Author's Notes

Hey people, it has been quite a while. Real life struck hard since I have to juggle work and uni at the same time you know? It's a shame really, I have loads of things planned for all my stories! Anyways, updates will be even slower because of this and I sincerely apologise. We are now going to go into the time skip of the story, which is basically graduation, and now it's finally time to get to the juicy stuff. This story will have cannon elements in it, though mostly it will all be original! Maybe even some of those NoX elements… who knows?

Anyways, let us get on with the show… shall we?

Disclaimer: As usual, don't own the Naruto verse or any of its characters, which belong to Kishimoto, while one of my favourite games; NoX, is owned by EA and Westwood Studios. In an Alternate Universe however, I do own these and I am rich!

Arc One: Ninja 101

Chapter Six – Traitors, Graduation, Celebrations!

-Six Years Later, Naruto's Alchemy Shop-

Today is a big day, he was standing at the counter; shelves upon shelves of many different coloured bottles of liquid. These were the potions that the multi-haired coloured kit has come up with. The stocks are not yet that expansive and full, but it was slowly getting there. He stretched, wearing his red and blue specially designed by his mother wizard robe. It was specially woven from a fire rats fur, giving it some great fire protection, while the blue however was carefully enchanted through the use of special electric magic, which gave some of the fur that dark blue pattern. Naruto stared at his shop proudly; in the corner by the shop entrance, stood a small cluster of mana crystals brought in from the land of magic, protected by a special sealed barrier since it was only placed there for display purposes only. A lectern with a closed shut book stood right by its side, also sealed. His mother, however, has not yet told him what it does.

Naruto was proud of his potion work; six years of experimentation has come to fruition! Smiling at his success, he then frowned as he remembered that he is also working on a long-term project that he can't seem to get right; an elixir that can cure any type of poison. He was determined, that was for sure. However, all the ingredients that have been experimented with had not yet yielded any results whatsoever. One thing to note also: none of his human classmates and the civilians, and even some of the ninja have yet to figure out that he's a Kitsune. How is that even possible? He has no idea. As he looked at his counter, noticing that there be a crystal ball for decoration, two stands that have herbs for sale, a circular mirror surrounded by gold with the inside of it having ripples like a small lake behind him on a wall, and of course the basic cash register that every shop seems to have. However, he was brought back to reality as the bell rang, signifying that someone has entered his small shop. Little by little he is getting used to the humans, though tense he does at times.

Two shinobi entered the new shop; both of them were wearing the standard Konoha uniform, however, the first one had his right eye covered with his headband cloth, gravity defying hair and is holding an orange book in his hand, flipping through the pages as he read and giggled slightly perversely. The other however, has a black neatly trimmed beard, short black spiky hair, wore a sash for the kanji of 'fire' and the forehead protector with the leaf symbol worn proudly over his head. The two jonin were Hatake Kakashi and Sarutobi Asuma; The former known as the copy ninja, while the latter known as a member of the guardian twelve. The two decided to sightsee this new shop, for once Kakashi putting away his beloved Icha Icha Paradise book, curious eyes on all the different glowing bottles with magic liquid. Their first stop, however, was the cluster of mana crystals.

"So this is the magic shop that has been the talk of the town lately… this place sure does give an air of mystery" Asuma complimented as he took in the sights, noticing the kid at the counter; Multi-coloured spiky hair of red and white, purple eyes, and a wizard robe with the red and blue combination. His eyes widened at the recognition of who this kid must be, so Asuma decided to approach him in a friendly manner to make a good impression as to not startle him instantly.

"Hey kid, shouldn't you be at the academy preparing for the graduation exams?" He asked.

With a bow of respect to the jonin, Naruto answered, albeit a bit nervously "Academy doesn't start until ten am today ninja-san, so I decided to open the store today for the early morning. Would you like anything?"

"We're just here taking a look around to see what you have, so don't worry too much" The jonin waved him off as the purple-eyed kit nodded stiffly. Asuma turned around to see that his friend and colleague was staring at specific bottles; one with light blue and the other with red liquid.

"Excuse me kid, would you perhaps mind telling me what these here bottles are? I'm just curious if you don't mind" Kakashi asked with a friendly eye smile, with his attention drawn back soon after to the glowing and mesmerising liquid.

"Sure thing; all these bottles around you are potions that I have created through the use of alchemy and magic, the potions you are staring at the moment is a healing potion and a shied potion. The healing potion heals most of your wounds and more than half of your stamina, about sixty percent, and the shield potion surrounds you with a magical force field that lessens the damage you take from special attacks such as ninjutsu. However, I am working to improve that one to increase the effectiveness to other techniques such as genjutsu and taijutsu etc" The purple eyed kit explained proudly with a smile on his face.

"Sounds… very useful… do they work?" The one eyed jonin was entranced with curiosity.

"Indeed they do, and by the way, just a little side note: don't drink all of it at once, otherwise it might cost you. The potions are all made large enough for at least three days' worth of combat" The kitsune in disguise warned.

"Got it… but the bottles are all so small though, how is it possible?" This time, it was Asuma who asked with an incredulous expression.

"Simple: Storage seals, made especially for liquid" Naruto answered with a small smile, while the two jonin just slapped themselves on the face. It was that simple?!

"That is certainly impressive kid" Kakashi complimented as he brought two potions of healing and shield to the counter, while Asuma brought one of each.

"That would be sixty-eight Ryo for you ninja-san, and thirty-four Ryo for ninja-san number two" Naruto said the cost.

"Sorry, we were so engrossed with our browsing that we forgot to introduce ourselves; I'm Sarutobi Asuma, and this is my friend and fellow colleague Hatake Kakashi" Asuma introduced himself and his partner, as the jonin gave their money to the kitsune in disguise.

"Naruto" The purple eyed kit introduced himself.

-Academy Classroom, 10am-

The kitsune seven were all sitting together right at the very back, all chatting and in good high spirits. Today is the day of the graduation exam. They were talking about many things; New training regimes, possible team placements, celebrations, and parties. All thinking ahead of time. However, the purple eyed kit wasn't participating as often because of the fatigue from running his shop earlier this morning for two hours on his own. Oh yeah, his sensei Iruka at times tried to convince him to wear socks, although refused always. Anyways, Naruto continues to hold the top position of the class, which is rookie of the year, and the top kunoichi being the Uzumaki girl, since Tereki doesn't like being in the spotlight much, even though she stayed at around a close second. However, the top shinobi would have to go to Kinua. This made the Uchiha fume, and always demanded Naruto to spars and that he give him the rank. The purple-eyed kit refused however and kept beating him.

He has no idea why that Uchiha is such a stuck-up prick, but who cares? He'll learn eventually that he can't always get what he wants. Sakura and Ino always gave death glares at Hikari, jealous that she got to have the position of top kunoichi. Apparently, the rumours of an Uchiha coup d' etat to overthrow the hokage were going around. However, the fourth hokage managed to calm the angry clan down, which prevented a full-blown massacre from happening. Those were however warning bells to the kit, since his father managed to be controlled by one during the early days of Hashirama and Madara.

"Hello class, today is the day of your final graduation test, which is split into three parts; A written, shuriken and kunai throwing and a ninjutsu test, where you'll be able to show one of your own for credit points after showcasing the academy three" Iruka walked in with his assistant and friend Mizuki, who came in later in the final year. This brought the purple-eyed kitsune out of his thoughts, noticing the way he stared at the Uzumaki girl with discontent and slight hatred. That made him slightly suspicious; this assistant just came out of nowhere and started hating Hikari instantly. For what reason though? He'll think about this later, right now, Naruto must focus on the test and make his parents proud by graduating at the top of the class.

"Hey, Naruto, you're out of it again" Kinua whispered and tapped his friend and rival on the shoulder, making the purple eyed kit jump slightly.

"S-Sorry, just been thinking a lot recently" The purple eyed kit whispered back while rubbing his head slightly in embarrassment.

However, any further conversation was sought to cut short "Now then, my assistant Mizuki is going to hand out the test papers, when the clock hits eleven am, you may begin" Iruka smiled as he gave his best wishes to the students. Everyone cheered, even though on the inside the academy students were slightly sweating bullets since some didn't properly study for this. Except the prominent clan kids and the kitsune seven, they breezed past it. Once the test ended, everyone followed the assistant out to the field for the kunai and shuriken throwing test. Again, everyone from the clans and the kitsune clans breezed past, getting above average scores. The Uchiha always glared at the red head Uzumaki and the multi-haired coloured kit, the reason being obvious. Fangirls of the Uchiha and Kitsune were arguing always on who was better.

'Are they really true kunoichi or are they just here at the academy to fool around?' Naruto thought to himself with a sigh as he removed some of the chakra flow in his ears. He looked around and tuned the rest of the test out, noticing that his other kitsune friends were making small talk with the humans. A very interesting development. Although, his thought process was interrupted by a call.

"Hey there Naruto!" Hikari waved at him with a grin as she wandered over to stand next to the purple eyed kit. He tensed up, although not as much as he used to before. Only a small glance at her was all he needed; vibrant and pretty crimson long hair, indigo-coloured eyes, a red blouse with a blue buttoned t-shirt underneath and standard shinobi sandals. To him, she was the prettiest thing in the world; an angel. Once again, his instincts banished those thoughts from his pure mind, her humanity keeping him slightly away. Its just only a matter of whether to trust her or not.

"Hi… Hikari" Naruto responded with hesitation, slightly turning his head away.

'Aww, he's shy, cute when he's like that' She thought with a giggle.

"Come on, its not like I'm going to hurt you or anything!" She smiled.

Sensing no malice within her, he slowly turned his head to look at her in slight confusion "O… Okay?"

"Come on! Come and hang out with us!" She grinned as she pulled him by the hand, making Naruto squirm a little, taking the poor kit to the rest of her friends.

Now, Naruto is extremely shy around new people, especially when it comes to humans. However, he started to make small talk with the clan heirs like the rest of the kitsune seven, finally starting to get out of his shell. Once the kunai and shuriken test was over, everyone went back into the classroom in order to get the final part of the graduation exam going. This is where it all matters, where the examiners will determine whether you'll pass or fail. Most students were anxious yes, but at the same time excited because they will finally be able to become ninja. All of the kitsune in disguise finally started to make small talks with the humans, of course not revealing too much about themselves. They don't fully trust the homosapiens of course. While the purple eyed kit was talking with the Uzumaki and the Akimichi, who was sitting right above them, he noticed how Mizuki always stared at her with disdain, hatred, and most of all jealousy. All of these emotions were rolling of off him in waves.

"Alright everyone, whenever your name is called, please make your way to the exam room next door" Iruka stated as the two chunin instructors went off into the other room, at the same time calling the first name.

"Please make your way to the exam room Haruno Sakura" Mizuki said as she did what she was told and followed them.

The kit tuned out the rest of the students, until it came to the last few ones…

"Sasuke Uchiha" Iruka called as the raven-haired pre-teen smirked and walked out of the classroom. A few minutes later, he came out with a headband on his forehead, with his fangirls cheering and boosting his own ego further.

"Naruto" The academy instructor called. Standing up from his seat, calmly walking over, he heard his friends wishing him luck, making him smile. However, the fangirls are the worst… making the purple eyed kit groan in annoyance.

-Exam Room-

The exam room was just plain simple; An empty room, with big windows off to the side and a desk at the front where the two examiners sat; Iruka and Mizuki. The two were looking on at the calm kit in curiosity, who in turn was staring at them with a blank expression on his face. This made the light-blue haired chunin slightly nervous, while the scarred instructor sweat dropped at the kitsune in disguise's mistrust. It was obvious to him; that since it is so hard to at least befriend this one and his friends, that means they all must be Kitsune in disguise, trying to blend in within the human society. One thing about their transformations into a human is that they always get something wrong; Either their ears, tail(s) or eyes for the most part. Iruka saw none of that, and no old-fashioned clothing as well like kimonos. The only way he figured it out was simple; the young fox and his friend's body language. It says it all, they are uncomfortable around the other students and also teachers. How did it take him so long to figure it out?

Iruka always tried his best to bond with the kits, although they just tried their best to push him and his assistant away from their private lives. Since the scarred chunin figured it out, he will have to have a word with the hokage. He heard rumours about the hidden leaf and hidden nature villages joining forces of course, but since he does now, he will have to speak with the leader of said nature village. He bets that their identities would be needed to be kept secret, to which he understands the reason why. He nodded to himself, confirming it. He won't tell Mizuki. Even though he's been his best friend for the longest time, he knew he was one kind of person who loves to talk about rumours and spread them around. Somehow, the light blue haired chunin has not figured it out yet. To this day, the scarred chunin really has no idea why Mizuki does what he does. Unless…

Shaking these thoughts out of his mind, he smiled at the multi-haired kit "Alright, you know the rules of this test, then lets begin by performing the transformation technique"

Naruto nodded, and absolutely aced it by turning into a perfect copy of Iruka. He would've loved to transform into his father, but that would bring about suspicion of his identity. Nobody wants that.

"Perfect! Next, the kawarimi please" Iruka said.

Just like that, he switched places with Mizuki, and switched back to the same position he was at before.

'Naruto can switch places with a person? Very interesting… requires quite a lot of chakra to do that' The scarred chunin thought to himself with a small smile.

With a hum of approval, Iruka stated the final technique "Alright, now the final jutsu I would like you to perform is the clone jutsu, the condition being at least three perfect clones"

Naruto nodded, and just like that, he sped through the hand signs, and three clones appeared out of the small puffs of smoke. The purple eyed kit smiled at that. His chakra control has been improving exponentially alongside his chakra reserves, which have become immense in the past four years or so.

"Great job! Now, for extra credit, would you like to perform a technique of your choice?" Iruka asked with a friendly smile.

The kit smirked slightly at the praise from his human teacher, before confidently speaking "Sure thing, I have few, although I'll do just one"

"Go ahead and show us what you are capable of" Iruka gave his student a good-to-go sign.

Tiger → Horse → Demon Monkey → Hare → Demon Dragon "Katon: Honō no Tate no jutsu (Fire Style: Flame Shield)!"

Naruto's body was surrounded in an azure blue flame almost instantly, making him sweat because of the heat. It wouldn't be long before it would start burning him, so the kit released the jutsu, making him sigh in relief.

"That looked dangerous of what you just did, what was that?" Mizuki asked in curiosity, his full attention on the kit, which was a big change in emotion all of a sudden. This made Naruto get a bad feeling about that guy.

"It's an original jutsu that I've been working on, based on the 'rock armour' technique. Although it is still in development, as you saw, surrounds my body in flames" The kit explained.

"Does it do anything?" Iruka asked.

"I'm not too sure yet, since it hasn't been tested" Naruto answered, and the teachers nodded their heads in approval.

"Pretty interesting! Can't wait until it is complete! Congratulations on passing! You can choose any headband ranging from any colour you like" Iruka grinned, with the purple eyed kit returning his own as he chose the headband with the purple band holding the plate.

-Back in the Main Classroom-

"Awesome Naruto! You passed dude!" Kinua exclaimed as they bumped fists.

"Of course I did, the exam was just a peace of cake!" Naruto responded.

"You better pass Kinua, everyone" He grinned at the rest of the kitsune seven, with the other kits returning their own.

"Of course we will, don't worry about it!" Tereki replied with confidence.

The light blue haired chunin came in and called for the next name "Hikari Uzumaki-Namikaze, please come into the exam room"

She sighed in exasperation, she's sick of being treated like the 'golden child of the hokage'. Hikari grumbled something about the downsides of being part of a royal family technically, following the chunin to the exam room, however she was stopped slightly by a smiling Naruto.

"Good luck, Hikari-chan" He whispered to her, making her cheeks flush red slightly and nodded furiously with determination. The only thing is, he didn't realise what he said.

'I'll impress Naruto and gain his trust fully! I can't believe he just put -chan at the end!' Hikari thought to herself, thoughts going miles per hour, before leaving to the exam room finally with a salute to the kit, making him grin.

"You like her, don't you Naruto?" Yozu teased as he came up from the side, making poor Naruto jump with a slight blush on his face.

"Ah! Yozu! You scared me! And what do you mean I like her?! She's a human!" He denied.

"You called that Uzumaki girl 'Hikari-chan'… don't lie to us" Yozu tried to hold in his laughter as he saw the great Naruto stutter for the first time.

Naruto turned away, now fully embarrassed as he realised what he said, making his friends burst out in laughter. The poor purple eyed kit was blushing furiously.

'Now they're going to tease me about it for the rest of the day'

-Exam Room, with Hikari-

"You know the drill of the ninjutsu test Hikari, please perform the transformation technique" Iruka said as he watched her transform into a perfect copy of her mother. The two chunin gasped in shock at the similarity, making the girl frown.

The scarred chunin coughed into his hand "Sorry about that, you just surprised us, that's all. Now, please perform the kawarimi"

"Hai" She said as she swapped places with her favourite teacher, and then back again.

'Another one, how much chakra do those two have?' Iruka wondered as he thought about Naruto as well, writing something on the clipboard.

"Alright, now since you have too much chakra and unable to perform the clone jutsu…" Mizuki started instantly with a small grin on his face, before being stopped from a hand courtesy of the scarred chunin.

"Don't be so hasty Mizuki, now then, perform the other variant of the clone technique please" Iruka quickly said, knowing what his best friend was up to, shaking his head slightly in disappointment.

"Right…" Hikari sighed as she did the sign she knew all too well… her signature technique.

'Damn father, always making my life easier for me' The red head scowled inwardly.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" She shouted as five solid copies of her appeared, dispelling soon after one by one.

"Impressive! Now, since you have performed well with the three jutsus, do you have anything else to show us for extra credit?" Iruka asked curiously.

Chains suddenly came out of Hikari's back as she concentrated on controlling them.

"Nice… the Adamantine Chakra Sealing Chains, I see you have been working with them quite a lot. You made a lot of progress! Congratulations on passing!" Iruka shouted with a grin as she went up to the box and grabbed her headband, with the black coloured band holding the metal plate, and went back to the classroom as fast as possible with a quick thank you.

Mizuki seethed as his plan is not going the way he wants it to.

-After the Exams-

Everyone were coming out with smiles on their faces since they all passed, those who didn't, however, were coming out with scowls on. Everyone at the moment were crowded around at the board, where all the overall scores for the six years were up. Sasuke was scowling, he was in third place behind that Uzumaki girl. All the negative thoughts were going through the Uchiha's mind as he glared at the kitsune in disguise. The next one he glared at was the red-head girl, damn tomato bitch, how dare a kunoichi from an inferior clan be above him?! It doesn't make any sense, if these new students from a different village never came, then he would be the top student. Curse his luck.

Naruto noticed the complete negative change in the Uchiha boy's demeanour, which made him inch away from him slightly. His kitsune friends were patting him on the back for a job well done for keeping the top spot for so long. The kit sighed, it took every ounce of his being to keep up his studies in this, his own opinion, pathetic so called 'ninja academy', where they study pointless subjects that did not have to do with the ninja life, even know back in his home village they also had other subjects, at least they were fun and interesting, unlike revising the same piece of history every god damn time. At least all of his hard work paid off. The fangirls of his however, just kept getting worse as they were always arguing about who's better…

After the exciting events of the academy, everyone met their parents outside; With all the kitsune seven's and the clan kid's parents waiting for them, expecting the best from their children. Naruto saw his mother and father, grinning as he ran at them to prepare for the ultimate family hug that they do on special occasions, to which this counts as one of them.

"Well done son! I knew you could do it!" Inari gave her own grin of happiness.

"Yeah! Now all that's left are the team placements, which will happen in a day or so, be prepared for some hard-earned training!" Kurama grinned as well. If it was possible, the purple-eyed kit's grin grew even wider, along with his eyes.

"That's awesome! Can't wait!" Naruto shouted with a pumped-up fist, making his parents laugh at his antics. While all the excitement was happening, he noticed Hikari with her mother, who was smiling at her sweet daughter for passing the graduation exams. Although, searching deeper through Hikari's emotions, he knew her own smile was kind of forced. He did not notice that his parents have already stopped chuckling and looked into his direction and noticed the girl that was walking with his mother back home.

This made Inari smirk slightly, before leaning into his ear and whispered "Is this the girl you have a crush on? I've got to say, even though she's human, you made a great choice"

Naruto shivered slightly at her tone, before blushing a furious red.

"Damn you Kinua!" The kit shouted into the skies as his parents laughed again, making said friendly rival giggle slightly in the trees, before vanishing.

-Later, with Hikari-

She was just making her way home with her mother for a small celebration. Kushina told her that father would be coming home early today to tell her that he's very proud of her first ever achievement, even though it did not feel like one since her life was made slightly easier than anybody else's. It was kind of unfair to everybody else, even though she studied well and trained hard to mostly improve her chakra control especially, today proved how much of a jerk move he made without her own opinion and permission. Hikari wanted to work hard, and not just get things on a silver platter. That is how she feels; her hard work and training was cheated on. Sighing in exasperation, she frowned at all of this. Yes, she might be whining to herself, but it is true!

"What's the matter dear?" Her mother asked, as if noticing how troubled her daughter is.

"It's nothing kaa-chan…" Hikari grudgingly responded.

"Come on, my sweet little shōjo, you know you can't hide anything from me" Kushina teased slightly, making her daughter blush slightly.

"I told you not to call me that! I'm a big girl now!" The daughter screamed with a blush on her face, before all of a sudden, she heard a certain someone scream.

"Damn you Kinua!" Naruto's voice echoed in the distance, making her slightly giggle.

"Was that your secret crush just now?" Kushina smirked as she ruffled her daughter's hair, making her pout, and if possible, her cheeks flushed even redder.

"NO HE'S NOT!" Hikari declined instantly, that confirmed her mother's suspicions.

'Definitely is' She smiled.

-Namikaze-Uzumaki Estate-

"I'm home, sweetheart!" Kushina shouted as she busted down the door.

"Hi, dad" Hikari said casually.

"Hello, hime, Hikari, how did it go?" Minato smiled as he looked up from his newspaper.

"As you can see, I passed tou-chan!" She pointed at her headband with a grin.

"That's great! I knew you could do it! Now, you're not feeling your usual cheery self, can you tell us what has happened?" The blonde-spiky haired man asked casually, with slight worry of course.

"I feel like I have been cheated in the exams" Hikari blandly stated as she sat down, her parent's eyes widened in shock and confusion.

"What do you mean by that, dear?" Kushina asked.

"I think I know what she means, and I'm sorry for making it easier for you, I should've known you wanted a challenge, and it was unfair for the other students as well" Minato bowed his head in apology.

"It's okay dad" Hikari waved him off.

"However…" She started as she brought her fist out.

"Is it alright mom?" Hikari asked innocently as her mother grinned deviously, and that was all the approval that was needed.

"This is what you deserve!" She shouted as she bonked her father on his head, hard.

"Ow! Okay, okay! I get it!" Minato sweat dropped.

'Gosh, these girls are going to be the end of me' He thought to himself sarcastically as the three had a good laugh in the end.

-Later, this evening-

The family of three were having a celebratory dinner of their daughter's graduation, all just relaxing together and having fun at the same time, however, one unusual thing happened during their small family party, and that is a desperate knock on the door.

"Enter" Minato answered as a chunin burst into the estate.

"Hokage-sama! The forbidden scroll of sealing has been stolen!" The chunin shouted out in panic.

"What?! Impossible! Who would know where it is hidden?!" The yellow flash asked in a serious tone.

"Apparently it was one of the instructors: A fellow chunin by the name of Mizuki" The chunin shinobi answered, which made the hokage grind his teeth.

"Damn it, and to think that the traitor was right under our noses" Minato cursed under his breath.

"Dad, he's the guy with blue hair that tried to fail me earlier today in the exam" Hikari widened her eyes at the name.

"Alright, I heard that you wanted a challenge right, Hikari? This is your first trial and mission: Track down and apprehend Mizuki at once. Low B-Rank, go!" Minato shouted.

His daughter responded before vanishing to quickly prepare and head off "Hai! Hokage-sama!"

"Do you think that was wise Minato-kun?" Kushina asked with worry.

"I know she will do fine; we believe in her don't we? Plus, I sent a certain someone to help her out if she gets in trouble" He smiled confidently. This made his wife chuckle slightly.

"Is it who I think it is?" Kushina smiled, and a nod from her husband was all she needed to know.

-With Mizuki-

'When that damned girl graduated, my plan went in smoke, I knew how much she hated to be in her father's shadow and planned to use her for it when she failed, but no, she just had to graduate' Mizuki, the former chunin mused in his thoughts. He continued to rush through the trees, determined to come to the spot where he would be meeting his client… before everything went wrong.

"Mizuki! Stop!" A familiar voice called out, this made him and the other chunin stop.

"Ah, Iruka, it's you…" He started, while slowly grabbing the large fuma shuriken from behind his back.

"I never thought you would track me down this fast" The traitor sneered.

"You need to stop this! Come on, we've been friends for years, just give back the scroll and we can sort it all out!" Iruka begged his assistant and long-time friend.

"You hidden leaf trash have become too soft in your era of so called 'peace'! I have no intention of becoming a weak and frail man such as you Iruka! Now die!" He shouted as he flung the large shuriken at him.

It was getting close, however, it was stopped by two chakra chains, to which it then clattered to the ground, the chains retracting back into the user's back. This made the two chunin's eyes widen at this turn around.

-With Hikari and Naruto-

The two newly graduated genin were travelling at a breakneck speed, with the disguised kit at the front and the redhead at the back. They stopped on one of the branches, Naruto sniffing the air for any trace of the traitor's scent and continued to move in that direction. He noticed that another scent was in the air, that of his favourite teacher, which made them speed up even more for the location of a battle that is sure about to ensue. Once they reached the location, they saw the shocked chunin about to be impaled, to which made the girl mad, making her golden chains come out of her back and wrap around the large fuma shuriken that was making its way towards the instructor. Once she knew everything was clear, the chains retracted into her back once more.

"How dare you try and hurt Iruka-sensei!" Hikari shouted in clear anger.

"You are under arrest for committing a terrible offence; stealing the forbidden scroll and assaulting a fellow shinobi of Konoha! Give up now and face treason!" Naruto bravely said to the traitor's face.

Mizuki laughed at the students in expense "Hah! You think mere rookies like you can take me down? A chunin?"

"Naruto, Hikari? What are you two doing here?" Iruka asked in confusion.

"We were sent here by Hokage-sama to help a fellow shinobi in need sensei!" She responded with a grin and a peace sign.

"I see, how about we work together to beat him?" The instructor suggested, making them nod determinedly, jumping down next to him.

"Heh, like I could care less! I could destroy genin like you in one shot!" Mizuki grinned madly in arrogance, before doing some hand signs.

"Earth Style: Hidden Mole Jutsu!" He shouted, before vanishing into the ground, making everyone's eyes widen.

'Mizuki knows a technique like that? This is bad' Iruka thought.

Naruto was calm, relaxed. He closed his eyes and listened for the vibrations underground for any sign of the wayward chunin, before shouting out "Behind us!"

He was right, as soon as they turned around Mizuki was already on his second set of hand signs.

Boar → Ram → Snake → Horse → Dragon "Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Murder!"

A stream of electricity came rushing towards the trio, before Naruto, with his quick thinking, countered with his own.

Tiger → Hare → Boar → Ram → Dog → Ox → Snake "Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

A giant wall made of earth was erected up as the kit in disguise slammed his hand onto the ground, protecting them from the attack. To finish the shocked traitor, Hikari came from behind him, tying him up with her golden glowing chains as tightly as possible to prevent any escape. It took a lot of concentration; however, it was worth it in the end as three ANBU showed up wearing animal masks. One, a weasel, the other, a cat, and a third, boar.

"Mizuki, you are thereby arrested for stealing a precious artefact of Konoha, and assaulted a fellow shinobi, making you a missing ninja. Face your punishments without resistance, and there won't be any trouble" The boar masked anbu seriously said as they handcuffed the confirmed rogue chunin instantly as the chains receded back into Hikari's back. A chakra seal was slapped onto Mizuki's back, in order to prevent any unnecessary problems.

The cat masked anbu bowed "Thank you for your assistance in taking down Mizuki, please go and speak to the hokage at once"

And the anbu shunshined away with the traitor.

"Shall we?" Iruka smiled, and the two new genin grinned and nodded their heads as they vanished in a leaf shunshin, carrying the scroll back to where it belonged.

-Hokage's Office, Almost Midnight-

"Thank you for bringing the scroll back, and that you are all alright. Thanks to you, we managed to finally catch the traitor in the act" Minato said as he smiled at the two new genin.

"Arigato!" The two said in unison with a bow.

"That alright, now, since the two of you completed your first mission today as genin, I will give you each one jutsu from the scroll, and the money from the b-rank mission, that will be shared between the three of you. Finally, since Mizuki at least became a C-rank criminal, his bounty will transferred to both of your accounts" The hokage finalised with a grin, as he saw Hikari's and Naruto's smiles widen at this news. This made the two adults chuckle, before Iruka spoke up.

"That's great! How about for some Ramen? I bet it's still open" The scarred chunin grinned.

This made the red-haired hyper girl cheer, "Hell yeah!"

However, the kit was confused "Ramen?"

"What?! You never had Ramen before?!"

"Uh… I had hot dried noodles before but, isn't that unhealthy?"

"Of course it is not Naruto-kun! Come on! I'll show you the way to the best ramen stand in the world!"

"U-Hey! Wait up Hikari-chan! Don't drag me, I can walk myself ya know?!"

"Iruka-sensei is paying up! Catch up dattebane!"

And the two vanished, this made the chunin instructor sweat drop, while Minato just chuckled lightly.

"Well now, you better go, the two are waiting for you at the stand"

'Oh man, there goes my wallet' Iruka thought to himself as he cried anime tears, walking out of the office.

End of Chapter

Hey Everyone! I just want to say that I am very sorry for the late update! If you have seen the bio on my profile page, then you'll know. In case you are just here for the story, I'll tell you; University and work is my first priority, coursework, and such, so updates will come even slower than usual. But I have to say, thank you for the support as usual! You guys are all amazing! Also, this chapter I was struggling with was for the reason of me trying to be more 'original' with this story. That's all I have to say for now.

Anyways, no review corner this time because there are none! Come on guys, give me some pointers or something that can be improved in my writing? Please? Or any good review. We are all getting to the juicy stuff of this story now! Also, please don't put pairing suggestions in the reviews, those are kinda annoying since I already have one planned for Naruto if its not that obvious already.

Welp, I guess I'll see you folks in the next chapter!

Ideas for this story are appreciated

A constructive review would be nice, so I could improve my writing

Follows and Favourites fuels my desire to write (Even though I'll do it anyways, cause it's fun)

Flames will be completely ignored

And keep on reading!

Ja Ne!