Rants: Hi guys new chapter up. By the way, I want to make one thing clear: I am not going to change the fact that Naruto is just the vessel of the kyuubi and not the kyuubi itself. Explaination for that will be found on the next chapter. Again, if any of you kind guys know the name of Sasuke's dad please tell me, I need it badly. I remember reading somewhere on the web that Sasuke's mom's name was also Itachi. Not sure about that but if you have info please do tell. Thanks again.

"I'm telling you I'm innocent!" Mizuki banged the desk hard in frustration. "Why won't you believe me?!"

"You were caught with the stolen Scroll of Forbidden Seals in your possession, you broke hokage-sama's special rule and you tried to kill Umino Iruka and Uzumaki Naruto. You'd honestly think that we'll believe you were innocent?" A middle aged man sitting on the opposite end of the table said. Judging by his uniform, one could clearly say that the man was ranked high among the Police Force.

"It was a set-up! A setup!" Mizuki screamed frantically as he got up from his seat. Two police men flanking on each side of him quickly pushed him back to the chair despite the chuunin's resisting. "Uchiha told me to steal the scroll so that he could have it for himself! He's the mastermind I tell you!"

"Telling everyone that I used someone so low..." The heads of everyone inside the room all turned towards the door where the voice originated. A young police operative stepped inside the interrogation room within the Police Force Headquarters. He was followed closely by a teenager wearing black Uchiha clothing and a large framed and scar-faced jounin. "...don't flutter yourself, trash."

That time, Itachi and his father's eyes met with one another. They kept contact for a few seconds before Itachi pulled his gaze away staring at the apprehended traitor. His father, following his son's example, also set his eyes at Mizuki.

The jounin, Morino Ibiki, noticed the short exchange between father and son. That was enough, owing to his extensive knowledge of the human psychology, for him to be able formulated his own conclusion.

'Hm. The way they look at each other. There are a lot of unspoken feelings going on between these two.' Ibiki moved his gaze from Itachi to his father. 'Well, it's always best to keep your nose off whenever not needed.' Sporting an inward grin, Ibiki resolved to keep what he found out all to himself and focus his attention on the task at hand.

"It's him! He's the traitor! Uchiha Shisui!" Mizuki spat, bolting up from his seat. His eyes flashed with anger at the sight of the new comer.

"Really?" Shisui asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's right..." Mizuki formed a malicious grin over his face, eyes locked at Shisui. "He's the real traitor. Shisui began contacting me a few days ago and told me about his intention to steal the Scroll of Forbidden Seals. Of course I hesitated. I never wanted to betray Konoha and I was actually going to report it to the hokage right after that first meeting but then Shisui did something that would persuade any person to do his bidding..."

Shisui, along with Itachi and Ibiki, maintained their calm and collected visage while they listened to the chuunin's story. On the other hand, Itachi's father closed his eyes while keeping his arms crossed – a habit of his whenever he is deep in thought.

"Uchiha Shisui, also known as Shisui of the mirage, is well known for his mastery at the use of special Genjutsus to fool and corrupt enemies. As you all know, Sharingan Genjutsu are almost impossible to counter for people without bloodline limits. He used his Sharingan to 'persuade' me into playing part in his scheme where he plans to use the kyuubi brat as a fall guy to steal the Scroll of Forbidden Seals. I am to dispose of the kid..." Mizuki said the last words with his voice full of contempt. The memory of his defeat at Naruto's hands was still painful, both at heart and with the body. "...and hide the scroll in a safe place. I would then spread the news that the monster ran away with the scroll. Once the whole village has bought the story it would then be safe for him to take the scroll."

Shisui crossed his arms and nodded. If not, he actually looked proud about what Mizuki had said. "Nice piece of work. A little more fine tuning and you'd have Jiraiya-sama make a run for his money."

"Shisui." Itachi's father said. His tone and the way he looked were more serious than Shisui had ever seen of him before. "Is this true?"

"Yes, captain."

There were loud audible gasps from the two other police operatives within the room as both of them glanced over at Shisui. They found it hard to believe that a great shinobi such as him would betray the Leaf but after hearing Mizuki's tale both are beginning to doubt the talented jounin.

"I guess it's my turn now, eh?" Shisui stepped forward placing a folder over the table. He cast a deadly glare against the former Academy instructor before facing the captain once more. "What he said is true except for one tiny little part. I did not use Sharingan over him."

"And how would you prove it?" The police captain asked again.

"I was there the day he fought Naruto-kun." Itachi spoke up catching everybody's attention. "Mizuki-san did not exhibit any of the known symptoms of Sharingan-based hypnotism that night, a clear indication that he was acting according to his own volition." Itachi turned at Mizuki, anticipating that the chuunin would challenge his statement, and went on before he could even have a chance to speak. "Explaining the principle behind the Sharingan Doujutsu to you is pointless and is just a big waste of time since it will not be up to you but for the elders to decide on the matter. Everything is written within this report."

"You're lying! I haven't seen or felt your presence anywhere around the forest that night! There's no way you could have been anywhere near us!" protested Mizuki.

Ibiki chuckled aloud. "What you don't know can kill you, boy. For a chuunin who was beaten to a pulp by a dead-last eleven-year-old kid that's not even a shinobi and still have the nerve to assume that you'd be able to sense the Anbu squad leader's presence, aren't you thinking highly of yourself?" He smiled in amusement at the hateful glare Mizuki was throwing at him. 'Heh. They don't make spies like they used to.'

Itachi simply ignored Mizuki and went to place another folder on top of the one submitted by Shisui. "This is the official report submitted by the Anbu. It has already been read and signed by Sandaime Hokage-sama."

"The chuunin Mizuki has been placed under surveillance for months back under the suspicion that he was divulging information outside the village. The suspicion turns out to be true. He was working on gathering information about the village: individual strengths of each leaf shinobi, total military power, current positions and deployments of our troops and village-specialty jutsus – basically, highly-restricted information that could undermine Konoha's military position once it gets out into the hands of the other shinobi villages. We have been feeding him information indirectly on purpose and have found out that he is selling the information off to different clients. Finally, we decided to play along and managed to capture him red-handed." Shisui proceeded to tap the large jounin next to him. "That's the reason why Ibiki-san is here. We borrowed him from the Assassination Squad to help 'squeeze out' a few more details."

A glint in the eye coupled with that infamous sadistic smile made Mizuki shiver from behind the desk, cold sweat started to slowly come out of his skin. Mizuki swallowed hard when he noticed Morino Ibiki, the famed torture and interrogation specialist, eye him with interest.

"Shisui. Itachi."

"Hai." Both of them replied.

The head Uchiha turned at the two of them with hard, narrowed eyes. "Do you know what this little undertaking of yours have nearly cost the village and the Uchiha clan? If he had managed to escape with the scroll that would have exposed the village's secrets and would have place all of us in a very precarious situation, not to mention the disgrace it would have given to the name Uchiha. What were you thinking?"

Itachi took a moment's pause while he organized his thoughts. He then looked straight into his father's eyes and spoke, "Anbu, on several circumstances, has special authority to conduct its own operations and may pull out human resources from any organization within the village if they find the said person's services to be of a great factor towards the successful outcome of the operation. The event in question was an act of espionage and undermines the village's security. Such an event warrants that authority."

"Bullshit!!" Itachi's father slammed the desk angrily. "Every crime that is committed within the boundaries of the village and every single personnel of the Police Force are within my jurisdiction! So is any person bearing the name Uchiha! The fact that this operation that took months of planning and had the cooperation of a personnel of the Police Force, an Uchiha at that, should have been coordinated through me! But instead, I was completely bypassed!"

"Anbu is a battalion under hokage-sama's direct authority. In accordance, any person tapped by Anbu reports directly to the head of the said operation he is part of. We are not obliged to explain our actions to the Captain of the Police Force or to the head of any clan." Itachi's cold reply made his father's blood boil. The fact that his own son dishonored him before so many people made the old man tremble in rage.

Shisui could only scratch the back of his head after witnessing the exchange. 'Itachi angered his old man again. Damn. This is going to be a pain.'

"However..." Itachi continued. "Father, for my rudeness and disrespect, I am deeply sorry."

The Police Force captain stared intently at his son who had bowed in a solemn gesture of apology. It didn't take long before he felt his temper subside. The head of the Uchiha simply crossed his arms and sighed. "That will be all. You two may leave."

Itachi pulled himself upright and, without a word, proceeded towards the door. Shisui bowed hastily at the captain and went after his friend. "Tape it for me." He whispered to Ibiki when he passed by him on the way. Shisui took out a couple of blank tapes from his pocket and handed them over to the Interrogation Specialist before exiting the room.

"Closet sadist." Ibiki muttered to himself as soon as Shisui was out of earshot. He turned gaze towards his charge grinning at the thought of the fun he would be having today.

"Geez, you really have a bad sense of timing you know, picking up the worst of times to let that sharp tongue of yours loose." Shisui commented as the two marched down the short steps in front of the Police Headquarters.

Itachi immediately parted way with his friend and walked down the road alone. "I have an appointment to make." The heir to the Uchiha said, not caring to glance back but waving his goodbye nonetheless.

"Good luck." Shisui nodded. 'I'll just wander around town until the captain cools down.' The police operative thought as he walked down the opposite way Itachi went. Already, he had a particular destination in mind. 'I wonder if that new Icha Icha Paradise volume is out already.'

The classroom was unusually noisy that day. Naruto slumped on his usual seat watching as most of the kids congratulated one another for passing the exams while the others bragged about their future plans now that they're true ninjas. The blonde's attention fell once again on the hite-ate that was tied proudly around his forehead. "Hehehe..." He shifted it for the umpteenth time that morning and chuckled to himself, sporting that wide foxy grin.

"Huh?" A passing kid stopped by when he noticed Naruto sitting on the seat next to the aisle. "Hey kid, what are you doing here? Only those who graduated are supposed to be here."

"Hey! Hey! Can't you see this?!" Naruto said in outrage, pointing at his forehead protector.

"Settle down, everyone." Iruka said hushing the class down as soon when he got in. Everybody went back to their seats and listened for Iruka's final instructions. "Beginning today all of you are now official Leaf shinobis but you are still merely rookie genin. Now you will be assigned missions by the village. The hard part has just started so do your best."

"Today we will divide the class into three-man teams and each team will be assigned a jounin sensei. You will follow your jounin sensei's instructions as you complete your assigned missions. The team arrangements were made to balance out each team's strength so that not one team will come out as overwhelmingly powerful." Iruka took out a clipboard with various names written on it. "If there are no questions, we'll start of with Team One..."

'Geez. I don't really know any of these guys. It would have been fun though if it were dog-breath or Shikamaru or maybe that fat-ass Chouji. Too bad those losers aren't here' Naruto crossed his arms, considering who he wanted to be teamed up with.

He barely heard Iruka's next announcement. "Next is Team Four: Rock Lee, Tenten and Hyuuga Neji."

'Well, I guess anybody would do,' thought Naruto nodding.

"Last team, Team Eleven will be composed of Uzumaki Naruto..."

Naruto's attention perked up after he heard his name called. He turned at Iruka, anxiously waiting who he will be partnered with. "And? And?"

"...that will be all." Iruka finished. Naruto almost fell on the floor after hearing that.

"Hey! Iruka-sensei! Why didn't I get any teammates?!" Naruto banged his desk and protested.

Iruka turned at the clipboard once more before answering the loudmouthed kid's question. "Naruto, the total number of those who passed during the exam was thirty and the team assignments were made immediately after that. You made it through the cut of the graduating class several hours later so your name was not included in the original list. Also, your addition meant that the total number of graduates was now raised to thirty-one and since there are no more extra students for you to be teamed up with you will just have to cope, understand?"

"Hmph! I see!" Naruto crossed his arms feeling thoroughly confident. "The reason why sensei didn't give me teammates was because I am such an outstanding student that my skills alone were equal to that of three kids! Ha! Iruka-sensei said that they had to balance out the teams so that means that I'm the most improved one in the class! That must be it!" Naruto bragged. He was oblivious of the fact that the eyes of everyone in class were all zeroed-in on him. Each pair had burning, murderous glares on them.

Iruka heaved a sigh. "Baka. Out of those who took the test, Naruto, you're score was the lowest. For a dead last like you, this arrangement was done so that you are tutored and get more attention from your jounin sensei."

"Yeah. You could really use some, dead last!" Someone from the class teased making the whole class erupt into laughter.

Naruto seethed, clenching his fist. The blonde turned around letting his bile out at everyone, "SHUT UP!!"

'Well, this should work out.' Iruka though. He coughed lightly to draw back the class' attention. "Okay, this afternoon we will be introducing the jounin senseis. Take a break until. Be sure to be back by one."

The students began to exit the class after the briefing. Each one went together with their respective team partners to get acquainted with one other. Since he was basically alone in the team and had no one to hang out with, Naruto ran after the only he person that he knew from the class.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called out catching up with the chuunin.

"What do you want, Naruto?"

"Ne, ne Iruka-sensei?! It's still early and you don't have anything to do so why don't we go out and have ramen together? Your threat!" Naruto asked looking hopeful. Seeing the dirty look Iruka was giving him, Naruto decided to rephrase his statement. "I-I mean we will both pay for our lunches. Hehe... What do you say, Iruka-sensei?"

"Not now, Naruto. Maybe some other time." Iruka said.

"I see." Naruto's grinning face fell to a sad frown. The boy lowered his head and was about to walk away when he felt a hand rest over his head and shook his hair.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I have to go meet somebody important today." Iruka said in apology. He for one understood how the kid felt being shoved alone while everyone else had an entire team of their own. Sighing, Iruka took out a cup noodle hidden inside his belt pouch and place it on Naruto's hands. "There. That's a special cup ramen from the Cloud Country. It was kinda expensive so I was saving it as a graduation present for you but remembering what happened with Mizuki that night I didn't have the chance to give you your present. Enjoy."

Surprised, Naruto looked down at the cup ramen and then at Iruka's face who was smiling at him. Naruto beamed with happiness and proceeded to clamp his sensei in a tight bear hug. "Arigatou, Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka stood there watching as Naruto detached himself and made a run for the canteen where hot water was waiting to complete his lunch. 'I'm sorry, Naruto, but there's something that I need to find out,' thought Iruka before continuing on his way.

"Special ramen! Special ramen!" Naruto chanted happily as he raced down the corridor coming from the canteen with a steaming cup of imported instant ramen in hand. 'I wonder how this taste? Nah, it's a present from Iruka-sensei so it must be good. Hehe, can't wait to find out.'

Just as Naruto made a turn on the next corner it so happened that a boy was walking down the opposite way he is. Both boys collided, their heads smacking with one another. Naruto, who was down on all fours, watched in horror as the Styrofoam cup rolled along the floor spilling his precious ramen all over the place. "NO!! Iruka-sensei's special ramen!"

His eyes burning with rage, Naruto turned at the kid that bumped into him. He was down with his behind against the ground shaking his head to rub the daze off. Naruto quickly got back on his feet and grabbed a handful of the boy's clothes with one hand while threatening to smack him with the other. "Look at what you did, you thick eye browed moron! You spilled my lunch!"

"I-I'm sorry." The boy answered politely. "If you want, I'll share my lunch with you." He said raising a plastic bag containing a couple of sandwiches.

Naruto glanced at the food. He was debating mentally whether to take the peace offering or not. For all he know it could be poisoned or something. Suddenly his stomach made a loud growl.

The two boys were found eating lunch out on the balcony a few minutes later. "Wow! That was good! Thanks a lot Geji-Mayu!" Naruto cried patting his belly. 'Though I still prefer the ramen...'

"My mother made those. I'm glad you liked it Naruto-kun." Lee smiled and took another bite of his sandwich.

"Huh? You know my name?" Naruto asked looking completely bewildered. He raised a finger and pointed at himself. Lee started chuckling making Naruto turn warily at him. "What's so funny?!"

"Of course I know. Iruka-sensei said your name aloud plus you were making such a scene earlier. You're sure to leave an impression on everyone in class." Lee explained.

Naruto harrumphed, crossing his arms. "You know..." Naruto said turning back at the thick eye browed boy and sporting a large grin on his chubby face. "...you're such a nice guy. I bet you're the best student in your team." He was quite surprised when he saw Lee's features suddenly fell. "What's wrong, Geji-Mayu?"

Lee lowered his half-finished sandwich. "Actually, I was the lowest in class. I can't use Ninjutsu and Genjutsu and I only have below average Taijutsu. That's why my classmates called me a hot-blooded loser." He said in a low voice.

'He can't use Ninjutsu and Genjutsu and yet he passed the exam?' Naruto watched in disbelief at Lee's revelation. 'Damn you Iruka-sensei, you unfair bastard!'

"People always say that I can't become a ninja and that it's pointless that I stayed at the Academy." Lee turned at Naruto, his eyes shining with determination. "But you know what, Naruto-kun? That became my inspiration. I want to prove to everyone that even if a person can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu he can still become a great ninja. That is my dream and I'm devoting everything on that purpose."

"Geji-Mayu..." Naruto muttered. He was clearly captivated by Lee's fighting spirit. 'This guy... He's just like me...'

Again, the blonde broke into a wide grin. "Heh! From now on I will also work harder and devote everything to my dream. Someday I am going to become hokage and have everyone acknowledge my existence!" Naruto declared, raising his fist vigorously into the air.

Lee nodded. "Yeah! I'll become a great ninja and you'll become hokage! We won't quit until we fulfill our dreams!" He too cried aloud, also raising his fist high in the air. Both kids then broke out into a fit of laughter which continued for a few moments until Naruto's eyes fell on the long haired boy eating lunch by the window on the other building.

"Ne, ne Geji-Mayu? Who's that?" Naruto asked curiously.

Lee narrowed his eyes to get a better focus on the boy Naruto was pointing at. "That's this year's number one rookie, Hyuuga Neji. He's the prodigy of that prestigious Hyuuga clan and is said to be the genius among all the genins in Konoha."

"I see..." Naruto muttered. An idea suddenly lit up inside his brain. "Hey Geji-Mayu, since we don't have anything to do, you wanna go have some fun?" He asked, a mischievous smile forming across his lips.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Hehe... watch."

"Wait! Naruto-kun!" Lee called out but was too late as Naruto had already jumped down the balcony and off to the next roof until he was on the side of the building where he saw the long haired boy.

Naruto slowly crept against wall until he reached the window. Good thing the kid was looking at the opposite way that he didn't detect Naruto sneaking behind him. After he had gotten close enough, the blonde quickly jumped inside the window and launched a punch aimed right at Neji's face.

With the element of surprise in his side, Naruto was dead sure his fist would connect until Neji bent slightly backward at the last second making Naruto's fist miss his head by a mere inch. Neji quickly grasped Naruto's outstretched arm, landed a hard elbow on his chest, and finished by throwing him painfully against the floor.

Neji moved closer watching the crumpled orange heap on the floor. "Loser, you know that it's pointless –What!!" To his surprise, the Naruto that he had just beaten erupted in ninja smoke and was revealed to be nothing more than a piece log. At that same time he heard several battle cries coming from above him.

"Got you!!" Neji looked up and saw six Narutos raining down on him from all directions.

'Bunshin? No." The shocked look on the Hyuuga boy's face suddenly transformed into a self-assured one, one that sported a very confident smirk. 'Hm. This could be amusing.' Neji got into battle stance, moving quickly to the left to evade the first pair of fists. Countering with a couple of well-placed kicks and punches, Neji easily disposed the first two clones. He then moved his arm to block a roundhouse kick aimed on his head and hit Naruto with a palm strike on the face that dispelled that body into smoke. Neji then leapt slightly avoiding a sweep kick and took out that offending shadow clone with a spin kick on his way down.

Two Narutos remain. One charged Neji from behind but before he could land a punch the white-eyed boy ducked low avoiding the strike and hit back with a rising uppercut to the jaw. He immediately followed a sharp kick on the abdomen. The force of the blow sent that Naruto flying across the corridor slamming him against the opposite wall.

Now there was only one Naruto remaining, the real one. Naruto tensed up seeing how powerful the so-called genius was but instead of being intimidated the blonde gathered up all his courage and run straight towards the boy, his fist curled tight.

Neji dodged the punch by shifting slightly sideways leaving Naruto with a wide opening and hit him with a powerful palm strike squarely on the chest. Naruto was thrown off his feet, landing painfully on the floor a couple paces back. Clutching his pained torso, Naruto looked up and saw Neji towering dominantly over him. "Whatever you do... It's useless. It is something that fate has already decided. A loser like you can never defeat someone like me."

"What did you say you bastard!!" Angered, Naruto got back on his feet and was about to launch another assault at Neji but stopped dead on his tracks when he heard someone called out his name.

"Stop it!! Naruto-kun!"

Both turned to the direction from which it came and saw a boy with thick eyebrows. Standing next to him was a girl whose brown hair was coiled in twin buns on each side of her head.

"Is this your idea, Lee?" Neji asked. Lee only looked down on his feet and said nothing. Naruto could say that he was trying to take the blame to himself which also caused Neji to sport another smirk. "Birds of the same feather – a hot-blooded loser..." He then turned his gaze from Lee to Naruto. "...and an ignorant dead last."

"Damn you!" Naruto cried out.

Neji closed his eyes and chuckled to himself. "Fighting against destiny is futile. You should learn your place. Don't worry; I hold no grudge against you." The Hyuuga prodigy said eyeing Naruto. He calmly stepped forward pass Naruto and later his teammates. "Com'on. It's time to go."

Tenten quickly followed after Neji but Naruto saw Lee remained standing on his place. Deep inside, he was feeling bad about what happen. Here the guy was being all nice to him and all he could do was get him into trouble. "Geji-Mayu..."

"Good luck, Naruto-kun." Lee said with a smile. With that he went after his team.

It was still quite early when Naruto headed to the room where he was supposed to meet his new jounin sensei. Things didn't go all too well that morning so Naruto was in a grumpy mood. Thankfully, a nasty idea suddenly brewed up inside his head that took his bile completely off the destiny-obsessed kid, at least for the moment. 'I'm going to set a trap on the door. When the new sensei opens it, boom, he's going to get an eraser dropped over his head! Nitsususu... This is going to be fun!'

Naruto finally reached the classroom. Unfortunately for him, there won't be anytime to set up his ingenious plan because when he opened the room the new jounin-sensei was already inside sitting by one of the chairs.

"You're late."