Deal

Disclaimer: See chapter 1. Special thanks to Miriam1 for her beta skills.

Reviews are welcomed, flames are not.

Chapter 18

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, with the help of Minato, swore the village council to secrecy. Minato secretly as well as magically tagged each one with small seals to insure and reinforce that vow. Many plans were bandied about for when the announcement of Lord Fourth's return and, against the council's protest, that Naruto was his son.

During this period of secrecy, Minato had to clean house. The old warhorse and elder, Danzo Shimura, was immediately executed for treason after Minato - with the help of Ibiki and the T & I - forced every secret out of him.

Danza was the one that leaked how dangerous Naruto was and fanned that fire every chance he could. He wanted Naruto in his Root Program and only saw Minato's son as nothing more a means to an end. A weapon to be used as needed.

It also came out that he was the real force behind the Uchiha massacre. Of course, it was pointed out that Lord Third wasn't too clean in that debacle. What was done couldn't be undone.

In one of the meetings, Minato frowned at the reports on the only Uchiha survivor. His grilling of the council and the two remaining elders was brutal and very telling.

"If the Uchiha passes his exam and becomes a pre-genin, he is then under my jurisdiction. You will no longer have any say in the matter."

Several council members started to protest, only to find themselves taken to T&I for questioning. Minato had long since lost his love for this village, with the way they treated his son and how the council had taken over the running of his once beloved village. He was back to clean house and return the village back to how it was when he held the reins. The village of the Hidden Leaf was a military village and not a civilian one. The sooner they all realize that, the better.

After the other two elders were released from T&I, barely escaping execution along with Danzo, they were forcible retired, along with Hiruzen. Minato had plans of nominating his own elders and advisers.

Through all this headache with re-establishing his rule as Lord Fourth, Minato tried to spend time each night with his sons, even it was only for an hour. Kushina had demanded that he come home every night for dinner, before Naruto was born. It was a custom that once chafed, but now, Minato was grateful for. He did not want to lose touch with his boys.

Of course, the boys were bored. They were not allowed out into the village yet, for security reasons. For Naruto, it was for obvious reasons. Minato did not want his son to feel the hatred returning. For Haru, he didn't want him to get lost, or worse, kidnapped. But once Danzo was executed and most of the Root headquarters and compound were stripped, most of that worry disappeared. Still, one couldn't be too careful.

So, the boys spent their days training with Kakasha and Sirius, either in the dojo or in Minato's private outdoor training area. Haru had to learn how to deal with the new influx of chakra that he received when the shinigami placed the other half of the sealed Kyuubi on him.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It was a week later when Kakashi lead the way to the Shinbo Academy for their first day of class. The pre-genin exams were only a week away. Minato wanted to escort them, but couldn't. That didn't mean he wasn't watching.

Both boys were nervous about attending. Until now, they had been given shinobi training by their father. Would they a fit in with their age group?

Hogwarts didn't count. Magic was a lot different from Chakra. They treated going to Hogwarts as an undercover mission. They had to keep their use of chakra a secret. Here, it was the opposite. Here, they had to keep magic a secret.

The week at the Academy was planned as a way for them to be evaluated and tested against those peers and they hoped to get to know their peers.

They had looked over the files of their supposed classmates with their father and Kakashi. Personally, neither boy was impressed with any of them. Even their father wasn't impressed.

Minato sighed and explained, "Since I left, the village council wrested a lot of control from Lord Third. That includes the Academy. It'll take a year or two to bring things back up to standard. I'm counting on you two to do your best and not show off your skills until the exams. And do try not to go too crazy with boredom."

"Yes, sir," the pair agreed.

"And another thing. . . "

During the planning of the boys attending the Academy, it had been decided until the announcement happened, the boys would still go under Naruto's mother's last name as at Hogwarts.

"Iruka-sensei?"

The teacher was standing in front of the huge blackboard. He was in his late twenties. His brown hair was pulled into a top knot, fanning out like a pineapple top. His most distinguishing feature was the long, thin scar across the bridge of his nose.

"Yes? Shinobi-san?"

"Here are the two new students you were told about," Kakashi informed him as he placed a hand on each of the boys' shoulders. "You should have received their folders."

"I have. Uzumaki, Haru and Naruto-san, right?"

"Yes, sensei!" both boys exclaimed.

Kakashi left them as the pair settled in their new environment. He wondered if he should feel sorry for the teachers.

Nyahhh! Let them find out for themselves. They were shinobi and should be looking beneath the underneath.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Two hours later, Haru sighed as he sat beside Naruto in class. So far this was boring. He already knew this stuff. This was more boring than sitting in Binns' class at Hogwarts.

Suddenly, he heard a small tap and looked over at Naruto, who started to sign. Iruka-sensei's back was turned as Naruto let Haru know he was bored too.

They had promised Tou-san not to cause trouble, but still this was sooooo boring.

When they left for lunch, both boys were ready to escape and do something more fun.

Sitting under a tree nearby tree, they quietly contemplated what to do.

A trio of boys their age came over and asked to join them.

One had his hair pulled back making it looked like a pineapple top. "Nara, Shikamaru."

Another was huge and was munching on a bag of chips. "Akimichi, Choji."

The last was a boy with two red triangles running down his cheeks with a small white pup resting on top of his wild hair. "Inuzuka, Kiba."

Naruto and Haru made room for them. "Join us."

So, lunch may not boring, after all.

"Troublesome. My tou-san said I should get to know you. I can't figure out why. There seems nothing special about you. Although you seemed a bit bored."

Haru shrugged. "We know that stuff already. Our Tou-san has been preparing us for when we returned to the village. Have a seat."

So far, neither of Minato's boys had been too impressed with the school. They were being shown things that should've been learned last year, and not just before the pre-genin exam.

They were not impressed with their classmates, either. Most of the girls in class were fan-girls, hanging off the broody Uchiha, who thought he was the end all and be all of nobility. The other boys in class were about beating up said Uchiha. There were a couple boys that seemed to not to want to be there.

During lunch, Haru and Naruto made three new friends. Both boys were clan heirs, like the brothers. Haru also received additional the intel on who was who in class that wasn't in the report they had gone over the night before. Naruto told their new friends that both he and Haru grew up outside of the Elemental Nations and was very glad to be back in the village.

They also informed them that Haru had been adopted, as his parents were killed when he was just a baby and never knew them. Also, Haru's godfather was the only blood relation Haru had and that was why he came with them to the village.

Nothing was mentioned about the family's kekkei genkai.

Thankfully, there were laws as well as social etiquette against asking or demanding details about bloodline limits within the clans. The five boys formed a beginnings of a lasting friendship.

By the time lunch was over, all the students were found outside for their practical lessons.

Naruto shared a look at Haru and both shrugged. Maybe they wouldn't be so bored, now. At least, there would be some action, now.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Mizuki-sensei fumed. How dare the little demon return. He remembered the village-wide celebration when it was thought the brat had disappeared all those years ago.

Well, he'd fix that. He wasn't too clear on who the other boy was, but they seemed inseparable. Well, he would see about that. Didn't he know Uzumaki was dangerous?

Well, he wasn't about to let the demon brat graduate, and if he had to fail his little shadow, so be it.

He failed to realize just who and what he was dealing with when it came to those two boys. The Academy instructor was a poor imitation of what they had to deal with during their time at Hogwarts.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The day of the announcement arrived, and about time too, in both Naruto and Haru's mind. They were tired of the school. In fact, except for the trio of friends they met the first day, the school was beyond boring.

Naruto was picked on constantly by the teachers and older students, and the teachers allowed it. Haru had enough of it. He was ready to start pranking, big time.

He and Naruto, despite of their promise to their father, started a small campaign of pranks and sabotage of teacher's supplies and classrooms. Try as the older shinobi might, no one could pin the pranks on the boys. Only one of the teachers was impressed with the execution of the pranks. He had an idea who was doing them, but remained silent. Such skills needed to be encouraged.

Iruka-sensei had been prepared to give the boys a chance to prove themselves in his class. He knew what Naruto was. It had been no secret. He had long since known of the boy's disappearance and had come to terms on how he felt about it. He also knew the difference between a storage scroll and a kunai.

So, when he had caught the boys using ANBU sign language, he didn't say anything, but wondered who had taught them. He also noticed that the boys were bored and had already knew that as he was teaching. Bored students were dangerous students. So, it didn't take a genius on who was doing the pranking.

Minato was too busy taking control of the council and village to worry about his sons' situation. When it finally happened that the Academy was hit by several vicious pranks, the Head of the Academy complained. Minato did point out that infiltration was a shinobi skill.

His comment was "If the teachers could not catch whoever was pranking them, then they shouldn't be teaching. Maybe some extra field work is needed to regain their skills."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Haru chuckled as he watched Naruto go against the class favorite – Sasuke Uchiha. Honestly, the kid must be related to Malfoy with the way he strutted around. He did have some good skill as a student, but if he didn't lose his holier-than-thou attitude, he was going to get himself killed, and his team, as well.

'Foul, you nitwit! And you call yourself a teacher!' Haru mused, angrily. 'No one makes a fool of Naru and I. Time to up the scoring.' He did a quick hand signal and a whispered word, and the teacher found himself slipping and falling, landing face down in a suddenly appearing patch of mud.

No one had been paying any attention to Haru when he made the hand signal. Iruka-sensei tried to restore order over the laughter and catcalling of the students at the latest prank on a teacher.

So, no one saw Naruto use a move that was a little beyond their supposed training. Both boys were silently thanking Uncle Sirius for that little move. The best part of that move was it could not be copied, as it had a magical element to it.

The last Uchiha never saw it coming. One moment he was winning; the next, he was face down with the teacher in the mud.

Of course, no one saw Haru added a bad luck jinx to the mix to both the Uchiha and Mizuki-sensei that would last at least twenty-four hours. Maybe that'd take some starch out of their attitudes.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

A/N: I am so glad this year is almost over. It has been a rough and very stressful one for me.

That said, this story may look like it is going strong but it isn't. I foresee one maybe two chapters left. If anyone want to take it on and do a sequel, be my guest.

Sorry about the obvious typo last chapter: It should be Kakashi-nii. I'm bad.

Until next time. – GF