-A Shrine in the Woods-

"About time, nosebleed! I found you!"

Naruto yelled as he posed, both hands pointing to the sky. Iruka's head enlarged itself, as if undergoing a faulty Transformation Jutsu.

"No, you fool! I found YOU!"

Exhaling in relief, having found his now wanted pupil, Iruka inspected Naruto, and found him to be exhausted and dirty, as if he had been rolling around in mud for the last couple hours.

"Heh…I guess you have got me. Too bad you were so fast. I've only memorized one technique."

"You look exhausted. What have you been doing?"

Naruto's face lit up at his teacher's question, unable to contain his excitement, "Wait'll I show you! I never dreamed…some of the Ninja Arts are so amazing! If I show I've mastered these techniques, you'll have to let me graduate!"

Taken aback, Iruka had never expected during all this mayhem, Naruto hid in the woods to practice. That Naruto, practicing, it was unheard of. Well, unless you count the routine Anbu goose chase every time he defaced the Four Kages' Faces.

'So…you came here to practice your Ninjutsu? Working yourself to exhaustion at that…'

"Naruto…"

"Yeah…?"

"What's up with that scroll you're carrying?"

Iruka, already knowing the answer, was still dreading what Naruto would say next.

"What this? Mizuki-sensei told me about it! And about this place! He said if I could show you I'd learned the techniques in this scroll…"

Mind whirling, Iruka put his training to good use, already thinking of a plan, as Naruto continued talking.

"You'd let me become a Ninja!"

Snapping into action just as Naruto finished his sentence, Iruka pushed his student out of the way. A wave of kunai pierced through the air, narrowly missing Naruto who was now out of the way. Iruka however, was much less fortunate having several lodged in various parts of his body.

"I'm impressed you figured out where to go."

Mizuki could be seen in the distance, having been the one who'd thrown the kunai.

"Now I understand!"

Everything had become clear to Iruka, Naruto was not some traitor (not that he believed that for a second). No, Mizuki had simply tricked the foolish orphan boy into carrying out his dirty work.

"The scroll, Naruto. Give it to me."

Naruto was not clued into any of these finer details, was now left confused by the attempted murder from one of his teachers, "Dude! I mean come on! Hey! What is this!"

Fearless, Iruka stepped forth to guide and protect Naruto, "Don't let him have it, Naruto! Protect that scroll with your life! It's more dangerous than you can imagine – it holds the records of the villages forbidden Ninja Arts! Mizuki is using you because he wants it for himself!"

Naruto, now defensive of his teacher-turned-traitor, began to ready himself for a fight. He would not back down if it came to it.

Smirking, Mizuki started, "Naruto, even if you've read the entire scroll, it will still be meaningless! I can show you what it all means!"

Iruka immediately picked up on the hidden meaning behind Mizuki's words, "Shut up, you fool!"

"You…know what really happened in the incident where the fox demon was sealed up again twelve years ago, don't you?"

Naruto was confused, what did the demon fox twelve years ago have to do with the scroll?

"Since that incident…the people of our village have been bound by the strictest decree."

Mizuki paused, letting Naruto speak, "I don't remember any decree…"

"You wouldn't. Part of that decree was that everyone would stay silent about it, only who were alive back then know about it."

Naruto was stunned, where was all this going, "What decree? Why is it so important that no one can talk about it?"

Mizuki just laughed, frightening Naruto, "What…what was the decree?"

"That no one must ever tell you…that the demon fox that destroyed the village twelve years ago…is you."

Naruto's mind faltered for a moment, before he regained his spirit.

"What…what are you talking about!"

"Stop!" Iruka shouted, the village's secret could crush his young pupil.

"The fourth Hokage trapped and bound you…in this form. Since then, everybody in the village has hated you. Didn't you think it was strange, to be hated everywhere despite never having done a thing?"

Naruto did not want to believe it, but all the pieces matched together. It would explain everything, why everyone had hated him all these years.

"And if Iruka were honest, even he would admit he hates you…after all, you're responsible for the deaths of his entire family!"

Descending into a dark place, mentally Naruto was destroyed at that moment. Mizuki, ready to strike, threw an oversized shuriken at Naruto, attempting to snuff out the boy's life in one throw. Naruto accepted his rapidly approaching fate, and resigned himself to death, closing his eyes one final time…

…Only to never feel the pain that was surely supposed to happen before his death. Opening his eyes, he found Iruka over top of him, smiling down at him, blood dripping from his lips.

"Why?" Naruto could not understand Iruka, having killed his family, why would Iruka protect him of all people.

"I know that Naruto. I was so hard on you, yelling, scolding…it must have hurt. Forgive me, if I'd been a better teacher…a better self…maybe neither of us would be here right now."

What Iruka did not say was how much he saw himself in Naruto, the loneliness, acting out for attention, and how hurt he was deep down inside.

Naruto, still afraid of the truth that was just laid bare before him, ran.

"Heh-heh-heh. What a pity…But I'm afraid, once Naruto sets his mind on something, he can't be dissuaded. He's going to use the scroll to take his revenge on the village! Even now, his eyes are still those of the demon fox."

Mizuki began to gloat, sure of his control over the situation.

Removing the shuriken from his back, Iruka responded while struggling to breathe, "You…don't know… Naruto… at all…"

"I don't have to know the boy to kill him! It's the scroll I'm after now. I'll finish you later."

Mizuki then jumped away through the trees, heading off in the direction that Naruto ran.


"Naruto! Quickly! Give me the scroll! It's what Mizuki's after!"

Naruto did not hesitate, ramming directly into his teacher, sending him barreling to the ground.

"You…What's wrong, Naruto…?"

As 'Iruka' struggled to get up, the transformation was undone, revealing Mizuki, "How did you know I wasn't Iruka?"

Laughing, 'Naruto,' undid his transformation, revealing Iruka.

"Because I am!"

"I see…"

Smirking, the teacher and the teacher-turned-traitor stared each other down. Mizuki was clearly in the dominant position, with Iruka struggling to remain conscious while leaned up against a tree for support.

Naruto lurked in the distance, hidden behind a tree, listening in.

"Hee-hee-hee-hee! So noble! Saving your parent's murderer…and for what? What happens if we let him live?"

"Then maybe the scroll will be kept safe from a complete scumbag."

"You're a fool. Naruto and I are two of a kind."

Interested, Iruka questioned, "Two of a kind?"

"I can use that scroll to obtain limitless power! The demon within him hungers for that kind of strength! You were right to fear him…to despise him…"

Iruka could not retort to what Mizuki had been saying, his silence eating away at Naruto's fragile psyche.

'Huh..so its true…Iruka-sensei really does hate me…'

"Maybe I do hate the fox…But not Naruto. Not the boy. For him I have nothing but respect. He's an excellent student of mine."

It was the light at the end of the tunnel, Naruto's self-growing hatred was repelled by the light of Iruka's statement. And as he spoke, the conviction in Iruka's words grew.

"…He works with all his might…But sometimes, even so, he's awkward, clumsy…a screw-up…people have mocked and shunned him…and it's given him empathy. He knows what it is to be in pain. That boy is not your demon fox! He is…a citizen of Konoha…Uzumaki Naruto!"

Tears of relief streaking down his face, Naruto silently sobbed, still hidden behind the tree some distance away.

A scowl rose onto Mizuki's face, "Aww! That's so sweet! Just hearing you say so makes me feel all warm and fuzzy!"

Iruka groaned in pain, his attack on Mizuki had worsened his wound. Mizuki readied his oversized shuriken.

"Well, Iruka…I had planned to save you for last…but sometimes things just don't work out the way you plan…so…"

Mizuki wound up to throw the shuriken, "Say goodbye!"

Resigned, Iruka lay there up against the tree, happy that his young student would at least survive.

'So this is it…'

But it wasn't, Mizuki was ambushed just as he was completing his throw. Landing between the injured Iruka, and the downed Mizuki, was Naruto.

"Keep away from Iruka-sensei…or I'll kill you!"

"Stupid kid…should have stayed…away!/Loudmouth brat! I can kill you with one blow!"

Readying a hand sign, Naruto growled back, "Bring it on, you jerk! Anything you throw at me I'll throw back times a thousand!"

"You're welcome to try little fox!"

With a puff, hundreds – no thousands of clones of Naruto surrounded the trio from all directions in the forest.

"What…!? How did he…?!"

For the first time that night, Mizuki felt fear.

"What's the matter tough guy! I though you could kill me in one blow! Right?! Come on!"

Iruka was stunned, the student he had failed earlier in the day was capable of this.

"Well then…if you're not attacking…I guess I just have to!"

Mizuki attempted to fight back against the horde, valiantly putting up a fight and taking several dozen clones with him. It did not matter. There were too many, his energy could not last. All the abuse that Iruka-sensei had endured that night was repaid, no one touched one of Naruto's important people!

When all was said and done, Mizuki's body lay there in a heap, battered, bloodied, and bruised.

"Heh…I guess I got carried away…"

"Naruto, come here. I've got a present for you."

Closing his eyes, Naruto felt his signature goggles be removed from his head, before they were replaced with something else.

"You can open your eyes now, Naruto…"

Naruto opened his eyes to his now hitai-ate-less teacher.

"Congratulations, Naruto! To celebrate your promotion, I'll take you out. We can go for ramen!"

Excitement overtaking his body, Naruto tackled his teacher, no, former teacher in a bear hug.


Author's Note:

This first chapter is just to establish the general setting. I'd imagine anybody who is reading Naruto fanfics know what Naruto is, but it still felt like the right thing to do. If you read the manga/watch the anime, this chapter closely follows the first chapter/episode, that will only be the case for this first chapter. Hope you enjoyed.

Had some confusion regarding what I mean when I say this chapter is to establish the general setting. To be explicitly clear, what I meant in saying that is this chapter is purely foundational, informing the reader at what point in the canon timeline the story is starting. Yes, this first chapter is very, very close to what happens in canon, with some minor alterations in wording, but I felt it was important to start here, and not chapter 2 for one main reason. It establishes that events up to the point of chapter 2 have happened in the same exact way as canon, and only from chapter 2 onward do the true changes in this fanfic occur. Hope that clears up any confusion, and doesn't create more. :)

Pat reon

* /thiscondor

remove the *