After reading your reviews, I realized that just about every clue in the previous chapters point to Kyuubi as the one that has taken over Naruto. This is not so. I actually had an OC in mind when I wrote this story. I'll clarify with this chapter, don't worry.
NOTE: I forgot the term for a jutsu written on a piece of paper, so I'll just avoid that word.
"You wanted to see me, Sondaime?"
The leader of Konoha village was resting against the railing that surrounded his private garden, on the roof of his office building. He was looking out over the village, quietly taking in the sight of everything at peace. Knowing that peace could be gone in an instant, if he or his shinobi followers ever failed to protect the villagers. To protect them from the unknown. He glanced behind him, and said "Yes, Iruka. ...Come over here." He motioned for the younger man to stand next to him.
Iruka reluctantly came up next to his elder, leaning against the railing himself and marveling at the view from here. "I actually wanted to talk to you, also. It's about the jounin instructor for Naruto's Team 7."
"You mean, Kakashi?"
"Yes." The younger man paused, considering how he should say this. "What kind of person is he? Is he strict?"
The Hokage only grinned. "You're worried, aren't you?"
"Well, I've heard some distressing rumors..."
The old man reached into his robe and pulled out a book labeled 'The Way of the Ninja: Jounin Instructors.' Handing it to Iruka, he said "This is a list of the Genins assigned to Kakashi up to this point."
The dark-haired ninja took the book and began thumbing through the pages. He then stopped on Kakashi's page, glancing over the names ...and they were all zeros. "This can't be..."
"Kakashi hasn't passed a single person. All have failed. But I can tell you that, after reviewing each case, every one of them recieved the score they deserved." After that, both men fell silent. Iruka only stared at the list for a few minutes, ...and there were a lot of names..., then closed the book and gave it back.
Finally, the Third spoke up. "Iruka, ...have you noticed anything different about Naruto since the incident with the scroll?"
"No. He seemed just as energetic and carefree as always. He did show me a new technique he had learned, but nothing else... Why do you ask?"
The old man was silent, thinking. Almost in a whisper, he said "Something happened to him, just before you found him asleep in that clearing. When he read the last few lines of the Scroll of Seals, ...it was as if the scroll had come to life. It was giving off tremendous amounts of Chakra."
Iruka looked at the old man, eyes wide. He had heard of this kind of thing. There was a certain kind of jutsu that worked by reading words written on paper. Iruka himself had made several of these jutsus. Once activated, they had the same kind of reaction that the Hokage had just described. When the old man met Iruka's gaze, it became obvious that the Third had thought about the exact same thing. "So, it was a written jutsu?"
"Yes. When Naruto activated it, he was hit with a wave of Chakra from the scroll itself... It was this wave that knocked him out."
Iruka sighed, relaxing his shoulders and face. "So, it was just a sleep jutsu. Nothing to worry about..."
"No." The Third turned to face the younger man. "It's more than that. I looked over the scroll myself, and found that there was another jutsu written throughout the entire scroll. ...It was a forbidden summoning techinique. One not used to summon living creatures to our world, ...but to summon the dead."
xxxxXxxxx
It was just after 11:00 in the morning. This time of day was just beautiful for enjoying nature. The wind blew lightly through the trees; small creatures scampered through the branches; a nearby stream flowed by, just as it had for many years. A tall, silver-haired man stood in a clearing within the forest, not moving. He was focusing on his surroundings. He was not here to enjoy nature, however. The tranquility of the forest was hiding his true objectives.
/The basics of being a Ninja are erasing your presence and hiding yourself well. / This was a commonly known fact among the shinobi, and apparently, to his three new students as well. His senses were enhanced to several times that of a normal person, yet he was unable to spot them. /Good, they're all concealed well. /
Sasuke sat on a branch, about midway up the trunk of a good-sized tree. This was an ideal spot, because he could keep an eye on his sensei without giving himself away. Sakura had chosen the low ground, hiding herself underneath a thick bush. Both ninja waited for some opening that they could take advantage of. Some way for them to sneak in and grab one of those bells. Their growling stomachs gave them all the motivation they needed to pay attention.
Out of nowhere, something came crashing down from a tree on the other side of the clearing. Branches snapped, leaves rustled, and someone grunted in pain; they were making all the noise in the world. A familliar blonde head came into view. "Ow..." Naruto slowly stood up, brushing his clothes off and rubbing his head. "Okay, ...I'm not doing that again."
Kakashi was ...a little suprised. "Um... that's not quite right." Ninja weren't supposed to just ...fall out of their hiding places.
Naruto brushed the last of the leaves off of his jacket and shrugged "Whatever." He then began his attack, running strait at Kakashi, who in turn was just standing there, waiting. Slowly, the jounin reached his hand into a pouch at his waist. Seeing this, the blonde stopped, waiting for his opponent to attack first.
"First, I'll teach you about Taijutsu." He began to take out the object in the pouch.
A confused look came over Naruto's face. "Wait, ...Taijutsu is hand-to-hand combat, right? And you're gonna use a weapon?"
Kakashi didn't answer. Instead, he pulled out his prized possesion, a magazine titled 'Come Come Paradise.' The look on Naruto's face went from confusion to what-the-hell? He stood still for a few seconds, trying to process this.
"What's wrong? Hurry up and come at me."
"But, ...why are you reading a book?"
Without looking up from his reading, he answered "Oh, this? ...I want to know what happens next."
Naruto still wasn't sure about this. "O-o-o-o-kay. Have it your way." He charged again, leaping into the air to deliver a punch to the jounin's head. Without even blinking, Kakashi blocked the blow. Naruto dropped down, swinging his left leg around in a roundhouse kick. The elder man easily ducked. One last time, the blonde sent his fist at the taller man's head. That head vanished just before he made contact. Naruto now had a stunned look. To anyone else, this was the look that said 'I can't believe how fast Kakashi is!'
The jounin was now squatted down behind Naruto, his hands clasped together in the shape of the Seal of the Tiger: the first two fingers of both hands extended and put together, with the rest of the hands folded around his book. "A Ninja isn't supposed to get caught from behind over and over, idiot."
The next attack was one that no one who witnessed it will ever forget. Kakashi lunged his hands forward, saying "Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique!" Then came the most ...unique feeling Naruto had ever experienced. "ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF PAIN!" Naruto had just recieved four fingers shoved up his backside at once, and was now flying through the air. He landed face-first in the stream.
Sasuke and Sakura had seen the entire thing. Both of them had lost a lot of respect for their instructor.
Naruto, meanwhile, was all wet. /This is strange. I had no idea the kid's body was this slow. ...Oh, well. If one won't work... /
Kakashi stood on the shore of the stream, still reading, as Naruto climbed out. "What's wrong? If you don't get a bell before noon, you get no lunch."
The blonde appeared to ignore him, focusing instead on getting the excess water off of himself. His actions caused Kakashi to look up from his reading, trying to figure out why Naruto, the Number One Loud-Mouth Ninja of Konoha, was acting so calm and collected. He knew good and well that if he didn't get a bell, he wouldn't eat, and taking food from Naruto was usually a dangerous activity. But for some reason...
Several splashes caught the jounin's attention. He looked up to find seven Narutos in mid-leap from under the water. /Bunshin/ As the multiple Narutos landed and charged, the jounin saw that each one moved individually, making physical contact with the ground with every step. /No ...Kage Bunshin. The forbidden jutsu he defeated Mizuki with. / All seven Narutos had surrounded Kakashi, ready to fight. "With your ability, about one minute is probably your limit with this jutsu. No matter how many you line up, you're still just Naruto. ...You can't beat me with this jutsu yet."
No sooner had he finished saying this, then he was suddenly unable to move. The jounin had been caught from behind! But when he looked around to his back, ...there was nobody! /Now I feel stupid. He can become invisible. He even showed me this back in the classroom, and I forgot about it completely/ The original Naruto reappeared behind him, holding the jounin with a powerful binding move.
"Weren't Ninjas not supposed to get caught from behind, Kakashi-sensei?" Of course. Kakashi had been so distracted by the seven clones from the water that he had missed the one that had climbed out first.
/And here I thought it was my job to point out his mistakes/ Kakashi was looking back at the Naruto that was holding him, and he was able to notice something that he had missed up until now. When he first saw Naruto in their classroom, as well as in the introductions, the blonde's eyes were always wide, smiling, and a dark blue in color; the kind that were still too innocent to know the hardships of life. The eyes he now saw were different. Almost like they belonged to someone else. Naruto's eyes were now much narrower, thinner; they resembled the eyes of many battle-hardened ninja he himself had fought on a number of occasions. Also, the color had faded from dark blue to a lighter blue, almost an ice-blue. As strange as it was to imagine, Kakashi was certain that something was not quite right with this boy.
xxxxXxxxx
"Summoning ...the dead?"
"Normally, to use a summoning jutsu, the ninja must have signed a contract in blood so that the jutsu would work. However, no contract is needed to summon the dead. It is a technique that's obviously considered forbidden." The Third was still looking out over the village, a look of concern on his wrinkled face.
"But, when I got there, Naruto was alone. There was no sign that anyone, nor anything, had been there with him." Iruka had arrived at the clearing a few hours after sunrise. He found a sleeping Naruto as well as the Scroll of Seals sitting next to him. He managed to bring both back without drawing too much attention to himself, and there was nothing more.
"I know. But something was summoned." The old man paused. "During the actual summoning, the Chakra wave hit Naruto's eyes."
Both men fell silent. They both knew that the eyes were the vital points of almost everybody. A summoning jutsu, a wave of Chakra to the eyes, nothing and no one appearing beside him... Something, or someone, that was once dead had been brought back to life, ...within Naruto.
Well, I hope that cleared up the confusion about Kyuubi. Now we know that the Nine Tails is not the force that has taken over Naruto. I will further clarify about this dead guy in later chapters, but rest assured, he's not Kyuubi.
R&R!
...please?