I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO NARUTO, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.
Chapter 1: The Best of Us, The Worst of Us
Six years and some months had passed from that fateful day that the Kyuubi jinchuriki Naruto Uzumaki and the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi began their routine of progress checking and training. In those six years, Naruto entered the ninja academy and is set to graduate soon. Even for all his training and tutelage under the hokage, Naruto was undeniably the dead last of his class. That was due to his constant need to pull pranks, skip school with his friends Shikamaru, Kiba, and Choji, or just failing exams. For some odd reason, he understood the material fairly well enough, but when it came down to exams, he just couldn't seem to answer any of the questions correctly. If it wasn't for his extremely advanced in proficiency in fuinjutsu, and his decent skills in all other areas, Naruto's confidence would have taken a hit. Having enrolled in a class with the most clan heirs since before the Third Great Ninja War, Naruto was at a constant disadvantage since all he had were books. Having voiced his concern to his Gramps, Hiruzen began to teach the boy bojutsu, chakra control exercises, hand seals, and began to build the boy's physical strength when he turned seven. He always intended to strengthen the boy's mind first before he began to truly teach the boy. Due to the rigorous training, long gone were the days of the ramen only diet the boy had in his unsupervised days. The physical training alone demanded that the boy had to eat right just to have energy to make it home after training. The hours were long and tired, but well worth it. Because of the grueling training, Naruto rose to the number two spot in taijutsu in his class, second only to the prodigy known as Sasuke Uchiha. Even though he tried to narrow the gap constantly, the raven haired genius constantly pulled ahead, becoming that much better than their previous encounters. Eventually the two became rivals well into their second year, once some of the fruits from training with the Hokage were starting to bear.
Their rivalry soon turned to friendship; Sasuke even invited Naruto to his home a couple of times after learning that his strawberry blonde friend was an orphan. There at the Uchiha clan compound on the outskirts of the village, Naruto formed bonds with the Uchiha clan who were once cold towards him. The more Sasuke brought him around and trained with him, the more accepting of the jinchuriki the clan had become. The reason for their wariness was that there was speculation that the Uchiha clan executed the Nine Tails Attack after countless witnesses claim to have seen the sharingan in the eyes of the Kyuubi. Because it was no secret among the shinobi that Naruto was the jinchuriki, the Uchiha Clan was first worried that the village and the hokage would suspect foul play. Surprisingly however, Hiruzen found it rather interesting that Naruto found a friend in such an unlikely clan. The Uchiha were known for their intimidating presences and anti-socialness. Entertaining his surrogate grandson further, her even made it a point to invite the young Uchiha to his home to train and spar alongside his friend. One could say he had a liking to the boy; he was named after his father after all.
The village however, just lumped the two, the 'demon-brat' and the 'evil-eyed clan' in the same category of people to not like. Because of the knowledge of the sharingan controlling the Kyuubi being public, many people started to distrust and fear the Uchiha Clan. This was only made worse because the Uchiha Clan was also over the police force, often having to play the role of bad cop, further blemishing their standing with the village. Their saving grace came in their top two up and coming prodigies. Both Shisui and Itachi Uchiha were prodigies like no other in their generation. Both holding the dual rank of jonin/ anbu captain, with Itachi being the youngest to ever do, the duo was on track to being as strong as Madara was, if not stronger, once they reached their prime. Shisui, being Itachi's senior, became much like an older brother figure and best friend to the younger Uchiha. When not on missions, they spent much of their time together sharpening each other's skills, or even helping young Naruto and Sasuke with their training. Quickly rising the ranks in the anbu, the two became the hokage's most trusted operatives, getting their assignments done swiftly and efficiently. They also were seeming to ease the tension between the now ostracized clan and the village. Chunin were more than delighted when they found out they would be working with Itachi or Shisui, and jonin would breathe easy knowing their job got easier. Things seemed to be going great and getting progressively better.
That is until one fateful night, late into the November of Naruto and Sasuke's third year at the academy, Itachi single-handedly slaughtered his entire clan. Having trained until exhaustion with his rival at the Sarutobi clan compound, the young Uchiha awoke at a little after nightfall, and after bidding the hokage and his family goodnight, headed home. As soon as Sasuke returned home however, his entire clan had been murdered by his brother. The older Uchiha decided to spare his younger brother, telling him he was too weak to kill. Before fleeing the village, the seemingly mad Uchiha cast one of the sharigan's most deadly genjutsu on his younger brother, the tsukiyomi. Only those with the Mangekyo Sharingan had the ocular prowess to pull off the technique. It was a devastating genjutsu that trapped the victim in an endless loop of the caster's choosing. Activated by just eye contact, the jutsu is impossible to block if the target is unprepared, and if successful subjects the victim to seventy-two hours of mental torture, while only three seconds pass in real time.
The visions that Itachi forced Sasuke to see and relive were the memories of Itachi butchering every single one of their clansmen. He made easy work of them, his proficient skill and their lack of awareness being his two greatest allies in his mission. Like the madman Sasuke had begun to see him as, Itachi mercilessly murdered man, woman, and children alike, showing not a shred of remorse or doubt. After watching his mother and father get cut down, Sasuke couldn't take it anymore, and screamed for the hellish illusions to stop, only for them to begin yet again. Over and over, Sasuke watched as his clan was wiped out before his eyes, before finally succumbing to the mental duress and passing out.
Things were changed drastically after that night. The academy had taken a four-day-weekend break in respect of the recent tragedy. Even after the classes resumed, Sasuke Uchiha would not return to class for another month. After being discharged from the hospital a week and a half after the incident, the young boy spent his time by the Naka River, a place him and Naruto would find Itachi and Shisui all the time. He spent hours at the riverbank. Staring at his reflection and contemplating his existence. Eventually, the boy's heart began to turn colder, as the days passed, the over abundant amount of admiration he had for Itachi was starting to get replaced by anger and hatred.
Naruto, after not seeing his friend after being released from the hospital (he had spent every day that he cold there by his best friend's side, Hiruzen having explained the situation to him), decided to go searching for the young Uchiha. After finding him at the Naka River, Naruto knew there was something different about his friend. He had changed. Dismissing that thought however, he decided the best thing he could do for his friend was to be there for him. It was hard, and even now things are not the same for the two as Sasuke was a lot more reclusive, barely showing any signs of his formerly bright and compassionate self. It was as if all his innocence had been ripped from him, the boy's eyes shone brightly no more. From the day he returned to the academy, long were the days of him interacting with the other kids socially. Where he used to be willing to give the other students pointers and eat lunch with them, Sasuke became cold and prideful, only seeming to talk to Naruto and his instructors.
Still, the two boys continued to train together, though less frequently. As the years got closer to the day of graduation, the young Uchiha came the the Sarutobi clan compound less and less, before not returning all together in the last year of their studies. Deciding to devote his training time to his clan's techniques and getting stronger on his own until he graduated, Sasuke and Naruto soon picked their rivalry back up, though Sasuke still stood peerless at the top of his class. Because there was no application of fuinjutsu in the academy besides standard sealing jutsu lessons, the area where Naruto shined the most didn't help his grades. When training with Sasuke, his taijutsu was equal to that of the Uchiha's, if not slightly less than due to the raven-haired boy's natural affinity for speed. He was no slouch when it came to shurikenjutsu either, but even with all of his practice and hard work, he only managed to be in the middle of the class when it came to class standings (though Hiruzen suspected foul play).
These things plus the strawberry blonde's incessant strike against applying himself in the academia portion of his studies resulted in young Naruto to remain the middle of the class. While the jnchuuriki was not an idiot, depending on who was asking, he just didn't see the use in trying on exams. His class scores would only drop further down once the three academy jutsu were introduced to his class. The Clone Jutsu, Substitution Jutsu, and the Transformation Jutsu were all techniques that graduating academy students must learn in order to receive their ninja headband. While he could effortlessly pull off the transformation and the substitution, the clone jutsu was his mortal enemy. He worked day in, and day out, and never got close to making a solid clone. Even with help from the Hokage and Sasuke, Naruto was only able to produce one clone, not meeting the requirement to make three.
The villagers had come to finally acknowledge the young Uzumaki, though as a nuisance and a pariah. His pranks only got worse with the more he advanced in his training he got, and it seemed like the villagers would never catch a break. Few they were, some villagers actually were fond of the pranks, and looked forward to the next ones, though they wouldn't dare admit it to even their selves. Our blonde hero knew he would get his village to respect and acknowledge him as the greatest, and today would be the start of that mission.
It was a bright and warm April afternoon, the sun still high in the sun. All around the village, villagers were bustling about doing regular mundane everyday tasks. Shinobi of different rankings could be spotted patrolling the village, completing small missions around the village, or even socializing around with other shinobi or civilians. The village had made many strides since even six years prior, strong businesses standing more in numbers than ever before. Though not fully recovered, the village was running at up to ninety-five percent, with all of the new jobs and new buildings boosting the economy. Even though the village loss a decent amount of manpower as a result of the Uchiha Massacre, the village boasted quite the number of quality shinobi who, with some encouragement of their hokage, proved to the Fire Daimyo, and neighboring villages, that the Leaf was still unequivocally strong. Konohagakure had one message to the world: We are still the strongest.
As the sun blared its spring sunshine on the village, a nice, easy breeze drifted through the settlement. It wasn't particularly windy for the season, and the weather was almost perfect. The sky was partly cloudy, and when a cloud would blanket itself over the sun, it was still a pretty bright day. All in all, it was shaping up to be a good day. An almost perfect day for one Iruka Umino, if he didn't have to crush the dreams of so many students. Today was the graduation exam, the only way to move forward from the shinobi academy and right into the work force. 'These students have grown by leaps and bounds. Every single one of these kids have shown great promise. Add that to the amount of clan heirs graduating, this might be Konoha's most powerful group of rookie hopefuls.' He thought with a smile as he stared out of the window. The class would be returning from their lunch hour within the next fifteen minutes, and then it would be time to see if they had what it took to receive a forehead protector. His smile grew warmer as he allowed his mind to drift to thoughts of a certain blonde-haired troublemaker. Even though Iruka clearly disliked the boy at first, he never let his dislike show in his actions towards the jinchuuriki. No, in fact Iruka gave the boy the most normal of treatments, deciding that his job and the future of the Leaf was more important than his hatred. Eventually after coming to know the kid, he slowly warmed up to him. It wasn't until the boy's third year at the academy that he really became fond of the boy, and now it wasn't an odd sight to find the two of them enjoying ramen together well after classes.
Suddenly the breeze from earlier that swept through the village hit Iruka's nose. And it wasn't the fact of it being a breeze that got the academy teacher's blood to boil. No, it was the smell that was carried with the breeze. Fresh paint. Lots of it, if he was smelling correctly, and was that ramen he smelled? Oh yeah. It was go time.
Another thing that changed over the course of the years, was the person who was responsible for catching, apprehending, and reprimanding the whiskered troublemaker. Because the academy teacher was once a prankster himself, and because of their ever-growing relationship, Iruka took it upon his self to make sure he captured his student and little brother figure. Where most jonin failed at merely catching a glimpse of him, Iruka set and shattered records for how long it took to apprehend his student. "Na. Ru. To!" He ground out with irritation rolling off of his body in spades. Could the boy not stop his pranking for not even the most important day of his career? Gathering his bucket and washing materials that he knew the boy would need, he sealed them away in a storage scroll before using the Body Flicker, or shunshin, to disappear and get to Naruto's location at the Hokage Monument.
With Naruto
Much like we found our hero six years ago, our strawberry blonde could be seen at the scene of the village's most recent vandalism attack. Standing on a platform being held by four sturdy cables suspended in the air stood Naruto Uzumaki. The platform itself hung just on the side of the Yondaime's stone bust, allowing Naruto to admire his handywork. Streaked across the faces of the hokage were several ludicrous and bold markings. From insults like "Wood style wimp," to simple name calling like 'Stupid old monkey," the blonde had doodled and desecrated the Hokage Monument beyond imagine. 'Teehee I've really outdone myself this time,' Naruto thought to himself. In the six years that had passed, his spiky hair had grown fairly long enough to where he was able to pull some of it into a small low ponytail. The red streaks in his hair had started to move with his hair growth, having found permanent home at the tips of his blonde locks. With two side bangs beginning to frame his face, and the dazzling blue eyes of his that seemed to twinkle when he smiled, he would have been very popular among the ladies if it wasn't for his social standing. Having long abandoned the red scarf of his childhood, the whiskered preteen kept his goggles over his forehead, pushing some of the shorter bangs that fell over his forehead back. He wore an orange jumpsuit that consisted of orange pants, and an orange jacket with a white collar and blue around the shoulders. On the back of the zip up jacket was the red Uzumaki swirl that Naruto had grown to take tremendous pride in, and on his left shoulder was another Uzumaki swirl, though this one was white. Because of his now healthier eating habits and rigorous training, Naruto had begun to develop well for his age, standing at 5'1 and being more fit than pretty much anyone is age or ten years close to it for that matter.
Deciding that waiting around wouldn't do him much good, Naruto was just about to head in the direction of the academy when his internal Iruka radar started to go haywire. Long ago, after Naruto was caught by Iruka three times in a row, he decided to come up with a seal that would send a slight jolt down his spine, no more than one might shiver at a random moment, when Iruka was within pursuit of him. Looking down at his left hand, he faced his palm upward revealing the kanji for 'one.' Okay, shit. He had to get out of there, and fast. Ever since that Inu guy (whose real name Naruto forgot) stopped chasing him, Naruto's only concern when it came to being caught was Iruka. It was like he knew where Naruto was headed before he even went there!
Jumping off of the suspended platform and falling towards the ground, the blonde pulled a practice kunai out of one of the many hidden seals he had on his right arm before wrapping some ninja wire on it and throwing it at the side of the cliff. When it struck its target, it lodged itself deep enough just for the kunai to be stuck. Using the momentum of the fall, Naruto swung to the side of the monument, where he continued to use gravity and his momentum to speed down the side, leaving a trail of dust behind. If he was fast before, the way he moved now was another level. Zipping through the streets at high genin to low chunin speeds, the civilian population had no idea what was going on, just a seeing sunset blur of color. The shinobi who did see the kid were either busy with their own missions, at disbelief at what he had dared to do today or were simply too slow or not nearly as nimble enough to catch him. It was starting to look as if Naruto was home free.
That is until he slammed into the fleshiest of brick walls that he had ever ran into, and moving as fast as he had all his life, there were many brick walls that he had run into over the years. What was different about this brick wall in particular however, was that it reeked of the academy, and upon closer inspection, had a long somewhat thin scar across the bridge of its nose. Ah shit. Our hero was caught, again. Scratching the nape of his neck, the strawberry blonde sheepishly grinned as he tried to salvage the situation. "Oh hey Iruka-sensei, fancy meeting you here. Nice weather out today wouldn't ya say?"
"Oh yes lovely weather. So nice that I decided to go out on a stroll for the last ten minutes of the lunch break. Or at least that became the goal once I LITERALLY CAUGHT WIND OF YOU PAINTING ON THE HOKAGE STONE FACES. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DISRESPECTFUL THAT IS YOU LITTLE SHIT?" Iruka roared out. He couldn't help it with Naruto, the boy had reminded him too much of his younger self, albeit Iruka was never this bold or rambunctious with his pranks. Not even giving his student a chance to answer he continued. "You are going to scrub and scrub and scrub until not even a speck of paint can be seen on those faces. And then you're going to scrub and scrub again. You will get this done by the time I call your name to take your exam, which starts in the next hour. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes-sensei," Naruto replied dejectedly. He had spent so much time waiting and planning on this day. All of his pranks, or stealth missions as he liked to call them, had been practice for this one last hoorah. Grabbing the bucket and cleaning supplies from his sensei, Naruto begrudgingly made his way back to the Hokage Monument to clean it.
Sometime later, Academy
"Next up, Sasuke Uchiha!" Iruka called out from behind his clipboard as a rather taller than average preteen boy slid his lanky yet lean body down the steps and into the front of the classroom. At an impressive 5'4 for his age, Sasuke wore a blue, high collared short-sleeved shirt with the Uchiha fan on the back, a pair of white shorts, white arm warmers, white bandages covering a majority of his left leg and blue shinobi sandals. His hair was raven black, with hints of blue seeming to catch the eye if the light hit his hair a certain way and was styled in a way where two long bangs fell loosely on the side of his face. The rest of his straight, yet spiky hair jutted out in the back of his head, making him look like he had a 'duck-butt-hairdo' according to Naruto. It was no secret that the lone Uchiha would be able to pass, so the class wasn't really surprised when Sasuke flew through the first two required jutsu. He was just about to do the Clone Jutsu when his blonde rival came barreling in, causing havoc as he slammed into three students Sasuke never bothered to get acquainted.
"I'm here I'm here! Did I make it sensei?" Naruto asked, not winded in the slightest. Having begun to get irritated by his rival's sudden intrusion, Sasuke decided to voice his complaints.
"Move out of the way idiot. I knew you were slow, but I had no idea that even after all these years you still can't grasp that you come after me." Sasuke said with the faintest of smirks on his face. He knew his knuckleheaded friend was far from being incompetent, even for all of his literal blonde moments. Still that didn't stop him from taking a jab at his rival, igniting his already short fuse.
"Oh shut up bastard, you're just mad at me because you come after me when it comes to strength and stamina. Minute-man asshole." Naruto replied in a deadpan. Their relationship was a lot like this, with the two boys butting heads more often than being cordial with each other. To the common public, it looked as if the two were always at odds, but those at the academy knew better. Those two held a bond reserved for best friends.
"Tch. Whatever loser, just make sure you pass this stupid exam so we can get on with this. After you and the Yamanaka, it'll only be three others, and I'm trying to finally settle the score with you before the team placements," Sasuke replied to the dig with a challenge of his own. While Sasuke was indeed a prodigy, Naruto was a genius when it came to fighting, and his unpredictable movements and seals always kept the Uchiha on his toes. The two weren't far from each other in school and could probably take on their graduating class and come out on top. Moving forward, Saduke brushed past Naruto and stood in front of Iruka and the other academy teacher, Mizuki.
Mizuki was a chunin level shinobi that wasn't too much older than Iruka. Wearing the standard chunin leaf shinobi uniform, with a bandana style forehead protector adorning his head, nothing special was there to note about the white haired man. Throughout their time at the academy, Sasuke was never really fond of the man, having noticed the unfair treatment he gave his friend. Because of his clan's dealings with genjutsu, he always suspected that Mizuki was tampering with Naruto's exams and tests, but without the sharingan Sasuke couldn't prove it. Deciding to push those thoughts out of his mind, the Uchiha effortlessly performed the three jutsu, much to the swooning and gushing of his personal fan club.
Grabbing his ninja headband and wrapping it firmly around his forehead, Sasuke turned to his rival before nodding his head at him slightly. While he knew there was no way Naruto would fail, he still wanted to give his friend some reassurance. He waited until the familiar challenging glint started to shine in the strawberry blonde boy's eyes before he returned to his seat. As he took his seat, he let his mind drift off to his brother. As much as he hated his brother, and he hated his brother more than there was beach on a sand, he respected his skills as a shinobi even more. Single handedly, he had massacred one of Konoha's founding clans, and one of the strongest bloodlines in the world at that. Sasuke was progressing fast,at a pace that would make his father proud, but he knew it wasn't enough. At his age, Itachi had already began his career as an anbu operative, and while Sasuke was undeniably good, he wasn't there yet. The third hokage had put a limit to how much he decided to teach his two students, wanting to leave some of their growth for their jonin senseis to develop. Because of this, Sasuke was stuck, and until him and Naruto graduated, he would continue to be stuck. But that problem was amending itself currently, as it was absolutely no fucking way that idiot could-
"YOU FAIIILLLL!" Iruka shouted at the blonde, jarring Sasuke from his thoughts. So caught up in his own world, he completely missed Naruto's Sexy Jutsu, and Substitution, though his one clone and several pathetic… things still surrounded him. Damnit! The one jutsu that Naruto couldn't perform right to save his life was going to be the reason why they wouldn't be graduating together. Sighing and shaking his head at his friend he mumbled "What a loser," before returning to his thoughts, drowning out the rambunctious laughter of the class.
Ears blood red from embarrassment, Naruto felt his face get hot. He had practiced day in and day out on that technique, and this was the results. Looking back his sensei, he quickly masked his crestfallen face and joined in the laughing the class was doing. Sheepishly grinning and rubbing the back of his neck, Naruto tried to play off his hurt with a joke. "Yeah Iruka-Sensei that was terrible wasn't it haha…I really really tried though Sensei" he trailed off weakly.
"Yeah Iruka, why not just pass Naruto. You can really see in his eyes that he wants this more than anyone. Let's just overlook this one slip up," Mizuki said to his colleague.
Sighing, Iruka gripped the bridge of his nose, weighing his options. Naruto was singlehandedly stronger than everyone in the classroom, Sasuke excluded, and was more than qualified to be a genin. Hell if the boy could mature over night he'd be a shoe in for chunin. He wanted nothing more than to see his little brother figure happy, and he knew how hard Naruto had been training. Still, Iruka just couldn't stomach the idea of sending a shinobi out into the field and they didn't meet the requirements to be there.
"I'm sorry Naruto, but that's just not acceptable. You're going to have to try again next spring unfortunately. Work harder and I'm sure you'll be able to do it." Iruka paused to look at the devasted look on his student's face. Hearing that he wouldn't be a ninja seemed to age the boy's eyes by forty years, and it was almost as if Iruka could hear the boy's heart shattering. Deciding to get these exams over with, he called the next name. "Ino Yamanaka!"
Hours after the last student had taken their test, the academy was empty save for one figure swinging on a simple wooden swing in the courtyard. Naruto had always felt comfortable on that swing, and he had been there ever since class had been dismissed. Hearing all of his peer's parents congratulate them had been too much for him, and he simply shut everyone out. With the sun beating down his back in it's early evening glow, Naruto stared at the ground resolutely, fixated on the wind blowing through the grass. This is how his academy teacher Mizuki had found him.
Walking up to the defeated boy, Mizuki put his hand on his shoulder. Getting his attention, Mizuki looked dead into the jinchuuriki's eyes and uttered the words that would change the boy's fate that night. "Hey Naruto, I know how bad you wanted to graduate, I'm sorry Iruka couldn't be more understanding. In reality, he just couldn't show favoritism in front of the rest of the class. That's why he sent me to come get you, because there's a special little make-up exam that you can do to get your headband."
Slowly the words began to register in his head. He could still become a ninja! With renewed vigor, the jinchuuriki turned towards his teacher and practically begged him what he had to do.
"…Once you do that, meet me in the forest behind the academy at half past ten to show us what you have learned. Don't be late Naruto," Mizuki finished, though the last part sounded surprisingly malicious to Naruto.
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth though, Naruto stood up from the swing and gave his sensei a salute. "Roger dodger, Mizuki-Sensei! You can count on me, believe it!" Naruto said as he watch his teacher smile in a weird way before leaving via body flicker. Shaking his head at the weirdness of it all, a smile began to grow on his face. He could become a ninja still. He could still be hokage. He just had to break into the Hokage's Mansion and take the Forbidden Scroll of Sealings, one of the most heavily guarded and protected antiques in the village and learn one of its techniques. Easy peasy right?
Hours Later, 10:25 pm, Forested area around academy
Speeding through the forest at blinding speeds that he normally wasn't capable of was one Iruka. His worry for Naruto was at an all time high, and with the rest of the village being sent on an active search for him, he wanted to be the first one to find him. 'Please be okay Naruto, sit tight, I'm coming!' He thought to himself as he checked for his student's location again using the Chakra Radar Technique he had invented specifically for the blonde. It was a jutsu that required Iruka to concentrate the chakra in his body into a small, dense ball at the center of his body, and then "flatten" the ball by releasing it. This sends a thin chakra wave in all directions, giving him a feel for people and objects when his chakra touched over something. It was the ultimate combination of chakra shape manipulation and sensory abilties, and it was a technique that he had perfected over the years dealing with Naruto.
Locking on to a bright, war, humongous orange chakra just three miles ahead, Iruka sped forward, hoping to get there soon. As he leapt from tree to tree, Iruka couldn't help but think back to his conversation with the Third Hokage earlier.
Flashback
The Third Hokage stood behind his desk facing the windows of his office, arms folded behind him as he overlooked the village. Since his training with Naruto began, Hiruzen had begun to stand taller and taller each year, getting closer to where he once stood. His eyes now held the same unbridled power they once had in his youth, and physical visage was the best it had been in recent years. Silently looking over the village, he barely acknowledged Iruka's sudden intrusion.
"Hokage-sama! Naruto has stolen the forbidden scroll!" Iruka blurted out as he barged in the door. From the crazed look in his eye, even he couldn't believe what he had just said.
"I know. Bring young Naruto here to me at once, though do try not to harm or scare the boy. I will handle this matter," came the simple reply of the old monkey.
"Lord Hokage! This isn't a time to be playing favorites. We've got to assemble a search party and get that scroll back before Naruto hurts himself. Please!"
Turning to fully look at the scarred chunin's face, he stared deeply into his face. After apparently finding what he was searching for, he calmly stated, "While I am more than pleased to see that young Naruto has people that care for him, I am more than aware of the situation at hand, more than even you Iruka-kun. There is more than meets the eye about the events of tonight as you'll come to see. As for getting a search party together, that can be arranged. Seeing as you are the best 'Naruto Catcher' though I fully expect you to bring him to me. Am I understood?"
Stunned by the absolute authority and calmness in his leader's voice, Iruka quickly nodded before leaving for his apartment. Once he arrived, he gathered all of his ninja supplies, even his shuriken pouch and kunai holster, having always been a believer in being safe rather than sorry.
ˆFlashback end
Seeing the tell-tale crimson tipped blonde locks of his student, Iruka poured some more chakra into his legs as he sped towards the boy. While he was relieved to have found him first, he felt another strong chakra signature closing in on Naruto's location when he had been using his technique. Whoever was heading their way would not be as understanding as he was willing to be, and he had to get Naruto to the hokage fast. Finally jumping off of one last branch, Iruka was surprised by what he saw upon his arrival.
It looked as if Naruto had been in a battle of epic proportions. Trees were standing with scars, branches kunai and shuriken littered everywhere. Dried up blood could be seen on some of the fist marked indents in some of the trees, just testament to how hard the blonde had been punching them. The blonde himself though, barely looked any worse for wear. Standing in the middle of all that chaos and carnage stood the boy grinning with his patented million-watt smile, looking as if he won the lottery. He had quite a few bruises and scrapes that looked like they were already healing, and he looked like whatever he just accomplished he could do for the remainder of the night, and possibly into the morning.
"Heya Iruka-Sensei, I learned not only one of those super awesome techniques, I was even able to learn one of Jiji's favorites that he refused to teach me! Ain't I just a doll," he sarcastically asked. He really was proud of his work and was ready to show his beloved sensei just what he learned so he could graduate. Iruka was just about to bonk the knucklehead idiot on his strawberry head before all of the necks on his hair froze.
"Heh, to think that the stupid demon could actually manage to learn something from that scroll. Guess it won't take much for me to learn it's contents. Hell I bet Orochimaru-sama will reward me for being so adept. Before I get ahead of myself though, it's about time I take out the trash!"
Iruka didn't have time to register whose voice he and Naruto had heard, because pretty soon the loud Swoosh! of displaced air was the most pressing thing he was worried about. Catching the glint of steel at the last minute, Iruka practically raced towards Naruto in order to take a large fuma shuriken to the back, lodging itself directly into the center of the Uzumaki swirl on his flack jacket. Had he moved any slower, Naruto's head would have been taken clean off.
Kashink!
Everything happened in a blink of an eye for Naruto. One minute he was getting ready to get his shit rocked by his teacher, the next he was pushed on his butt as that same sensei literally took a shuriken for him. He would have cried at the act if it wasn't for his danger senses screaming at him to get a move on. As much as he wanted to agree with his body and actually move, he was rooted in his spot. This was the first time Naruto had ever seen anything like this, and he wasn't sure what he should do. It wasn't until his senei's blood hit his forhead, blending in with his hair, that he was snapped out of his stupor. Looking at the direction that the shuriken came from, Naruto's blood froze in his veins as he looked at their assailant.
Like it has been stated throughout this story, Naruto was no idiot. After playing different board games like shogi with Shikamaru, and different card games with the old man, he wasn't as green as he always alluded to be. Upon realizing that he had been tricked, the cold in his blood soon became unbearably hot, his rage burning at being betrayed.
"Oh, it looks like the stupid little demon realized he got duped. Hand me the scroll you little shit, or I'll kill you," Mizuki said as his voice dripped with malice and nefarious intent. On the inside though, he was giddy at the opportunity to kill the demon brat, who was responsible for the murder of his dearest mother and unborn little brother. "Speaking of demon, do you know why they call you that? Why the adults hate you? Why were you never allowed on field trips with other students? You think you're so smart and you haven't even the slightest of clues."
"Mizuki, no! Don't! You know that's forbidden by the Hokage!" Iruka yelled out.
"You are the nine-tailed fox Naruto. You alone brought destruction to this village. The Fourth Hokage could never kill the kyuubi, so he sealed it inside of you! That's why the villagers all hate you. That's why you'll never become hokage!' Mizuki frantically yelled. Laughing like a mad man at Naruto's now shadowed eyes and slumped shoulders, he continued. "Iruka never cared for you! You killed his mother and his father, forcing him to grow up as an orphan! How could he ever trust such a murderer, a monster like you!?"
As Iruka began to get up, he pulled the large shuriken out of his back, anger and adrenaline helping to barely register the pain of doing so. Shakily standing to his feet, he watched as Naruto began to shake to an uncontrollable degree. Deciding to take control of the situation he said, "You're right Mizuki. Those are things that makes a demon, and I cannot forgive the nine tails for what he's done." He paused to look down at Naruto's distraught appearance, knowing what he said in this moment would either make or break the boy. Steeling his eyes as he looked back at Mizuki, he fiercely declared, "But Naruto isn't like that! Naruto is my precious student, a citizen of the Hidden Leaf, not the nine tailed fox! I know the type of person Naruto is, sure he can be an annoying brat, but he's a kindhearted kid. You've made a grace mistake plotting against him and betraying the village, a mistake that's going to cost you your life."
"I've had enough of this main-character-empowerment banter Iruka. Come, so I can kill you and the brat." Mizuki said as both he and Iruka tensed their muscles, ready to charge in at each other's throats. As the two exchanged their words however, they failed to hear the slight high-pitched rumbling coming from Naruto's crouched position.
Finally having enough, Naruto burst out laughing and giggling at the top of his lungs, confusing the two chunin. Having held his laughter in for so long, he couldn't contain it any longer. The situations he found himself in were honestly too funny sometimes. Body shaking uncontrollably from laughter, he even began to roll around the clearing slamming his fist down on the grown in an attempt to stop himself. As the blonde continued to laugh, Mizuki began to grow irritated with the jinchuuriki. He felt as if the boy was mocking him.
"Hey demon cut that shit out! You finally snapped, have you?" He screamed at the boy.
Gathering himself together, the boy stood up as he dusted himself off, patting himself clear of any leftover grass. Wiping a tear away from his left eye, the boy straightened his self and stared directly into Mizuki's eyes. "Oh, wow you're such an idiot. I'm practically the closest thing to a sealing master that Konoha's got, you think I don't know the difference between a seal and what it contains? As for the nine-tails… I've always had a feeling, so thanks for confirming my suspicions. Sorry for laughing, I just couldn't help myself. I was so desperate to pass that I even listened to a dumbass like you who doesn't even know the first thing about fuinjutsu," he said. Bringing his arms up and making a cross sign with his hands to mold his chakra properly, he flared it a bit to make a grandiose showing. Steeling his warm blue eyes over, he directed his next words to his former teacher venomously. "You can say what you want about me, I don't give a damn. But if you ever lay a finger on Iruka-sensei, I'll kill you! Stay back Iruka-sensei, let me show you why I'm going to be hokage! Kage Bunshin Jutsu!"
Suddenly, the clearing was engulfed in orange, yellow and red. Clones of the blonde were gathered everywhere, menacing grins on their faces as they pounded their fist into their palms. And it wasn't just the clearing, no there were clones of the preteen standing on some of the branches of the trees, all poised and ready to strike. Some slid into fighting stances, others unsealed appeared to be a wooden bo staff with silver caps on the end, twirling it effortlessly. Realizing the situation he was in, Mizuki began to turn and attempt to run, only to find every possible exit blocked off.
"Nowhere to run! Charge!" Naruto ordered his army of clones. Upon his command, an orange surge of movement erupted in the clearing, smacking and pulverizing the traitorous teacher beyond recognition. Once every single clone had at least gotten a hit in, Naruto dispelled them before unsealing a chakra restraining tag from a seal inside his jacket. Turning to face his surprised sensei, Naruto gave his signature smile before swaying slightly and falling to his knees. Before he could touch the ground however, Iruka caught him on his back, careful of his own injury. Placing the now sleep blonde against the nearest tree trunk, he applied a bit of first aid to his self, wincing while he made the effort to patch up his back. Once he was sure that he would be able to fight in the event Mizuki woke up before Naruto, he walked over to the traitor to tie him up in ropes. Finally, he walked back over to where Naruto was, and deciding to reward the boy for his efforts, he slipped the green goggles that the boy had been wearing since the day he met him off of his head. As his crimson dipped locks fell over his head, Iruka untied his own forehead protector off of his head. Rubbing his thumb over the leaf insignia in the metal he thought to himself, 'I'm giving this to you Naruto, entrusting it to you as a leaf shinobi, no as the future Hokage. I know you're destined to do great things.'
After he placed his headband on Naruto's forehead, he didn't have to wait long for the boy to wake up. True to his clan's nature of being stamina freaks, Naruto began to flutter his eyes open not even ten minutes after Iruka swapped his goggles for his forehead protector. Groaning as he sat up, he looked at his sensei before remembering everything that had just happened. Eyes widening, he quickly rushed to where his sensei was. "Iruka-sensei! Are you okay? I guess I went a little overboard with that many clones, even though I did it ten times earlier no sweat," Naruto said as he checked over his sensei. Something was off though; he just couldn't put his finger on it…
Chuckling at his student's worry over him, Iruka waved him off and beckoned him closer. Once Naruto was near enough, he simply tossed him a kunai, and pointed his thumb at his forehead. Confused, Naruto looked at his sensei's now exposed forehead before realizing that he had never actually seen Iruka's entire face in all the years he spent under the man's tutelage. Then like a lightbulb had been switched on, he realized that he never saw his forehead because it was always covered by his forehead protector. Which was missing. Come to think of it, when did his goggles ever feel so light and cloth-y?
Turning the kunai to his eyesight, Naruto almost dropped the dangerous blade when he saw his reflection. With Iruka's headband on his head, Naruto looked like a certified bad ass. The coolest of cool. As he took in his new appearance, Iruka decided to impart some good news to his *not* favorite student. "Naruto, tonight you have proven to me that you are more than capable and deserving of being a ninja for Konohagakure. Technically, it's still the day of the final exam, and you displayed mastery in all three techniques, even able to flood this area with solid clones. If you can master an A-rank jutsu like that one, you're more than deserving of that headband. The road ahead of you will be hard, much harder than what you faced tonight. But I believe in you Naruto, and I'm starting to think you might actually become the hokage one day. Congratulations Naruto. You pass." Iruka said as he stood up and looked down at the tears welling up in the boy's eyes.
Surging with emotions of gratitude, respect, and love, Naruto tackled his sensei in a bone crushing hug, crying into the older male's flack jacket. They stayed like that for a minute, Naruto letting go of all of his pent-up emotions from the events of the night. Even though he put up a brave front and even though he trained fiercely with the Sandaime, he was still a twelve-year-old boy. A preteen who, just recently found out that the reason the village hated him was beyond his control. A kid who was just thrown into a life-or-death situation, after being betrayed by someone he thought he could trust. He continued to cry as his tears turned from frustration to gratitude as he thought about Iruka, and how he wholeheartedly cared for and believed in Naruto. For that, Naruto was grateful beyond measure.
Iruka let Naruto get it all out, knowing that the boy had a lot to carry. After some time, he finally spoke up. "Come on Naruto, we have to get this traitor to Lord Hokage, along with the scroll that you took. If we finish up there fast enough, maybe we can go to Ichiraku's to celebrate."
Drying up his tears and giving Iruka a real, genuine smile Naruto nodded before walking over to retrieve Mizuki. Once he approached him, he rolled up his right arm sleeve before channeling chakra into his forearm. Immediately, several black ink markings appeared on his skin. Running his left hand over one in particular, he unsealed a scroll with the kanji for "Living Storage Seal" on it and proceeded to seal Mizuki away. Once that was done, Naruto sealed the scroll back into his arm and turned to Iruka. "Let's do it!"
After the student-teacher pair had dinner, Iruka bid Naruto goodnight. As he walked in the direction of his apartment, he kept his eyes fixated on the stone faces of the Hokage Monument. After all these years, he was finally getting started on his path to hokage. As he studied the faces of each of them, his eyes landed and lingered on the spiky bust of the fourth hokage. He was responsible for the burden Naruto was now aware that he had to carry. He was the reason all of the villagers hated him, ignored him. Yet for some reason, he was still Naruto's hero and role model. Knowing that he sealed away a being as powerful as the nine-tails only cemented his respect for the Yellow Flash's fuinjutsu prowess.
Finally reaching his apartment, Naruto stopped by his various plants on his porch to say goodnight to each of them. As he fumbled in his pocket for his keys he gave one last challenging look at the stone faces, specifically aimed in the direction of the third and fourth. "Just you wait you old geezers. I'm going to be the best Hokage there ever was, and I'm gonna be the strongest too. Naruto Uzumaki will go down as the greatest shinobi of all time. Believe it!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs, progressively getting louder with each word.
"Hey shut that shit up you damn loon! Some of us are sleeping here!" a distant voice yelled at him from the complex two buildings down.
"Teehee sorry," Naruto replied before finally finding his keys and walking into his humble abode. He had a long way to go before he made good on what he just said but he was ready to get started. That would have to wait for tomorrow though, as Naruto practically collapsed on his bed when he entered his room. As he drifted off into sleep's embrace, the whiskered genin smiled a satisfied smile. He was finally a ninja.
Whew! 8k+ plus words in this one so I hope that makes up for the delayed update. I also have been reading the reviews I know I'm only sitting at 6 or so right now but seeing the positive reception this story is having is really cool. This chapter was a lot to get out because I had to map out a lot of things and explain some things that would help explain the way things are in this universe. If there were any plot holes or anything that just overall confused you guys don't be scared to pm me or leave a review and I'll try to amend it.
I know some of you may be confused as to why Naruto didn't know the shadow clone yet, and that's because while he is leagues ahead of beginning canon Naruto, I didn't want to take this moment away from his development. That and I wanted it to explain why he didn't get stronger by the shadow clone method. Nobody wants an overpowered shadow clone spamming freak to be the main star lol. As for what else Naruto learned while he waited on Mizuki… well that's for you guys to find out.
Well, I'll try to get the next chapter up some time in the next two weeks, it'll cover the bell test and some rookie 9 interactions. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Love you guys! - TSM
