So it's another day and it's time for yet another chapter of the Will of Fire. I've decided to make this chapter a review chapter so I'm going to keep my comments up here brief. For those of you who are new to my story: I every so often have review chapters. They are located at the end of the chapter and can be skipped if you do not care for them. They are intended to add to the experience not take away from it. So if you do not like reading my responses to reviews you can skip it. I will of course always respond to any review personally, this is just a little extra thank you. My response might have changed since the review was originally posted. Who knows! Even I don't know. Anyway let's get onto the chapter!

THE WILL OF FIRE

PART TWO

Chapter 9 - What They Don't know Can't Hurt them

The next few days flew by quickly. After sending his parents through hell Naruto had the next day off. The only thing that he had to do was get his photo taken for the files. Something that Naruto looked forward to. He spent hours getting his look just right. It was wonderfully ridiculous! He simply did not understand why his father ordered him to do it again. Lord Fourth Hokage was not pleased with his son's face paint. Naruto thought it was funny and unique. His father disagreed. Being both the Hokage and his father Minato won the argument. Making poor Naruto retake the picture. The result was the most boring picture ever. Only that seemed to satisfy his father. It was positively dreadful! His father made it quite clear that if Naruto pulled this routine again there would be no Ramen for a month. It was the only reason why Naruto cooperated at all. Nothing motivated Naruto like Ramen. That and the fear of god. Which Minato embodied quite well when he wanted to. His father was a force of nature just like his mother. Just in a very different way.

Naruto feared his father's wrath more than anyone else in the world. If Naruto continued to disobey his father he knew that there would be consequences. Something to be avoided at all costs. His father had a way of making his life a living hell without ever touching him. Something his mother wasn't quite as good at. She was scary and violent but she couldn't strike fear into Naruto's heart like his father did. Luckily, his father usually let him get away with murder. Few things ever really angered his father. When he did become angry there was no where to hide. It was best to stay on the good side of Minato Namikaze. One should never really push him too far. It just wasn't wise. That's why he cooperated in the end. He did not want to push his father. Besides, there was a party being held tonight in his honor! It was best not to screw that up.

It was a small affair. Since it wasn't really planned a head of time. It constituted a big meal that his mother made and a few guests. That was it. Nothing really that major. Which was what Naruto preferred anyway. He hated big parties. Everyone there was after something else. They could care less about him or his achievement. It was all about getting into the good graces of the Hokage and proving their standing. Naruto was much happier partying with Kakashi, Prevy Sage (which is what he called Jiraiya now), and his parents. It was a lot more fun than being ignored.

As the week worn on Naruto became increasingly curious who his Genin Sensei would be. He had pestered and pestered his father about it. Every time his father refused to tell him! His dad was tight-lipped about the whole thing. He wouldn't even tell him who was on his team. All his hours of heckling amounted to nothing. All he got for his efforts was a quick no and an unceremonious toss out of he continued. Nothing more came of it.

Then again Naruto shouldn't have expected anything else. Minato was the Hokage and a shinobi before that. He knew how to keep a secret. Nothing short of torture would get it out of him. He could have told the boy but he didn't want to. It wasn't fair for Naruto to know what his classmates did not. Besides, it was so much fun watching his son squirm. It was what he deserved after putting his father through hell.

Of course, Minato had another reason: Naruto needed to pass the test on his own. He could not receive any help from his father. There were no exceptions. Not even for his son. If Naruto was ever to be respected then he had to do it on his own. Just like the others. There would be no special treatment for the son of Fourth Hokage. In fact, Minato had to be harder on him than anyone else. Otherwise, no one would accept Naruto's accomplishment. Which could not happen. Naruto had worked far too hard to have his achievement questioned. His father could not help in this matter. Naruto had to accept that. There was little other choice. It wasn't fair, but it was the price of being his son. The standards would always be set higher than anyone else.

In someways it was better that Naruto did not know any of this. He was blissfully unaware of how he would be judged. He did not know that the entire village would be scrutinizing the test. If there was any sign of favoritism it would all be over. Minato would never hear the end of it and Naruto would never have the respect that he deserved. The villagers would believe that somehow Minato used his influence to help Naruto pass. Some already believed that. Then again Naruto did not pass the preliminary exam through normal means. That was the second strike against him. If he got a third it would be all over. Minato could not be kind in this matter. If Naruto failed then he would have to go back to the Academy for a year. There was no other choice. Regardless of what his father wanted Naruto would go back. He could not protect his son in this matter. He would go back. He would be badly shamed. There would be no other choice. It was risk that Minato had to take.

Of course, Naruto knew nothing of the storm that was brewing. Instead, he spent his week hanging out his frenemy, Sasuke. The two had an on again, off again friendship of sorts. Starting from when they were children they had spent countless hours together. It didn't hurt that Mikoto was Kushina's best friend and their families had always been close. The pair was in each other's homes constantly. Causing the two to act more like brothers than friends. The 'siblings' often fought about one thing or another. Just like real brothers. They also went out of the way to help each other. Again like real brothers would do. Even Itachi sort of acted like a older brother to Naruto. Which caused more than a little jealously from Kakashi. He was still just as attached as always.

Right now both Naruto and Sasuke were talking to each other. Meaning that Naruto was at his friend's house everyday. He made sure to tell Sasuke all about how he earned his headband. Of course, he left out the bits that made him look bad, like: how he failed the test and how he was fooled into stealing the scroll. These weren't very manly or impressive. So, he left those facts out. They would only get in the way.

Sasuke wasn't fooled though. He knew his friend far too well. He figured out that Naruto had been fooled by Mizuki-sensei and that he failed the first test. The second part wasn't hard to figure out: After all the entire village was talking about it. The loser son of the Hokage finally passed the test. Most believed that his dad took pity on him and passed him. Sasuke knew better. He knew his adopted uncle too well. He would never do that. It would only harm Naruto in the end. Something that Lord Fourth would never willingly do.

Sasuke did not know how Naruto really passed the test. Since Naruto wasn't really a reliable source in all. It really didn't matter though. He was just grateful that his friend passed. For all their troubles; he cared deeply about his adopted brother. Secretly, he hoped to be placed on the same team as his friend. That way he could protect him and prevent his Aunt from crying. Kushina was the best Aunt a boy could have. It was such as shame that they were not related by blood. Sasuke would not let her cry. Real men didn't do that. Alas, his father did not appear to believe in that ideal. For he had caused his mother to cry so many times. Now, their relationship was strained. Making home life uncomfortable to say the least. It wasn't even like he could speak to his father about it. They never had that kind of relationship. Fugaku barely even interacted with his youngest son. The few times he actually bothered to say something was when Sasuke did something wrong. More than once he wished that he had the same kind of relationship with his father that Naruto had with his. They had always been close. Minato practically doted on the boy! Sometimes Sasuke wanted Minato to be his dad instead. He was a way better dad than the one he got stuck with.

What Sasuke didn't know was sometimes Naruto wished that he that Fugaku was his father instead of Minato. He may be aloof but he didn't pester Sasuke all time. Unless he did something disgraceful and embarrassing to the clan. Then Fugaku would correct Sasuke. That wasn't cool, but it was a lot better than what his dad did. Minato was always in his business. He wanted to know what his son was doing and who he was hanging out with. Minato was always on his ass about everything. He asked constantly about his homework. His father forced Naruto to do it when he didn't want to. He always wanted to do things with him all the time. It was like he was over-compensating for something. It was frustrating! Naruto was totally cool with his father not spending as much time with him as the others. He was the Hokage! He was busy. It's okay. He didn't need to bug him all the time! It was hard to believe that the Hokage could be so uncool and downright goofy. It was embarrassing!

Naruto hoped that now that he was officially a ninja his dad would lay off. He was a man now, after all. Plus, a Hokage could not baby his son in front of his men. He had to stop mothering him. It was embarrassing. It had to change soon. At least that was what Naruto hoped. He loved his dad to pieces, but he just wished that he would lay off sometimes. He was not five anymore, y'know!

Maybe once he met his sensei it would all change. Maybe his sensei could get through to his father. Then again maybe he couldn't. No one will stand up to my dad. I am totally screwed! Naruto thought miserably as he walked to school for one final time. The only one that he thought might go against his dad was Kakashi. Then again he was practically family. He had privileges that no one else had. Naruto had seen the two fight before. Although his father usually won those arguments. Since his father was Kakashi's Sensei. That that gave his dad a lot of power. In other words, Naruto's chances of getting his way were slim. A boy could dream though . . .

REVIEW TIME:

OK, the rules are simple. One review per person. Up to five or six reviews total. No guest reviews. If you wish to be featured in a review chapter then you must be signed in. I've tried responding to guest reviews and review chapters before, but it doesn't work. It becomes unfair to those who did login. FINALLY, I WILL ONLY POST REVIEWS THAT I FIND INTERESTING TO RESPOND TO PUBLICLY! Many will not make this section. That does not mean that I do not appreciate your review. It just means I don't have anything interesting to add.

All right enough talking – let's get onto the reviews!

REVIEW:

Prologue - A New Beginning

From: a certain reading fan

Too bad that Naruto is still bad.

RESPONSE:

I thought that this would probably be the best one of your reviews to post. Since they all have kind of the same flavor of late. It seems that you are not enjoying part two as much as you enjoyed part one. For that I am sorry. I do ask you to kind of stay with it. I know that for the most part these chapters stay pretty close to the original. In fact, the story doesn't start to stray too much from the show until we hit the first mission. Then it goes off the rails. That first mission is still several chapters away. I hope that you can bear with me as I try to get there. I know it is not as exciting to have it be so close to the show. It was not my original intent. However, I wanted to establish Naruto as the hero that overcomes adversity. I also wanted him to have a more gradual power creep. To do that I had to establish him as a failure. That is one of my favorite parts of his character. I did not want to take that away. I also am trying to follow the general plot of the show. That means that there are times where I am going to have to do things because the show did it. It just ended up being easier to follow the plot of the show closely for a while. That will change soon. I just ask you to hang on until it does. Thank you.

REVIEW:

Chapter 3 - Graduation Exam

From: lizyeh2000

Damn he failed! I wood only be surprised if he attempted sucide than the family would bond more thanks for updating!

RESPONSE:

Funny that you said that. Ironically, I did have a similar outcome happen in a different story. In my unpublished story: Naruto runs away after failing the exam. I'm not going to go into a lot of details because it's not published yet, but I did go with something similar to that before. My rule is if I do the same thing twice then I have to have a different outcome the second time. This time he did not run away. Next time he might attempt suicide! I don't know. I haven't written it yet. I did add it to my list of fanfic ideas. It's not a complete idea, but still an idea. It could be an element of a very dark reality. Who knows: We haven't gotten there yet. Thanks for the suggestion!

Please note that this chapter originally had answers to your reviews. That has since been removed. It worked at the time, but now seems redundant. This story is old and there is no need for this anymore. I thank you for reading and reviewing. Please go on to the next chapter!