AN: Hello everybody, I'm back to writing again! Hopefully I'll get some more updates out this month, we'll just have to wait and see, I suppose. The idea for this one struck me at around 11pm, forcing me to write it out immediatly or completely forget it. Which means that I was up till almost 2 AM, sitting bleary eyed behind my laptop. It was supposed to be a short little omake, but it just kept on growin into a real chapter, so concider it a sort of omake, a little treat from me to you ^^
Sidenote though, this isn't part of the same universe as the rest of the story, so don't worry too much about it. Maybe, as I write more of these, it might develop into it's own little story :)
(Sort of) Omake 1
History Lessons
It was a sunny day as Naruto and his classmates were training in the yard of the Academy, under the watchful eye of their sensei, Umino Iruka.
While the rest of the children were running laps, preforming kata's or endlessly repeating jumping-jacks, Naruto was deep in focus. He was feeling for his chakra, the warmth storming through his veins, trying to wrestle it under his control.
Slowly, o so terribly slowly, the by now familiar shroud was starting to form around Naruto's body, it's swirling motions an homage to the boy's clan.
As the blue glow started to grow brighter, it began to draw the attention of his classmates and his sensei. The other children stopped their exercises, gaping at the amount of chakra the blond was calling upon. Iruka started to approach his student hurriedly, fearing for what might happen to the boy should the swirling chakra prove to be beyond the Uzumaki's control.
Again.
Before he reached him however, Naruto gained a confident smirk, opened his now glowing eyes, and lifted his right arm parallel to his shoulder. Briefly Iruka wondered what the prankster was up to, when his question was answered by the sudden increase of the cloud surrounding the boy's arm.
Instead of swirling around it with a little over an inch of thickness, it explosively expanded, forming a swirling cocoon of a little over a foot in diameter, roughly resembling Naruto's arm.
With a yell that shook the earth, the blond raised his arm over his head, before slamming it down into the ground with an even greater shock, completely shattering the ground beneath him.
Both Iruka and Naruto were blasted of their feet, Iruka managing to right himself at the last moment though, while Naruto was a little more unfortunate.
Flying end over teakettle, Naruto ended up looking at the cloud free sky, wondering just how he got in that position.
Within moments however, the sky was replaced by the furious face of Umino Iruka, baring down upon him in righteous fury.
"He he he… hey there sensei." Naruto hesitantly ventured.
"NARUTO!"
Naruto could tell he had made his sensei angrier than usual.
The throbbing veins in the man's forehead were a big clue.
Being pushed a little further into the ground solely by the man's voice was also pretty enlightening.
"WHAT, IN THE NAME OF KAMI'S HAIRY BALLSACK, WAS THAT!?"
Filing away the expletive for later (it was a pretty good one, especially since it came from the normally prudish Iruka-sensei) Naruto went for his most innocent look.
Judging by the way his teacher's face started to become more and more red, it wasn't working really well.
"I didn't mean to! I just thought that putting more chakra would make the shroud bigger! It would let me punch harder! The Akimichi do it!" Naruto yelled in desperation.
Choji, who, like the rest of the class, had been able to hear every word of the conversation, quickly paled and hid his face in his chips bag, not willing to face the wrath of his sensei.
None really blamed him.
Meanwhile, Iruka had been steadily reaching a boiling point.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA JUST HOW DANGEROUS THAT WAS?! YOU WERE BASICALLY TURNING YOUR OWN BODY INTO A VERSION OF HIRAMEKAREI!"
Instead of showing understanding, sympathy or even horror at his own actions, Naruto's face simply scrunched up in confusion.
"Hirome-whatnow?"
For a moment, Iruka blew up his cheeks, his fingers twitching with murderous intent. He closed his eyes and started counting to ten. Then started counting backwards. Then started reciting all the old cryptology codes that he had learned during his days as an Academy student.
Finally, he slowly released an enormous breath through pursed lips, slightly ruffling Naruto's hair in the process.
Keeping his eyes closed, Iruka pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the rough skin of the scar that ran horizontally across it under his fingertips.
"Hiramekarei. One of the Seven Swords of the Mist, used by the Seven Swordsmen."
Unseen to him, Naruto's eyes lit up.
"The Seven Swordsmen? Who were they? Were they strong? They sound strong."
Iruka sighed, opening his eyes in order to offer a sharp rebuke, but was stopped when he saw that every eye of every student was fixed intently on him, curiosity clearly visible in all of them.
Slowly, he started answering Naruto's question, warily keeping an eye on the alertness of his students, on the lookout for the tell-tale signs of boredom, now a trademark of every history lesson he had ever given.
"Yes, the Seven Swordsmen were strong. Very strong in fact; their first instalment can be considered to be on par with our own Sannin, in terms of fame and abilities. Following generations were not as powerful, but are still considered the elite forces of Kiri, much like the Kinkaku Squad is to Kumo."
Surreptitiously he checked all the other students, checking for any signs of inattention.
He was shocked to his core; not a single one of the wasn't paying attention, all of them listening intently to his story.
"Really! That sounds awesome! Were the Ginkaku Squad really strong as well?"
"Kinkaku, and yes, they were." Iruka distractedly replied to Naruto's question, his mind running faster than the speediest of courier ninja (which was very speedy indeed).
'I can't believe it! They're actually paying attention! I need to capitalize on this, but how?' Iruka furiously thought to himself, glancing around the gathered students, before his eyes landed on Naruto.
Who was still staring expectantly at him, obviously waiting for the rest of the story.
As a plan started forming in his head, Iruka grinned at the gathered students.
"In fact, the Kinkaku Squad was so strong, they were instrumental in the Hokage being elected to be the Sandaime."
As expected, the mention of their current Hokage immediately gripped Naruto's undivided attention, always eager to learn more about his grandfather-figure.
"REALLY?!"
Iruka's grin widened, as he leaned down so he could look his students in the eye. He nodded and whispered in his most conspiratorial voice; "Really, really. Want me to tell you how? It's a story filled with a lot of adventure and great danger."
In unison, the entire class yelled out; "HAI SENSEI!"
"Let's go back inside." Iruka smirked.
Meanwhile, in the largest office of the Hokage tower, the Hokage himself was staring forlornly at a little orange book. He had, somehow, managed to finish all of his paperwork for once, and having nothing on his schedule for the next half hour or so, had greatly anticipated reading his student's greatest legacy.
Unfortunately, just when he cracked open the vibrant orange cover, his senses picked up an enormous chakra spike from the adjacent training grounds of the Academy.
Well, that, and his hearing had also picked up an enormous 'boom!' that had rattled his windows.
In a frustrated tone, rubbing a head against his aching forehead, Hiruzen growled the name of his tormentor through clenched teeth.
"Naruto. Why has it always got to be you? Why?"
With a look of great emotional pain, Hiruzen gently placed the amazing piece of high standing literature back in its secret compartment within his desk, already knowing that he would be pestered by one of the most annoying (and useful) ninja his village employed.
Right on cue, Shimura Danzo, Hiruzen's ex-teammate, sometimes friend, mostly rival, and all around unpleasant person, shuffled into the Hokage's office.
"Hiruzen." 'I should be in that chair.'
"Danzo." 'Not even if the Sage of the Six Paths himself would give it to you.'
Standard pleasantries out of the way, Danzo immediately came down to business; both of them knew why he was there anyway.
"Today's chakra spike at the Academy once more proves my point, Hiruzen; the weapon is both too powerful and too unmanaged to be safely put with his classmates. Who, I don't have to remind you Hiruzen, are all heirs of prominent clans."
"And yet you remind me anyways." Hiruzen coolly replied.
Only a slight twitch by the man's uncovered eyebrow showed that Danzo conceded this verbal spar to his rival.
Not giving his enemy the chance to press on, Hiruzen continued.
"Before you make any further claims or demands Danzo, perhaps we should examine the situation at the Academy? It would be unadvisable to make decisions on a situation one doesn't fully understand, after all." The aged Hokage said, his voice hard as steel.
The corners of Danzo's mouth drew slightly downwards at the dig at his many, more radical, decisions in the past, which had had long-lasting consequences, almost all of them affecting Konoha in a negative way.
Inclining his head by the smallest of margins, Danzo conceded.
"Very well, lead on."
"I intend to. For a very long time, in fact."
The walk to the Academy had been blissfully short, what with it being located directly next to the Hokage tower, but Hiruzen still felt wrung out at the end of it.
Every step of the way had been a chain of verbal battles between him and his old friend, and to his shame (or Danzo's credit) the aged Hokage couldn't say that he had won all of them.
Walking a few paces behind them, Hiruzen could feel the silent support of Salamander, which heartened him greatly, even if the ANBU-Commander couldn't speak up against the advisor, who, in the underhanded, unofficial way of all ninja, somehow outranked him, despite not holding a military position.
Ignoring the star-struck gazes of several teachers he passed in the hallways, Hiruzen steadily approached Naruto's classroom. The teacher was Umino Iruka, a promising young Chunin, whose obvious love for teaching and Naruto had greatly endeared him to his Hokage.
Obviously, the scarred teacher's file had passed Danzo's desk as well, despite this being highly illegal, as the man commented upon seeing the little sign proclaiming this room to be Iruka's.
"Ah, Umino-san should be able to provide us with an accurate account of events, I should think."
"I know so, Danzo, because that's the very reason we came here." Hiruzen snapped back, immediately cursing his temper inside his head; had that been said in a level, condescending tone of voice, that would have been a point for him.
But being said in the way it was, it could be considered more of a tie.
Danzo obviously was aware of this fact, judging by the small, if not enormously smug, smirk his advisor sent at him.
Growling under his breath, Hiruzen slammed open the door, far too irritated to bother knocking-
"- And so he said, in a great, booming, thunderous voice; 'Let them come! Let them come and I shall face them! With kunai, with jutsu and with the fire that burns in all of our hearts!"
-before feeling his jaw fall open.
Standing with one foot on his chair, the other planted firmly on his desk, Umino Iruka struck a heroic pose. In one hand, he had a kunai, now raised to the sky, and the headband the usually rested on his forehead was now drawn over his left eye, much like Kakashi wore it. His face was set into a thunderous expression of implacable heroism, and as Hiruzen took in the students in the class, he noticed that more than one of them had tears streaming down their faces.
"Our seals remain strong and our arms stronger still! It doesn't matter that we are outnumbered! It doesn't matter that we now face, not one, not two, but three major villages! Do you know why!? BECAUSE BY THE SAGE'S WRINKLY BEARD, WE. ARE. UZUMAKI!"
A great roar went up from the students, some of them stomping their feet on the ground.
"Who's with me?! Who will stand with the Uzumaki against their foes?! Who will aid me in protecting that which is most precious to us?! Our home, our family?! Who stands with me on this day?!"
There fell a brief silence, during which Hiruzen absently noticed his own faint heartbeat, before the sound of a chair scraping across a wooden floor rang out over the classroom.
Standing with trembling fists, head bowed and tears streaming down his face, Naruto answered.
"I will stand by my family. I will protect my precious people…"
The boy looked up, fire in his eyes as he raised a clenched fist in front of him.
"… Dattebayo!"
There was a brief silence, before another chair was pulled back. Hiruzen felt his eyebrows trying to raise themselves even higher in surprise when he noticed it was the Uchiha this time.
He too had tears streaming down his face, but he stood tall, chest puffed out and hands planted firmly on his hips. He turned his head a little to the right, just as the sun shone it's rays through the nearby window, throwing the onyx-eyed child in a dramatic lighting.
Hiruzen could almost hear the girls' hearts simultaneously melting.
"The Uzumaki shall not stand alone. The Uchiha will aid them, on my honour I swear this."
Immediately following the dramatic statement, another student stood up.
Hiruzen recognized her as Hiashi's eldest, though gone was the meek little girl he had sometimes seen in passing; now, chakra was blazing from her fingertips, while the Byakughan prominently stood out on her delicate features.
"As will the Hyuuga! On my honour I swear this!" the little girl roared with passion.
Almost before she was done, several other chairs were pulled back, a multitude of voices rang out.
"As will the Akimichi! On my honour I swear this!"
"*sigh* Guess there's nothing to it then. The Nara will stand with the Uzumaki, on my honour I swear this."
"You bet that the Yamanaka will stand with the Uzumaki! On my honour I swear this!"
"The Inuzuka will fight with the Uzumaki! On my honour I swear this!"
"Bark!"
"And Akamaru does as well!"
"The Aburame will stand with the Uzumaki. Why? Because never before has a member of our clan been reduced to tears. On my honour I swear this."
Stunned, Hiruzen watched as each and every child, from shinobi clans and civilians alike, pledged to fight alongside the Uzumaki in whatever conflict Iruka had apparently just played out.
Feeling the heavy glare of Danzo in the back of his head, demanding he do something about all of this, Hiruzen sighed. Touching as it was, he simply had to intervene now.
"UMINO IRUKA!"
There was a horrified silence, as both children and sensei stared wide-eyed at their leader standing in the doorway to their classroom.
In a flash, every single child sat back in their chair, their backs rigid against their chairs, heads all pointing straight ahead.
In that same flash, Iruka had suddenly appeared before Hiruzen's feet, faster than his eyes could track, prostrating himself before his leader. The Hokage could tell the teacher was whiter than a ghost (and having spent half a century amongst the elite of the ninja-world, Hiruzen was talking from experience here), and shaking like one of the leaves his village was named for.
"WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS?!" the Hokage thundered in his most commanding voice, shaking some dust loose from the ceiling.
Somehow, Iruka managed to press himself even further into the wooden floor, tearfully answering his leader.
"M-my absolute, most sincerest apologies, Hokage-sama! I just, I mean, somehow, I got caught up in-"
"SILENCE!" Hiruzen boomed again, making the pencils on the student's desk rattle.
"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! AN ABOMINATION! THE GRAVEST INSULT TO A GREAT AND NOBLE HISTORY IMANIGABLE!"
Behind him, he could almost feel Danzo's surprised but approving look, while in front of him, Iruka was now openly crying.
"I-I u-understand, H-hokage-sama."
"AFTER ALL…" Hiruzen said, pausing for a moment.
He could hear the student's all sharply inhale in dread, could see the rivers of tears streaming down Iruka's face thicken even more and could imagine in great detail the vindictive glee of Danzo, as they all waited for the hammer to fall.
"… THIS, IS HOW ONE SHOULD REENACT THE LAST STAND OF UZU!"
Iruka's head shot up in surprise, as both the students and Danzo gasped in concert. Faintly, the sound of an armoured glove hitting a porcelain mask could be heard in the background.
Turning around in order to face his desk, Iruka saw the Hokage. But not like he usually saw his benevolent leader. No, this one was standing much like he had mere moments ago, his ceremonial hat akimbo on his head, covering one eye, while the man's robes were tied by their sleeves around his throat, showing of the armour the Hokage always wore underneath them, while the robes themselves were now fluttering dramatically in the wind…
… in a closed classroom.
Darkness had fallen outside (even though mere moments ago it had been a bright, sunny day) and thunder could be heard, while rain softly started falling…
… again, in a closed classroom.
A brief flash of flame lit up the darkness, illuminating the Hokage's lined face (minus the eye that was covered by the hat) throwing it into sharp contrast.
Exhaling deeply the smoke from his recently lit pipe, the aged leader started talking, softly at first but steadily louder, until he was roaring at the top of his lungs.
"My friends. Today, we stand at the end of an era. Our enemies, too cowardly to face our great might on their own, have now grouped together and are howling at our gates. Our seals, our great seals which have kept us safe for so long, are starting to fail against the onslaught of our rabid foes. Konoha has sent aid, but 'ere they arrive here, all that shall remain of Uzu are but mere ruins. But do we accept this?! Do we flee before the darkness?! Do we flee before insurmountable odds?! NO! FOR WE ARE UZUMAKI! THE BLOOD OF THE SAGE HIMSELF RUNS THROUGH OUR VEINS! I STAND HERE BEFORE YOU, UNAFRAID OF THE BATTLE TO COME! THEY MAY HAVE MANY, BUT I HAVE YOU! I HAVE YOU, MY PRECIOUS PEOPLE, AND TOGETHER, WE SHALL PROTECT THAT WICH WE HOLD MOST DEAR! AFTER TODAY, OUR BUILDINGS MAY BE SMASHED, OUR BLOODLINES BROKEN, BUT OUR NAME, OUR NAME SHALL NEVER BE FORGOTTON! FROM THIS DAY, UNTIL THE END OF DAYS, TALES WILL BE SUNG OF THE VALOR OF UZU, WHO ALONE STOOD AGAINST IT'S MANY FOES, AND HOW IT MADE THEM BLEED! HOW IT REFUSED TO BOW DOWN! HOW IT DECLARED THAT IT WOULD NOT GO QUIETLY INTO THE NIGHT! TODAY, ON THIS DAY, I WILL FIGHT AND DIE FOR YOU, THAT OUR NAME WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR ALL DAYS TO COME, AND FOR OUR SACRIFICE TO NEVER BE FORGOTTEN! I ASK OF YOU NOW, WILL YOU STAND WITH ME?! FOR UZU?! FOR OUR HOME?! FOR OUR FRIENDS, OUR FAMILY?! WILL YOU STAND WITH ME, TO PROTECT YOUR PRECIOUS PEOPLE?!"
By now, tears were once more flowing down everyone's faces, and without really having any say in it, Iruka felt how his body raised it arm, and he could hear himself roar alongside his students.
"YES WE WILL!"
Off to the side during all of this, Danzo was looking on in shock, his mouth hanging open and his eye widened fully. Salamander stepped up next to him, and while his face was concealed, his posture was clearly that of a defeated man.
"What. How. Wait. What?" Danzo stammered helplessly.
Salamander gently patted him on the shoulder.
"I know how you feel." The ANBU-Commander said in an understanding tone of voice, before turning around and slowly starting to make his way out of the Academy.
'Is it too early to drink? Tch, what am I saying? I'm the ANBU-Commander to Sarutobi Hiruzen; it's never too early to drink.'
Meanwhile, Danzo was left watching with a twitching eyebrow as his former friend and hated rival led a group of children, and one teacher, on a charge through one of the windows with a battle-cry, one that for some reason sounded suspiciously like 'for rameeeeen!'.
"Wait. What?!"
AN: Like I said, this one simply wouldn't leave me alone, so it forced me to write it out immediatly. I get that this might confuse some people, especially since the next chapter will start off from where we left in the previous chapter, which chronologically takes place a few years before this. Try not to take this too serisouly, as it's not part of the actual story.
That being said, I hoped you enjoyed this little omake and I'll see you in chapter 5, where Naruto finishes his training under Gai and returns to the Academy! :)