Hello. So this is chapter 4.

Krecier, that was what I intended actually. So before we go into the chapter. Just in case anyone is curious, the council will only contain shinobi, Danzo, and the elders. No civilians in the council, so the only ones who are 'bad' in the council will be Danzo and the elders.

Just wanted to try the 'No civilian council' thing as someone mentioned it once.

So yeah, let's start with the chapter.

XXX

A few days later, Kirito had finally finished forging both swords. (Surely I don't need to tell you how they look) As he took them out, Kayaba whistled, "Wow, I must say, these are masterpieces. They are well balanced, made of chakra metal. You really went all out. I'm impressed."

Kirito smiled shyly, "Thank you, sensei. But I still have ways to go."

Kayaba nodded as he studied the swords, "True. But to be honest, I've taught you everything I could in terms of forgery and fighting. You could actually leave and open up your own shop. The village really needs another blacksmith. Higurashi and I really have our work cut out. And the guy has his whole family working."

Kirito chuckled, "Maybe I will."

Kayaba nodded, "I can help you set up the shop and stuff. Hell, I'd even help you buy a shop. Honestly, I don't mind the work, but being one of the only two forges, its tiring."

Kirito nodded, "Okay. We'll set up a shop."

Kayaba grinned, "Nice. So, what are you going to name these swords?"

Kirito looked at them and grinned, "Elucidator and Dark Repulsor."

Kayaba nodded, "Not bad. But a little contradictory, don't ya think?"

Kirito blinked, "Really?"

The master nodded, "You ordered a full black coat and pants with gloves. You're practically all dark, but you named your swords to light up the darkness."

Kirito just grinned, "Eh, but its cool."

Kayaba nodded as he went back to working as Kirito thought of the girls. As promised, he didn't tell Hikari anything, but it still bothered him.

Deciding to file it off for later, he went back to making sheathes for his swords.

Meanwhile, with Asuna, Suguha, Sinon and Hikari. The four girls were back in the apartment. They had finished training and decided to go home early.

After they cleaned up, they sat at the sofa. Asuna asked, "Hey, when are you girls telling him?"

The three other girls immediately knew what she meant. Suguha looked at the table, "I don't know. Besides, he can only choose one of us."

Sinon nodded, "Yeah, to be honest I don't mind sharing. But..."

Hikari nodded, "I know. Stupid laws."

Asuna smiled, "Well, I don't mind either. But you don't think Kirito-kun has someone else he likes?"

Sinon looked at the auburn haired girl, "Are you serious?"

Asuna nodded, "I mean, we are all going to be kunoichi. We probably won't live as long as he will."

The three other girls stayed silent as they sat there. Suguha then decided to change the subject, "But, to think Kirito-kun learns martial arts."

The other girls nodded.

(Flashback a few days earlier)

After Kirito learned about Hikari's lineage, he went back home. When he entered the apartment, he found the four girls waiting for him.

The boy's first reaction was to tell Hikari about what he learned, but he forced it down even if it pained him.

Asuna asked with a sweet smile, "So, Kirito-kun, can you explain?"

Kirito chuckled nervously, "Well, I've been learning martial arts from Kayaba-sensei. He said I should learn it just in case. Besides, I mean we were just fighting with fists, no ninjutsu or anything, right?"

Suguha sighed, "You should have told us though."

Kirito laughed sheepishly, "Sorry, I'll make it up to you girls. I'll do anything."

He almost regretted it when he saw the gleam in their eyes.

So the next day, after class, the girls dragged him shopping and helped his wallet cut some weight.

(Flashback end)

Asuna giggled, "At least we got some clothes."

The three other girls nodded as they continued to talk about random stuff until Kirito came back.

Two years later, Kirito and the girls were now 15. Kayaba had helped his student set up a new store near Kirito's apartment and even helped him get equipment for blacksmithing.

Kirito had also stopped working for Teuchi, who said that he had nothing to teach Kirito and all he needed was practise. So this left him with more time.

In less than a few months, many of the ninja had decided to go to Kirito for weapons, which relieved the other two blacksmiths since it reduced their load of work. But there was someone who wasn't that happy, and Kirito could still remember it.

(Flashback a year ago)

After class, Kirito was cleaning the counter when he heard the door open. A girl with her hair tied in two buns stomped in.

Kirito asked, "May I help you?"

The girl huffed, "So you're the new blacksmith... you don't seem much."

Kirito blinked, "Umm, is anything wrong?"

The girl glared at the boy, "My name is Higurashi Tenten. From now on, you are my rival!"

(Flashback end)

After that, Kirito had asked Kayaba and Tenten's father, Higurashi Ryuu about it. The two blacksmiths had laughed at the boy and just told him to suck it up.

Now, Kirito was going to graduate from the academy and frankly it didn't mean much now since he had his shop.

The boy sat in his seat as he stared at the clock. He had finished his paper in less than half an hour and he still had an hour left.

The boy sighed. The four girls that lived with him had grown even more beautiful and no one did not know them. Their fanclubs, to his annoyance, had grown by a huge margin. Sasuke had also grown aggressive with his advances which annoyed Hikari.

The girls had maintained their positions of being the top four students and no one had come close to matching them. Unfortunately, Hikari still couldn't, to her frustration, do the Bunshin no jutsu properly.

Speaking of Hikari, the village had reduced their animosity towards them. They stopped the mobs quite a few years ago and now they glared less at her or any of the five for that matter.

Kirito however, was still hated by most of the male populace in the academy since it was a well-known fact that he lived with them. It was also somewhat an open secret that the four girls all liked Kirito, which the boy knew nothing of.

Kirito looked at the clock again and saw he had 45 minutes left and just decided to sleep. The other students and the examiner sweatdropped at that since he was the first to complete whereas most were just finishing half of the paper.

After the test, Kirito walked out of the class. He didn't bother to attend the graduation ceremony and the girls were probably still in class. He vaguely remembered them saying something about a taijutsu class or something.

The boy entered a cafe right beside his shop. The cafe was called Dicey Cafe and was opened by a foreigner from Kaminari no kuni.

He entered and saw two men sitting by the table. One was a dark skinned man named Andrew Gilbert mills, the owner of the cafe, and he prefered people to call him Agil.

The other was a man with slight red hair. He had a bandana on his head and held a sake cup. The man was Klein Ryotaro and he was a civilian who practised kendo.

Klein grinned when he saw the teen, "Yo, Kiri-no-ji!"

Kirito waved, "Hey, Klein, Agil."

Agil grinned and gave the teen a glass of coffee, "So you're done with the test?"

Kirito nodded, "Yeah, it was easy. Now I can focus on my shop full time."

Klein gave the teen a smirk, "That means you're one of us now right? An adult."

Kirito sighed, "Who knows? Besides, shouldn't you be working and not drinking?"

Klein laughed, "Who cares?"

Kirito looked at Agil, "He got fired again, didn't he?"

The bald man could only nod. Kirito shook his head, "You should just work for Agil or me, Klein."

The man just laughed, "Don't worry! I will get a stable job soon! I need it for the girls ya know?"

Kirito shook his head as he sipped his coffee, "Well, I don't think you'll get any at this rate."

Agil sighed and looked at Kirito, "But shouldn't you be with your friends? As in similar aged boys?"

Kirito deadpanned, "I live with four of the most popular girls in the academy. Any male in the academy hates me."

Agil laughed, "Well, that's true."

A voice then said, "Can't blame them though, but that's why Kirito is friends with creepy old men like us."

The three turned to see Kayaba Akihiko walking to them. Kirito greeted, "Kayaba-sensei."

The blacksmith smiled, "Hello, Kirito. How's your coat?"

Kirito grinned, "Its awesome. With those seals on it I can store anything on it and it won't weigh a thing."

Kayaba nodded, "Good. By the way, how are the sword skills coming?"

Kirito grinned, "I've almost finished the ones you gave me."

(Flashback)

A few years ago, some time before Kayaba taught Kirito the Acceleration and the wings.

Kirito stood in front of Kayaba. The master said, "Kirito, I'll be teaching you sword skills. Unlike the spells I showed you, the sword skills require no incantations and can be used almost immediately."

The man grabbed his shield and sword. Kayaba then took a stance as his blade glowed, "This is a sword skill. We, you and I, cannot use chakra the normal way. Our coils are too small for the chakra flow required for ninjutsu and genjutsu."

Kayaba swung the blade at a metal dummy and sliced through it cleanly, "But it also provides us with a superb amount of control. Our sword skills require that amount of control to even be able to activate the simplest of the skills."

Kirito nodded as his master continued, "That's not to say normal shinobi cannot use our skills, but it'd require a huge amount of control. The closest thing they can do is just infuse the weapons with elemental chakra. We can do more."

Kayaba then threw Kirito a one-handed sword, "To use dual-wielded swords, you need to learn to use one-handed sword skills first. Your first skill, is the Slant skill."

(Flashback end)

Kayaba nodded, "Good, I'll give another set of them after you've finished them."

Kirito nodded in response as he continued to drink his coffee. Kirito then asked Agil, "So, Agil, anything new these days?"

The man grinned, "Well, heard from Kakashi that next year's gennin might be good."

Kirito snorted, "No shit, the girls' class consists of all clan heirs and a few with serious potential."

Agil chuckled, "Well, I doubt they'll be a match for you."

Klein laughed, "Of course not, Kiri-no-ji can best all of them without even drawing his second sword."

Kirito sighed, "Maybe."

Kayaba then said, "By the way, I heard someone who couldn't use chakra passed the Gennin exam."

Kirito raised an eyebrow, "Oh? That's interesting, if he couldn't use chakra, how did he even enter the academy?"

Agil chuckled, "Eh, he must have had the minimum amount but it didn't develop well. A rare case, but your's is even rarer."

Kirito just stared at his cup, "I don't really care about being a ninja, all I want is to be able to protect my family."

Agil laughed, "That's why I like you kid, unlike Klein here, you are a real man."

Klein grew a tickmark, "Oi, what is that supposed to mean?!"

Agil grinned, "I meant that Kirito is a real man and not a creepy old bastard like you."

Klein just grumbled as the others laughed.

Later at night, Kirito was cooking dinner when the four girls entered the apartment. Kirito grinned, "Hey girls."

The girls only replied vaguely as the four of them slumped onto the sofa.

As Kirito finished cooking, he said, "Food's ready."

The girls tiredly sat down onto the table as they all said, "Itadakimasu."

Kirito saw the tired faces and asked, "What's wrong?"

Hikari groaned, "Iruka-sensei is a slave driver. He made us fight in an all out taijutsu only battle royale and an obstacle course after his stupid lectures."

Sinon glared at the blonde slightly, "At least you lasted long, my taijutsu is still lacking."

Asuna giggled tiredly, "Well, at least it didn't go that bad. Besides, Iruka-sensei's talks aren't that bad."

Suguha grumbled, "You won the matches and completed the obstacle course easily. Besides, you and Hinata are probably the only two people who like his lectures."

Kirito chuckled, "Just bear with it, you only have one more year. Think of it as building character."

Sinon sighed, "Easy for you to say, you're already out of the academy. Try sitting in one of Iruka-sensei's classes."

Kirito chuckled, "Maybe not."

They continued eating before Kirito spoke, "By the way, I'm thinking of renovating our apartment. No one is staying beside us, so I am thinking of buying it and expanding it."

The girls stared at the boy. Asuna asked, "Do we even have the money?"

Kirito grinned, "Of course, I've been saving up from the money Kayaba-sensei and Teuchi-ojisan gave me. Plus with our weekly allowances, I can buy a larger house, but buying the apartment beside ours and combining them is better."

The girls nodded. Hikari said, "Well, for now you're the one who controls the money, so go ahead. It won't hurt to have more space after all."

Suguha and Sinon nodded in agreement. Kirito nodded, "Okay, I'll ask Hokage-sama about it then."

(Timeskip a year later. This will probably be the last 'year' timeskip in a while)

Kirito had bought the apartment and renovated the whole apartment. Now, everyone had their own rooms, with two toilets, a larger living room with a larger sofa and a bigger kitchen with tables.

They were now 16 and the current batch were almost graduating. In the girls' class, a new teacher had joined in as Iruka's assistant, a man named Mizuki.

The teacher obviously hated Hikari and didn't do a good job hiding it. He had tried to discredit the girl every chance he could, and it did more harm than good for himself. As a result, just about the whole academy's populace disliked the teacher and pranked him whenever they could.

Now, the five of them were having breakfast. Kirito said as he swallowed a mouthful of bread, "You girls are taking the graduation test today, right?"

The girls nodded and Hikari said worriedly, "I still can't do the Bunshin no jutsu. I hope Iruka-sensei let's me pass."

Suguha assured the girl, "You will pass, your results are more than enough."

Sinon and Asuna nodded. Kirito grinned, "Don't worry, last year, a guy who couldn't use chakra passed. I'm sure you can do it."

Hikari smiled, feeling a bit more confident, "Thanks guys."

After finishing the food, Kirito got up and grabbed moved to the door, "Well, I wish you all good luck. I want to see those headbands later."

With that the teen left the apartment for his shop. The girls quickly cleaned up and headed for the academy.

As Hikari, Asuna, Sinon and Suguha reached their class, they entered to the familiar sight of their classmates. Ino and Sakura were still arguing over Sasuke. Shikamaru was sleeping, Shino and Kiba were talking to Hinata who was petting Akamaru while Sasuke just stared at the window. The other students just sat around and talked.

The four girls went for their seats just as Iruka and Mizuki walked in. The class quickly quieted down as the scarred man spoke, "Good morning class, so today we'll be doing your graduation test. I bid you all good luck."

The man paused a bit before he said, "So, we will be doing the written test first, then the taijutsu test, the genjutsu test and the ninjutsu test."

Iruka nodded to Mizuki who started distributing the papers, "We will now give you the papers, do not open them until I say so."

Meanwhile, Kirito had just finished opening his shop and was about to work on cleaning a kodachi.

As he cleaned the sword, he noticed Agil walking in with a serious face. Kirito asked, "What's up?"

Agil said seriously, "Kirito, I think you'd want to hear this."

The dark-skinned man took out a recorder, "This was from one of my informants around the village. He knows about you and your four girls and recorded this."

Agil played the recorder as Mizuki's voice came out, "Today I will get the scroll, I will also use the demon for it. Don't worry, I will definitely deliver it.

Another voice replied, "You better deliver. I do not care what happens to the Jinchurikii, at least not anymore. If need be, kill the girl. We want no witnesses."

Mizuki's voice replied and Kirito could hear his smugness, "Of course. Orochimaru-sama will definitely get the scroll and I will finally kill that bitch."

The recording ended and Agil looked at Kirito, "So, what will you do? Tell the Hokage?"

Kirito nodded with a dark look, "I will, but not before I butcher that bastard. Help me send the recording to Hokage-sama, will you?"

He quickly scribbled a note, "And pass this to him too."

Agil nodded, "Sure, but what will you do?"

Kirito smirked, "I'm gonna get ready."

Back with the test, the class was starting to do the ninjutsu test. Everyone had passed the previous tests easily.

Iruka spoke, "Okay, we'll start according to your names. Aburame Shino."

The teen nodded and went in before coming out with a headband after a while. Iruka nodded and said, "Asada Sinon."

The girl stood up and gave her friends a smile and went in. A while later, she came out with a headback around her neck.

Hikari gave the brunette a thumbs up as Iruka continued to call names.

After a few names, Iruka spoke, "Kirigaya Suguha."

The girl stood up and went in before she came out with a headband soon after, also placed around her neck.

After a while, Iruka said, "Uzumaki Hikari."

The girl nervously stood up before Asuna said, "Hikari-chan, you can do it."

The blonde looked at her friends and nodded, "Wish me luck."

She then went in. Iruka nodded at one of his best students, "Hikari-chan, so for the ninjutsu test, you will need to do four jutsu, one of your own choosing, the Henge no jutsu, the Kawarimi no jutsu and the Bunshin no jutsu."

Hikari nodded and did the Teppodama with ease. She then did both basic jutsu with ease. But when she did the Bunshin no Jutsu, Mizuki smirked and casted a subtle genjutsu on the unsuspecting Iruka before he flashed through handsigns and thought, 'Chakra chuudan no jutsu.'

The girl finished the last handsign for the clone jutsu and channeled chakra through her hands. Then for a short moment, she felt her chakra go haywire and a sick clone came out.

Hikari sighed in disappoint and looked at Iruka hopefully. But his next words caused everything crashing down, "I'm sorry, Hikari, but you fail."

Mizuki was smirking as Hikari walked out of the class. The man then casted another genjutsu on Iruka, a stronger one on top of the weaker one he casted earlier.

Mizuki then walked back to the class as Iruka walked out of the room to Hikari.

Mizuki walked into the class and said, "Well, congratulations everyone. You all passed. Iruka had something to do, so he'll come back later."

The man started to talk about useless shit of being a ninja etc. Asuna, Suguha and Sinon all shared worried looks as they didn't see Hikari.

Meanwhile, Hikari sat on the swing outside of the academy. She wanted to cry, she just lost her chance at advancing with her friends. The girl wondered if this was how Kirito felt when he found out he couldn't be a ninja.

As the girl sulked, she heard Iruka's voice, "Hikari, I'm sorry for failing you. You're one of my best students. I hate to see you not pass."

Hikari felt a bit hopeful as she looked at Iruka, "You mean?"

The man nodded, "Just for you, I'll set up a different test for you."

He passed her a slip, "Open this when you leave home at 10pm. I'll meet you in the forest, the specifics are all there."

Hikari beamed and took the slip, failing to notice the glazed look on her teacher.

Later, Asuna, Sinon and Suguha all exited the academy to see Hikari waiting for them. Sinon asked, "Are you fine, Hikari-chan?"

Hikari gave them a smile, "I'm fine. Everything is gonna be fine."

Suguha asked again, "Are you sure?"

The blonde nodded, "I'll tell you later at home."

The four nodded and left for their apartment. As soon as they left, Sasuke came out of the academy, looking for Hikari. He sighed in disappointment as he couldn't find her and he didn't know where she stayed.

Meanwhile, Kirito was standing in front of the Hokage. Hiruzen sighed, "This is indeed troublesome. I have no doubt Hikari could pass, but to think Mizuki is a traitor."

Kirito nodded, "Permission to kill him, sir?"

Hiruzen looked at the teen and nodded, "Go ahead, even if I didn't, I'm sure you would do it anyways."

Kirito looked serious, "He threatened Hikari-chan."

The old Hokage nodded, "Indeed he did, and he also manipulated the test scores and casted a genjutsu on Iruka."

Kirito stayed silent as the Hokage continued, "You're not a ninja, at least not one of the normal way, so for now I'll give you missions loosely so you can manage your shop. This will be your first one. I'll tell the Anbu to form a border around the area."

Kirito nodded and turned to leave the Hokage's office.

Back at the apartment, Hikari sat down on the sofa, "Iruka-sensei said because I couldn't do the Bunshin, he needs to give me another test. So I'm doing it at night."

Asuna blinked, "I've never heard of a test like that?"

Suguha let out a breath, "Well, at least Hikari-chan can pass."

Sinon nodded, "But didn't you notice Iruka-sensei seemed a bit... off?"

Asuna nodded, "He seemed to be distracted or something. Probably the thing Mizuki-sensei said."

The girls just nodded. The door then opened to reveal Kirito. The boy greeted, "I'm back."

The girls greeted the teen as he sat on the couch, "So, how did it go?"

Hikari smiled, "Asuna-chan, Suguha-chan and Sinon-chan passed. I couldn't do the Bunshin no jutsu so I'll be taking another test at night."

Kirito nodded, "I see. Good luck then. I have a project due tomorrow, so after dinner I'm heading back to the shop, you girls don't need to wait for me, I mighy be back after midnight."

The girls nodded. Asuna said, "Just don't overwork, you need rest too."

Kirito grinned, "Of course, don't worry."

Later, after dinner, Kirito had left the apartment for his shop. The teen entered the shop and put on his coat and strapped on his swords to his back. Then he just sat there and waited for time to pass.

With Hikari, she had left the apartment and was near the Hokage's tower. She opened the slip and saw instructions in it. The girl carefully followed them until she reached the destination, a huge scroll named the Forbidden Scroll.

Hikari looked around for guards before she took the scroll and quickly moved out of the building as she headed for the rendezvous point in the forest.

As soon as she reached the place, she looked around and saw that no one was there. The Uzumaki looked at the huge scroll and became curious. Carefully setting it down, Hikari opened the scroll and started to read.

A while later, Mizuki arrived to see Hikari reading the scroll. He tch'd before he spoke, "Hikari, well done."

The girl blinked and looked at the man, "Mizuki-sensei? What are you doing here? Where's Iruka-sensei?"

Mizuki stood on the branch and replied, "He had an errand, so I came instead. I've gotta say, I'm impressed, even if I don't like you."

Hikari beamed, "So do I pass? Where's my headband?"

Mizuki grinned, "You pass. And you'll get your headband later, in the afterlife!"

The man unsealed a fuuma shuriken and flung it at the girl. If it wasn't for her quick reflexes, Hikari would have been killed. The girl yelled, "What was that for?!"

Mizuki growled, "Shut up, demon. I've tolerated your existence long enough. You act like you're one of us, even taking the form of a cute girl. You might have fooled everyone, but not me!"

The man drew a katana, "You ever know why people hated you in the beginning? Why everyone called you a demon?"

Hikari flinched as she backed away, completely ignoring the scroll. Mizuki smirked, "That's because you're a demon, you're THE DEMON! You were born on 10th of October, I'm sure you know what date that was."

Hikari paled, "No... shut up..."

Mizuki's smirk widened, "That's right! You are the Kyuubi itself! YOU were the one who killed all those people, YOU were the ones who caused all those kids to be orphaned! Especially that family of yours! I wonder if they would care for you if they found out?"

Hikari fell to the floor as she started to hyperventilate. Mizuki jumped to the floor and punched the girl hard in the face. He gripped her hair and slapped her in the cheeks hard.

The man then raised his sword, "I would have had a little fun with that cute body of yours, but then I remember you're the Kyuubi, so just DIE!"

The girl waited for the sword to pierce her. But it never came. Instead, she fell to the floor, and in front of her stood a figure with a black coat. The girl started to lose consciousness as Kirito came to mind.

The teen cursed as he noticed Hikari on the floor, "I was almost too late."

Kirito glared at the man in front of him, "Mizuki. You just made a big mistake."

The man glared at the boy, holding his sword hand, "A mistake? I was close to being a hero! I was going to finish what the Yondaime Hokage started!"

Kirito glared at the worm in front of him and slowly drew the Elucidator from its sheath, the black sword gleaming dangerously under the moonlight, "You threatened one of my family. You hurted her. For that, you deserve death. No, you deserve more than that."

In a flash of red, Mizuki found Kirito in front of him, sword poised to strike. The Chuunin barely had enough time to raise his sword as Kirito swung his blade.

As the blades met, a piece of Mizuki's katana flew off as Kirito's black blade sliced through the traitor's sword easily.

Kirito huffed, "That wasn't even worth calling a sword. A piece of scrap metal."

Mizuki growled and threw the hilt away and drew a fuuma shuriken. The traitor swung the shuriken like a sword at Kirito.

The teen stood still as the shuriken came down. Then, to the shock of Mizuki, Kirito raised his left hand... and grabbed the shuriken firmly as it came down.

The teen stared at the man coldly, "You should have thought twice when you chose to use Hikari-chan."

Kirito ripped the shuriken off of Mizuki's hold and threw it away. Kirito then drew his sword back as it glowed light blue. The teen brought the sword down vertically and sliced off Mizuki's left arm.

Kirito then drew his sword back again. The Elucidator started to glow sky blue and Kirito moved.

The teen swung his sword from the right to the left, leaving a gash on Mizuki's chest. He then brought the sword back and slashed again, leaving another gash on the traitor's chest.

Using the momentum, Kirito started to spin around Mizuki, unleashing another slash on Mizuki's abdomen before he unleashed a final slash on Mizuki's back.

The four slashes on Mizuki's body glowed and unleashed a square of pure energy from the traitor's body.

Kirito flicked the blood off his sword and sheathed it, "Horizontal Square."

As soon as the square disappeared, Mizuki's body fell apart onto the ground.

Kirito sighed and quickly went to pick roll up the scroll, noticing that Hikari had bebeen reading it. He sealed the scroll into one of his pocket seals and picked Hikari up.

Spreading his wings, the teen flew towards the Hokage tower.

XXX

Done. So the next chapter will be a talk with the Hokage. Team placements and so on. Review please.

Just a list of skills Kirito used this chapter :

Vertical

Horizontal Square