Academy is probably the most boring thing that I could've been doing with my time. What's worse was the fact that I had to fail not once but twice, repeating the same year over and over. When it came time for the third Genin Exam, with the Rookie Nine, I prepared myself to create the lamest clone ever.
I got into my pose, my idiot mask lit with determination. My hands formed the seal and I yelled, 'Bunshin no jutsu!" to Mizuki and Iruka-sensei. The smoke cleared and my clone, pale and unmoving, made an appearance. Iruka twitched and announce that I'd failed.
"Iruka-sensei. His physical coordination and stamina are excellent. And he managed to come up with something. Isn't that enough to let him pass?" Mizuki, the traitor, said, smiling.
"Mizuki-sensei… All the others created three or more usable clones. Naruto just created one, and it's practically useless. I can't give him a passing grade."
The rest of the day flew by; the other students, and their Hitai-ate, were met by congratulations from their parents while I sat on my old swing, looking sadly at the group. I heard Mizuki appear behind me and I forced myself to not drawn a kunai at the man.
When we sat on the roof, overlooking Konoha, I let myself answer Mizuki as I had last time. I tried to keep a straight face when Mizuki told me he had a secret, a way that I'd pass for sure. I went along with it, feigning ignorance to his plans, and stole the scroll once more. Opening it at the cabin, I created a dozen shadow clones and we got to work. I dispelled the clones just as Iruka appeared, mastering four of the jutsu, excluding the shadow clone. I put on my idiot mask and went again through the scene.
Once again, kunai flew towards us out of the trees. I let myself be pushed back by Iruka, even though I drew my own kunai to shield myself. I watched as Iruka was pinned to the cabin wall, Mizuki appearing from the shadows.
"I'm impressed you found this place," Mizuki announced to the injured chuunin.
"I see now… how it is," Iruka said, wincing slightly.
"Naruto… Give me that scroll," Mizuki said, kneeling on a tree limb. I let my face go blank with panic and confusion, my eyes darting between Mizuki and Iruka-sensei.
"Wait, wait… What's going on here?" I questioned, my voice getting louder and higher. I watched, again, as Iruka pulled a kunai from his thigh and tell me to never give him the scroll.
"It is a dangerous object that contains forbidden jutsu. It was sealed," Iruka explained, glaring at the man in the trees. "Mizuki used you to get it for himself!"
"Naruto, Iruka is only afraid of you holding that scroll," Mizuki chuckled. I let my eyes dart to Iruka, who grimaced before glaring at the man again. "I will tell you the truth…" Mizuki offered, smiling darkly.
I let him tell me the truth, let him throw the shuriken at me. I watched as Iruka jumped in front of the shuriken, as he explained what he went through as a child. When Mizuki laughed, I snapped.
Time to change the past, I decided, hearing Mizuki announce that Iruka had hated me ever since 'I' had killed his parents. This time, instead of running, I stood up and laughed at the silver haired ninja.
"That's right, Naruto, give the scroll to-"
"You are an idiot, Mizuki. I've known about the fox my entire life. You miscalculated; it's not you against me. It's you against-" my hands went into the shadow clone seal, "US!"
Mizuki panicked, faced with a thousand or so clones. Like last time, my clones proceeded to beat him into the ground. The real me smiled and walked over to Iruka-sensei.
"Here, let me help you," I said to the chuunin. He smiled and shook his head in disbelief. "What, you thought I fell for that? I may not be the dead-last, but I'm not stupid," I chuckled, my hands lighting up with green energy. Iruka looked a little shocked but I waved him off, pressing my hands to his thigh and then his back. When I was finished, my clones dispelled themselves and Mizuki was on the ground, twitching, unconscious, and bleeding heavily. "I guess I went a little overboard…" I chuckled.
"When did- how-" Iruka asked, incoherent. He shook his head and told me to close my eyes. I did, smiling mentally. After a while, I pretended to be impatient.
"Iruka-sensei… How much longer?"
"Okay, you can open your eyes now," Iruka announced. I opened my eyes and saw Iruka standing in front of me, his Hitai-ate now tied to my head. "Congratulations on your graduation."
I grinned and tackled him into a hug, slamming him into a tree.
"Oh… Sorry, about that," I grinned, scratching the back of my head. "Good thing I healed you before…" Iruka chuckled, shaking his head.
"I think I owe you some ramen," he said, smiling.
"Yeah! Ramen!" I shouted, sending an echo around us.
Early the Next Morning ~ Hokage's Office
Waiting outside the Hokage's office for my cue, I was in the perfect spot to hear everything said between Hiruzen and the gathered jounin that were waiting for their team assignments. I activated demon eyes and stared at the wall in concentration before it appeared to melt away, showing me the gathered ninja. The Sandaime was joined by Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai, Asuma, and a number of other jounin I had spotted around the village. Two ANBU stood silently in the corner.
"Before I assign definite teams, I need ninjas to test a potential jounin. Any volunteers?" The Sandaime asked. Quietly, Kakashi raised his hand, earning many raised eyebrows. Seeing his 'eternal rival' take the challenge, Maito Gai nearly tackled the Sandaime, agreeing in his own… special way. I'm sure that if Lee were next to me, he would have-
I shook the image from my mind, the familiar question rising in my mind: How did they make the sunset appear behind them? Not finding an answer, I saw Kurenai nod determinedly and Asuma sigh before shrugging.
"I'm in," he said, already sounding bored. I saw Gai rock on his heels, asking whose 'flames of youth were burning'. The Sandaime nodded at the door, probably knowing I could see him. I chuckled and opened the door.
The effect was instantaneous: Kakashi did his strange eye smile, Kurenai studied me, Asuma shrugged, and Gai ran up to me.
"Yosh! Naruto! Are you my challenger? Prepare to feel the intensity of my-"
"Not now, Gai-san," I said, walking to Kakashi and Sandaime.
"No! You have taken on Kakashi's hip attitude! You will be a perfect rival for Lee!" Gai said, crying anime tears before calming down and smiling, giving me a thumbs up. Kakashi and I cringed in unison.
"So I'm fighting Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai? Anyone else?" I asked the Hokage. He shook his head and I nodded. "This'll be easy. Where are we doing this? Forest of Death?"
"Training Ground Seven," Hiruzen chuckled at my confidence. The other ninjas looked a little more scandalized. I saw Kurenai and a few of the other jounin clench their fists and Gai's eyes lit with fire. Asuma only pulled out a cigarette. Kakashi rolled his eyes and I smirked, chuckling.
"Can we do this quickly? Sasuke's probably wondering where I went," I said, glancing at Kakashi who shrugged. The Sandaime nodded, dismissing us. "Great. Everyone meet me at the training ground and don't take too long. I want to get this over with as soon as possible."
I Shunshined out of the office, reappearing at Training Ground Seven. I was barely finished stretching when everyone else appeared. Gai and Kurenai looked ready to attack already, Kakashi was wary, and Asuma looked bored. I chuckled, remembering how similar he and Shikamaru were. The Sandaime appeared minutes later, ready to witness.
"First, I need to establish a rule," I said. The other jounin, minus Kakashi, narrowed their eyes but I ignored them. "I'm only going to aim to knock you guys out. If I mess up and seriously injure someone, I need everyone else to back off while I take over," I said, raising my hand as I forced it to glow with green energy. "You can back out at anytime during the fight and I will not use Kyuubi. Gai, I don't recommend going too far with the gates, I'd rather not get you killed for a battle. Also, I think you should come at me going for the kill. If you don't, I doubt you'll be able to touch me," I said; Gai grinned in enthusiasm, Kurenai and Asuma scoffed, and Kakashi nodded his head.
"He's not kidding," he commented. The other ninjas' heads whipped to the masked ninja and he shrugged. "Naruto is stronger and faster than I am. I'm not sure what he's up to now, but he's wearing over three hundred pounds in weights. If he hadn't learned medical ninjutsu, I'd probably be dead. The kid packs a punch that'll put Tsunade to shame."
I chuckled at the truth in the statement and got into my taijutsu stance, getting ready for my personal style, the warau akuma. I smirked as Gai shifted into his pose and Kurenai prepared to cast a genjutsu.
"And begin," I said, waiting for the battle to begin.
Dodge. Punch. Duck. Spin. Jump. Kick.
Gai and I were in a fast taijutsu battle, my akuma no me already activated to ward off Kurenai's genjutsu. I was getting a little tired but fighting four high ranking jounin at once can do that to any eight year old. Asuma and Kakashi were fighting mid to long range, trying out as many jutsu as they could fire off, even if they were weakening steadily.
I chuckled easily as Gai and I separated, the spandex clad jounin panting heavily.
"Chidori!" I heard a shout to my right and I dodged easily, throwing my leg out in a spin and trip Sharingan Kakashi.
"Katon: Haisekisho!" Asuma shouted, his hands flying through the seals. I was surrounded in a thick grey smoke. I sucked in a deep breath and prepared for my next jutsu, one I had learned from Temari.
"Fuuton: Tatsu no Oshigoto!" I shouted. A tornado rose around me, dispelling the combustible ash. Asuma flew to the other side of the training ground, hitting the ground hard. I winced but watched as he picked himself and crouched, studying me. The swirling air pushed Gai away from me, knocking him to his knees. "You're going to have to do better than that."
"Konoha Senpuu!" Gai shouted, closing the distance between us. I chuckled and activated the Hiraishin I had put on Kakashi earlier that morning. Appearing next to the silver-haired jounin, he smiled.
"I see you got the Hiraishin down. Good job, Naruto," he said, panting as he watched Gai sail through the air without a target. I raised a hand and chopped the back of his neck. He crumpled to the ground and I moved to Kurenai.
"Easy way, or the hard way? Either are easy for me, I just thought I should-" I was cut off by a dozen shuriken flying towards me. I dodged them easily and saw Asuma standing off to the side, his chakra blades glowing.
"I'm not done, yet," he grumbled around his cigarette. I chuckled and put a hand on my katana, Kamisora, slung across my back. I withdrew the blade and pumped my wind natured chakra into it, the blade surrounded by blue energy. I was careful to remove all of Kyuubi's chakra from my system; I didn't want a purple blade, even if it increased the devastation.
"You have wind natured chakra, right? Me too," I said, smiling at the ninja. "I've been practicing adding my chakra to this blade for a while now. I can keep up this rate of chakra indefinitely from what I've noticed. You're running on empty. If you use your chakra blades now, you'll pass out from chakra exhaustion," I said, glancing at the shinobi's chakra coils with my red eyes.
"Dynamic Entry!" A kunai flew past my head and I ducked, sighing as I avoided the kick. Gai frowned before smiling, ranting about my 'youthful flames' again.
"That won't work on my, Gai. This dojutsu is similar to the Byakugan; I can see every one of your tenketsu and how little chakra Asuma has left from all the jutsu. I can see everything in an almost complete circle with a blind spot smaller than the Byakugan. I can also tell that Kurenai is reaching for a kunai," I said, my back to the kunoichi. She froze before smirking and throwing the blade anyway. I bent backwards, easily evading the steel, only to be met by another Konoha Senpuu, courtesy of Maito Gai. I winced, sent flying by the blow to my head and dropping Kamisora along the way. It stabbed the ground where it land, digging itself to the hilt, propelled by my chakra.
"Yosh! You may have defeated my eternal rival, but my flames are not going to be extinguished so-" I cut him off with my own dynamic entry. It was similar to his: I threw a number of shuriken to distract him then dropped him in a spinning kick. He fell for it easily. I made sure he was unconscious before moving onto Kurenai and Asuma, both posed defensively.
"What? Are you done offensively? That makes this a lot less fun. I guess it'll finish this faster," I reasoned, walking to my fallen blade. I slid Kamisora out of the ground, the metal glinting dangerously. Watching Asuma poise his chakra blades, Kurenai tried to cast another genjutsu, immediately cancelled by my eyes. I noticed this and glanced at the kunoichi apologetically. "Sorry, Kurenai-san. This dojutsu, akuma no me, cancels out almost all genjutsu. So far, the only thing it can't break is Tsukuyomi," I explained. Kurenai's red eyes narrowed and she drew a kunai.
I charged, playing my advantage in kenjutsu even if the jounin didn't know I had prowess. After a month in Iron Country, surrounded by samurai, and another few weeks in the Hidden Mist, with their Seven Swordsmen, my kenjutsu was a lot better than it was in the original timeline, even though that doesn't say much. Kenjutsu was never a priority to the Rokudaime.
I feigned an uppercut to Asuma, sending kunai to his lower body. He deflected both with his dual blades. I pretended to hit him, letting him shift so the blow was softer. He didn't notice the Hiraishin seal that I placed subtly on his shoulder.
"Missed me," Asuma laughed. I shook my head and return his laugh.
"Look down," I said, jumping away towards Kurenai. Asuma obliged, only now seeing the explosive tags I had tied onto the kunai. The ninja jumped back, trying to distance himself just as the kunai exploded. I smirked, running towards Kurenai. I feigned a kick to her shoulder, letting her deflect the blow to charge my punch. She leaned backwards, twisting to avoid my fist. Thinking fast, I spun downwards, my hand on the ground as I did a handstand and kicked Kurenai to the other side of the field. She didn't stand up, only nodded and stayed seated as she watched the rest of the battle play out. I pushed against the ground, flipping myself so that I was on my feet one more.
Seeing that he was the last opposing jounin standing, Asuma narrowed his eyes and studied my form. I didn't give him time to analyze me too closely; I focused my chakra to my fist and punched the ground. A crater rose around my fist, sending cracks through the earth as Asuma jumped away from them as large rocks flew into the air. I jumped onto the boulders, crossing them until I was close to Asuma. He narrowed his eyes as I used my distraction as a bridge. He backed away slowly, not taking his eyes off of me until he found a kunai at his throat.
"Dead," I announced. The clone in front of the ninja dispelled himself and I smirked.
"I get it," Asuma nodded as I released him. "The crater was just a distraction. You created a clone while the real you came behind me."
"Close. That was a shadow clone, he could've done you actual damage. Also, I put a Hiraishin on your shoulder after I sent the kunai downwards."
"Impressive," Kurenai said, running to meet us. She nodded, impressed, and I left the two to wake up Kakashi and Gai.
"Jounin at twelve… You're going to be something, kid," Asuma said, chuckling. His father, Hiruzen, nodded as he walked to meet them.
I placed a hand on Kakashi's chest, another on his forehead, and pressed chakra to the unconscious ninja's heart and brain, waking him up. He coughed and sat up, smirking under his mask.
"That's embarrassing. You took me out first," he complained. I laughed lightly at my sensei's childishness.
"Only because you would've been more difficult down the line. It's a shame you missed all the destruction though," I said, pointing to the crater I had made. Glancing around the training ground, I felt kind of bad. The field was really trashed. "If you want details talk to Hiruzen. I think he was recording it under that hat." Kakashi laughed at the likeliness of that and I stood, ready to wake Gai up.
I was just about to repeat my treatment when the spandex-clad ninja awoke with a start, slamming his fist into my face, sending me flying back to the trio of ninjas. Kakashi broke my fall.
"What the hell, Gai! I was only going to wake you up!" I shouted at the Green Beast. He winced as I let loose a wave of killing intent. I cracked my neck, dispelling the killing intent, and laughed at the indignation in Kakashi's eye. "Oh, sorry Kakashi. I didn't mean to… land on you," I said, getting up and offering him my hand. He took it and I pulled him up. It didn't exactly work, seeing as he was almost twice as tall as I was, but at least he didn't fall on me.
While Gai went on about how he was going to train after this defeat, I turned to Sandaime.
"So, Sandaime?" I asked, nonchalant. Hiruzen chuckled under his disbelief. I saw the hat shift, a camera lens appearing beneath the fabric before it moved back into place. I stifled a laugh.
"So? Naruto, you just defeated four of Konoha's jounin. You knocked out Kakashi of the Sharingan in less than twenty minutes," Hiruzen announced, slightly shocked.
"I told you that akuma no me can overpower the Sharingan and the Byakugan…" I mumbled, a little embarrassed by the blatant stares I was now getting from the ninjas, the only exception being Kakashi.
"You're twelve years old," Kurenai protested.
"I was jounin at thirteen. What's the difference of a year?" Kakashi said, shrugging. The other ninjas began to talk about the possible repercussions about letting me be a jounin but I eventually cleared my throat.
"Can I get a word in?" I asked. When the ninjas fell silent, I smiled. "Thanks. I think you all are under the impression that I'm an innocent kid. I was raised by Kakashi of the Sharingan. I've worn weights since my fifth birthday, by my choice. I'm the holder of a summoning contract as well as the first human to sign it. I can do a Chidori and a Rasengan at the same time, both high level jutsu. I'm a seal master, as my parents were, and have befriended the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Do you really want me on D-rank missions?"
Kakashi nodded, backing my speech. Kurenai stumbled back; Asuma's cigarette fell to the ground; Gai began preaching about the flames of my youth and how brightly they were burning. My fist clenched and I twisted around, punching Gai into the ground.
"Sorry about that. I can only take youthful flames for so long," I said, lowering my fist. Kakashi chuckled as he watched his rival try and fail to rise from the crater I had created. "Did I break anything, Gai? I can fix you up if you need," I shouted into the crater, two yards across and four feet deep. Gai mumbled something that sounded like a 'no' so I turned away from him as he went on about my hip attitude some more.
"Thanks, Naruto. I was about to do that myself," Kakashi said, glancing once more at the Green Beast. "Although I don't think the crated would've been so deep… Either way, Sandaime, I think he should be a jounin. From our spars, he's already surpassed me by far, maybe even his father. He's even perfected the Rasengan without any help," Kakashi reported. Kurenai studied me, probably wondering if it was true.
"You know that jutsu causes damage to me too, Kakashi. That's my trump card. If I use it too much, I'll lose the ability to mold chakra in my arm," I commented, a blush rising steadily in my cheeks. "Ojiisan! Do I make it or not?"
Hiruzen chuckled as I let the idiot mask make a small appearance, just for Asuma and Kurenai's sake. He sighed before nodding. "I'll get you a flak jacket."
"Cool!" I exclaimed before returning to my more serious self. "Can I stay around for the team assignments? You still need to assign them," I pointed out. Hiruzen sighed and nodded.
"Heal Gai, I think I heard his ribs crack," Kakashi chuckled. I nodded and jumped into the crater, my hands glowing. I heard the other four jounin move away, talking amongst themselves as they walked towards the Hokage Tower. I reactivated my demon eyes, ready to check if I had broken anything.
"One… Two… Okay, two cracked ribs, one broken rib, and a cracked collarbone. Ouch, sorry Gai. That must've hurt," I rambled, gently placing my hands on the damaged areas. He woke up as I finished healing his ribs, wincing slightly as I moved to his collarbone. "Sorry, I didn't mean to punch you that hard. I've always had bad chakra control; too much or too little chakra can leave an enemy conscious or kill an ally," I said as I fixed the damaged bone. When I was finished I jumped up. "Let's go; Ojiisan said he'd wait for us to give out the team assignments."
"Yosh! Why don't we race to the Tower? If I lose, I will run two hundred laps around Konoha! If I can't do that, I'll-" I drowned out the man's voice, cringing when he went into his nice guy pose, smile and all.
"You're on. Start on three. One…"
"Two…"
"Three!" We both shouted before rocketing towards the Hokage Tower. I pushed myself, not decreasing my weights. Even with over three hundred pounds on my body, I kept up with the Green Beast easily.
Skidding to a stop in front of the Tower, I admitted defeat even though I could not tell the victor, the two of us being so closely matched. Looking at me in admiration, Gai held the door open.
"Thanks," I said, walking through the door.
"How heavy are your weights?" Gai asked curiously.
"Right now, I'm up to 330. Seventy on each arm and leg with another fifty on my vest," I said, ignoring Gai's exclamations about youth as the Hokage's office came in sight. I opened the door, not knocking. "Hey, Ojiisan," I said, taking my place in a corner.
"What took you so long? Cracked ribs don't take long for you to heal," Kakashi said, sounding concerned.
"Aw, Kakashi, you're so cute when you're worried," I said with a smirk. "I know I took a while. I broke a rib and cracked his collarbone by mistake," I explained. The other jounin, who weren't at the fight, looked wary of me. "Did you tell them yet? They look a little fidgety…"
"I didn't want to tell them while you were absent," Hiruzen explained. "Everyone, Naruto was just made a jounin. He beat four elite jounin in combat, all at once."
The news was met by mixed emotions: fear, curiosity, and approval ran through the room in waves. A few protested the news, disbelieving the announcement.
"Are you going to show them the video, Ojiisan? I know you had a camera under that hat," I said, exposing the Sandaime. He chuckled but shook his head.
"They'll take you seriously soon enough. Anyway, back to the team assignments!"