Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Naruto
Prologue.
The Bijuu was humongous.
Whenever it roared, the land shook.
Its nine whirling tails churned up thunder that split the skies. Razor-sharp, house-sized claws ripped through flesh and bone. Long pointed fangs easily chewed up the toughest enemy.
Even its eyes were deadly. One piercing glance could freeze strong shinobi like stone.
The Nine-Tailed Fox was a spirit that lived in their land. It was as powerful as a demon, or so people said.
Why did the creature attack this peaceful place? Nobody really knew. But the Hidden Leaf Village was definitely in danger.
The Fox howled again.
"Gaa-oooooo!"
The land shook even harder. Trees in the forest flopped over like little flowers. Black clouds swirled out of nowhere, crackling with lightning.
The Shinobi of the Leaf nervously watched from a distance. They were all well trained and ready for combat, but the beast still terrified them. They knew they could never kill the Fox. But they decided to give it their best shot anyway.
They raised a battle cry to bolster their courage. Then the front line attack.
The Fox just looked at them at first. Then it roared, shattering their best Jutsu into useless little bits. The red-hot flames of a Fire Jutsu vanished into thin air. Shinobi were torn to shreds and scattered across the ground. The others didn't run away but quickly fired their own Jutsu.
Their attacks hit the target. The Fox scowled as fireballs exploded in its face, and daggers of stone stabbed its stomach. Shuriken after shuriken whirled through the air as the battle raged on and on. The Shinobi, who had been called here to fight, were all considered to be Jonin level. Each one had made a direct hit that they felt sure was a deathblow. They had all figured the creature must be hurt, at least a little.
But when the Fox emerged from a cloud of smoke, the shinobi all froze in shock. The beast looked exactly the same! Not one small scratch had scarred its hide. It just roared, mocking the little people below.
Suddenly the Fox slid forward, too fast for anyone to see. It slammed into the shinobi, who were about to release their Jutsu and tore them apart with its claws.
The front line survivors, who had retreated after their attack, somehow dodged the blows. But their best Jutsu were useless against the creature.
They didn't even slow the Fox down!
The Ninja of the Leaf fought on. Shinobi were knocked down, smashed up, and blown away, but the rest kept on fighting.
They refused to give up. If they did, the Hidden Leaf Village and everything around it would be flattened to the ground.
Soon only a few shinobi were left alive, though just barely. The survivors had no strength left. But their fierce desire to protect their loved ones, and their village, kept their bodies in motion.
They knew one thing; if the battle continued, they would all die.
Then something happened that no one could have predicted. The Nine-Tailed Fox suddenly swung its head in a different direction.
It was what the Ninja of the Leaf had been hoping for.
A gigantic toad hopped over their tired bodies and landed on the other side of the Fox. As toads go, this one was quite peculiar: it wore a dagger in its belt and a big haori half-coat. A tobacco pipe dangled from its mouth.
The toad bellowed at the Fox in a voice like bubbling mud. The Fox roared back in reply and swung around to face its new enemy.
The two big beasts smashed into each other. The land shook yet again. The toad aimed its dagger and lunged at the Fox, who knocked the weapon away with its chin. The monsters seemed evenly matched. Then every one of the Fox's nine tails started to thrash at the massive toad.
The toad somehow managed to a dodge a few blows before it vanished int a cloud of smoke. The Fox looked bewildered. It didn't even notice when a man approached, carrying a small bundle wrapped in a blanket. Without warning, he quickly made a complicated sign and appeared on top of the Fox.
"What is he doing?" the ninja wondered. Then they saw a flash, and the Fox was gone.
Chapter 1.
"Naruto! Where's Naruto Uzumaki?" Iruka-Sensei shouted as he hurried down a hall inside the Hidden Leaf Village Ninja Academy. His hair was pulled into a ponytail, and an old scar crossed his face near the middle of his nose.
"I have a really bad feeling about this! And right before the graduation exams, too," he worried.
Suddenly Iruka heard a loud ruckus outside.
"Look! Look at the Faces!" somebody screamed.
The Great Stone Faces were on a cliff at the edge of the village. The head of every Hokage in history had been carved there. Hokage were the village chiefs and the strongest shinobi of all. Besides the Third, who was still alive, every previous Hokage had given his life in service of the village, so the monument was considered very holy ground.
Iruka's sinking feeling sunk even lower. He dashed out of the academy and climbed to the roof of a nearby building for a bird's-eye view of the Faces.
"What the hell?"
Red blood gushed from every delicately carved nostril. Or was that supposed to be snot?
The First Hokage had a nasty swirl scrawled on his left cheek, while a steaming pile of poop decorated the Third Hokage's right cheek. More graffiti was scribbled everywhere.
"Narutooooo!"
Iruka clenched his fist, gritted his teeth, and took off running.
A kid in an orange jumpsuit hung by a rope in front of the monument. His blond hair poked up in jagged tuffs, as if it had been hacked at with a sword. He wore goggles on his forehead and a huge grin on his face.
No one else was smiling. The villagers just shook their heads as they watched him from below.
Naruto Uzumaki was small compared to the other kids his age, but he handled the rope deftly as he drew with a big brush.
"Hee, hee! This next one will really get 'em!" Naruto snorted, dipping his brush in the pain. He was about to create another masterpiece when he heard an angry voice from the crowd.
"Hey, you! Cut it out! All you ever do is pull pranks!" a Chunin yelled.
"Aw, shut up!" Naruto sneered down at him. "You guys would never even think of doin' something like this!"
Naruto was right. Nobody would dare to doodle on the Great Stone Faces. The monument was sacred to the villagers.
Which made it the perfect place for Naruto's latest crime spree. He'd had a hard time making mischief lately since most of the villagers were completely on their guard around him.
"Check it out, people! I win as usual!" Naruto bragged.
Just then, the Third Hokage joined the spectators. He was the village's most important man, but Naruto actually liked him.
The Hokage had a sour look, but he didn't seem at all that angry. He just stood there, watching the show, until a shadow crossed his path.
"I apologize, Lord Hokage. It's all my fault." the shadow said nervously.
"Ah, Ebisu." the Hokage said, turning to him.
"Uh-oh! Sensei's here!" Naruto said, painting faster.
"Naruto!"
"Iruka-sensei too!" Naruto gasped. He suddenly lost his balance and clung to the rope. Too late! With a shout, Naruto fell off the Great Stone Faces, clutching his tattered rope.
Ebisu covered his face with his hands and sighed. "What does he think he's doing? His graduation exam is tomorrow!" he muttered to himself.
Luckily, a tree branch caught Naruto on his way down. Iruka lassoed him with a rope and dragged him back to school.
Iruka's classroom had stadium-style seating, with several tiers rising from the teacher's podium. Naruto felt cold eyes glare down at him from almost every study as Iruka royally chewed him out.
"Do you want to be held back, Naruto? You should not be fooling around like that!" Iruka scolded.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Naruto mumbled, too scared to make eye contact.
Iruka grunted and turned to the rest of the class.
"Line up, people! Time for a pop quiz!" he said firmly.
The class booed in unison. Iruka completely ignored them. "Today, you will do the Transformation Jutsu. You will transform to look exactly like me. Now line up, I said!"
The students rose to their feet, and reluctantly formed a line. Nearly every pair of eyes shot daggers at Naruto.
"This is all your fault!"
"What's wrong with you, anyway?"
Naruto stood up and got in line. The Transformation Jutsu isn't really that difficult. He thought. With a little practice, almost anyone could transform themselves. Fighting or using another Jutsu while transformed was another story. But a simple, no-frills transformation? Easy-peasy.
When his turn came, he stepped in front of Iruka and made the transformation sign.
All of a sudden, Iruka felt something terrible was about to happen. Naruto as acting innocent, but his eyes told a different story.
"Transform!" Naruto yelled.
He cloaked himself in smoke while Iruka watched with anxiety. Soon a vision emerged from behind the dark cloud.
"I call it the Sexy Jutsu!" Naruto said with pride.
A completely naked girl, like a model from one of those magazines, was posing prettily on one leg. The weird thing was, Iruka thought she recognized her.
Iruka felt hot liquid in his nose and cupped his hand under his nostrils. his palm instantly brimmed over with bright red blood.
"Hey, baby!" the naked girl said in Naruto's voice. She struck another sexy pose, displaying her large breasts tipped with tight pink nipples. Iruka's nosebleed gushed forth with fury. His consciousness was waning fast.
"Ain't she cool!" Naruto sniggered.
Just hearing Naruto's voice brought Iruka back to earth again. He jumped up and instantly went on a warpath.
"You fool! Don't invent stupid Jutsu like that!" Iruka roared, jerking Naruto away by his collar.
"But sensei! what about the quiz!" Sakura asked.
Iruka swung back to look at his students. "We're done for today, people!" he snapped. "Study on your own until the end of class!"
"Yay! We get to study on our own!"
Iruka dragged Naruto down the hall, out the door, and all the way back to the Great Stone Faces.
"You are not going home until you clean up that mess," Iruka said angrily.
Soon Naruto was standing on a foothold, scrubbing off doodles with a cold, wet rag. Every so often, he paused to glance at Iruka. Then kept on scrubbing.
Iruka sighed. Why is he like this? He asked himself for the millionth time. Iruka was deep in thought until he heard some grumbling from above.
"So what if I can't go home? No one's waiting there for me anyway," Naruto muttered.
Iruka felt a coldness in his chest. Naruto was right. He was all alone. His parents had both died right after he was born. The little blonde boy had been mostly by himself since he was a toddler. He had never known any special affection from someone close to him. No wonder he craved attention. The Hokage helped when he could, but he was the leader of the village and couldn't be there for Naruto all the time.
Why didn't I realize this before? Iruka anguished, beating himself up inside. Naruto's in the same boat that I was.
"Uh, Naruto? When you're all done..." Iruka began.
"Then what?" Naruto groaned. His arms were killing him.
Iruka looked up sheepishly. "When you're all done, I'll buy you a bowl of ramen."
"All right!" Naruto yelled. He looked ready to leave right then. Iruka smiled despite himself.
"Only if you clean up everything!" he reminded Naruto.
"I will! I will!" Naruto promised.
When Naruto finally finished, it was already dark. The two went to Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto's all-time favorite place to eat. Naruto was really, really tired after all his hard labor, so he was really, really hungry. He attacked his ramen with wild abandon.
"You know, Ichiraku's ramen really is the best," Naruto said between slurps. In truth, Naruto had never met a noodle he didn't love. He was hopelessly addicted to them.
Iruka watched Naruto greedily gobble dinner for a while. Finally, he spoke.
"Why'd you do it, Naruto? You know how much the villagers respect the Hokage."
Naruto looked up with surprise. "Of course I know!" he spit out, his mouth crammed with ramen. He took a big swallow and smiled.
"People who have earnt the title of Hokage are the best ninja in the village," Naruto said earnestly. "Don't forget, the Fourth Hokage rescued the village from the Demon Fox."
"So you do understand. But you still haven't told me why you did it." Iruka said.
"Because, someday, my face will be up there," Naruto declared, his eyes shining. "And I'll be better than any of them! The entire village will respect me and my powers!"
"So you want to be a Hokage," Iruka murmured, feeling uncomfortable.
What in the world should he say now? Should he encourage Naruto's impossible dream? Or should he just keep his trap shut? While Iruka weighed the options, Naruto chuckled nervously.
"Um, sensei? Can I ask you a favor?" he said.
Iruka glanced at him. Now what? He thought.
"Pleeease let me wear your headband! Just for a little while!" Naruto begged.
Ninja wore headbands for protection, and as a way to declare their loyalty to the village they served. Naruto had dreamt of nothing but being a Ninja of the Leaf. It was his first step towards becoming Hokage, after all.
"Nope," Iruka said flatly. "If you want to wear one as badly, pass the exam tomorrow. Then you'll earn your own."
"Tsk! What's one night early going to matter?" Naruto pouted. "We both know I'm going to pass."
He bent over his bowl and shoveled in the rest of the ramen. Those poor wet noodles never had a fighting chance. When he finished, Naruto licked his lips and came up for air.
"I'll take seconds," he said without batting an eye.
"Now who's the selfish one? I never promised you two bowls of ramen!" Iruka shouted.
In the end, Naruto ate three, count 'em, three huge bowls before Iruka, who paid for every bowl, stopped him.
They left Ichiraku and went off in different directions.
"See you tomorrow, sensei!" Naruto shouted. He turned back and waved before he started running toward home. Iruka watched until Naruto was out of sigh. Then he sighed. Just how should he handle him now?
The next day, the graduation exam began.
"You will all do the Clone Jutsu first," Iruka told the class before he left for the exam room.
Names would be called in order, one by one. Each student would be tested alone.
At the back of the classroom, Naruto smiled. The Clone Jutsu used to always give him trouble. In theory, it was a lot like the Transformation Jutsu, only instead of making yourself into something else, you made yourself into yourself, over and over again. Ebisu-sensei said he had trouble because of his abnormally large chakra reserves. Once he started chakra control exercises and learned to manage the amount of chakra he used on each Jutsu, the Clone Jutsu became just as easy as the Transformation Jutsu.
Soon his name was called.
"Hokage, here I come," he muttered, hurrying to the exam room.
Iruka and a sensei named Mizuki sat at a table in the back of the room. Naruto didn't know Mizuki well, but he had a pretty good feeling about him. Mizuki had never shunned him like all the other teachers, all the other teachers except Iruka, that is.
Naruto looked down at the table. The prized Leaf headbands were spread out on the table where the teachers sat. They looked absolutely beautiful.
"Naruto Uzumaki, begin," Iruka said in a serious tone.
Naruto made the correct hand sign. Then, concentrating, bottle-necking his chakra, he did the required Jutsu.
"Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted when he finished.
The thick smoke particular to ninjutsu rose. Naruto looked to his clone.
"Naruto Uzumaki, you pass!" Iruka boomed out.
Naruto looked up hopefully.
"Congratulations," Mizuki said. "You've earned this, Naruto."
Naruto walked out of the room with his forehead covered by a metal plate, the symbol of the Hidden Leaf carved in the center.
Outside the school, students who passed the exam were happily celebrating with their parents. Naruto didn't want to be near them, but he didn't feel like leaving, either. So he went to the edge of the schoolyard and plopped down on a swing.
"Oh! That's him, isn't it?" he heard a mother hiss in his direction.
"Yeah, that's him." another mother hissed back. "I can't believe they let him pass."
"I know! If his true nature emerges, we'll all be-"
But before they could go on, a third mother quickly interrupted them. "Shhh, you two! You know we're not supposed to talk about him, remember?" she chided.
Naruto had heard more than enough. He jumped off the swing and trudged away with his head down. Where should he go now? There was no place in this village where he truly felt welcome.
"Hello, Naruto, " a kind voice said. Naruto yanked up his head. Mizuki stood in front of him, smiling with pride. "C'mon. Let's get out of here," he said.
Soon they were sitting on the balcony of a tall building nearby, enjoying a wide view of the village. The villagers rarely came her, but Naruto was glad Mizuki had suggested it.
They sat in silence for a while, until Mizuki finally spoke.
"Don't hate them, Naruto," he said.
"Who?"
"The villagers. I know their words hurt, but it has nothing to do with you." Mizuki said. "They look at Iruka's class, and they see the next generation of shinobi. Clan heirs and the sons and daughters to wealthy civilians. You just got caught in the middle, and they don't understand your worth. How much potential you have."
"Pfft! Who cares what they think!" Naruto griped, puffing out his cheeks.
"I think you do. Isn't that why you painted the Hokage Monument?" Mizuki asked, kindly. "So, people would see you?"
Naruto frowned and stared straight ahead.
"I have an idea. If you want the villagers to see you, then you should show them how much of a great ninja you are." Mizuki suggested gently.
"How?"
Mizuki glanced around to see if anyone was listening. Then he whispered in Naruto's ear. "There's a secret test offered to the Genin who did the best on the graduation exam..."
Naruto suddenly grinned so wide that people the next land over probably saw all his teeth, if they happened to be looking, that is.
Stuck at home and decided to start a new story!
I hope everyone's staying safe!