A/N: Hello everyone. Sorry for the delay. Start of the year has not been the best for me, to say the least. Between real life responsibilities, feeling unsatisfied with my own writing, and being a bit depressed... Well, I've just failed to make an update. However, I still want to continue with this story. Regardless, I'm back with an update finally, and am going to try and not make you all wait so long again. Thank you for your continued support and positive reviews; I really appreciate knowing that people enjoy this.

I don't own Naruto, regardless of how much I wish I did. Please support the official series.

Chapter 10

Several years later, Ninja Academy, day before final exam

Naruko was excited that their graduation exams were so close. She had shown up to class before anyone else had, and was practically bouncing in her seat as she watched her fellow classmates enter the room and take various seats. The only two left to show up were Sasuke and Iruka-sensei.

She had grown a fair bit over the last few years. To be fair, all of her classmates had. Now, she was just a little shorter than Sakura, but still taller than Hinata. Her chest had started developing as well, not as much as Hinata's, but because Hinata always wore her bulky jacket, Naruko's development was more obvious to the casual observer. She was definitely beating Ino and Sakura in that department as things stood. She had kept her outfit mostly similar to the one she had gotten when shopping with Anko several years ago. She loved that look, having just bought a few different versions for different seasons and weathers, as well as having to get a size that fit her now that she's grown out of that first outfit. Well, it only made sense that she outgrew it; she was 13 years old now, after all.

As Naruko was pondering this, Sasuke walked into the classroom, as depressed as he ever was these days. She sighed internally seeing this, worry for her friend filling her mind. He had been like this since his entire clan had been massacred two years ago, and while she wasn't surprised that he was so depressed and reserved these days, she knew that it wasn't good for him to never feel happiness, ever. It seemed like Sasuke was only ever angry or sad, no matter what the situation was. Sure, she had her own problems as well, often feeling sad or angry at the discrimination she still received at the hands of most of the village, but she enjoyed the company of the majority of her classmates and some of their families. Iruka-sensei had even occasionally treated her to Ichiraku ramen on some particularly rough days for her.

Looking around the classroom, she saw that all the seats were taken besides the one between her and the window. Sasuke walked up to her, where she was leaning back in her seat casually, making it difficult for him to get past her. He glared at her, annoyed that she didn't show any indication of moving so that he could get by and sit down. "Stop being annoying and move," complained Sasuke.

Naruko smirked in an intentionally irritating way and just stared at him. "I don't wanna," she retorted, clearly trying to provoke him.

However, in the meantime, one of their male classmates was having an animated discussion with another guy at his table nearby. "No way! You really did that?" He said loudly, standing up in surprise at what he had just been told. Unknowingly, he had bumped into Sasuke, causing the Uchiha boy to stumble and fall right into Naruko.

Both Sasuke and Naruko's eyes widened in shock as their lips brushed when Sasuke landed on top of her. It only lasted for a second before Sasuke pushed himself away from her, but it had been long enough for the class to turn and see the position the two had been in. Sasuke looked at Naruko to apologize, but suddenly felt dread as her shocked eyes slowly gained a mischievous glint.

Naruko said loudly, "Oh my, Sasuke. I know I'm attractive but that doesn't mean it's okay for you to steal my first kiss like that. I really want someone to ask me out before they just jump me like that. I can't believe you'd do this to me!" She covered her face with her hands and faked a sob, but he could see the mischievous amusement in her eyes as she peaked out from between her fingers.

Sasuke only had time to think, 'Damn her and her pranks!' before their classmates reacted to Naruko's little performance. Shikamaru facepalmed and said, "Troublesome..." having guessed what Naruko was up to. Chōji and Kiba both stood angrily and moved towards Sasuke. Chōji was cracking his knuckles with an angry expression and Kiba grabbed the front of Sasuke's shirt and yelled in his face, "How dare you treat Naruko like that! I'm going to kick your ass for this, Sasuke!"

Ino and Sakura both had heartbroken expressions on their face as they stared at Sasuke. They were both crushing on him really hard, and had been hoping to be his first kiss. But no! It just had to be Naruko!

Hinata, however, gritted her teeth silently and clenched her fists as she glared at Sasuke. How dare he force himself on her crush!

None of their classmates seemed to notice that Naruko, who had been knocked to the floor, was unable to keep up her facade of sobbing anymore and had devolved into quiet giggling at the predicament she had put Sasuke in.

That is, until Iruka-sensei walked into the classroom. He looked around in concern, seeing all the various expressions of the students, trying to figure out what was going on. Until his eyes landed on Naruko. He sighed, guessing that she had done something to get the class in such a state.

"ENOUGH! Settle down and get in your seats, all of you!" With that, everyone quickly moved to their seats, not wanting to anger their instructor any further. After about ten minutes of questioning the class, Iruka had finally gotten a good grasp on what had happened.

"Alright Naruko, since you decided to blow this situation out of proportion for your own amusement, YOU just earned the class a pop quiz on practicing the transformation jutsu. Hurry and line up, all of you!" Shikamaru, who ended up standing next to Chōji and Naruko in line, turned to Naruko and said, slightly annoyed, "This is all your fault, you know."

"Worth it!" Naruko said back pleasantly. She didn't really mind doing the transformation jutsu, and she had found it all very funny. She didn't really take the accident all that seriously; she knew it hadn't been on purpose, so she didn't count it as her first kiss, not really. Shikamaru just sighed. "Please don't do anything else like that today, Naruko" he pleaded, doubting that she would listen. To everyone's surprise, when it was Naruko's turn, she actually followed Iruka-sensei's instructions flawlessly, without any of her usual tricks and practical jokes. She had transformed into naked versions of people quite often before, barely covering their more intimate areas with a little cloud of smoke.

As the school day was coming to a close, Iruka said, "Okay class, remember that tomorrow is your final exam and you are expected to show up by 6:00 AM, instead of 7:00 AM. It'll be written first, then taijutsu, then ninjutsu. We'll let you know individually whether you passed or not at the end of the exam. Dismissed!"

The next day

Naruko had found the exam easy enough. She passed with flying colors, although that stupid Mizuki-sensei tried to fail her on grounds that she performed the Shadow Clone jutsu rather than the academy approved Clone jutsu. The academy version was just so weak and useless that Naruko had never felt a need to try and learn it. Not that it was likely that she could anyway, according to the Hokage. Apparently, putting too much chakra into the Academy's version would cause the jutsu to fail, and Naruko had a hard time holding back her chakra, even with her seal activated. She just had so much of it that it was almost impossible to portion off small amounts without tons of excess leaking out. So when she handed over the permission letter the Hokage had given her, Mizuki was forced to allow her to perform the Shadow Clone jutsu. Iruka and Mizuki had been astounded that she had effortlessly produced around 50 shadow clones, not looking the least bit tired from the exertion. It was a technique usually reserved for jōnin, and even then making so many of them was out of the reach for all but the most elite. She just scratched the back of her head and had said, "Uh, sorry about that. I accidentally made a few more than I meant to, I guess."

Iruka had cheerfully congratulated her on graduating from the academy, and handed her a hitai-ate (forehead protector), all while wondering in the back of his mind just how much chakra Naruko must have. He informed her that they were to meet at the academy at 10:00 AM tomorrow for team assignments. She waved at him happily as she ran out the door, admiring the shining proof of her status as a Konoha kunoichi.

However, Naruko now had a problem. She wasn't sure how she wanted to wear her hitai-ate. It was a bit awkward considering her fox ears. Not impossible, but she was certainly not accustomed to it and found it somewhat unpleasant. She was standing not too far outside of the academy, trying to adjust it to a position she could tolerate, when Ino emerged, holding a hitai-ate of her own.

"What are you doing, Naruko?" Ino asked curiously.

"Trying to figure out how to wear this so that it isn't completely uncomfortable," Naruko grumbled irritably.

"You know, I was planning on getting a longer piece of cloth and turning mine into a belt... Maybe that would work for you, too?" Ino suggested contemplatively. Naruko's face lit up at the suggestion. "That's genius, Ino! Yeah, I definitely want to try that. Maybe in black instead of blue.." responded Naruko. Ino nodded, thinking that she thought black suited Naruko much more than blue. "I think I'll stay with blue personally, but I do think black would look good with the rest of your outfit. Anyway, let's go. I think I have what we'll need at my house," Ino replied.

Later that night

Naruko was walking back to her apartment from the Yamanaka residence. She had actually been invited to stay for dinner after having spent the afternoon with Ino. She glanced down at her left hip, where she had decided to wear her hitai-ate. The kitsune girl had decided that she didn't want to wear it front and center, like Ino had done with her own. Similar to her blonde friend, but different enough to show that she had her own sense of style.

Just as Naruko reached her apartment on the outskirts of Konoha, her ears picked up sound of someone running past her, towards the forest surrounding the village. Thinking that this was strange, as such a thing had not happened since she moved into this apartment, she decided to follow the mysterious passerby to sate her curiosity. The kitsune girl followed at a cautious distance until whoever it was stopped in a clearing a small distance into the forest. However, what she saw as she slowly approached confused her even more.

'Eh? Why does that irritating Airi girl have Hokage-jiji's scroll? That's the one he used to teach me the Kagebushin, I'm sure of it...' Naruko thought to herself in confusion. After a moment's hesitation, the young Uzumaki came to the decision that she would discreetly watch to see what would happen next before deciding her next move. Airi opened the scroll and started reading through it, seeming to be trying to decide on something as she did so.

At that moment, Mizuki entered the clearing with a grin on his face. "Well done Airi, now give me the scroll," the chūnin demanded, holding his hand out expectantly. A look of confusion and panic passed over Airi's face. "Wait, wait! I haven't decided which jutsu I wanted to try and learn yet! I want to pick one that I can do well for that secret exam," Airi said hurriedly. Mizuki only laughed as he said, "You really thought there was such a thing as a secret, make-up exam? There isn't, but this will be a lovely gift for Orochimaru-sama. I will, of course, have to silence you to make sure you don't spread word of my involvement." With that, he drew a kunai and stalked towards the now terrified Airi.

Naruko had seen enough. Even if she disliked Airi for how the other girl treated her, the kitsune girl wasn't going to allow this to happen. Naruko dropped down between the two, to both of their surprise, and turned towards Mizuki, her ears flat against her head and growling at him. "Not happening," Naruko declared firmly, falling into a combat stance.

After recovering from his surprise, Mizuki glared back at the interfering girl. "Then you die too!" he yelled angrily as he threw his kunai at Naruko's face. She raised her arm to block the kunai, and winced as she felt it bury fairly deep into her forearm, blood dripping from the wound. She wouldn't let that stop her though, as she bit her thumb quickly and drew the kanji for 3 on the front of her left shoulder. As she did this, Mizuki chuckled confidently. "Yes, yes. I've heard about your little 'seal' from Iruka. You still don't have the experience to-" he started to say, until a massive wave of red chakra surged out of Naruko, stealing the breath out of his lungs from the pressure it exerted. Mizuki quickly drew his oversized shuriken, glaring at the kitsune with the intent to not let her get any closer to him. However, he wasn't quick enough to stop Naruko's lunge straight at him.

Naruko slammed into Mizuki at full speed, driving him back roughly into one of the massive trees Konoha is well known for. The force of the impact was such that a loud crack could be heard, and the tree shuddered under the impact. She had broken quite a few bones in the traitorous chūnin's body. Mizuki coughed up blood as he slumped to the ground, eyes going dim as he lost consciousness. Naruko just stared down at the bastard, satisfied that he wasn't going to be getting up anytime soon, but not sure what she should do with the traitor.

Airi, in the meantime, was curled up on the forest floor, trembling in fear at Naruko's vicious display of strength. She squeaked in panic when the fox demon turned to look at her. But her panic turned to shock and confusion at the words that were spoken to her.

"Hey, it's okay now. I'm not going to hurt you." Naruko said as she casually sat down, looking at Airi. Her chakra was still tangible, but it seemed a little calmer, somehow. Airi just stared at Naruko in confusion, unable to voice the question that was repeating in her mind over and over: 'Why? Why did she help me?'

Naruko just looked at Airi and said, "Sorry, I know we don't get along so well, but I wasn't going to let him make you take the fall for his crimes." Airi's face softened a little at this comment, but she was still too nervous around the demon girl to speak. She was working up her courage to thank the kitsune for saving her life, when Naruko's ears suddenly perked up and her head snapped towards the direction of the village. Airi, surprised by this action, turned to look what had caught Naruko's attention.

Nothing happened for several minutes. Airi was very close to convincing herself that Naruko was playing one of her infamous pranks as some sort of revenge, when two ANBU dropped down out of the trees. A male and a female. Naruko gave the air a quick sniff, and her face lit up in excitement as she rushed at the female ANBU and hugged her. "Hey An-" she started to say before the woman ANBU quickly covered her mouth, cutting off the rest of what Naruko was going to say.

"It's Hebi when I'm on duty, Naruko. Don't say my name right now." Naruko looked up at her and nodded and Hebi dropped her hand away from Naruko's mouth. "You could tell who she was from her scent?" the male ANBU asked Naruko curiously.

Naruko turned to him, nodded, and said, "Yeah, I recognize your scent too, though I don't know you really. You always smell like trees, but not quite. Even when you're in the village." Tenzō eyes widened in surprise at the description. With keen senses like that, she would do well as a tracker in the ANBU. It would be very hard to conceal her identity though. Maybe Inu-senpai would have some ideas for that with his vast knowledge of different jutsus.

Hebi smiled behind her mask at how perceptive the girl she thought of as a younger sister was. "So, Naruko, what happened here? I see you've caught the little thief and got the scroll, but what happened to Mizuki?" Hebi asked. "Oh, he tricked her into thinking there was some make-up exam for the academy so that she would steal the scroll for him. He was going to kill her and take it to some guy called Orochimaru, so I kicked his ass," Naruko said calmly, as if it were no big deal.

However, this was quite a big deal, especially to Hebi. She tensed up at the name of her former sensei. "You're sure about that name, Naruko?" She asked in a serious tone. Naruko simply nodded in response. Hebi turned to Tenzō and asked, "Hey, can you take care of the scroll and the traitor here? I'll get these two back home then meet back up at the Hokage's office. We'll have him decide what to do with Mizuki." Tenzō nodded once in agreement, then reached down to pick up Mizuki and secure the scroll to his back as the three ladies headed back towards the village.

A/N: As much as I like responding to reviews, I'm less than pleased that doing so artificially inflates my word count more than these author's notes already do. So I'll not be replying individually on this particular chapter, even though I did read them all and am grateful to all of you. So instead, I'll ask a question and read your replies. Would you prefer me to either:
A) Continue as I had been doing and just accept my word count will be inflated.
B) Respond via Private Message on this website.
OR
C) Consider responding via discord; either by creating a server or just via DM.

I'm leaning towards B myself, but if enough people prefer one of the other options I might do that instead.

Either way, I'm curious about what teams you would either like to see, or think I will write, or whatever. I've still not actually decided yet, but we'll find that out next chapter, so I better hurry up! It's an important point to decide upon because it'll definitely have an impact on the story. I already have some scenarios in mind for later on down the line, but I need to get there first. I can't promise to please everyone with my final decision on team assignments, but I'll at least listen to your opinions.