Well, hello again. This is the second edited chapter. Once again, the disclaimer that I don't own any part of the Naruto franchise applies. I will not repeat it in future chapters, since I have now said it at least twice.
(Onwards to the story)
Two years had passed since Naruto had joined the academy. He had shown startling growth… if it could be called that.
Naruto had continued on in his usual manner. He'd show up two minutes late nearly every day, take his seat in the middle, and then he'd seemingly ignore what was being taught for the rest of the day. The others often either hated him, feared him, or just left him alone for other reasons. Nobody ever sat near him due to the strong scent of disinfectant and cleaning supplies.
Iruka had tried multiple times to get Naruto to talk. However, each time, Naruto just ignored Iruka and smoothed down his hood. Soon, it became evident who the best of the class was and who wasn't among this group. Sasuke Uchiha was among this group, as expected, but Naruto was ahead of him. When it came to tests and quizzes, nobody could top Naruto and his textbook-like answers. Iruka had learned to stop having Naruto participate in the taijutsu matches since Naruto often didn't stop even after the other child was down.
Naruto had only slightly changed in appearance. His hair had grown slightly longer, to the point where it almost covered both eyes. The ice-blue tips in his hair had slowly changed to a light grey whilst turning darker, slowly, over time. It was hard to tell if the boy had grown taller or not, since Naruto was hunched over most of the time. Naruto had also changed the clothes he wore to allow better movement and such. He now wore a dark grey sleeveless hoodie with an ice blue and black Uzumaki swirl on the back. A skin-tight black long-sleeved shirt could be seen with dark grey bandages wrapped around the forearms of the sleeves. Black shorts ended just below his knees while dark grey bandages wrapped around his shins. Instead of the normal shinobi sandals, which exposed the toes and other parts of the foot, Naruto used black leather shoes that offered little protection between his feet and the ground below.
As for equipment and weapons, Naruto had two small, yet compact, senbon holsters at his right hip. The holsters were made in such a way so that the senbon wouldn't rattle inside and make noise. Attached to his other hip was a compact shuriken holster, made in the same manner as the senbon holsters, and another contraption next to it. It was the same size as the shuriken holster, but the top of it fed out a black and shine-less wire.
Iruka could confidently say that he had the best student in the history of the academy, or so it seemed. Sure, the boy didn't listen to Iruka, but he was the top of the class, skilled in taijutsu and Shurikenjutsu. Although, Naruto could use some work when it came to genjutsu. Nonetheless, Naruto showed signs of an early graduation. Though, Naruto would have to work on his communication skills if he was going to graduate and be put on a team.
As usual, Iruka walked into the classroom with a clipboard in one hand and some folders tucked under his other arm.
Glancing at the clock, Iruka waited for Naruto to arrive. Naruto's habit of arriving exactly two minutes late everyday irritated Iruka, but overtime, he grew used to it.
Soon, Naruto walked in and sat in his seat, smoothing down his hood and ignoring the occasional glances sent his way by some of the other students.
"Today, we have a… special activity. We will be testing you all to see if any of you are ready to graduate early." At Iruka's announcement, the class perked up in excitement. Naruto only smoothed his hood down again, praying for his headache to vanish.
Waiting for the room to quiet, Iruka spoke once more when the noise ceased. "There will be a written exam, target practice, sparring, and finally ninjutsu. Only the best of the best will be able to pass the requirements and graduate early."
Many students groaned in response.
Iruka held up his hand. "Hey, don't feel bad if you don't pass. It's normal if you don't pass, since the bulk of you will be graduating at the usual age. This isn't something new, since we tend to test each class two years in to try and find any early-bloomers."
With that, Iruka passed out the exam papers, signaling the start of the quiz. There was no time-limit to this quiz, unlike normal quizzes. This one was timed, to see how fast the students could find the correct answers.
Almost an hour had passed by the time the last student finished. Iruka led the class outside for the next portion. This test passed fairly quickly, since all you really had to do was hit a target. The class showed improvement, seeing as how most of the students could actually hit the target. Very few of them even hit the middle. Only the Uchiha and the Uzumaki could hit the middle each time. Naruto had visibly improved, since he could now use enough force to make the shuriken stick to the target instead of hitting it and falling to the ground.
During the sparring portion, things got a bit difficult for Naruto.
Iruka was the one the students had to spar against. A Chuunin against mere academy students.
However, considering it was a spar, it was an all-out thing for the academy students, who were allowed to use whatever was needed to win.
Naruto smoothed down his hood as he stared at Iruka.
"Go ahead when you are ready. But remember, this is timed." Iruka said, leveling a gentle smile. To be honest, this unnerved Iruka. He'd hide it, but Naruto always freaked him out. Naruto always smelled like disinfectant and cleaning detergent. Naruto always knew the answer to questions, always. He never talked with his classmates, instead preferring to smooth down his hood and whisper to himself.
Suddenly, Naruto ducked low and dashed forwards, far faster than Iruka had expected. Cursing to himself, Iruka kicked out at Naruto, who jumped over the kick, barely, and got up close.
Iruka noticed the ice forming in Naruto's hand, which was reared backwards, as if getting ready for a punch or getting ready to slash something with a knife. The ice quickly formed into a blade the size of a chokuto, held in reverse grip, as Naruto suddenly spun mid-air.
The blade of ice nearly caught Iruka, but he blocked it with a kunai and punched Naruto squarely in the chest, launching the small boy backwards. Naruto came to a rolling stop and dashed once more, ducked low.
Instead of his previous tactic of charging directly at Iruka, Naruto started to dash in circles around Iruka, hoping to confuse the man. However, Iruka saw through the tactic and kicked out to his side just in time to hit Naruto in the arm.
Naruto leapt backwards and threw three needles made of… ice?
The coloring threw Iruka off, but he could feel the temperature as he caught each one easily. The needles were freezing against his warm skin, slowly beginning to melt.
Iruka dropped the needles and rushed towards Naruto, attempting to axe-kick the boy. Naruto saw the kick coming, but couldn't dodge mid-air, so he got into the fetal position mid-air and ate up the blow to the back. Thudding off the ground, Naruto placed his hands on it and used it to twist himself around and swing a kick, heel first, at Iruka's chest.
The young man caught the heel in his hand and moved to kick Naruto once more. This time, Naruto was ready and rolled away to the side. He got up and backed away, forming another chokuto of grey ice in his hands.
Once again, Iruka dashed at Naruto to try and catch the boy off-guard. However, it was Naruto who did something unexpected. He dashed forwards at the last second, ducking under the arm that was raised to punch him, and ran behind Iruka. The chokuto of ice slammed against the Chuunin but did little to hurt the man.
Iruka twisted around and grabbed Naruto's upper-arm and threw the younger boy upwards. Taking the chance, Naruto let go of the chokuto and curled into a ball. Iruka moved backwards to avoid the vertically spinning kick Naruto tried to give him and then moved forwards to kick Naruto away.
The kick hid Naruto in the side, sending him flying. Landing with another thud, he got up and tried to run at Iruka once more, only to be stopped as the sound of a timer rang out.
Iruka nodded his head and pulled a clipboard out of nowhere and starting marking things on it. What he marked, Naruto couldn't see. Glancing upwards at Naruto, the Chuunin smiled gently once more.
"Congratulations, you passed this portion."
When the ninjutsu part came around, Naruto presented his knowledge of the three-basic academy jutsu and a solid transformation technique.
"Uh… Naruto… you already showed me that." Iruka gave Naruto a confused look. Naruto shook his head.
"Solid." Naruto's whisper was barely heard, but the message got through. Iruka gave Naruto a doubtful look and asked for Naruto to perform it once more. Again, Naruto transformed into a solid kunai. Iruka waved his hands above the kunai, expecting to hit the invisible outline of a person, but he hit solid air.
Raising an eyebrow, he picked up the kunai, inspecting it. Satisfied, he set it back down on the ground. A second later, with no puff of smoke, the kunai morphed back into Naruto quickly.
Iruka gave Naruto an expectant look, demanding an explanation.
"It isn't a transformation technique. I can go into a solid object and hide inside of it." Naruto's explanation gave Iruka a rush of adrenaline. The possibilities of such a jutsu were endless.
"Can you move while inside the object?" Iruka questioned Naruto, to which Naruto shook his head.
Naruto realized the rest of the class was staring at him, so he smoothed his hood down again and went back to his seat, ignoring the stares, and started to whisper to himself.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was getting old, that much he could tell. He glanced at the boy who knelt in-front of his desk.
"Get up. You have no need to bow, Naruto."
Naruto stood quickly. He really wished he wasn't there. Hiruzen always felt despair and depression whenever Naruto was around. The boy radiated misery like the sun produced light and heat.
"Congratulations on graduating, Naruto. You are the only one in your entire class to graduate early. You even started making Iruka put some effort into your spar." Hiruzen's voice was a little gravely.
The young boy before him had a strange specialization, which made Hiruzen unsure of where to place the young boy.
Naruto specialized in stealth and assassination and could hold his own long enough for backup to arrive in a taijutsu fight. Despite holding the Kyuubi, Naruto had rather small chakra reserves. His chakra control was at peak condition, his genjutsu could fool anybody who wasn't directly looking for him, and…
There was a problem.
Naruto didn't speak often, if ever, and when he did it was often whispering to himself. That made communication near impossible, which was the opposite of what was needed on teams. Teams needed to have good communication to run properly and get the job done efficiently.
Hiruzen also couldn't find a single reasonable Jounin or Special Jounin to try and make Naruto their apprentice. There were some options, yes, but they weren't ones he preferred.
There was Kakashi Hatake, but that young man had personal issues he was still dealing with. There, however, was one other option. Anko Mitarashi. The Special Jounin was skilled in poison techniques and was a budding specialist in torture and information gathering. The problem was her personality.
Anko was a very loud and brash individual, sometimes sadistic.
But she was the only option.
Sighing, Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose. "Come in, Anko."
A window shattered and a purple blur burst into the room.
A purple-haired woman stood there, clad in a trench coat and some rather provocative clothing. A banner hung from her shoulders, still waving a little bit from the sudden movement.
"Hello!" Anko greeted Hiruzen, her voice cheery and loud.
Hiruzen nodded. "Hello, Anko. This is Uzumaki Naruto. He is to be your apprentice for the time being, as we discussed earlier."
Anko looked at Naruto, who was staring at the ground while whispering to himself, smoothing his hood down every now and then. She looked back to Hiruzen.
"…Are you sure this is the right one? He seems broken." Anko looked back to Naruto and tapped him on the shoulder. Naruto flinched away at the sudden touch, looking up to see who touched him.
"Yeah, your kid is broken." Anko said frankly. She expected a nosebleed or something from the boy, due to her clothing choice. Instead Naruto backed away, smoothed down his hood, and continued to look at the ground.
Hiruzen sighed deeply.
"Naruto, would you leave for now, perhaps meet Anko on the roof of the academy later?"
Naruto nodded slightly and then vanished. Literally.
Turning to face the eccentric Special Jounin, Hiruzen spoke.
"Yes, he is… 'broken,' as you put it. I have chosen you because of your specialization and his specialization. He specializes in assassination or silent killing. Your skills would help him improve by leaps and bounds. Do you accept him as your apprentice?" Hiruzen stared firmly at Anko, who held her head up in thought for a moment.
"Sure."
(A/N section)
I have decided that in my re-try or redo of this story, I'd make a few changes, both minor and major, here and there.
Also, about the spar between Iruka and Naruto…
I've noticed a lot of people make Iruka seem weak. Keep in mind he is a Chuunin. That means he is inherently better than the academy students, regardless of their progress, by leaps and bounds. Sure, they can grow to be much more powerful than he is, but once again, he is a CHUUNIN!
I hate it when people make him seem weak just to power up their main character or somebody else in the academy. It sucks big time. He's a Chuunin for god's sake! That means he's at least decent!
I am done with my rant now.
On to the talk about Anko.
I have chosen her for multiple reasons.
Her personality is eccentric and loud, and it could potentially lead to some amusing situations. It's also to give me an excuse to make Naruto's character a tinge more open. This does NOT mean he'll stop having issues or that the issues will be reduced. He's insane and just because he'll be around an eccentric person does not mean he will stop being insane.
I had some things planned for the original Frozen Insanity, but reading over it, I realized I screwed up in several areas. Some areas, not as much. But some, yes.
Anyways, I'm done talking now. You may go on with the rest of your day in peace. Farewell, my fellow living creatures.