Just a bit of side information before we begin:
Jutsu's are done in the English Dub way, for the main reason of later in the story I intend to create some OC Jutsu's and I don't want to mess up the translation to Japanese.
Adding to that, I won't be using any Honorifics (Other than Sensei as I think I got a handle on that one) as I will most likely screw them up.
Any Jutsu's information I have gotten from Narutopedia so if any hand signs or English dub translations are wrong blame that.
This may seem a little slow for a story but this is my first major story my others have been one shorts or side projects so just bear with me.
"Speaking"
"Thoughts"
"Jutsu"
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The sounds of clinking paint cans filled was all that filled the air of the Hidden Leaf village in this early morning, a small kid with noticeable bright blond virtually yellow hair took off his orange jacket and tied it around his waist then let out a content sigh as he looked over the village being illuminated by the rising sun.
He looked below the cliff he was standing on where jutting out were four stone faces, the four Hokage of the Leaf village.
Glancing next to him, he eyed up the few cans of paint he had with him and the paint brush placed atop of them and a foxy grin spread across his face as he looked back down at the faces, "This is gonna take all morning to complete, isn't it" he sniggered to himself keeping his grin plastered across his face, "I'm sure Iruka Sensei won't mind if I'm just a little late for class today then".
With another snigger he opened the cans and got to work.
Kotetsu let out a yawn as he stretched his arms above his head till he heard a satisfying pop and he put his arms back down, "Today's going to drag isn't it?" he casually asked his long-haired friend beside him Izumo.
He ponded this thought for a moment as he let out a yawn of his own, "Probably, we'll be delivering more paperwork, so our backs are going to be even worse" he rotated his neck a bit, "At this rate I'm worried how we'll look when we're 80" he commented.
They shared a small chuckled at this as they entered the outer wall of the Hokage mansion.
Kotetsu scratched his chin but as he did, he happened to glance up at the great stone faces "Oh no…" he muttered stopping in his tracks fixated on the faces, Izumo spotted this and stopped next to him and followed his gaze.
"Not again…" he muttered looking at the red's, blue's, yellows and a variety of other colours strewn about the faces of the great Hokage in all sorts of patterns, some swirled or streaked while other were just splashed randomly.
The childish laughing of the culprit echoed behind them, they looked around and up where Naruto Uzumaki was absolutely losing it with laughter while holding the brush and one of the buckets still in his hand, "Don't you move Naruto, we're coming to get you!" Kotetsu shouted running in the direction of Naruto with Izumo close behind.
"Catch me if you can!" Naruto exclaimed back with laughter as he took off along the roofs with the two Chunin close behind, frustratingly for the two, Naruto always seemed to be faster than them so they were always a step behind, but they wouldn't be embarrassed by him again.
They went around the houses for quite a while jumping from roof to roof with Naruto always being just out of arms reach of the two Chunin frustrating them more and more and what didn't help was Naruto's constant laughing which was grating on them.
"Just stop Naruto, the longer you run the worse your punishment will be!" Izumo exclaimed getting tired off all this running so early in the morning.
"You've got to catch me first for there to be any punishment" Naruto laughed as he dived down to the streets quickly followed by Kotetsu while Izumo remained following on the roofs but the crowds made it difficult to keep track of the boy who eventually disappeared into the crowd, the two kept going ahead in the hopes he would reappear.
Unbeknownst to them the boy had ducked into a small alley off the main road, he peeked his head out as they past and sniggered to himself, "Ah, another easy escape" he said putting his hands behind his head his foxy grin plastered across his face.
"Wouldn't be sure about that" a voice echoed behind him startling Naruto so much he fell to the ground with the can and brush cluttering to the ground next to him, "What do you think your doing this time!" the figure exclaimed.
"H-Hey Kalis, funny seeing you here…" Naruto awkwardly chuckled out rubbing the back of his head in a sheepish manor.
Stood in front of him was a boy about his age; he was the same height as Sasuke, and had short brown hair matching his white complexion. He wore the basic Shinobi sandals, black trousers, a pocketed white sleeveless jacket with a string top beneath with a spread white Snowdrop flower that had a snowflake in the middle etched onto the back in a black circle and some light bandage wrappings on his forearms, but the most obvious point was the bandages wrapped around his face covering his eyes and eyebrows from sight, this was Kalis of the Kochi clan.
"It's not is it…" he muttered his hands on his hips and very disappointed look on his visible face as Kotetsu and Izumo were running past looking for Naruto spotting them.
"There you are!" Kotetsu said kneeling over panting for breath, "You've finally been caught" he added really struggling for breath.
"I'll take him back to class, I'm sure Iruka Sensei will have a punishment for him" Kalis said facing towards them, while he didn't need to face them as he couldn't see them he always though it was just polite to do so.
"Very well Kalis" Izumo said with a smile, "Just recommend he cleans the faces up after what he's done to them" he said with a glare to Naruto.
"I will, thank you" Kalis said with a head nod, "Come on Naruto, you are in so much trouble for this" he said picking Naruto up and having to hold his arm so he wouldn't run away.
"Awww come on" Naruto wined but Kalis wasn't having it as they continued on.
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Back at the academy, Iruka was teaching his class preparing them the best he could for the graduation exam they were going to take tomorrow when the door opened and Kalis entered wrangling Naruto in his arms through the door.
Iruka sighed when he saw this as it meant that likely Naruto was in trouble again; he'd let Kalis leave the class to find him for two reasons, one he was one of the top students and was guaranteed to pass the test and second, he seemed to be the only non Jonin or ANBU who could find and catch Naruto.
"There you are Naruto!" Iruka exclaimed walking over and dwarfing Naruto placing his hands on his hips while Naruto looked sheepish, "Where have you been?!" he exclaimed.
Naruto just gave his foxy grin in response, "He painted the great stone faces… again" Kalis commented with his arms crossed.
"Aw come on Kalis, where's the friendship here!" Naruto commented crossing his arms as his supposed best friend had just ratted him out.
"My friendship is where I keep you out of trouble the best I can and make sure you learn when I can't keep you out of trouble Naruto" Kalis commented back shrugging his shoulders "Kotetsu and Izumo Sensei's requested he clean the stone faces as punishment" he added facing towards Iruka.
Iruka sighed again, he was thankful for Kalis, he always had Naruto's best interests at heart and making sure Naruto paid for his actions was a way of showing how much he cared about the blond, even though it seemed Naruto never saw it that way.
"That seems like an adequate punishment, don't you Naruto" Iruka said looking back down to Naruto, who relented with a shrug. Iruka knew that was the best answer he would get from the boy and indicated for them to take their seats at the back as he resumed the class.
As Kalis took his seat in the desk behind Naruto, the person who sat alongside him tapped his shoulder, "So where was he this time?" a feminine voice asked.
"Usual alley he hides down after using paint" Kalis responded nonchalantly knowing full well Naruto had already dozed off in the seconds he'd sat down, "Though I think this was the fastest time which I found him Ino" he added facing the long ponytailed blonde.
"Yeah I think it was" she laughed slightly, "Can't believe that idiot…"
"Don't call him that!" Kalis quickly snapped, after everything he was still Naruto's closest and only friend and hated people calling him names.
"Sorry, old habits" Ino hastily apologised, "I just don't understand why he does it, why he always acts out and embarrasses himself for no reason" she wondered aloud making Kalis lean back and face the ceiling but eventually relented with a shrug not having a clue himself, whenever he'd asked Naruto his only response was 'because it's fun' which wasn't much of a reason.
Ino sighed as she rested he head on the table her question unanswered you see Kalis, Ino and Naruto were friends, or well Kalis was friends with Naruto and Ino, Naruto and Ino themselves were more acquaintances who both shared the same good friend, Kalis and Ino were good friends through their fathers and clans being on good relations, but Kalis and Naruto were friends through reasons Ino had yet to figure out.
She turned her eyes to the swarm of fangirls surrounding the broody Sasuke Uchiha, her main gaze was focused on the pink haired Sakura Haruno near the front of the group. Ino had given up on Sasuke's fan club a long time ago, mostly after Kalis had given her a reality check and helped her focus on the more important things, sure she still thought Sasuke was hot and if he asked her out she wouldn't say no, but she had grown beyond being a simple stupid fan girl willing to do anything for the boy unlike the rest of their female class members which lead to her falling out with the previous mentioned pink haired girl.
From there the day only seemed to drag on and on, even the small breaks in between felt like they only lasted a few seconds though for Ino it was entertaining watching Kalis reel Naruto in from trying to either escape to perform one of his pranks outside the academy or trying to perform one of his pranks inside the academy.
Eventually though the day began to close out and finally the bell was ringing as Kalis had to practically leap over the table to grab a hold of Naruto who was trying to escape, "You've got cleaning to do Naruto" he muttered.
"Duh, that's where I was going…" he tried to retort but Kalis knew he was lying and Naruto quickly relented as the bandaged boy just knew him to well.
Ino was giggling to herself watching their antics which always brought a smile to her face as she headed to the bottom of the class room to leave for the day.
"Kalis?" Iruka spoke up as the boy in question was holding on to Naruto who'd crossed his arms in a huff, "Can you watch over Naruto while he cleans the faces please" he asked, Iruka knew that Kalis was likely already planning on it as he usually did in the first place and he was also the only one who had some level of control over Naruto.
"Will do Iruka Sensei" he smiled before leading out of the room with Naruto.
Iruka watched them go with a small smile, "Those two really are something, I really wonder just what they'll be like in the future, and if they pass tomorrow, what Shinobi they'll be" he muttered looking out through the window seeing them leave making a mental note to go visit them later.
Meanwhile with the boys, Kalis was continuing to drag Naruto through the village as much and the blond was trying to fight against it he couldn't break the grip of the blind boy, he was so focused on this he wasn't even noticing the people they were passing.
As the crowd got thicker they had to forge a path through and accidentally bumped into the back of a taller man with white hair, "So sorry" Kalis hastily said before taking Naruto through the crowd again.
The man put his book down that he'd been reading and looked at the two as they moved through the crowd, "See something interesting?" a female voice said walking up to him from a store she'd just been in.
He glanced over to his companion with two purple marks on either of her cheeks, "Just those two.." he replied coolly indicating to the two who were still filtering through.
She followed his indication and made a race of realisation, "Oh those two, wonder where they're heading now?" she asked her brown hair getting caught in the wind blowing behind her slightly.
"Likely getting Naruto to clean the faces again" he commented walking off, "I'm sure they can handle it themselves, come on we should get you back before your next shift starts" he said putting his mostly hidden face back into his book.
"I suppose your right" she agreed before looking over her shoulder one last time at the boys before following her friend.
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Over by the stone faces, Kalis was sitting cross-legged atop the First Hokage's head, his head was tilted below him where Naruto was standing on a platform scrubbing away at the paint.
"Come on Kalis, we're friends let me go" Naruto wined looking up towards his seemingly blind friend and giving his best puppy impression though to no avail not that it could of even worked in the first place.
Kalis sighed at the blonds another attempt at playing the friend card "Naruto, I may be your friend but you still desecrated the great stone faces, someone's gotta clean it up" Kalis stated back to his friend with a smile on his lips "Don't do it then you won't have to clean it up".
"Aww, come on Kalis, you're such a stickler for the rules" he continued to wine returning to the scrubbing and muttering obscenities under his breath.
Kalis chuckled crossing his arms "If you followed to the rules, you'd not be in these situations Naruto" he said keeping the smile to which Naruto only huffed in response.
"Why are you put in charge of watching over me anyway?" Naruto said focusing on a particular part of red paint that had become extremely hard to remove.
Kalis sighed with a small chuckle "Because I'm probably the only one who can keep you here, and because friends stand by each other, no matter what" he said noticing the blond become frustrated with the particular piece of paint.
"Not really standing by me right now are you" Naruto commented giving the paint a hard scrub to finally get rid of it.
Kalis became stunned for the moment before returning his smile "Well, I could leave you to talk to no one, or ask Iruka Sensei to come give you a lecture" he said starting to laugh as Naruto looked up at him with a pleading look.
"Please no, anything but that" he practically begged.
"So, how's the cleaning going?"
Kalis didn't need to turn to meet Iruka walking up to look over at Naruto "Oh, Iruka Sensei, he's still only on the first face but he's working".
"That's good" he smiled looking over the edge at Naruto gaining an angrier expression "Make sure you get every bit of that paint off, Naruto".
He didn't get any sort of response other that a begrudging huff from the boy so he turned to Kalis instead kneeling down to his level, "Kalis can I have a word?" he asked and Kalis nodded in response standing up and stepping away from the faces with Iruka, "Honestly, how do you feel about Naruto in the exams tomorrow?" he asked taking Kalis back a moment.
"Well to be honest… not confident… with the writing portion I'm sure he'll do great I've been tutoring him in that but as for the practical portion, he can only do one Jutsu and that's his pervy Sexy Jutsu and I doubt that's on the test" Kalis commented facing Iruka.
Iruka smirked slightly at the idea of Sexy Jutsu being on the test, "No it's not" he muttered dropping his smirk to a more serious expression, "Can you get some training out of him early tomorrow morning before coming to class, I can make exception if you're a few minutes late" he asked.
"Sure, anything specific?" Kalis asked.
"I can't tell you specifically as it's for the exam, but just go over the basic Jutsu's that you've been taught, that'll suffice" Iruka said with a smile before reaching into his pocket and pulling out some cash, "Here after he's cleaned that up you two go and get some ramen on me" he said giving Kalis the money.
"Thanks Sensei" Kalis beamed before heading back over to the faces, Iruka watched a bit before walking off a small smile on his lips.
Naruto meanwhile had been getting very frustrated with the paint not coming off the stone when the platform he was standing on shook, looking next to him Kalis was standing there and was picking up a bucket to help, "Come on, it'll go quicker if I help" he smiled at Naruto as he grabbed the sponge from the bucket.
"But it's my punishment?" Naruto aske confused.
"And friends stand by each other, no matter what" Kalis responded starting on the paint after finding it, "I could always let you do this on your own with however many hours that would take…"
"No please help!" Naruto quickly exclaimed placing his hands together in a beg making Kalis laugh.
Together they worked at the paint until long into the night and once it was finally done the whole village was pitch black but thankfully was still lit; after they put all the supplies away, they made their way into town.
Naruto sighed as he rubbed his hair while he walked alongside Kalis down the street, they had just finished the cleaning and by that time night had fallen leaving the street illuminated by the lamps lining it , "Where are we going?" Naruto asked looking around.
"Where do you think?" Kalis replied with a smirk on his face as they rounded the corner and a familiar building came into view, Ichiraku Ramen.
Naruto's eyes sparkled and drool came from his mouth in excitement, Kalis chuckled, "Come on, it's Iruka Sensei's treat" he said walking towards the shop followed closely by Naruto; now Ramen may have been Naruto's favourite food but for Kalis he much preferred Sea food over anything else but could always make an exception to eat ramen if it cheered up Naruto.
As they entered the stand they were immediately greeted by the overwhelming smell that accompanied Ramen, the took their seats at the table.
"So I'm guessing the faces are all cleaned up then?" a familiar voice said beside the two boys , Naruto looked over to see Kotetsu looking at him with a raised eyebrow, beside his was his best friend Izumo currently slurping up some noodles.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he gave him his signature foxy grin, "Yeah, we cleaned it all up" he chuckled out bumping Kalis's shoulder who gave his own chuckle in response. "At least for now" Naruto added quietly.
The two Chunin looked at each other and sighed while shaking their heads, they knew that it was a futile battle to get Naruto to stop with his pranks, if you told him to stop he'd just do them more and normally more disruptive, "Just don't do it tomorrow, give us at least a one day break" Izumo said rotating his shoulder, "We've hardly had a moment to rest…".
Before Naruto could respond a bowl was placed in front of him which gained all of his attention, he dived straight into the bowl of his favourite food gaining a chuckle from the three in attendance , as he devoured his ramen Kotetsu spoke up, "Hey Kalis? Can I ask something if you don't mind?"
He gave him a nod, "So, both your sister and father have unique names with their own meanings but your name is kinda well… y'know" he said indicating with his hands, "My question is, do you know why that is?" he asked.
Kalis faced down to his broth as everyone looked round at him, it was a question everyone asked him when they first meet him and for people he met before it would just keep cropping up, it didn't take a genius to notice that his own name was widely different to literally anyone else in the village and likely the rest of the Shinobi world, "To be honest Kotetsu, I have no idea, my mother named me but she never told anyone why and well…." He trailed off not feeling like finishing.
Kotetsu and Izumo looked at each other and nodded, "Hey sorry kid I didn't mean to bring you down" Kotetsu apologised before they both stood up and Izumo paid for their food, "Here let me pay for some of your guys".
Kalis was about to protest when Kotetsu leaned closer, "I know Iruka gave you some money for at least two bowls but this is Naruto we're talking about here" he smiled before putting some money on the counter then leaving waving goodnight over his shoulder.
"Goodnight Naruto and Kalis" Izumo said with his own wave before they both disappeared outside the stand.
Kalis smiled at them, he knew they were one of the few who didn't hate either of them, they grew frustrated with Naruto's pranks sure but they didn't hate him for it if fact they could understand that he was just a kid unlike the others in the village.
"Hey Kalis…." Naruto spoke up getting his attention back to him, "Do you think I can pass tomorrow?".
Kalis immediately snapped his head back to him, "Yeah of course I believe you can" he replied hastily, "All we gotta do is practise right and you'll pass for sure, after all I've spent week tutoring you for the theory so the practical should be easy" he said before picking up some noodle's and eating them.
"Y-yeah…" Naruto muttered in response, in truth he knew his practical wouldn't be up to snuff, he hadn't been able to perform a single Jutsu his entire school time and tomorrow wouldn't be any different.
"Afterall you always the one who always says to never give up right?" Kalis said suddenly almost reading the blondes mind somehow, Naruto looked back over to him, "And so what if you can't do the Jutsu tomorrow there's more to a Shinobi than just that, my sister told me about this Jonin, the guy couldn't do anything but Taijutsu and now he's insanely strong apparently, one of the strongest in the village in fact".
"So if you worried about passing or failing there's nothing a little hard work can't fix up or so we've always been told, as you said never give up" he smiled pointing to him with his chopsticks.
Naruto smirked at him and pointed his chopsticks back "Believe it!" he exclaimed before laughing togethering and diving back into their bowls.
After eating their fill, they were standing outside the Ramen bar, after thanking the owner and saying their goodbyes the two boys turned away and Naruto linked his hands behind his head "Ah ramen really hits the spot, right?" he asked his friend.
"Yeah I suppose it does but stunts your growth Y'know" Kalis said indicating to their height difference.
"Hey! No need to be rude" Naruto snapped but had a small smile on his face.
Kalis let out a laugh "Just stating the obvious, wouldn't kill you to eat literally anything else once in a while" he commented before facing the moon, "So tomorrow is the day huh… the day we can finally start becoming the cool Shinobi we dreamed of becoming" he muttered to Naruto.
He smiled and looked up at the moon, "Yeah, can't wait to have that headband" he said with a glint in his eyes, "And people will start respecting me…" he whispered to himself, his worries about not passing his practical tomorrow were long gone now just filled with the determination of passing to achieve his dream.
They walked down the dark street in a comfortable silence until they came to an intersection "I'm gonna head home from here then" Naruto said letting out a small yawn, "I'll see you tomorrow" he waved walking off to his apartment.
"See you tomorrow" Kalis smiled after him as his head followed Naruto a little while as if watching him before turning around and making walking the opposite way.
Kalis walked in a relative silence down the dark streets slowly making his way home but still keeping his senses sharp as it had become second nature for him to considering he didn't have use of one major sense and was an aspiring Shinobi.
He turned one final corner and continued now down the street he lived on, but he stopped half way, he noticed that on his left there was the Yamanaka flower shop, and more to that someone was inside which he figured out by the sound of a smashing pot.
"Oh, damn it" a feminine voice whispered out.
Kalis knew he recognised the voice but had to be sure. He walked carefully over to the shop till he could sense the chakra presence inside and sure enough it was one Ino Yamanaka.
He casually walked over and pushed open the wooden doors of the store which let out a rather annoying creak but when they fully opened a crouched Ino turned sheepishly to the entrance a mess below her of a once contained pile of soil with a half-grown flower in it.
"Oh, heyyy Kalis, what bring you around here" she asked trying to recover from her slightly awkward position.
"Well, I was coming home from having ramen with Naruto and Iruka Sensei when I heard the sound of a pot being smashed from inside here and was worried what was going on" he answered truthfully a small smirk present on his face "So wanna explain what I caught you in the middle of missy?" he added coyly.
"Oh, leave it, please can you help me clean up this mess" Ino asked with a huff crossing her arms.
"Sure" he smiled back at her grabbing a broom in the corner to start piling the soil up.
Ino meanwhile, stepped away to try and find something to contain the soil in "So, Kalis run it by me again how can you know where things exactly are" she asked slightly looking in the seemingly blind boys' direction to see him sweeping up the soil as if he knew exactly where it was thought he shouldn't.
Kalis paused and leaned on the broom "Hmm, it's kinda like a bat… so you know they use sound to navigate and find food by sending out clicks that bounce back to them which allows them to read the world around them… that's kinda how I see but instead of sound me and my clan use Chakra by focusing it on the outside of our body which gives us a lay of the land" he summarised "Though we only see other people as other chakra signatures not with detail, which is how we tell you all apart without visual confirmation… and also can't tell paint from stone either" he muttered the last part under his breath.
"Oh right, so that takes some pretty good Chakra control to do right?" Ino asked as she brought over a bag to put the soil into.
"Yeah, you could say that, not as much as is needed to be say a medical ninja but a decent amount" Kalis replied moving the soil into the bag "My turn for questions… what were you doing?".
Ino blushed in embarrassment as Kalis tied the bag up "I was practicing my Clone Jutsu, I didn't want to wake my parents, so I came down to the flower shop" she sheepishly answered taking the bag to put away in the bin.
"Well, you probably did manage to scare awake the poor cat that sleeps on your roof" he muttered in reply "Why were you practicing the Clone Jutsu anyway?".
She sighed "I got one of my feelings, just that'd be the Jutsu we'd be tested on tomorrow and I really want to pass so I wanted to be prepared".
Kalis was all too familiar with Ino's feelings about things which almost always tended to be wrong but had on some rare occasions been right "You'll be fine tomorrow, you're already great at the Clone Jutsu plus, Soruki told me that the graduation exams are overly easy anyway cause they wanna get as many new Genin as possible, looks good on reports or something" he reassured his friend with a shrug.
"It might be easy for us, but Naruto has failed it two times already hasn't he" Ino said back "If he fails tomorrow, he can't become a Genin ever".
"What's this Ino, you're suddenly caring about Naruto, I knew you'd come around to him eventually" Kalis teased with a laugh making the blond pout and cross her arms.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous, I'm just a considerate peer and he's your friend and you're my friend so I should at least be kinda worried" she defended though a small blush was present on her cheeks from embarrassment.
"Sure…" Kalis mocked as he turned to leave.
"Wait Kalis, I know I've asked this a bunch of times before, but I need a real answer… how are you Naruto's friend, he's so annoying and childish and stupid and he keeps dragging down the whole class including you… so how are you his friend?" Ino questioned truly baffled by his friendship with the blonde knucklehead.
In truth Ino had asked Kalis this question many times in the past, more notably when Naruto had done something stupid or reckless. But whenever she did ask Kalis tended to give rather simple answer such as 'It just worked out that way' but this time Ino was determined to get a real answer after all Kalis and Naruto had two very different personalities which made their friendship make even less sense to Ino.
Kalis smiled at her, after what Naruto did today, he finally felt he should give Ino a proper answer "Ino… how would you feel if you had no parent's. No clan. No friends. No one who even cared about you, just a world who saw you as scum… that's Naruto life… he spent the first eight years of his life alone but even now… I'm his only friend and I can't be with him 24/7… Hell I barely spend much time with him now due to my father, so he still spends a lot of time alone with no one to be there for him… but if I can give Naruto just some time of happiness by just being his friend when I'm around; Then I'm sure as hell gonna try be his friend and hope that's enough" he explained not breaking his smile.
"You really are just a nice guy aren't you" Ino said placing her hands on her hips and giving her own smile "But you're just friends with his cause you felt bad?".
"No! That's not it at all I'm his friend because I chose to be not because I felt bad, he is a good person Ino, you just haven't seen it yet" Kalis said walking out but not before turning back briefly "It wouldn't hurt just to spent some time with him you know… Goodnight Ino" he added with a smile before walking off.
Ino though about what Kalis said and let her smile continue to play her lips as she too left the flower shop after locking it up then headed home "Kalis sometimes, you completely surprise me" she muttered still smiling briefly turning around to watch his shadowy figure walk down the road "Goodnight Kalis".
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Naruto entered his apartment and flicked on the lights, he looked around the mostly clean room before heading straight for the kitchen. He opened a cupboard and pulled out a cup of instant Ramen, put some hot water in in then left it on his table to cool for a minute.
He took a seat in one of the chairs by the table and leaned back putting his hands behind his head "Man it was great that Kalis took me out for ramen and Kotetsu Sensei paid for it, but a little more wouldn't hurt" he smiled sheepishly to himself before letting out a small sneeze "Huh, wonder who's talking about me?".
Taking a quick look at his ramen and deciding they had cooled down enough; Naruto hastily picked up some chopsticks and began to eat which to any other person would look like the blonde essentially drank down the entire meal with how fast it was gone. He let out a content sigh before throwing the empty carton in the bin and heading to his room turning off the lights as he went.
Swiftly changing in to his nightwear Naruto looked out of his bed side window which gave him a nice view of the village and he let out a sigh "Tomorrow… tomorrow I promise I'll become a Genin and then… people will have to acknowledge me… then even if they don't, I'll become a Chunin then a Jonin till I reach Hokage… and everyone will have respect me…" he said to no one in particular.
He turned to look at his bedside table where he had only one picture in a photo frame, it was of him and a younger Kalis they were both 9, or well Naruto had just turned 9 on the day. They were celebrating his birthday… Naruto's first celebrated birthday to be exact. In the photo from what was seen, Kalis was wearing a simple white t-shirt with presumably his clan symbol on the back and his usual facial bandages present. While Naruto wore a sleeveless orange hoodie that Kalis had bought him and had on a massive smile.
Naruto smiled at the picture, he remembered a promise he made… that he and Kalis would graduate together by becoming Genin on the same day and then go on to both be cool shinobi that everyone respected.
"Hmm, I guess a little practise couldn't hurt?" Naruto muttered to himself placing his fingers together in the clone Jutsu position "Clone Jutsu!" he said knowing this was his by far worst Jutsu.
A poof of smoke appeared and a clone of Naruto appeared except not, what stood next to him was a pale, dead eyes and frail copy of Naruto which immediately keeled over and just laid there for a little while till it vanished again in another poof of smoke leaving a downtrodden Naruto "Oh damn it, not again".
Naruto hunched over puffing out his cheeks in a pout as he marched over to his wall light to turn it off then heading back to his bed laying down and simply staring at the ceiling "Please… Please don't let it be the Clone Jutsu tomorrow" he essentially prayed.
Naruto turned over to look out his window and let out a slightly frustrated sigh as he closed his eyes, he tossed and turned for a while, but he couldn't sleep so he grabbed one of his two pillows and held it close in a tight embrace as had slowly become his habit after being alone so long and this managed to sooth his thoughts somewhat as he fell into a soothing sleep.
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As morning came around, Kalis was currently getting prepared for the day and was adding this finishing touches to his clothes by strapping his Kunai/Shuriken holster to his right leg and a pouch his left side behind him.
He exited his room via a shoji door entering a long wooden floored corridor, walking left he entered the main room of the house where to his right was a woman preparing something in the kitchen and on his left down two steps was a small wooden coffee table with a few cushions around it to kneel on.
"So, are you ready for today" the woman asks turning around to show a tall smiling brown haired 18 year old, her hair came down to her shoulders in length and had a few bangs of hair over her bandage covered eyes. Her attire consisted of the standard leaf shinobi attire aside from wearing a sleeveless shirt underneath her flak vest and elbow length fingerless gloves.
"You know I am Soruki. I'll become a Genin today for sure and I'll soon catch up to you" Kalis smiled as he took a kneel that the table as Soruki placed down a noodle and tofu breakfast for him not the most appetising meal for a breakfast, but it was a staple for the Kochi.
"Well, I doubt that, after all I graduated at 7 then Chunin at 10 so you're already behind, only trying to become a Genin at 12 little bro" Soruki teased taking a kneel opposite him.
"You know that's not what I meant" he muttered at her rolling his neck "I mean that I'll become as strong as you and father".
Soruki leaned over and flicked his forehead "I know" was all she said smiling.
"Speaking of him, where's father?" Kalis asked after a while of eating in silence and realizing their parent was not around.
"He's had to go see the Hokage for a meeting, but he'll be back for the ceremony" Soruki answered simply her heads position not leaving her meal "He wouldn't dare miss clan tradition, though we're not much of a clan now".
"Oh, I see" Kalis said quietly feeling the tension rise in the room "Are you sure I'll pass today Soruki?" he hastily asked wanting to change the subject and decided to air some of his small doubts that he seemed confident about moments ago.
Soruki turned up with a smile noticing him going back on his words, "Course I am, you're my little brother after all so if I didn't think you could, I'd be an awful big sister" he laughed slightly earning a disgruntled sigh from Kalis.
"Gee thanks, you're really making me feel reassured today" he muttered crossing his arms listening as Soruki's chuckles slowly stopped much to his annoyance.
"Relax, I know you'll do great little bro… I know that Mother and Furosuti would agree with me" Soruki smiled giving Kalis another flick to the forehead and making the boy smile slightly.
"Thanks, Soruki" he said back before swiftly standing "I need to be off… I want to get some training in" he hastily said.
Soruki turned to the clock on the wall which was infused with Chakra allowing them to read it "It's only 7 o'clock, I'm sure you don't need that long a training session?" she said in a teasing tone know full well where Kalis was going as she stood taking the bowels back over to the kitchen and grabbing a small bento box off the side.
Kalis was by the door putting on his Shinobi sandals, when a bento box was put in front of him "Soruki, I won't be at the academy all day, I don't think I'll need lunch?" he questioned.
She smiled at him "It's not lunch, it's more breakfast cause lord knows that boy need to eat something other than ramen for the first meal of the day" she answered "Father isn't here you don't have to pretend your not going to see him, now hurry up he needs all the practice he can get" she finished cupping his chin with her finger and thumb and placing a kiss on his forehead which had become her tradition to do to him.
Kalis beamed at his older sister "Thank you sis, I'll see you later" he waved darting off from the home.
Soruki smiled after her little brother before walking over to a photo frame on the side a picking it up running her hand over it. On it was a much younger 5 year old Soruki holding a baby Kalis. To her left, a taller boy who was 18 with medium length brown hair held back with his leaf head band and wearing a similar outfit to present day Soruki but having a black t-shirt underneath the flak vest and fingerless gloves that only covered the hands.
To young Soruki's right was a 38 year old women who had extremely long brown hair tied in to a long ponytail going down her back and wearing a simple summer white dress with blue flowers upon in; Her arms were linked with an 38 year old man who had his brown hair tied back in a bun and was also wearing the full leaf shinobi attire with the usual long sleeve underneath.
Soruki delicacy ran her finger over the 18 year old boy and 38 year old woman and let a small smile grace her lips "Big bro… Mother, I know that if you were still here you'd be proud of Kalis".
Soon, Kalis stood outside a familiar door with a swirl on it as he rose his fist to knock on the door again but instead let out a sigh "I don't know why I try this, he never hears" he muttered to himself lowering his fist and taking off to the roof top of the same building.
He slowly made his was round the side till he came to a large window overlooking a room, he faced his head inside to the bed right next to the window to sense Naruto tied up in his bedsheet and his arms wrapped tightly around his pillow and Kalis let out another sigh "Disturbingly… This is not the weirdest position I've had to wake him up in" he thought.
He rose two fingers and knocked on the window slightly forcefully as it was the only possible way to wake one said Uzumaki, he sensed as he slowly stirred and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he slowly turned to look at the window maintaining his tired expression "Oh morning Kalis" he tiredly said.
Kalis smiled and held up the bento box which immediately sparked Naruto into life as he opened the window for Kalis to enter "Morning Naruto" he chuckled handing over the bento box.
Naruto grabbed the box and hurried into the main room to hastily eat it leaving Kalis in his bedroom. Kalis closed the window and picked up some of Naruto's discarded clothing which was strewn on the floor and put it into the nearby clothing hamper for cleaning before briefly surveying the room with a sigh before going to join Naruto who had finished his breakfast in record time.
"You know, eating that fast is not at all healthy for you" Kalis commented turning to Naruto with an amused smile on his face.
Naruto gained his own foxy grin "Oh well, your sisters cooking is really good… wait what are you doing here this early anyway" he asked looking at his fairly accurate clock on the table.
"We're getting you in some early training before the exam" Kalis replied with his arms crossed "How are your Jutsu's coming along, honestly?".
Naruto looked sheepish at this and rubbed that back of his head "Well, about as great as the last time we trained… and by that I do mean not at all good" he awkwardly answered.
Kalis's only response to this was to sigh then point to Naruto's room, "Go change into your gear and we'll get some tough training in for the exam" he ordered when he noticed Naruto has a slightly upset face on "Unless you don't want to ever become a Genin?".
Naruto pouted but also manged to look excited as if he remembered that he could still become a Genin "Ugh fine, but this better be the last time you wake me up this early" he muttered before slouching off into his room to change.
Kalis laughed "Absolutely no promise Naruto, it's become my job to get you up now" he said raising his voice loud enough to get through the door but then letting out another laugh when he heard an item impact the door.
He looked around the small apartment and saw Naruto had kept it relatively clean from the last time he had visited. Kalis picked up some unwashed plates and cutlery and took them over to the sink for a quick clean, this had become Kalis's job of looking after Naruto, after all as he said last night to Ino, Naruto was all alone with no one to look after him so someone had to fulfil that role and Kalis kinda did that for a moment by helping pick up after him.
As Kalis finished putting the plates away turned to Naruto's door to realize he still hadn't come out and grunted in annoyance sensing what had happened. He stormed over and shoved the door open to be greeted by a passed out Naruto on the bed, he placed his fists to his sides in annoyance when he noticed to his right was a pale white clone of Naruto, dead on the floor.
He sighed guessing that Naruto had briefly tried to do the Clone Jutsu while he was cleaning but the usual had happened then he passed out since he had only just woken up and was exhausted. Kalis watched the clone for a while, worrying about the upcoming exams… if Ino's feeling was right then Naruto would be at a serious disadvantage… he only wished Naruto could know why his Jutsu's failed but Kalis was sworn to secrecy and had to pray that one time Naruto could get lucky with a Jutsu and it would succeed… for once.
"Naruto… I'm sorry, I wish life was different for you" Kalis thought watching the slumbering blonde but he let a amused smile come back across his lips "But if you sleep all day you'll have no chance of getting better".
Kalis placed his hands together made the hand signs Tiger-Ox-Tiger-Rat and his cheeks puffed out "Water Style: Water Bomb Jutsu" he released a stream of water from his mouth right into the blonds face who woke with a start yelling obscenities at the bandaged boy who could only laugh in response.
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Ino let out a yawn as she entered the classroom, she had been studying all night long and had gotten hardly any sleep. After she had returned home, she had continued to study up on the many basic Jutsu's that they could be tested upon neglecting sleep till late in the night.
"Gee Ino, are you slowly turning into Shikamaru with all these yawns?" the plump, swirly cheeked Choji Akimichi commented as he placed another crisp into his mouth and letting a smile grace his lips.
"Oh shush it Choji, I was studying all night and lost track of time" the Yamanaka heir snapped at her plump friend "I just wanna be sure I pass today; I refuse to be the only one left behind of our class… or one of the only ones" she added.
Choji swallowed another chip before giving Ino a reassuring pat on the shoulder "You'll do great Ino, you're the highest ranked kunoichi in our year".
Ino gave him a small smile cause he was true, in all the girls of their year, Ino had the highest scores in all areas except for the written tests, that honour belonged to the giant forehead of Sakura Haruno, "Thank you Choji… it'll be great to finally be a Genin right, you, me and Shikamaru as the next Ino-Shika-Cho formation".
Choji looked at her slightly worried "Are you sure we'll be on the same team Ino, it's not always guaranteed?" he asked as they walked to some seats at the back of the class next to their pineapple haired friend who was dozing off peacefully.
"Of course, we will Choji, they would never dream to go a generation without our famous formation" Ino reassured as she shook Shikamaru awake "Right Shikamaru?"
The lazy Nara slowly opened his eyes and looked to Ino confused "What did you say?" he muttered still nowhere near fully awake.
Ino let out a frustrated grunt "Never mind, don't know why I expected you to give a decent answer" she snapped crossing her arms and sitting down with a pout "Wait, you're here surprisingly early?".
"Yeah Shikamaru… considering the time you normally arrive; this is unbelievably early for you" Choji added eating the last of his food.
Shikamaru looked at his two close friends through his heavily drooped eyes and sighed wishing he could go back to sleep but knew that if he didn't answer they wouldn't leave him alone "My mother threw me out, said that I need to get to the academy early to prepare for the exams… or something along those lines".
Ino sighed but was honestly surprised that they were able to get an answer out of Shikamaru before he fell back asleep "I don't suppose you actually got any practise in from your early start did you?" she deadpanned.
He rolled his neck in response and a satisfying pop was heard "I don't need to, I just need to get a good enough score to pass, I've no need to get anything else" he informed resting his head on his crossed arms.
Choji let out a short laugh "That's our Shikamaru, always want to put in the most minimal effort possible" but he got no response as they both heard a light snore come from Shikamaru making them both facepalm at their lazy friend.
Ino looked around the room to see most of the class had already arrived but since it was still relatively quiet it was obvious that Naruto had yet to arrive which since it was an exam also meant Kalis wouldn't be there as he was probably still dragging said blonde to the academy. But, just as the class was getting ready to start, Ino saw her familiar bandaged wrapped friend dragging in one struggling and complaining Naruto Uzumaki by the collar.
"Oh, come on, just a few more minutes of practice, I'm sure to get it down if I get just a little more time!".
"No, Naruto there is no more time to practice, if we stayed any longer, we'd be late… and you can't afford to miss today of all days, remember?"
"I'm sure we could be a little late, what's today again?"
Ino let out a small giggle as Kalis faceplanted into the floor at pure frustration to Naruto, who only held a confused face while rubbing the back of his head. She couldn't understand why but seeing their interactions always brought a smile to her face, like watching an older brother take care of his incredibly naive little brother.
"It's the damn GRADUATION EXAMS NARUTO, I TOLD YOU THIS MORNING HOW DID YOU FORGET ALREADY!" Kalis exclaimed a tic mark appearing on his head and clenching his fists in front of him.
Naruto responded with a laugh "I'm messing with you!" Naruto exclaimed pumping his fists into the air "I'm sure I'll pass today and become a Genin, believe it!".
Kalis facepalmed and let out a large sigh, "Sometimes I envy your enthusiasm Naruto… sometimes I hate it so damn much; you're gonna be the damn death of me" he muttered strolling to an available seat at the back closely followed by Naruto.
After a minute or two Iruka walked in holding a clipboard under his right arm and a stack of papers under his left, a bright smile was present on his face "Welcome class, today is the graduation exam which will consist of two parts, a written exam followed by a randomly selected exam which will be one of the various techniques weather that be Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, or so on, you need to pass both in order to graduate" he began walking up and down the rows handing out the papers one each "We will now start the first exam, begin once you receive your papers".
As Iruka got to Kalis he handed a normal paper to Naruto then picked a slightly blue tinted paper at the bottom of the pile and handed it to Kalis; He was able to read over the paper due to his one having the words indented allowing him to see; He realized that what Soruki had told him was true, it was incredibly easy, most of the questions were obvious such as, 'Who is the leader of the Leaf Village' and 'In what land does the Leaf Village reside'.
Kalis quickly sensed to his left to thankfully hear Naruto scribbling down the answers, he couldn't tell if they were right or not but sense he was scribbling quickly he had to be confident about his answers, so Kalis left him to it, trusting that Naruto was listening in those tutoring lessons he had given him so proceeded to answer his own questions in just a quick a fashion and before long was finished along with most of the class.
After collecting all the papers and handing them off to be marked as another white haired instructor walked into the room, Iruka turned back to the class "Now the final exam will begin, you will all be waiting outside this class room and when your name is called re-enter. The final test will be on… The Clone Jutsu".
Naruto's head dropped into his hands in despair "Ugh! That's my worst technique!" he took a breath to try and calm his nerves, "Okay, remember what I went through with Kalis, over and over again like he said".
Kalis's sensed that Naruto was trying to calm himself "Just stay calm Naruto…" he thought listening to his breathing as they all stood and exited the classroom.
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"Kalis Kochi"
Kalis re-entered the class, Iruka and the white haired instructor Mizuki were sitting behind the desk with a few lines of Leaf Headbands laid out on the desk, both smiled at the bandaged boy who stood in front of them his hands by his sides.
"Now, the exam is simple. In your own time perform the Clone Jutsu for us" Iruka said with a warm smile.
Kalis nodded and brought his hands together weaving Ram-Snake-Tiger "Clone Jutsu" and a puff of smoke appeared and standing there was Kalis and perfect clone of him.
"Excellent, you created a perfect clone, I do understand that your clan prefers the Water Clone Jutsu,but you understand that all students have to be tested the exact same" Mizuki commented earning an understanding nod from Kalis.
"I'm happy to say, congratulations Kalis; you pass!" Iruka happily said picking up a Headband and presenting it to Kalis who accepted it with a bow and taking it in both hands.
"Thank you, Sensei's," he said rising then making his way to the door but stopping before exiting "Iruka Sensei and Mizuki Sensei… please be fair to Naruto…" he simply requested before exiting.
The two Sensei's looked to each other with and understanding look before returning to the list in front of them.
Kalis clutched the Headband tightly in his hand as he exited and a large instructor directed him to a different class room but before he left he turned and gave a brief wave to Naruto showing his Headband to which Naruto responded with a thumbs up and his signature foxy grin "Good luck" Kalis mouthed before he entered the classroom.
Sensing around, he sensed most of the class had already passed so Kalis took a seat at the front and was about to start inspecting his new Headband when he was immediately pounced from behind into a tight hug.
"We passed, we passed, we passed!" an eccentric voice rang out clutching Kalis tight and bouncing round in excitement.
"Ino, I… can't… breathe…" he managed to wheeze out but that was enough for Ino to release the hold and let the bandaged boy breathe.
"Sorry about that" Ino sheepishly as both Choji and a surprisingly awake Shikamaru walked over "But still, we're Genin now isn't that great".
"It sure is Ino, we'll probably be having a big feast to celebrate tonight!" Choji exclaimed happily as he dug his hand in to a new pack of crisps.
Shikamaru sighed "You're always thinking with your stomach aren't you Choji" he said but let a tiny smile appear on his lips directed towards his friend.
Ino's giggled at her friends antics but noticed that Kalis's head was turned towards the door in a what could be guessed as a worried expression "You're worried about Naruto aren't you?" She asked quizzically and gaining the other two boys attention.
"Wouldn't you be if you were in my position…" he trailed off his hand unconsciously fiddling around his Headband.
"Don't worry about him Kalis, I'm sure Naruto will be just fine, and we'll all celebrate together" Choji reassured passing Kalis on the shoulder.
"Yeah, he'll be fine, he always finds someway to keep up even after all these years" Shikamaru added giving a small smile of his own.
"See, nothing to worry about, now stop being such a worry wort and have a bit of fun" Ino said smiling with a giggle.
Kalis thanked them but just couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to be very wrong today and that it would have something to do with Naruto, he just prayed that he was only being anxious.
"Naruto Uzumaki"
The blonde slowly stepped into the room and walked opposite Iruka and Mizuki his fists clenched in confidence.
"Now, the exam is simple. In your own time perform the Clone Jutsu for us" Iruka repeated what he had said to all the students before with a warm smile.
Naruto took a deep breath "Alright. Get it together, Naruto. You can do this" he thought weaving his hands together and ending in the Tiger seal "Believe it" wind began to gather around him "Clone Jutsu!".
Smoke erupted around the blonde, when it slowly disappeared Naruto stood there and looks to his right. Lying belly down on the floor, with pale eyes and it's tongue sticking out, is a clone of Naruto.
Naruto fell to his knees as he looked at his failed clone, "No…" he whispered, hastily he put his hands together again and tried the Jutsu yet again but to the same results, "No…" he whispered again.
"Naruto…" Iruka said but the boy wasn't listening.
Over and over he tried but it would work, he wasn't listening to the Sensei's until Iruka crouched down and covered his hands with his stopping him from performing the Jutsu, "Naruto… I'm sorry…" he said to him.
"Why can't I…" the boy tried to reason but he didn't want to finish as tears began to well in his eyes, quickly he broke from Iruka's grip and darted out of the room before anything else could be said leaving the Chunin to watch after him.
Mizuki watched this unfold before sighing and putting a cross next to Naruto's name the only one on his paper.
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Many parents were greeting their children at the gates, all of them with wide smiles as they were shown the headbands signifying their kids had passed the test.
Kalis wondered through the crowd with no destination in mind. He had fooled his mind into believing that Naruto must have simply gotten lost after passing due to his excitement. He let out a sigh praying to whatever deity there was that he was right.
"So, did ya pass?" a familiar voice ran out. Kalis turned his head up to realize that Soruki was standing right in front of him with a smile plastered on her face, he had been so out of it he'd dropped his senses, "Cause with that glum a expression you look like you failed?".
"Soruki!" he exclaimed changing to a smile as he reached into his pocket to pull out his blue clothed leaf forehead protector and showing it to her "I thought you'd be away on a mission?".
Soruki smiled and flicked her little brothers head before taking the protector from his hands and inspecting it lightly running her fingers over it "You didn't think I'd miss my little bro's graduation did you, I'm not an entirely cruel sister" she joked handing him the object back.
Ino meanwhile was speaking with her father Inoichi, "Sorry Ino, your mother couldn't be here, she's busy preparing for your graduation celebration for you all" he apologised.
"It's alri… wait celebration for us all?" Ino snapped wide eyed at her father who let out a small chuckle.
"Yes, we knew you'd all pass, You, Choji, Shikamaru and Kalis so your mothers are preparing a celebration for you all… me and the other fathers offered to help but you can guess what happened with that…" Inoichi sheepishly answered rubbing the back of his head while remembering the threats made by his wife that morning.
Ino gave her father a wry smile knowing full well what her mother probably did, "Wait, did you say Kalis?" she asked casting a glace to her friend who was talking with his older sibling.
"Yes of course, you know the Yamanaka and Kochi clans have been close for a very long time, it's only right they join in" Inoichi said following his daughters gaze to the blind siblings "Though we need to ask them when they will arrive…" he trailed off.
"And is this suddenly my job?" Ino deadpanned making her father sweatdrop and chuckle awkwardly.
"I need to speak with Shikaku and Choza, so can you please speak to Soruki and Kalis sweetie" Inoichi said with a kind smile.
Ino huffed slightly but relented "I'll go and ask them" she sighed making her way over to Kalis and Soruki.
As she got closer she noticed that Kalis turned away from Soruki and over towards the lone tree in the grounds with the swing attached to it, she glanced over but couldn't see what had his attention as the trunk of the tree hid the swing, shrugging she re-focused on the blind duo.
"There, you see him?"
"It's that boy. I heard he's the only one who failed"
"Hmph! Well it serves him right"
"Just imagine what would happen if he became a Ninja. I mean, he's the boy who…"
"Shh… we're not allowed to talk about that"
Ino stopped to overhear these whispers and was confused as to who they were talking about and was disgusted by their comments, then she saw him. Sitting on the swing with his goggles over his eyes, it was Naruto hiding in the shadow of the tree.
"Naruto…" she heard Kalis whisper before he made his way over.
Kalis walked slowly up to the boy and extended his hand to place a reassuring hand on him but thought he shouldn't "Naruto… are you okay?" he asked, though he felt stupid for doing so as he was clearly anything but okay.
The blonde didn't respond but clutched the rope of the swing tighter; Kalis couldn't see his eyes but knew he was crying, he'd learned to sense these things and wished that he could help Naruto but there was nothing he could do this time "Naruto… I'm sorry…".
He released the rope and slowly stood with his head still down and goggles covering his eyes but Kalis could feel his eyes on his forehead protector currently mocking him in his hand "Don't be sorry…" he weakly smiled but it was obviously fake "You did great… you're a Genin now… you shouldn't worry about me…".
Kalis felt his voice catch as Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets but tried to speak anyway, "But…" was all he could manage before he was cut off my Naruto.
"Just forget about me… you shouldn't be burdened down anymore… you need to focus on becoming a cool Shinobi on your own now…" was all he said before running off before Kalis could stop him, and before he knew it, he was gone. Kalis hung his head, not sure what to do but clenched his fist around his headband, only hating himself.
Ino and Soruki watched as it happened but stayed silent unsure what to say till Ino finally snapped out of it first "Poor Naruto…" she muttered, surprised at herself for even saying those words but still feeling sorry for the knucklehead.
The older of the ladies sighed, "You're right… he just wanted to be a Ninja so bad" she said crossing her arms keeping her direction towards her brother who'd yet to move.
For the first time Ino was stumped in what to say, this never happened to her but after watching Naruto seemly give up and run away, unable to face anyone even his close friend of all people… it was the first time she saw Naruto as not the annoying knucklehead he was but a sad and lonely person like Kalis had told her the previous night.
She sighed wishing there was something she could do or say but the only thing she had was the reason she came over in the first place, "Soruki… you know my family are having a celebration for passing the exams… if you see Naruto… tell him he's welcome too, I know it's not helpful, in fact it's probably more insulting… but I'm not sure what else to do".
Soruki turned to the smaller blonde and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder giving a smile, "Don't worry about Naruto… I'm sure Kalis will work something out, those two have some kind of bond after all… but thank you".
"Thank you?" Ino asked slightly confused.
"Yes, thank you for including Naruto, it might not seem appropriate, but he could use a few people being at least nice to him" Soruki smiled leaving to speak to her little brother leaving a downtrodden Ino to her thoughts.
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Naruto was sitting on a building ledge overlooking the village as the sun began to set; he was deep in thought just trying to get himself together. He was lost in what to do, he couldn't fulfil his dream if he couldn't even become a Genin; but most of all, he felt like Iruka had betrayed him, he knew that his Clone Jutsu was the worse in the class but still tested him on it anyway.
He let a sob out as he buried his face into his arms, the tears were leaking out in full force but he didn't care, he felt like everything was against him, that everyone was against him, the way it had been his entire life.
"Why does it always go like this…" he sobbed pulling his legs closer to his chest.
Something suddenly hit him in the side, looking to his right he saw a scroll gently rolling away from him, he picked it up before it got too far and looked around to see where this could of come from but there was no one else there.
Curiosity got the better of him and he opened the scroll, inside were instructions as well as a map of the Hokage Mansion, "Alternate graduation method…?" he muttered.
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That night, at the Kochi clan building, in the garden surrounded by snowdrops three figures sat keeling in a circle with a fire in the middle of them where a flat plate sat with a black liquid burning inside it.
Kalis took a breath as he prepared for his recognition ceremony where he was accepted as a Genin for the Kochi clan.
A non flak vest wearing Soruki, turned to the final person, their father Hyorei, a 50 year old man, with long greying hair tied back in a bun, he also wore bandaged covering his eyes and had a scar which went from his left ear down to his chin. He wore a the standard leaf Shinobi attire with the long sleeve the would be under his flak jacket if he was wearing it, but instead of the Uzumaki swirls on his shoulder patches it was the Kochi clan symbol but in black with a white back ground instead of the other way around like Kalis wore.
Their father nodded to her and she removed the plate from the fire placing it in front of her quickly as it was burning hot, she then performed a few hand signs before letting some ice form around the heated plate to cool it down.
Hyorei then turned towards Kalis, extending his open hands towards his son who picked up the forehead protector in his lap and placed it into his father waiting hands, he took it and seemed to inspect it before removing the plate and handing the blue cloth to Soruki, who dipped the cloth into the liquid and leaving it to rest in there.
Hyorei placed the forehead protector metal down in front of Soruki. He weaved a few symbols before placing his hand down and in a poof of smoke a large white and blue scroll appeared, he opened it between himself and Kalis, inside were names of family members written in red, Hyorei, Fuyu, Furosuti and Soruki, each had a red hand print after their names in a small box; Kalis knew the names that were written on there and part of him hated it, all it did was remind him of his stupid and wrong name.
Hyorei handed a Kunai with a blue wrapped handle to Kalis who accepted it in both hands, he nicked each fingertip with the sharp of the Kunai then his palm. Kalis reluctantly wrote his name in an empty box after Soruki's name with his blood then placed his hand down in the small box next to his name creating his own hand print; as he lifted his hand there was a poof of smoke where his print was leaving a small white and blue scroll which Kalis took and placed next to him, as Kalis suspected his name on the scroll did look very weird and looked very out of place.
While this process was going on, Soruki had used some wind Jutsu to dry the cloth and re-attached the metal protector to it which she handed to her father, he accepted it and stood walking over to Kalis; he stood behind his son and slowly put the protector around his forehead then tied it off. Kalis stood holding his scroll and turned to his father.
"Kalis… I, the leader of the Kochi clan and your father accept you as a Genin of our clan" Hyorei said stoically.
Kalis bowed his head slightly "Thank you father, I promise to uphold out family's traditions and honour" he replied raising his head.
His father nodded in response as he stepped away to send the large scroll away and clean up, Soruki came around and wrapped an arm around her little brother guiding him inside "Well done little bro" she smiled.
"Thank you Soruki" Kalis muttered running a finger over his scroll, "Do you think father is proud?" he wondered as they entered out of earshot of their father.
Soruki took a moment before replying "Yeah, he is… but hell even if for some reason he isn't, I'm proud of you Kalis… now all you need to do is focus on getting down your new summoning" she said indicating to the scroll in his hands.
Kalis sighed "Yeah, but I can't focus on that right now…" he trailed off his mind clearly somewhere else.
Soruki bit her lip as she sensed her downtrodden brother and felt horrible for him, she stopped him and placed her hands on his shoulders getting down to his level, "Listen Kalis, I know you feel bad for Naruto, but you can't change what happened… destiny is a cruel bitch but we're stuck to her rules".
Kalis gritted his teeth, he hated hearing about destiny and Soruki knew it; he hated when people felt stuck to their path and couldn't change it or when he was told that destiny was set in stone, "I refuse to accept that, I'll change it… I don't know how but, I'll change Naruto's destiny, I promise!".
Soruki smiled, proud that she knew how to set her brothers mind to something and knew that he wouldn't give up on it, after all it was another reason, he and Naruto were such good friends "I'm glad to hear, come on, let's head to the celebration at Ino's… trust me it'll help your thoughts".
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Iruka sighed as he leaned back in his chair stretching out, he was currently in the records room imputing all the data for the new Genin, it was a requirement that couldn't wait a day, so he'd resigned to knowing he'd be spending the night looking at names and organising them into alphabetical order.
There was also another reason he was doing this, he wanted a menial task to help distract his mind from Naruto, he did truly feel bad for the blond not passing, he'd looked at his written test scores and saw he'd got a passing mark, so he was only let down by the practical side of things.
It annoyed him because he knew why Naruto wanted to pass so badly, he just wanted to prove to the village that he was a person too, one that should be respected but fate just wouldn't let that happen.
He placed his hands behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling for a moment letting his thoughts wonder, "He's got no choice but to just live his life now doesn't he, just not the way he wants…" he muttered looking back down to the papers in front of him of all Naruto's class mates who'd passed and eyeing up the box of Genin forehead protectors that were left over, he picked one up and looked at it; he couldn't help but think if there as any possible way he could alternately pass and become a Genin, there were very few instances in the past of extremely skilled kids becoming Genin at young ages but that didn't help Iruka.
A sound from outside broke Iruka from his thoughts, he looked to the door as a second sound that seemed like the thump of something falling over came from behind it; the records room was an incredibly secure room and always had two guards outside at all time keeping track of who's inside and checking before they enter and leave so the sound of two noises just outside the door gained Iruka's full attention.
Getting up and out of habit putting the forehead protector into one of his jacket pouches, he walked over and opened the door only to be greeted by the two Chunin guards laying on the ground, he hastily looked around for any sign of the attacker before he checked their pulses to find they were still alive, "Good, they're okay, but who could've done this?" he said standing back up.
Suddenly several kunai flew towards him which he quickly dodged out the way of before turning his attention to the culprit, he saw a dark figure all covered up looking at him from down the hall before turning and immediately darting off, "HEY!" Iruka shouted after him before immediately charging after him.
He followed him closely through the halls, but he was just one step ahead remaining out just of his reach, but when he rounded a corner, he saw two figures coming the other way, "Kotestu! Izumo! Stop him!" the two Chunin looked ahead at their fellow Chunin and saw the man he was chasing.
Thinking quickly, Izumo weaved his hands together, "Water Style: Syrup Trap"he thought before spitting out the heavy liquid all over the floor stopping the culprit in his tracks by becoming stuck in the Jutsu.
"Good going Izumo" Iruka praised before approaching the culprit, "Now who are you?" he reached for their mask, they suddenly lifted their shirt to show multiple paper bombs attached making the three men gasp in shock before leaping back.
An explosion went out, but it wasn't one they were expecting, looking round they saw the corridor had become enveloped in a heavy layer of smoke and when it cleared the figure was gone without a trace, "Smoke bombs!" Kotetsu exclaimed before helping the other two up.
"Where did he go!" Izumo said looking around for any sign of the intruder but he was long gone.
Iruka's eyes widened, "It was a diversion…" he muttered before running back the way he came, the two best friends close behind him, soon they reached the records room, and the two guards were slowly getting up rubbing their heads.
Peaking inside Iruka saw the place had been searched but nothing was missing, until his eyes found the box on the far side that was empty, "No, the Sacred Scroll…" he muttered running back outside and seeing a door a bit further down that lead to the outside was open, running through the door he run up the stairs which lead to the roof followed closely by Kotetsu and Izumo still.
Reaching the roof, he saw the culprit standing there looking for a way to escape but who it was made his eyes go wide, "Naruto…" he said in shock.
The boy who had the scroll tied to his back turned around sheepishly, "Oh hi Iruka Sensei" he chuckled out with his foxy grin while slowly stepping back to the side of the roof for an escape plan should he not be able to talk his way out if this, which he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able too.
"Naruto what are you doing, give the scroll back now!" Izumo snapped stepping towards the boy with an irked expression.
"This isn't some prank now Naruto, this is a serious crime you're committing" Kotetsu warned trying a appeal to the kid to make this easy, "Just give us the scroll back now and it'll stay between the four of us okay" he added with a smile.
"I'm sorry, I can't…" he muttered glancing over his shoulder, "I need this to become a Genin, I know about the secret graduation method".
"Secret Graduation…" Iruka muttered, "What are you going on about Naruto, what secret graduation method?" he asked at a complete loss of what the boy was on about.
"Don't lie to me!" Naruto snapped, "I'm sick of being lied too all the time, especially by you Iruka Sensei!".
"What do you…" Iruka tried to say.
"You said you cared about me, but you don't do you!" the blond continued "You never did, you're like everyone else you secretly hate me, you didn't want me to pass that exam did you!" Iruka could see a tear in the boy's eye.
"So I've got to prove I deserve it myself…" Naruto said before jumping from the building to the streets below, as the Chunin ran up to the side they saw Naruto had vanished.
"Damnit!" Izumo exclaimed before running back inside to raise the alarm.
"Is this my fault…" Iruka muttered looking at his hands feeling a guilt rack at his heart.
"Iruka come on, we need to catch him" Kotetsu said pulling at the mans shoulder shaking him from his thoughts and giving him a nod.
It didn't take long to form some search parties to comb the village, but the main problem was that this was Naruto they were looking for, they kid who was notoriously difficult to catch even for the more skilled Shinobi for the village.
After half an hour of looking, the three Chunin stopped on a roof top, "Where could he have gone, we've searched everywhere" Kotetsu muttered looking around.
"Are there any hiding places you can think of Iruka, anywhere he might go?" Izumo asked looking to the boy's teacher.
He placed a hand to his chin in thought, "No there's nowhere I can think, but I wasn't the one who usually found him that was…" he looked at the two in realisation, "Quick follow me!" he said before darting off the other two closely following him.
Kalis was leaning over a balcony in thought when he felt a presence behind him but didn't need to turn to know who it was, "Hey Ino" he muttered to her.
Ino rested her hands on her hips where her Leaf Headband was now wrapped around her waist, "Hey, why are you out here in the cold?" she questioned her blind friend slightly concerned, he'd been distant for quite while.
"Just thinking, I still feel awful for Naruto" he replied.
"Oh" was all Ino could respond with, truthfully, she had felt bad for Naruto too but didn't show it though deep down, she did wish he could've graduated with the rest of them even if he annoyed her sometimes, he was just lonely deep down and wanted recognition.
"Yeah… I just wish there were something I could do" he added rubbing his hands over his face.
Ino opened her mouth to attempt to comfort her friend but was cut off by Iruka landing next to them both "Iruka Sensei, what are you doing here?!" she exclaimed slightly startled by his sudden appearance then suddenly being flanked by both Kotetsu and Izumo.
"Later! Kalis you know Naruto the best, do you have any idea where he would go to hide" the older man asked with urgency grabbing the Genin's shoulders tightly making him reel back slightly as he got close to his face with a look of worry.
Kalis was having trouble finding his words, "I umm… I'm not s-sure Iruka Sensei, if not Ichiraku Ramen o-or his apartment m-maybe the Hokage monument?" he awkwardly stammered out "Has something happened to him?"
They ignored his question and Izumo pressed on for them "We've checked all those, please anything he may have told you where he would go to escape people" he urged kneeling close to the boy, "Seriously even the places you don't think matter?"
Kalis stepped back feeling a bit overwhelmed by them all, he didn't know what was happening, but they were all desperately searching for Naruto, he could figure that Naruto must have done something incredibly bad for them to be searching this much for him, he could even sense other Ninja running around the roof's searching.
Whatever he'd done must have been more than a simple prank to gain this much of a chase after him which made him worried for what kind of punishment he might get if he's caught, "I think I know a place…" he muttered turning his head to face over the village, "At the academy there is a spot hidden in the trees, there's a bunch of thorn bushes in the way so you wouldn't think of it but there's a difficult route through…" he said quietly.
"Thank you, Kalis" Iruka said with a smile, "Naruto will be okay, come on" he said standing up and leaping away with Kotetsu and Izumo.
Kalis was following their chakra as they left, "You lied…" Ino said finally speaking up again after they were a good distance away, Kalis knew she was a good reader of people and could always tell when something was wrong, especially if they were lying, "Why did you lie?".
"Naruto's obviously done something very bad, I don't know what the village will do if they catch him, I need to find him and fix whatever he's done before things get worse" he admitted, there wasn't really a spot in the trees, he'd made it up, but he did have a pretty good idea where Naruto would be.
He stepped on to the railing, "I'm going after him, cover for me till I get back" he muttered before jumping off.
Ino watched him go before clutching her hands together, she glanced inside before stomping her feet, "Damnit, damnit, damnit" she said to herself turning back to Kalis's figure jumping away before jumping after him herself, she didn't know what she was doing her body seemed to be moving on its own.
As she leapt away a person stepped out over the balcony having been just to the side of the door, "Hmm, I see…" they muttered having overheard them talking.
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Naruto was sitting cross legged in front of a small wooden shack, in his hands was a large open scroll which his eyes were currently scanning through, he set the scroll down "So the left-hand fingers are behind the right-hand fingers in a cross symbol… and remain there till all clones are made, I get it now".
After a few tries and beginning to pant slightly, he continued to read through the scroll making sure he understood the Jutsu, he was so focused that he didn't see someone walking straight up to him.
"Naruto?" a friendly voice said.
The boy leapt back in shock falling over the large scroll, looking properly he saw the white-haired teacher from the school smiling at him, "Mizuki Sensei?" he asked putting a protective arm over the scroll.
He chuckled, "Don't worry Naruto, I'm the one who gave you the message about this" he said crouching down to his level keeping his friendly smile which seemed to relax Naruto, "So come on then don't leave me waiting, have you learned anything from the scroll yet or have I got here too early?".
Naruto beamed, "Well kinda, I've stared on this one called Shadow Clone Jutsu and I'm actually making good progress with it… I think" he let out a nervous chuckle rubbing the back of his head.
Mizuki gave a little laugh of his own, "That's a pretty advanced Jutsu I've heard, it's listed as Jonin level technique, B-rank or higher I believe if my memory serves me right" he chuckled scratching his head in thought.
"But wow, if you're actually making good progress on it that's amazing, maybe we've been getting it wrong all this time and we needed to give you harder stuff cause that's how your skills work" he said giving Naruto a light punch on the shoulder.
Naruto however took a moment to eye up Mizuki, there was something about his tone of voice that seemed to set something off in the boy, like an instinct to know when something was wrong, but he didn't know what it was because from a look Mizuki seemed to be genuinely nice so there seemed to be nothing to be afraid of, but there was.
"Say, can I have a look at that scroll?" he asked with a closed eye smile while extending his hand out towards Naruto who was still protectively covering it.
Naruto looked down at the scroll before back to Mizuki, "I don't know if I should, I'm still learning from it y'know" he said as genuinely as possible not wanting to make the man angry at him as that feeling remained.
Mizuki peaked his eyes open and looked at him but he kept his smile, "You'll get it back of course Naruto, I just want to look at it, I'm plenty curious myself what else is in there" he added a little chuckle in, "You know it's nice to share right".
Naruto didn't like that chuckle, and his tone of voice was still disturbing him, he slowly crawled back putting the scroll strap around him again, "Naruto… just give me the scroll" his voice had changed, it was taking a darker tone and his eyes had a look of warning now, directed right at the blond, this just made him move back faster.
Mizuki stood up as did Naruto who clutched at the strap protectively as he stepped back, "Naruto! Give me the scroll now!" he snapped extending his hand further towards him, all but telling him this was his last chance, but Naruto wouldn't give in to him.
The next thing Naruto knew was he was face down in the dirt with a stinging sensation on his cheek, he felt the scroll being ripped off his back, turning around he saw Mizuki holding onto it now with a sick smile on his face, "Finally, this could have been easier Naruto, but you just wouldn't be easy, you never are" he hissed glaring at the boy but keeping his sick smile.
He reached behind his back and unhooked one of two large shuriken he had attached there, "W-What are…" Naruto muttered putting a hand out to protect himself from whatever attack was coming although he wasn't sure what good it'd do.
"Something that should have been done to you a long time ago" he hissed keeping his smile relishing this moment, he began spinning his shuriken until it reached a substantial speed to harm, Mizuki brought the weapon around right onto Naruto who braced for the impact.
Suddenly a figure jumped from the bushes scooping up Naruto and rolling out of the way, Naruto rolled on a bit before recovering and looking up seeing a white jacket standing between him and Mizuki, "K-Kalis…" Naruto muttered look at the back of his friend.
"Of course you'd turn up, you're always running after him aren't you" Mizuki sneered readying his shuriken again preparing his next blow.
Kalis had a kunai at the ready as he fixed his footing for a counter, "Naruto get out of here" he muttered not taking his focus from Mizuki ahead of him, "You're not in a condition for a fight, so run quickly!" he added shifting his weight.
Naruto just sat there frozen looking at him with wide eyes, his body just wouldn't respond, luckily for him however there was another blonde on hand to help, "Come on Naruto!" Ino exclaimed grabbing onto Naruto and running off with him into the woods.
"Oh her too, that's actually surprising" Mizuki chuckled, "Bring as many as you want, I'll have to kill you all regardless, loose ends and all, it's nothing personal… mostly" he continued to chuckle as he began to spin his shuriken again.
Kalis gritted his teeth as his hand trailed down to his side where he felt a warm liquid on his skin, touching the area he winced, when he'd grabbed Naruto he hadn't been able to properly dodge the attack earning his a nasty gash down the side of his body which was now bleeding, "Damnit…" he winced in pain.
Mizuki cast a glance to Kalis's side and his sick smile returned, "Looks like you're in a bit of trouble there, those Kochi reflexes didn't really help you out did it" he laughed knowing just how easy this was going to be as he lunged for Kalis.
Behind a tree still close were Naruto and Ino covering their mouths and hiding, they hadn't run as they were meant to and were now listening to the battle taking place or a better word for it would be a beat down of their friend.
But neither could do anything without being killed themselves, putting it simply neither were great at combat as it stood, Ino wasn't a straight up fighter and was too scared to even move while Naruto was still a bit shocked from the events going on and didn't trust his own skills right now especially against a Chunin.
Kalis was thrown against the ground hard, he let out a grunt in pain, he hadn't fought long against Mizuki and now he was a bloody pulp that he was just toying with, "I don't get you Kalis" Mizuki muttered walking over to him and using his foot to roll him onto his back, "Why are you Naruto's friend, of everyone in the village, you should really hate him the most, so why don't you?".
This got Naruto's attention who looked up listening in on the conversation.
Mizuki slammed his foot onto the boys chest making him cough up some blood, "Why do you care?" Kalis snapped at him trying to get the foot off him but it was a futile attempt, "You're just going to kill me anyway so what's it to you!".
Mizuki laughed taking his foot of and walking around the boy, "I'm just curious is all, after what he did I thought you would've tried to kill him, you had every right too" he crouched down to look directly at him, "Afterall, didn't he wipe out your clan and made them a disgrace".
Naruto and Ino's eyes went wide in shock as they looked at each other, what did he mean by Naruto destroying his clan, he's never done anything like that he didn't even seem capable of it.
"Naruto didn't…" Kalis went to retort before he was suddenly thrown up against a nearby tree letting out another cry of pain.
"Don't try and make up bullshit for him" Mizuki snapped lunging forwards and embedding his shuriken into the tree around Kalis's neck keeping him from moving, "That kid is a monster, he destroyed our village, killed so many of us including your people and you're going to defend him for that, maybe the village is right to hate you and your people!".
"Stop with that lie you tell yourself all the time" he crouched down in front of him again, "Naruto isn't innocent here, while that seal is on him he will never be innocent or sympathetic just a monster that should have been put down a long time ago!".
"He is and always will be the Nine Tailed Fox!" he hissed.
Naruto gasped as he quickly covered his mouth and Ino did the same looking at him in horror, "Naruto is the Nine Tails…" she thought in horror frozen in her spot unable to tear her eyes from him now she knew the truth.
Naruto felt sick, he covered his mouth as tears streaked down his face, it all made sense why everyone hated him, they only saw him as the Demon Fox and nothing else, they took all their hatred out on him.
Kalis looked downcast as Mizuki spilled everything, there was nothing he could do anymore, he wanted to shut him up but he was too beaten to do anything and the more he went on about the Nine Tails the more he felt sadness in his heart.
"Just face the truth already cause I know you've been running from it your whole life" Mizuki continued, "The boy is nothing but a beast, a monster that needs to be put down because if not, one day he'll become loose and destroy this village again and this time we may not be so lucky…"
There was silence as Mizuki looked down upon Kalis a foreboding wind blew past rustling their hair.
"Yeah, you're right…" Kalis whispered as Mizuki's sick smile returned to his face knowing he'd finally broken the boys will.
Naruto's heart sank, "K-Kalis… even you…" he whimpered, he let the tears flow he didn't care anymore, his best friend had just admitted what he really thought of Naruto, and it hurt knowing that everyone really hated him.
Ino looked at the boy and couldn't help but feel sad for him, sure he was the Nine Tails but what she saw wasn't that right now, she could just see a boy who'd lost everything he cared about and was suffering for it.
Slowly she reached an arm over and draped it around his shoulders bringing him into a hug shushing him but he didn't seem to notice being caught up in is own sadness.
"…You sure figured out what a beast is, but not Naruto!" Kalis suddenly said making everyone's eyes go wide.
"You couldn't be further from the truth in fact, Naruto's kind and friendly truly one of a kind, he's a person who fights just for what he believes in and doesn't give up no matter what, he stands by those he cares about and will always back them up even at 2-1 odds or more!" he exclaimed taking Mizuki back.
"He never shows hatred to anyone, never attacks them even though he has every right to he only ever defends himself from the village!" Naruto was shocked as he peaked around the tree, "Sure everyone shows him distain and treats him unfairly but he never lets it get to him, he uses it as fuel to keep going, to keep trying to prove himself with them and I truly believe the day will come when he does and everyone in this village will call him a hero!".
"So you are so, so damn wrong, he is not the Nine Tailed Fox, he is my best friend and his name is NARUTO UZUMAKI, a proud and true member of the Hidden Leaf Village and no matter what you say or do that will never change and I will stand by him until the end!" Kalis exclaimed making Mizuki grit his teeth in annoyance.
Naruto's tears were in full force now but they weren't of sadness anymore, in fact he couldn't be more happier and neither could Ino letting her own smile break out at hearing Kalis's words.
"Bah fine!" Mizuki hissed putting a bit of distance between himself and the pinned Kalis, and taking his second large Shuriken off his back, "Then you'll die believing in those ideals!" he mocked before charging spinning his blade.
Kalis braced hoping the finishing blow would be painless.
Naruto leapt out suddenly striking his knee across the chin of Mizuki he tumbled back from the sudden impact, he grabbed his face glaring at Naruto, "You little…" he went to hiss.
"If ever try to lay a hand on my friends or anyone I care about, you've got to get through me, got it!" Naruto snapped his glare prominent as Ino ran over to help Kalis.
Mizuki chuckled, "Okay then Demon Fox, show me what you've got if you think you're so strong, I've got the Sacred Scroll I've got all the power I need to beat you" he snapped throwing his arms out in a taunting matter.
Naruto crossed his fingers into the sign he was practising earlier, "I only need one move to beat you!" he exclaimed channelling his chakra, "SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!".
Around them many identical clone of Naruto appeared around them making Mizuki panic and he looked around them all, "W-What, how are there so many!" he screamed before they descended upon him.
With so many clones the numbers game was simply too much for Mizuki, he was swarmed with Naruto's, he fought some off with his shuriken but they jumped on him pulling him to the ground and wailing on him with punches and kicks, he covered his head as best he could to try an protect himself from the onslaught.
Mizuki desperately tired to keep them off him, eventually he found his shuriken on the ground and waved it haphazardly making the clones vanish, slowly he stood clutching his head glaring at the boy who gave him a mocking laugh "Had enough or do ya want some more!" Naruto exclaimed with a foxy grin his hands back in the sign.
Mizuki stood up clutching his chest and panting, "You bastard" he spat leaning onto the scroll, "I'm not going to take my time with you, I think I'll just kill you" he gripped the scroll and shuriken tightly readying to attack as Naruto did the same.
"I don't think you will" a voice said, suddenly Iruka jumped in front of Naruto with a kunai drawn, "Drop with scroll Mizuki, it's all over" he said putting a protective hand in front of Naruto, "If you want to get to Naruto or anyone else you've got to get through me, I will protect my students!" Naruto looked up at Iruka with a small smile at his words.
"Oh Iruka, you really think you can take me alone" Mizuki smirked eying him up, "How cute, you think you can protect that Demon" he chuckled.
"He's not alone" Mizuki looked around and saw in the trees both Kotetsu and Izumo standing on branches looking at him with their own glares.
"How do you fancy your chances now Mizuki" Kotetsu muttered crossing his arms.
Mizuki grimaced seeing he was outnumbered by three Chunin, he held the scroll out in a threatening manner, "Stay back or I'll unleash the power in this scroll!" he warned which seemed to put off the Chunin, "Let me leave and no one gets hurt alright".
The three stood down which Mizuki took as the opportunity to run away, "Hey we can't let him get away!" Naruto exclaimed going to run after him but was stopped by Iruka grabbing his shoulders.
"Don't worry Naruto, this is part of a plan" he smiled getting on the boys level, "We don't know what damage he could do to the scroll, but don't worry he won't be getting away, one of the best is on him".
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Mizuki dashed through the trees as quickly as he could, he was badly hurt from that beating by Naruto and the damage was evidently major, he stopped to lean against a tree and held the scroll close to him, "At least I still have this… with the Sacred Scroll I can…" he didn't get to finish his gloating.
"I'll be taking that back…" a female voice rung out in Mizuki's ears, one that made his soul leave his body, he scrambled forward looking around hastily for who the voice belonged too and eventually he saw her leaning against the tree he was just resting against.
"S-Soruki…" he whimpered trying to crawl away.
"Oh Mizuki, look what you've done" she said in an overly kind voice almost one you'd hear a mother say to a child but it still sent shivers up his spine, "You went and persuaded poor Naruto to help you steal that Scared Scroll for whatever twisted plans you have, I must applaud such a tremendous effort" she started slow clapping as she walked towards him.
He was too scared to move now as he helplessly watched Soruki walk towards him still clapping, she soon stopped though and put her hands on her hips, "But you do know that's a very bad thing to do right" she sweetly smiled only making Mizuki more disturbed.
"I-I'm sorry Miss Soruki" he begged for forgiveness, even getting on his knees and putting his hands to the ground.
"You're sorry…" she trailed off walking around him now like a shark closing in on its prey, "Do you think sorry is good enough little Mizuki" she continued.
Mizuki didn't know what to say, he was too scared to do anything less he make it worse, "You see, corrupting a young lad like Naruto is bad enough, such a young mind can be seriously damaged but then you also go and steal the Sacred Scroll you know how bad that is Mizuki" she scolded like a mother would, "You might have to got to prison for a long time for this".
"Yes, I understand, I'll submit to prison…" he tried to beg, seeing a long prison sentence as the best way out of this but she placed a hand over his mouth shushing him.
"Shhhh, stop talking now" she whispered quietly to him, as he looked at her bandages in terror not knowing what would happen next, "You see, those two things are bad enough and give me half the mind to just drag you back to the Hokage kicking and screaming, or just kill you right here myself and be done with you" she continued in her sweet tone with her sweet smile.
Suddenly though, that all dropped, her smile was replaced with a blank unreadable expression, "But then you did the one thing, that really pissed me off…" her tone was dark and cold a complete opposite from what it was before, "…You hurt, my little brother…"
She reached her free hand up behind her head and tugged on the knot that bound her eye wrapping, "…And people who dare hurt him… will wish they dead…" she finished as her bandages came loose and Mizuki's screams filled the forest.
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"Are you guys okay?" Izumo asked running over to help pull the shuriken out of the tree to free Kalis from his positioning.
"Yeah, just a little scuffed up is all" Kalis chuckled putting a hand around his neck enjoying the lack of pressure on it now.
"A little scuffed up!" Ino exclaimed, "Your jacket has turned red! You need to get medical attention like right now!" she crouched down and put a hand on his shoulder looking him up and down inspecting his condition.
Kalis scratched his cheek awkwardly, "Oh is it really that bad, I might be hyped on a bit of adrenaline right now" he chuckled wincing slightly as he touched one of the bruises on his face.
Kotetsu let out a small chuckle, "Yeah it's kinda bad, lets get you to a doctor" he said helping Kalis to stand up by putting an arm around him so he could be supported by letting most of his weight rest on the Chunin.
Naruto was watching with a smile on his face seeing that Kalis would be okay, he was interrupted from his smile by a hand on his shoulder, "Naruto" Iruka said smiling at the boy as he looked up to him, "Are you okay too?" he asked clear concern in his voice as he got on the boys level.
To his surprise, Naruto suddenly brought him into a hug, "Thank you" he said with a laugh.
Iruka smiled retuning the hug and getting an idea as he reached behind Naruto's head and carefully removed the goggles on his head and picked out something new to tie around the blonds head in it's place.
Naruto felt that Iruka was doing something but he couldn't be sure what, as they parted Naruto noticed the others were standing looking at him with a smile, "Congrats on passing Naruto" Izumo said with a chuckle.
Naruto looked confused as to what he was on about, he put his hand to his forehead now very curious as to what Iruka was doing to his goggles but his fingers only met cold metal, he checked again and again before realising what he'd done, he'd put a leaf forehead protector on his head instead.
He looked over to Iruka who was smiling, "Looks like there is a secret graduation method after all, you mastered an extremely advanced Jutsu in a couple of hours and not only that took down a Chunin level shinobi on your own" he put his hand on his shoulder again.
"B-but I didn't do the Clone Jutsu… and I stole the Sacred Scroll" Naruto wondered aloud wondering how this qualifies as passing.
"It's not just about the Clone Jutsu Naruto, you've showed an understanding that even the three of us here haven't got yet, and on top of that when you seemed to be outmatched you stood your ground to protect your comrade" Kotetsu smiled.
"And sneaking into the Hokage Mansion and stealing the Sacred Scroll almost without being caught is quite a feat in it's own regard" Izumo added with his own smile and a chuckle.
"Besides we got the scroll back anyway and have a prisoner who tricked you into stealing it in the first place" Soruki added walking over, her bandages re-tied as she carried the scroll on her back and dragged a drooling, Genjutsu trapped Mizuki behind her by the collar of his flak jacket, "I'll say we can look over this small infraction eh Naruto" she added with a chuckle.
The boy looked back to his now fellow Genin who gave their own smiles of approval, finally he faced Iruka again, "After all you've done tonight Naruto I'm proud to say this" he took a breath before looking right into the boys eyes to show his sincerity, "Congratulations Naruto Uzumaki, you graduate!" he exclaimed.
"And to celebrate let's all go out for ramen!" Kalis exclaimed with a cheer knowing Naruto would relish the opportunity of his favourite food earning a chuckle from everyone else save for Naruto who had a small tremble his lip, "Say Naruto, sound like a plan? After I get medical attention though" he nervously chuckled remembering he couldn't even stand on his own right now.
"Yes Kalis!" he exclaimed running and bringing Kalis into a hug sending them both to the ground while everyone started laughing around them knowing Kalis wasn't fatally injured.
"H-hey come on, I'm injured here" Kalis laughed along with Naruto and the others.
Ino watched as the two joked around with a smile on her face, "I think I get you now Naruto. You are more than what meets the eye but you're still a knucklehead but that's not a bad thing anymore to me so I guess, maybe it wouldn't hurt to understand you more… maybe even be a friend" she smiled wider settling on just watching them mess around wondering what the future would hold for them all as she tried not to think about all secrets she had learned that night knowing she'd probably be speaking with Iruka later about them.
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Thank you for reading
Just a quick reminder for anyone new that things will be a little slow for the first few chapters it's just getting into a groove.
That's all I got.
