Chapter 9
AN: Thanks once again for all the kind reviews, I have tried to reply to them all, everyone has been such a wonderful support to me through my first long fic! I have borrowed some from the anime in this chapter, with some twists, so please don't sue me, as I don't own Naruto! A thanks goes out to MrsHellman and Hotari-chan for beta-ing! Enjoy!
A year and a half passed, making Naruto eleven and half. He was younger than his peers due to the fact that his birthday falls in October; he wasn't quite seven yet when he started at the academy. Naruto was in his last year at the academy; the first term was over, and the second term was going to begin soon. For now, everyone had some time off before starting second term. At the end of the year, everyone had to take and pass the genin exam to graduate from the academy.
Naruto had improved his skills tremendously over the last year in a half. Minato had been teaching Naruto how to use Kyuubi's chakra, which helped Naruto to improve all his techniques 100. He learned very quickly how do the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, after Minato had shown it to him. Even though he was very suited for it, Minato was still surprised how fast Naruto had learned the jutsu. Minato had also explained the benefits of using the Kage Bunshin no Justsu, namely, being able to learn whatever the clone learns, and with Naruto's chakra and stamina levels, he could produce lots of clones and accelerate his learning rate. Naruto thought that was really cool.
Naruto was currently training with his best friend, Uchiha Sasuke. They trained constantly together, and continued to motivate each other to keep getting stronger, by trying to out do the other, but in a fun, friendly, competitive way.
Sasuke had been amazed the first time he saw Naruto execute the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Naruto showed it to him one day for the first time, shortly after learning it.
Flashback
After school, the boys were training together, when Naruto said, "Ne, Sasuke?"
"What is it?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto had a smirk on his face. "Want to see a really cool jutsu, my tousan taught me?"
"Yeah!" Sasuke said, getting excited.
"Yosh. Here's goes," Naruto announced proudly, cracking his knuckles and then performing the cross signal with his fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he shouted, producing about fifty clones.
"Wow! That's so cool!" Sasuke exclaimed looking around at all the clones. "How do you do that? I thought you had trouble with clone replication?" he asked Naruto.
"I did, until Tousan told me I'd be perfectly suited for this jutsu. He taught me how to mold my chakra the right way. And these are real clones too, even better than the bunshin no jutsu," Naruto boasted, and released the jutsu so all the clones disappeared.
"Man, I wish I could learn that one," Sasuke said, with envy in his voice.
"Yeah, but you can do Katon no Jutsu," Naruto pointed out, "And I can't do that."
"Yeah, I guess…" Sasuke agreed.
"And besides, you'll have the Sharingan one day. Then I'll really be in trouble," Naruto laughed.
Sasuke laughed too. "That's true. I just don't know when it will become activate. Tousan thinks it will be soon, though."
"I'm sure it will. Now let's spar!" Naruto shouted, tackling his friend, who was caught off guard temporarily.
"Hey! I wasn't ready!" Sasuke protested, but quickly recovered.
End of Flashback
Both boys had just finished shuriken practice, both hitting their targets dead on. Minato came home for a much needed lunch break from the office. He found the boys training together in the back of the house.
"Oi, Naruto, Sasuke!" Minato called to them. Both boys looked up in surprise. "I came home for a lunch break. Who wants to go to Ichiraku's?"
Naruto didn't need a second invitation. He came running over to Minato very quickly.
"Sasuke can come too, right, Tousan?" Naruto asked eagerly.
"Certainly," Minato answered with a grin.
Sasuke came strolling over. "Tch, you're such a ramen freak, Naruto," he said, teasingly. "I bet you'd do anything for ramen."
Naruto thought about it for a moment. "Pretty much," he shrugged.
Sasuke shook his head and addressed Minato. "Thank you for inviting me, Hokage-sama," he said.
Minato waved it off. "Don't mention it. I love ramen as much as Naruto does, that's where he gets it from, you know," he told him with a wink.
Sasuke just blinked in response.
"Enough talking, let's go!" Naruto yelled impatiently.
"Alright, calm down, Naruto, we're going," Minato said, as they began to walk off towards Ichiraku's.
As they were walking together, Sasuke spotted Sakura coming towards them. She was still a ways off, and didn't see them yet.
"Oh no! Here comes that annoying girl again!" Sasuke moaned as he tried to hide behind Naruto.
Naruto looked inquisitively at his friend. "You mean, Sakura-san?" he asked.
"Yes! Haven't you noticed how she always hangs around us?" Sasuke replied.
"Hmmm…no…not really," Naruto answered.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. Honestly, for the son of the hokage, Naruto wasn't always the sharpest.
Fortunately, Sakura turned down another street and didn't see them.
Minato smiled as he heard their conversation. His son was truly naïve if he didn't know why that girl was always hanging around. It was very obvious. Maybe he would need to have 'the talk' with Naruto…soon.
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School break ended bringing everyone back to the academy once more. Iruka decided give the class a pop quiz on the henge, much to everyone annoyance.
"Okay, everyone line up and when I call your name, henge into me, got it?" Iruka addressed the class.
"Man, this sucks," Shikamaru complained, as he stood next to Naruto.
"So what? You can do it," Naruto replied.
"That's not the point. I don't want to do it," Shikamaru answered. Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Haruno Sakura," Iruka called.
"Yosh," Sakura said as she came forward. I hope Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun are watching, she thought. "Henge!" she shouted as she transformed into the perfect copy of Iruka.
"Good," Iruka said, as he marked something off on his notebook.
Yes! I did it! "Did you see that, Naruto-kun? Sasuke-kun?" Sakura called to them. Sasuke didn't answer, but Naruto gave her thumbs up. He still wasn't sure what exactly was up with this girl, but she was starting to grow on him a little. She seemed so nice, and she was pretty and very smart, from what he had heard about her.
"Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka called, shaking Naruto from his thoughts.
"Ne, Sasuke," Naruto whispered before Sasuke went up. "Make sure you watch me, when it's my turn. I'm going to liven things up!"
Sasuke glanced at him curiously and then executed his henge into the perfect copy of Iruka.
"Good," Iruka said, marking it down. "Uh, next is Namikaze Naruto."
Naruto walked up to the front, with a big grin on his face. He had just learned this one, and hadn't shown it to anyone yet, especially not his father. Naruto was still debating whether or not to show to him. He had been dying to try it on an adult, and Iruka-sensei seemed like the perfect test subject. Besides, how boring was it to henge into Iruka-sensei when he could do something like this?
Hyuuga Hinata was standing near the end of the line. She was pressing her fingers together in a nervous gesture and had blush across her cheeks when she saw Naruto come forward. Do your best, Naruto-kun, she thought.
"Henge!" Naruto shouted, as he transformed not into Iruka, but a naked, sexy-looking woman. She winked and blew a kiss at Iruka, who fell over with a nosebleed.
Everyone laughed. Sasuke smiled. Naruto was such a clown.
Naruto transformed back into himself, and was laughing hysterically as he pointed at Iruka. "I call that my seduction technique."
Iruka was not amused. "Naruto! How can you invent such a technique? It's disgraceful! Don't pull a stunt like that again, or I'll have to inform your father!" he said sternly.
Naruto gulped. "Fine, have it your way," he said grudgingly. He didn't want his father to find out about this via Iruka telling him what Naruto had done in class, so he did the henge correctly this time. "No sense of humor," he added under his breath.
"That's better," Iruka said, marking it down.
When class was over, Naruto walked out with Sasuke.
"I can't believe you did that, Naruto," Sasuke said as they walked. "If your tousan finds out…"
"Aw, don't worry, he won't. Come on, admit it, you thought it was funny," Naruto pressed.
"Maybe…" Sasuke admitted. "When did you pick that up?"
"Just recently. I was looking at a couple of magazines and the idea came to me. I've been dying to try it out on some adult. Since it worked so well on Iruka-sensei, I bet even tousan would fall victim to it..." Naruto paused. "Then, he'd lecture me to death!" he shuddered at the thought. "But it might be worth it just to see his face!" he grinned.
Sasuke merely shook his head at his friend's antics.
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Time passed by quickly for the second term, and the final exam for the soon to be genin was only a week away now.
Naruto felt like he was ready for the exam, but he was also feeling a little nervous about it. No one knew what would be asked of him or her for the exam. For Naruto, passing meant one step closer to his dream of being the hokage.
One evening after they had finished eating dinner, Naruto talked to Minato about the exam.
"Tousan?" he began.
"Yes, Naruto?" Minato could tell that Naruto was nervous about something.
"Well, you know the genin exam is next week and well…I…was just…" Naruto trailed off unsure of how to voice his concerns without appearing weak.
"You're feeling nervous about the exam?" Minato supplied for him.
Naruto looked away and gave a slight nod.
"It's nothing to be ashamed about, Naruto. It's only natural that you'd be feeling nervous," Minato reassured him. "I bet everyone in your class feels the same way."
"Yeah, I guess. It's just that…what if…I…don't pass?" Naruto finally got out.
Minato understood how important this was to Naruto, given all he had been through up until this point. They had trained hard together, and he had seen how much Naruto had grown and learned since he first started at the academy. It was amazing really.
"I think you'll do just fine, Naruto. You've worked hard; you know all jutsus and techniques that you're supposed to know, plus the extra one that I taught you. That one alone gives you a leg up," Minato told him.
Naruto nodded but still seemed unsure. Minato got up and walked over to him, sitting next to him. He put his hand under his chin, making Naruto look at him.
"Listen, son, no matter what, I have and will always be proud of you, but I don't believe you'll have any problems passing, alright?" Minato told him.
Naruto suddenly hugged his father tight. "Arigatou, tousan," he said into his father's chest. Minato hugged him back. "I don't know what I'd do without you. I…I…never would have made it this far," he said in a quiet voice.
"Well, you're welcome," Minato answered, rubbing the top of his son's head, affectionately. "You've worked hard, and I'm glad I could be for you."
"Me too," Naruto said, earnestly. Then the thought came to him to try out his new technique on his father. He really wanted to see his reaction. "Ne, tousan?"
"Hmm?" Minato asked, knowing his son was up to something with that tone.
"Speaking of jutsus, I just learned a new one that I want to show you," Naruto said, with a mischievous grin.
"Okay…" Minato began, wondering what kind of jutsu Naruto wanted to show him.
"Yosh. Prepare yourself for this one," Naruto said, as he stood up and cracked his knuckles. "Henge!" he shouted, transforming once again into the sexy, naked woman. He blew at kiss at his father. "What do you think?" he asked in a sexy voice.
Minato's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He fell backwards in his chair, landing on the floor hard, with a nosebleed.
Naruto changed back to himself and sweat dropped. Wow, it works on him too! Amazing! I just defeated the hokage! He thought.
When Minato recovered, he was pretty upset. "Naruto! Where did you learn such a…a…"
"Awesome technique?" Naruto supplied.
"Not the word, I was looking for," Minato answered wryly, wiping his nose. He cleared his throat. "Listen to me very carefully, as I'm only going to say this once: DON'T EVER DO THAT IN FRONT OF ME AGAIN, UNDERSTAND?" he boomed loudly.
Naruto trembled. "S-sure, T-tousan…no problem," he stuttered. Man, his father sure could be scary at times. But it was worth it, just knowing that he could beat his legendary father at something!
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The day of the exam had finally come. The rest of that week, Naruto had trained his butt off in preparation for it. Sometimes with Sasuke, his father, or by himself. He felt as ready as he could ever be.
That morning he had woken up early. He was just too excited to sleep. He did some last minute training and then came in for breakfast. His father was already there.
"Morning, son," Minato greeted Naruto.
"Morning, Tousan. Well, today's the big day. If I pass today, I'll finally get my hitai-ate!" Naruto gushed, excitedly. "Then I'll finally be recognized as a real ninja!"
Minato smiled at his son. "I'm sure you'll do just fine. Remember, everything you've learned. You've worked hard, and I know you can do it. I'll be there after the exam to give the graduation speech. After that, we can celebrate any way you'd like," Minato told Naruto.
"Really? You mean it?" Naruto asked.
"Of course I do," Minato answered. He looked at the time. "Oops, gotta run, but I'll see you soon. Good luck, son, do your best!" he said ruffling Naruto's hair as he walked by.
Naruto wolfed down his breakfast and as he walked towards the door, he passed a mirror. He took a moment to look at himself. If all goes well, today I will become a genin, he thought. Taking one last look at himself, he rushed out the door.
On his way, he met up with Sasuke. "Oi, Sasuke!" Naruto called to him.
Sasuke turned around at the sound of Naruto's voice. "Naruto," he called.
Naruto jogged up to him. "So, can you believe it's the last day for us at the academy?" he asked Sasuke.
"No, it's gone so fast. I can't believe we're taking the final exam. I wish we knew which technique they are going to test us on though," Sasuke answered.
"Yeah, but you'll have no problem, with your perfect scores," Naruto teased him.
Sasuke blushed. "You'll do fine too. You've trained your butt off, and your tousan's been helping a lot."
"Thanks. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. It sure will be cool to be genin, won't it?" Naruto gushed.
"Yeah, we'll finally be viewed as real ninjas, and we'll get to do real missions," Sasuke replied.
"It will be so awesome! And we get to be on a team, so I've heard. I wonder who our sensei will be, who will be on what team?" Naruto wondered.
"We'll find out until sometime after we graduate," Sasuke answered.
"Yeah, it's just so hard to wait. I…kind of hope…that…maybe…we'll…be on the same team," Naruto said hesitantly.
Sasuke looked quizzically at him.
"I'm mean…we've been through the academy together and everything…it would just be fun to be on the same team," Naruto finished.
"Yeah…it would…" Sasuke answered.
They continued on in silence the rest of the way. It was really hard for Naruto to say that to Sasuke, and be open about how he felt like that, but after all, Sasuke was like a brother to him, and it would be so cool to be on the same team.
They got to class and sat down, as Iruka addressed the class. "Okay, class, settle down. We will now start the final exam. When your name is called, come to the classroom next door. The subject will be…"
Everyone was hanging on tender hooks to know what the subject of the exam would be.
"…bunshin no jutsu (replication technique)."
Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief. This is too good! I'll wow them with the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and ace this exam! He glanced at Sasuke and gave him a big grin. Sasuke smiled in return.
Naruto's turn finally came. Iruka and another instructor were present to grade him.
Yosh, I'm going to knock their socks off with this one! He thought. "Kage bunshin no Jutsu!" he shouted as he produced a room full of clones.
Iruka was shocked to say the least. "Naruto…where...how…did you…learn that?" he asked.
"Tousan taught me. He said I was better suited for this than the bunshin jutsu," Naruto answered. "I pass right?" he asked.
Hokage-sama sure knows what he's doing, Iruka thought, smiling. "Yes, Naruto you pass with flying colors. Come and get your hitai-ate."
"YES!" Naruto shouted, pumping his fist in the air. He ran up to the desk, and picked up one of the hitai-ate's. He held it carefully, as if it would break, and ran his fingers over it. Then, he put it on his forehead. Instantly, he felt different, he was a real ninja now. He did it!
"Congratulations, Naruto," Iruka told him.
"Arigatou, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto answered, and headed outside to where the graduation ceremony was.
As he came outside, he saw a big crowd of people: his classmates with their families. He spotted Sasuke with his parents and when he saw Naruto, he gave him a 'v' sign with his two fingers, which Naruto returned. Then, Naruto began searching for the one person he really wanted to see, his father.
When he finally caught sight of him, Naruto ran over to him, and nearly bowled him over with a hug. "I did it, Tousan! I graduated! Look, look at my hitai-ate! I'm a real ninja now!"
Minato somehow managed to keep his balance, and hugged his son back. "I knew you could do it," he grinned. "Congratulations! We'll celebrate anyway you want, right after this, okay?"
"Hai!" Naruto chirped.
Minato smiled again at his son. It was so hard to believe that his son was now a genin. He had come such a long way over these last four and half years. His son was growing up and would be doing missions with a team soon. Minato sighed wistfully. He missed the old days…he shook himself out of those thoughts. It was time to give the graduation speech.
"Ahem! If I could have your attention please!" Minato began, loudly, so people could hear him. When everyone was quiet, he continued. "Congratulations to you all, for becoming Genin. It will get harder from here, as a ninja, but my hope is for all of you to serve Konoha well, and continue along the path that has been set out for you."
Everyone clapped and started to disperse. Sasuke came over to Naruto and offered him his congratulations on graduating, and Naruto returned the compliment. Sasuke then told him he would catch up with him later, to do some celebrating together, which Naruto heartily agreed to.
Just then, Kakashi suddenly appeared next to Naruto and Minato. "Yo, Naruto!" he said in greeting. "Just wanted to offer my congratulations on graduating," he told him with his eye-smile.
"Arigatou, Kakashi-san," Naruto answered.
"Things will be getting pretty interesting from now on," Kakashi continued with a wink aimed at Minato, who nodded in response.
"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked, curiously, looking between his father and Kakashi.
"Oh, you'll see…soon enough," Kakashi said, purposefully avoiding Naruto's question.
Naruto huffed and folded his arms. "Fine, keep your secrets."
"Ja ne!" Kakashi said, and then disappeared.
Naruto spoke to Minato. "Tousan, I know how I want to celebrate," he began. "All the ramen I can eat!"
Minato laughed. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" He studied his son again for a moment. He wasn't a little boy any more that needed protecting like so long ago. Minato would truly have to let go of him now that he was a genin. He had been able to gradually let go of Naruto over the last couple of years, but it was easy when Naruto was at the academy and didn't leave Konoha. Now, life would get harder for Naruto, going on missions…and possibly even getting into dangerous situations. But Naruto had come such a long way since he first started at the academy…he had learned so much…and now look at him…tears pricked at Minato's eyes.
Naruto saw that Minato's eyes were tearing up. "What's wrong, Tousan?"
Minato shook himself. "Ah, nothing," he laughed, putting his hand behind his head. "Just reminiscing. I'm just so proud of you, Naruto," he told him.
"Arigatou, Tousan. I owe it to you, really," Naruto answered.
"In part, but you did the hard work yourself, you've earned this," Minato said. "You have tremendous potential, and I know you're going to become an excellent ninja."
Naruto smiled and blushed. "Off to Ichiraku's!" he shouted, taking off in the direction of his favorite ramen stand.
Minato shook his head and smiled. This was the beginning of new adventure for them both.
To be concluded...
AN: Sorry if this seemed a bit rushed, but I had a lot to cover in a short amount of time, since I'm wrapping up this story. There will be an epilogue to conclude this story. I'm glad everyone has enjoyed this story so far, and I have really enjoyed writing it. I hope this chapter was good, my muse is starting to leave me, so it was getting a bit hard to write. Review please!
