Captain Blues: As mentioned in my most recent A/N, here is the revamped chapter one of this story. I hope you guys enjoy it! Time to set sail.
Name Reaper's Blood: Final Mix
Summary: During the infamous forbidden scroll theft, A precious person of Naruto dies saving his life and in turn changes Naruto's world in the way none will see coming.
Pairings: Naruto/Hinata/Ino/Anko/Koyuki
Genre: Action, Adventure, Humor, Romance.
Rating: M for Mature
WARNING:
1.Ages of Naruto and his Genin classmates have been aged up by 3 years so they are 16-17 (while Temari's and Haku's have increased by 3 years so they are 18-19), but the ages of the Iruka, Jōnin, Kages, Sennin, etc. will remain the same with the exception of Kazahana Koyuki and Anko who will be 19-20.
2. Canon events will still occur (such as Wave and Chūnin Exams, for example).
3. While I am unsure about smut, I am putting this warning up to let people know if I do decide to do them, but even if I don't, this story is a mature one all the same.
Disclaimer: The Following is a fan-fiction based on the anime/manga series NARUTO by Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release
*Legend*
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Kioigan Talking"
"Kyūbi talking."
Reaper's Blood: Final Mix
Chapter One
[Location: Village Of Konoha (Forest - Night)
POV: Uzumaki Naruto]
"I, Uzumaki Naruto, have done something that no one else could ever accomplish! I can't believe it!" Naruto exclaimed as he bounced from tree branch to tree branch with an excited look in his eyes
Naruto had done the impossible. He had stolen the forbidden scroll by knocking out the Hokage by using his Oiroke no Jutsu.
And here, he thought it would be a challenge to steal the damn thing.
With his grin growing with each second that passed, Naruto continued his way deeper into the forest until he finally came across the old shed Mizuki had told him to meet him.
Naruto tried to slide to a halt, but he managed to trip on a small pebble, and with a yell, he crashed face-first onto the ground.
He stayed on the ground for two whole minutes before his embarrassment subsided before getting up onto his feet, walking over to the scroll, and sat down in front of it.
"I can't believe that the silver-haired teme himself would offer this chance to me! I guess he saw that me becoming the Hokage could truly happen," Naruto said aloud to himself as he sat the rather heavy scroll on the ground before him before he sat down in front of it.
If Naruto could be honest with himself, he didn't know how he felt about doing this. He wanted to become the Hokage, and everyone and their ancestors knew this about him.
But was he going about this the right way?
Every Hokage in existence went through the academy and passed it successfully, and yet he was, cheating his way to the top.
'Then again…Mizuki-sensei did say that this was an alternate test to test my skills as a shinobi…' Naruto thought as he tried to quell his guilt. 'And even if he was a total jackass by picking on me the entire time, he at least saw something in me to give me this test…More than Iruka-sensei…'
Naruto's somewhat good mood changed into an unhappy one.
Naruto didn't bother to hide that Umino Iruka, his chūnin sensei at the academy, was something akin to an older brother to Naruto.
When they met, Iruka looked at him like he was a menace to Konoha, much like everyone else. But unlike everyone else, Iruka actively engaged with him daily to stop Naruto from pranking everyone.
While Naruto knew it was an unhealthy one, he was glad that he and Iruka built up some relationship.
But after one horrible prank, Iruka told the amused class something that said the words that turned Naruto's slight dislike of the chūnin into absolute loathing.
[Flashback Location: Konoha (Shinobi Academy (Morning) - Seven Years Ago)
POV: Uzumaki Naruto]
The seven-year-old Uzumaki Naruto felt victorious.
He had just done the impossible.
He had finally broken the calm veneer that his prideful sensei had worn from the moment they had met.
The plan was straightforward.
All he did was follow Iruka to his home after school and waited until nightfall. Once nightfall came, Naruto would place a bucket filled with lavender paint with light blue glitter on the doorframe above his front door.
Naruto then made sure to tie the front doorknob with rope and connect it to the bucket that sat precariously on the doorframe's edge so when the chūnin woke up and left his house, the bucket would tip over and splash all over him.
But that was only part one.
Part two of the prank was going to happen the moment Iruka sat down on his chair.
Because once Iruka did that, the legs would snap off, triggering the paint cans beneath Iruka's desk to explode, which would cover the man in blue and orange paint, both of which would have glitter in there as well.
The moment Iruka walked into the room, Naruto grinned when he saw the washed-off remains of his first prank. "Sorry, I am late class," Iruka said as he walked to his desk and sat down, only for the chair's legs snapped off, sending Iruka slamming to the ground where he was showered in blue and orange paint.
The class went into hysterics while Naruto stood up from his seat and took three bows. "Thank you, thank you," Naruto said before he turned his head to see the giggling girl and was taken aback.
The girl's eyes looked like lavender-colored pearls.
They were stunning.
The girl caught him looking at him and blushed before turning away.
Naruto tilted his head as the class congratulated him for his success. But the revelry ended when the sound of something heavy slammed against Iruka's desk.
Along with everyone else, Naruto turned around and watched as a stoned-faced Iruka stood up from his downed position, orange and blue paint dripping from his head down.
Slowly, the chūnin began to chuckle, which stunned Naruto.
"Class…Do you think this is amusing?" Iruka asked, which caused everyone to stare at the scarred man in confusion, but Naruto laughed.
"I thought so at least," Naruto stated as he placed his thumb against his chest with a grin before he added, "Orange and blue looks perfect on you, Iruka-sensei."
"I am glad you think so, Naruto," Iruka calmly said as he grabbed a towel from his desk and began to wipe his face. Once he finished cleaning his face, Iruka continued with, "Because I know this little prank and the one this morning is your doing," Iruka responded, which made Naruto's grin broaden.
"Well, of course, you had been begging for it for weeks. Besides, I'm the best prankster there is," Naruto boasted.
Iruka chuckled again as he nodded, mostly to himself, then said, "Listen, class, I do know that many of you enjoy these pranks, but at the end of the day, all of you are encouraging these acts of vandalism."
Naruto was confused by the words Iruka was saying and was about to open his mouth to respond.
However, Iruka continued with, "The things that Uzumaki Naruto has done as of late are childish and immature, and people like that are not worthy of the time or respect of us hard-working citizens of Konoha deserve."
Iruka looked directly at Naruto as he said, "So when Naruto plays a prank, do not acknowledge them or him. Maybe then young Uzumaki will become a more productive member of society instead of the hooligan he is now."
[Present Location: Village Of Konoha (Forest - Night)
POV: Uzumaki Naruto]
After that day, everyone treated Iruka's words as gospel and ignored all pranks Naruto had played, and soon, Naruto felt even more alone than before.
Sure, no one had liked him back then, but people at least responded to his pranks. But thanks to Iruka telling everyone to ignore them had cut Naruto deeply.
And because of this, Naruto treated Iruka with hostility that the chūnin had shown him, throwing prank after prank on the chūnin, who practiced what he preached and ignored all the antics he had thrown at him.
At the peak of their "war," Iruka decided that he could not attend the "Test of Courage."
Angered and hurt at this, Naruto swore that he would never attend the academy again, and for the next week, Naruto kept to his word and refused to go back to the academy.
But during that week, a bunch of kids that bullied him in the past told him that they felt terrible about Iruka mistreating him and offered to be his friends but on one condition.
Hibachi, the group's leader, told him that a patrol unit had fought some enemy ninja in the back hills the day before, and if he wanted to be in their group, he would have to bring back something from the battle site.
Naruto knew it was stupid, but at the time, he was so desperate for someone, anyone to care for him that he did do it. He snuck out and found the dead remains, and at first, Naruto found himself gagging from the smell that emitted from them, but he needed friends and would do anything to gain them.
Naruto was not proud of rummaging through the dead bodies, but when he found a piece of paper of some scrawls that he couldn't make out but he decided to keep it, but that was when Iruka came upon him.
Iruka told Naruto to return to Konoha, but he refused and ran as fast as his little legs could take him, but that led him right into the hands of Kunoichi that hailed from Kumogakure no Sato.
With the help of some masked guy that Naruto later knew as Hatake Kakashi, the two finally got away.
And when the excitement died down, something happened between the two of them that changed their relationship entirely.
[Flashback Location: Konoha (Nighttime – Seven Years Ago)
POV: Uzumaki Naruto]
"Why did you do it, Naruto?"
Naruto frowned at Iruka's words as the two sat by each other on a bench.
It had been a few hours after the two of them had gotten away from those tough kunoichi, and Naruto felt annoyed that Iruka called him out here right before he was going to go to bed.
Iruka may have saved his life, but that didn't change the fact that he felt hurt by all Iruka had done to him during his time at the academy.
"Why did I do what?" Naruto asked with a snotty tone, his bottom lip sticking out with his arms crossed.
"Why did you leave the village the way you did?" Iruka asked with a concerned yet angered tone in his voice. "What you did was foolish and reckless, and had I not come and found you, you could have gotten hurt or even killed."
Naruto could hear the anger in his voice and felt the anger growing within his veins. How dare this guy act as he cared after all the hurtful crap that he said?
"Do you dare try to act like you care after all you've done!" Naruto snapped with a harsh tone. "You think saving my life means you can act like you're all worried about me when you said I wasn't worth the attention or respect of anyone?! Where do you get the right to act this way?!"
Naruto could see that Iruka was taken aback by his outburst, but he didn't care. He was tired, hungry, and still a bit afraid after today's events, which made things worse for his mood.
Naruto could feel unshed tears within his eyes as he said with a wavering voice, "You think you c-can just say those things and expect me to be happy that you saved my life, but they won't!"
Years of being subjected to the worse kind of neglect were finally bubbling to the surface, and Naruto could no longer hold back all that his little heart could stand.
"Every single day…From the moment I wake up to the moment I sleep, I'm alone. No one cares about me. All they do is treat me like I'm a monster," Naruto explained, his anguish visibly showing in his voice. "They pretend I don't exist, and when they are forced to interact with me, their voices are so cold and cruel…But do you know what the worse part of being me in this village is?"
A bit of anger appeared in Naruto's voice as he said, "Being at the end of their constant glares! I don't even have to see it; I can practically feel their hate anytime I leave my damn rundown apartment. And the one place that I thought I could avoid those looks was at the academy."
"I was treated somewhat badly there too, but I never had to deal with that unwanted stare of hatred...Until you came around, and suddenly, I couldn't escape that look at a-all," Naruto told him, his voice breaking as tears fell from his eyes.
"All I wanted was friends Iruka-sensei…Someone that cares for me and wants me around, even if I'm there to be made fun of…It's better than just being ignored and hated…At least I can feel wanted, even as a punch line to a joke," Naruto sadly finished.
"K-Kami-sama above…Naruto, I-I'm so-" He heard Iruka whisper in a tone that was unfamiliar to Naruto. Still, Naruto shook his head and offered a watery smile.
"Just save it," Naruto whispered sadly. "I've gotten used to it to the fact that no one cares about me. Even I don't care about myself anymore. Maybe it would have been better for me to die. At least I would have been f-freed from being this lone-"
Naruto felt Iruka's arms wrap around him in a bone-crushing hug without any warning, which caused Naruto to stiffen with surprise, and that surprise grew when he felt a drop of something wet hit his shoulder.
"A-All this time…All this time I thought of you as just some menace to the village…Kami, you're just a child…And I treated a child so terribly…What have I done?" Naruto heard Iruka whisper with that strange tone again as the elder male shook against him.
It was then Naruto realized what the strange tone was.
It was sadness.
And to shock Naruto further, the wetness that he was feeling was Iruka's tears. Iruka was crying because of him.
Seeing the man that had hurt him with his stares of hatred and cruel words now crying against him because of his words truly made Naruto upset.
No matter how cruel Iruka was to him, Naruto hated to see people cry because of him.
"Please don't cry…" Naruto told him with a sad frown on his face, but Iruka only squeezed him tighter.
"Kami…I'm so sorry, Naruto," Naruto heard Iruka breathe out remorsefully against his shoulder, which made fresh tears appear in Naruto's eyes.
Naruto wanted Iruka to stop because he was scared. He was scared that this was all a cruel trick.
No one ever cried for how they treated him before, so why would his biggest detractor mourn for how he treated him?
But despite this thought, Naruto couldn't stop himself from hoping that maybe, just maybe, someone was sorry for how they treated him, and that was more than enough for him to bawl against the older man's flak jacket.
[Present Location: Village Of Konoha (Forest - Night)
POV: Uzumaki Naruto]
Iruka had explained after that moment that when he was younger, he had lost his parents and, in turn, became lonely enough to become a delinquent like Naruto was. It was the Hokage himself who steered Iruka in the right direction with advice.
Iruka explained that he had heard of Naruto's reputation as a severe prankster and was wary of him. Still, Iruka stated that instead of seeing the signs that he was lonely, Iruka admitted that he took the same approach the villagers had, which was to disregard him.
Iruka admitted that the moment Naruto broke down on the bench, Iruka saw the pain his words and actions had, and it made Iruka realize that Naruto needed someone by his side like Iruka did when he was younger.
After that moment, Iruka swore from to Naruto that he would earn forgiveness for his cruel words and stares.
And without a doubt, Naruto felt that Iruka made up for it a thousand times over.
Thanks to Iruka, Naruto was living in an apartment building with super friendly tenants who treated him like a normal person instead of the one the Hokage had found more rundown and had managers who despised him.
Instead of the ratty, poor-quality clothes that Naruto was forced to buy from the rude shop owners, Iruka made sure to buy nice clean clothes, even in his favorite color, orange.
And instead of being sold rotten or expired food as he had before, Iruka always bought fresh food for him.
Iruka even helped Naruto excel in his classes, and while he wouldn't become rookie of the year, he was still doing better than he was before.
But while Iruka helped Naruto become a better person, Naruto was still lonely until he met his best friend.
[Flashback Location: Konoha (Daytime – Seven Years Ago)
POV: Uzumaki Naruto]
"Why in the world did I even come here?" Naruto muttered to himself with a sad sigh as he swung on the swing by himself, a frown on his face.
School had just let out, and Iruka was forced to grade papers so he couldn't spend time with him, so here he was, in the park, watching kids his age playing with their friends.
Despite Iruka and Naruto's friendship after that day the scarred man saved his life, Naruto still yearned to make friends his age, and as he watched a small platinum blond-haired girl playing with a chubby chestnut-haired boy and a black-haired but whose head was shaped like a pineapple.
They looked so happy playing together.
It only made Naruto feel terrible.
But when Naruto turned his head to look away, he saw a girl his age sitting the seat of a separate set of swings with the same sad look on her face he knew was on his own.
He remembered her.
She was the cute pearl-eyed girl that laughed at his prank three weeks ago.
Was she lonely too?
Naruto got off his seat and walked to the swing seat, and as he did, he could hear her whisper, "I w-wish I had f-friends."
And that was when Naruto placed a single tap on her shoulder.
The small girl looked up at him with a surprised expression.
Naruto wanted to back down when he saw her look. Instead, he summoned up his courage and stammered out, "Um h-hi…"
"H-Hi," the girl shyly said.
Unable to keep the nervousness from his voice, Naruto asked, "Can I swing with you?"
The girl stared at him for what seemed like an eternity before she gave a small smile and stuttered, "S-Sure."
Naruto smiled and sat down next to her and said, "I bet I can swing higher than you!" And with that, the two began to swing together, both of them laughing as they went higher.
After twenty minutes of this, the two had stopped swinging and just sat there on the swings in silence before Naruto asked, "Why are you sitting here all by yourself?"
The girl looked down at her feet and stuttered, "Because n-no one w-w-wanted to play with m-me…Why did you c-come play with m-me?"
"No one would play with me either," Naruto told her truthfully. "No one except Iruka-sensei likes me…"
"M-Maybe we can p-play with each o-other," She replied with a flustered look.
Naruto glanced at her and gave her a bashful smile and asked, "Does that mean that we're friends?"
The girl looked at her shoes once again with a small blush and replied, "If y-you want t-to be my f-f-friend…"
Naruto couldn't stop the giant smile that threatened to split his face.
He had finally made a friend.
"Then you're m-my best friend forever!" Naruto exclaimed happily, trying to hold back the tears that wanted to fall from his eyes, and as he looked at his new friend, he could see the tears in her eyes as well.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto said, officially introducing himself to her. "What's your name?"
The girl looked away from him shyly and replied with a small voice, "Hyūga Hinata…"
[Present Location: Village Of Konoha (Forest - Night)
POV: Uzumaki Naruto]
Naruto could remember the excitement Iruka showed him after he told the man about Hinata.
But as the years passed, Naruto began to worry about Iruka. He knew his sensei was a friendly goofball, but Naruto had never seen him talk to anyone except his fellow teachers. And when he did speak with them, he was always so by-the-book.
And so, Naruto had made it his personal mission to help Iruka loosen up, have more fun, and take more risks, and it was thanks to Naruto's hard work that Iruka found his own best friend.
[Flashback Location: Konoha (Daytime – Three Years Ago)
POV: Uzumaki Naruto]
"Naruto!"
Naruto's head snapped up when he heard Iruka's bellow from the classroom before a slight grin appeared on his face.
"Uh oh, Sensei found the badgers…" Naruto stated with an amused grin on his face as he sat by himself outside the academy.
"I better get going before he catches me," Naruto stated with a smile before he hopped down to the ground and stretched his limbs out.
Naruto quickly dashed down the road away from the academy until he was in the middle of town, and he was making some good headway until he found himself slamming into the legs of a woman, sending him landing on his backside.
And a few moments later, a large amount of Dango fell on his head and onto his lap. Naruto looked at the food on his lap in confusion before hearing some deep, heavy breathing coming from above him.
"You…" A deep, feminine voice growled out after a few seconds of silence.
Naruto slowly looked up to see who the voice belonged to, but the moment his eyes met her beautiful face, Naruto found himself grabbed by the shirt and thrown high into the air.
'I didn't even see her or feel her grab me!' Naruto thought to himself as he managed to recover in the air and stumbled a bit before he heard an enraged scream coming from behind him.
Naruto barely saw a flash of angry light brown pupil-less eyes before he was once again launched into the air.
"Kami!" Naruto shouted in alarm as he tried to recover from the throw. Luckily, Iruka just turned the corner and managed to catch Naruto before the blond collided with him.
Naruto quickly scrambled away from Iruka's grasp and said, "We need to get out of here!" Naruto could see the look of confusion on Iruka's face before the two of them heard a loud shout.
"Get back here, you orange-wearing brat!"
Naruto's eyes widened in horror at the sound.
He tried to run from Iruka, but he then felt the hand of the scarred man holding the collar of his shirt and said, "Oh no…You aren't going anywhere."
Naruto squealed in horror as he heard the woman's chuckle coming from a distance, and the more the low, almost sadistic chuckling got closer, Naruto squirmed more, but Iruka held strong until all became quiet.
"Hello, Gaki…I believe you are the one that destroyed the Dango I've so desperately wanted since I got back to the village twenty minutes ago."
Naruto turned his head and saw the sickeningly sweet smile of a pale-skinned, beautiful kunoichi with violet hair with a spiky fanned ponytail framing her face.
Naruto would have been blushing by her beauty had he not been terrified beyond belief. The woman stood up and faced Iruka and said, "Thanks for catching him…I greatly appreciate it. Now I can have him meet Kohana."
"W-Who is Kohana?" Naruto asked fearfully.
The woman then let a sadistic smirk appear on her face as she said, "She's one of my snake summonses. Black Mamba, I believe. The most venomous species of snake in my collection."
Naruto's tanned face paled as he quickly began to try to run, but Iruka held him in a good grip. "Look, I know my student is quite a troublesome lad, but I assure you he didn't mean to bump into you…Unlike how he meant to hide those badgers in my classroom closet."
Naruto laughed sheepishly.
"Why don't I treat you out to Dango as an apology for my student's behavior. This way, you can have your treat, and he still draws breath for another day?" Iruka suggested.
Naruto could see the woman tilt her head up in thought at this before she grinned and said, "Deal. Dango outweighs the need for his blood any day." The woman then held out her hand and said, "Names Mitarashi Anko."
Iruka's hand clasped with hers and replied, "I'm Umino Iruka…And this-" Naruto felt Iruka lift him into the air. "-Is Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka introduced.
Naruto held out his hand and stuttered, "N-Nice to meet you?"
Now known as Anko, the woman merely chuckled and shook hands with him as she replied, "Nice to meet you, Gaki. Just remember, even though Iruka-san is treating me out, you still owe me Dango, and I expect you to repay me one day."
[Present Location: Village Of Konoha (Forest - Night)
POV: Uzumaki Naruto]
After that, Naruto had Iruka and Anko looking after him.
Naruto had hoped that one day Iruka and Anko would get together so they could be a little makeshift family.
But somehow, Iruka lucked into getting a girlfriend in chūnin, now Jōnin, by the name of Tsubaki.
Regardless, things soon started to look up for Naruto. With Anko, Iruka, and Hinata and shortly even more friends in Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino by his side, Naruto began to take his schoolwork more seriously while still pranking on the side.
He practiced with Hinata, Kiba, and Shino any chance he got, and Anko taught him some moves when she could, and Naruto even studied on his own time.
But despite all of these changes, he had still failed.
All because of the damn Bunshin test.
He shouldn't have expected Iruka to give him a second chance to prove himself. Still, deep down, Naruto wanted his surrogate older brother to grant him an opportunity to prove himself, and yet Iruka hadn't.
Naruto knew that Iruka was a fair teacher, and while he taught Naruto all he could, he didn't want to show Naruto special treatment but selfishly, Naruto wanted him to show that to give him that second chance.
But Iruka didn't.
If he was honest with himself, Naruto was wounded by hearing the words, "I'm sorry Naruto, you failed," come from Iruka had hurt him to the point that he walked away and avoided everyone went to the Hokage Monument.
And that was where Mizuki found him and told him how he could become a shinobi, something that Iruka wasn't able to give him.
And Naruto went for it.
"I can't keep dwelling on this. Otherwise, everything I did would be for nothing. I need to buckle down and get this thing opened," Naruto said, trying to convince himself that this was the right way to become a shinobi.
He picked up the scroll and tried to open it but found out immediately that the scroll wouldn't open.
"Ok…Maybe I didn't think this thing through," Naruto stared at the scroll for a few minutes with a pout before an idea struck. He stood up and began to stomp on it, seeing if it would burst open.
When that failed, Naruto went for throwing it against a nearby tree, but to his shock, the scroll had embedded itself into the tree.
After a few minutes of pulling at it, the scroll finally was released from the tree's death grip and decided as a last resort to take a fallen tree branch and tried to pry the scroll open, found himself not being able to open it.
"Come on, you damn thing!" Naruto hissed out as he kept trying to pry the scroll open with all of his strength, but he used too much force, and that caused the branch to snap in half, which caused both of his palms to be cut deeply.
"Ah, you motherfucker!" Naruto screamed out in anger as he tossed the scroll near the shed, where he then fell to his knees and banged his hands upon the ground and shouted, "Why…Why can't I ever catch a break?!"
All he wanted was to become a shinobi, so he could become the Hokage and hopefully earn the respect he so desperately craved.
"Maybe everyone was right…Maybe I am a failure…" Naruto whispered, trying hard to keep the bitterness from his voice due to the feeling of self-loathing rearing its ugly face.
It was then Naruto caught the radiant blue light out of the corner of his eye.
Naruto turned around and let out an awed. "Whoa…" before covering his eyes when the light became bright enough to blind him.
When the light finally died down, Naruto opened his eyes and noticed the scroll was wide open for his viewing pleasure, but how could that be?
He did his best to open it, and yet throwing it worked?
How Bizarre.
"But who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth. Let's get to work!" Naruto exclaimed with a smile as he walked to the scroll, picked it up, and looked through it with interest.
He had come across a lot of pretty good JJutsu but Naruto wanted to know one in particular.
Naruto knew it was a terrible idea to seek out this style of Jutsu, but at the same time, it was this style of jutsu that had failed him in the first place, and he always felt the best way to grow was to overcome the very thing that had defeated him in the first place.
And when Naruto's eyes gazed upon the "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," a large grin appeared on his face.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu? That seems pretty interesting. Let's see if I can learn this," After half an hour of working on this Jutsu, Naruto let a small smile appear on his face before exhaling softly.
He had managed to learn the Kage Bunshin jutsu.
'I proved everyone wrong! I do have what it takes to be a shinobi. And soon, I'll prove them wrong again when I become Hokage. Believe it!' Naruto thought to himself as his eyes found another Jutsu he could learn.
"Hm, Bunshin Bakuha and Bunshin Bakuha: Eikoudan (Exploding clone Technique: Flash bomb) that honestly sounds pretty damn cool. I better copy these down!" Naruto said to himself as he took out a scroll of his own and started to copy down the two clone jutsu along with a few others he found interesting.
But as he did this, he heard rapid footsteps coming from the forest.
With an excited look in his eyes, Naruto shouted, "Mizuki-sensei?!" but instead of the silver-haired man, Umino Iruka, came stumbling into the opening with a haggard and annoyed look on his face.
"Ah! Iruka-sensei! Did Mizuki-sensei invite you to watch me pass?" Naruto asked the scarred man while finishing the writing in his mini-scroll, but when he got a closer look at the man, Naruto instantly grew nervous.
Iruka looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel with how red his face was, but instead of popping, Iruka replied with, "Wait...Mizuki? Naruto, what are you talking about?"
Naruto was confused by Iruka's confusion and answered with, "Mizuki-sensei told me if I were able to take the scroll from the old man's office, he would make me a genin. Taking it wasn't too difficult either. I even managed to learn a new jutsu. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
With a puff of smoke, an identical Naruto stood beside the smiling original, and from the look of total awe on Iruka's face, Naruto concluded that he was surprised and made Iruka proud.
"W-Wow...That is amazing, Naruto," Iruka stated to him with a smile on his face, which made Naruto's proud smile grow.
But Naruto's smile instantly vanished when Iruka added, "But do not distract me, Naruto. You said that Mizuki told you to meet him here with the scroll, is that correct?"
"That's right, sensei!" Naruto stated with a fist pump as he finished putting the Forbidden Scroll in the strap on his back. "Won't he be surprised that I mastered a technique stronger than that old Bunshin jutsu. Oh! Speaking of which..."
Naruto turned to the clone beside him and handed him the small scroll he had put the other jutsu he wanted to learn and said, "Take this and hide it at our place."
"Right away, boss!" The clone saluted before dashing off into the dense forest, leaving Naruto and Iruka alone once more.
Still, when Naruto turned to look at Iruka to say something, Naruto saw the agitated face of Iruka, which prompted him to ask, "Sensei...Is everything ok?"
"No...Something is gravely wrong..." Iruka whispered, and just then, Naruto heard the sound of laughter echoing throughout the forest.
"I should've known you'd be here, Iruka...Such a shame too. I was expecting the idiot to be alone. Ah well!" Naruto turned around to see Mizuki standing on a tree branch with a giant Shuriken placed on his back.
Naruto noticed that there was a sneer on the silver-haired man's face.
"Hey, Mizuki-sensei! I got the scroll, just like you told me. I even learned a jutsu from it! Does it mean I passed?" Naruto asked with excitement before he took in the look of pure contempt on Mizuki's face.
It was then that Naruto knew that something was very wrong with this situation.
"What the hell is going on, Mizuki?" Iruka shouted out as Naruto looked at Iruka and Mizuki back and forth with confusion in his eyes.
"What do you think, you idiot? I'm getting what belongs to me," Mizuki told Iruka with a smug expression as he pulled his giant shuriken from his back then leaped towards Naruto.
Naruto felt the arms of Iruka wrap around him as he leaped to avoid the giant shuriken.
"I don't understand!" Naruto heard Iruka shout with anger at Mizuki, who landed on a tree branch closer to the ground. "Why betray our village? Why try and set up Naruto for your heinous plot Mizuki? Answer me!"
Naruto watched Mizuki's face warp into an evil smirk as he said, "My plan was simple, I get the forbidden scroll and give it my true leader, Orochimaru!"
Naruto could see Iruka's eyes widen in horror, and Naruto understood why this could be.
Naruto had learned from Anko that Orochimaru was the honorable Snake Sannin of their village until Orochimaru's sick experiments were found out, causing the Sannin to flee Konoha but not after marking Anko.
Naruto then realized the rest of Mizuki's words and instantly grew disgusted at himself.
What had he done?
Naruto watched as Mizuki smirked before he jumped to a higher tree branch and tossed a four kunai at the two.
Iruka managed to avoid two of the thrown projectiles, but the last two hit Iruka's right leg, making the man land on a tree branch wrong, sending the two falling to the ground hard.
Naruto slammed onto the ground and groaned in pain before he looked at Iruka and quickly ran to him and asked with panic in his voice, "Iruka-sensei, are you ok?"
Naruto watched with worry as his sensei winced as he ripped the two kunai out of his wounded leg. "I'm fine, Naruto, don't you fret about me," Iruka replied with a soothing tone
"I have to admit; I'm impressed that you're still trying to protect that thing, Iruka, despite the wound and all..." Mizuki said from behind them. "But let's see how far you can truly go!"
Naruto saw the anger radiating in Iruka's eyes as he gripped the kunai that was just embedded in his leg before he and his opponent leaped towards each other and disappeared.
Naruto didn't see the two chūnin, but he could hear metal clashing against each other as well as various grunts and groans from both men and felt his heart rate speed up.
The sound of clashing steel got closer and closer until Iruka's form suddenly appeared before him along with Mizuki, both of their respective weapons locked in a clash.
"Iruka, I just don't get you," Naruto heard Mizuki say as the male leaned close to his sensei's sneer before he continued with, "You know he's the cause of your parent's death, and yet you still protect him? I'm sure Ikkaku-san and Kohari-san are rolling around in their graves right now."
Naruto watched as Iruka pushed Mizuki away from him with a boost of chakra before Mizuki landed on a tree branch a few feet away from them.
"Don't you dare mention them, traitor!" Iruka roared out before jumping towards where Mizuki was, but Naruto watched the silver-haired shinobi smirked. And launch his giant Shuriken. "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!" Mizuki shouted.
Naruto watched Iruka dodge the first giant shuriken. Still, the second shuriken appeared seconds behind the first, Iruka landed on the tree branch below him to avoid it, but his right shoulder was hit.
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled in concern as he watched his sensei instinctively grabbed his now wounded shoulder. Naruto watched as Mizuki leaped from the tree above him and towards his sensei.
Naruto quickly jumped in the air and knocked Iruka out of the way to avoid Mizuki's giant projectile's cleaving swing.
The two fell to the ground, and Naruto quickly ran to Iruka to help him up.
As Naruto helped Iruka to his feet, he heard Mizuki shout, "But it is true, Iruka! You defend the demon without hesitation! The very same being that nearly razed this village to the ground!"
'Demon?' Naruto thought to himself in confusion.
Iruka wasn't protecting a demon.
"What the hell are you talking about, Mizuki-teme?!" Naruto exclaimed. "Iruka-sensei isn't protecting a demon!"
Naruto watched as Mizuki leaned back and let out a hearty laugh, which only caused Naruto's confusion to grow.
Once the laughter died down, Mizuki said, "Oh yeah…I forgot that you didn't know about this village's grand secret about you."
Despite the dangerous situation, Naruto's curiosity had gotten the better of him.
"Secret? About me?" Naruto questioned the man.
"Oh yes, little Naruto, a secret, all about you…" Mizuki responded.
Naruto was going to respond to this, the blond heard Iruka say from behind him, "Naruto, get out of here! Go!"
"But Iruka, he needs to know about the secret about himself…Considering he doesn't know it! Who am I to hide it from him any longer?!" Mizuki shouted back to his sensei.
Naruto was at a crossroads.
Should he do as Iruka said and take the scroll and go?
Or should he listen to Mizuki about this "secret" about him?
Naruto decided to trust Iruka and gingerly removed himself rom his sensei's side and said, "Okay sensei, I'll go get help."
Iruka nodded and said, "Hurry."
Naruto began to run away, only for Mizuki to shout, "You're just doing what he wants, Naruto!"
Naruto paused mid-step then slowly looked back to Mizuki.
"Naruto! Get out of here! Mizuki's just trying to trick you!" Iruka shouted.
"Oh, I'm trying to trick you, Naruto? Look who's talking?! Iruka's been playing you from the start, trying to gain your trust, and do you want to know why?" Mizuki questioned. "Because he plans to take revenge on you just like everyone else wants to in this village. He's played you from the very start!"
Naruto stared at Mizuki then back at Iruka, who was starting to stand back up before he finally turned back to Mizuki and asked, "What are you talking about?"
"Do you know why everyone hates you, including your beloved Iruka-sensei?" Mizuki asked him with a smug grin.
"Naruto, get out of here now!" Naruto heard Iruka's demand, but the blond refused to move.
He always knew the entire village hated his guts, but no one had ever taken the time to tell him why he was the pariah.
It was time he knew the truth, no matter how much dread he felt within his heart.
"W-Why?" Naruto asked
Mizuki manically smiled as he shouted, "Because you are the very creature that invaded Konoha twelve years ago! You are the creature that not only killed many shinobi and civilians alike!"
"Mizuki, don't!" Iruka exclaimed.
"You killed your sensei's parents and nearly crushed this village. You're the reason why the most "Beloved" Hokage sacrificed himself to save this horrible place. You're the reason this all has happened!" Mizuki screamed. "You, Uzumaki Naruto, are the Kyūbi no Kitsune!"
Naruto felt everything in his body grind to a screeching halt.
'I…I'm the Kyūbi no Kitsune? I-It can't be,' Naruto thought to himself in muted horror/
But the more those words echoed in Naruto's mind; the more things started to click into place.
Why everyone hated him and ignored him.
Why people seemed to be very vicious to him during his birthday, which was the same day the Kyūbi had fallen to the Yondaime Hokage.
Why the heads of stuffed and real foxes were found at his doorstep.
But the most damning of all was why he had whisker marks on his cheeks.
Naruto sunk to his knees in absolute dread as it began to sink in.
He was the Kyūbi.
He had killed Iruka's parents and caused so much agony and grief within the village.
'No wonder no one ever cared…' Naruto thought to himself, his sorrow slowly swallowing him up.
Naruto could barely hear the rest of Mizuki's rant but what he did hear was the faint sounds of whistling coming from in front of him.
It was then Naruto saw several shurikens towards him, but Naruto didn't move.
He couldn't.
He deserved this.
He had killed all those people.
But without warning, Iruka's form appeared before his kneeling form, which made Naruto gasp in surprise and then in horror when he saw spurts of blood fly from Iruka's back.
Iruka had taken the shuriken in the back.
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed in horror as Iruka lurched forward in pain, but Iruka didn't respond.
Instead, Naruto felt himself being picked up by the wounded chūnin before Iruka tossed down a smoke bomb, covering the entire area with white smoke.
Naruto felt the wind whip around them as Iruka ran deep into the forest with him in his arms like a baby, but Naruto didn't move.
He didn't even try.
He was the Kyūbi, and yet, Iruka had saved his life.
But why?
"Iruka's been playing you from the start, trying to gain your trust, and do you want to know why? Because he plans to take revenge on you just like everyone else wants to in this village. He's played you from the very start!" Mizuki's words replayed in Naruto's head, and Naruto instantly became worried.
Was Mizuki right?
Was Iruka-sensei doing this as some sick payback for him killing his parents?
Iruka suddenly dumped him on the ground once they had gotten far enough and said, "You fool…How could you let his words affect you like that? Don't you know you could have been killed?"
Naruto lowered his head and said, "Maybe I deserve it…I-I am the Kyū-" Without warning, Naruto felt himself fall to the ground hard from Iruka's fist slamming into his right cheek.
Naruto whipped his head up to stare at Iruka with both shock and fear as he held his now reddening cheek, but that's when he noticed something.
Tears were falling from Iruka's eyes.
"Don't. Don't you say another word…" Naruto heard Iruka whispered.
"Naruto…Listen very carefully because I'll only say this once," Iruka told him slowly, which made Naruto listen immediately.
The teen watched as Iruka fell to his knees before Naruto and said, "When I first became your sensei…There were times where I had thought about befriending you only to have my revenge against you for the death of my parents….Because I thought of you as the Kyūbi…"
Naruto watched as Iruka lowered his head in shame, but the man continued with, "I will not hide my mistake…I thought of you as the Kyūbi itself and treated as such…Up until that day where you left the academy during the trials of courage…"
Iruka let a sad smile appear on his face.
"I remember the words you said to me that day…How you said that you know everyone hated you, myself as well…And it stuck with me. At first, I thought you were tricking me, but every night until we met again, all I could see is those eyes. Those beautiful ocean blue eyes filled with tears…" Iruka paused as a groan of pain left his lips.
Naruto reached for his sensei, but Iruka raised his hand to stop him, which made Naruto lower his arm. "So I went to the Hokage to talk to him about it, and I will never forget what he asked me i-in regards to you being its jailer…"Just because you live in a house, does that mean that you are the house itself?" At first, I didn't know what he meant, but that night on the bench, I finally realized what it meant…"
"A-And what did it mean?" Naruto asked fearfully, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice but failing when his voice cracked.
"That you aren't the Kyūbi no Kitsune…" Iruka told him. "You are merely its container, and that was what made me break down. That entire time, I treated you as a monster when you never, ever deserved it, and even at this very moment, I am so ashamed of myself for treating you the way I did back then."
Naruto then felt Iruka's hand rest on his head to slightly rub his blond hair as he said, "You're not the Kyūbi no Kitsune. You're The hyperactive, loud-mouthed, kind-hearted trickster that I've grown to know and love as my baby brother. You are Uzumaki Naruto, and I humbly apologize to you for all that I have done and felt about you before that day…"
Iruka bowed his head and asked, "Please…will you forgive this fool for his past transgressions?"
Naruto felt tears prickling in his eyes.
"S-Sensei…Of course, I forgive you…Was there any doubt?" Naruto asked with a smile.
Iruka let out a small smile at this until the sounds of clapping reached Naruto's ears.
"How cute, the two have made up. It's too bad that this is the final day for you both," Mizuki's taunting voice rang out from all around them before the familiar sound of whistling reached his ears, but where was it coming from?
Without warning, Naruto saw Iruka's eyes widen before Naruto was thrown forcefully to the side, and that was when the whistling stopped.
Naruto looked up, and that Iruka had the large shuriken wedge within the left side of his chest.
Iruka slowly fell to his side, with the giant shuriken still in his chest.
And he wasn't moving.
Cold.
That's what Naruto was feeling right now as he gazed upon the now deceased figure of his sensei, not even aware that hot tears were falling down his face. Iruka Umino was smiling, eating, yelling, and running earlier today, but most of all, he was alive but now...He was gone.
Just like that.
In Naruto's head, the smiling face of Iruka's was slowly fading away until his sensei's corpse was in its place.
Naruto heard chuckling coming from behind him that soon grew into uncontrollable laughter.
"Oh Iruka…Pathetic, even upon death!" The harsh voice laughed out.
With a slow, heavy breath that seemed to echo with the rage, Naruto rose to his feet and turned around to see the laughing Mizuki leaned against a tree, a kunai dangling from his right index finger.
"Now, with him out of the way, Get the scroll, and I promise you'll be seeing your demon loving sensei so-"
Seeing red, Naruto leaped at Mizuki to start his unrelenting assault, sending a flurry of punches he shouted, "I'm going to kill you!"
Only to have Mizuki dodge most if not all of them.
"Aw, the little demon is trying to avenge his sensei. How cute!" Mizuki shouted out as he kneed Naruto in his stomach, taking the breath out of the teen.
Naruto fell to the ground in a small ball, struggling to gain his breath, but Mizuki grabbed him by his hair and rammed the boy's face into his knee before holding the boy's head and slammed it hard into the ground repeatedly with an insane laugh.
Mizuki then lifted Naruto's head back up and smirked down at the boy's now bloody face and asked, "What do you have to say now, Demon?" before tossing him hard towards Iruka's body.
Naruto coughed as he wrapped an arm around his stomach, his forehead touching the ground with pain etched on his face.
Naruto knew that he was in over his head.
He wasn't even a shinobi, and here he was, trying to fight a chūnin. But he knew that while he was unskilled, he had something up his sleeve.
As Naruto struggled to get on his knees, he looked at his sensei and noticed something.
He could see Iruka's chest rising and falling…very slowly.
Iruka was alive!
But Naruto knew from the blood pooling around his sensei that he needed to get Iruka out of here soon or else he would die.
Naruto was kicked brutally hard in his stomach without warning, causing him to roll repeatedly before slowly stopping near his sensei.
Naruto tried to rise off the ground again, but he was lifted into the air by the traitor. Naruto squinted his eyes in pain as Mizuki smirked and said, "It's time for this game to end, Kyūbi."
In response to being called the Kyūbi, Naruto licked up the blood flowing from his mouth and spat it in Mizuki's face, which surprised the silver-haired man before his face melted into a look of rage.
"You filthy Mongrel!" Mizuki barked out before his free fist shot out and slammed into Naruto's stomach repeatedly, which caused blood to fly from Naruto's lips.
After landing a final punch to Naruto's face, Mizuki twisted his body around and tossed the teen towards a tree where Naruto bounced off of it and fell to the ground, right behind a large green bush.
Naruto groaned out in agony and coughed heavily, but then he realized something.
Now was his chance!
"Come on out, Naruto-kun. It's time we end our game!" Naruto heard Mizuki shout, but Naruto made the hand sign for the jutsu he had just learned.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto screamed out, and just then, the entire area around him exploded into smoke.
When the smoke faded away, two dozen of his clones were crouching in the trees above him, each one with a dangerous sparkle in their eyes.
Naruto stood up to face the rather amused Mizuki and listened as the insane man said, "Oh look at this, the demon can make replicas. It's a pity, however, that these are fake."
Naruto let a large smirk appear on his face at these words and shouted, "That's where you're wrong, Mizuki-teme! These aren't regular Bunshin s. These are Kage Bunshin s!"
Naruto could see the surprised look appear on Mizuki's face, but as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared back into the insane expression. "Kage Bunshin ….So these are true clones, big deal demon. You may have the numbers behind you, but I have the experience, the training, the power. You are nothing to me!"
Naruto and his clones narrowed their cold, empty eyes at Mizuki, and with the most frigid voice he could muster, Naruto said, "Kill him."
Naruto didn't wait to see his clones attack Mizuki and instead quickly ran to Iruka's body and began to pick it up to sneak away.
Just as Naruto got his wounded sensei off the ground, Mizuki's foot slammed right into his face, which sent Naruto slamming backward into a tree.
"You aren't going anywhere!" Naruto heard Mizuki shout, but Naruto summoned several more clones.
But as Naruto rose from the bush he was hiding behind, he saw something he didn't want to see.
Naruto watched Mizuki flipped into the air to avoid two clones with kunai in their hands and landed on their faces, then flipped off of them to decapitate them both.
Naruto then watched as the traitor landed on the ground and kicked two more clones in the chest, then spun the shuriken to cut the downed clones in half.
"Well, well, well…Look at this! Not a scratch on me!" Mizuki taunted Naruto, which caused the blonde and his remaining clones to scowl. "Now come, come and let finish you off!"
The remaining clones jumped into the fray and rained down blows upon Mizuki, who used his weapon to block their blows.
And once more, Naruto quickly dashed towards Iruka's body at a frantic pace, but the body of his clone slammed into his chest, sending both him and the clone rolling backward on the ground.
Naruto rose and saw Mizuki smirk before focusing on the clones.
Naruto growled.
He didn't know if Mizuki knew Iruka was alive, but he would not let Naruto take the man, so Naruto only had one choice.
To make sure Mizuki wasn't standing to stop him.
As Mizuki battled his clones, Naruto dashed towards Mizuki and leaped into the air, and the moment Mizuki turned his head, Naruto slammed his knee into Mizuki's face. The silver-haired man countered by jumping in the air and kneed Naruto under his chin, sending the Uzumaki high into the air where Mizuki threw his shuriken.
Naruto saw his clone leap up and take kunai while another clone grabbed Naruto and flung him back to Mizuki, where he then delivered a punch towards the traitor only to curse as Mizuki dodged it and countered with a knee to the face.
Naruto rolled to the side and watched as Mizuki grabbed a clone by the face and drove it into the ground before stabbing it in the head with a kunai before he dashed towards him.
As Mizuki and Naruto's clones met to continue the fierce battle, Naruto waited until a clone punched Mizuki in the jaw to leap over the chūnin's head and kick the back of it, making Mizuki stumble forward.
As Mizuki stumbled, two of Naruto's clones slid on the ground, grabbed Mizuki's ankles, and then pulled back, making him fall forward.
Two more of Naruto's clones grabbed Mizuki's arms and held them down while the last clone and Naruto jumped in the air and slammed their knees into his back hard, making him yell in pain only for the clone and Naruto to begin to stomp down on the man's back.
Naruto reached into the man's kunai pouch and grabbed a smoke bomb before he leaped away before Mizuki shook off the clones holding his feet and arms before he grabbed two kunai that were dropped and effortlessly killed the clones by his arms.
And it was then Naruto threw the smoke bomb at Mizuki's feet, causing a large cloud of smoke to form around him. "Damn it! Where are you?!" Mizuki screamed within the shadow of smoke.
Naruto grabbed a discarded kunai, then ran forward through the smoke and tackled the man hard enough to send them both to the ground.
Naruto mounted the man and repeatedly rammed the kunai into Mizuki's chest furiously.
Naruto could feel the sticky, hot liquid that was Mizuki's blood on his hands, but Naruto couldn't stop until the kunai's handle broke within the man's chest.
Panting heavily, Naruto gazed down at Mizuki's completely bloodied chest and face. It felt his gaze lingering on it, staring at the blood that flowed down the silver-haired man's face, and closed his eyes as he looked up into the air, breathing in the smell of blood.
Naruto panted and climbed off of Mizuki's chest and fell to the ground next to the now-dead nuke-nin and panted heavily, his entire body sore from the thorough beating he had suffered.
Naruto turned his head and saw Iruka still in the spot he was in before Naruto stood up and limped to Iruka's body and noticed that the man was still faintly breathing.
He was still alive.
Naruto leaned down and lifted Iruka off the ground as best as he could and slowly limped to the scroll, and as he leaned down to grab it, he heard an unfamiliar voice come from behind him.
"Target acquired."
Naruto turned his head to see a hooded figure standing above the dead Mizuki's body, a cobalt-blue katana held in their right hand.
Naruto could feel the dread form in his stomach as he stared at the figure.
He didn't even hear this person appear.
The figure flickered from existence, only to appear directly in front of Naruto.
And it was then he felt something cold pierce this body.
Numb, Naruto looked down at the metal of the figure's katana was going through his chest.
"Mission complete," Naruto heard the figure state before the cold steel from his chest.
Naruto fell to his knees and then faced first to the ground, his eyes watching as the hooded figure approached him, grabbed the Forbidden scroll that was strapped on his back. "Goodbye and thank you," the figure said before a plume of black smoke filled his vision.
And as the plume overcame his line of sight, Naruto's eyes roamed over Iruka's body and reached out to him as he feebly said "S-Sen…Sensei…" before everything went black.
[Location: Unknown
POV: Uzumaki Naruto]
'S-Sen…Sensei…'
That was the first thought that ran through Uzumaki Naruto's head as he laid on the wet sand that was beneath him.
"Sand?" Naruto whispered in confusion as he eyed the wet sand beneath him in confusion. Suddenly, a large wave of crystal blue water slammed on top of him, causing him to shriek in alarm.
Once the wave died down, Naruto shuffled out of the water, his black shirt and orange pants clinging to his wet form as he crawled far enough away from the water before he fell to his knees on the dry, hot sand, coughing violently.
Once the coughing died down, Naruto leaned up and brushed his dripping wet hair from his eyes, and looked around.
He was currently kneeling on a white, sandy beach with crystal blue water behind him and a clear blue sky above him, but how did he get here?
"W-Where am I?" Naruto breathed out slowly.
It was then that Naruto heard a female voice from behind him say,"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you, Uzumaki Naruto?"
Captain Blues: And that is the end of this chapter. So it may seem like much hasn't changed, but it has. Anko and Iruka are not a couple but just close friends. Iruka and Mizuki's ex-fiancee was, and trust me, that's a little nugget that will come later.
The following updated chapter will come soon but until then, time to set sail.