A/N: So, yea. Not much really to say except that I lost my inspiration for this fic, and so, all my gratitude goes out to Evie Glacier Tako. What you said was absolutely right. Sometimes all a writer needs is a push (or a kick in the ass) to get them going again. *bows* Thank you.

This particular story take place on graduation day.

Naruto understood exactly what was going on around him. He was genuinely happy, and loved his makeshift family, but he wasn't stupid. He had learned from Obito that it was okay to be hyper, and happy, and always have a smile. Kakashi had taught him the serious side of being a shinobi, and how if he wanted his family to be protected, he had to get stronger. He learned from Itachi how nice it was to have an older brother to always rely on. He had taught him the true meaning of family, and what it was like to be loved unconditionally. He himself had learned to see the potential of friends and family alike, and strove to always nurture that, while striving to become better himself.

He looked sidelong at his best friend as Itachi lectured them on the seriousness of being Genin. Others were raptly paying attention, but he was deep in his own thoughts. He had heard this constantly from his older brothers. He was thinking about those around him, and how much they all had grown and changed.

Sasuke, with his ruthless and possessive attitude, was the best person to have at your side, but as your enemy…that was a different story. His fierce loyalty always astounded Naruto, especially since it was directed mainly at him. He was the person who knew him best, and the only one he had never hidden anything from. Sasuke had his undying devotion for being the one to embrace him completely. They had bared their souls to one another, especially with the ring, and they hadn't run screaming. Sasuke was strong too, able to twist and change the jutsu he copied to suit their own reserves, laying the foundations for when they'd be bigger. It wasn't just a physical strength either…not completely. There was a calmness to his overall demeanor, but always tempered with readiness.

Sasuke simply was his other half. The light to his dark, the quiet to his loud. When they worked as a team, even their bothers had to use a decent level of skill. They were quite proud that they could take on a single Jounin and win 1 out of 4 matches.

He blinked out of his thoughts enough to look at the clock, sighing when he realized that Itachi would be leaving soon, to meet with the other instructors for a meeting. That would only take a half hour, and then they'd begin to take the final exam. He let his mind wander again. He still had ten minutes or so.

Quiet, bored Shikamaru, already analyzing everything around him and seeing the little details that most others missed. He was a brilliant strategist, even though it still took work to get him going. The most surefire way was to give him a challenge that intrigued him, or just keep beating him until he got pissed. For all his laziness, Shika hated to lose. That was why he fit in so well with Naruto and Sasuke; they were exactly the same way.

Sakura had a calm, level head now, and she and Ino were getting into healing. He had introduced senbon to her, which suited her precise aim and growing knowledge of the human body. Hinata was a great help with her also, shyly showing the bouncy girl where she could feel the tenketsu points with her own chakra. It took precise aim in order to hit them, since Sakura couldn't actually see them, but she was getting better at finding the major ones.

No one could hide from Shino except Itachi, Sasuke, and Hinata, due to their Kekkei Genkai abilities to see chakra. The kikaichu ate chakra, so apparently it was like a little firefly to their eyes. Absolutely no one could hide from Kiba and Akamaru, especially when the two nin-users began trading tips. A pack was very much like a hive, after all.

Itachi left, and he went back to ignoring the buzzing classroom, thankful that people didn't try to talk to them. He and Sasuke were wrapped up in their own pensive bubble, separate from the world.

Chouji, though he was quiet and preferred to fade into the background, was fiercely loyal to those who earned it. It wasn't really surprising that he was the most normal out of them, everything considered. He was usually happy and carefree, though could be serious when the situation called for it. It also didn't help that Chouji was far more then he looked, and he knew it. He was becoming well skilled with his clans jutsu, and his aim was improving surely.

Even Osamu, the only one besides Sakura and him that didn't come from a Clan, fit in nicely. Once they had all gotten him out of his shell, he ended up being almost another Naruto. He was always smiling, trying to lift everyone's spirit and motivate them. Naruto didn't know if Osamu imitated him, or if it was just his true personality coming out, but he was grateful to not be the only one that was hyper and happy all the time. Though Osamu was definitely into books like Sakura was – that was not a trait Naruto wanted to share.

Naruto saw all of this and did everything he could to encourage those bonds. He watched, he laughed, and through the years until their graduation, he noticed something. He knew, to the marrow of his bones, that when you were a shinobi, and everyone you loved was one, you had to be strong to protect them. You had to be strong in power, in character, and most importantly spirit. Everyone around him knew it, on some level, though probably not as clearly as he did. Not yet.

So it was, on the day of their graduation, Naruto watched as all of his friends went up to Itachi and Mizuki and performed the jutsu, each and every one of them passing. Some were better than others, but they all passed. Then it came to his turn, and he swallowed nervously. Itachi gave him an encouraging smile, and Sasuke patted him on his back as he made his way down. He had been working hard with his little family on the bunshin…but it never seemed to matter how little chakra he put into it. It always came out bad. He suspected Itachi, Kakashi, and Obito knew why, but no matter how many times he asked, they always said they didn't know.

He performed the kawarmi flawlessly, and the henge, but when it came to the clone…he failed miserably, as he always did. He ducked his head, face flaming as he looked at the pathetic excuse for a clone, ignoring the slight snickering from Mizuki, the other instructor. He didn't even look at Itachi, just slowly made his way back to his seat, and rested his head on Sasuke's shoulder, taking comfort in the arm around him.

He stayed away from everyone once the day was done, sitting on a swing as he watched them all be congratulated by their parents. It was obvious that Haruno-san wanted to come over, but after a brief conversation with Sakura, she left him alone. He wanted to be alone, and he made that clear to everyone before they left school for the last time. Well, he thought as bitterness welled in him, they get to not come back. I have to do another-

He whipped his head around when he felt a foreign chakra signature, and tensed even more when he saw Mizuki standing in the shadows.

"My apologizes Naruto-kun," the man said as he slowly walked forward, a small smile on his face. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Naruto said nothing, only watched the man as he came closer. There was always something…off about Mizuki, that he'd never been able to put his finger on. It made his hackles rise every time he was around the Chuunin. Now was no different. He had to steel himself when the man leaned into him, a secretive smile on his face.

"Now, what would you do if I told you there was another way to graduate?"

Naruto stopped himself from snapping back 'Then Itachi would have told me', but refrained. There was something about this that really wasn't right…and he planned to find out what it was. He plastered a hopeful grin on his face. "Really Mizuki-sensei? I'd do anything!"

The smug smirk, that was there and gone immediately, told Naruto he was playing right into Mizuki's hands…and exactly where Naruto wanted to be.

"Alright, this is what you do…"

He didn't tell anyone what his plans were. He knew that if he had told Itachi, or even Sasuke, they would believe him. There would have been no one else, not even the Hokage. It would be his word against that of a supposedly loyal Chuunin, and he knew without a doubt who would be believed. So, he planned on making the best of it while he could. He knew he didn't have to read the Forbidden scroll…but he did anyway. He had hours until he met with the man.

The first thing he saw was the kage bunshin, and he had to try. He wasn't stupid. It said you needed a big chakra reserve to even use it, and he knew his was strangely deep. It wouldn't kill him to try to make one.

To his surprise and utter shock, he made five of them at once. Each one stared solemnly at him as he gaped like a fish, before breaking into loud laughter.

"Oi! Don't laugh at me! I'm you! Er…you're me…something." He growled when they started laughing even harder. He punched one, and blinked when he actually hit something solid. For a long moment, he stared at his fist, then at the grinning clone, before back. Slowly, a wide grin split his face, because he completely understood the implication of that.

He pulled out a kunai, and the clone didn't move as he stabbed it in the heart. Chakra smoke appeared, and he gasped as the memories flooded into his brain. He felt a searing pain in his chest before it disappeared, and he stared, captivated, at his chest.

Holy shit, he thought, mind whirling at warp-speed as he ignored the other clones. They're solid, and when they dispel, I get their memories. Holy shit…a light bulb went off in his head. I wonder…

He immediately went to the others and released it like he would have a regular clone, swaying when those memories came rushing into him. They had paired off and were doing light sparring, and suddenly he understood where he had been going wrong with that particular punch.

He found himself giggling maniacally, sitting abruptly on the leaf covered ground. He could hear Itachi's words echoing in his head, where he always said that knowledge is power. Well, he now had a whole arsenal of tools that he could use to expand that knowledge tenfold. No…even more.

Standing, his smile dropped off into a frown of concentration, and he crossed his fingers in front of him. Concentrating his chakra like he had been taught, he pushed with everything he had, and felt his chakra bleeding out of him and taking shape.

Warily he opened one eye, the other one popping open in wide-eyed shock. There were thousands. All of them were looking back at him seriously. He slowly turned in a circle, awe taking on an edge of fear as he came full circle. With shaking hands, he made the sign, and released them all.

They all disappeared, and he sank back down to the ground. He stared at his hands for a long moment, his mind wiped completely blank. It was a blissful moment, but as he sucked in a deep breath, it fled.

His mind conjured scenario after scenario where it could be useful, thanks to the lectures from his older brothers. If he needed a quick escape, he could create hundreds to confuse his enemy…or could Henge half into whoever he was with, confusing them even more. All of them could have weapons…he suddenly turned to peer at the scroll. There had been something in there about exploding clones…

Thus he spent his afternoon, practicing more with the clones when the rest of the scroll revealed jutsu he knew he couldn't use. It was late into the day when a familiar chakra tickled his sense. Mizuki was coming. Less than a second later the Chuunin dropped into the clearing, and Naruto met him with a deadpan face. The scroll was wrapped back up and resting on the ground next to him.

The man sneered. "Good, you did it. Not give it to me."

"No."

His haw gaped. "No? Kid you have no clue who you're dealing with."

Naruto matched the expression, subtly shifting his feet. "No, you don't know."

Absolute anger and hated filled Mizuki's face. It was enough that Naruto took a step back, thrown off balance. It had been awhile since he had seen that look.

"You stupid monster. Do you want to know why everyone hates you? They have good reason! Do you want to know why your birthday is the same as a demon's?"

The man was screaming, and Naruto's ears started to buzz. He was fitting all the pieces together…

"You're the Kyuubi! You're a monster! You killed the Fourth, and the people in this Village! You-"

He was cut off by a kunai to the throat, eyes going wide in shock as his hand flew up to his spurting neck. Naruto was frozen, staring at the man. He didn't, couldn't move even as Mizuki slumped to the ground, eyes glazing over in death.

"…aruto? Naruto? Snap out of it dobe."

At the nickname his head whipped over, seeing Sasuke for the first time. He was in a nearby tree, leaning against the trunk and sneering at him. Now that Naruto looked for it, he could see the nearness resonating through the two rings, and the concern his best friend felt for him. He didn't feel any fear though…

"Why?" he rasped, confused as to why his friend didn't hate him. "You heard him...I'm…"

"Naruto," Sasuke said flatly, and then jumped down. He stared seriously into Naruto's eyes, halting right in front of him. "You're Naruto. You're not the Kyuubi. I think…" Now Sasuke frowned and Naruto did too, hanging on his friends every word. "I think you have it sealed inside of you, though."

Reassured by the emotions he was getting through the ring, Naruto huffed and looked down, rubbing a hand over his stomach. "There is that seal there…and those weird feeling's I've gotten before."

"Exactly. Now come on, we need to report to the Hokage."

Naruto blinked, and flinched as he looked at the scroll and then the body. "Yea…"

He would have been prepared for shouting, being dragged off by ANBU, or even a sound lashing. What he didn't expect was Itachi, Kakashi, and Obito in Sarutobi's office when they got there. They came in through the window, and Naruto paused, eyes going wide as he surveyed the occupants.

"You don't know how bad I want to run currently," he croaked, still poised and tense on the edge of the windowsill.

"Mizuki used you to get the scroll, so he could leave the Village with it."

The calm way Itachi spoke had him relaxing, creeping into the room as he absorbed the words. "So that's what the asshole was doing! I knew he wanted it, but I didn't think he was going to take it out of the Village!"

Sarutobi tilted his head. "So you knew he was up to something?"

He nodded enthusiastically, grinning. He glanced quickly at Sasuke then back. "I was going to knock him unconscious and bring him in, but, ya know…"

"Naruto, he was a Chuunin, and a good one. How were you going to beat him?" Obito was frowning at him, but not in a disbelieving way. It was as though he was actually curious as to Naruto's strategy.

The grin he gave them was absolutely wolfish as he brought his fingers up. They all gaped at him. "Like this."

He made fifteen clones.

He was a little disappointed when no one showed any surprise, except for Sasuke. He pouted and dispelled them, putting his hands on his hips and glaring around. "Come on! That didn't get even a flinch from any of you!"

"Naruto," Sarutobi said quietly, amusement in his voice. Naruto turned to him. "Don't you think it odd that no ANBU came after you when you took the scroll? You just learned that we knew what he was planning, so explain that to me."

Naruto frowned, running over the knowledge in his head. Finally he blinked, and then blinked again. "You let me take it so I could learn this jutsu, didn't you?"

Sarutobi inclined his head, grinning. "I did, yes. You have a high chakra reserve, larger than anyone in this room, and that is without using the Kyuubi's chakra. It stood to reason that this would be the perfect technique for you."

"Yea…about the Kyuubi. So…why didn't anyone tell me? Didn't…didn't any of you trust me?" He saw his brothers wince, but Sarutobi sighed deeply.

"It was under my orders. When it was first sealed inside of you, I wanted you to have the most normal life you could. I decreed it that anyone who knew was not allowed to tell someone that didn't. As for the reason we haven't told you earlier…" The dark brown eyes softened. "It wasn't that we didn't trust you Naruto. We wanted to wait until you were mentally mature enough to realize that you are not the Kyuubi. You are Naruto, the hero of this Village, because you are keeping the Kyuubi contained."

Naruto thought about that for a long minute. He knew himself well, and knew what Sarutobi said was true, even if it galled him to admit it. He thought back to all the times when the villagers would throw hateful words at him, or even the occasional fist, and growled softly to himself. He couldn't lie, even to his own mind. If he had known the Kyuubi was inside of him at those times, that those insults had even one grain of truth to them…

He huffed and turned sharply on his heel. Sasuke opened his arms before Naruto even got to him, and encircled his upper body as Naruto rested his forehead in the crook of Sasuke's neck.

"Naruto? Are you okay?" Kakashi bent down, his visible eye full of concern as he reached out a hand. Naruto didn't even have to say anything about not touching, since Sasuke beat him to it. Sasuke growled a bit and turned them, so his body was a barrier between him and the others.

"Yea Kakashi…I'm fine," he mumbled, and glanced up at Sasuke. The other teen nodded, and without waiting for anyone to say anything, Sasuke used the shunshin to get them out of there. They appeared on a very familiar monument, and he just closed his eyes. He inhaled the fresh smell of the wind, and the comforting scent of Sasuke. For a long moment he just didn't think, letting some half-remembered song play through his head like a balm on his fluctuating emotions.

"Dobe…it'll be alright." Sasuke's voice was hardly more than a deep rumble in his chest, and Naruto's breath whooshed out as he smiled grimly. He relaxed the hold he had on the back of Sasuke's shirt, unconsciously smoothing the fabric down.

"Yea…I know. It's just…it's a lot to take in, ya know?"

"Hn."

"Just…" Don't let go.

"Hn." I won't.

It was all there, in those two words. It was moments like this, when Sasuke could take away all of Naruto's fear and pain, that he was determined to become stronger. He had to be able to protect Sasuke, because they were both shinobi, and something Kakashi had said once rang true deep into his bones. We protect those that we love, to protect ourselves. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose Sasuke, or even his older brothers. He thought he could survive the others, but Sasuke…he wouldn't. He knew he wouldn't. Oh, he might live on physically, but he would die inside.

Sasuke tightened his embrace, feeling the emotions as though they were his own as he held tightly to his best friend. No, more than that, he thought as Naruto's fists tightened on his shirt again, hot tears soaking his shirt. His brother, his…his soul-mate.

Naruto was everything he wasn't, and everything he wanted to be. He was so open and carefree, looking at all the good things in life, and never letting the troubles of it get him down. He brought fire into Sasuke's cold world, urging him to let go, to open up to their friends. He didn't talk much, and Naruto understood that where others didn't. He was secretive, but Naruto didn't get affronted by it. He felt Naruto's feelings of helplessness and despair rise, and inwardly began to panic.

"Naruto…dobe…I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to leave you, not because of some bastard fox, or anything else in this world." He didn't even realize he was speaking in a fierce whisper, clutching Naruto so tight he was sure the blond couldn't breathe. "You…you make me laugh, and smile, and be happy damnit. I don't care if it sounds selfish, but I'm not going to give that up. I'm not going to let you dwell on something that you can't change. So let's go."

Naruto let out a squawk of surprise as Sasuke's shunshin caught him completely by surprise, but he didn't have a moment to think as a fist came flying towards him. It was followed by a fire dragon that he had to work to dodge. After that, and for several hours later, he didn't think at all. He could only rely on his instincts honed by working with Sharingan users, using the unpredictability that was becoming his trademark to the max.

At the end, when the moon rose full over them, the two of them collapsed in a sweaty heap right next to each other. Without conscious thought, their pinkies entwined as they panted, both thankful for the night breeze as it washed over them. Eventually they stood, and with fingers still entwined, they walked slowly back to their house. Neither spoke, but they didn't need to. A comfortable, understanding silence was between them, and neither would change it.

They got into the house, and were immediately greeted by the older men of their family.

The two stared at them for a moment. Then Sasuke sneered and Naruto snorted, giving them a wide grin.

"I'm cool. Honestly."

Itachi peered at him, and the three exchanged glances. Kakashi and Obito shrugged, but relief was in their eyes. Obito grinned and grabbed Naruto in a headlock, dragging him into the kitchen with the bribe of ramen. It was testament to how hungry Naruto was that he didn't fight to get out of the hold because it annoyed him, but because he wanted to get to the kitchen quicker.

Itachi walked up to a now solemn Sasuke, and placed a hand on the slender shoulder, asking a silent question.

Sasuke just smiled tiredly, shaking his head in amusement when Naruto's voice wafted through, praising all the joys of his beloved food.

"He's good aniki, honestly."

"Alright." Then Itachi smiled broadly. "Do you want to tell him he made Genin, or should I?"

"I WHAT?"

Naruto came flying out of the kitchen, bowl in one hand, chopsticks in the other, and noodles hanging from his mouth. His eyes were wide in disbelief. Itachi smiled indulgently as Sasuke began to snicker.

"You did perform a clone successfully. The rule never states which one it has to be."

Naruto was utterly and completely silent for a long time, staring at the headgear Itachi was holding out – the standard blue one that all graduating Genin were given. His eyes began to sparkle and he took in a deep breath…

Only to promptly choke, which sent Sasuke into fits of laughter as Itachi fluttered like a mother hen. He couldn't help but think, very fondly, that his dobe would always be a dobe, no matter what life threw at him.

He couldn't wait to be by his side through it all.