Konoha symbol from his fight with Mizuki.

Iruka-Sensei noticed this. "It's only temporary , you can get a new one when your ready,"

Naruto smiled and shook his head. " No , this one's fine, "

Naruto felt completely happy. He found himself smiling, not the usual ear-to-ear grin, or the smirk he had whenever he got a good idea for a prank, but a real, warm, open smile of true joy.

"Let's celebrate your victory ; I'll take you to Ichiraku Ramen."

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouted, preparing to throw himself at the man and hug him and never let go.

That was when it happened.

He heard it. The distinctive, unmistakable whistling sound of a kunai cutting through the air. He turned towards it. Too close. Too fast. No time to dodge. Then, again, Iruka-sensei was there, somehow, taking the sharp blade right in his shoulder.

Mizuki had regained consciousness just long enough to throw that one deadly knife before passing out again. Iruka-sensei stumbled.

He would have toppled over had Naruto not been there. The young ninja caught him and gently laid him down on the grass. "Iruka-sensei, what's wrong? Will you be okay? Should I take you to the hospital? I-"

"No ... No time.," Iruka-Sensei choked . " Poison... ...fast-acting. Naruto... I'll always believe in you. Follow your dreams... you can do it..."

"I-Iruka-sensei? Iruka-Sensei!? No, please, don't leave me! Not now , IRUKA-SENSEI!"

"Heh... ...look at that. The Kyuubi brat crying over...the body of his dead teacher. How sweet."

Naruto spun to face the voice, Mizuki's voice. He could feel the tears streaming from his eyes, down his cheeks, across his whiskers "I'm going to kill you."

It was strange. He should have been burning with anger and rage like he was before, but he wasn't and he knew why, he was dead...on the inside, he wouldn't have anyone after this. His mind had gone through too much in too short a time, and all he could feel was his grief, a strange calmness, and an absolute certainty that he was going to kill the man in front of him.

Naruto just stood there, glaring at the man relentlessly with blue eyes colder and harder than ice. Even as Mizuki got to his feet and started searching through his pouch for something, the boy didn't move. He did nothing as the man found what he was looking for, a kunai, then he charged at Naruto.

Naruto summoned up all his chakra.

He could still remember, perfectly clearly, one day in their second year when Iruka-sensei had mentioned to the class about chakra overload

"Just like there is chakra exhaustion, there is also chakra overload. If a ninja has more chakra flowing around inside his or her body than it can handle, then the body will start to tear itself apart from the inside as all that chakra tries to escape. Unlike chakra exhaustion, chakra overload is extremely rare, as it requires massive amounts of chakra on a level most Kages never even have. So far, in the history of the Ninja world, there have only been two recorded cases of chakra overload. The first was in..."

Naruto had an idea, a sick one.

Naruto ran across the two yards remaining between them and punched him directly in the center. Mizuki was unprepared for Naruto's physical strength but he managed to hold his ground and grabbed Naruto by the collar, grabbing a kunai into his gut but Naruto got out of his grip and grabbed onto Mizuki's head and before he knew it he was pushing chakra into him, continuously pumping it until Mizuki began to bleed from every hole in his face and his veins bulged before his entire head exploded leaving blood and remains staining Naruto's hands. Sure that the man was now dead , Naruto headed to the Hokage's office. The old man would be the only one to believe him.

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The old fire shadow nodded, his face was ashen as Naruto recounted his take of tonight's events.

"Oh Mizuki..." The hokage sighed his voice filled with disappointment .

"Ojii-San...I'm going home now..." Naruto voice was soft and broken as he turned around and head for the door.

The hokage pitied him and called out.

" Naruto are you ok? "

Naruto made a stifled croaking sound from his throat and the hokage took that for a yes.

Kiba grunted , pulling Ino atop the head of the hokage monuments , they both let out sighs of relief when they saw Naruto up there as well.

Kiba inched closer to Naruto. "Naruto, you should move away from the edge, you'll fall."

Naruto didn't reply, tears stained his cheeks and he inhaled shakily.

"Naruto," Ino said cutting to the chase. " we were waiting for you, at the river, when you didn't show up we went to the hokage, he told us...what happened, "

"The two of you seem perfectly calm," he said softly . " It's because it doesn't matter to you two! " his voice raised an octave.

"Of course it does, he was our Sensei too,!!" Kiba yelled. " but what your thinking right now!!! He wouldn't want it Naruto!! "

"Your wrong!!" Naruto yelled. " if Uzumaki Naruto died tonight, no one would really miss him. Sure Jiji, you guys, old man Ichiraku, and Ayame-chan would probably be sad for a little while, but you all have other people in your lives. you'd move on. No one else would really care. Hell, half the village would probably celebrate.! "

" Naruto, you know that's not true! If you leave , I'd be lonely!! " Ino cried.

"Why are you crying !?" Naruto snapped, eyes glaring at her. " No one hates you, your well loved by everyone, why would you be crying when nothing's wrong with y-! "

Naruto was cut off when he felt Ino hug him from behind, she tried to pull him from the edge but he wouldn't let her. He couldn't.

"Yes! It's true few people would miss you and the academy students would make fake sappy faces and forget you existed a day after, but suicide is only a permanent solution to a temporary problem...and you know this Naruto!"

" but wouldn't it be worth it? If I died the Kyuubi would leave this world? "

"That's not how it works Naruto!" Kiba was now hugging him trying to pull him away from the edge. He couldn't let them.

"And even if it was so...even if all the happy slogans and quotes lose there meaning anything that keeps you alive Naruto...is worth saying over and over again."

" there is nothing else to say or chant! I'm Useless , I'm a monster , I know I am! "

Kiba hugged him tighter. "No your not Naruto, we graduate officially tomorrow, you have to be there! So don't kill yourself! Don't do it until you change the world with me and Ino, don't kill yourself because you'll miss out on a lot fun stuff! The world will keep spinning on it's axis without you but think about all the ramen you'll never get to eat, and all the fights you'll never win against Sasuke and all the races you'll never have a chance to beat me in!! You can try again and again and I'll keep coming up with reasons why you need to be alive tomorrow !!"

Naruto cried and fell to the ground, he didn't understand , why they would go so far for him?

"Kiba's right , your important , it's a bad day not a bad life, there is more to this Naruto, give yourself one more or ten thousand more days because the future is coming Naruto, I don't need you too see it , I just need you to believe that you can make it until then,"

His friends gripped him in a death hug and Naruto never wanted them to let go.

He was sure now. One day he'd go to sleep and he'd think; I can't wait for tomorrow!

He felt like a weight that He carried had been carried away.

Read and reveiw!