\- I created a potential answer to the crappy path Naruto went down...
" Kami I hate that kid." Naruto froze, the clearly drunk voice of one of his academy teachers echoed into the hall. He was so angry because he failed that damn Examn that he covered the headmaster's office in paint bombs! See who was the failure now! " Why he is still allowed to attend the academy is beyond me!"
' Why do they hate me so much, what did I DO!' Crying and angry, Naruto whipped around, readying to stomp out of the Academy... only to freeze when he heard one of his other sensei's next words.
" Kami he is spoiled, if anyone else acted like that we would kick them out of the academy. Skipping classes, failing all of his tests, never doing his homework, unable pick up basic taijutsu because he is too busy destroying public property with those stupid pranks of his. He even as the audacity to scream about the Clone jutsu, saying it was the only reason it failed. We had a kid unable to use chakra and he passed because his Taijutsu, conditioning, overall grades and weapon skills were up to snuff."
" Aren't you being a bit harsh?" Iruka's voice made Naruto smile, happy to have someone standing up for him. " Naruto has a hard life, he has basically raised himself and has no one there to help him learn."
The other sensei growled, and Naruto remembered who it was. Entei Sensei, he remembered Iruka introduced him to the class a few months ago... something about filling in while he was in rehab or something... not that Naruto knew what Rehab was. He was mean and crotchy, almost as old as the Hokage! " Who hasn't? You are an Orphan Iruka and you became a Sensei. Kakashi Hatake lost his entire family and his entire genin team before he was fifteen and he is one of the strongest ninjas in our village. There are hundreds of Orphans from the Third war and the Kyuubi attack, people with no family or anyone to support them and we don't excuse their behavior! The Simple truth is, Naruto is a spoiled child allowed to do whatever he wasn't simply because the Hokage is afraid of hurting his feelings. He will never excel if he doesn't straighten up soon."
' I'm not spoiled... am I?' Without meaning to, Naruto's mind drifted... and he thought of his pranks, how many people hated him after he started pranking people. ' Did I make more people hate me because I destroyed their stuff...' Biting his lips, Naruto remembered a few years back, a couple of kids pranked like he did, painting the Hokage's tower... ' Didn't they end up getting arrested... Community service...' He remembered them, they spent months cleaning garbage all over the village but nothing happened to him at all... he had to clean the paint up that was it. ' And my training... when was the last time I trained or did my homework or studied?' Honestly he couldn't remember when, only that he was throwing Shuriken.
Hand over his heart, Naruto realized his new sensei was right... he was a brat, spoiled and rotten...
" And that is't the worst of it!" Focusing back on Entei's voice, Naruto listened for the what he knew would hurt his pride even more. " The Kid honestly thinks he is going to be Hokage, what a joke! He has no sense of responsibilites or willingness to sacrifice the few for the many. He would make a disaster of politics and make enemies whereever he went. Everything he touched would go to hell because he would make it impulsively or out of naiviety. Honestly I can see him doing the same thing as a genin, chunin or jonin. He would embarass the Leaf, ruining our reputation and making it harder to get missions. All because no one is allowed to let the kid know how badly he is screwing up!" The man's voice changed towards the end, losing it's bite and becoming sad. " I have seen so many kids, eager to become Ninjas only to die painfully because they were allowed to stay niave. People are so afraid of being mean or discouraging that no one is allowed to grow. Criticism sucks, we all know that, but is how we grow and become better. Naruto will probably die and his first mission and honestly we will all be to blame... as will he if he doesn't grow up soon."
Iruka just sighed, Naruto actually heard him slumping back against his chair. " I know... I just... I look at him and I see this innocent, small child that needs to be protected from the cruel world."
" Well he isn't a child, he is a Ninja in training. He is a soldier, a murderer, a theif and monster like we all are. Of course, his entire class is just as bad in that way only it is their parents and clan status that keeps us from telling them how bad they are all failing..."
Having heard enough, Naruto shot out of the academy as fast as he could, unable to hear anything else... he couldn't deny it, as much as he hated it... every single word hit home... they were right.
""" Naruto hears this, and slowly and becomes above the middle of his class during the third time, passing with high scores in taijutsu and weapon skills, average skills in academics, and the best Replacement and replacement skills.