Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor am I an expert on the Naruto Universe. That being said, I've read numerous fanfictions and read the manga years ago. While perusing the site, I've found myself stuck on this particular universe.


Chapter 2: Chosen

Naruto huddled under a pile of blankets in the middle of his apartment, muttering to himself about terrible landlords and worse weather. The seven small candles lit in his small living room barely allowed enough light for him to read the tiny script on the scroll in front of him. A strong gust of wind shook the apartment building as the blizzard outside picked up intensity. Earlier in the day, his power and water went out. When he asked his caretaker if she had power, the ornery old woman glared at him and slammed the door in his face. It didn't take too long for him to conclude that his and the two empty adjacent apartments to him were the only ones on the entire block without power.

He knew the landlord was visiting his wife's family in one of the large non-shinobi villages in the Land of Rivers to the southwest of Konoha. Breaking into the electrical room at the back of the complex was easy. However, figuring out how to turn his power back on wasn't. The tangled mess of wires, switches, and confusing diagrams baffled him. He'd seen the landlord fix the power once, grumbling and complaining before flicking a switch on one of the metal boxes. However, he couldn't remember which switch it was, or which box it was in.

"Only three more days of this weather," Naruto muttered as he wrapped the blankets tighter. "Three more days."

Squinting his eyes in the dark room, he stared at the scroll and flexed his fingers. "Ram, Snake, Tiger," he repeated as his hands flew through the hand seals. "Again," muttered and repeated the same seals. "Again. Again."

The last weekend before the new term started, Naruto huddled in his room, reading his notes and scavenged scrolls on the Academy Level E-Rank Ninjutsus. He could, with varying levels of success, perform all of the required jutsus to graduate except for the Bunshin no Jutsu, or Clone Technique. After hours and hours of constant practice, all he had to show for his work was a pale, sickly clone of himself that couldn't move.

'Maybe I can get Iruka-sensei to help me after class one day. I just have to get him to realize I'm not an idiot,' he thought as he massaged his aching knuckles.

On Monday morning, Naruto's earsplitting, antique alarm woke him with a start. He threw off the five blankets piled on top of him and grimaced. His unwashed body odor hit him like a physical weight to his sensitive nose. "Ugh, the bathhouse first," he mumbled as he shoved a fresh change of clothes into his sling-bag. "Two pens, four hard-plastic kunai, two scrolls, four blunt senbon, and two sealing scrolls," he mumbled as he checked his bag.

It took him ten minutes of traveling through the deep snow and darkened alleyways behind shops and homes before he made it to the closest public bathhouse open all day and night. He put on his best smile, knowing it wouldn't do him any good, and knocked on the manager's door.

"What do you want?" a gruff, snarling voice asked through the closed shoji.

Naruto could see two people in the small room, their shadows visible on the thick paper behind the lattice frame. "Single bath, oji-san," he called out.

"I know that voice..." the proprietor complained, his voice becoming deeper, angrier. "400 ryo for you, demon. Leave the money on the tray and get out of here. Use the last stall, all the way in the back, and leave through the washer room door."

Naruto took a deep breath before moving over to the small counter and fishing out his frog wallet. The ugly thing had been a present from his first friend, Ikki, while he was disguised as Rin. Ikki-san found out he was Naruto when the boy accidentally hit him with a ball, dispelling the Transformation Jutsu. The look of hurt, confusion, and anger still haunted Naruto's nightmares. He kept the wallet as a reminder of his friend and the pain he'd caused by trying to be normal.

One stifling hot bath later, the blonde boy snuck out the back just as three shinobi, covered in blood and snow, made their way into one of the co-ed open baths. The sharp, metallic scent stuck with him as he made his way to the Academy.

"Oh look, the worst in the class is back again. We'd hoped you would have given up," Washi greeted as he stood next to his cronies. "Tell me, Gomikage, do you think they'll let you stay after you fail this year?"

Naruto stared at the four boys and raised an eyebrow. "We'll see who deserves to be here and who doesn't when we get to Taijutsu practice," he snarled.

"Oh, we're so afraid," Samba proclaimed with a snort as he rolled his eyes.

"Students, make your way to the class boards in the main hall," a loud voice ordered from near the gates. Mizuki-sensei's voice carried on a strong gust of wind.

"We passed last term, so we'll be moving up. Good luck, dobe," Washi jeered as he led his group into the main building.

Naruto followed after a minute, allowing the looks of disdain from his classmates and instructors to wash over him. He sucked in a deep breath, knowing he was in for another rough year, before trudging through the light snow to see which homeroom class he got.

Thirty minutes later, the bell to signal homeroom sounded through the facility. Naruto slid the door to room 2-B open and ignored the other students. He threaded his way to the back of the class, idly dodging a fake kunai thrust to his stomach. Without thinking, he slapped Seishiro's wrist, making the boy drop his weapon. Rage, hot and painful thundered in his chest as he made his way to the back of the classroom. The free table was in the far corner, away from the window. Hinata Hyuga and Tomi Kiya were sitting at the table in front of his. Hinata flashed him a weak smile as he went by, but he ignored her. Her completely white eyes always unnerved him a little.

Mizuki-sensei strolled into the classroom five minutes later. "Ah, I have the promising students this year. I'll expect the best of all... well, I thought I did anyway. It seems the headmaster has decided to seed my class with civilians. Some of the worst of the lot, too. Well, you'll all learn your place in this world once you leave my class at the end of the year," he stated as he sneered at Naruto.

"Roll call," the instructor said as he pulled a clipboard out of his desk. He snatched up a sheet of paper and clipped it to the board. "As I point to you, tell me your name, Clan Affiliation, and general assessment of your skills," he instructed as he twirled a pen in his hand. "You," he instructed, pointing at a nervous blue-haired boy.

"Iha, K-kei," the boy stuttered as he looked around. "N-no Clan. M-my family are merchants from The Land of Earth." A few students hissed their displeasure at the boy's words. "I am good at book learning but struggle with Taijutsu."

"Fodder," Mizuki-sensei announced and ticked something off on his paper. "You, the brooding one," he said as he pointed to Sasuke Uchiha. Everyone in the class knew who the dark-haired boy was.

"Uchiha, Sasuke," the boy droned with a dead look in his eyes. Sakura Haruno, a noisy pink-haired girl, and Ino Yamanaka, a loud blonde-haired girl, swooned from the seat behind the boy. "Sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan," he announced with a sneer as he looked at Kei," and better than everyone in this room at everything."

Sakura gushed and clenched her hands together as she visibly shivered. Naruto wondered if the addlebrained girl had hearts in her eyes. Ino's reaction wasn't much better. "A true powerhouse," Mizuki-sensei said with a smile. "You'll be a frontrunner for Hokage one day," he prophesied with a judicious nod.

Naruto felt his stomach drop as he watched his new sensei point to people at random. Anyone without a Clan would receive a sneer and the label of 'fodder'. The rare exception was when Mizuki pointed to Hinata. "You, blue mop," he called.

Hinata froze as the class laughed. "H-H-Hyuga, Hinata," she stuttered. "Heir to the Hyuga Clan. I do everything okay," she admitted in a quiet voice. Naruto saw the deep red blush in the young girl's cheeks.

"Fodder," Mizuki-sensei stated in a firm voice. "Your sister will make a better heir. Next, you," he said as he pointed at Naruto with the end of his pen.

"Uzumaki, Naruto. No Clan, nor do I need one. I am the best at everything except the Clone Technique," he stated in a clear, confident voice. The room went silent before snickers broke the silence. The snickers became outright laughter.

"You couldn't think your way out of a paper bag," Sakura declared as she pointed at him. "You can't even wash your clothes properly. Look at all those dirt stains. Disgusting."

Naruto ground his teeth but didn't comment. He stared the pinkette in the eye until the girl turned away with a huff. Her cutting words hurt him more than he wanted to admit. "That... was probably the funniest thing you've ever said, Naruto-san. An A for effort, but the reality is, you're fodder. Funny fodder, but your name will be on that monument before most of the others, if they allow you to graduate, that is," the instructor said over the general noise in the room.

"Well, that's the last of you. A little more than half are fodder. That sounds about right. I'll be working with those of you who are worth my time. The rest will make due. Uchiha, Nara, Yamanaka, you three are top students as of now."

Shikamaru Nara groaned and put his head on the desk. Sakura jumped out of her seat. "Why should this pig get more attention than the rest of us?" she questioned, her voice booming around the classroom. Naruto wondered if the windows would shatter from the screeching noise the annoying girl made.

"Sit down. I don't have time for screeching children."

"Yeah, forehead, sit down," Ino mocked with a sneer.

For all his talk about Clan supremacy, Mizuki-sensei knew his material. Naruto broke his self-imposed rule about not taking notes in homeroom when the knowledgeable instructor started talking about advanced hand seals. It was an area he didn't know a lot about. Even Shikamaru, the lazy bum, raised his head off his desk to listen.

"You three, stay behind," Mizuki-sensei ordered as he pointed to his chosen three. "The rest of you leave. Head to Training Field One out back. Iruka is waiting for you there," he ordered and rolled up the scroll in front of him.

Naruto blocked a kunai thrust toward his abdomen from Teijo, a brunette boy who hung around Seishiro, with his hand. The sharp blade sliced across his palm as he slammed a Tiger-Fist Strike into his opponent's solar plexus. The boy dropped like a rock, wheezing and coughing. Naruto continued down the hallway as he fished into his jumpsuit pocket for a bandage. "Another day at the Academy," he thought with a sigh.

Iruka-sensei yelled for everyone to get into line. He scolded Teijo for being late as the boy, red-eyed and wheezing, took his place at the back of the class. "Welcome back," the friendly instructor greeted with his trademark smile. "It's time to dust off that rust you've collected over the last few weeks. Who wants to go first? Basic Taijutsu techniques only," he questioned as he looked around.

Naruto watched his classmates duel each other under Iruka-sensei's watchful eye. "Ano, would... would you like to spar?" a soft, quiet voice asked behind him.

Hinata and Shikamaru were the only two students he semi-trusted to not stab him in the back with one of the fake kunais. He was sure one or the other would try one day, but until then, he was a little more relaxed around them. Turning his head, so he could keep the rest of the students in his peripheral vision, he raised an eyebrow. "I thought you hated Taijutsu class," he questioned.

"I-I don't like hurting people," Hinata admitted with a frown. "Mizuki-sensei always pitted me against people I could beat easily." Her face reddened as she stared him in the eyes.

"You think I'm a suitable partner for you?"

The blush on the blue-haired girl's cheeks deepened until Naruto thought the poor girl might pass out. She swayed on her feet. "Naruto, you and Taira are up next," Iruka-sensei called. The blonde boy turned and nodded to a slender girl with twin-tails. He strode into the center of the ring.

Taira, her dark hair flapping in the wind, glared at him as they took their positions. "Same rules as before. No attacks to the face or sensitive parts. This is a spar, not a deathmatch. On my mark," Iruka-sensei called as he walked to the area between the two lines in the center of the ring. "Begin," he ordered as he jumped backward.

Naruto snorted as he watched his favorite instructor's antics. Taira closed the distance with a yell as she put all of her weight behind her punch. The blonde boy took a step back and allowed his opponent to overextend. With a practiced step, he snap-kicked the knee of her lead leg and slapped the elbow of her extended arm. The girl tried to lift her leg to deflect his attack but overbalanced. She fell sideways when he pushed on her outstretched arm.

"Point, Naruto," Iruka-sensei announced as Taira got up. She glared at Naruto.

Taking their stances again, Naruto tapped his left forearm with his right index finger twice and mentally tallied the points. His kick to her leg would have broken it, and a full-power strike to her elbow might have done serious damage. He would allow her two more points before attacking again. The spar continued until Taira, in frustration, tried to kick him between the legs. There was no way Naruto would allow her to hit him in such a sensitive place, so he blocked her attack with a strong kick of his own. The resounding crack as their legs collided sounded loud in the near quiet morning. Staring down at the hurt girl, Naruto felt annoyed that she'd lost her temper and furious that she'd messed up his tally system. The numbers had to be right. He needed an even count, and now she couldn't continue.

"Naruto, step back," Iruka-sensei ordered as he crouched over the screaming girl holding her shin. "Off to the hospital for you," he said in a soft voice as he cradled Taira in his arms and lifted her off the ground. Two shinobi appeared outside the ring, both familiar Chunin guest-instructors, and took the sobbing girl from Iruka's arms.

"Don't scowl, you hurt her, dobe," Seishiro hissed at him. "Just drop out. All you do is hurt those around you."

"Please be more careful next time, Naruto," Iruka-sensei said once he got back to the group. He turned to look at the class. "Accidents happen. Hinata, Shikamaru, you two are next," he called and motioned the two reluctant fighters to join him in the ring.


"Iruka-sensei, could you help me with my Clone Technique?" Naruto asked three weeks later. He'd spent more hours than he wanted to admit trying to get the jutsu down but had nothing to show for all his hard work.

Iruka, brushing back his long brown hair and wrapping it up with a scrunchy on the top of his head, looked Naruto over. "I know you want to learn jutsus, but shouldn't you work on the basics? I was the one that graded your last assignment for Mizuki. I won't lie to you, it wasn't that impressive."

Naruto huffed and crossed his arms. He didn't have an answer that Iruka-sensei would believe. How could he explain that he did know the material and had answered all the questions correctly? "Please, sensei," he pleaded as he bowed deeply. Groveling worked for some of the teachers.

Without looking up, he heard his favorite instructor sigh and shift forward in his seat. "Alright, alright. Stand up. Show me what you can do," the brown-haired man ordered.

Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief and stood ram-rod straight. His hands flew through the practiced motions of Ram, Snake, and Tiger before he pushed his chakra into the jutsu. A large cloud of smoke appeared beside him. It cleared a moment later to reveal a sickly, almost-dead clone of himself, curled up on its side.

Iruka blinked and looked between Naruto and his failed clone. "That..." he stated before breaking off. "You performed the hand seals quickly. Try again. This time, take your time. Maybe that's where your trouble is," he advised with a frown.

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes. He dismissed his clone and waited ten seconds before trying again. This time, he went slowly, careful to perform each hand seal perfectly. Another cloud of smoke appeared, and again, the same sickly clone appeared on the floor. "It's like this every time," he admitted through gritted teeth.

"How much chakra are you using?"

"A strong pulse," Naruto replied with a nod. "Every scroll I've read said for Academy students to push as much chakra into their first jutsus as possible to ensure they worked."

Iruka nodded slowly. "Do it again, but this time use as little chakra as possible," he coached as he drummed his fingers on his desk. "I heard your chakra shines like a beacon to the Hyuga's Byakugan. Young Hinata-san, in particular, seems startled by the amount of chakra you push around when she watched your sparing last week with Sasuke."

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes. He tried to visualize his chakra as his hands blurred through the practiced seals. It was harder than he'd imagined to use a tiny amount of chakra. He gritted his teeth as he pushed his chakra into the jutsu. Opening his eyes, he saw his clone on the floor next to him. The color in the clone's cheeks looked healthier, but there wasn't any real change.

"You aren't going to like this, but to fix your problem you may have to practice a lot of Chakra Control first. That requires patience and dedication."

"I'll do whatever I need to do to graduate," Naruto promised with a nod. He tapped his foot, staring at the wall behind Iruka-sensei. Chakra Control Techniques wasn't something he'd invested a lot of time into. He'd seen two scrolls in the library on the topic, but both were small and didn't go into much detail. The first had something to do with leaves, and the other talked about climbing trees. Both seemed like a waste of time.

"Chakra Control is a fundamental requirement for every successful shinobi. If you use too much chakra, you will get tired faster and will be of no use to yourself or your teammates. Naruto, this is stuff you should have known about last year. Control is the most important lesson we teach here, outside of loyalty to the village and your team."

The blonde boy blinked and stared at the instructor. He tried to remember one example of when Natsu told them the importance of Chakra Control. After trying to remember for a full minute, he shook his head. "I can't remember Natsu... sensei... say those words or even cover Chakra Control outside of talking about the innate nature of chakra within our bodies," he reported.

Iruka-sensei shook his head. "You need to pay attention more. I have the scrolls here. Borrow them, read them, and commit them to memory. You need to be able to read these scrolls back to me word-for-word before you come back. I will help you with the Clone Technique, but I refuse to skip the basics. If I need to beat them into your head, I will. This. will. keep. you. alive," he emphasized with a hard look in his eyes. "Come back next week. If you can keep a leaf on your forehead for five minutes, I'll help you more. Until then, please practice. This is more than important for your future career."

Naruto blinked at the sheer intensity coming off the adult. He nodded slowly before taking the two scrolls. "Thank you," he said as he carefully slid the scrolls into his sling-bag. It was the first time he said the two words to Iruka-sensei and truly meant them. He wondered if his extreme focus on making sure his classmates didn't attack him had made him miss the lesson.

For the next two weeks, he practiced the two exercises listed in the scroll. He kept ten leaves on his person at all times and focused on holding a leaf attached to the back of his hand at all times, even during class. Mizuki-sensei remarked on his inattention in class and used it as an example of why the blonde boy would be fodder in the future.

Iruka-sensei's disappointed face drove him to achieve the requirements his favorite mentor set for him. The trouble was, he had so much chakra that it was hard to control at all. It felt like he was the soap in the middle of the giant open-air baths, rocking back and forth as burly or overweight men got in and out of the pool. More than once, his chakra, focused to a single point, ripped the leaf in half. It wasn't until he had the splendid idea of dividing his chakra did he see a marked improvement.

"Are you ready this time?" Iruka-sensei asked as he looked up from grading a stack of papers in front of him.

Naruto nodded and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He moved his chakra evenly throughout his body before opening his eyes. "I'm ready," he announced and drew out a crumpled leaf from his pocket. He placed it on his forehead and focused his will, concentration, and intent on holding the leaf against his forehead.

"Well done," Iruka-sensei praised after five minutes passed. "I'm impressed. Well done!" he repeated as he closed the grading book in front of him. "Now, do that exact same thing, but this time focus on creating a clone. Use only the exact amount of chakra needed to create a clone."

Naruto nodded and focused hard. His hands flew through the seals as he imagined the amount of chakra needed. He pushed his will into creating the clone and watched a small cloud of smoke appear. His shoulder slumped when he saw the clone.

"You're getting there," the instructor consoled with a smile. "Two weeks ago, your clone looked like it was seconds away from dying from blood loss. Now, I can at least see the clone can move its limbs. You have over two years to get this down. If you made this much progress in two weeks, imagine how far advanced you will be if you continue your Chakra Control exercises. In fact, I challenge you to do at least one hour of control techniques every day after class before you go to bed. If you keep it up, you might become a Chunin before I did."

Naruto bowed as the clone beside him tried to do the same. "Thank you, sensei," he said with a smile.

"This is why I love teaching, Naruto. I love seeing people progress and learn. Keep up the hard work, and you might even graduate early. Just, please, hit the books too. I know reading is boring, but it is important."


The father and daughter proprietors of the famous tiny restaurant that made the best ramen in Konoha, waved at him as Naruto slid into one of the seats in front of the counter. "Welcome back," Teuchi-sama greeted as he wiped his hand on a towel. "You just missed the dinner rush. Your sensei, Iruka-san, stopped by earlier. He talked about you," the older, friendly oji-san reported with a wide smile.

Naruto shrugged, not wanting to voice his thoughts. While he was happy Iruka-sensei was proud of him, he didn't want the instructor to talk about his progress. "He helped me last week with a jutsu," he admitted.

"That's what he is there for," Teuchi-sama stated with a nod. "What can I get for you tonight? You haven't been around much. Is everything okay?"

Naruto nodded his head, not trusting his voice. The overly nice villagers still worried him. Ayame-san, the old villager's daughter, caught him going through the trash a few months after the Hokage gave him his apartment. There was an issue with the Council or something, and he didn't have access to his money yet. His caretaker refused to help him. Hungry and tired, Naruto wandered the streets and stole whatever he could get away with. The alluring smells of the ramen stand drew him in like a moth to the flame. Ayame-san treated him to a bowl of ramen, which he paid for as soon as the Hokage found out about his lack of money.

Teuchi-sama, Ayame-san's father and owner of the ramen stall, was a jovial, smiling man who was quick to laugh and smile. He always seemed to know what style of ramen Naruto wanted to eat before the blonde boy could even open his mouth. Teuchi-sama claimed that his intuition came from years and years of studying his customers and learning what made them happiest. At times, Teuchi-sama's smile disappeared when someone did something wrong, like sticking their finger in a bowl of his ramen. He would scold them, like a strict craftsman would his apprentice, before gracing them with a wide smile and moving on as if nothing happened.

"Training hard?" the older villager asked as he stirred a pot on the stove, his eyes flicking over Naruto's body.

"Yes, oji-san," he answered as he showed off his dried bloodied fists wrapped in bandages. "The scroll I'm reading talks about slowly breaking your bones over time to make them stronger. The Sannin Tsunade-sama was the one to come up with a training regimen for it. I found the scrolls in the Academy Library in the Theoretical Section. She had a few scrolls on Chakra Control that confused me, so I tried to find something that might make sense."

"Tsunade-san pushed for structured physical training, Genin team restructuring, and medical-nin training straight out of the Academy. Her ideas didn't go over well with the Council. It would cost too much to implement what she proposed. Anyway, I'm glad you found something that works for you. Now, what will you have tonight? The Naruto Special?"

"Yes, please."

While the meal was a bit pricy, Naruto knew the strangely nice old man charged him the same price he would any other patron. Patting his stomach after he finished the bowl, he mentally tallied what he had left in his wallet and shook his head. He'd have to go through another week with what he had left.

Naruto fished out his wallet and slid the exact change he'd been counting in his head as he ate the three bowls of the heavenly ramen. As he slid the money into the small dish by the register, he looked up to see Teuchi eyeing him. "Were you a shinobi?" he questioned. It was the only thing he could think of to explain why the villager didn't hate him on sight.

The shop owner's eyebrow rose a fraction of an inch before his face fell. "My wife was," he admitted with a glance toward his daughter. "You're wondering why we are nice to you and don't run you off," he guessed with a firm look in his grey eyes.

"Well... yes, oji-san," Naruto admitted after a moment.

"I am an excellent judge of character. Over the last almost three decades, I've devoted myself to learning how to cook the best ramen. To achieve that, I watched what people ate, what they liked, and their general dispositions while choosing their food. It took a long time for me to realize that not everyone was the same. I was an angry young man. Now, that I have some experience and have seen much this dangerous world has to offer, I can, with confidence, tell you that you are a good person, Naruto. You have some... quirks, yes, but that doesn't make who you are any different."

Naruto stared at Teuchi-sama and pursed his lips. "Quirks?" he asked.

The older man laughed, a full-throated belly laugh that made passers-by stop and stare. "We all have quirks. It's nothing to be ashamed of or worry about. One of mine is that I like to have a clean wok when starting a new batch. It takes time to clean my tools, but if you take care of your tools they will take care of you. Many restaurants use the same oil and already used woks for multiple dishes. I have never liked that. The end result just doesn't taste the same," he stated with a kindly smile.

Unsure of what to make of the older villager, Naruto bowed at the waist and slipped into the shadows beside Ramen Ichiraku. Several villagers steered clear of him until he was able to slip into the alleyways behind the stretch of buildings. Letting a flow of chakra pulse into his legs, he jumped up onto the roof of a hot-pot restaurant and headed toward his apartment.

On Friday, Naruto stared at the test in front of him. He'd answered every question and felt confident he'd pass the test. The only question that worried him was the one about what supplies were required for Chunins and Jonins to start a B-Rank Mission and higher. While Mizuki-sensei was talking to his guest instructor, a sour-faced Chunin, Naruto flipped his paper over and made four marks across the back of each page. Standing up, he walked to the center of the classroom and placed his packet on the instructor's desk.

"Are you sure you're done? You have another twenty minutes, Naruto," Mizuki-sensei challenged with a raised eyebrow. The guest instructor flinched when he heard Naruto's name. The boy locked eyes with the young adult until the guest instructor looked away.

"Yes, sensei," he answered with a nod.

"On your head be it. Back to your seat."

Naruto ignored the snorts from some of the students as he made his way back to his seat. Shikamaru-san locked eyes with him before standing and stretching. He strolled down the center of the room, papers in hand, and nodded to Naruto as they passed. Hinata-san looked worried as he passed her, her eyes locked on the page in front of her. She'd answered most of the questions on the page, but several were still blank.

On Monday, after a brutal training session over the weekend, Naruto slid into his seat with a sigh of relief. He healed faster than most, something he was both grateful for and saddened by. Every time he thought he had a precise time for his physical training calculated, he'd heal faster or be able to outlast his previous time. It was frustrating. Frustrating things made him twitchy and upset.

"Some of you did well on your benchmark exams. Others, well... you'll have ample time to learn from your mistakes as you die of old age as a menial villager. Come forward when I call your name. Kanbe Aoi," Mizuki-sensei called.

Naruto waited until everyone else got their results before the instructor called him up. He took his packet from the smiling Chunin and returned to his seat.

"It was a good attempt," Mizuki-sensei called behind him.

Naruto sat down at his desk and started to read the questions. Again, he saw his handwriting and only half of the answers. Gritting his teeth, he gripped his fingers in the Rat Seal and pushed his chakra out in a burst. "Kai," he intoned as strongly as he could. Hinata flinched in front of him.

"You can't make the right answers appear by wishing them into existence," Sakura mocked. Several students laughed.

Naruto ignored her and flipped through his test. In a last-ditch effort to understand, he flipped the pages over and froze. The marks he'd put on the back were gone. He looked up to see Mizuki-sensei staring at him with a frown on his face. At long last, he had the answer to why the instructors failed him. Someone, copying his handwriting, wrote the wrong answers on a fresh copy of the tests. Natsu-sensei mentioned shinobi and villagers who specialized in reproducing handwriting to throw off enemy intelligence. Misinformation and deception were what shinobi thrived on. Rage pulsed through him as he clenched his fists. Something dark, dangerous wanted to erupt out of him. To hurt, to kill, those people, those villagers, who called him a liar, the worst in the class.

He wasn't sure how he got through the day, but as soon as the final bell sounded, he made his way to the instructor's offices on the second floor. Trying to keep calm, he waited for Iruka-sensei. The friendly Chunin always knew what to do. He waited for an hour before the instructor appeared, looking troubled.

"Naruto, what brings you here?" he asked with a distracted wave. "Today might not be the best day to practice your Clone Technique."

"Did you know?" Naruto asked, his anger slipping his tight control.

Iruka-sensei blinked and looked Naruto over. "You're almost vibrating," he commented before slowly taking his seat. "Did I know what?"

"Did you know that someone was switching my tests? That someone has copied my handwriting and wrote the wrong answers or left some questions completely blank?"

Iruka-sensei blinked and shook his head. "Naruto, I've graded your exams personally. What you're saying is... unlikely," he tempered as he raised his hands in a gesture of peace.

"Unlikely?" Naruto hissed. "You don't believe me."

"This is a place of learning. We want the best shinobi to graduate and be recognized. No one would do that. That goes against everything we hold dear as instructors. Children are the future of Konoha," Iruka-sensei stated, his voice raised toward the end.

"I see," the blonde boy stated, his voice flat. He stood and gave his last hope a formal bow. Without a word he left the instructor's office, ignoring Iruka-sensei's pleas for him to return.

That night, he didn't eat or train. He stared out of his window at the Hokage Monument. Someone, probably the entire village, didn't want him to become a shinobi. He felt lost, scared. It wasn't a feeling he liked. No one would respect him. The only sensei that might listen to him refused to believe him. His chest hurt, and his eyes burned. He was just an orphan, and if Mizuki was to be believed, his only future lay in being fodder for the strong Clans of the village. He'd seen how the 'noble' clan of Hyugas treated those around them. There was even an entire day devoted to the Clans and their sacrifices during the Kyubi Festival.

The Hokage, the strongest shinobi in the village, commanded the respect and loyalty of the Konoha's Military Force. The best military in the Elemental Lands. His dark thoughts turned to the current Hokage and his relationship with the grandfatherly old shinobi. How could Hiruzen-sama not know about what was going on at the Academy? He must. Everyone says the future of the village rests on the children's shoulders, even the stupid villagers. A new surge of anger flooded through him as he stared at the monument's likeness of a younger Hiruzen.

The old man claimed he saw Naruto as a grandson, even if they weren't related by blood. He'd always take time to talk to Naruto, sometimes arriving at his apartment unannounced or inviting him to the Hokage Tower to talk about his training progress. It was he who told Naruto about the old scrolls Sannin Tsunade-sama made for the Academy. 'Maybe the old man didn't know,' he thought as he stared down at his hands. A darker thought followed it. 'Why would he want it to happen? Mizuki said sometimes what is good for the village isn't good or healthy for the shinobi. Sacrifices must be made. That was part of the Shinobi Way to complete a mission.'

Naruto spent the night staring at the Hokage Monument, lost in dark thoughts as he tried to figure out why his tests were tampered with, who wanted him to fail, and why it would benefit the village if he did fail. The one thing his mind came back to was the villagers calling him a demon and their murderous desire to see him dead especially around the Kyubi Festival.


For the next several weeks, Naruto put on his 'grandson' mask for the Hokage. He went to class, did everything the instructor said to do, and bottled up his anger when he got his tests back. Iruka tried to talk to him multiple times, but he, as politely as he could, told the older Chunin he didn't need any more help. When the old man came to visit him one afternoon in his apartment, he smiled and lied about how well his studies were going.

To work through his anger, he threw himself into his physical training with brutal abandon. He didn't own a single jumpsuit that didn't have tears in the legs and arms or have deep cuts in the jackets. As a henged older student, he purchased his first set of real, metal kunai and senbon. In the abandoned hostel, he practiced his Taijutsu in close quarters with scavenged shinobi wire. If he dodged his shadow opponent the wrong way, he'd trip one of the traps scattered throughout the room. He spent more than one night on the floor, bleeding with two or more kunai stuck in his chest or back. The lessons in pain drove him to be more aware of his surroundings. Every morning, he'd wake up refreshed, the wounds of the previous night vanishing as if they'd never existed. The only evidence of his insane training was the dried blood on the floor and dark spots caked into his clothes.

"You look terrible," Ino-chan commented as they waited for their turns to display their Transformation Jutsus. Naruto eyed the beautiful blonde and nodded once before turning back to watch Shikamaru produce three bored-looking clones. He hadn't washed his bloody clothes before coming to class. "You aren't Sasuke," she commented with a sneer. "You don't do strong, silent, and brooding very well."

Naruto ignored the loud girl beside him as he watched the next student take his place in front of Mizuki-sensei. "Just leave the dobe alone. Why are you even talking to him?" Sakura-chan questioned with a huff.

"Shut it, forehead," Ino ordered as she flicked her hand at her rival. "Why did you let me win during our spar?" she questioned, turning back to Naruto. "You can fight Sasuke to a standstill, and yet you let me win. I know where my strengths are, and Taijutsu isn't one. Hey! Don't ignore me. Answer me," the blonde girl demanded.

"No," Naruto answered with a glare.

"Just ignore his existence, I try to," Seishiro commented with a laugh. "Hey, beautiful, how about coming over to my parent's house tonight. We're having curry."

"Ew, no, your scores are almost as bad as Naruto's," Ino shot back as she turned up her nose.

Trying not to laugh at one of his tormentor's anguished face, Naruto watched Sasuke struggle with the first jutsu they'd been taught. Bound in thick ropes, the Uchiha heir tried to undo the double knots around his wrists. The Rope Escape Technique was useful in limited situations, but Naruto had taken the time to master it. It amused him to watch the haughty boy struggle.

"You won't do any better," Sakura challenged as she rounded on him. "You can't do anything better than my Sasuke."

"He's not yours!" a chorus of angry female voices argued.

Naruto ignored the Sasuke Fan Club as he watched the anger in the dark-haired boy's eyes burn. He wanted to smile. When it was his turn, he waited as Mizuki tied him up and tried not to grunt when the instructor yanked on the rope to make it tighter. The trick to completing the jutsu was Chakra Control. He rolled his shoulders backward, to allow some breathing room, and focused his concentration and will into his hands. Twisting his fingers, he worked the first knot loose by manipulating his chakra to latch onto the rope. In minutes, he was free and shrugging out of the ropes.

"I made it easy for you," Mizuki announced to the class, but Naruto could tell the instructor looked unsettled.

The rest of the end-of-year exams flew by. Naruto knew he would ace the practical portion of the exam but suspected someone would replace his written tests with fakes, causing him to fail again. Iruka tried to wish him good luck, but he ignored him. He answered every question on his exams and disregarded his instructor's sickly smile when he placed it on his desk.

The following day, Mizuki didn't require him to bow in front of the class and apologize for holding the class back. He wasn't sure he would be able to hold in his anger. With a month and a half before classes started again, he decided to take a week off from his physical training to try and find a solution to his problem. If they didn't want him to become a shinobi, what else could he do? He just wanted to be left alone.

It took him the better part of a week to come up with an answer. In truth, the answer was staring him in the face for weeks. All three Sannin of Leaf were never in the village. Lady Tsunade-sama hadn't come back to the village in years, Orochimaru-sama became a missing-nin after his questionable human experiments came to light, and Jiraiya-sama was a famous author of an adult literature series that drew crowds every time he released a new book. All of them had one thing in common. They never had to stay in the village.

A bubble of hope pulsed against his chest as he read the leather-bound book on the three Sannin while he hid in the corner of the library. He'd snuck in because students weren't allowed to be at the Academy between semesters. At least, that's what the librarian told him. He'd already observed Sakura and Ino reading books about what shinobi liked in the main reading area. They argued in loud voices about what they thought Sasuke liked more.

Of the three Sannin, his only hope was to follow in Tsunade's footsteps. Experimenting on people didn't seem like a fun hobby, even if he might learn a lot, and writing adult books that made grown, battle-hardened shinobi giggle seemed like a nightmare made real. A medical-nin commanded respect from every village. In times of war, they were the ones keeping the butcher's bill low by saving lives. As a bonus, if he became skilled enough to become a Chunin Medical-nin, he could refuse to heal the villagers except in times of war. A sort of twisted glee squirmed in his stomach as he imagined starting an injured villager in the eyes and telling them he wouldn't help them for all the ryo in the world.

Mizuki might have his chosen shinobi and kunoichis to foster as future powerhouses, but Naruto knew who would keep them alive. Or, if they continued to hate and ignore him, he would hold their lives in his hands one day.

Grinning from ear to ear, he made a list of books and scrolls to purchase or steal from one of the several shops in the village. One day, they would beg them to heal them. One day he would be free to roam the Elemental Lands, just like the Sannin.