"Choji Akimichi"
"Mai Fujita"
"Hinata Hyuuga"
"Riku Kondo"
"Shikamaru Nara"
"Hama Tamura"
"Ugghhhh," Naruto groaned as he waited for Iruka-Sensei to call his name to take the final part of the Academy graduation exam: the Jutsu test. Naruto had been waiting for over an hour and was incredibly bored. They were going down the list alphabetically, and, for the first time, Naruto hated that his last name began with a U. To make it worse, Iruka had spread the students out across the classroom so that no two people were sitting next to each other. He'd been abundantly (and loudly) clear that they were not supposed to talk while others were taking the test.
Consequently, Naruto was doing everything in his power to keep himself from going crazy with boredom. He had always been an energetic kid, so sitting and waiting was definitely not one of his strong suits. That was why Naruto was practicing a chakra control exercise by balancing a senbon on each of his fingers. He had learned this exercise a couple of months ago after Tenten had introduced him to the weapon.
Personally, Naruto was not a huge fan of senbon and still preferred kunai and shuriken. For senbon to be effective, the user needs to have pinpoint accuracy to hit specific and small points on the body in order to inflict maximum damage. Tenten had this quality, while Naruto did not. Even though Naruto was undoubtedly skilled with throwing weapons, Tenten completely outclassed him. She was more accurate, could throw faster, and was proficient with more weapons than the traditional shuriken and kunai. Tenten had explained that she had started using this fighting style because of her family shop. She had easy access to a wide variety of weapons, and, when she inevitably broke or lost some, she could quickly and cheaply replace them.
However, regardless of his opinion of the weapon, Naruto still kept the senbon with him. Tenten had given him a pack for free as a gift, and Naruto always treasured gifts people gave him. Besides, they allowed him to practice his chakra control on the go, and they didn't take up much room in his weapons pouch, especially after he had started dabbling in some Fuinjutsu techniques.
Tenten knew a lot about summoning sealing because it was intrinsic to her fighting style. She frequently summoned vast amounts of weapons to perform certain moves, so she needed an easy way to carry them around. Tenten had taught Naruto the fundamentals a couple of months ago, and Naruto had quickly picked it up. Summoning seals made sense to him because he had been using them for years, even if he had never created them. Before he learned the Summoning Jutsu, he had relied on Jiraiya's summoning tags. A couple of months ago, Tenten had taught him the basic summoning seal, so Naruto had added that to some of his equipment.
Naruto inscribed a summoning seal on the inside of both his shuriken and kunai pouches. All he had to do was send a small pulse of chakra to the seal in his pouch to summon a shuriken or kunai. It was definitely useful, but there were still some kinks he was working on. So far, he had it so that he had send individual pulses of chakra to summon a single weapon. Therefore, to summon five shuriken he had to send five bursts of chakra to the seal. He wanted to get it where he could figure out how to summon the desired amount of shuriken or kunai with only one burst of chakra, but he wasn't there yet.
However, even with this small issue, it was still useful. Naruto could still summon the weapons quickly, it allowed him to carry a lot more weapons than would typically fit in the pouches, and he had a lot more room for other essential things. He added basic medical supplies in his shuriken pouch, like bandages, disinfectant, gauze, and blood pills. In his kunai holster, he had ration bars, soldier pills, his senbon, and explosive tags.
Naruto had considered delving more in-depth into fuinjutsu but had decided against it for the moment. He found it remarkably interesting and useful, but he had enough things he was working on right now to start a new project, especially something as complicated and intensive as fuinjutsu. Currently, he was still working on expanding his wind and earth Jutsu repertoire, improving his taijutsu, and increasing his speed and strength. Also, his Jiji had promised that, after Naruto graduated, he would buy him a weapon, so Naruto knew that he would have to devote a substantial amount of time to training with that. Naruto would have to quickly become proficient with his chosen weapon in order to use it on missions.
"Naruto Uzumaki"
Naruto's head jerked up, and a grin spread across his face. 'Finally!' he internally exclaimed, 'It's my turn! Time to go kick this test in the ass, dattebayo!' He slipped the senbon back into his kunai holster and sprung out of his seat. As he started jogging down the stairs, he saw Sasuke walking out of the side room where they took the Jutsu test. Naruto idly remembered that Sasuke always went before Naruto whenever the students went in alphabetical order.
Sasuke wore a high-collared, short sleeve blue shirt with the Uchiha symbol emblazoned on the back, white shorts, white arm warmers covering his forearms, and blue shinobi sandals. He also had his calves taped up to the knee, a shuriken pouch attached to his lower back, and a kunai holster taped to his right leg. (His outfit from canon)
While Sasuke changed his outfit for the graduation, Naruto had kept his outfit basically the same as the one his Jiji gave him for his tenth birthday. He still wore the orange short sleeve shirt with black stripes circling the bottom of the shirt and the collar and running down the sleeves. He also had on black pants and blue shinobi sandals. His shuriken pouch was attached to his lower back and his kunai holster taped to his right leg. The only thing Naruto had changed was that he added a large kanji for "Fire" in black on the front of his shirt. The kanji represented both his love for his home and the Will of Fire that his Jiji was always talking about.
Sasuke walked towards Naruto, hands in his pockets, trying to look like his typical, solemn self. However, Naruto saw Sasuke laboring hard to suppress a smile. 'That guy seriously needs to lighten up,' Naruto thought, rolling his eyes. 'He needs to stop acting so apathetically around everyone. I feel like I'm the only one he relaxes with. One day I'm gonna get him to loosen up. One day, dattebayo.' Naruto thought determinedly. Naruto debated whether to play a prank on Sasuke by tripping him as he walked by, but he decided against it. It was rare to see Sasuke in such a pleasant mood, so Naruto didn't want to ruin it. Instead, Naruto gave Sasuke a big grin and raised his hand for a high-five. This action made a bit of Sasuke's grin peak out, and he readily reciprocated the gesture. Even though the test was easy for Sasuke, Naruto knew Sasuke was still proud of the accomplishment. It was their first step on the journey to being Leaf Shinobi.
Naruto walked into the exam room and saw his favorite and least favorite senseis sitting on opposite sides of a table. Iruka sat on the right side of the table, and Mizuki sat on the left. Iruka gave Naruto a stern look and nod, betraying no emotion. Naruto knew that this was just Iruka's way of being unbiased and professional while he was working. This was what drew Naruto to Iruka in the first place. He was the first teacher to treat Naruto the same as everyone else, and, over time, the two had formed a strong, almost brotherlike, bond. Iruka tried hard to not play favorites in the classroom, and Naruto respected that.
On the other side of the table, Mizuki leaned back in his chair, so he was out of Iruka's line of sight, and glared at Naruto. Naruto exaggeratedly rolled his eyes, making sure to irritate Mizuki as much as possible. Naruto detested Mizuki. The white-haired man had made it apparent to Naruto that he did not like him because of his status, even if he never explicitly mentioned what he contained. There was no other reason for Mizuki not to like him. 'Well, at least at first,' Naruto amended. After Mizuki revealed his bias, Naruto had started pranking Mizuki relentlessly, further increasing the two's animosity. Iruka punished him for the pranks, but Naruto suspected that his favorite sensei secretly approved Naruto's actions. Iruka didn't know that Naruto knew he was a Jinchuuriki, so they never discussed Mizuki's behavior, but Naruto knew Iruka supported him.
"Ahem," Iruka cleared his throat to get Naruto's attention. "Are you ready to begin, Naruto?"
"Yes, Iruka-Sensei," Naruto responded.
Iruka nodded. "Good. Please perform the substitution Jutsu."
There was a puff of smoke, and a chair replaced Naruto in the center of the room. Iruka wrote something on the paper in front of him while Naruto walked back to the center of the room from where the chair had been. Iruka had purposefully placed a chair on the side of the room for the students to have something handy to replace themselves with.
"Next, a Henge, please."
Naruto nodded and formed a half ram seal. After a moment, Naruto transformed into the Third Hokage, proudly adorned in his Hokage robes. Iruka intently looked over the transformation to make sure there were no glaring errors. Several seconds passed before Iruka nodded, wrote on his paper, and gestured for Naruto to continue.
"Clone Jutsu, please."
Naruto formed a cross sign with both of his hands and created a single shadow clone. He easily could have made more, but he was getting a particularly bad vibe from Mizuki at the moment and wanted to get as far away from his as possible. To Naruto, Mizuki felt... dangerous for some reason. Like he was planning something, and it unnerved him.
Iruka nodded, wrote one last note down on his paper, and looked up at Naruto. "Good. You pass. You are officially a Shinobi of Konohagakure, Naruto." Iruka said with a serious tone as he handed Naruto a blue Konoha headband.
Naruto beamed and eagerly took the headband from Iruka and tied it to his forehead. Naruto felt an immense feeling of pride in his chest. He knew he would pass, but he was still elated. This was what he dreamed of. This was the first step for him to fulfill his dream of becoming Hokage. He had worked hard for this, and it felt good to know that that hard work paid off.
Iruka visibly relaxed after Naruto took the headband and allowed himself to smile. "Congratulations, Naruto. I'm very proud of you."
Naruto's smile grew even bigger, and the warm feeling in his chest increased. He was not used to getting praised, and to hear it from one of his precious people made it all the more special. Naruto scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "Thanks, Iruka-Sensei."
After a bit of hesitation, Mizuki opened his mouth to say something, but Naruto abruptly turned around and walked out of the room. Now that he was officially done with the Academy, he was also officially done with Mizuki as a sensei. He knew the chunin was still technically his superior, so he didn't do anything rude or insult him as he left. Naruto really wanted to stick his tongue out and flip him off, but he restrained himself. He didn't want his first act as a Konoha shinobi to blatant insubordination.
"Well, we finally did it, guys," Naruto said with his hands behind his hand, smiling ear to ear. "After four long years of listening to boring lectures and taking annoying tests, we're finally genin, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed to Shikamaru and Choji as the three walked out of the Academy and into the courtyard. Everyone had finished the test, Iruka had said his final speech, those who graduated had their headbands tied on various parts of their bodies, and they had been told to come back in one week for team assignments.
"I hope we can be on a team together!" Choji said, munching on a special barbeque flavored bag of chips. He had been saving this bag as a reward for himself for when he passed the graduation exam. And, boy, was it worth it.
"I am not looking forward to being a genin," Shikamaru grumbled, hands stuffed in his pockets. "We are going to have to do so much more work, and it's really going to cut into my cloud watching time. But," he sighed and gave a small smile to his friends, "It would be a lot less troublesome with you two on my team."
Naruto smiled broadened as the three of them got closer to the gate. He saw Choji's and Shikamaru's parents chatting, waiting for their respective sons to leave the Academy. Shikamaru and Choji had told him that their clans were hosting an enormous feast that night to celebrate their and Ino's graduation, and they had invited him. Naruto had thought about it for a while but ultimately declined. While he knew he would enjoy himself at the clan's joint party, Naruto also knew he would feel out of place. He felt comfortable around Shikamaru's, Choji's, and Ino's families, but this would be a party with their whole clans. More than a hundred people would be there, and Naruto was still not comfortable around large crowds.
Naruto had his close circle of friends that he treasured deeply, and he was always looking to add more people to those ranks. Unfortunately, large groups of people overwhelmed him. The crowds reminded him of when he would walk alone on the streets of Konoha and see the glares, hear the snide remarks, and see children pulled out of his way. Consequently, that was why Naruto declined the invitation. Besides, it wasn't like he would be alone that night. The Ichirakus were treating him to an all-he-could-eat ramen feast for graduating. After gorging himself on his favorite food, he was going to watch the stars with several of his favorite toads atop one of his favorite spots in Konoha: the Hokage Monument.
Shikamaru glanced over at Naruto as they got closer to his parents. "Last chance. You sure you don't want to come? You know my mom would love to have you over."
Naruto waved off Shikamaru's offer, "Nah. I'm still okay. I've got a nice ramen dinner waiting for me at Ichiraku's. I'll see you guys another time."
"Whatever makes you happy, Naruto!" Choji said with a big smile on his face. As long as his friend was happy, he was pleased. It helped that, in Choji's eyes, Naruto was properly celebrating their accomplishment with a feast of his own.
Naruto watched his two friends walk away, giving them one last wave goodbye. After Shikamaru and Choji reached their parents, Naruto turned his attention to the troubling scene behind him. Across the courtyard, away from the main gate, Mizuki was talking to Sasuke. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but Naruto had noticed them as soon as he walked out.
As he watched, Mizuki seemed to finish what he was saying, pat Sasuke on the shoulder, and leave. Mizuki didn't notice Naruto watching him, so he was unaware that Naruto noticed the poorly hidden smirk on Mizuki's face as he walked away. Naruto's eyes followed Mizuki out of the courtyard before looking back at Sasuke, and he didn't like what he saw. Sasuke's fists were clenched, and he was glaring at the ground. Naruto could see the whites of Sasuke's knuckles and his fists trembling even from where he was standing.
'Damn. That can't be good.' Naruto thought. 'I wonder if that has anything to do with the Rookie of the Year situation."
An anxious silence permeated the room as the students waited for Iruka and Mizuki to walk back into the main classroom. The two sensei had left the room after every student had finished the Jutsu test. Most of the students had passed that critical part of the graduation exam, but some did not. Naruto didn't know any of the people who failed, but he noticed that most of those who failed were from civilian families. He thought this showed a critical problem with the Academy. The Academy relied too much on students receiving outside help or already knowing certain aspects of being a shinobi. In Naruto's opinion, they didn't properly teach the students. 'I'll change this when I become Hokage, dattebayo!' he thought resolutely.
Naruto was starting to get antsy with all of this waiting. He knew he had passed all facets of the exam, so he just wanted to get out of the Academy. He checked the clock on the wall and saw that Iruka and Mizuki been gone for about 30 minutes. Just as Naruto was debating whether to go see if Iruka and Mizuki were okay, the door opened and the two men walked in. They walked to the front of the classroom, and Iruka stood behind his desk with Mizuki beside him.
"Ahem," Iruka cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Congratulations to all who passed the graduation exam. Wear your headband with pride. You are all now Konoha Shinobi. Now, be prepared for all of the responsibilities. You must be..." Naruto mentally groaned, knowing that Iruka would drone on for who knows how long with this speech. 'You're one of my favorite people, Iruka-Sensei, but you are terrible at giving speeches. They're soooo boring,' Naruto thought, resting his head on his hand. After what felt like 30 minutes, but was actually only 5, Iruka finished his speech. He cleared his throat again, a habit Naruto noticed Iruka had when he wanted to start talking about a new topic, and began speaking.
"Now, the final order of business before you are allowed to leave is to announce the Rookie of the Year. This is a prestigious honor and one that some of our greatest shinobi have earned. However, if you do not receive this distinction, do not be discouraged. Once you put on your headband and become genin, you are all equal, and all that matters is hard work," Iruka said with a smile, attempting to encourage the students who would not receive this award.
"For the first time in 8 years, we will have co-rookie of the years," Iruka announced, causing a murmur to break out in the classroom. Iruka carried on, ignoring the sound, "The Co-Rookies of the Year are Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. Both of these students performed exceptionally well throughout their time in the Academy. There was very little to separate these two to decide who should be Rookie of the Year. Naruto had a slight advantage in the Academy training's physical aspect, while Sasuke performed better in the academic area. Therefore, it was decided that the two would share the honor this year. Congratulations to your both," Iruka finished with a smile, looking at both Sasuke and Naruto.
Naruto smiled because, to him, it made sense. They both were definitely the top two shinobi in the Academy. Naruto usually did better in their taijutsu spars and speed and strength testing, while Sasuke got better scores on their tests. Naruto just didn't really care that much about the exams. He did well enough to pass and get decent grades, but he spent more time working on his physical training or being with his friends. On the other hand, Sasuke was a perfectionist and was determined to be the best at everything. So, he studied more than Naruto and did better on the academic side of the Academy. Also, the Academy only tested taijutsu and the basic Jutsu, so they didn't know about his elemental Jutsu capabilities. Iruka did, but he had told Naruto that he didn't think it was fair to include that in the consideration for Rookie of the Year. He explained that other students didn't get to show their clan or personal Jutsu, so Naruto shouldn't get an advantage for that.
Naruto looked over at Sasuke, sitting the row across from him, and the two locked eyes. Nothing happened for a couple of seconds as they just stared at each other. However, eventually, Naruto grinned and gave Sasuke a big thumbs up. Sasuke did not immediately reciprocate the gesture, but, after some hesitation, forced a small smile and gave a weak thumbs up. Naruto knew Sasuke wouldn't be ecstatic about sharing the Rookie of the Year, but he was satisfied to see that Sasuke wasn't upset with him.
Naruto turned his attention back to Iruka and Mizuki and caught Mizuki staring at Sasuke. Naruto saw he had a small smirk and a weird gleam in his eye. 'That's weird,' Naruto thought, feeling uneasy. Naruto had a sinking feeling that something bad was going to happen, but he didn't know what.
After looking at Sasuke for several seconds, Naruto decided to go see what was bothering Sasuke. As Naruto started walking towards Sasuke, Sasuke looked up and saw Naruto coming his way. He abruptly stood up and walked away, never looking back. Naruto stopped walking and watched Sasuke walk away. Naruto debated whether he should follow him, but he ultimately decided against it. He knew he could not force Sasuke to talk about anything he didn't want to. Also, Sasuke seemed extremely agitated at the moment, so it was probably best to give him some space.
'Well... I guess I should go get some food now. I've got some ramen with my name on it. Besides, I have an idea of where he'll be later,' Naruto thought, turning around and heading towards Ichiraku's.
"Thanks again, guys!"
"Of course, Naruto," Teuchi answered, a broad smile on his face. "Anything for our favorite customer."
"Congratulations on graduating! Now go kick some ass out there, Naruto-kun!" Ayame called, leaning over the counter and excitedly waving at Naruto.
Naruto grinned in response, shoving his fist towards Ayame. "You got it, Ayame-chan. One day you'll be able to say you served the greatest Hokage ever, dattebayo!" Naruto gave one last wave before jogging away, heading towards the spot he suspected Sasuke would be.
As Naruto was on his way to Sasuke, he thought about his friend's mental state. Naruto knew that, even though he seemed cold and distant on the surface, Sasuke was a very emotional person. Sasuke hides his emotions, and, when he's really bothered by something, often needs time alone to work through his thoughts. There was one place, in particular, he went when he needed to do this: the Naka River. Sasuke had once mentioned that he and his mom used to come here frequently when he was a kid. Sasuke had said his mom liked to feed the fish there, and it was a quiet place for them to relax.
Naruto looked up at the sun and saw that it was roughly 5:30 in the afternoon. 'I better speed up,' he thought. 'I've got some plans for later tonight.' With that, Naruto leaped up to the rooftops and sped towards the Naka River. After several minutes, Naruto arrived and saw Sasuke standing by himself, staring at the river. Naruto jumped down from the tree branch he had been standing on, purposefully making his landing loud so Sasuke would know he was here. Nevertheless, Sasuke did not turn around or make any movement acknowledging Naruto's presence.
Naruto calmly walked over to Sasuke, stood next to him, and joined him in staring at the river. Naruto waited for Sasuke to speak because he knew that forcing his friend to talk would get them nowhere. Besides, he was content to stare at the fish as they swam around. Sasuke's mom was right. It was very peaceful.
After ten minutes of silence, Sasuke finally spoke. "You know a lot about the graduation exams, right?"
Naruto nodded in reply. Sasuke knew that Naruto was very familiar with the process. Before Naruto entered the Academy, his Jiji had explained the Academy's structure and what to expect. Naruto knew that the graduation exam tested their physical, mental, and ninjutsu skills to see if they were capable ninja. While it was a significant part of deciding Rookie of the Year, the award was cumulative and reflected their work over their four years. Naruto also knew about the second test, the one their Jonin-Sensei gave them next week. Tenten had told him about that when they were talking about her genin squad. She explained that each sensei gave their own unique test, and it was what really decided if they would become genin.
However, Naruto did not know why Sasuke was asking him this. Naruto had told Sasuke all he knew about the graduation process a while ago. Naruto suspected there was more to this question, so he waited for Sasuke to ask the next part.
After another minute of silence, Sasuke spoke again, still staring at the water. "Have you ever heard about an extra credit assignment for the graduation? Something that will automatically make you Rookie of the Year?"
Naruto looked at Sasuke, clearly puzzled. "Uh... no. That's not a thing," he answered definitively. "We can do extra credit during the year, but, once we finish the graduation exam, that's it."
Sasuke nodded slowly. "That's what I thought."
"What made you think of that?" Naruto asked, curious about where this strange idea came from. 'Surely Sasuke can't be THAT desperate for the Rookie of the Year,' Naruto thought.
"Mizuki-Sensei," Sasuke answered, finally looking at Naruto. "He came up to me after the exam and told me about it."
Sasuke briskly walked out of the Academy, heading towards a bench near the edge of the courtyard where he could work through his thoughts and be alone. Sasuke was struggling with how he should feel about sharing the Rookie of the Year distinction with Naruto. Part of Sasuke was frustrated that he had to share the award with Naruto. He trained so hard, day after day and night after night, working himself to exhaustion just so he could be the best. The proud, emotional part of Sasuke stated that he alone deserved to be the Rookie of the Year.
However, the other part of Sasuke was okay with sharing it with Naruto. Naruto was his closest friend and someone who always looked out for him. Besides, Sasuke saw firsthand that Naruto was an extremely talented shinobi. They frequently trained together and helped each other work through issues with their Jutsu. The newly formed, budding rational and healthy part of Sasuke's psyche assured him that there was no shame in being considered an equal to Naruto.
Another reason Sasuke chose to sit by himself on the courtyard's outskirts was to avoid all the vapid fangirls he had earned throughout his time at the Academy. He didn't want them flocking to him and try and invite him to a celebratory dinner at their place. This was why Sasuke was annoyed when a shadow obscured his view. He looked up, expecting to see a female classmate, but instead saw the smiling face of his former sensei, Mizuki.
"Mind if I sit next to you, Sasuke?" Mizuki cheerfully asked.
Sasuke frowned but grunted in response, allowing Mizuki to sit down next to him, even if Sasuke didn't want him to. Sasuke did not like Mizuki. At all. To be fair, Sasuke did not like many people, and the people Sasuke considered his friends could be counted on one hand. However, there were not many people that Sasuke actively disliked. Other than the notable exception of Itachi, Sasuke was generally apathetic towards others. He didn't have any interest in them, and he had no intention of letting people in that could hurt him again. Mizuki, however, was one of the people Sasuke actually disliked. Sasuke had seen the way Mizuki treated Naruto in the Academy. He did not know why Mizuki treated Naruto poorly, but it was enough for Sasuke to not like him. It was a strange sensation for Sasuke, but he realized he felt somewhat protective of his closest friend.
"Congratulations, Sasuke, on graduating from the Academy and being declared Rookie of the Year," Mizuki said with a cheery smile on his face, clapping Sasuke on the shoulder. Sasuke looked up at Mizuki and shrugged off his hand, annoyed at his actions. Ignoring Sasuke's lack of response, Mizuki continued. "It's a shame, though, that you have to share the award," he said with a sigh. "Being Rookie of the Year is a great way to set yourself on the right course for greatness. Some of our strongest and most notable shinobi have all been sole Rookie of the Year. Shinobi like Kakashi Hatake, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Minato Namikaze... Itachi Uchiha."
Sasuke's eyes widened, and he quickly averted his gaze to glare at the ground. He could feel his whole body tense at the name of that wretched man. Sasuke wanted to get up and leave, but Mizuki kept speaking.
"It is remarkable how Itachi was able to become Rookie of the Year. He graduated early, much younger than you, and completely outclassed his peers who were several years older than him. He far exceeded the performances of his classmates and was the obvious choice for Rookie of the Year. Even from such a young age, it was clear that he was destined for greatness." Mizuki paused and breathed a heavy sigh. "It's too bad you couldn't distinguish yourself from the rest like your brother did."
Sasuke's nails bit into his fists, drawing a small amount of blood, and audibly ground his teeth. After several moments of tense silence, Mizuki spoke again. "There is an additional test, though, that was put into place should there be co-Rookie of the Years. Think of it as a tie-breaker. If you complete this test, you will have the sole distinction as Rookie of the Year." Sasuke looked up from the ground and gave Mizuki his full attention, clearly interested in this opportunity. Mizuki explained that the test involved Sasuke infiltrating the Hokage Tower and stealing the Forbidden Scroll. After Sasuke had stolen the scroll, he needed to meet Mizuki in a forest clearing just outside the walls of Konoha. Mizuki explained that this tested the student's infiltration and stealth capabilities and their ability to handle classified information.
After Mizuki finished his explanation, Sasuke looked back at the ground, wrestling with what to do. Part of him said that this sounded too good to be true, and there was no way this was a real test. The Forbidden Scroll was a precious Konoha artifact, containing decades of priceless knowledge and hundreds of powerful Jutsu. For it to be used in something as insignificant as an Academy test was ludicrous.
Unfortunately, this rational part of Sasuke was drowned out by his emotional side. Throughout Mizuki's explanation, the images of Itachi standing over his dead parents kept flashing through his head. He had not measured up to Itachi at all so far. By Sasuke's age, Itachi was already an accomplished Anbu captain and well on his way to being one of the strongest shinobi in the Village. If Sasuke completed this advanced test and won an award that Itachi won, that would prove to himself that he could still catch up to Itachi. 'I have to know. I have to know if I have what it takes to be as strong as him. To kill him,' Sasuke thought darkly.
After several seconds, Sasuke finally spoke. "I'll do it," he muttered, still staring at the ground.
Mizuki grinned at Sasuke and clapped him on the shoulder. "Excellent! I'll see you later tonight, then. Good luck." Mizuki gave Sasuke's shoulder another pat, stood up, and walked away. Sasuke was so focused on his thoughts that he failed to notice the sinister sneer on Mizuki's face as he walked away.
Naruto stared incredulously at Sasuke, mouth agape, his face a mixture of shock and anger. He couldn't believe Mizuki would deceive Sasuke like that, and he was angry that Sasuke fell for such an obvious trap. Naruto never liked Mizuki, but he never thought that he would do something this heinous. Naruto always felt like there was something off about Mizuki, but this was much worse than he thought. This was treason.
With Sasuke, on the other hand, if Naruto was honest with himself, he was not that surprised he fell for the bait. Naruto knew Itachi was a significant trigger for Sasuke and could make him do things he wouldn't otherwise do. The fact that he had thought it over and asked Naruto about it showed that Sasuke had calmed down and his rational mind was back in control. However, this still doesn't change the fact that Naruto was disappointed with Sasuke. He shouldn't be this easily manipulated, and it greatly concerned Naruto. 'This is going to be something that we have to work on, or this is going to get dangerous really quickly,' Naruto thought morosely.
Naruto sighed, taking a moment to clear his mind before he spoke. "No, Sasuke. That is definitely not a real thing. That's ridiculous. There is no way the Hokage would allow for the Forbidden Scroll to be used in an Academy test."
Sasuke nodded silently, and the two fell into an uncomfortable silence, unsure of what to say next. After a minute, Naruto opened his mouth. "So what are we going to do now. Mizuki still thinks you're meeting him in the forest with the scroll, and we are the only ones who know of his plan. When are you supposed to meet him?"
Sasuke looked up at the night sky and judged the time. "About 40 minutes."
"Damn it," Naruto cursed. "That's too short a time to run and tell the Hokage and get back to the clearing to meet Mizuki, and we can't let him get away. Something tells me he doesn't just want the scroll for himself. He intends to give it to someone, and the Hokage needs to know who."
Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows and looked down, trying to create a solution. After several moments, Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, and he looked back at Naruto. "You send a Shadow Clone to the Hokage to inform him of what's going on while you and we head to the clearing to stall Mizuki. When we get there, you Henge into the scroll, and I'll carry you into the clearing. That way, Mizuki won't be too suspicious," Sasuke finished.
Naruto thought about Sasuke's plan for a second before nodding. "That's the best we can do right now," he said as he formed a cross hand seal. There was a puff of smoke, and a clone of Naruto appeared next to the duo and immediately sprinted away, heading towards the Hokage tower.
Sasuke and Naruto shared one last resolute look, both understanding they were headed towards real trouble. Naruto stuck out his fist, and, this time, Sasuke readily reciprocated the gesture, bumping fists with Naruto. With that, the two newly minted genin leaped into the forest, heading towards their former sensei.
After 30 minutes of running, Naruto and Sasuke arrived just outside the clearing where Sasuke was supposed to give Mizuki the scroll. Naruto performed a quick Henge and transformed into the Forbidden Scroll. Luckily for Sasuke and Naruto, no one except the Hokage, his advisors, and a select few elites knew precisely what the Forbidden Scroll looked like. So, Naruto transformed into what he assumed the scroll would look like: big, red, and with the Konoha symbol on it. Once Naruto was ready, Sasuke picked him up and slung him over his back.
Sasuke calmly walked into the clearing and waited for his former sensei to arrive. After 5 minutes, Mizuki landed on the outskirts of the clearing. He regarded Sasuke for a second and gave him a disarmingly pleasant smile.
"Did everything go smoothly, Sasuke?"
"Hn," Sasuke grunted and shrugged, trying to not give anything away. Mizuki's smile grew more prominent, and he clapped his hands. "Congratulations, Sasuke," he said proudly. "You have passed the final test and are now the sole Rookie of the Year. You can give me the scroll now," Mizuki said, a dangerous look in his eyes.
Sasuke looked warily at Mizukiu and slowly removed the scroll from his back, hoping that this plan worked. Sasuke glanced between and the scroll one last time before tossing it towards Mizuki. Mizuki greedily reached towards the scroll as it sailed through the air, his grin growing larger by the second. Suddenly, however, the scroll disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced by Naruto. Naruto spun in the air and used his momentum to deliver a powerful kick to Mizuki's face. The sudden transformation caught Mizuki entirely by surprise, so he was unable to brace himself for the blow. The combination of the force of Naruto's kick and Mizuki's shock sent Mizuki sprawling backward, bouncing several times across the ground.
Mizuki finally rolled to a stop after several seconds and slowly pushed himself to his feet, trying to wrap his mind around what happened. He looked up, wide-eyed, and stared at Naruto. However, his expression quickly morphed into a fierce scowl. Mizuki's harsh glare bore into Naruto, forcing Naruto to resist the urge to squirm under his gaze. This glare was different than any Naruto had ever received. He knew Mizuki didn't like him, and Naruto suspected it was because of the Kyuubi. He had expected Mizuki to be angry that he had foiled his plan, but he did not expect this. Mizuki's glare held nothing but hatred. Deep, personal hatred. Mizuki's animosity finally erupted to the surface, and he didn't have to hide it anymore. Naruto finally saw just how deeply Mizuki despised him.
"Of course," Mizuki muttered to himself but loud enough for both Sasuke and Naruto to hear him. "Of course, it had to be him. The fucking demon brat." Mizuki was now standing, eyes boring into Naruto. "The fucking fox ruined everything again."
Naruto tensed further as he listened to Mizuki's words, and he reciprocated Mizuki's glare. Mizuki was getting dangerously close to revealing his status to Sasuke, something Naruto was not ready for. He had been planning on telling him sometime in the future, and Naruto did not want Sasuke to find out he was a jinchuuriki from this bastard. Naruto clenched his fists, ready to launch himself at Mizuki at a moment's notice.
Meanwhile, Sasuke successfully suppressed the confused look that threatened to cross his face. He had no idea what Mizuki was talking about, but it was clear he was referring to Naruto. Sasuke glanced sideways at Naruto and saw his friend's whole body tensed, grinding his teeth. He could tell that whatever Mizuki said had struck a nerve with Naruto. Sasuke filed this reaction away for later. Now was not the time to question Naruto about whatever it was he was hiding. They could deal with that after they dealt with Mizuki.
Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Naruto's eyes glaze over for a brief second, his glare temporarily fading. Naruto looked over at Sasuke and gave a curt nod. This was their signal that Naruto's clone had reached the Hokage and explained the situation. Now, all they had to do was stall until help got here. The Hokage Tower was closer to this clearing than the river bed was, so backup would arrive soon. Also, whomever the Hokage sent would assuredly be faster than two new genin. They were both fast for their age, but Sasuke was sure that the Hokage would send one of his elite shinobi.
"Well," Mizuki muttered again. "If I can't bring them the Forbidden Scroll, I'll just have to bring them the next best thing." Mizuki's eyes greedily flashed to Sasuke, and a devilish grin slowly spread across his face. "The last Uchiha should make a fine consolation prize." His eyes then moved to Naruto, and his grin threatened to split his face. "And, to top it all off, I get to kill the demon fox with no consequences. Maybe this isn't so bad after all."
This time, Sasuke could not hide his surprised look, and, unfortunately, Mizuki noticed this. Mizuki's eyes darted back and forth between Naruto and Sasuke before he broke out in a maniacal laugh. Naruto and Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, realizing that they were not just in the presence of a traitor but a deranged shinobi.
"Oh! This is rich!" Mizuki shouted between laughs. "The demon's best friend doesn't know what he really is! How come?" Mizuki sneered. "Are you afraid that once he finds out what you are, he'll hate you? He'll abandon you like he should have the first time you two spoke?" Mizuki mocked. Mizuki shifted his full attention to Sasuke. "Would you like to know the truth, Sasuke? The truth about your friend? Well, I'll enlighten you about what really happened 12 years ago, the night the Kyuubi attacked. I'll tell you the truth, not the pathetic, doctored version we were forced to teach in the Academy."
Sasuke stared at Mizuki, baffled by what he was saying. He had no idea what he was talking about, but he was too confused and curious to stop him. On the other hand, Naruto was shaking with rage, furious that Mizuki kept calling him a demon and scared that he would tell Sasuke about his status. Naruto decided he needed to act now to prevent disaster.
"You see, Sasuke, the Fourth Hokage could not really defeat the Kyuubi. Instead, he-"
"That's enough from you, bastard." Naruto interrupted, quickly summoning a kunai from his pouch. "I was forced to listen to you blather on for two years at the Academy, so I really don't want to hear your voice anymore." Naruto looked like he was preparing to throw the kunai at Mizuki, but, instead, he made a small slice on his right thumb. "I've got a lot of pent up anger for people like you, and what better way for me to let it out than on a traitor." Naruto flipped through several hand seals and slammed his hand on the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A large cloud of smoke obscured Naruto and Sasuke, which took several seconds to dissipate. After the smoke cleared, Mizuki saw a large, magenta-colored toad with black stripes running down his face, arms, and legs. He had small horns on the top of his head and wore a black kimono with a white sash. He had a large sasumata and a beige shield strapped to his back, making him look very formidable. The toad dwarfed both Naruto and Sasuke, easily three times as tall as Naruto and two times as wide.
"Hello, Naruto-san, Sasuke-san," Gamaken greeted, inclining his head to the genin. Gamaken then looked around, taking in the clearing and the Mizuki's shocked expression. "I'm sorry, Naruto-san, but I am confused. Why am I here?" Gamaken asked, unsure why he was in the middle of the forest facing an unknown Konoha shinobi. Gamaken had met several of Naruto's friends and senseis over the past couple of years, but this one was a stranger to him. Also, judging by the hostile atmosphere, this was not a training session.
Before Naruto could respond, Mizuki recovered from his shock. "How... How do you know the Summoning Jutsu? The Kyuubi shouldn't know this. Especially not how to summon the Toads," Mizuki muttered, taking a hesitant step backward. His eyes darted to Naruto, and he scowled. "How dare you, Kyuubi, tarnish the legacy of heroes like the Fourth Hokage and Jiraiya of the Sannin with this is a pathetic imitation of their skills? You are nothing like them," he snarled.
Gamaken narrowed his eyes and removed the sasumata from his back. "Nevermind, Naruto-san."
Gamaken leaped into the air, raising his sasumata above his head, and swung his weapon down towards Mizuki stood. Mizuki's paled and hastily dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the descending blow. The ground shattered, scattering debris across the clearing. Mizuki rolled to his feet and stared, wide-eyed at the significant crater Gamaken had created. However, he did not have long to think about how much trouble he was in because the toad was not done. Gamaken retrieved the shield from his back and flung it like a shuriken at Mizuki's head. Mizuki ducked down, allowing the shield to sail over his head. It cleanly sliced through one tree before it lodged itself in the tree behind it. Gamaken took advantage of Mizuki's distraction and sprang forward, grabbing his sasumata from the ground and swinging it. He struck Mizuki in the chest, causing him to gasp and roughly bounce across the clearing. Mizuki finally came to a stop when he crashed into a tree, splintering the wood.
Gameken continued to glare at Mizuki's battered body, slightly startling Naruto. Naruto had never seen this side of Gamaken before. To Naruto, Gamaken was an affable, polite toad who rarely expressed his negative emotions. Naruto had obviously sparred with and against Gamaken many times, but he had never seen the toad attack with such ferocity. For the first time, Naruto truly understood how intimidating his most enormous friend could be.
On the other hand, for Gamaken, this was personal. He did not take lightly to anyone who insulted his closest friend. Naruto had been with him for longer than anyone, and Gamaken had privately sworn to protect Naruto with his life. Gamaken was protective of Naruto and would defend his honor. It especially infuriated him when people abused Naruto by calling him the Kyuubi. Naruto had confided in him the pain he went through as a child and the mental anguish it caused him. In Gamaken's eyes, for Naruto to turn out as kind and compassionate as he is was worthy of respect. Gamaken knew that those insults and slurs cut him deeply, even if Naruto did not show it. Gamaken had always been furious about this, but he could never do anything about it. Now, though, Mizuki had made the error of referring to as the Kyuubi, and Gamaken finally had an outlet.
Mizuki would pay.
Mizuki shakily got to his feet, grimacing and clutching his left side. Naruto noticed Mizuki's eyes dart between him, Sasuke, and Gamaken, and he heard him mutter something. Something about "No turning back now" and "Can't go back empty-handed." Before Naruto could try and decipher what that meant, Mizuki quickly summoned a large shuriken from his back, spun it once in his hand, and hurled it at Naruto.
Naruto leaped into the air to avoid the projectile and landed atop Gamaken's head. He used the toad's head as a springboard to propel himself downward at Mizuki, flinging a handful of shuriken as he descended. Mizuki rolled to the side to evade the shuriken, but Naruto was on him once he got to his feet. The two engaged in a brief taijutsu battle, with neither gaining a distinct edge. Mizuki used his size and strength to block most of Naruto's blows and keep himself out of Naruto's striking distance. On the other hand, Naruto used his superior speed and agility to dodge or deflect most of Mizuki's strikes. Some blows managed to slip through for both combatants, but none of them were solid.
Mizuki decided he wouldn't get anywhere quickly engaging Naruto in a taijutsu battle, so he decided to gain some distance. Mizuki saw Naruto overextend on a punch and lashed out with a front kick. Naruto hastily raised his left arm to block the kick, but he was still sent skidding backward due to the force. At the same time, Mizuki jumped back and flipped through several hand seals, finishing on dragon. "Earth Style: Mud Bullet Jutsu!" (1) Mizuki reared back and fired a sizeable boulder-sized mud bullet at Naruto.
The Jutsu raced towards Naruto, but, unexpectedly, the blonde did not move or flinch. Instead, he stood still, unfazed by the encroaching Jutsu. Just before the Jutsu collided with Naruto, Gamaken's large shield slammed down in front of Naruto. The Mud Bullet collided with the shield, but it easily held its ground and protected Naruto. While Naruto was battling Mizuki, Gamaken had retrieved his shield from the tree it was lodged in. Naruto glanced over his shoulder at Gamaken and the two briefly locked eyes. Naruto gave a curt nod before darting around the shield and closing in on Mizuki.
What followed next could only be described as two partners fighting wholly in sync.
Naruto closed in on Mizuki and kicked at his ribs, forcing his former sensei to block the blow. However, Gamaken followed Naruto's strike by swinging his sasumata right over Naruto's head, narrowly missing Naruto's blonde hair. Mizuki's eyes widened, and he barely avoided the swing by rolling backward. It continued like this for nearly a minute. Naruto would close in on Mizuki and engage him in taijutsu, while Gamaken followed with his own strikes. Naruto leaned to his left and punched, and Gamaken would come down with a chop on Naruto's right side. Naruto spun around Mizuki, and Gamaken stabbed forward with the butt end of his weapon. Naruto went for a leg sweep, and Gamaken followed with a swing at Mizuki's head. The two were an unending barrage of punches, kicks, and weapon strikes. Wherever Naruto went, Gamaken went the other way. Even though Naruto and Gamaken were fighting the same opponent in such close proximity, Naruto was never hit. The blonde seemed to know this and showed no fear, no matter how close the sasumata came. This was the type of fighting coordination that could only be honed through years of hard work and countless hours of training.
Mizuki prioritized avoiding the massive toad's weapon, which left him open for Naruto's strikes. Slowly, Mizuki was being whittled down by Naruto's fast and debilitating Taijutsu style. His movements were becoming sluggish, and he was having a more challenging time dodging Gamaken's strikes. Eventually, Naruto landed a powerful kick to the side of Mizuki's knee, making it buckle. Mizuki dropped down, leaving him exposed for the follow-up sasumata swing to the chest. The strike hit Mizuki dead-center in the middle of his chest, cracking his ribs, and rocketing him backward across the clearing.
Throughout this whole exchange, Sasuke was staring, wide-eyed at Naruto. He had never seen his friend fight with such fury. It was almost like this fight was personal for him. And, judging by the way Mizuki referred to him, it probably was. Sasuke was slowly piecing together why Mizuki kept referring to Naruto that way, but, as he thought earlier, now was not the time to be thinking about that. Especially now that Mizuki had bounced right in front of him, thanks to the last strike from Naruto's toad summon.
'I can't let Naruto do all the work,' Sasuke thought, flipping through some hand seals. 'I'm the reason we're even here in the first place.' Sasuke took a deep breath before calling out, "Fire Style: Phoneix Flower Jutsu!" (2) The small bursts of flames weaved through the air, all honing in on Mizuki. The traitor looked up at the last second, fear apparent in his eyes as he hastily tried to perform a substitution Jutsu.
Unfortunately for him, he was too tired and too battered to pull it off.
The fireballs closed in on him, connecting with a small explosion, causing a great cloud of dust. The dust slowly dissipated, revealing a charred and bleeding Mizuki. Sasuke walked up to the small crater he'd created and stared down at the battered form of his former sensei. Sasuke harshly grabbed Mizuki by the back of his hair and yanked his head up. Sasuke glared down at Mizuki, who was barely keeping his eyes open. "No one tricks me, and no one fucks with my friends," Sasuke growled before slamming Mizuki's head into the scorched earth. This was the final straw for Mizuki, and he mercifully slipped into unconsciousness.
Silence settled over the clearing before a slow clapping alerted Naruto and Sasuke that they were not alone. They both looked around, tense, expecting another opponent. Fortunately, their eyes settled on the familiar form of Kakashi Hatake sauntering out of the tree line, clapping his hands.
"Well, that certainly was impressive," he greeted with an eye-smile. He strolled over to Sasuke and ruffled his hair, much to the Uchiha's annoyance. Kakashi then reached down and hoisted the unconscious Mizuki over his shoulder, knowing that the man would not be waking up anytime soon.
Sasuke stared owlishly at Kakashi, stunned by his presence. Sasuke's gaze flickered over to Naruto, who was talking with Gamaken. He saw the blonde give his toad companion a fist bump before there was a puff of smoke, and Gamaken returned home. Naruto took a deep breath, brushed the dirt off his arms, and walked over to Sasuke and Kakashi. Sasuke noticed that Naruto did not seem surprised to see Kakashi, earning a pointed look from Sasuke.
Naruto noticed the look and explained himself once he reached his sensei and friend. "Kakashi was the shinobi the Hokage sent to back us up. He was there when I got to the Hokage's office." Naruto then described his shadow clone's interaction with the Hokage to Sasuke as Kakashi secretly surveyed the surroundings, making sure no one else was present.
Naruto's clone sprinted through Konohagakure, taking to the rooftops to avoid civilians. He vaulted from rooftop to rooftop, blurring past unsuspecting shinobi. After roughly 15 minutes of running, Naruto arrived outside the Hokage Tower. Wasting no time, Naruto burst through the doors and bounded up the stairs. Naruto bumped into several couriers in his haste, earning shouts of indignation after sending papers scattering across the hallway. When Naruto finally got to the Hokage's office, he ignored the Hokage's secretary's cries to wait, as the Hokage was in a meeting. The Hokage's secretary gave up when she saw Naruto was halfway down the hallway to the Hokage's office, giving a dismissive wave. She was used to Naruto just barging into the Hokage's office unannounced.
Naruto stopped outside the Hokage's office and flung the doors open, forgoing knocking. As he entered the room, Naruto saw Kakashi reclining on a chair in front of the Hokage's desk while his Jiji leaned forward, elbows on the table.
"They're more than ready..." Kakashi was saying before he trailed off, noticing a panting Naruto standing in the doorway. The Hokage noticed Naruto simultaneously as Kakashi, and he instantly became worried once he saw that Naruto was out of breath.
"What's the matter, Naruto-kun?" the Hokage asked worriedly.
Naruto's clone took several more deep breaths before he explained the situation. He summarized what Sasuke had told him about Mizuki's treachery and explained that Sasuke and the original Naruto were currently headed to the forest to meet Mizuki.
Once Naruto finished, he noticed his Jiji go into what he called his "Hokage Mode." He instantly became more serious, and his eyes steeled. All traces of his paternal grandfather were replaced by this seasoned shinobi.
"Are you sure about this Naruto?" Hiruzen asked for confirmation, and Naruto's clone nodded in response. Hiruzen paused to think for a moment before nodding to himself. "Very well," he began. "I will send backup to your location immediately. Make sure that Mizuki does not escape. I will summon my Anbu, and they will meet you in the designated area shortly."
Kakashi rose from his chair, attracting the attention of both Naruto and the Hokage. "No need for that, Hokage-sama. I will go and support the boys," Kakashi said. He turned to Naruto's clone and crinkled his eye into a smile. "See you soon, Naruto. Don't die!" He said cheerily.
Naruto's clone paled but nodded. As the clone prepared to dispel himself, the Hokage raised his hand to stop him. He fixed Naruto with a steely stare. "Naruto, we WILL be having a word about you acting without my permission and this reckless behavior." Naruto's clone gulped, happy that he wouldn't be the one to suffer his Jiji's wrath. That man was scary when he gets angry. With that, the clone dispelled himself, eager to leave the perturbed Hokage.
"Well," Kakashi said, clapping Naruto on the shoulder. "Now that that's done, we should head back to the Hokage's office. I know he'd LOVE to talk to you both about this," Kakashi said brightly, sending shivers down the genin's spines. "I'll meet you two there, though. I have to take this piece of trash to the T&I. I know they're dying to see him." With that, Kakashi shunshined away, leaving Naruto and Sasuke standing alone. The two boys stood there for a moment before Naruto heaved a heavy sigh and looked over at Sasuke.
"Well... let's get going," he groaned before leaping into the trees, ready to face the Hokage's wrath.
Five days had passed since the Mizuki incident and Naruto and Sasuke being chewed out by the Hokage. Both boys had been reprimanded by the Hokage for their "reckless" and "dangerous" actions. The Hokage stated that they had greatly endangered themselves by entering an unknown and unstable situation without any backup. He explained that it could have been a trap or an ambush. After that particular statement, the Hokage sent a pointed look to Naruto, reminding him of Iwa's failed abduction attempt all those years ago. No matter how close they were to Konoha, it was not out of the realm of possibility.
Furthermore, the Hokage outlined several other, safer plans that Naruto and Sasuke could and should have used. Hiruzen stated that they could have alerted the gate guards on their way to the forest, who would then alert the Anbu that regularly patrolled the Village. These skilled Anbu would then have reached and detained Mizuki much faster than the two genin had. Another solution was to find a wandering chunin or jonin and have them support, instead of rushing in solo. The Hokage had hammered home the point to Naruto and Sasuke that their plan was shortsighted, did not consider all solutions and resources they had, and was reckless.
In addition, Sasuke had been scolded by Hokage for being seduced by such an obvious ploy. However, the Hokage was not too harsh with Sasuke for two reasons. First, he was following his sensei's instructions, who, up to that point, had never shown any signs of treachery. Second, the Hokage knew that his brother was a sensitive topic for Sasuke. Hiruzen was sympathetic for the boy, especially considering the massacre had occurred under his rule.
A day after the meeting with the Hokage, Sasuke finally approached Naruto and asked him what Mizuki was talking about in the forest. By this point, Sasuke had a strong suspicion of what Naruto's secret was, but he needed the blonde to confirm it.
When Sasuke questioned him, Naruto felt his stomach turn. He wanted to tell Sasuke, he really did, but he wasn't ready. Naruto knew it was a flimsy excuse at best. He'd had years to prepare for this moment, but, now that it was finally here, he couldn't get the words out. After a moment of silence, Naruto told Sasuke that he tell him next week after they got their team assignments. Sasuke hesitated and internally deliberated whether to push Naruto or not, but he eventually acquiesced to Naruto's request. Sasuke had been waiting long enough for Naruto to finally reveal what he was hiding. He could wait another week. Besides, Sasuke could tell that whatever it was was something painful for Naruto. If there was one thing Sasuke Uchiha understood, it was the reluctance to discuss painful memories. Naruto was grateful for his friend's acceptance, and he had been planning all week how he was going to tell him. He knew that the first time telling one of his friends he was a Jinchuuriki would be the most difficult, so Naruto spent hours practicing.
Now, though, Naruto had put those thoughts behind him as he walked next to his favorite person: his Jiji. The two of them were on their way to Naruto's preferred weapons shop so the Hokage could fulfill his promise that he would buy Naruto a weapon after graduating from the Academy. The two of them walked through Konoha's shinobi district, chatting and enjoying the warm day. After the one day of scolding, the Hokage and Naruto had returned to their typical, familial relationship. Naruto knew the Hokage was just trying to protect him, and the Hokage was secretly proud of Naruto and Sasuke. The two boys had risked their lives to protect Konoha and had acted with the Village's interests in mind. Besides, they had performed well and survived, and Hiruzen was quite proud of how his surrogate grandson helped his friend.
Naruto and the Hokage finally stopped outside The Steel Kingdom, the weapons shop run by Tenten and her family. This had become Naruto's go-to store for all of his shinobi needs because it was one of the few stores where he truly felt welcome. Sometimes he got to see his friend when he came by, and he even got the occasional discount. Naruto pushed open the door, causing the bell to chime, and he walked in and saw Tenten's father, Jin, standing behind the counter. Naruto idly remembered that Tenten told him she was leaving on a mission today and would be gone for several days.
Naruto gave a friendly wave to Tenten's dad, who was an imposing specimen. He was a large, muscular man, and his right arm was covered in intricate tattoos. He had a bald head and a bushy, black beard that stretched down to his sternum. However, despite his intimidating appearance, Tenten's father was an extremely jovial person. The man was always friendly to Naruto, which made Naruto feel extra welcome in the store.
Jin noticed Naruto waving at him and returned the wave with a smile. Ever since his daughter had told him that she befriended Naruto, he had been a fan of the blonde. He knew his daughter did not have many friends outside of her genin team and had trouble making new ones due to her work in the store. So, when Jin found out that Tenten had made a friend her age who enjoyed weapons and made her happy, he was overjoyed. He didn't care about Naruto's status or the Village's perception of him. As long as his daughter was happy, he was happy.
"Hello, Naruto-san, Hokage-sama," Jin greeted, bowing respectfully to the Hokage. "How may I assist you today?"
"Naruto-kun recently graduated from the Academy," Hiruzen spoke. "I promised him that I would buy him a weapon after his graduation as a gift."
"Congratulations, Naruto-san, that is a significant accomplishment," Jin said, smiling warmly at Naruto as he walked out from behind the counter. Naruto beamed in response, blushing slightly and rubbing the back of his head. "Do you have any particular weapon in mind?"
"Not really. I've thought about it a lot, but I haven't made my decision. Jiji advised me to walk around the shop and try out a bunch of weapons. He said something about me "knowing" I have the right one," Naruto answered, miming quotes when he mentioned what the Hokage told him.
Tenten's father nodded. "That is wise advice, Hokage-sama. I'll lead you two over to our weapons section," Jin said, gesturing for the two to follow him. They passed through rows of shuriken, kunai, medical supplies, and clothes until they came to the store section that housed the more intricate and expensive weapons.
Naruto walked through the aisles, examining the weapons as he passed. He saw a large display of swords, but he quickly moved on from it. He had thought about getting a sword for some time but ultimately decided against it. Naruto wanted to be different, and swords were a fairly common weapon amongst shinobi. He wanted something that would be distinctly HIS weapon.
Naruto saw a collection of ornate staffs leaning against the wall. He considered them for a moment before continuing on. He liked the idea of a staff, and he knew his Jiji used one. Staffs were fast, long weapons that could deliver crushing blows, and he was sure the Hokage would be able to mentor him and help him master the weapon. However, he ultimately decided against it because of his desire to be his own ninja. He didn't just want to be a copy of his mentors and senseis. The staff was the Third Hokage's weapon and always would be. Naruto wanted to create a legacy of his own for his weapon.
Naruto saw a shelf of nunchakus and walked up to them. He picked one up and spun it around a couple of times before putting it back. The nunchaku was an uncommon weapon that required speed that would fit his fighting style, but Naruto wanted something with decent reach. Unfortunately, Naruto had to acknowledge that, for now, he was short and taller opponents could keep him at a distance. Naruto needed a weapon that would negate this disadvantage.
Naruto turned a corner, and he saw a massive, double-sided battle-axe hanging from the wall. His eyes lit up, and he started daydreaming about how cool he would look wielding that axe. He hurried up to the weapon, taking in its size. It was undoubtedly bigger than him, and the blades were wider than him. He went to lift the weapon off the rack with one hand, but it didn't budge. Naruto grunted, grabbed the axe with both hands, and lifted it up. He managed to heft it on his shoulder, but it took all of his effort just to pick it up. He imagined that he would dislocate his shoulder on the follow-through if he tried to swing the weapon.
Behind Naruto, the Hokage chuckled. "Maybe you should choose something that isn't twice your size," he advised, not bothering to hide the mirth in his voice. Naruto gave a childish pout, annoyed that he would have to give up his dreams of wielding an awesome axe. He placed the axe back into its rack and walked away.
Naruto looked around, trying to see where he should go next. Finally, in the corner of the store, Naruto's eyes locked on to a naginata. The naginata had a long, black wooden staff about 5 feet long and looked incredibly sturdy. Spiraling around the wood was an inch thick strip of golden metal. It looked like one continuous line that originated from the bottom of the staff and culminated at the gleaming blade at the top. The blade was about a foot long, slightly curved, and appeared to be made of reinforced steel. At the bottom of the staff, covering the bottom six inches, was a studded gold cap. The cap was designed to stop his hand from slipping off the end of the handle, and it looked like the golden spiral originated from it.
Naruto thought the weapon was perfect. It gave him the reach he needed, had the deadliness of a sword attached to the top, and was reminiscent of his Jiji's staff. The studded bottom cap added an extra element to the weapon so that Naruto could use it as a blunt force object to bludgeon opponents, similar to a staff. Finally, it was unique. Naruto had never seen someone use this weapon before, and, going through his mental catalog of legendary Konoha ninja, didn't think anyone of note had used one before. This weapon would be uniquely his.
Naruto picked up the naginata and gave it several test swings. The Hokage made a noise of acknowledgment behind Naruto as he tested the weapon out. "That would fit well with your fighting style, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen spoke. "The naginata is a weapon that requires great speed to be effective. It relies on momentum to generate power, just like your taijutsu style."
Naruto tossed the weapon back and forth between his hands, feeling its weight. After several moments, Naruto nodded to himself and looked up at the Hokage and Jin. "This is the one," he announced with finality.
"That is a great choice, Naruto-san. I made that myself." Jin smiled, admiring his handiwork on the blade. "The staff is made from wood straight from Konoha's forest, created by the First Hokage, giving it extra durability. I dyed the wood black to provide the weapon with an extra bit of flair," Jin said, unashamed of his design choices. He always liked to make his weapons beautiful, which led him to the next point. "Both the blade and the golden band wrapping around the wood are chakra conductive. The gold metal allows you to channel chakra through the staff to strengthen the wood and connect your chakra to the blade," Jin explained to Naruto before he turned to the Hokage. "It will cost you a bit, though, Hokage-sama. That is some of my finest work."
"It's fine," the Hokage chuckled, waving Jin off. "If there is one advantage of being my age, it is that I've acquired a bit of money over all of my years as Hokage. Price is not a concern. Besides, I promised Naruto a gift, and I won't disappoint."
Naruto beamed at the Hokage and Jin, ecstatic about his choice. The Hokage smiled fondly at Naruto, happy to see his grandson so pleased. "I have some scrolls on the basics of the naginata in my personal library, Naruto-kun," he said, patting Naruto on the shoulder, "I will give them to you later tonight."
Naruto nodded in reply, acknowledging that he would require a lot of practice to be proficient with the naginata. He would have to train extensively to be able to use the weapon on missions. However, while he was going to prioritize weapon training, he would not neglect his other skills. He would still work on his taijutsu, ninjutsu, and physical exercise. Those skills were what got him this far, and he would not let those skills get rusty. Naruto tightly gripped the naginata in both hands and nodded determinedly at his Jiji, ready to get to work.
(1) Earth Style: Mud Bullet Jutsu- C Rank, Offensive- Similar to the Great Fireball Jutsu, the user concentrates chakra in their throat and expels in outwards. In this case, the chakra is fired as a compressed ball of mud. When the Jutsu connects, the mud bullet delivers a devastating, blunt force blow. The mud encompasses the target, slowing them down. The more skilled the user is in the Jutsu and the more chakra used, the greater the Mud Bullet's speed and concussive power. [Essentially, just the Great Fireball Jutsu with Mud and concussive power as opposed to burning. I'm sure there is an actual Jutsu like this, but I couldn't find it.]
(2) Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu- C Rank, Offensive-The user spits a volley of small fireballs into the air; at a glance, it can appear as though there was only one fireball that then burst into many. The many small flames move wildly through the area, potentially mesmerizing targets as they're surrounded. The user controls each individual flame with their chakra, allowing them to guide each at the target and, consequently, making this technique difficult to evade [From the Wiki]
AN: Hey! Long time no read. Sorry about the delay guys. A couple weeks after last chapter, I adopted a new puppy from the shelter I volunteer at. If you've ever had a puppy, you know it's like raising a baby. Constant supervision is needed, and they don't sleep through the night.
That's not the only reason, though, that this chapter is late. Frankly, I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter. I struggled with how to handle the Mizuki aspect of this chapter, and this was the best I could come up with. I hit a bit of wall, and it took a bit to break out of my writers block. I know there was not much progress plot-wise in this chapter, but next chapter will be better and move things along. Anyway, thank you again so much for reading, and I promise next chapter will come out sooner.
I hope you have a great day!
