Naruto Overdrive

chpt. 1: Let Your Overdrive 1

Feel Inside

(theme song of Naruto Overdrive)

Fields of the unknown

I'm suddenely out of this world

And even though I know

That I can't see it all

Feel Inside,

there's something more

I dream about the hope I had before

Sometimes I wonder why you cry

Sometimes I dream that someday, you'll be mine

Even in this moment, I want to hold your hand

And drift away from the clouds of everyday.

Iruka looked over the seven students before him with a serious look in his eyes. Today was the big day for these young hopefuls as today was the day they would be tested to see if they had learned all that was necessary to go from being apprentices to being actual Genin on their village; Konoha.

"Alright, now I know I needn't have to say this, but I will anyways just so we are clear on things. This is the moment, your moment to show what it is you can do. You have been trained well and now the rest is all up to you" proclaimed Iruka.

"And don't forget, there will be no second chances with this test either" added Mizuki as he walked up.

The seven apprentice's nodded their understanding of this fact. If they failed today, then they failed period was what they were being told. Knowing this made them all feel nervous, but they pushed that nervousness down will their willpower just like they had been trained to do with all anti-focus feelings.

"OK, the first test we'll be giving you is in stealth. How good are you all at hiding in plane sight?" said Iruka before he and Mizuki turned around; taking their eyes off the seven.

"Now, begin" shouts Mizuki, which was quickly followed by the sound of movement, followed by silence.

After a a few moments, the two teachers turned around and scanned the area. They knew the kids were still here, as they had been told before hand that leaving the grounds was an automatic fail. They began to look around, carefully taking in every detail and observing every possible spot that could be in use.

"They're doing better than I thought" said Iruka quietly.

"Well, almost all of them" said Mizuki as he pointed to his left.

Iruka looked in that direction, then sighed as he saw a slight hint of blonde mixed in with a green bush. He looked at Mizuki and gave him a look that said "I'll deal with this" and walked over and stood before the bush for a second; acting like he was just looking over the whole spot around the bush.

And then, his hands shot out and into the bush, grabbing the person before they could even react. "Naruto, how many times do I have to...tell...you?"

Iruka stops cold and his eyes go wide as instead of Naruto himself he was holding, he was holding a rather believable imitation which had an explosive tag on its face. A tag that immediately lit up and leading Iruka to think 'Oh hell...'

But, instead of exploding like he expected it to, the tag just burnt up and left a goofy version of Naruto's face that was sticking its tongue out at him.

Iruka growled as he tossed it to the side, thinking 'Naruto, I don't know if I'm impressed at your cleverness here or pissed that your treating such an important test as this as another chance to pull a prank.'

After another four minutes, Iruka and Mizuki walked to the center of the field and Mizuki said "Alright, you have all done well here. You may come out of hiding now."

They stood there and watched the seven come out of their various hiding spots. Shikamaru Nara emerged from the shadow on the largest tree on the field. Ino Yaminaka released her transformation in which she had taken on the form of a flower. Another had become a bird. One had blended in with the bark of a tree. One had blended in with the building wall. And one rose out of the ground.

'OK, so what about you, Naruto?' thought Iruka as he looked around for their missing student.

After a second, he saw a small fox emerge from its hiding spot within a bush and then, it shifted and grew back into Naruto who was grinning like a fox at seeing Iruka's reaction to his prank from before. Iruka walks forward and conks him on the head and says "Word of warning. Another prank during this test and we won't hesitate to fail you. Understand?"

Naruto sighs and says "Yeah, I hear you." He then adds mentally 'Boy, some people can't take a joke. Yeesh.'

Having a feeling that Naruto was thinking something like that, Iruka leans in and adds quietly "Don't forget, failing this test mean that you'll become homeless. You WILL be kicked out of the village by order of the elders."

Naruto nodded his understanding of this. After all, it was a rule that those, like himself, who hadn't been born in the village and didn't have have any relatives living here either had to become ninja in order to stay. If they couldn't become ninja, then they would be kicked out in their 12th year of life.

Seeing Naruto finally getting the seriousness of this, Iruka walks back over to Mizuki and says "OK, we'll now begin the second test."

Mizuki steps forward and says "As we observed during the first test, some of you have master the art of transformation, which is what this test is mainly about. Having said that, we'll ask each of you to transform into a specific animal, person, or object and test you on accuracy and the speed of the change.

One by one, each of the seven step forward as their name was called and each was given a different form to take on for their test and much like the first test, everyone did very well.

Once they were done, Iruka steps forward and says "Very good, we will now move onto the final test we check for here at the academy. Each one of you must be capable of creating three clones of yourself for use while on missions."

Once again, each student came forward and showed what they could do and soon, it was Naruto's turn. As the blonde haired apprentice made his hand sign, no one noticed Mizuki brings his hands behind his back and makes a hand sign away from the sight of the others gathered.

As Naruto starts to make his clones, a sudden cold feeling rises up from the pit of his stomach. For him, it was as if his chakra had turned to ice. So, instead of creating three clones, he only manifest a single clone that is distorted and off in its appearance and Naruto himself nearly falls to the ground when his knees buckle a little.

'Wha...what's happening to me...?' wonders Naruto as he looks at his clone in disbelief.

Iruka shakes his head before saying "All of you, head inside and wait for us to make our decision. Oh, Naruto, will you wait here a moment."

As the others walk into the building, Naruto notices Ino and Shikamaru give him a quick look before disappearing inside. As he looks back at Iruka, he braces himself for whats coming.

"Naruto, I'm sorry but...I can't pass you" said Iruka sadly.

"Iruka, maybe we can make an exception in this case. He did do very well with the other test after all. So maybe..." Mizuki throws in, causing Naruto to look at them both with a little hope.

"I want to, you know that. But the elders were clear on this. They all have to pass the three test. Failing one is as good as failing them all. As much as it pains me to say it, we honestly just can't..." Iruka says.

"It's alright, Iruka-sensei. I get the hint. I'll go pack my things" said Naruto, his voice half sad, half angry before turning and walking off.

"Poor kid" said Mizuki.

"I know. Maybe...lord Hokage can think of something. I'll ask him when I'm giving him the results of the test" said Iruka.

"We can only hope. I'll handle things here until you get back" said Mizuki.

Iruka nods, then turns and takes off. As he watches Iruka walk away, Mizuki mentally adds. 'Sorry, old friend. I know you've come to see that abomination as a little brother of sorts. But when I'm done with him, he'll get what he deserves and I...heh. Well, I'll finally be getting all that I deserve to.'

Later that afternoon, Iruka arrived outside Naruto's small hut that acted as the boy's home, or at least it did until today. He had talked with the Hokage, but there was nothing he could do seeing as rules were rules and as leader of the village, he was duty bound to keep to them.

Iruka reached up and knocked on the door. He didn't hear anything so he knocked again, getting nothing in response again. He sighed as he reached up and tried to handle and found the door unlocked; not that there was a lock on it to begin with seeing as this was originally a storage shed that had fallen out of use before being handed over to Naruto as his home.

"Naruto, are you here?" asked Iruka as he stepped into the small single roomed building.

His eyes feel onto Naruto quickly enough as he laid back on his bed, a small pack laying on the floor, and Naruto holding the old star shaped locket that had once been his mothers, or so he had been told, in the air.

"Naruto...I'm sorry, but the law stands. And I'm...here to escort you out of the village" said Iruka, getting no response from Naruto.

"Naruto, please say something" asked Iruka.

"What do you want me to say? What is there that can I say, sensei?" asked Naruto as he continued to look up at the locket.

"I...I don't know. I just..." Iruka starts to say, but stops in hesitation.

"Where do you think I should go?" asked Naruto as he finally brought his extended hand down, sat up, and looked over at Iruka.

"That's right, you've spent your whole life here in the village. You've never been outside the protective barrier before either" said Iruka to himself, feeling even worse for Naruto than he had before.

Naruto looks down at the locket and says "My mom and dad aren't from this village originally. Maybe if I knew where they had come from, that might at least give me an idea about where I could go. Maybe even see if I actually have living relatives in some far off land or something."

Iruka wonders if the Hokage could help, but figures if he knew anything, he would have said something beforehand. "Naruto, come with me for a minute."

"Huh, what's up?" asked Naruto.

"Before I take you out of the village, I want to treat you to one last meal here. You feel like some Ichiraku's?"

Naruto smiles and says "Sure, one last feast ala ramen sounds good."

The two exit Naruto's place and walk into the village, neither noticing the figure that took a moment to enter into Naruto's place and emerge again and few moments later.

Over the next hour, Naruto and Iruka ate and talked about the things they had been through since meeting a few years back. Iruka also pulled out a map of Shumoa and marked several possible locations Naruto could go to to start over with a new life.

But finally, it was time for Naruto to leave. After saying goodbye to Teuchi and Ayame, two of the very few people who actually made Naruto feel like he actually belonged here, they made their way back to Naruto's place and picked up his pack and made sure he had everything.

After this was done, Iruka used a sleep jutsu on Naruto and took him beyond the boundary's of the village's barrier. Once he had moved about a mile away, he placed Naruto on the ground and released the jutsu.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye" said Iruka.

"Yeah, I'm gonna miss you, sensei. You taught me a lot of things and I'm sure it'll be helpful in what ever future event my life comes into" said Naruto.

"I'll miss you to. Here, lord Hokage asked me to give you this money. It's not much, but there's enough there for you to get by on for a while. Just...be careful out there" said Iruka.

"Thanks and I will. Oh, could you say goodbye to Mizuki-sensei, Ino, and Shikamaru for me?" asked Naruto.

"Of course" said Iruka before extending his hand out. Naruto takes it and they shake for a moment. "Good luck, Naruto."

Naruto nods before turning and walking away. But after a few seconds, he stops and looks back at Iruka and says "Sensei, during the clone test, something odd happened."

"What do you mean, Naruto?" asked Iruka.

"Well, my chakra suddenly felt muddle, distorted, and ice cold. And it made me feel sick too. Is that a normal thing that happens from time to time?" asked Naruto.

Iruka shakes his head and says "No, it isn't. It actually sounds kind of odd to me. Did you eat any rotten food? Did you drink expired milk again?"

"No and no. I did have this weird power drink from Mizuki before the test. He said it was for good luck and calming the nerves. Guess it didn't work out, huh?" joked Naruto.

Iruka was about to say something when Naruto then says "Well, I guess I better get going. See ya around, Iruka-sensei." And before Iruka could speak up, Naruto turned and walks away.

'Naruto...' thinks Iruka. Was there a possibility Naruto had been drugged? But Mizuki wouldn't do that. He liked Naruto as well. Could someone have spiked the drink without Mizuki noticing? It was no secret that many in the village wanted Naruto gone, so it wasn't impossible.

Though a part of him wanted to go after Naruto and take him back to have this checked out, he knew it was forbidden to bring him back without any proof of his thoughts. So instead, he turned and raced back to the village to speak with lord Hokage. If it turned out Naruto had been sabotaged, then a tracker could find him easily and quickly enough.

(in the village)

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood by a shelf filled with scrolls as he looked them all over. He then reaches up and pulls out one and looks it over. Why hadn't he have Iruka give this one to Naruto. Everything contained inside had been in his father's possession and was, by right, his birthright.

Just then, he hears a knock on the door and he quickly slides the scroll back into its slot. "Enter" he then shouts.

To his surprise, a ninja and a man with a limp entered the room. Sarutobi cocked an eyebrow and asked "What's happened?"

The ninja looks up and says "It was Naruto, sir. He attacked this man before he left."

"What? Explain the meaning of this, at once?" shouts the Hokage.

The man, who was a guard for the village's central vault, said "He came out of nowhere and attacked me. I was knocked unconscious and when I awoke, I found the vault key missing."

"I'll explain sir. It appears Naruto snuck up on him, knocked him out, took the key on his person, and entered the villages special storage vault" said the ninja.

"Has anything been confirmed as stolen yet?" asked Sarutobi.

"Yes sir. One of the advanced level jutsu scrolls is unaccounted for. But we have yet to confirm which it is" said the ninja.

'Something's wrong with this picture. How could Naruto have actually done this? Only a trained shinobi of our village would even know how to use that key correctly. And besides, Iruka should have been with him. Did Iruka...no, he wouldn't do that' thinks Sarutobi.

"What is this we're hearing?" asked Homura as the two advisers entered the room.

"It's believed Naruto broke into and stole a advanced level scroll from our vault. But I don't see..." Sarutobi starts to say.

"That little monster. This is the thanks we get for sheltering him for twelve years?" says Koharu in spite.

"It's obvious what needs to be done. Send a team out to find him, retrieve the scroll, and kill him" said Homura.

"Now wait just a min..." Sarutobi starts to say, but is interrupted.

"What's wrong? The boy stole a scroll from us and even attacked a guard. Such an act usually is punishable by death" explained Koharu.

"Normally, yes. But we don't know the full story yet" said Sarutobi.

"So then, what do you propose we do?" asked Homura.

Sarutobi sighed and wished they were like they were when they were all younger and more agreeable instead of the control freaks they had become. "I'll order a team to set out and find him and bring him back. He will only be punished IF it can be proven that he did indeed steal the scroll from us and I will decide his punishment if it is true. Any objections?"

Neither Homura or Koharu said anything and Sarutobi order the shinobi to take the guard to the medical building before ordering another guard to have the shinobi gather here at once.

(Naruto)

After walking for about an hour in no specific direction or any specific heading, Naruto came to a stop and sat down under a tree to rest. As he got comfortable, he looked around and figured that this would be as good a spot as any to camp out at. Tomorrow, he would decide where he would likely be heading.

The growl of his stomach made him realize that he was hungry. But seeing as he had know idea just how long he would be out on the road, he had to ration what little food he actually had on him. So with that thought in mind, Naruto pulled off his pack and dug in to grab some wrapped bread to take a bite or two out of, then put the rest back.

'Hey, what's this?' wondered Naruto as he found something inside the pack that shouldn't be there.

He wrapped his fingers around and pulled it out to look at under the pale moon light. It was a scroll of some sort, one he had never seen before. "How the heck did this get in here? Wait, did Iruka-sensei sneak this in without my knowing it?"

Though unsure of the truth, Naruto opened the scroll and his eyes went wide at seeing several different and rather advanced looking jutsu written inside. "All right, this is awesome. Iruka-sensei gave me a going away gift after all. Maybe I can use the jutsu in here to help find a new living on."

Naruto quickly placed the scroll down on the ground and began to look over each of the jutsu contained inside; wondering which one he should try out first.

(Konoha)

The gathered shinobi looked at the Hokage and awaited his orders and were curious as to why they had all been summoned now.

"Everyone, a little more than an hour ago, the scroll vault was broken into and one of our A-rank containing scrolls was stolen. And as much as it pains me to say this, the prime suspect is Naruto Uzumaki, who was taken from the village around the time of the incident due to failing the Genin test and the village rule about outsiders" stated Sarutobi.

Muttering and talking could be heard among the gathered shinobi over this unexpected revelation. Sarutobi cleared his throat to get their attention back onto him again so he could continue.

"The reason I have called for you all should be obvious now. I want all of you to go out and find Naruto Uzumaki and determine if he has the scroll on him. If he does, then he is to be brought back to...face punishment for the theft" said Sarutobi, hesitating at speaking of the last part.

He then gave them the signal to move out and in a flash of movement, they were all gone. And as Mizuki himself exited the village, he smiled to himself over how things were progressing.

'Perfect, just perfect. I get to kill two birds with one stone. I framed Naruto and he will be killed for this theft and I'll also be able to deliver this important information to my contact to aid him and his master on their planned invasion of Konoha. Soon, I will have everything I am owed'

Mizuki laughs to himself in giddy joy at knowing his plan had no room to fail.

Next time...The truth comes out and the big move