So, I'm uploading this early to give all of you time to see the poll.

Disclaimer: My father was drinker, and a fiend. One night, he told me I own Naruto, and made himself a liar as well.

I need to stop wasting time on these.

Chapter 3: Team 7

In Konohagakure, the graduation exam for the Academy was always very simple. Every year, each student would simply have to demonstrate the ability to produce a clone of themselves, or three, at the proctor's discretion. Only people who had never even begun to practice molding chakra, or those who just didn't know how to do the jutsu properly, could fail.

One such boy was one Naruto Uchiha. His parents had told him from a young age that he had an enormous amount of chakra, even for an Uchiha. As he grew older, he understood the effects of that large amount of chakra more and more. For one, he couldn't properly do E-rank jutsu, and many low D-ranks were off the table as well.

And thus, he was led to where he is now: The middle of the woods, reading off a forbidden scroll. A teacher, Mizuki, had said there was another way to pass. Naruto, not wanted to disappoint his family, took the bait and stole the scroll from the Hokage. He figured, 'Hey, they're not using it, right? They wouldn't mind if an Uchiha borrowed it for a little.'

During the graduation test, he had failed miserably to produce a clone of himself, leading to Iruka failing him. Now, as he opened the scroll, his face fell when he saw that the first jutsu was another clone jutsu.

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu)? GAH! NOT ANOTHER CLONE JUTSU!" he yelled out.

But, to work he went, practicing for the next two hours the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, and by the time he had finished perfecting it, Iruka found him.

"Oh, not you. How did you even find me? Oh well, at least I can graduate now," Naruto said, causing first anger then confusion in Iruka.

"What do you mean 'you can graduate now'?" Iruka asked, nervous about the response. Naruto beamed up at him.

"It's just Mizuki-sensei said. I learned a jutsu from this scroll, so I get to pass, right?" he responded, hope evident in his eyes. Iruka was about to answer, but the hairs on the back of neck stood up high. He had been a ninja too long to ignore his instincts, and pushed Naruto out of the way immediately. Naruto was able to avoid the barrage of shuriken and kunai thanks to Iruka, who took the full brunt of the attack.

"Well, well Iruka. Didn't think I'd find you here. Step aside, and let me kill the demon," came a voice. Naruto looked around, specifically around at the trees, since the voice came from above. After a moment, some silver hair appeared in the tree in front of them, with two dai-shuriken on his back.

"Mizuki-sensei? Why did you attack us?" Naruto bellowed, still unaware of the betrayal taking place before him. To the blonde, it seemed as though Mizuki had a death wish. He attacked not only a teacher from the Academy, and thus a ninja and comrade of the Leaf, but also an Uchiha, whose clan doesn't take lightly to those who harm its own.

"RUN NARUTO!" Screamed Iruka. He wanted Naruto to get away from Mizuki, as it seemed the former teacher was on the brink of breaking the SS-rank decree by the Third Hokage. Naruto needed to get away before that happened. He wasn't even a ninja yet; who knows how he would react to such news.

"Shut up, Iruka. The demon wants to know why I attacked it. Well-" Mizuki started, before being cut off by the boy he was talking to.

"Why do you all call me a demon? Whenever I'm alone, without my clan, everyone always calls me that. Why?" Naruto called up at him. Mizuki's face contorted slightly in anger at being cut off.

"You should know! You're the one who killed so many people, you damn demon fox!" The chunin roared, accidentally letting the information slip. Naruto looked puzzled for a moment, before his expression turned to that of pure horror.

"You mean- I have- I am… the Kyūbi?" He asked, his tone full of nervousness and fear, as if he was scared of himself, or what he might be. He grabbed the sides of his head, doubled over, and just started screaming.

Mizuki said he was the Kyūbi no Kitsune. He couldn't be. There was no way. If he was, then… then how could he be an Uchiha? Was he an Uchiha? Was he even human? His hand brushed against the whiskers on his face, and he realized that they were probably there because he was the fox. To him, it was proof. He got onto his feet, still clutching the sides of his head, and ran off, not even looking upwards. Mizuki was about to give chase when Iruka threw a kunai back at him.

"How could you do something like that, Mizuki? He's just a boy." Iruka wheezed out, still feeling the pain of the earlier barrage of weapons.

"Don't make me laugh, Iruka. He wouldn't have run if he didn't know I was right," replied Mizuki, jumping past Iruka and chasing the blonde.

There was a strange feeling in the air. It was almost tangible, and yet Sarutobi couldn't tell what it was. Usually, whenever he got this feeling, it had something to do with Naruto, so he decided to check his crystal ball.

When he did, he saw that both Mizuki and Iruka, for different reasons, were chasing Naruto, who seemed to be glowing slightly. Sarutobi furrowed his brow in concern. Naruto was glowing slightly red, Mizuki seemed to want to kill him, and Iruka was trying to stop Mizuki. The only conclusion he could reach was that Mizuki had told Naruto about the Kyūbi.

Regardless of what actually happened, he could feel the Kyūbi's chakra growing more and more. Naruto seemed very upset by what Mizuki had told him, so much so that he was leaking red chakra slightly. All of a sudden, Naruto vanished from the crystal ball, as he picked up speed from the influence of the Kyūbi's chakra. The Third Hokage felt he needed to get out there, now.

It wasn't hard to find Naruto. By the time Sarutobi was ready to find him, he was emitting hatred and anger so intensely Sarutobi could feel it from over a mile away. He was actually headed away from the village, which surprised the Hokage. He suspected that the fox would drive Naruto to go towards it, so the Kyūbi could wreak havoc.

When Sarutobi caught up, and found Naruto, the young jinchūriki was sat against a tree, covered his face with his hands. That wasn't what concerned Sarutobi, however. Naruto had anger and hatred rolling off of him in waves, but there was absolutely no Kyūbi presence at all. Sarutobi decided he could worry about that later.

He knelt down in front of Naruto, and put his hand on the boy's shoulder, trying to comfort him. "Naruto? Are you alright?" he asked, unsure of the answer he would get.

Naruto answered, words muffled slightly by his hands, "Mizuki-sensei… he told me I was the Kyūbi. That I killed so many people. Is he right?"

Sarutobi felt more anger, but this time it was his own. Mizuki had twisted the truth around so much in his own head, then pushed those beliefs on a small, innocent boy. He would make sure Mizuki was allowed to spend quality time with Ibiki later. For now, however, he needed to make sure Naruto could stay in his right mind.

"No, Naruto," he said softly. "You aren't the fox. You are the one stopping the fox. You simply contain it, as the bearer of a fūinjutsu powerful enough to hold it."

Hiruzen couldn't tell if Naruto was more or less tense than before. Either way, the blonde spoke again, "So… I'm not a demon? Really?" Sarutobi could tell that the boy had been deeply affected by what Mizuki had told him. Likely because the former teacher had helped Naruto just hours before.

"Of course not, Naruto. You are a ninja-in-training of Konohagakure, and a citizen of Hi no Kuni. You are not the fox. Not at all," he answered. He felt all of the anger and hatred dissipate around them, as Naruto relaxed.

"Thank you, Ji-chan," he said. Sarutobi smiled, a warm smile, with his eyes closed with joy, the same way Kakashi Hatake smiled. When he opened his eyes, he fell back slightly in shock. Naruto had lifted up his head, and was looking at him.

So when the Third had looked back into his eyes, his black eyes had been met by Naruto's Sharingan.

It was a cold night. There was snow lying on the ground here and there. The moon was obscured by the clouds, and the street had no lights on it. However, Naruto and his cousin were out on this street anyways, playing around.

But their fun was short lived. Only six years ago, the Kyūbi had been defeated, at the expense of many villagers. Anger still ran rampant among the civilians. And tonight, that anger manifested itself into a brutal attack.

As he and his cousin were playing about, that cousin tried to shout a warning to Naruto. Before she could, Naruto felt something blunt impact the back of his head. Near instantly, he was out cold. His cousin tried to run for it, but to her dismay, the men and women who had attacked Naruto came after her as well.

She didn't know how they got there, but Naruto and she were tied to poles in a warehouse of some kind. The men who captured them seemed to be performing some kind of ritual. They were chanting something. As she listened, she could make out what they were saying. But they had started to move towards them.

"See no evil," they chanted. At this line, they stabbed out Naruto's eyes. He had been unconscious before, but he awoke, screaming in pain, writhing in his bonds. Then the men turned to her.

"Speak no evil," they continued. They reached into her mouth, and grabbed hold of her tongue. They pulled it as far out of her mouth as they could, and brought the knife down. She shrieked in pain, pulling on the rope holding her to the pole.

She was barely aware of when they finished.

"Hear no evil," they held the knife to the side of her head, and slashed off her right ear. As she blacked out from blood loss, she saw them move over to Naruto's left ear, before the door to the warehouse was blasted off its hinges, all the way across the room into the crowd.

But too late for her. At some point, they had been cutting into both her and Naruto, and left them bleeding for a while. She had lost far too much blood. She fell limp, only held upright by the rope around her ankles and wrists.

Naruto woke up, his eyes hurting from the bright lights. But he realized something very important.

He could see.

He sat bolt upright, his eyes feeling like they had been sprayed with lava. He had attracted the attention of the doctors in the room. They swarmed around him, bombarding him with too many questions at once. He asked, very simply, in a hoarse voice, "Where is she?" The doctors didn't ask who. They just looked down, and Naruto knew. His cousin was dead. He broke down, reduced to tears.

When he could speak clearly again, he asked how he could see. One of the doctors, a blond woman, told him that his cousin's eyes had been implanted into him. He fell backwards, eyes closed, and held his hands to them. He didn't know how long he stayed like that, but he fell asleep in that position.

Naruto, comforted by the Third, looked up at him, and saw him smiling. The pain in his eyes had faded, and he had taken his hands away from them. But when the Hokage looked down at him again, he had fallen back, as if he was shocked by something. Naruto looked at him with confusion.

He seemed to gather himself quickly, as he continued to speak, "Remember, Naruto: you are not the fox. You are you." Naruto nodded, and the Third left. Naruto heard wheezing above him.

"There… you… are," Mizuki got out, completely out of breath from chasing the blonde. "Give… me… the… SCROLL!" Naruto jumped away, turning to face Mizuki mid-jump. He looked straight into Mizuki's eyes as he did.

The traitorous teacher almost fell out of the tree in fright of something. He spoke again, "But… how do you have that? WHO DID YOU STEAL IT FROM!?" Naruto flinched slightly, surprised by the sudden shouting.

"What do you mean, Mizuki-teme?" He called back, hoping for an answer to why people kept being startled when he looked at them.

"Where did you get the Sharingan, you damned demon fox?" came the unexpected reply. Naruto held his hands in front of his eyes, as if he thought he would be able to see his reflection in them. But no, he only saw his hands. Then he remembered something from his past, something he had repressed.

"They were a gift, from a cousin. She gave them to me after she was killed!" He shouted back. Mizuki scowled. He pulled a dai-shuriken off his back, and began to spin it on his wrist.

"DIE, THIEF!" he roared, as he threw the spinning weapon straight at Naruto. Before it hit him, he dodged to the side. To be more accurate, he was tackled to the side by Iruka, who had been grazed by it.

"Are," Iruka got out, before coughing up a little blood. "You ok, Naruto?" The blonde nodded. Iruka sighed with relief, before turning to Mizuki. "It's one thing to attack the poor boy with words, but to try and kill him over something he can't control, Mizuki? That's something only a monster would do."

Mizuki laughed at Iruka's criticism, replying, "I should have killed him sooner, when he was just a boy. Then he couldn't have run as he did." Iruka glared at him in anger.

"How could you, Mizuki? How could you betray the Leaf like this?"

"Very easily, as it turns out," Mizuki answered. "If you're going to protect the demon, then you'll die first!" He took the other dai-shuriken off of his back, and began to spin it as he had the other. He charged Iruka, as if he planned to use the shuriken as a melee weapon.

Before he ever reached Iruka, he was sent flying by a kick to the face, courtesy of Naruto. As he kicked him, Naruto used his face to spring off and away from the former chunin. Mizuki was sent flying into a tree, before falling into unconsciousness from the impact.

Naruto looked disappointed. Until, that is, Mizuki jumped up at him, revealing himself to have faked unconsciousness. Naruto jumped away, making a handsign with his middle and index fingers crossing, with his right hand parallel to the ground and in front of his left hand.

"TAJŪ KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" he yelled. Over a thousand Naruto's popped into existence around them, in the trees and littering the ground. Mizuki was left in a small clearing amongst them, looking horrified.

All of them spoke at once, "You won't lay a single hand… ON MY SENSEI!" All of the Naruto's attacked at once, in a disorganized mob that had a very unfortunate traitor at the bottom of it.

After nearly an hour, the last of the shadow clones had dispelled, leaving Iruka to try and force his mouth shut. After he did, he walked over to Naruto, put a hand on his head, and congratulated him. The blonde cocked his head, giving Iruka a questioning look. Iruka pulled his headband of his own head, and placed it on Naruto's. The boy almost fainted from excitement. As it was, Iruka would have to carry the boy home. He seemed to be in shock.

Naruto woke, unsure of where he was. The last thing he remembered was Iruka graduating him. He sat up, looking around. He recognized the room as his own at the Uchiha Compound. It was very simple, since he spent very little time in it. There was only a wardrobe and the bed, with a window on the wall opposite the door.

He changed his clothes, since the ones he was wearing were torn up from running through all the trees the previous night. Every single one of his outfits were the same: Nearly identical to Sasuke's, but Naruto's were completely black, save for the Uchiha emblem.

He looked out the window, for the first time since he woke up, and saw it was bright outside. It seemed to be early in the morning; around 9 or so. He decided that everyone else would probably be up. He only had to search for a minute before he found Sasuke with his ear to a wall.

He nudged Sasuke from behind. The young Uchiha nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden contact, but saw it was only Naruto, and calmed down.

"What are you doing, Sasuke?" the blonde asked his brother. Sasuke moved away from the wall, not wanting others to hear him.

"I was listening to Father and Itachi," he sheepishly admitted, looking down and shuffling his foot about. "Father was praising Itachi on another mission he did. I wish he would praise me like that. I mean, I just graduated yesterday, but he didn't say anything about it." He almost seemed bitter while speaking.

Naruto latched on to one part of what his brother said. It sounded like Iruka either hadn't told his family he passed, or Sasuke hadn't been told by anyone. Either way, it meant another chance to surprise his brother. He couldn't wait to see the look on Sasuke's face come orientation day.

"NARUTO?!"

"That's right, Sasuke! I passed!"

Onlookers, for the most part, had amused expressions at the exchange between the two Uchiha twins. There was one, however, who became annoyed.

Iruka yelled at the two to sit down, a command they obeyed immediately. As he was listing off team assignments, Naruto leaned over to his brother.

"50 ryo says I'm on your team," he gambled. Sasuke gave him an indignant look, like he thought a harmless bet was the worst thing in the world.

"Fine," he answered. He turned back to the front, waiting for his name to come up.

"Team 8 will be Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyūga. Team 10 will be Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Choji Akimichi. Are there any questions?" Iruka called out to the classroom. Sasuke realized that they had missed their names, and asked Iruka to repeat his team. As he did, he noticed the pink-haired girl to his left, Sakura, he thought her name was, looking at him with stars in her eyes.

Iruka sighed, but repeated himself, "Team 7 will be Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. Is that all?" Sasuke nodded. In his head, however, he was repeatedly smashing his head into a wall. Not only did he lose the bet, but he would be spending that next several years putting up with his brothers antics.

"Now," Iruka continued. Sasuke realized he missed something again. "Team 7's jonin-sensei will be Kakashi Hatake." Sasuke relaxed a little, realizing he didn't miss anything important. "Any new questions?" Iruka asked to the class once again. "Then I'll leave you to it," he said, as he left the classroom."

"Wait… Are we supposed to wait for our jonin-sensei's?" asked a redheaded girl. She was given a yes from Iruka, before he had left.

Three hours. Kakashi Hatake had made them wait for THREE HOURS! Sasuke was driven up the wall from all the waiting. He was patient, but not this patient. He didn't even try to argue when Naruto put an eraser in the door, so that it would drop on Kakashi's head when he walked through. Sakura, of course, scolded him for doing so.

When the jonin finally walked through, despite what two of the three genin had thought was going to happen, the eraser fell right onto the top of Kakashi's head, leading to a pause from the silver haired jonin as Naruto laughed and Sakura apologized. Even Sasuke made a small chuckle.

"How should I say this?" Kakashi wondered aloud, stroking his mask. "My first impression is… I hate you all."

And another chapter done.

Until Chapter 4: The Bell Test!