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Graduation
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Naruto still remembered the first day of the Academy.
He had just started living alone. The Hokage said now that he was a student at the Academy, he did not need a caretaker anymore, and that most of his days, he would now spend at school anyways.
Naruto knew it was because his old teacher had died, and they could not find a new one who would put up with his pranks. He couldn't remember what had happened, but one day, he woke up in a bed that wasn't his own, and the Hokage told him that there had been a fire at his house. Naruto had been saved, but his teacher didn't make it.
He barely felt sad that Longnose was gone. They hadn't been close. Yet he missed him. Living alone brought another kind of loneliness he had not known before.
That's why he had been especially exited to finally start his first year at the Academy.
When he entered the classroom, the heads of his classmates all dropped. When he greeted someone, they'd look away. Naruto quickly learned that this was even worse than his teachers who all ran away after a few months.
It was the same for all of his classmates, and sometimes he could hear their parents speak to them when dropping them off. They told them not to get involved with Naruto.
Whenever Naruto heard a parent talk about him in such a way, he would find a bucket of paint and a brush and leave his regards on their house walls. At least that gave them a reason to hate him. Because Naruto could not think of another.
There was one exception, however. Sasuke Uchiha never averted his eyes when Naruto looked at him. And instead of badmouthing him behind his back, Sasuke's mother smiled at Naruto whenever they met.
It was irritating. Irritating and made him feel that they were making fun of him on a level he couldn't understand.
That's why Naruto, after only two weeks of his first year, punched Sasuke Uchiha in the face for talking to him.
It had not been a big deal. Sasuke had simply asked whether Naruto could sit somewhere else, so Sasuke could sit with a friend from his clan.
But that day, Naruto learned that when he picked a fight with Sasuke, he suddenly became visible to his classmates. Because Sasuke was popular, and Sasuke was an Uchiha, and Sasuke had the best grades in his class.
Naruto couldn't stand Sasuke. He couldn't stand how everyone always fawned over him and his grades. He couldn't stand how Sasuke had a bigger brother whom everyone seemed to look up to even more. Genius, prodigy, the words made him want to puke.
That's why Naruto swore that one day, he would be better than Sasuke. He would show everyone that he was the son of a Hokage, the one they should respect. Naruto swore to himself, and everyone who listened, that he would be the best.
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Naruto remembered all that as he stared at the results of his last written exam. His final written exam. A failed exam.
"I'm just not sure you have what it takes to become a shinobi," his teacher said when Naruto asked him what to do, how to fix this.
"But Iruka-sensei, I'm the son of the Fourth Hokage, of course I have what it takes to become a shinobi!"
His teacher sighed. "I'm afraid your grades tell a different story. Listen, Naruto, you can repeat the year. It might be good for you. But maybe you should think about changing profession, something that will some day earn you money."
"I'm not changing profession, and neither will I repeat the year," he yelled at him. "I will pass the last exam with such a good grade that his one won't even matter anymore!"
He knew that wasn't how it worked. All exams had to be passed to graduate. But he stormed off before Iruka could explain that to him again, and told himself that, if he would just manage to impress everyone, they would give him a second chance for the written test.
But the last exam was on chakra control and ninjutsu. It was his worst category. No matter how hard much effort he put into chakra exercises, he always felt the stuff had to get stuck somewhere inside of him.
He left the Academy building. Outside, the face of his father was looking down at him. The face of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, had been carved into an immense stone wall that rose above Konoha. Each and every day, it reminded Naruto that his father was a hero. His father stood at the top of Konoha once.
He walked off into the opposite direction. The stone face of his dead father was nothing he had to see on the day he failed his graduation exams.
There was one more day. One more day to practice his chakra control. One more day to pray for a miracle.
Naruto wasn't going to give up. He would keep practicing. Because surely, effort had to be rewarded.
Or not.
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The Jounin that were to be the team leaders of the new Genin squads gathered in the Hokage building a day after the the Academy exams were over.
They were the elite of any hidden shinobi village. The only one who stood above them in rank was the Hokage himself. Kakashi was one of those Jounin. He wasn't particularly interested in the work of a teacher, but he never complained when the Hokage had assigned him yet another Genin squad. He carefully checked the background sheets of his new students.
All around him, the other Jounin were gossiping. They talked about Naruto Namikaze, the son of a Hokage who failed the Academy exams.
Some glanced over at Kakashi, as if he was somehow involved in Naruto's life. He ignored it.
"How do you like your team, Kakashi?" Kurenai was looking back at her own background sheets. A content smile was on her face.
"Well, I got the Uchiha boy and two girls from civilian families."
"Two civilian children on the same team? That's unusual." She turned her attention to Kakashi's students, wondering who they were.
"Maybe the old man wanted to make sure they'll go back to the Academy for another year, so he assigned them both to Kakashi." Asuma laughed. The three of them had graduated from the Academy together over 10 years ago, though Kakashi was younger than the other two.
Kurenai nudged Asuma with her elbow, telling him to stop laughing at his own stupid jokes.
"I know that for most of you, this is not the first time becoming a teacher for the new Genin," the Hokage continued his speech when everyone had read through the information on their new students.
He was an old man, one who'd already celebrated his retirement. But with the death of his successor, the village called for him to come back. "I'll say this again to remind you all that our children are our future. And those Genin might some day become Jounin like you. They are going to inherit our wills, the will of our village. You will be their teacher as well as their leader. This is an opportunity for all of you to leave a lasting impression on this next generation, and maybe even pass down your own will."
The Jounin listened quietly to their leader's speech. He wore the white Hokage robes. No one in the room could remember the last time they'd seen him wear anything else. "I hope you all can bring the best out of them." His speech wasn't finished, yet he suddenly stopped.
Kakashi only ever noticed a small breeze coming from the opened window before a white-haired man appeared next to the Hokage out of thin air. Some Jounin intuitively grabbed kunai from their pockets, readying themselves to fight off the potential threat to their Hokage.
"You are early, Jiraiya. Our meeting was supposed to be tomorrow," the Hokage said in a calm voice.
Some of the younger Jounin looked at Jiraiya with open mouths, before putting back their weapons and apologising vigorously. Kakashi never moved a muscle. Jiraiya was no enemy – on the contrary, some would argue he was Konoha's strongest ally, their strongest shinobi, though he had been away on a secret mission for many years.
Jiraiya laughed and waved at the group of Jounin like a superstar. Then his smile vanished in an instant as he turned back towards the Hokage. "I was nearby and heard that the final Acadamy exams were concluded. I also heard that Naruto Namikaze failed."
The Hokage turned back to the Jounin. "If there are no further questions, I would like to conclude this meeting. I wish you all the best with your new squads and I am hoping all of you manage to develop a lot of new talent in this next generation of shinobi." The Third Hokage ended the meeting. The Jounin all showed their respect by bowing their heads and left the room, only the Hokage and Jiraiya stayed behind.
"Why do you think Master Jiraiya is here?" Kurenai whispered on the way out.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Asuma said. He lit a new cigarette as soon as they stepped outside. "The Fourth Hokage's son failed miserably as a vessel for the Kyuubi. Someone like Jiraiya won't accept that fact." He took a deep puff. "That little brat ran around with paint the other day and messed up houses. Of course, my house was one of them. I was scrubbing for hours. Can't say I regret he didn't make it. I was never given special treatment even though the old man's my father."
"Asuma, stop." Kurenai softly slapped his arm. She then turned to Kakashi, wondering what he thought of Naruto, but he was already gone. She spotted him further down the road, wandering off. She sighed. "That guy… He didn't even say bye."
"Guess it's just you and me." Asuma smiled at her with his cigarette tucked between his teeth. "Should we grab some food together?"
"As colleagues, yes."
"You know the rules though. If it's no date, you gotta pay for yourself."
"I'm well aware of that rule. I came up with it after all." She turned away from him, wondering where they should go for lunch. "Should we ask Kakashi too?"
"Heh, try. He won't come anyway."
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Jiraiya stood by the window, arms crossed. "You really let Naruto fail the Academy exams."
"He was the one who failed in two of the three categories. Taijutsu was the only one he passed. There is nothing we could do about it."
"He's Minato's son. Don't you feel ashamed that you let him fail?"
"He can repeat the year. It's what you have done as well, isn't it? And look at where you are now. It did you good."
Jiraiya shook his head. "I didn't pass those final exams because I had to repeat a year. I passed them because I had people who supported me the last time around. Does Naruto have those?"
"We have given him enough support over the years, Jiraiya. Don't come here and accuse me of negligence. He's had additional classes, private teachers. Either he doesn't pay attention or the seal messes too much with his chakra flow."
"Then remove the seal again. Wasn't that the plan anyway?"
The Hokage sat down, and pulled out his pipe, but he didn't light it. "Konoha is doing good, Jiraiya. We have not had a single incident since the sealing. I can't just undo that and put Konoha and Naruto at risk again. You want his best too, don't you? He will get used to his new chakra flow eventually, and maybe he will pass the exams next year. Failing them is not the end of the world."
Jiraiya stared at his teacher. His mind remembered the old days. The days when he still had three young and happy students. Now two of those three were gone. Dead. "I'll train him myself if you won't do it."
"You know that's not possible. Your mission is too important to abandon now."
"Then I'll stay in Konoha for a week and teach him ninjutsu. If he manages to pass one more category, you will let the third slide. All that book knowledge is something I had forgotten again two weeks after the graduation and see how well I turned out." He pointed a thumb at himself and showed the Hokage a confident grin.
"We already arranged the three-man squads and assigned their Jounin leaders. On Monday, they will start their training as Genin."
"I've heard four-man squads are quite successful too. You should know best, Hiruzen-sensei."
There was a moment of silence.
Both men exchanged a look. Neither shied away from locking eyes on the other. "Today is the graduation ceremony. I will give you until Monday morning, 8 o'clock. Two days, and no more. I want to see Naruto use a jutsu. Preferably the Clone Jutsu, but anything will do. Also, you will personally go to Kakashi Hatake and ask him if he'd be willing to take Naruto as an additional member of his team. If he refuses, then I don't care if Naruto produces twenty clones, he will not become a Genin. Kakashi is the only Jounin leader this year suitable to guide Naruto."
A confident grin reappeared on Jiraiya's lips. "Monday at 8 am. Naruto and I will be here." He left to find Kakashi. The Hokage was left behind. He was composed on the outside, but there was a hint of doubt in his eyes, doubt if this decision had been the right one. But there was another feeling inside of him, an even more dangerous one. Hope.
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Kakashi didn't manage to get far away from the Hokage building before Jiraiya appeared in front of him. There was no surprise visible on his face. Emotions rarely made their way onto Kakashi's face in general, and if they did, they were usually hidden behind a mask he wore day and night. It covered the lower half of his face and his Konoha headband additionally hung over his left eye, leaving only his right eye visible.
"I hear you are going to be a squad leader for the new Genin," Jiraiya started the conversation. He couldn't hold back a victorious smirk. "Wouldn't it be great if you had one more student on your squad?"
"Are we talking about Naruto?"
Jiraiya nodded enthusiastically. "I'm sure Minato would be proud if you were his teacher."
"Well, he's dead, so we'll never know," Kakashi casually said and walked past Jiraiya.
"Wait, wait." Jiraiya trotted after him and blocked his way once more. "Don't you want the best for Naruto? Here, I'll give you a present if you are willing to teach him." He opened his bag and fumbled around in it. "Being the leader of a four-man squad is lots of fun, I can vouch for that." His hand finally found something suitable and pulled it out. It was an orange book. Jiraiya signed the first page and handed it to Kakashi. "Here, a copy of my bestselling book, signed by the one and only Toad Sage, Jiraiya the Great." He posed in front of Kakashi, who just stared at him with a blank face.
"Icha Icha Paradise?" Kakashi turned the book around to read its description. A slight blush appeared on the visible part of his face.
"This is a must-read. "Jiraiya came closer to Kakashi to whisper in his ear. "And it will teach you all you need to know about the other sex. I've spent years doing research for this masterpiece."
Kakashi cleared his throat. "Thanks, but I don't think I have a need for this." He gave the book back. "But I don't care if I have three or four students. Chances are he won't pass my aptitude test anyway, so he's free to try."
Jiraiya clapped him on the shoulder, a smirk on his face again. "Great, great. But here, I even wrote an inscription for you, so you have to keep the book." Jiraiya walked off, happy he'd not only found a teacher for Naruto, but a new reader for his books too.
Kakashi glanced after him, and then down at the book. He opened the first page and continued on his way. If he was already carrying it around, he might as well give it a try, he figured.
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Sakura handed her father her graduation scroll, observing any sort of emotion his face would show. There wasn't a lot. He faked a short smile that was accompanied by a slight frown.
"Congratulations, my daughter," he said and gave it back to her. "You are really a smart one, we are proud." His smile grew more sincere, and Sakura's eyes were about to light up from her father's praise. "A job at the library would be really well suited for you. What do you say? Or maybe you could work at the hospital."
Sakura frowned. "I told you I'm signing up as a Genin. I want to become a shinobi."
"The life of a ninja is not the right life for a cute girl like you."
Her mother came over too. She had just finished talking to some parents of Sakura's classmates. They all stood in the yard of the Academy together, eating cake and drinking tea. Other families were celebrating, proudly hugging their children with a smile on their faces.
"I'm not a cute girl," Sakura snapped before her mother could change the topic. "At least that's not all I am."
"That boy over there." Her mother pointed at Naruto, who was sitting alone on a swing, watching the celebration with sad eyes. "He didn't pass, did he?"
"Naruto? No, of course not. He can barely use the Clone Jutsu. Do you want me to show it to you? I managed two perfect clones today."
"Thank god." Her mother's eyes were still on Naruto. "At least we don't have to be worried about you being teamed up with that boy."
"I can't believe the Hokage actually allowed him to join the Academy. How careless," her father added.
Sakura grumbled, feeling utterly invisible. Her gaze strayed to the other students, hoping she would find Sasuke somewhere. She saw Ino instead, her former best friend. Her parents were just giving her a little gift to celebrate her graduation. It was a kunai with a dried flower attached to it as a talisman.
"How stupid," Sakura mumbled to herself. "That's a weapon. Who in their right mind would put accessory on it?" To her disappointment, Sasuke was nowhere to be seen.
"What are you staring at?" She suddenly heard Naruto yell behind her. He was pointing his fingers at Sakura's mother, who almost dropped her piece of cake. "Who cares if I pass this stupid test? Once I'm Hokage no one will care about stupid tests at the Academy. Just you all wait!" With these words, Naruto ran off.
"What did you do, mum?" Sakura asked her mother, hoping it had been nothing embarrassing.
"Me? I didn't do anything. I was only talking to your father about that boy and suddenly he completely snapped."
"I told you not to look at him, Mebuki. He is dangerous," her father warned. "I'm glad our daughter is no longer in the same class as him."
"Naruto is not dangerous." Sakura crossed her arms. "How could someone who doesn't even know how to use the Clone Jutsu be dangerous? I'm a way better shinobi myself. Which is why I passed, and he didn't." Sakura couldn't believe she ended up explaining to her parents why she was a better student than Naruto. No one who had even a bit of knowledge of ninja arts would believe Naruto was talented in any way nor that he would pose any threat at all. Yet her parents exchanged doubting looks and kept their silence. Sakura was about to open her mouth to further convince them, when she heard Naruto's voice once again.
"Congratulations everyone!" She heard from above, but before she could look up, water poured down at her, leaving her completely soaked.
Naruto was standing on top of the roof with three empty buckets, laughing. Sakura yelled at him, and so did her other classmates, while their parents looked at each other in shock. Naruto had managed to hit almost everyone with water. He laughed down at them, seemingly satisfied.
"You little…" Sakura was about to jump after him, but her father grabbed her wrist.
"That's it. We are going home."
"But dad…"
"I've seen enough of this Academy. We can talk more about your future plans at home." Her father turned around and left with her mother.
Sakura clenched her fist, wishing she could punch the hell out of Naruto for ruining her day further. "Idiot," she mumbled to herself and hurried after her parents.
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Naruto was on his way back home from the graduation ceremony, jumping from roof to roof, when Jiraiya finally found him.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked. His eyes narrowed as he wondered if he had seen this man somewhere before. He had long white hair and looked like a very old man to Naruto. Not as old as the Third Hokage, but still old. Naruto remembered his face before the man could introduce himself. He pointed a finger at him and yelled, "You are that weird pervert!"
"Now, now. Don't yell something like that around. I have a reputation here."
"What? A pervy reputation? I remember your weird white hair and those warts on your nose. You followed me around once and spied on me. And when I was home you suddenly appeared next to me and started harassing my teacher." That teacher had been a woman he had named Creepynails. Her fingernails had been strangely long and sharp. She resigned after Naruto cut them off one night.
"I didn't harass her. We were having a conversation."
"Whatever, old man. Just stay away from you I wasn't interested in your stories, and I'm still not." Naruto jumped off the roof.
Jiraiya shouted after him, but the boy was gone. He jumped down too and followed Naruto.
"Stop following me, perv!" Naruto yelled back when he saw him.
People turned around and stared at Jiraiya. Some women started whispering behind his back, and he decided it was best to walk into the opposite direction for now.
Jiraiya sighed. The hard part hadn't even started yet, and still, Naruto was already causing trouble. An idea suddenly crossed Jiraiya's mind when he saw Naruto's Academy teacher walk down the street. Jiraiya formed a short sign and suddenly, his looks transformed into those of Iruka, Naruto's teacher. Smiling, he left to find Naruto again.
Jiraiya found Naruto back at the Academy, where he was busy throwing tomatoes at the classroom windows.
"Naruto," he tried again, making sure his voice sounded like Iruka's.
Naruto gave a jump and dropped the bag of tomatoes. "Iruka-sensei, I thought you were home already."
"Yes, I came back here because I have to talk to you."
Naruto instantly rolled his eyes and turned away. "You don't have to remind me again that I failed. Don't you have anything else to do?"
"Actually, I'm here to tell you that I talked to the Hokage and he is willing to give you one more chance."
"What?" Naruto's eyes lit up instantly as he stared at the man he thought to be his teacher. "So you are not here to scold me?"
"No, I'm here to teach you the Clone Jutsu. If you can do it by Monday 8 am, you pass the exam."
Naruto's smile lessened a bit. "I tried learning that one for years. I'm not sure a few more nights will do."
"Not with that attitude, boy." Jiraiya gave him a good pat on the back that almost knocked Naruto over.
"You are behaving weirdly today, Iruka-sensei. You haven't even scolded me yet for throwing tomatoes at your window."
Jiraiya laughed. "Yeah, I've seen better pranks than that."
Naruto's eyes narrowed at the sudden strange behaviour of his teacher, but eventually his smile reappeared, and he raised his fist into the air. "Alright, let's do this. My way to become Hokage won't end here."
Jiraiya smiled a proud smile at the boy's enthusiasm.
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Jiraiya took the boy to his old house. It was a wooden cabin outside of Konoha, right next to the river. He'd used to live there with his father, until his father died from drinking too much and Jiraiya left Konoha to go on a long mission.
It was dirty and dusty inside, but still had this weird feeling of "home" to the old shinobi.
"What is this place?" Naruto asked. He didn't mind all the dirt.
"I used to live here before… moving inside the walls. We can train here over the weekend. No one will bother us."
Naruto was more than motivated and full of energy. Jiraiya felt so too. It felt good seeing the boy. Yet Jiraiya was not yet sure how he was supposed to keep up his false identity over the course of a whole weekend. The Illusion Jutsu required a lot of concentration to uphold. Once he'd fall asleep, Naruto would realise that he wasn't truly his Academy teacher, but Jiraiya, one of the few men Naruto seemed to truly dislike.
But that was something Jiraiya would figure out later. Naruto was completely focused on his training, and would not have noticed if Jiraiya had turned into a turtle instead.
"Hey, Naruto, how is Sasuke doing at the Academy? Are you two friends?" He asked as he watched Naruto collect chakra.
Only when the boy threw confused looks at him did he realise his mistake. "Are you mocking me, Iruka-sensei?"
"No, I mean… outside of the classroom, do you two ever talk? I heard your mothers used to be good friends. That's why I asked."
Naruto stopped what he was doing. "They were?"
Jiraiya realized it was best to change the topic again. All of Naruto's good mood was blown away. "Anyway, maybe we should take a step back and see if you manage to properly collect chakra in your hands."
They went to the river, and Jiraiya told Naruto to make waves in the water. But slowly, the hope in him died. He had hoped Naruto was truly only missing a good teacher, and that he could be that teacher, but clearly good instructions were not enough.
His eyes fell on Naruto's belly, and before the first night was over, Jiraiya decided that he shouldn't waste any more time. The solution to Naruto's problem lay in his seal.
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Jiraiya knew he would only be able to touch Naruto's seal once. It was way past midnight, and their surroundings were pitch black. Only a few lanterns Jiraiya had bought offered a bit of light to Naruto.
Yet the man knew that someone was watching them.
"Hey, Naruto. You know, I actually know a trick to improve your chakra control. Come over here."
Naruto immediately hurried over to him. "What is it, Iruka-sensei?"
Jiraiya pulled him closer. "Show me your belly," he said in a low voice. When Naruto only looked at himself with confused eyes, he pulled up Naruto's jacket and shirt himself and pressed his hand on his belly.
Naruto took a step backwards, but he stopped him.
"Don't move. Trust me."
"Iruka-sensei!" It was a woman's voice, coming from the darkness. It brought a smile to Jiraiya's lips. She even chose to play his game.
Neither Naruto nor Jiraiya could see the face of the woman standing nearby in the forest.
"Would you have a moment? I'd like to have a word," she said.
Jiraiya left Naruto, who seemed utterly confused at what had just happened, about both his teacher's hand on his belly button and the weird person that appeared in the middle of the night. But Jiraiya reminded him that he had to train, so Naruto brushed it off.
The man left with the woman, and walked further into the forest, until they were both sure that Naruto would not hear their conversation anymore.
"What were you thinking?" the woman immediately started to snarl at him. There was anger in her voice. "I will have to report this to the Hokage. And whatever you just did with the seal, you will undo it again."
"It's nice to see you too, Komachi-chan." Jiraiya stopped the Illusion Jutsu for now, and turned back into his old self.
"Don't call me that," she said sharply. "How can you still be smiling? You realise you just went against the Hokage's orders regarding our Jinchuuriki? This comes close to treason!"
Jiraiya scratched his head. "I don't think the old man will mind. I didn't remove the seal, only slightly adjusted it to allow a small chakra flow."
She straightened herself again and moved a step away from Jiraiya. "I don't care. You will reverse whatever you did, or I will make sure that you are not getting close to Naruto again."
She turned away from him, but Jiraiya grabbed her hand. His face and voice were stern, something that was rare. "Komachi, please. You know that Minato would want this. Be honest with yourself. I can see you are worried about Naruto, and I am glad about that, but we are a team. Let me do this. I just need two days. Two days."
"You are no longer my teacher. And I have obligations."
"I'm not asking you as your teacher. I'm asking you as Naruto's godfather. I'm asking you in Minato's name."
She didn't move, not even a single muscle, and he could barely make out her face in the darkness. Yet he knew she was considering. Because he knew her. She was his last remaining student. The only one who was still alive.
"If there is the slightest sign that the ninetails has any kind of influence over Naruto, I will reinforce the seal again myself and report your actions to the Hokage."
He finally let go of her hand. His student had turned into a fine woman. She was nothing like him, but he could see the influence of someone else in her. It made him proud, and sad.
"Thank you, Komachi."
"I hope you know what you are doing," she said, and in the next second, she was gone.
Jiraiya walked back to Naruto and took on the appearance of Iruka once more. It made it all so much easier.
"Look, my waves became so much bigger all of a sudden! What did you do, sensei? This is amazing."
"You know, Naruto. I just thought of a much better jutsu I could teach you. The Hokage would be even more impressed by that one. And I think it might be much easier to learn for you."
"Really? Which one? Spitting fireballs? Explosions?" Naruto, despite all the failed attempts so far, still managed to be excited.
"It's called… the Shadow Clone Jutsu."
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The first sun rays touched the treetops surrounding Konoha when Naruto could finally look into his own face standing in front of him. It was the perfect copy of himself.
"I finally did it," his clone yelled in excitement.
"What do you mean, I? I did it," Naruto replied.
"But I am you, so I did it too." The clone crossed his arms and pouted, but then turned back to Naruto with a smile on his face. "Fast, we should go to the Hokage and show him. Then we are finally Genin." His clone jumped up some trees and was gone.
Naruto looked after him with big eyes. Iruka had told him that these clones could act on their own, but he didn't expect them to be just like a real person. He formed the sign to release the jutsu, and he could see the clone vanish again. He looked around, his eyes searching for Iruka. But his teacher was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he found the weird pervert from before laying under a tree, sleeping. Naruto's eyes narrowed. Had this weird guy stalked him again? He tiptoed away and broke into an excited run once he was far enough away.
"I did it," he screamed while running back to Konoha and towards Iruka's house. He didn't care if he woke the whole village up. On the contrary, he wanted everyone to know that he, Naruto Namikaze, had managed to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
His teacher lived in the same building as Ichiraku, his favourite ramen chef. They had a ramen shop on the ground floor and a flat on the upper floor of the house. Naruto didn't know in what kind of relationship Iruka and Ichiraku were, but he had often seen Iruka leave the building when he was enjoying some ramen. Ichiraku was already up and preparing broth for the day.
"Oh, Naruto. It's too early for some ramen, isn't it?" Ichiraku smiled at him.
"I'm looking for Iruka-sensei. Is he here?"
"Yes, I'm sure he's already awake too. I'll go get him."
The smell of the broth reached Naruto's nose and his stomach answered with a deep rumble. He hadn't had dinner last night and no breakfast yet either. Iruka looked surprised when he saw Naruto standing in front of his home.
"Iruka-sensei, I did it. I mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu." He grabbed his teacher's hand. "Come on, we have to show the Hokage."
Iruka stumbled after Naruto. He had no idea what the boy was talking about, but somehow Naruto ended up dragging him all the way to the Hokage building.
"Naruto, what's going on?" Iruka eventually managed to make a stand and pull his hand away from the boy.
"I learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu like you told me to. Now I can become a Genin too, right?"
"I did what?"
The Third Hokage stepped outside of the building and approached them before Iruka could question Naruto any further. It wasn't something he admitted to himself, but he'd been waiting for Naruto to show up. He knew that Jiraiya had been successful as soon as he spotted the bright smile on Naruto's face. He had the looks of his father, but the cheeky smile of his mother.
Naruto performed the Shadow Clone Jutsu as soon as he spotted the Hokage and produced a perfect clone of himself. The clone got excited together with Naruto.
The Third knew what Jiraiya had done. It angered him, but he was not surprised.
And there Naruto was, able to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu. The seal had been opened just slightly, enough to allow the boy to learn a jutsu that needed not fine tuning of chakra, but vast amounts. It made him hopeful. It made him hopeful that maybe, Naruto would find his path as a shinobi, a Jinchuuriki, after all.
"Congratulation, Naruto," the Hokage said, and handed Naruto the Konoha forehead protector. It was a blue headband with the symbol of Konoha engraved on a piece of metal that was attached to it. It was the symbol that its wearer was a shinobi of the Leaf Village.
Naruto and his clone both grabbed the headband at the same time and a small fight between the two broke out, which ended with Naruto dispelling the clone. He put it on and turned towards Iruka again.
"Thank you so much, sensei." He wrapped his arms around Iruka, who was still confused at everything that was happening around him. But a short nod and a smile from the Hokage told him to play along. "Thank you so much for giving me another chance and going through the trouble to talk to the old man Hokage for me. I will never forget that." Naruto kept hugging his teacher, before slowly pulling back. "You are definitely my favourite teacher from now on. I don't care what awesome Jounin teacher I might get assigned to – you are the best." Naruto beamed with happiness. "I guess I better get some breakfast before I have to be at the Academy or I might just starve. See you!" He waved at the two before running off.
Iruka stared after him, his mouth dropped open. A strange feeling spread inside of him, a feeling he had searched for years. "I don't understand," he said, his eyes still fixed on Naruto's slowly vanishing silhouette.
"Jiraiya asked me to give Naruto one last chance if he could teach him a jutsu. I don't know why Naruto thought it was your idea. It must be Jiraiya's doing."
Iruka closed his mouth and pressed his lips together. "It should have been me. I should have stood up for Naruto. I was his teacher after all. I don't deserve his gratitude. This feeling… This is why I became a teacher. I wanted to inspire my students. I wanted to change their lives, help them walk the right path. And now, the first time I seemed to achieve this, it wasn't even my achievement."
"We don't know if this was the right path for Naruto yet. He might be excited and grateful right now, but your initial judgement in letting him fail might turn out to have been the right one after all. And you are still a young teacher, Iruka. Naruto won't be the last student to feel grateful. So take this moment and cherish it in your heart. It will help you become a better teacher."
The Hokage left Iruka alone. The teacher couldn't quite get Naruto's smile out of his head. It had been the sincerest smile he'd ever seen.
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A/N:
I guess I will talk a bit more about this AU in the author notes. You are free to ignore it, but if you are interest to learn about the changes I made/am making/will make, feel free to read on. :)
So let's talk about... Komachi. I initially only added her as a random Anbu guard for Naruto (Naruto has three of them). Jinchuuriki are a lot more important in this story than they are in canon, so naturally, Naruto would have guards secretly watching over him. Later I decided that since she's around the same age as Minato, I might as well make her his old teammate. Team Jiraiya is a complete mystery apart from Minato, and I thought it'd be interesting to actually have one of Minato's friends watch after Naruto, even if "only" secretly.
I don't want to focus on her too much, but she is a pretty big part of Naruto's life as she's almost always there.
Naruto in this version is Naruto Namikaze, simply because I don't see a point in keeping his identity hidden. It makes more sense to me that people would know Kushina and Minato were a thing and Naruto is their child, as well as the Jinchuuriki. But it doesn't really change much. He's also less neglected than in canon, but the loneliness and lack of parents he did experience will have a bit of a bigger influence on him. He's also slightly more bitter towards others (mainly Jiraiya and Minato) than he is in canon.