Chapter 14 Graduation Days

"So. Sasuke how have you been doing lately?" Minato asked perched on the kitchen table. He inspected the boy closely as he bustled around the cozy kitchen. The kitchen was painted a pleasing pale green with brown cabinets. It was kept very neat and orderly. Minato could practically see the ghost of Mikoto in all her glory, bustling around in her element.

The Uchihas had all collectively moved into or near Sasuke's house as it was one of the largest homes in the compound. It was very helpful for chasing away any lingering loneliness from being the only survivors of the Massacre to have everyone in one place.

Sasuke 'hn'ed in response and returned to chopping the vegetables.

"I see, well if you ever need anyone to talk to, you know I'm always here."

Sasuke grunted again as he dumped the vegetables into the pot to simmer.

Haruka suddenly burst into the kitchen with an exuberance, latching onto Sasuke's legs. "Ne. Ne. Sasuke-nii can you teach me how to throw shuriken later?" she asked.

"Sure, sure. Later, I'm busy right now. Why don't you find Haruto for now?"

"Ehh Haruto? He's so boring though! At least Izuru will play with me!"

"Then go bother Izuru, I guess."

"Okay Sasuke-nii!"

Haruka then quickly scampered off.

Minato smiled softly. After the debacle in the forest Sasuke had mellowed out a bit. But only to his family and Naruto. He now helped Izumi with the chores more often and was teaching himself to cook to better look after the younger children. He had really stepped up to his role as the next head of the Uchiha clan.

"So, Sasuke. Do you think you're ready for graduation?"

"Hmph. Of course I am, loser. I should be asking you that question. Are you sure you're ready to stop holding back?"

"Hahahah. No, not quite."

Sasuke stopped what he was doing to look Naruto in the eye, "Why do you hold yourself back so much?"

Naruto shrugged blithely, "Hmm… Well it's much harder to make friends if you stand out too much isn't it?"

Sasuke flinched as the memories of shrieking fangirls overcame him.

"Also, don't you know? Deception is a shinobi's best friend." Minato winked at Sasuke.

Sasuke stared dully back at Naruto and huffed a breath.

"Fine then. Keep your secrets. But I swear, I will find out. One day."

Naruto nodded at Sasuke. "Do you know when Izumi is returning from her mission?"

"It should be in a few days. I'll tell her you visited."

"Aah. Thank you." Naruto pushed off the counter and went to help Sasuke with the stew, adding in a few spices and stirring.

Sasuke nodded at Naruto and went to prepare his side dishes. Chopping another few vegetables for frying.

"Are you staying over for dinner?" Sasuke asked.

"I better not intrude, I'll be leaving soon."

"Take something before you go, you helped with cooking after all."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the kindness. "Really? Thanks a lot then Sasuke."

Minato received another grunt in reply.

Soon enough Minato had been chased out of the Uchiha compound by a crowd of hungry children stampeding into the kitchen. He laughed as he left, happy to see that the Uchiha clan was well and recovering.

Minato decided to take a longer route around the main part of the village to avoid the majority of the villagers. He slowly meandered down the streets back to his home humming to himself.

Suddenly a deep growling voice rang out from the back of Minato's mind.

"I don't understand why you spend so much time with those wretched Uchiha."

Startled Naruto nearly tripped and dropped the food he was holding as he was walking back to his own compound. "Kurama-san, is that you?"

"Of course it's me, who else is in your mind? Did you forget about the Biju conveniently sealed in your gut?" Kurama said bitterly.

Minato sweat dropped. "Ah I didn't forget, I just haven't had time to visit. I've had too many thoughts in my head. What is so wrong with me spending time with the Uchiha?"

"Tch. My vessel shouldn't be spending so much time around those cursed war mongers."

'Cursed? War mongers? Is he referring to the warring clans era?' Minato thought.

"What do you mean Kurama-san?"

"What I mean is, interacting with the Uchiha will not be conducive to your health in the long run."

Minato tilted his head in consideration. "Do you just not like them because they have the potential to control you or is it something more?"

Kurama spluttered indignantly, "O-Of course it's something more! Are you not aware of the history behind the Uchiha?"

"They were one of the founding clans of Konoha, weren't they? They were a great clan of talented fire jutsu users who were rivals with the Senju."

"They weren't just rivals, they were sworn enemies. But to understand the Uchiha's history and curse you must first understand the story of the Sage of Six Paths."

"The Sage of Six Paths? I thought that was just a myth?"

"Fool. All Myths are somewhat rooted in the truth."

"Ah that is quite true Kurama-san. But can you hold off on the history lesson for a bit until we get home?"

"Hmph."

Minato took that as a reluctant agreement. So he picked up the pace and returned to the Namikaze compound quickly. Ignoring any glares that were aimed his way, he ran through the streets of Konoha. Though he made sure no one saw him run into the house. Entering the house he kicked off his shoes messily, dropped the food he held on his kitchen counter and ran up the stairs to his bedroom. Plopping himself down on the bed in a meditative position, he fell into his mindscape.

He opened his eyes to Kurama who was lying down on crossed arms awaiting his appearance.

"What is it that you wanted to teach me, Kurama-san?"

"To first understand the Uchiha, you must understand the story of my father, Hagoromo Otsutsuki."

"Wait, you had a father? Wait, your father was the Sage of Six Paths?"

"Don't interrupt me."

"Ah of course, my apologies."

"This is a very condensed version, mind you."

"Ah, Um. Okay?"

"Hagoromo was the son of Kaguya Otsutsuki who ate the fruit of the great God Tree. She was the first person to use chakra, she gave birth to two children. Hagoromo and Hamura Ōtsutsuki. These two children were also capable of using chakra. Eventually Kaguya became enraged that there were those who could use chakra other than her. She fused with the God Tree to take back all chakra. Becoming the Ten Tails. Hagoromo and Hamura eventually defeated the Ten Tails in a great battle that lasted many days. Hagoromo sealed the Ten Tails into himself, becoming the first Jinchurriki. He then spread chakra all over the world as the teachings of Ninshuu in effort to bring about peace. He met a woman and fell in love and had two sons, Indra and Asura. At the end of his life he split the Ten Tails into nine, creating the nine Biju. "

Minato tilted his head in thought, "So that's how you came to be."

Kurama nodded and continued, "Indeed. He split the Biju due to an idea he received from his sons. But the story is not over yet. Hagoromo knew that Ninshuu would need a successor to continue, he had a choice between Asura and Indra. Now Indra was a prodigy while Asura was the opposite. Hagoromo surprisingly chose Asura as his successor. Asura believed that love and cooperation were the true paths to peace while Indra believed in power. Hagoromo felt that Asura's path was the true way to peace. Indra was enraged by this decision and attacked Asura and Hagoromo. He was defeated and escaped, only to return when Father was on his deathbed. He swore to destroy Ninshuu. His descendants, the Uchiha, have then warred with the Senju, descendants of Asura, for decades. Thus the Uchiha are subject to the curse of hatred. Their love is so strong that when it is lost, they succumb to an equally powerful hatred."

"I see… But that's not true of every Uchiha is it? Shisui was free of the curse."

Kurama paused. He thought back to what he had seen of the cheerful Uchiha and his last moments. He sat in silence for a bit. "I suppose… There can be exceptions… It is still not healthy for you to interact with the Uchiha so. "

Minato smiled wryly at Kurama, his mind was already made up about interacting with the Uchiha. But then a sad look passed over his face. "Is this part of why you hate humans so much? Because we've converted Ninshuu into Ninjutsu for war and spit on your father's teachings of peace?"

Kurama didn't respond, choosing to examine Minato instead. He waved his tails lazily and huffed out a breath when Minato didn't say anything in return. "I suppose that is one reason for me to dislike you filthy humans."

Minato nodded at Kurama and solemnly bowed. "It may not be my place but, I apologize for what humanity has done to the sacred teachings of your father."

He then clapped his hands together, "I hope that one day people can stop fighting and that there may be peace. But until then we must keep trying our best to end the cycle of hatred. For now, I hope that this can suffice as an apology. I am finally in a better mental state to be able to do this."

Concentrating deeply Minato envisioned a beautiful scene of rolling golden wheat fields, off in the distance were bountiful forests and mountains. He gritted his teeth and pushed all his mental prowess into imagining a wide blue sky with freely drifting clouds and cheerfully shining sun. He slowly spent his spiritual energy reconstructing his mindscape from the ground up.

Minato panted and opened his eyes to a shocked Kurama who was uncaged and now wearing a collar around his neck bearing the word 'Seal'. Kurama was openly gaping at his new surroundings.

Never before had any of his vessels considered his comfort. Never before had any of his vessels bothered to hear him out. Never before had he experienced such respect since his old man had died. Truly. Just how many times would this man leave him speechless? He had been bound to the ground with tori gates, staked to a moon with great chains, and locked in a gigantic cage. Was this a dream? Did he truly not have to worry about confinements?

Kurama slowly stood to his full height. Not believing that his cage had truly disappeared. He didn't encounter an invisible ceiling as he stood. He tentatively took a step out of his original cage's dimensions. He didn't encounter any resistance as he walked.

Soon enough, the great and terrifying Kyuubi no Yoko was frolicking in the fields like a young kit.

Minato chuckled to himself quietly as he watched the Kyuubi's joy at attaining a measure of freedom.

The Kyuubi froze hearing Minato's chuckles. He'd forgotten himself! "SILENCE HUMAN!" He coughed awkwardly and collected himself. Ignoring the fact that he had just been happily rolling around on his back under the sun. "YOU WILL NOT TELL ANYONE OF THIS!" he roared indignantly.

Minato muffled his laughter with a hand and nodded unconvincingly at Kurama. It was interesting seeing a fox blush, Minato thought.

"Well then. I'll leave you to it. Thank you for the lesson, you've given me much to think about."

With that said, Minato disappeared from his mindscape leaving Kurama alone in the golden wheat fields.

Kurama trembled in suppressed embarrassment and fury for a bit before he shrugged. He quickly resumed his frolicking and exploration of his new home.

With graduation quickly coming around the corner, the students at the Academy were more on edge than ever. Students frantically quizzed each other in between classes and trained themselves into exhaustion. Minato himself was busy reminiscing about what it was like to panic over exams. He already knew what would be on the final exams so he didn't need to bother with learning anything new. At most he reviewed some of the more obscure information that he could possibly need and that was it. He watched as Sakura panicked over her grades with a hidden amusement. Grades wouldn't matter if you became genin or not. The Jounin test was the true decider that determined if you were sent back to the Academy or not.

A night before graduation Minato discovered that he couldn't sleep for some reason. He tossed and turned in bed for a while before deciding to take a walk around the village. He sighed and climbed out of bed, pulling on his standard outfit of a sleeveless orange hoodie, navy shirt, and green cargo shorts. He hopped out of his bedroom window and set off to explore the village bright and early at 3 am.

Minato sat himself down at the top of one of the many electricity poles along the village and looked over at the hokage monument. He studied the likeness of his own face, it didn't really look all that much like him, he thought. It's expression was much too stern for his tastes. He sighed and returned to observing the village instead, idly noting the regular ANBU patrols that would occasionally pass his line of sight. Slowly an idea began forming in his mind as he watched ANBU agents jumping over the rooftops. He was bored. He had the abilities and resources. So why shouldn't he? Kushina would have approved after all.

Thus Minato pulled off a repeat of one of his biggest pranks. He painted the Hokage mountains again. This time he simply painted the Kage faces with bright neon paint and refrained from obnoxious comments. The mountain was brightly visible even at night.

The main reason he continued to pull these ridiculous pranks was to help improve village security. He'd discovered in his early years of sneaking about the village that security was incredibly lax. Though this was partly due to a shortage in manpower after the Kyuubi attack. But when the village had mostly recovered some of these holes in security still had not been patched. Minato made sure to leave a note of how he accomplished each prank so that ANBU could fix their mistakes. He'd discovered another break in the patrol patterns of the ANBU night guard, so he took full advantage of the gap to paint the mountain.

The next morning the village was abuzz with questions and paranoia. Many villagers feared another prank fest was soon approaching and were discussing how to catch the perpetrator. Minato just snickered to himself all the way to the academy, he wouldn't be caught. After all, any evidence tying the act to him had been disposed of thanks to a few clever combustion seals.

He might have gotten no sleep but it was worth it for the looks on the villagers faces in the morning.

At the academy all the students could talk about was the hilarity of the neon Hokage monument. Minato subtly but smugly basked in the praise and commotion that he had caused while sitting in the corner of the room.

The class quieted as Iruka and Mizuki walked into the room. Both teachers looked incredibly put out for some reason and were in no mood for shenanigans. Iruka started class with a customary 'good morning' then Mizuki spoke up.

"Tomorrow will be the day you take the final and graduate from the Ninja academy. Today will simply be a review day of any techniques that may be tested tomorrow. We will first be reviewing the transformation technique. All you have to do is conjure a form that looks like me."

And so one by one the class went up and henged themselves into perfect doubles of Mizuki. That is until Kiba. Kiba went up and conjured up a most hideous impression of Mizuki, the copy had a distended nose, exaggerated ears, lanky hair and protruding buck teeth. The class howled with laughter as Iruka proceeded to angrily scold the boy for his failing grades and sent him out to the hall for the rest of class.

Minato simply appreciated the artistic rendition of Mizuki's features and pulled out a book on sealing to study for the rest of class.

After classes ended Iruka invited Naruto out for ramen once again. Perking up at the offer, Minato gratefully accepted and followed the man to Ichirakus.

At the stand Iruka and Naruto made small talk until the ramen arrived, then there was a lull in which Naruto and Iruka simply stuffed their faces with delicious ramen.

Iruka continued on his tangent as he swallowed a gulp of ramen, "Still, I cant believe someone would do that to the Hokage monument. I mean. Don't they know what the Hokages have done for this village? Talk about disrespect."

"Maybe some of them didn't deserve the respect…" Minato said solemnly.

"What do you mean, Naruto?"

"I mean the fourth Hokage. Don't you think it was selfish of him to sacrifice himself to save the village?"

"How can that be selfish? Don't be disrespectful to Yondaime-same! He sacrificed himself to defeat the Kyuubi after all!"

"You don't think that it was him running away from his responsibilities as Hokage?"

"Of course not! If anything he fulfilled his responsibilities to protect his village with all his power!"

Minato just nodded and stared at his bowl of ramen, it was a hidden fear of his that he'd simply run away from the responsibility of being alone with Naruto. That he couldn't deal with being without Kushina that made him choose to use the Shiki Fuin. That he wasn't as selfless as people like to paint him as. He wondered if he really deserved respect at all.

But Iruka wouldn't understand that, he would have to deal with this problem on his own.

Naruto sighed and slurped up the rest of his soup and asked Teuchi for another bowl.

Iruka watched him worriedly for a bit, then he shrugged and patted Naruto on the shoulder. "Maa, don't worry so much about something that's in the past. Worry about how you're going to pass tomorrow!"

"Hey! I'll do fine just watch me!" Minato said. He could only take Iruka's advice for now. It was in the past, he could only move forwards. He couldn't afford to doubt himself too much.

Minato sat in the classroom calmly as his classmates chattered all around him. They had just finished the written portion of the final exams and would be starting the jutsu portion next. He was confident that he'd passed easily enough without over performing.

Minato bounced his leg impatiently. He would be returning to actual missions soon enough. He couldn't wait. Training as well and fine but there was a different feeling to having a mission and accomplishing said mission. Ah. But first he would have to suffer through countless D-ranks again, he hung his head in despair.

"Hey Naruto. Why so down?" Sasuke asked, noticing the boy's mood swings. "Chickening out already?"

"No no. Nothing like that. I was just thinking of when we would be assigned missions and the D-ranks that would come."

"Ah. I see. Shisui would often complain about them to-"

Sasuke abruptly stopped talking. Minato smiled sadly at the boy, knowing what was on his mind.

Iruka walked through the door and the chatter in the classroom instantly vanished for a change.

He had a pleased smile on at the silence that followed his entrance.

"Now. For your final exam, you must each generate a clone." Iruka said, reading off a sheet of paper. "Wait here until your name is called and then come next door."

Minato couldn't help the sweat drop that formed on his face, a Bunshin? That was it for the final exam? His exam several years ago had been much harder than this! Ah well… The forces needed more ninja anyways…

Minato sat bouncing his leg as he watched the other children get called upon and leave the room. When his name was finally called, he shot out of his seat and ran to the next room.

The next room was empty of any tables or chairs except for the table that the Mizuki and Iruka sat at with a set of Hitai-ate in front of them. They gestured to Naruto to begin and he formed a half ram sign and formed three shadow clones besides him.

Just as Iruka was standing, about to congratulate Naruto for passing, Mizuki stopped him and said, "I'm sorry Naruto but I can't let you pass without a normal clone. Those are shadow clones aren't they?"

Minato reluctantly nodded. He formed the ram seal and tried to inject as little chakra as possible into the technique. Three clones slowly shimmered into existence besides him. Except they were drooping, white, and vanished quickly.

Iruka sat back down in shock he looked at Naruto then at Mizuki, his expression fell and he looked down at the floor as Mizuki told his favorite student he had failed.

Minato left the room in shock. He'd failed because of a simple clone? The shadow clone should have been enough to let him pass though! Something was strange here, he'd known that Mizuki was biased against him but this was too much! He would visit the Hokage and get this sorted out. Just as he was about to leave the academy ground he heard a shout come from behind him.

"Naruto! Wait!"

Minato turned to find Mizuki chasing after him.

"Yes, Mizuki-sensei?"

"Come with me Naruto. There's something I have to tell you."

"Huh? Oh. Okay?"

Minato followed Mizuki to a small clearing in the forests surrounding Konoha. He had a strange feeling about whatever it was that Mizuki wanted to talk to him about. Mizuki sat on the ground and gestured to Naruto to do the same.

"I didn't really want to fail you, you know Naruto?"

"I understand sensei. Its okay, I can always try again next year after all." Minato said.

Mizuki scratched his chin and looked intently at Naruto, "Hmm… Let me tell you a secret Naruto."

"Huh?"

"There's a secret graduation test for only the best shinobi."

"What?"

"Yeah, all you have to do is steal the forbidden scroll, learn a technique from it, and return here. You can graduate that ways."

Minato sweat dropped internally. Did the man really think he was that dumb? Well he could play along.

"Really!?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Yeah! Can you believe it? You have to do it soon though or else you'll run out of time to learn a technique!" Mizuki enthusiastically responded.

"Alright! Just hold on Mizuki-sensei! I'll pass in no time!"

Iruka lay on his small apartment bed considering his favorite student. Naruto was his best behaved student, he learned quickly and would participate freely in class discussions. He would help his classmates to the best of his abilities and he was also an amazing conversationalist. A fact Iruka only learned after inviting the boy to ramen. He really couldn't see any bit of the Kyuubi within him. It really was a pity that he couldn't produce a normal Bunshin. He would have made an amazing shinobi.

Suddenly there was a panicked knocking at his door. Iruka snapped up from his bed and opened the door, finding a panting Mizuki.

"Mizuki? What's up?" Iruka asked.

"Iruka! It's Naruto! Somehow he's found out about and stolen the forbidden scroll!"

"What?!"

Soon enough Iruka was amongst other Shinobi in front of the Sandaime who was debriefing.

"The scroll he has taken is so dangerous that the first Hokage sealed it away! If misused or placed in the wrong hands, it could be deadly! The scroll was taken just a short while ago. We must find him!"

The gathered shinobi all chorused in one voice, "Hai!" And disappeared quickly to find the missing boy.

Minato was waiting patiently with the scroll opened across his lap calmly reading it, when Iruka finally stumbled across him in the dark forest clearing.

"Naruto! I found you! What do you think you're doing?!"

Naruto looked up at his worried sensei in surprise, rolling up the scroll and strapping it to his back.

"Oh! Sensei! You're not the one I was expecting."

"Huh? What do you mean Naruto?"

"Mizuki-sensei told me that if I learned one technique from his scroll I could graduate! So I was waiting for him!"

"What…? Mizuki?"

Iruka abruptly pushed Naruto out of the way as a brace of kunai suddenly came flying at him.

Landing on a tree branch above the clearing, Mizuki appeared with two fuma shuriken strapped to his back.

"Heh. I'm impressed you knew where to go, Iruka."

"Now I get it." Iruka said, gripping onto one of the kunai embedded in his thigh.

Mizuki ignored Iruka, turning to Naruto he said with a cold voice, "The scroll. Naruto. Give it to me."

Iruka pulled out the kunai in his thigh with a violent heave and yelled, "Don't let him have it Naruto! Protect that scroll with your life! It's more dangerous than you can imagine! It holds a completely forbidden jutsu! Mizuki used you! He wants it for himself!"

Naruto stood from his previously relaxed position.

Mizuki laughed, "Naruto, even if you've read it, it will be meaningless! I can show you what it means!"

Iruka gasped, Mizuki couldn't be-

"S-Shut up, you fool!" He yelled at Mizuki in desperation.

"You know what really happened in the incident where the fox demon was defeated twelve years ago don't you?" Mizuki asked smugly. "Since that incident. The people of our village have been bound by the strictest decree. That everyone knows about. Except you!"

Naruto just stood in silence looking at Mizuki with cold hard eyes.

Unnerved by those blue eyes Mizuki shouted, "You are the nine tailed fox! You are the one who killed-"

Suddenly Mizuki was cut off by a dark figure that leaped out of a neighboring tree.

Bang!

A bright flash bang went off, blinding Iruka and Mizuki. In an instant Mizuki was disarmed and subdued by a team of ANBU.

Naruto walked over to a stunned Iruka who was gaping and trying to make sense of the situation.

"Hey sensei? You okay? Those were some pretty nasty hits you took back there… Thank you, but I could have taken care of myself."

"N-Naruto?"

"It was a trap for Mizuki, Sensei. There's no way I would be dumb enough to steal the forbidden scroll for him, you know?"

"A-ah. That makes sense…"

Naruto offered his shoulder to Iruka to lean on, "Let's get you to a hospital now, okay Sensei?"

"Y-yeah. But Naruto." Iruka's expression hardened and his face became stern.

"Hm?"

Iruka took Naruto's face into his hands gently and looked him in the eyes, "I want you to know. You aren't the demon fox. You are an excellent student and a citizen of Konoha. You are Uzumaki Naruto! I have nothing but respect for you who works so hard despite the hatred of the village!"

Naruto smiled brightly at Iruka. "Thank you, Sensei." He said softly.

Back at the Sandaime's office Naruto returned the old scroll to the man and bowed.

"I'm sorry for using that technique on you Hokage-sama but the scroll was necessary for the plan."

The old man coughed awkwardly from behind his desk, "Ah. No don't mention it. I mean it. Don't mention it ever again."

Initially when Naruto had appeared and informed the Sandaime of his plan the old man had been on board until the scroll was mentioned. The Sandaime wouldn't allow the actual scroll to be used as bait for the operation. Inspired by a certain orange book on the Sandaime's table Minato had performed a henge and taken the scroll anyways. He quite frankly needed what was in the scroll anyways, he had much to learn from the second Hokage's fuinjutsu.

"Anyways… do I graduate now?"

"Ah yes. This has to be the strangest graduation I have ever witnessed."

The old man handed Naruto a headband and then laced his fingers in front of his face, settling on a grave expression. "I had initially hoped to inform you of the Kyuubi once you attained the rank of chuunin. Unfortunately the circumstances have made it so that I must inform you of your status of Jinchuuriki now. This is why the villagers hate you so. They do not understand the difference between a kunai and the scroll it is sealed in. Please forgive them." He lowered his head to Naruto.

"Ah." Naruto scratched the back of his head, "I already knew about the Kyuubi, it's just that you were so genuine about caring for me that I pretended not to know about it."

"What?!" The Sandaime's pipe dropped from his mouth.

Naruto laced his fingers together behind his head and laughed at the old man, "It wasn't as hard as working out who my parents were, you know?"

"Ah. Of course. You are an intelligent child after all." The old man sighed and covered his face with a hand. "Return to this office tomorrow for your Shinobi registration. Remember to go to the academy the day after for team assignments, there may be some last minute changes…"

"Of course, old man."