Disclaimer: I still do not own Naruto.

Sorry - this is not a new chapter. It somehow got deleted and I had to re-post it. Thanks to nighttheraven for PM-ing me and letting me know!

Chapter Thirty-Seven:

Sensei Mizuki

Silence your fear; we've got to move higher
High like the stars in the sky, guiding us all!
Battle the will of those who conspire
Take back the passion to live, vanish the sorrow!

~Avenged Sevenfold~

"Uzumaki, give me the scroll."

Naruto jumped at the man's cruel tone of voice. Sensei Mizuki was always very soft spoken at school. He reached up and scratched his throat in a nervous looking gesture. "What are you doing here sensei Mizuki?" he asked loudly, "I was supposed to meet up with you a mile from here. You're early."

"Give me the scroll, Naruto."

"No, I can't sensei. We have to follow the mission parameters. The Hokage said that I would be put on a team with Sai and Sasuke if I proved that I was mature enough to graduate. He said that I had to complete this mission and follow the rules exactly and that means I can't give you the scroll yet."

"Give it to me now, Uzumaki!"

"No! I'll give it to you at our designated contact point." Naruto jumped into a tree to hurry towards the meeting spot. He was little worried, this was not the way his dad and the Hokage planned it out. Kakashi was hidden and waiting for them there. Although liked to talk big, he knew he wouldn't hold up long against the chunin. He tried to stall the instructor, "Come on sensei Mizuki, come and get the scroll!"

Mizuki gave a shout of frustration and chased after the boy.

~O~

A shadow floated overhead, treading air as though it were water. Naruto gasped, looked up. The silvery glow of the moon peering through the denuded branches of the massive trees provided a luminescence to the forest. The boy could see the figure flying across the branches above him, wingless but more graceful than a bird, leaping with a quick and weightless form.

He landed on a thick branch and pivoted towards Naruto. With his imagination going into overdrive, it seemed like he swooped down from his high perch, grinning exactly as Naruto imagined some kind of evil murdering fiend, hungry for a child's flesh, would grin.

Naruto spun around, dropped to the ground, and fled the other way. He quickly made the new hand seal he had just learned and from the cloud of smoke, popped twenty clones. They tried to block the man, but he threw his fuma shuriken. With an ominous whistling sound, it flew through the air with deadly accuracy. Half of his clones that were in its path were dispelled when it struck them.

Mizuki was suddenly there in front of him in a lightning fast body flicker. Naruto turned again, but it was too late. The chunin instructor seized the real Naruto from behind, one arm around his chest, one over his face.

Naruto tried desperately to wrench loose but was lifted off his feet as a mouse might be snatched off the ground by the talons of a hunting hawk. For an instant, he thought that Mizuki would fly up into the trees with him, there to rip at him with fierce appetite.

"Back off," the chunin growled to the clones. Using his feet, he kicked and dispelled two more. The hold he had on the boy tightened even more as he leapt over to another clone and dropped kicked it in the head. He whispered in Naruto's ear in cold mockery, "Get rid of them or you will suffer a pain so deep you will beg me to kill you."

Naruto; refusing to give up, struggled, kicked, and bit, but seemed to be fighting nothing more substantial than water, caught in the dreamy currents of a nightmare.

The hand on his face pressed up from beneath his chin, a clamp that jammed his teeth together, forcing him to swallow his scream, and pinching shut his nose. He quickly grew dizzy from lack of air. Nearly overcome by panic from the suffocation, he almost didn't hear the whistle of flying shuriken.

The remaining clones did as he instructed. One of them caught the eye of another and began to speak to him in a series of rapid hand signs. The other nodded and formed the boar and tiger seals of the Swamp of the Underworld jutsu. The frozen earth beneath Mizuki's feet turned into a muddy quagmire that was nearly impossible to escape. The chunin leapt back into the trees before it fully formed and could capture him in its tar-like depths, dropping the still struggling Naruto in the process.

The feeling of falling through the air and watching the ground race towards you was not an experience Naruto wished to ever have again. Somehow, he managed to snap out of his dazed stupor and take a huge breath. Ignoring his burning lungs, he tucked his body into a flip, and landed smoothly on the ground. He looked up and saw Kakashi; his body tense and rigid with suppressed fury.

The copy-nin spared his son a very brief glance and in a quick set of hand signals from his Anbu days, told him to stay back.

The boy knew instantly to remain quiet. He sent his father an inquisitive look. Naruto signed back in the language taught to him by his father, "I can fight."

With a harsh slash of his hand and a stern look in his eye, the copy-nin signed, "Hide…wait for signal to come out…"

Naruto reluctantly nodded and tried to move his body. The thick oozing chakra laden mud sucked at him, sapping his strength. He was stuck. "Go on," he signaled to Kakashi, "I'll be out in a minute."

He shivered in trepidation at his father's seriousness, but he was a little irritated as well. His father was supposed to let him handle this. Why was he here already and not waiting at the designated location? He can't be that fast could he? Did he not think he could do this? Did he think he was weak? So many questions.

~O~

Mizuki stiffly turned to face the new arriver. "Kakashi Hatake, I don't know why you are here and I don't care. I am going to do you a favor and kill that little demon."

"Mah, sorry I'm late, but I got lost in the road of life," he said calmly, not letting his true anger show. "You're a traitor, Mizuki. I am bringing you in to face your crimes." Kakashi's face was still a mask of tranquility, but his manner, deadly.

"I am no traitor. That brat is the reason why so many fellow shinobi died nearly ten years ago. Stand back and let me do my business or I will kill you too," he said with false bravado.

"You seem to be under the impression that I am the hot blooded type. That is true of my son, Mizuki, but not me." Kakashi faced off against the chunin, his keen eye catching every nuance of his expressions and body language. He knew in an instant when the man decided to attack.

Knowing there was no way he would win in a fight against the battle hardened shinobi and desperate to escape, Mizuki pulled out his fuma shuriken and threw it at the copy-nin while dropping down from the tree. He raced across the landscape with Kakashi hot on his heels. He came upon a lake and began to dart across its surface, before pivoting and throwing another one of his giant shurikens.

If the copy-nin wasn't so worried about the safety of his son, he would have smirked. Instead, in a bored, expressionless manner, his hands flowed through a series of seals. A wall of water rose to the sky; its sheer size and massive weight almost incomprehensible. Twin dragon heads formed and rushed towards the chunin. The sound of rushing water filled the air followed by a scream cut short by the ninja who was not fast enough to escape the colossal wave.

Kakashi, easily balancing on the churning waters, searched everywhere, but could not detect the man. He lifted his hitai-ate and exposed the Sharingan. Where was the body? It might have been a clone…

Naruto…

~O~

As soon as Kakashi and Mizuki left the vicinity, Naruto yelled, "You idiots; you're supposed to watch where you put this thing! Jiraiya and I already got caught in it once and it took us hours to get out."

"Sorry boss, but you do know that we are you."

"Yeah boss, that means you are calling yourself an idiot!"

Naruto growled, "Just shut up and get me out of here." The mud was up to his waist now and he tried to stay calm and as still as he could.

"I don't shut up, I grow…"

"Get me out of here!"

"Uh, heh heh, sorry boss."

The remaining clones hopped across the branches to the one directly over Naruto's head. They grabbed each others feet, forming a human chain, and took the boy's hands and began to pull him out.

Naruto bit back a scream as his arms felt like they were being pulled out of their sockets. Inch by slow, agonizing inch, his body lifted out of the mud. Lying on the branch above the pit, he gasped and panted, trying to garner his meager reserves of energy to do as his father instructed. Somehow, the boy found his strength and stood up. He flew across the trees until he found a large one that still had leaves on it and hid within it.

~O~

"It's over; you can come out now."

Naruto, so intent on listening for more sounds of his father's battle, hadn't heard Kakashi enter the clearing where he was hidden. He nearly jumped out of the tree before he remembered his father's strict teachings. "Nice try dad," he smirked to himself. "I'm smarter than that!" He watched his father carefully to see if he would give the password verbally or by using hand signs. He didn't.

"Come out now. We need to leave and give the scroll back to the Hokage."

Naruto frowned to himself. His father should have used the password by now. That man was not his father. He opened his senses, sniffing the air. The man's scent was different. Kakashi's odor was tingly and airy to the boy, like an ozone smell right before a storm. The man standing close by had an earthen and almost grassy fragrance. That smell belonged to Mizuki. Silently, he pulled a kunai from his pouch and considered his options. The pretender moved closer.

Naruto gripped his kunai tighter and prepared to spring.

Mizuki must have figured out that Naruto was not going to expose himself because he released a strange jutsu, a sonic wave that pierced his eardrums, making his ears bleed. A ripple of dizziness washed over the boy. He swayed on the tree and fell down hard landing heavily on his back.

The fake Kakashi chuckled at the boy lying on the ground. "Well, well, well, what have we here? Looks like a little baby bird fell from its nest." He drew his foot back and lashed out, slamming the boy in the ribs. "Did the little demon lose his way?" he mocked.

The power of the kick made Naruto fly in the air and then crash into the iron trunk of the tree. He bit back a moan as the burning pain in his back flared hot and bright. A harsh cough escaped his lips, peppering his shirt with ruby red droplets of blood. With blurred vision, he barely managed to see the flying shuriken aimed at his face in time to jerk out of its path.

Mizuki's eyes held a crazed wild look as he drew back his foot and kicked again, spittle flew from his lips as he screamed, "Why is Kakashi here?! You were supposed to come alone."

Naruto's hand came up to his throat and exposed the little microphone. Desperately trying to fill his empty lungs with air, he struggled to breathe. Managing a harsh gasp, he asked, "Why Sensei?" Naruto blinked hard, his vision doubled then tripled. He blinked again. No use…there was still two of them.

"So… you didn't fall for my ruse. I'll tell you why; because I want power and glory. It's my right. And because I hate you. It's your fault my family died. Everything is all your fault. You have the Kyuubi inside you. You are a demon."

"I never did anything to you, sensei." Naruto croaked, "I know what I am. I'm no demon; I'm its warden. I'm a Jinchuriki. Only a stupid person would believe that I am a monster! The Fourth sealed it in me to protect everyone. You should know that."

"You know nothing. It's the monster inside you that controls you. That's how you knew I wasn't the real Hokage."

Naruto snorted, the air filling his lungs. "I know the Hokage; he's like a grandfather to me. He would never ask me to steal from him or do any kind of mission without my dad's approval. Did you honestly believe that "The Kakashi Hatake," elite jonin of Konoha, would raise a fool? Come on sensei Mizuki, you're supposed to look underneath the underneath. That's what my dad always says."

~O~

Kakashi was about to enter the clearing to end the fight with Mizuki when he saw his son stand up and make a familiar hand seal…the Shadow Clone Jutsu. He had seen a few of the boy's clones earlier, but thought Naruto had finally learned how to make the regular ones. He watched in shock and amazement as one hundred Narutos' appeared in the clearing.

With an insane laugh, Mizuki lunged at the boy and grabbed him by the throat. Naruto popped in a cloud of smoke when he punched him in the face. "Very good little demon; so I see you learned the forbidden jutsu and can switch yourself with it. I am still going to kill you and take the scroll to Orochimaru."

"No, you're not taking the scroll anywhere you traitor!" A swarm of Naruto doppelgangers descended from the trees and fell upon their sensei, punching and kicking. Mizuki bristled with helpless fury as he was quickly overwhelmed by the pint-sized ninja. With a bellow of rage and a kunai in each hand, he stabbed and slashed his way through the boys until he pierced through one that did not pop.

Naruto staggered on the spot, his face turned white in stunned surprise. In a moment of astonishing clarity, everything came back into focus, except there was still two Kakashi's standing before him. The fake one in front hadn't seen the one behind him. Naruto's face stayed impassive, although his heart jumped with joy. Daddy…

Naruto wrapped his hand around the hilt of the kunai protruding from his side and ripped it out. It fell from his limp fingers with a heavy thump. His eyes turned red and the whiskers grew more pronounced. In a deeper, more gravelly voice, he snarled, "My dad is gonna kick your ass!"

"He's not your father, you little demon," snapped Mizuki viciously, "He was forced to adopt you. He hates you. Everybody hates you. Everybody wishes you would just die…urk…"

Mizuki's words were cut off as Kakashi's hands tightened around his neck. "You will not speak to my son that way," he said furiously. He looked over at Naruto, who had just fallen down. "Are you all right son?"

"I'm going to kill that little…"

"I don't think so," Kakashi said calmly before slamming his kunai into the back of Mizuki's head. Before the man had even hit the ground, Kakashi was lifting up Naruto. "Are you all right?" he asked worriedly while checking him over. "Talk to me!"

Naruto looked up at Kakashi. His eyes were blue again and his whiskers reverted back to normal. He had calmed down. "I'm fine dad, put me down. I'm tough. It only stings a little."

Kakashi reluctantly set him down and shakily pulled his shirt up. The wound wasn't bleeding as badly as it should have considering how deep the kunai went in. The copy-nin breathed in a sigh of relief at the child's healing ability. From one of his pouches, he pulled a bandage out and wrapped the boy's chest. "I am taking you to the hospital."

Naruto sat back down on the ground and rubbed his side with a groan. "It's just a scratch dad. I just wish I understood why he did this."

"Power," grunted Kakashi.

"Power isn't a good enough reason; well at least I don't think it is. Who was that Rochimaru guy he was talking about?"

"It was Orochimaru, and don't worry about that right now. For some people, power is the only reason to do what they do. He was willing to risk becoming a missing nin for it."

"Well, he wasn't very good at it, was he?"

Kakashi chuckled at the boy's annoyed tone, "No son, he wasn't. Are you sure you're okay? You got choked, kicked pretty hard, and then stabbed. All in all, I would say you had a tough night."

"Pssh, I've gotten worse when I spar with you," he joked bravely while getting up to stand. "I also snuck into the Hokage's office without getting caught, stole the forbidden scroll, and helped take down a traitor. All in all, I would say I had a pretty good night!" His side ached fiercely, but he refused to show it. "I keep telling you that I'm not a baby dad."

"No, you're not son." Kakashi wanted to make him stay seated or let him carry him, but the boy's pride wouldn't allow it. Keeping a highly trained eye on the boy, he said, "Let's go then."

"What about Sensei Mizuki," he asked pointing at the body lying in the grass. "Are we just going to leave him here?"

"Hmm, good point." Kakashi said then grimaced, "I really don't want to touch such filth again." He bent over to pick up the body, but Naruto stopped him.

"Let me help, dad." before Kakashi could blink, Naruto created ten clones of himself. They grabbed the body of Mizuki and picked it up.

"And what you just do?"

"Um, the Shadow Clone jutsu?"

Kakashi's mouth frowned severely under his mask. He growled, "I told you not to open that scroll!"

"It was open already. The cord fell off, I swear."

"You and I are having a talk when we get home. That jutsu is very dangerous. It could have killed you." Kakashi paced back and forth in agitation. Mizuki's words to Naruto came back to him. He stopped. "You're not going to be bothered by any of that drivel that came out of Mizuki's mouth are you?"

"No way, he's crazy. Yup, that teme didn't know what was coming, huh dad? I can't wait to rub this in Sasuke's face. I told him that sensei Mizuki didn't like me, but he always said that I was imagining it." Naruto crowed happily, "Ha! I was totally right and HE WAS WRONG! I love it when he is wrong."

"What?!" exclaimed Kakashi, "How many times have I asked you to let me know what's going on? Why did you not say anything to me?"

"Well, he never did or said anything bad to me dad. I mean, I just knew he didn't like me." Naruto struggled to explain, "His eyes were always cold and dead and his smile wasn't real." He shrugged his shoulders, yawned, and said, "Hey, we should go get some ramen to celebrate my mission success."

"It's four in the morning son and we are going to the hospital."

"Oh… sooo… no ramen then? We can wake up Ayame!"

Kakashi smiled and rubbed Naruto's head. He joked, "I swear I don't know what the Hokage and I were thinking in allowing you to do this mission."

"You were thinking," quipped the chibi with a huge yawn, "That I am an awesome ninja. That's what you were thinking."

"Is that so?"

"Yup; like father like son, dad. We make a great team."

"We sure do buddy. I have to tell you though; you had me worried there for a minute."

Naruto pouted, "I thought you believed in me."

"I do. I always do." Kakashi hastily countered, "It's just that you seem to be a magnet for trouble."

"It's my middle name, Naruto Trouble Uzumaki Hatake." Feeling drained, the boy yawned hugely and stumbled slightly over a dip in the frost covered ground.

"You are one crazy little boy. So…the skulking fiend with sympathy for shadows?" asked Kakashi with an eye smile while tapping with ear piece.

In a move very much like one of his hero's, Iruka, the boy rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I kind of forgot you were listening in at the time." Naruto yawned so widely, his eyes squeezed shut. He added in a mumble, "Yeah, I stopped fighting my inner demons; we're on the same side now."

Kakashi laughed at the boy's wit and then picked him up, despite his protests, when he wavered again in exhaustion. He fell instantly asleep as soon as his head touched his father's shoulder. The clones dispelled with a pop, dropping Mizuki on the hard frozen ground. The copy-nin stood there for a moment simply holding the boy close to him and stroking his head.

The surrounding forest was filled with the whispering sound of the gentle wind and of dry rustling leaves. Kakashi looked up into the trees and waited until the approaching Anbu that had been silently standing by, jumped down in front of him.

One bowed his cat-masked head in a quick jab and asked, "Senpai?"

Kakashi asked quietly, "You were supposed to be following him to keep him safe. Where were you?"

"We never left his side senpai. You said to we were to allow him enough leeway to do this on his own. He was never in any danger."

"So what do you call getting stabbed?!"

"He is a future shinobi, senpai. We deemed his fight with the chunin to be non-life threatening."

Kakashi was beyond angry, an Anbu's idea of non-life threatening differed greatly from that of a father's view. He jerked his head at the inert form of the chunin instructor and hostilely replied in a guttural tone, "Take out the trash, Cat."

"Hai."

Kakashi watched in satisfaction as they hefted the wretch up and removed him from his sight. Nodding to himself in vindictive pleasure, he carried the boy all the way to the hospital.

~O~

By the time he got there, the bandage had soaked through and Naruto didn't even awaken when the medic removed his clothes. Kakashi blanched when he saw the amount of blood on the boy's shirt. He grabbed the medic's arm in a death grip and demanded, "Fix him…immediately!"

With a wince, the doctor gently pried the copy-nin's fingers away and told him to calm down. "It looks worse that it really is." Using a healing jutsu, the gash closed completely in a matter of seconds. The wound was an angry red weal, but harmless and they were able to go home directly after the medic had finished.

As he laid the boy in his bed, he noticed the blood stained shirt. He carefully removed it without waking Naruto. The copy-nin fingered the spots before leaving the room with it in his hands. He started a fire and stared unseeing as the shirt burned. So many thoughts were running through his mind.

The shadow clone jutsu…

Naruto's eyes…

Naruto getting injured…

Can I really handle being his sensei if the Hokage allows it? I never want to see him hurt again. Could I be objective or will I always think as his father first? He needs to become stronger…

The shadow clone jutsu…

AN

Well, what do you all think of my version of the Mizuki incident? Naruto obviously told Kakashi about what Mizuki said. He knew that the Hokage was a henge. They allowed Naruto to help prove he was a traitor to show their faith in him, but didn't tell him that Anbu was there as well. I know that Naruto was stronger in the canon version, but in this version, there is a drawback to having people that love you...you do not have to fight as hard to survive. With this new jutsu and Kakashi's realization of Naruto's potential, he will get stronger. I promise!

I also wanted to add that I don't know if Naruto's clones would dispel if he was asleep or hurt. Probably not, but since this is the first time he has ever used them, they do. I figure that once he uses them more, there will be less smoke and they will stay around longer. I read somewhere that the clones were able to take more hits later in the canon, so I figured that means they get more powerful as Naruto does.

Tonton: Yes, she will definately change and for the better...she has to get a little kick in the butt first.

Hatake-chan: I'll see what I can do.

Next weeks chapter will be a short one, but something a lot of you have wanted to see. It's simply entitled Girls!

Please review!