Chapter Two

Decisions

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Hiruzen glanced through the doorway at the sleeping form of the boy he had come to see as a surrogate grandson.

A boy who now topped just over six feet tall and was green.

"And he was bigger than this? Are you certain?"

"I am." Iruka said from his wheelchair. "When he took down Mizuki, he was close to nine feet tall. He was still over seven feet tall when we arrived at the hospital."

Hiruzen glanced down the corridor to the high-security room at the end, where two ANBU stood guard. Even though the door was closed, his memory supplied the image of Mizuki lying on the bed, over half the bones in his body broken or pulverized to the point that short of Tsunade returning and performing what would be, even for her, a miracle, his career as a Shinobi was now over even without the charges of treason levelled against him.

"What shall I do with you, Naruto?" Hiruzen sighed, looking at the sleeping boy once again. "What happened to you? And how shall I explain it to everyone?"

Iruka coughed to get Hiruzen's attention.

"We could pass it off as a bloodline, I mean everyone knows Naruto's an orphan, so who's to say that he didn't have an ancestor who he inherited this ability from? And as for what it is, from how he carried me to here, he's stronger than Maito Gai, able to jump huge distances and from how he smashed through that tree, he's very, very tough. Of course, we still need to find out what he learned from the Scroll."

Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully. "When he wakes up, I'll have a long talk with him. I suspect he learned the first technique on the scroll, the Kage Bunshin. If he has, he will become a Genin."

Iruka smiled. "Good. He deserves it, after all he's been through."

"I'll have to have someone spar with him, get a feel for how tough he is." Hiruzen added. "What?"

"He… his taijutsu isn't very good." Iruka admitted. "He didn't really pay attention to the demonstrations."

"Given his chakra levels, I'm amazed he was even able to sit through half of each lesson." Hiruzen chuckled. "You must have really impressed him if he managed to sit through a full lesson."

"Chakra levels?" Iruka repeated, then he paled. "So that's why he couldn't do the Bunshin!"

Hiruzen paused. "You… did read his file, didn't you? I'm certain that it was mentioned…"

"I was told it was classified by… Mizuki…"

Hiruzen face-palmed. "Looks like I need to add more charges against that traitor."

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Hiruzen smiled up at Naruto as he was escorted into his office by Ibiki. Since his normal outfit no longer fitted, Naruto was now clad in ANBU-style sandals, trousers and vest with a sleeveless orange Haori over the top. His forehead was still adorned by his goggles, acting to hold his hair back and Hiruzen covertly twitched his hand, checking that the Hitai-ate in his sleeve hadn't fallen out.

"Hello, Naruto." He said in greeting, waving for Naruto to be seated. "Ibiki, you have the results?"

The scarred man handed over a file that Hiruzen opened and leafed through.

"Hmmm, low levels of writing skill… problems with reading comprehension? You'll need to work on that, Naruto. Being Hokage involves a lot of paperwork. Low taijutsu… Kage Bunshin… has Ibiki explained the details of that technique to you?"

Naruto nodded and opened his mouth, only to close it again as Ibiki gave him a warning glance.

"Chakra control low… but I see Ibiki has started you on tree-walking and water-walking."

"I have two of my own clones overseeing a dozen of his." Ibiki interjected.

"Umm-hmm, very good. Strength increases when angry… is this accurate?"

Ibiki nodded and Hiruzen's eyebrows briefly vanished under his hat.

"Speed… agility… reflexes… I see. Wind element… Yes. Very good."

Hiruzen slowly closed the file and looked at Naruto.

"I'll be blunt." Hiruzen stated. "You need a lot of remedial training. True, you could probably pound anyone into the ground in a straight fight, but Shinobi almost never fight like that. I had hoped to place you on a team, but you need far more individual attention than a normal Jonin-Sensei could provide if we are to overcome your weaknesses and get you to the level I know you can reach."

Naruto stared at Hiruzen, hope dawning and Hiruzen flicked the Hitai-ate to Naruto, smiling as the boy snagged it out of the air.

"Your Sensei will meet you outside your front door at eight tomorrow morning."

"Thanks, Jiji!" Naruto half-yelled, then he sat back down quickly as Ibiki quirked an eyebrow at him. "…sorry."

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Naruto opened the door and paused at the sight of the man waiting for him. Although he vaguely remembered having seen him before (the twisted scar across his nose and covering part of his left cheek being highly recognisable), but he couldn't remember his name.

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Yes?"

"That is Yes, Sensei or Yes, Sir from this point on." The man stated. somehow managing to loom over Naruto despite the fact that they were the same height. "I am Tokubetsu Jonin Namiashi Raido, you will refer to me as Raido-Sensei. Understand?"

"Yes… Raido-Sensei!" Naruto quickly added as Raido glared at him.

"Good. I will do my best to train you to a level I deem to be adequate. We will be performing missions with other teams, but for the first week, I will be overseeing your training. Morino Ibiki was kind enough to inform me about your strengths and weaknesses, so I know what to concentrate on. Now, get ready and follow me."

Naruto pulled on his sandals and grabbed his Kunai pouch, attaching it to his leg as Raido watched. Dashing outside, he closed the door behind him and Raido nodded in approval.

"For the first day, that was acceptable. I expect you to be fully ready and waiting by eight from now on."

"Hai, Raido-Sensei!"

"Good. Now, follow me." Raido commanded as he moved towards the stairs. As they descended, Raido continued talking.

"Since Ibiki has already informed you of the memory-aspect of Kage Bunshin, be aware that we will be using it. I have recruited two others to aid for the first week, you will give them your full attention. At the end of the week, I will decide if you have advanced enough to begin taking missions. You do not want to disappoint me."

"No, Raido-Sensei!" Naruto gulped.

"Excellent. Now, we are… Good morning, Yuhi-san. Heading to the Academy to collect your team?"

"I am." the black-haired woman replied as she fell into step with Raido, casting a glance back at Naruto. "Is that…?"

"Naruto, this is Jonin Yuhi Kurenai. Yuhi-san, meet Genin Uzumaki Naruto." Raido confirmed. "I'll be training him up this week, but after that, perhaps we could do some co-operative missions. I know that my genjutsu skills are nowhere near as good as yours while I can still beat you with kenjutsu."

"Your knowledge of poisons could prove valuable to my Genin as well." Kurenai mused. "Shall we discuss schedules at the end of the week?"

"I would appreciate it." Raido confirmed. "Good luck."

"Same to you. I'll ask Asuma along as well." Kurenai smiled before she seemed to ripple and vanish into thin air. Raido sighed.

"Show off." he grumbled.

"You're just jealous." Kurenai's voice floated back to them.

"She has a point, you know." A new voice said and Raido jolted before turning to glare at the silver-haired man who had silently joined them and was reading a book while he walked.

"Dammit, Kakashi!" He growled. "Don't do that! You almost got a blade in your belly."

"Meh, meh. If you ever manage to stab me, I will have deserved it." The man replied with a wave of his hand. "So, who's your friend?"

"I'm surprised you don't recognise him, Kakashi." Raido smirked. "Jonin Hatake Kakashi, this is Genin Uzumaki Naruto."

Kakashi froze, staring at Naruto. "Wha…? Bu…? How?"

"Officially, Kekkei Genkei." Raido stated. "Unofficially, speak to the Hokage."

"I think I'd better." Kakashi said, slipping his book into a pocket. "At least I wasn't in a rush to collect my team. See you round."

A brief flurry of leaves engulfed the tall shinobi and when it cleared, he was gone.

"What just happened?" Naruto asked.

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Hyuuga Hinata looked around again, feeling disappointment rising.

She had heard from one of the Branch Family that Naruto had failed the test again and his absense seemed to confirm it. Instead, a new boy was sat in his place, a boy dressed in black and with incredibly pale skin tha was almost albino-like.

"Good morning, Genin." Iruka smiled as he walked in, only a bit of stiffness giving away the fact that he had taken an injury recently.

"Good morning, Iruka-Sensei!" The class responded (except for the newcomer), then Hinata raised her hand.

"Yes, Hinata?"

"Gomen… but what happened to Naruto?"

"He passed." Iruka said with a strange smile which seemed almost bittersweet. "However, due to highly unusual circumstances, he is being taken as an apprentice by a Jonin-Sensei for one-on-one tutoring. In fact, he started this morning."

"What?" Ino and Sakura chorused before looking at each other in shock.

"There are extenuating circumstances and I have it on good authority that he will be training alongside some of you in the future." Iruka stated, causing Hinata to sag in relief. "Now, as for your teams, I have the list here. Teams one to six are being assigned in the other classrooms, so we shall start with team seven under Jonin Hatake Kakashi. Team Seven consists of Uchiha Sasuke, Sai and Haruno Sakura."

"Yes!" Sakura exulted as she lunged to her feet. "Take that, Ino-Pig! True love triumphs!"

"True love is a howler monkey?" Sai asked pseudo-innocently, causing Sakura to shrink into herself while Ino chuckled. A grunt of amusement sounded from Sasuke and Sakura slunk back into her seat, totally humiliated.

"Team eight is Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Hinata." Iruka continued, hiding his amusement. "Since team nine is still active, team ten are Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino and Akamichi Choji."

"Urgh, I get the lazy bum and the f… his sidekick." Ino grumbled, changing her sentence midway through as Choji glared at her.

"Now that you are all Shinobi, you will be held to a higher standard." Iruka lectured. "You will be required to obey the commands of your superiors. Failure to do so could be seen as treason, leading to the revocation of privileges in extreme circumstances."

"Such as?" Kiba asked curiously.

"Freedom, movement or breathing." Iruka stated, remembering the last time he had seen Mizuki. "You are Shinobi now, that means you are treated as Shinobi and must comport yourselves accordingly."

The silence in the classroom was most gratifying, but it was interrupted by the door opening to reveal a pair of Jonin.

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"Ah, Kakashi. Shouldn't you be picking up your team?" Hiruzen asked as the silver-haired Jonin swung in through the window.

"Naruto isn't on my team." Kakashi said in a tone which, for anyone else, could easily have been mistaken for a sulk. "Why? I asked for him."

"He hadn't passed when the teams were assigned and you're needed to oversee the last Uchiha." hiruzen said, sending a significant glance at the eye which Kakashi kept covered by his Hitai-ate. "his loyalty rating is far lower than I'd like it to be, he's overly focused on killing his brother."

"Fine." Kakashi sighed. "But what about the change I saw in Naruto?"

"We're still trying to work it out." Hiruzen admitted. "One of the ANBU Hyuuga reports seeing flashes of green in his chakra, and not medical-green."

"Green?" Kakashi repeated. "But… isn't his burden linked with the color red?"

"It is." Hiruzen agreed. "Hence the mystery…"

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Authors afternote – Aaaand this is the point where I realized I was effectively about to re-hash quite a bit of Kitsune's Power.

Nevertheless, this fragment is longer than over half of the Naruto/Hulk crossovers on FFN.