Disclaimer: I own this story, but not the series it came from.

Chapter 6

A twelve year old Naruto sat on top of the Fourth's head at the Hokage Monument doing something that would make most people believe they were hallucinating. He was in a meditative position and was sitting absolutely still for over five minutes. As time moved on, a change could be seen overtaking Naruto. His spiky blonde hair started to grow out until it flowed down his back while on his face his whisker marks thickened until they represented tiger stripes while his exposed arms also gained tiger like stripes. Despite the change, Naruto seemed completely at ease. That changed after a few moments though, as Naruto's nails lengthened into claws while his teeth poked out of his lips into razor sharp fangs. As orange fur started to join the black stripes as it sprouted on his arms and face. Before the transformation could progress, however, Tora materialized on Naruto's shoulder and bonked a clawed fist on the boy's head.

Naruto yelped as he fell back nursing a lump on his head, his animalistic traits fading as fast as they appeared. Looking up, Naruto saw Tora standing at his full intimidating height with his arms crossed. "Hmph, still not there brat. Maybe Tiger Sage Mode is too far out of your reach, hm?" the summon sneered.

Grumbling, Naruto got off the ground and glared at the tiger. "Give me a break Tora! Sitting still too long is boring! Plus, I was able to get closer that time, I could feel it!" Naruto snapped at his summon.

"You also got closer to becoming a stone statue as well! While I might find you annoying, death through training isn't exactly how I'd want to see you kick the bucket," Tora snapped right back.

Groaning, Naruto put his hands behind his head and started to head to the village with Tora floating behind him. "Anyways I'm beat, and I gotta get set for the exam tomorrow," Naruto said as they departed the Monument.

"You sure you've got it down this time brat? I'd hate to see you flop horribly, no matter how hilarious it may be," Tora gave a fanged smirk.

Instead of exploding like his younger self would have Naruto snorted, "Yeah I'd bet you'd like that. Anyway, with all the training I've been doing I'm sure I'm gonna pass. Then I'll be one step closer to becoming Hokage, believe it!"

"Heh, you better. I'm one of the most powerful summons out there, and it would only make sense if my summoner is a little bit stronger than the rest of the ants you call humans," Tora boasted while lightly landing on Naruto's shoulder.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto quipped, "Better watch the ego Tora. If your head gets any bigger, I don't know how much my poor shoulder can take." The blonde started to laugh which turned into another yelp as Tora once more tried to brain him. This soon turned into a quick slugfest which, as always, ended with Tora on top of Naruto and the blonde's face planted firmly in the dirt. After brushing himself off, the two continued the rest of the way back to Naruto's apartment in silence. As Naruto got ready for bed, Tora asked, "Say blondie, what were those tags you were planting on the Monument before the training today anyway?"

Naruto grinned as he pulled on his nightshirt. "Ah, yah saw that, huh? Well I figured since I'm graduating tomorrow, I probably won't be able to do any real pranks for a while. So I set those tags up for tomorrow to give me a nice big send off! The best thing is, it'll be set off on a timer so there's no way they can link me to it even though they'll all know it was me!" Naruto cackled like a mad genius while Tora simply smirked at his summoner's antics and hopped up onto his place on the roof to sleep.

Morning

The early risers of Konoha had woken up and had started their daily rituals. One merchant was unpacking his cart full of wares while a mail carrier went from mailbox to mailbox with the latest news. Suddenly though, a loud BOOM! roared through the village, frightening those who were awake and startling the rest of the village out of their slumber. Fearing an enemy attack, the village guard quickly looked around for anything amiss. One by one, all attention was slowly brought to the Hokage Monument, which left the villager's gaping. Each of the four stone faces were now covered in graffiti! Some of the Hokage's had childish scribbles on them while others had rude words written on them. One thing they all had in common though was the whisker marks and tiger stripes painted on their faces. Finally, in the space next to the Fourth's head was written, 'RESERVED FOR THE MOST AWESOMEST HOKAGE EVER!"

Only one person would be ballsy and juvenile to pull this off and everyone said it at once, "NARUTO!"

Academy

Naruto snickered as the rest of the class glared at him. The entire village knew that he was responsible for this latest act of vandalism, but couldn't pin it on him sense the timer seals that had been used to hold the paint were homemade and were destroyed in the explosion. Plus, when the Anbu went looking for the whiskered child they found him sound asleep in his bed with not a speck of paint to be found in his apartment. Meanwhile, a certain tiger summon was laughing his furry head off at the spectacle of the village that morning, and was still chuckling as he sat on his summoner's shoulder in his invisible mode. Back in class, both Iruka and Mizuki got ready to do the exams for the students.

"Today many of you will be starting off on the next step of your journey to become ninjas of the Hidden Leaf," Iruka explained to his class as he and Mizuki prepared the written portion of the exam. "The journey ahead of you will be long and at times dangerous, but I'm confident each and every one of you will do the Leaf proud."

(1) Naruto grinned as he looked over the exam. While written tests weren't his strong suit, Tora had convinced (beat) it into his head that a strong mind is just as important as a strong body to a warrior. After the hour was up and the papers were turned in, it was time for the Ninjutsu portion of the exam. One by one the students were called, with Naruto giving each of his friends a nod of encouragement to which they all returned, though Hinata did look quite red when she went into the exam room. Naruto hoped that it wasn't her nerves about the exam. When his name was finally called, Naruto bounded into the exam room with a large grin.

"Prepare to be blown away by my awesomeness!" Naruto declared as he stood confidently in front of Iruka and Mizuki.

The two chunin rolled their eyes at the blonde's antics and Iruka looked at him while saying, "Alright Naruto, it's time to do the three necessary Jutsu. Are you ready?"

Seeing his whiskered student nod, Iruka continued, "The first thing we need to try is the Replacement Jutsu. You need to replace yourself with one of the logs along the back of the room when one of us-"

The scarred chunin was cut off as Mizuki chucked a blunted kunai at the boy, who disappeared in a puff of smoke to be replaced by a log. The boy himself was along the back wall of the room. "-throws an object at you randomly." Iruka finished, giving an approved nod at Naruto's reaction time. "Next is the Transformation Jutsu. Transform into the first thing you think of whenever you're ready."

Naruto gave a mischievous grin at this that put both teachers on edge. Putting his hands together in the necessary sign, Naruto shouted out, "Transform!" and a puff of smoke once more surrounded the boy. However, when the smoke cleared instead of Naruto or a log, there stood a gorgeous blond woman who had her long hair pulled into pig tails and had cute whisker marks on both cheeks. It was then the chunin noticed that besides the few wisps of smoke in key areas, the girl was entirely naked! Both Iruka and Mizuki gave deep blushes as their eyes bulged out of their heads. This only lasted for a moment though, as both men were sent crashing into the opposite wall via the torrential nosebleed they both got.

The blond goddess disappeared in another puff of smoke to reveal a laughing Naruto, who was cracking up at the results of his self-made attack: The Sexy Jutsu! It was a technique he came up with and, due to its hilarity, Tora approved of it. Unseen by all except Naruto, Tora was also lauging at the two chunin's misfortune (Mizuki's more than Iruka's). He thought, 'Heh, I'm surprised that worked on that gray haired human. I always thought he swung the other way.'

After a minute or two, both teachers were able to pick themselves off the ground, curiously already having wads of tissue shoved up their nostrils. "ENOUGH OF YOUR STUPID JUTSU!" Iruka roared in embarrassment as Mizuki sat down with a blush still on his face, though this was of humiliation. Giggling, Naruto was able to compose himself enough to do the transformation again, though this time of Iruka. Giving a cough, the scarred chunin said, "Now that's better. Finally, you have to do the Clone Jutsu and you'll be set."

"Um, sensei? I've been having trouble with the standard clones because I'm told I have too much chakra, so I've been practicing around and was able to find an alternate version of the Jutsu. Will that be okay?"

Iruka paused for a moment and looked at Mizuki, who just looked confused. "Well, if it works as well as the Clone Jutsu I don't see why not. Show us what you can do," he consented.

Nodding, Naruto plucked three strands of his hair from his head and shouted, "Hidden Tiger Clone Jutsu!" and blew on the hairs. Smoke enveloped them and as it cleared, three Narutos were now standing in the room. Though unlike normal Clones, these Clones seemed to have an actual solid presence in the room. This display left the two teachers gaping.

Getting ahold of himself, Iruka commented, "Wow uh, I didn't see that coming," he then gave an encouraging smile to the blond and continued, "That was amazing Naruto! I've never seen a Clone Jutsu like that before, and it looks like a version that is usually reserved for high chunin to jonin rank, yet you pulled it off flawlessly! If you don't mind, can you tell me how these clones work?"

Naruto smirked and said, "Sorry sensei, but a good ninja never reveals his tricks!"

"Fair enough. You have more than earned to wear this," he pulled out a Leaf forehead protector out of the box beside the table his sat at and held it out for the whiskered preteen. "Congratulations!" he finished with a huge grin on his face.

"All right!" Naruto whooped as he jumped for his forehead protector, accidently tackling Iruka in the process. After embarrassingly apologizing, Naruto took off the goggles he wore on his forehead and tied the Leaf symbol in its place. After the rest of the class got their headbands, we find Naruto sitting on the swing giving a quiet chat with Tora, having earlier given his congratulations to Hinata as she went to her family's home to tell them the good news. So absorbed was he with his conversation, that Naruto was able to ignore some of the dirty looks a portion of the parents were shooting his way.

"Man that was easy! I owe you Tora, that Clone Jutsu you showed me was amazing!" Naruto whispered to the summon.

"Feh, I personally think you coulda done better," Tora taunted at the now fuming Naruto. "I mean you should have finished that written test in less than half the time you should, and you still need practice on the full use of the Hidden Tiger Clones. Other than that…meh, I'd give it 6 out of 10."

"Oh screw you," Naruto grunted at his summon/sensei/frenemy before he noticed Tora stiffen somewhat. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"The gray pus bag is coming,"Tora growled as Naruto focused on his surroundings. Sure enough, Mizuki was approaching him with a smile on his face, despite the negative vibes he was radiating. Thanks to years of honing his instincts, Naruto could tell a person's intent almost as well as Tora can and thanks to this he no longer felt comfortable about the man. Mizuki seemed pleasant enough, but there was always that lingering feeling that he was hiding his true emotions to fool everybody else.

"Ah good to see you haven't left yet Naruto," Mizuki said in a cheerful voice.

"What's up Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto asked, internally cautious but remaining pleasant on the outside. Mizuki wasn't the only one who could act.

"First of all I wanted to give you my congratulations on passing. Though the teachers have run into a slight snag," Mizuki explained, "You see, after going over the numbers, you using those unique Clones of yours and the good results of the rest of your test have given you a tied score with Sasuke. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but since Sasuke's placed as the top student, your scoring makes team placements a little harder. So it was decided by the staff that each of you would be given an individual test and the one who scores the highest will get top student rank. We'll be able to work out team assignments from there."

Naruto nodded while mentally frowning. While Mizuki's reasoning seemed sound, he still felt weary from the sense of foreboding he was getting from the chunin. Tora's constant growling didn't help much either. Deciding to play along, Naruto questioned, "So what's the test?"

Internally smirking as his plans came together, Mizuki gave the demon brat his instructions, confident he'd be successful with in both getting the Scroll of Seals and ridding the world of the Nine Tails once and for all!

Time Skip: Later that Night

"I still think this whole plan of yours is one of the most boneheaded stunts I've ever heard of in my entire life. And trust me, I've seen some doozies in my time," Tora pointed out to Naruto as said boy quietly crept through the Hokage Tower.

'Lay off would yah? The way I see it, if Mizuki's telling the truth then no harm, no foul,' Naruto thought as he sensed for any hidden Anbu. 'And if Mizuki wasn't on the up and up, I've gotta backup plan just in case.'

"Your funeral," Tora grunted as he idly floated behind the boy. Once they reached the room that held the scrolls, the two couldn't help but admire the sheer size of the place. Unfortunately, their awe cost them their focus so they didn't notice the presence behind them.

"What are you doing in my home at the middle of the night?" an old yet firm voice asked behind Naruto, causing him to yelp and spin around only to see the Third standing behind him.

'Oh crap, plan B!' Naruto thought in a panic as he quickly gathered the necessary chakra. "Transform!" he yelled.

"GAAH!"

Scene Skip: Forest

"I take it back, that was the dumbest plan I'd ever seen in my entire life. Honestly can't believe that worked,"Tora said in a deadpan as his left eye twitched.

"I know what you mean. Can't honestly believe my luck. Who knew the Old Man was a pervert?" Naruto asked aloud, since there was no one around to see him talking to his 'imaginary friend'. "Now let's see…" Naruto mused as he opened up the scroll and taking a look at its contents. "Oh look, they've got something called Shadow Clones in here, might be useful to look at later. Now let's see what else is here…" Naruto pointed out with an interested hum. After a moment or two, Naruto called out, "Ah, this'll work!"

Taking a peek at what his summoner was looking at, Tora gave a growling chuckle. "Oh yeah, I can see you working with that."

It was a few hours of practicing later when Naruto was lying on the ground panting heavily with a satisfied grin on his face. "Nailed it," he declared.

"I've finally found you…" an irritated voice commented in front of him. Looking up, Naruto found an annoyed looking Iruka standing over him.

"Oh hey Iruka-sensei, what're you doin' here?" Naruto asked as he got up onto his feet.

"W-what am I doing here? IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOTTA SAY FOR YOURSELF?!" Iruka yelled as he bopped Naruto over the head, causing him to find himself kissing dirt.

"Ow, ow, ow," Naruto whined as he nursed the swelling bump on his head. Looking up at the seething instructor, Naruto asked, "Hey what gives? I do this stupid bonus exam and this is the thanks I get?!"

Iruka gained a confused look on his face. "Bonus exam? What are you talking about?"

"I totally called it,"Tora stated in his undetectable mode while Naruto gained a more alert pose while trying to keep his cool.

"What d'you mean sensei? Mizuki-sensei told me that the academy needed me to take the scroll in the Hokage Tower and learn a Jutsu from it for them to help with the team placement…?" he asked before his well-toned instincts started screaming at him of incoming danger.

Before he could react, the whiskered boy was roughly shoved to the side as the sound of multiple sharp objects slicing through the air assaulted his ears. Getting up, Naruto looked in shock as Iruka was pinned to the side of the shed in the clearing they were in by a multitude of kunai and shuriken. Fortunately none of them were in fatal areas, but it would still be extremely painful to experience. Looking up, Naruto saw Mizuki crouched in the tree above the two dressed in stealth gear and with two massive shuriken strapped to his back. Hearing a cough, Naruto turned to Iruka who was glaring up at Mizuki while he took the knives out of his arms and legs. "So that's how it is…" the scarred teacher grunted.

Mizuki, a look of urgency on his face, called out to Naruto, "Naruto, give me the scroll! Iruka's after it and he'll kill you to get it!"

"Like any idiot would believe that,"Tora said flatly, not believing how gullible Mizuki thought his summoner was. While the one lie was somewhat believable, that one was clearly thrown together on the fly. Tora got comfortable up in a nearby tree branch to see how his host would do in this situation, while still being close enough to intervene if things got out of control.

'Let's play along for now, see how this goes,' Naruto mentally thought along the same lines as the bakemono while putting on an act of being confused.

"Don't listen to him Naruto!" Iruka shouted out at the boy, struggling to move through the pain. "That scroll contains village secrets! You need to get out of here now and defend that scroll with your life!"

Seeing that Naruto seemed to be hesitating, and that Iruka was for all intents and purposes out of commission, Mizuki figured he could drop the act. Sighing before gaining a wide, insane grin, Mizuki said, "Oh well, it was fun while it lasted," before pulling one of the giant shuriken off his back, "Hey Naruto," he called, getting the boy's attention, "Do you want to know why the villager's hate you?"

Knowing where the traitor was going with this, Tora couldn't help but groan, "Oh you've gotta be freaking kidding me!"

Iruka also knew where the other chunin was going with this and yelled out, "No! You mustn't tell him Mizuki! The Law…!"

Honestly curious on what the treacherous former sensei was going with this, Naruto gave a confused look and asked, "What are you talking about? What law?"

Mizuki's grin was downright demonic at this point as he continued, "Do you know what happened thirteen years ago?" Mizuki cut in.

Naruto, getting a sinking feeling on where the sudden change in subject was going, answered with a trembling voice, "O-of course I k-know what happened! The Kyubi attacked and was k-killed by the Fourth, but w-what does-" He was again cut off by the shuriken-wielding chunin.

"The Kyubi was never killed..." Mizuki spoke, "That night, the Fourth chose a newly-born infant to seal the demon into. Do you want to know who he chose?" He asked grinning wickedly, staring into Naruto's ocean-blue eyes. "He chose you! YOU ARE THE NINE TAILED FOX, THE DEMON THAT RAVAGED THIS VILLAGE AND STOLE IRUKA'S PARENTS AWAY!" He shouted.

Naruto was stunned, finally understanding now why so many in the village seemed to hate him. All the pieces started to fall into place. Who else knew about this? Certainly the Hokage, but what about his classmates? The Ichirakus? Tora? His mind started to go through a whirlwind of emotions.

Mizuki, seeing the blond was distracted, gave another wicked grin as he prepared to throw his shuriken. "NOW YOU CAN JUST DIE, DEMON SPAWN!" he shouted as he through the spinning blade.

Naruto was able to snap out of his trance in time to notice the blade coming for him. 'Oh crap,' was all he could think before he was once again knocked to the ground. Looking up, Naruto was shocked to see Iruka crouched protectively over him, the large shuriken lodged in his back. "A-are you a-alright, N-Naruto?" he asked shakily, some stray blood from the corner of his mouth dripping onto Naruto's whiskered cheek.

"W-why?" Naruto asked weakly as seeing Iruka risk himself like that for the supposed killer of his parents really made him confused.

Giving a shaky breath, Iruka explained, "…My parents, after they died there was nobody to compliment or acknowledge me…I always acted like an idiot, just to get people's attention…since I wasn't all that good at academics. It was better than being nothing, so I kept acting like an idiot. …It was so painful…Naruto, you must also be in a lot of pain. I'm sorry I wasn't able to look out for you more…"

Naruto was silent through this exchange, but his blonde bangs covered his eyes as his sensei went on. At the end of Iruka's speech, twin trails of tears ran down his whiskered cheeks. Gently moving out from under Iruka, Naruto turned to the direction of the traitorous gray haired man.

Mizuki sneered down at the blond, "Oh, you got something to say to me, brat? Well make it quick so I can kill you and be on my way."

"Shut up," Naruto said in a whisper before he fully looked up at Mizuki, his eyes holding a righteous fury. "If you so much as lay one more hand on Iruka-sensei…I'LL KILL YOU!" he growled while focusing some of his own killing intent hardened through the rigorous years of harsh training and being exposed to Tora's massive killing intent. While he was still in shock over the massive bombshell dropped on him, one of the first lessons Tora taught him was, 'If you ever hesitate while in a battle, your enemy will NEVER hesitate to kill you! So take any shock, any petty grievance you might have, and save it for when the battle is over. If you must, turn it into focused anger that can be unleashed upon your enemy.' So while he was still stunned, he was able to put it into the back of his mind for now and focus all his feelings at the man who tried to trick him. His killing intent was so intense that it caused Mizuki to take an involuntary step back, before he regained his bravado and gave a maniacal laugh.

"HA! YOU are going to kill ME?! I'd love to see you try! I'll kill you in one move," Mizuki boasted while he took his remaining shuriken off his back and took a ready stance.

"Just try it! I'll turn anything you throw at me back a thousand times over!" Naruto shouted out while plucking out five hairs and blowing on them. "Hidden Tiger Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as the clearing was filled with smoke. When the smoke cleared, five Naruto clones stood beside the original.

Mizuki, however, just scoffed, "Pft, if I was just seeing this I might be surprised, but even with five of you I can easily take you on!" he roared at he hurled his shuriken like a boomerang, causing the clones to scatter.

As Mizuki started to charge at the clones, Naruto smirked and put his hands into a seal while muttering, "Release!"

In another puff of smoke, the clones were suddenly replaced by five HUGE and angry looking tigers (2). The chunin halted while going wide-eyed and pale at this sudden change of events. The tigers started to circle the man when they all started to play a game of literal cat-and-mouse with him. When one tiger would charge, Mizuki would jump to avoid it while another would jump him as he had his guard lowered. This went on for several minutes and soon Mizuki was littered with cuts and scrapes from the tigers while panting heavily and the tigers themselves were once again circling him like hungry sharks.

Grinning, Naruto called out, "Hey Mizuki! Y'know that jutsu that I learned from the scroll? Well, get ready to experience it first-hand!" Getting into a crouching position that was mirrored by the clone tigers, Naruto shouted out, "Tiger Version: Fang over Fang! (3)"

With that, all five of the transformed clones became what looked like drills made of flesh, bone, and claws that darted towards the now screaming traitor. They clashed in the middle, and there was a loud explosion from the impact that kicked up plenty of dust and dirt.

Iruka, staring wide-eyed at the display found his voice a moment later. "D-did you kill him?" he asked hesitantly, unsure of how anyone could survive such an onslaught.

Naruto turned to the wounded chunin and gave a big cheesy grin and a thumbs up before the cloned tigers went up in puffs of smoke to reveal an out cold but very much alive Mizuki who lay pitifully on the ground. The man was black and blue all over and looked like he got on the wrong side of several alley cats, but he'd survive.

Naruto was able to lift the injured Iruka up onto his feet and started to carry him back to the village while he summoned a human formed clone to carry the scroll and another carried a still out cold and tied up Mizuki. "Do you think you'll be okay, sensei?" Naruto asked as he stared at the wounds in worry.

Iruka just waved it off. "Oh I'm sure I'll be fine once the medic-nins take a look at me. In the meantime, you'd better stick close to me until we get this whole mess sorted out," he stated, slightly surprised that the Anbu haven't stumbled upon them yet.

Naruto however, gave a giggle at this. Seeing his teacher's confused look, Naruto elaborated, "Oh you don't need to worry about that sensei. Before I left with the scroll I made sure to leave a note for the Old Man explaining why I was taking it. That way, if Mizuki was tricking me, he'd have the Anbu on him faster than an Akamichi on barbeque!" he finished with a triumphant grin.

Iruka seemed surprised at that. "So…you were expecting Mizuki to trick you?" he asked.

Naruto gave an affirmative nod. "Kinda, yeah. While his reasoning for me taking the scroll was good, I felt there were a few too many blanks that weren't getting filled out. So I figured that, since Mizuki never said not to, I'd leave the Old Man a note on why the scroll was missing."

Iruka could only chuckle at his student's forethought. While seeming to be a hopeless idiot at times, Naruto truly did have a good head on his shoulders. Similar to Shikamaru, Iruka felt Naruto held back some of his potential in class. "So Iruka-sensei…about the fox…?" Naruto started, not sure how to proceed.

Iruka gave the blond a gentle smile. "Don't worry too much about it Naruto. While I'm sorry you found out the way you did, there is something you need to hear: While I might hate the fox, I don't hate you. I've acknowledged you as…one of my excellent students. You may not be the hardest worker… and can be clumsy and not everyone accepts you…but you already knows what it is to feel pain inside your heart. You aren't the monster fox. You are a member of the Hidden Leaf. You're Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto was silent for a few moments and Iruka noticed his head was bowed and his shoulders were shaking a little. "Naruto-?" he started to say before he was tackled by an orange blur.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!" the blond cried in joy as tears of happiness ran down his face. Naruto hugged onto one of his most precious people as he continued to sob in happiness.

"Ow! Hey, cut it out Naruto, I'm injured here!" Iruka admonished the blond though it wasn't with any malice as he both laughed and cringed in pain.

Up above, Tora smiled in approval at his summoner proving the fruits of his labors. Perhaps he was truly worthy of holding a contract with him after all! He then grimaced as he knew that the brat would probably be questioning him about Kurama soon enough. While it wasn't a conversation he was particularly looking forward to, it was one that needed to be done eventually. For now though, he'd settle for the joy of the moment where the brat –no- Naruto takes his first steps into becoming the legend he knew the boy could be!

1. This may seem similar to some scenes from Kid Kyubi after this point. That's because I heavily relied on it for some inspiration. Sorry if this might upset some people, but as they say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

2. I got this jutsu idea from an attack used by a character named Byakko from Yu Yu Hakusho. The attack is called Beasts Unleashing, and I plan on adding similar tiger-based abilities to Naruto's arsenal later on.

3. The way I see it, the Fang over Fang technique is a Hidden Jutsu of the Inuzuka clan and is most likely passed onto the secret scroll, plus I've seen several stories on this site with that happening. It may get him in a bit of a rough patch with Kiba, but we'll burn that bridge when we come to it. Also, it was one of the few jutsu I could think of that would strike this Naruto's interest as he already has a Clone Jutsu and having him learn jutsu like the Flying Thunder God or Reanimation are both unrealistic and overused in my opinion.

AN: So here we are again! Man it's been awhile huh? Hopefully with no more school I can write more of this and my other stories soon, but we'll see how it goes. Please keep in mind that I've said before I'm not too much of a writer as while I can think of general plots easily, writing them out takes all my concentration. I'll aim to please though. Anyway, we've seen in this chapter the fruits of Naruto's training: a strengthened resolve, situational awareness, strength, keener senses, and big spoilers for something to come in later chapters! I hope I wrote it to all your liking, and I hope you all enjoy! Until next time: Read and Review!