Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Madman Entertainment, Viz Media and Manga Entertainment. Please support the official release.
Konoha Academy...
Raiden, Kogeki and Yama all walked out of the academy and high fived each other to celebrate their graduation while many of the other students celebrated with their parents, Raiden would celebrate with his mother later on.
For now, he would like to celebrate with his friends tonight and rest up for the days that were to soon come.
After congratulating Kogeki, Yama and a few others, Raiden began to look for Naruto. He knew he teased him before his turn for the test, but he was one among few others that wanted him to graduate.
Looking around for Naruto Raiden finally found him at the swing on the tree that he sat on the very first time they met.
Before he walked over he could hear people, adults and academy graduates alike, whispering and talking about Naruto. Many of them were saying they were glad he didn't graduate while others were saying that they knew an orphan wouldn't be able to graduate. Not on his own.
Sighing, Raiden walked over to Naruto and patted him on his shoulder before standing next to him.
"Failed the exam, huh?" He asked him, but Naruto didn't verbally answer, he just lightly nodded his head. "Don't let this bring you down, Naruto. There's still next year and this will give you the opportunity try harder than before. Plus, it will give you the chance to practice your Clone Jutsu." Raiden said trying to encourage his friend, but it had no effect.
"Raiden, the Clone Jutsu is my worst Jutsu. I suck at it. I'll never get any good at it." Naruto said looking up at Raiden with a defeated look. "How on Earth am I ever going to become Hokage, let alone a Shinobi, if I can't even perform a Shinobis signature Jutsu?" He asked still looking up at Raiden.
Raiden just looked down at Naruto and sighed before crouching near his friend. "Naruto, I don't have all the answers, I'm just a fresh academy graduate. But I will tell you this. The Clone Jutsu was my worst Jutsu too when I first started training back in Kumo." He told his friend, who looked at him with wide eyes in shock.
"Really? It was your worst Jutsu too?" Naruto asked Raiden, who nodded. "Yep. My worst Jutsu. And to be honest, I still hate it, really. Even though it's a Shinobis signature move, I still hate it. I don't like using it much anyway, so I may not use it at all now that I'm a Shinobi. Although, if there were a better version of that particular Jutsu, I'd consider using it more often, but I won't hold my breath." He admitted before standing back up to look at Naruto to continue talking.
"Listen, Naruto, I know that you feel like it's hopeless right now, but you'll get your chance. I know you will. I wouldn't have been your friend if I didn't believe in you. So, just take things a little more seriously next time and you and I will work together as Shinobi before you know it." He said to him confidently with a smile.
Naruto looked down at the ground for a moment before looking back up at Raiden with a bright smile.
"Alright. I'll try harder, Raiden. And when my time comes, I'll catch up with you before you know it." He said confidently making Raiden smile and nod his head.
"Awesome. If you ever want any tips or advice on anything, then you know where to find me, alright?" He said to Naruto, making him smile brightly and nod. "Alright. I'm gonna get going, Naruto. Keep your head up and I'll see you later." He finished saying before turning around to walk down the street and headed for his apartment to tell his mother the good news.
Naruto continued to smile for a while longer before frowning again and just sat in the swing as the crowd of former students and parents dispersed until he was the only one left in front of the academy as the sun set.
"Hey, there, Naruto." A voice from above Naruto suddenly said, making him jump as he looked up to see who spoke.
"Mizuki Sensei?" Naruto asked with confusion in his voice.
"Come with me for a bit, Naruto. I want to tell you something." Mizuki said to him with a unsettling smile that Naruto didn't notice.
Later that night...
Raiden celebrated with his mother at the most expensive restaurant in Konoha as a reward for graduating from the academy. They both returned to the apartment later that night and on their way to head to bed, but what caught Raiden's eye was distorted shadows that moved from rooftop to rooftop.
"That's odd, what are Konoha Shinobi running off to in such a hurry?" He wondered as Hikari called out to him. "Raiden, come on inside, it's late. You should rest up for tomorrow." She said to him, making him shake his head with a smile.
"Uh, no, Okasan. I think I'm gonna stay out here for a while for some air. Plus, I'm really not that tired. I'll come in soon, ok? You go on ahead and get some sleep." He answered politely.
Hikari nodded then walked into the apartment and closed the door behind her, when she did, Raiden suddenly took off in the direction that all the Konoha Shinobi went and followed them.
Knowing her son was up to something, but nothing bad, she shook her head lightly with a smile. "My little lightning bolt. As eager as always." She thought to herself.
She knew her son was as capable as any experienced Shinobi, but she was his mother, so she was always going to worry about him, but she had to trust him more now that he was a Shinobi.
However, for the moment, they were both still in Konoha. There were no real threats.
Not yet at least.
With Raiden...
Raiden followed the Konoha Shinobi to the front of the Hokage Tower and found a place to hide to listen in on what was going on and from what Raiden could see at the moment, many of them were Jonin while others were Chunin.
"This is outrageous! Naruto's gone too far this time!" Shouted one of the Jonin as the rest of the Shinobi waited for word from the Hokage.
"Naruto? What did he do now? Another prank because he failed? He's pulled pranks before to get attention and to goof off, but pulling a prank because he failed? I'm missing something here." Raiden thought to himself as he continued to listen in.
"Why doesn't Lord Hokage do something about this?! We need to find that kid now before the scroll gets into the wrong hands because of Naruto!" Another one of the Jonin shouted as they continued waiting for the Hokage.
"Scroll? What scroll? There are plenty of scrolls in Konoha. What's so special about what Naruto took?" Raiden questioned as he continued to wait and gather more intel.
Moments later, Sarutobi Hiruzen walked out of the tower and stepped outside with the rest of the Konoha Shinobi. "Lord Hokage, this has gone far enough! We cannot treat this as another one of Naruto's pranks!" A Chunin shouted as the rest of the Shinobi crowd shouted in agreement while the Hokage stared at them all with a stoic face.
He closed his eyes and took a puff from his pipe before blowing put the smoke then opened his eyes. "Please, Lord Hokage! If this goes on any longer then the Forbidden Sealing Scroll could fall into the wrong hands! That scroll was sealed by the First Hokage himself because of all the dangerous Jutsus it contains! And if Naruto has it, then there's no telling what he might do!" Another Jonin shouted as Sarutobi continued to look at them stoically.
"The Forbidden Sealing Scroll?! Naruto, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" Raiden thought in shock.
"Hmm... Bring Naruto here to me." The Hokage simply said and waved his hand.
"HAI!!!" The Shinobi yelled before quickly teleporting to spread out and look for Naruto.
Raiden did the same after all the Shinobi dispersed.
Sarutobi looked in the direction that Raiden was just hiding with shock on his face before smiling. "Raiden, my boy, I didn't even know you were there until now. You're progressing beautifully with your Shinobi training." He thought before losing his smile. "However, I do hope that you will be careful in your search for Naruto. Especially with what you told me in your letter about Mizuki." He thought with worry before hardening his eyes.
"Jaguar! Eagle!" He called as two black clad Anbu Shinobi appeared in front of him while kneeling. "Yes, Lord Hokage?" They said in unison.
"While the Jonin and Chunin search for Naruto, I want you both to help Panther and Wolf keep an eye on the Konoha Academy instructor, Muzak. He was just here for the briefing, although I have reason to believe that he may have had a hand in Naruto's theft of the Forbidden Sealing Scroll. Keep a close eye on him and dispose of him should he prove to be disloyal to me or the village." Sarutobi ordered as they both nodded their heads in understanding.
"Yes, Lord Hokage." They both answered.
"Go." Sarutobi ordered and waved his hand again as both Anbu Shinobi dispersed and teleported away on command.
Sarutobi lowered his head as his Hokage hat hid the top half of his face as he took another puff from his pipe before blowing out the smoke. "Raiden, my boy, your gut instincts may have been right about Mizuki. And you're after both him and Naruto, I pray for your safety. There's no telling what your mother might do if she finds out you've been injured or worse. So, do us both a favor and stay safe. For your mothers sake and ours." He thought as he stood in front of the Hokage Tower and waited patiently for the return of all the Shinobi and the scroll.
Raiden darted through the trees outside of the village in search of Naruto to hopefully knock some sense into him and find out why he took such an important object of Konoha's history. "Naruto, you better hope I find you first before the Jonin and Chunin do! They're ready to see you punished in the most brutal way for what you did!" He thought as he continued darting through the trees before suddenly stopping.
"Wait... if he has the scroll, then no doubt he might try to learn a thing or two from it while we're looking for him. So, where would he go to practice?" He asked himself before answering. "Our favorite training spot outside the village!" He shouted in his head with a smile before taking off in the direction of the small hut that was just outside the village.
The hut has been abandoned for years, so with Raiden and Naruto, it was the perfect spot for them to train themselves when they weren't training in the academy.
Plus, where it was so close to the village, no one had been sharp enough to ever look for Naruto there when he pulled one of his pranks. The only one that could ever find him was Raiden because he knew Naruto all too well.
Also, whenever they were too tired from training for a whole day and didn't want to make the trip back into the village, they would just camp out at night and sleep in the hut. They've had a lot of good times in that spot, but now tonight those memories might be tainted because of what Naruto has done.
Raiden finally reached the spot when he landed on a tree branch to support his weight and kept an eye out for Naruto, but he didn't have to look for long. Because just outside of the huts door was Naruto lying down on his back breathing heavily with the scroll on top of him.
Raiden shook his head lightly before jumping down near Naruto, who jumped at his sudden appearance. "AH!!! Oh, it's just you, Raiden." He said sitting up when he saw that it was his close friend.
"Yeah, well, you better be glad that it's JUST me, Naruto. The Jonin and Chunin Shinobi are ready to see you punished brutally for what you did." Raiden said in response, but Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean?" He asked.
Raiden facepalmed before lowering his hand. "Naruto, seriously? You broke into the vault in the Hokage Tower and STOLE a priceless object of history. The Forbidden Sealing Scroll. Why would you do something like that?" Raiden said sternly as he pointed at the scroll that was sitting in Naruto's lap.
Naruto looked at the opened scroll then back up at Raiden. "Because Mizuki Sensei told me where to find the scroll to begin with." He answered making Raiden's eyes widen in shock. "Mizuki? I knew it. He told Naruto where to find the scroll so the blame would be directed at Naruto and not him. But the question is, what does Mizuki need it for?" He wondered as Naruto continued answering.
"Mizuki Sensei told me that I would get enough extra credit to help me graduate and become a Shinobi if I took the scroll. And so far, I've only learned one Jutsu so far before you showed up. The Shadow Clone Jutsu. That's what I just finished practicing before you found me." He answered brightly with a smile while scratching the back of his head.
Raiden looked at him with surprise. "Only one? And he's been out here practicing the whole time?" He wondered before looking Naruto over to see that he did look a bit tired and worn out from using chakra to practice the jutsu before shaking his head and looked at Naruto sternly.
"Regardless of that, Naruto. You should've known that it was the wrong thing to do to steal something from the Hokage Vault." He said as Naruto lowered his head and looked at the ground. "Not only that, but Mizuki set you up, Naruto." He continued as Naruto snapped his head up and looked at Raiden in shock.
Raiden nodded. "Many of the Konoha Shinobi are out searching for you and their out for blood this time. You should be glad that it was me that found you first before someone else did."
"I couldn't agree more, Raiden."
Both Raiden and Naruto snapped their heads in the direction of the new voice and peered into the darkness of the forest to see who was approaching.
It was Iruka with a smile on his face.
"I'm honestly impressed with you, Raiden. You managed to find Naruto before anyone else did. Well done." He said to Raiden, who smiled and shrugged, before looking at Naruto. "As for you Naruto, you may have been set up by Mizuki, but something still doesn't add up. Why would he have you steal the scroll if he already knew where it was?" He wondered out loud to both boys, who both shook their heads since they didn't have an answer.
"You want to know why? I'll tell you."
A new voice said from up in the trees as all three of them looked up to see shuriken stars flying towards them. Raiden pushed Naruto out of the way while taking the brunt of the attack.
"Raiden!" Naruto and Iruka shouted as Raiden was pinned against the outside wall of the hut.
"So I can finally have an excuse to get rid of Naruto for good! Plus, with Raiden out here, I can get rid of him too!" Mizuki said with a sickening sweet smile before jumping down to ground level with the other three.
Iruka and Naruto looked at Mizuki heatedly as he walked towards Raiden with a kunai in his hand. "Don't worry, Raiden. I'll be sure to take good care of your mother. I'll come up with a big heroic story of how you fought Naruto to take the scroll back and give it back to the Hokage. You'll be seen as you've always wanted. A hero. Plus, I'm sure your mother will be more than willing to spread her legs open for me when I tell her that I tried to save you from Naruto. She'll want another child after all." He said with a disgustingly confident tone, but Raiden just smiled and chuckled before looking up at Mizuki.
"What the hell are you laughing about, runt? I won't have you having a smile on your face when I kill you." He said angrily to Raiden as he glared at his, but Raiden just continued to chuckle. "Hah... You? With my Kaasan, Mizuki? Don't flatter yourself. You're not close enough to her level to handle her. Let alone... rock her world. Limp dick." He said defiantly before Mizuki suddenly saw red and stabbed the kunai into Raiden's head.
"RAIDEN!!!" Naruto and Iruka shouted at the sight.
"Heh, good for nothing runt. Even with all your training and the ranks you had on your file, you were nothing. And you will always be nothing." Mizuki said with a disgusting tone and smirk.
Naruto began to tear up at the sight of his friend who had a kunai in his head while Iruka glared at Mizuki before he shouted. "Mizuki! You've gone too far! He just graduated today! Why would you do this?!" He yelled as he ran towards Mizuki with a kunai of his own in his hand.
Mizuki just continued to smirk before he glared at Iruka and jumped away from him and landed on a tree branch. "Why, Iruka? WHY?! I'll tell you why just like I told you earlier today. Raiden wasn't one of us. He was Kumo filth. He didn't belong here. I did the village and his mother a favor by killing him. Hikari is from Konoha, she didn't want to have a Kumo child taint her family bloodline. She's better off. And soon, I will also have her for myself and take her away from that good for nothing, paranoid head of the Ryujin Clan. And even if she doesn't want me as a husband, I'll still have her... as my love slave. Heheheheh..." He told Iruka, who glared dangerously at him, before looking at Naruto, who was on his knees with tears in his eyes while he was still looking at Raiden's corpse.
"But before that... I'll do what the Hokage should've done twelve years ago... AND KILL NARUTO!!!" He shouted before quickly unlatching one of the giant shuriken on his back and threw it at Naruto.
But the giant shuriken was quickly deflected before it could even reach Naruto.
"WHAT?!" Mizuki shouted before Raiden's corpse suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke as a log fell to the ground. Then Mizuki felt a presence behind him.
"If you really think that you're going to succeed in all that, Mizuki, then you're in for an extremely rude awakening." A voice said behind him, but before he could turn around to attack, he was punch hard to the ground with a loud thud.
Mizuki, Iruka and Naruto looked up at the tree branch to see Raiden glaring down at Mizuki with his Doragan glowing dangerously bright.
"Raiden!" Naruto and Iruka shouted happy to see that he was still alive.
"The Substitution Jutsu. A classic Shinobi technique." Iruka thought as Raiden continued to glare down at Mizuki, who was slightly trembling from the sight of Raiden's eyes.
"And if you even THINK for one second that I'm going to let you walk away in one piece after what you just said about my Kaasan, you're sadly mistaken." Raiden said darkly before jumping down to attack Mizuki, but he dodged out of the way and tried to go after Naruto, kill him and take the scroll.
But Raiden suddenly phased in front of him.
"What the hell?!" He shouted in his head before Raiden delivered a hard kick to Mizuki's abdomen that sent him flying back towards a tree before landed against it hard with a loud audible crack.
"You're not getting away that easy, Mizuki." Raiden said to him coldly before he started walking towards him.
"Heh, you know, protecting your mother I can understand, but maybe you won't be so quick to protect Naruto after I tell you what he is." He said when he looked up at Raiden with a smirk.
Raiden stopped and Naruto looked with confusion at Mizuki.
"Mizuki, don't! It's forbidden!" Iruka shouted, but Mizuki just continued smirking at Raiden.
"At this point, Iruka, I don't give much of a damn." He chuckled before continuing. "Raiden, you want to know what it is you're REALLY friends with? What you're REALLY protecting? It's not Naruto, oh, no. Naruto doesn't even exist. Hehehe, you're friends with-"
"MIZUKI, SHUT UP!!!"
"-the Nine Tailed Fox."
Raiden and Naruto's eyes both widened in shock at the revelation.
"The Nine Tails?" Raiden thought for a moment before glaring at Mizuki again. "You're lying." He said simply.
"Heh, am I? Tell me, Raiden. Haven't you thought why Naruto doesn't have any parents?" Mizuki asked him with a sneer.
"Because he's an orphan. His parents died during the Nine Tails attack on Konoha. His mother in child birth and his father was one of the Shinobi that defended Konoha." Raiden answered.
"Wrong."
"What?"
"Naruto doesn't have any parents because Naruto doesn't exist. Naruto IS the Nine Tailed Fox." He said to him before looking at Naruto. "Don't you find it strange why no one ever acknowledged you or wanted to be friends with you, Naruto? Because the adults know what you really are. The kids don't, but they have a sneaking suspicion that there is something wrong with you. And they're right. You are nothing more than a shell being used to house the spirit of the Nine Tailed Fox within you. And if you ever felt like, you would break out of that shelled that calls itself Naruto and you would wreak havoc on Konoha again." Mizuki taunted Naruto as he just stood in his spot from the shock.
"Damn it..." Naruto thought in his head before channeling his chakra around him. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" He shouted repeatedly as Raiden and Iruka glanced at him.
"Naruto...!" They thought as Mizuki just smiled.
"No one will ever acknowledge you, Naruto! No one will ever recognize you as anything but that demon fox! Even Iruka hates you! YOU! ARE! NOTHING!" He shouted as the glare on Naruto's face grew.
Taking advantage of Iruka and Raiden focusing on Naruto, Mizuki kicked Raiden away and threw multiple kunai at him which made Naruto fall backwards from the sudden attack.
Raiden, who tried to recover as quickly as he could, reached his hand out in Naruto's direction and shouted. "NARUTO!!!"
Naruto flinched as the kunai got closer and closed his eyes to prepare for his fate, but nothing happened. Until he felt something drop on his cheek.
He looked up to see Iruka crouched over him with tears in his eyes along with all the kunai impaled in his back.
Mizuki, Raiden and Naruto all looked shocked as Iruka coughed up blood and more landed on Naruto's cheek.
"W-Why?" He asked with confusion and sorrow. Iruka paused before answering.
"Because... Because you're the same as me, Naruto." He stated. Naruto and Raiden widened their eyes.
"After my parents died, no one complimented me or recognized me. Being the student I was at that time, I screwed up a lot during class. Because I just wanted to get everyone's attention. I couldn't... I couldn't get anyone's attention when I was a good student. So, I acted... like an idiot. It was so tough and hard..." He explained to Naruto as tears fell from his eyes.
"You know this all too well, Naruto. Right? You were lonely too. It was tough, right?" He continued tearfully as Naruto just looked up at him. "I'm sorry, Naruto. You... You didn't have to feel that way if I had just been more aware."
"Hahahaha! Don't make me laugh, Iruka! You've hated him since he killed your parents!" Mizuki yelled as he started laughing. "He just wants the scroll back, Naruto! Don't believe a word he says!" He continued as Naruto looked at Iruka with uncertainty.
Then he suddenly broke off into a run deeper into the forest.
"Naruto!" Iruka shouted.
"NARUTO!!!" Raiden shouted before chasing after him.
Mizuki jumped down and landed next to Iruka with a laugh. "Haha! I think you and I both know that Naruto isn't one to change his mind when he makes it up." He said as Iruka looked on as Naruto continued to run with Raiden hot on his heels.
"The fox will take its revenge on the village with that scroll. You saw his eyes, didn't you, Iruka? It was the eyes of that damned demon fox. There's nothing inside him but evil." He said tauntingly to Iruka, who had had enough of Mizuki's mouth as he reached behind him and pulled out the kunai from his back.
He shakily stood back up and turned around to face Mizuki with a glare. "Naruto... won't do that!" He shouted before throwing all the kunai back at Mizuki, who dodged them all with ease.
He looked back at Iruka with a smirk. "Heh, no matter. As long as I kill Naruto and get back the scroll, I'm gonna be fine. And if I kill Raiden in the process, well then, that's just a plus." He said to Iruka before they stared each other down for a moment.
"Hmph, don't go anywhere, Iruka. I'll deal with you too, when I get back." He stated before taking off after Naruto and Raiden.
Iruka collapsed to one knee and glared at Mizuki's retreating form. "I... I won't let you!" He thought.
10 minutes later...Iruka darted through the trees trying to catch up to Naruto until he spotted him.
"There he is!" He thought as he sped up to catch up to him.
Naruto darted through the trees when he heard Iruka behind him. "Naruto! Listen to me! Everything Mizuki said back there was a lie! Hand me the scroll! Mizuki is after it and he'll abuse it if he gets his hands on it!" He explained before Naruto landed on a tree branch then suddenly darted towards Iruka with a body slam that knocked the air out of him as they both fell back to the ground.
Iruka landed hard as he struggled to sit up and look at Naruto. "W-What? How?" He wondered out loud before he was suddenly covered by a puff of smoke and transformed into Mizuki.
"How did you know that I wasn't Iruka, Naruto?" He asked as Naruto just smirked before he was suddenly engulfed in a puff of smoke himself and transformed into Iruka. "Because I am Iruka, you idiot." He said tauntingly as he stumbled backwards against a tree.
Mizuki stood up. "Hmph, I see." He said annoyed as he walked a little closer to Iruka before stopping with a glare. "What good is it to protect such trash like Naruto? The one who killed your parents? Or Raiden for that matter? A Kumo piece of filth?" He asked Iruka who just glared at Mizuki defiantly.
"I'm not going to let an idiotic piece of scum like you get that scroll." He said to him through gritted teeth.
"Hah! Who's the idiot here, Iruka? Naruto is the same as me. And Raiden will eventually betray Konoha. It's in his blood." He said again to Iruka, but Iruka remained defiant.
"Naruto... is the same as you? And Raiden... it's in his blood to betray people?" He whispered with his head down.
Mizuki shrugged. "Anything is possible with that scroll, Iruka. And either Naruto or Raiden will use it for their own gain. They'll fight each other for it, and only one of them will get that scroll. There's no way that one of them won't use that scroll. Naruto already has. He used it to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu, yes? What makes you think Raiden won't do the same with it? What if he learns something worse?" He questioned Iruka, who kept his head down before he sighed.
"Yeah... I guess you're right." He finally said, making Mizuki smirk.
"That is IF Naruto was really the Nine Tailed Fox. And Raiden? It may be in his blood to betray people, but that's not the type of person he is, Mizuki. That's not the type of people they are. I told you to pay attention to those kids, but you didn't. That's where you failed as an instructor." He declared suddenly, making Mizuki narrow his eyes.
"They... Naruto and Raiden, are both excellent students. They're both hard working, earnest and loyal to each other to a fault. No one, except for a small number of people, ever acknowledged them." He continued as Mizuki just listened, but his patience was wearing thin.
"Naruto and Raiden, they both know the pain of others. They both know more about pain, hardwork and perseverance better than anyone in our generation or theirs." Iruka continued with a smile as Mizuki's hands started twitching.
"Naruto... is not a monster, Mizuki. And Raiden, he doesn't have a single treacherous bone in his body. The both of them would rather die before they turn on the people they care about. So, again, Mizuki, like always about those two boys... you're wrong." He continued as Mizuki gritted his teeth and glared dangerously at Iruka.
"They're both Uzumaki Naruto and Ryujin Raiden of the Hidden Leaf Village. And that's how they'll remain until the day they die!" He shouted as Mizuki just sighed deeply and unlatched the last giant shuriken from his back.
"You know what? Whatever, idiot. I said I would kill you later, but I'm not gonna wait anymore. I think I'll kill you here and now." He threatened as he spun the giant shuriken in his hand.
"Now... DIE, IRUKA!!!" He shouted before running towards him with the giant shuriken still spinning.
Iruka just stared defiantly at Mizuki with a smile on his face. "So, this is how it ends. Fine with me. Mizuki has no chance against Raiden and Naruto together anyway. They'll be fine." He thought and closed his eyes.
Just as Mizuki was about to strike Iruka down, Naruto jumped in and kneed him to the face and sent him flying backwards while dropping the giant shuriken that was sent flying into the distance while cutting down a few tree branches. Then Raiden suddenly popped up beside him and kicked him in the ribs that sent him flying a few meters away from him, Naruto and Iruka.
Raiden and Naruto landed safely on the ground while Mizuki landed hard on his back as he skidded for a few seconds until he stopped to see both Raiden and Naruto glaring dangerously at him.
"Wha- Naruto! Raiden!" Iruka thought with surprise as he stared at the two of them in shock. Mizuki just glared back at the both of them as he tried to stand up, but couldn't. "Tch... damn you... both of you." He said through gritted teeth as both boys glared at him.
"If you lay another hand on Iruka Sensei, Mizuki..." Raiden said coldy.
"...Then we'll kill you if you do!" Naruto finished with an equally cold tone and glare.
"Hmph! You two are nothing but talk! You're just a Genin, Raiden! And you, Naruto, you're nothing! What makes you think you have a chance against me?! I'll beat the both of you down in an instant!" He shouted at them, but neither of the two seemed to care.
Naruto held up a handsign while Raiden's eyes glowed a golden amber color when he activated the Doragan.
"Go ahead and try it, Mizuki." Naruto said without a single care in his tone as Raiden smirked. "We'll just take whatever you give us and give it back to you a thousand times worse."
"Go ahead and try it scum! It doesn't matter if you two fight me at the same time! I'll still kill you both!"
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as hundreds of Naruto clones popped into existence and they were all glaring at Mizuki.
"Naruto... you... used the Shadow Clone Jutsu! And they're not just illusions, they're solid clones! He managed to learn a difficult Jutsu in just a few hours!" Iruka thought with astonishment and pride as he looked at Naruto.
"W-What? No... It's impossible!" Mizuki thought as he looked around him to now look for a way to escape, but there was a Naruto clone at every turn. Even in the trees. Seeing no way out, he almost stumbled backwards, but Raiden was suddenly in front of him.
"What the-?!" He shouted before he felt rapid punches all over his body before he was sent flying up into the air with an uppercut.
"H-How?! I didn't even see that little bastard move! What is he?!" He shouted internally as he went higher up.
Raiden looked at Mizuki up in the air them to Naruto and all the clones with a smile. "Go get him." He said simply as Naruto and the clones smiled brightly before jumping up into the air to follow Mizuki. "Here we come!" They shouted as Raiden and Iruka heard Mizuki shouting and screaming before long.
Moments later...
Mizuki lay on the ground moaning and groaning with bruises, a bloody nose and a black eye. Naruto scratched the back of his head while Raiden nudged him gently with his foot which made him groan in pain. "Naruto, I think you over did it a bit." He said before looking up at Naruto, who smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. I guess I just got caught up in the moment." He admitted before they both looked over at Iruka.
"Hey, Iruka Sensei, you ok?" Naruto asked as they both walked over to him to check on his wounds.
"Hahaha, yeah, I'm alright you two." He said to them as Raiden checked over his wounds while Naruto just watched. "Hah, these two. With these two together as Shinobi, there's nothing that can stand in their way. They both may even become stronger than all the Shinobi combined! Even the Hokages!" Iruka thought before he gently brushed Raiden's hands away.
"Naruto, sit down in front of me for a second and close your eyes." He said to him while Raiden and Naruto looked at each other in confusion before looking back at Iruka. "Why?" He asked, but Iruka just shook his head.
"Just do it."
Meanwhile, back with the Hokage, the Konoha Shinobi were all gathered back in front of Hokage Tower as they berated themselves and each other. "Are you kidding me?! How hard is it to find one kid that has had no proper training?! Did anyone even try to find him?!" A Chunin shouted before a Jonin glared at him. "Did you?!" He shouted as they were all arguing with each other.
"Enough!" Sarutobi ordered making them all instantly quiet as they looked at the Hokage. "All of you go home now. Get some rest. You've earned it." He simply said before turning around to walk back into the tower.
"But Lord Hokage-"
"That's an order. The scroll is safe now. All of you go home and get some rest." Sarutobi ordered without turning around and walked into the tower while the rest of the Shinobi walked away and headed home.
Back with Raiden, Naruto and Iruka, Naruto had his eyes closed as he fidgeted around while Iruka put something on his head.
"Come on, Iruka Sensei, how much longer?" He asked impatiently before feeling a slight push on his shoulder. "Don't be so impatient, Naruto. He's almost done." Raiden's voice said as Naruto pouted and waited a bit longer.
"Ok. You can open your eyes now, Naruto." Iruka said as Naruto opened his eyes to see both Iruka and Raiden smiling at him, but Iruka didn't have his headband and he was holding Naruto's goggles in his hand.
Naruto's eyes widened at the revelation when he reached his hand up and felt the headband on his head. "Congratulations, Naruto Uzumaki, you graduate." He said proudly as Naruto bit his lips to hold back his tears.
Iruka and Raiden looked at him confused. "Naruto, you ok?" Raiden asked before Naruto leapt at both of them and hugged them while slightly crying. Iruka and Raiden did nothing but smile and laugh as Naruto celebrated.
"I did it! I'm a Shinobi! I graduated!" He shouted proudly as he hugged his friend and his teacher.
"Raiden, you don't need me to tell you this since you already have an idea, but you, Naruto, I was going to tell you that your life is only going to get harder from now on. The life of a Shinobi is a difficult one, and it will get even more lonely at times when you need to rely only on yourself, but I'm sure you can handle it. So, I'll tell you another time... over ramen. And Raiden, I expect great things from you. I just know that both you and Naruto are going to be forces to be reckoned with."