"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Naruto scowled as Iruka announced that the test to determine if he were to become a genin would be the clone jutsu.

His teacher knew Naruto was completely hopeless with that jutsu. The blond wondered if Iruka was out to get him for his little act of vandalism the other day.


Two Days Earlier

Naruto was awake before his alarm went off. In a flash, he dressed himself and put a pot of water on the stove. While the water boiled, he busied himself by checking over his supplies: a very long rope, a few metal pulleys, a paintbrush, and a can of orange paint. He had several additional cans hidden closer to his target zone.

After Naruto put the ropes, pulleys, and paintbrush into his backpack, he put the dried ramen noodles into the boiling water. Three minutes later, his pack and paint can were by the door and the boy himself was enjoying a soothing bowl of instant ramen. Once he finished his early breakfast, he put the bowl in the sink, pulled on his pack, picked up the paint can, and leapt out his window to preserve the trap on his door as usual.

The sun wouldn't rise for another four hours, which meant he was going to have to hurry if he didn't want to get caught. Sticking to darkened alleyways, Naruto quickly made his way to the spot he'd hidden the other paint cans. After depositing the final can with the others, he set off to set the rope and pulleys so he could actually reach his target.

"Oh man, this is going to be priceless!" Naruto snickered as he pulled himself upwards with a can of brown paint.

Once he reached the desired height, he removed the lid from the can, dipped the brush into it, and set about painting the stone carving of the First Hokage's face.

When the sun rose, the first thing many the people of Konoha saw looking out their windows were the vandalized faces of the four Hokages, and a giant, crude drawing of Naruto's face next to the Fourth.

The words "I'm the greatest!" were written above it in bright orange paint.


Naruto didn't know why Iruka was still upset with him. Sure, Iruka and several other shinobi chased him through the village...again, but when they caught him they didn't make a big fuss and he cleaned all the paint off.

Hell, Iruka even took out for Ichiraku Ramen afterwards to show there were no hard feelings! So why did his Sensei insist on the graduation exam being a clone jutsu test? If it'd been any other basic jutsu, Naruto would've been fine, but no! The graduation test just had to be the single basic technique that had been the bane of ninja careers for years now.

Looking around the classroom, most of the other students were giving him not so subtle leers. Everyone knew Naruto was incapable of the clone jutsu. Sasuke gave him a look that basically amounted to "Bad luck." The blond caught Hinata Hyuuga giving him a sympathetic look, before she turned beat red and quickly looked away. Naruto wondered why she always did that.

"Focus, Naruto. Worry about idle curiosities after you become a genin!"

With that thought in mind, Naruto resolved himself. He would pass this test. He would become a genin. He would grow up to be the greatest Hokage Konoha had ever seen!

With his confidence restored, Naruto held his head high as he walked past Sasuke, who was returning from the exam room with a brand new Konoha headband tied around his forehead. The blond gave a cocky smile as he positioned himself before Iruka and his other teacher, Mizuki.

The two teachers looked at him expectantly as Iruka told Naruto to create two clones. And just like that, all of Naruto's confidence shattered.

'TWO? I can barely make one, and they expect me to create TWO?! No. Relax Naruto, you can do this. Just remember what Arashi's scroll said about the Clone Jutsu… SHIT I CAN'T REMEMBER! It's ok, it's ok. Just improvise. Imagine there are two more of you standing next to you.'

These thoughts and many others passed through his head while he hesitantly moved his hands through the three seals. Ram. Snake. Tiger. Naruto then poured out as much chakra as he could, determined to fill the room with clones. A great puff of smoke filled the room. When it dissipated, Naruto was standing with a single, half-dead-looking clone a few feet beside him. Both Iruka and Mizuki stared in disbelief at the pathetic sight.

"You fail, Naruto." Iruka said in a matter-of-factly.

Naruto was about to unleash a stream of curses when Mizuki spoke.

"Well, he did manage to create a clone this time, Iruka. Maybe we could let him pass."

Hope blossomed inside Naruto's heart.

"Not going to happen, Mizuki." Iruka countered, the blossom wilting and dying. "All of the other students made two clones; Naruto was barely able to make one. I'm sorry, Naruto, but you don't pass."


After the exam was finished, all the students who passed went outside to be greeted by their parents. They told their children how proud they were and how their favorite foods would be made for dinner.

But off in one corner, far from the group of happy genin, Naruto sat alone on a swing. He could just make out two women commenting on how his failing the graduation was a good thing, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Naruto turned to look into the face of Ayame. She was pretty, Naruto supposed, though apparently Arashi found her to be positively stunning if those poems he found in his room were to be believed. She had a soft rounded face with a few freckles dotting her cheeks.

However, at present she wore an eye patch over her left eye after suffering an injury on a mission.

"Hey." She said simply.

"Hey." Naruto replied.

The two of them said nothing for long moment before Ayame broke the silence.

"Did you want me to take you out for some ramen?" She asked, clearly trying to lift his spirits.

Naruto always liked that about Ayame. Her solution to just about any problem Naruto had was to take him out for some ramen. After Arashi was officially declared dead because he'd been missing for over a year, Ayame took the young Uzumaki member to Ichiraku's Ramen to try and cheer him up. It didn't quite work, but he appreciated the gesture.

Over the last few years, whenever Ayame returned from a mission, she made sure to take Naruto-and sometimes Sasuke-out to Ichiraku's. Sometimes she even helped them train, despite the fact not even she was able to explain the clone jutsu in a way Naruto could understand.

In truth, being around Ayame reminded him of how much he missed hanging around her, Arashi, and Hokori. After Hokori got crippled, the Hyuuga Clan elders forbade her from leaving their compound in fear of her eyes being stolen or something like that. So, Naruto started to send her some flowers and letters so she wouldn't feel cooped up.

His first attempt didn't exactly go as planned. He'd asked Hinata if she could deliver them to Hokori. She fainted when he pressed the flowers into her hand. Since then, he just asked any Hyuuga he found walking through the village.

"Sorry, but today I'd like to be alone." Naruto stated, standing up from the swing set.

"I understand." Ayame said, full of sympathy. "You know where to find me."

Just like that, she teleported away, leaving Naruto to head home alone.


"Naruto," Mizuki called out as the boy walked down the street.

The young blond turned, looking at him questioningly.

"Can I speak with you for a minute?"

Naruto shrugged. "Sure, Mizuki Sensei."

"Try not to be too mad at Iruka," Mizuki started. "He doesn't want to fail you, but he also doesn't want you to be ill prepared for life as a ninja."

"But it's not fair, Mizuki Sensei!" Naruto started, "All of the other kids graduated and I work twice as hard as them! I even heard last year, a student graduated without knowing any basic ninjutsu."

Mizuki nodded as he recalled the student: Rock Lee. "Yeah I remember him, but do you want to know why we allowed him to graduate?"

Naruto held up his hands expectantly.

"It's because while he lacked in ninjutsu, he more than made up for it in taijutsu."

Okay, time to start dangling rabbits for the little fox.

"Do you think you should've graduated?" The instructor queried.

Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Then I suppose I had better tell you a little secret." Mizuki beckoned Naruto to come closer.

"You see, I also failed the clone jutsu test," Mizuki's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "so what I did was I snuck into the Hokage Mansion, stole a scroll from his private library, and mastered a jutsu from that scroll. Then I went to the Hokage and performed the jutsu I learned. He made me a genin on the spot."

The smile on Naruto's face told Mizuki that he got him.

Now I just have to wait.


Naruto panted, setting the heavy scroll onto the ground reverently.

He'd done it. He successfully infiltrated the Hokage Mansion, stole a scroll from the library, and even "defeated" Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, with a simple transformation into a buxom, blonde, naked woman. A move he referred to as the "Sexy Jutsu." Now he just had sit down and master a jutsu from this scroll.

Unravelling the scroll, it read as followed: These are the techniques and jutsu developed by Tobirama Senju, The Second Hokage. Naruto skipped forward until he found the first jutsu in the scroll: The Shadow Clone Jutsu.

"Are you kidding me?!" Naruto shouted at the heavens, "Why does this jutsu haunt my every turn?"


Iruka lied awake on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

A monstrous roar shakes the very ground around him as he looks up at the giant demon. A fox, larger than the Hokage Mansion, rampages across the village.

"Stop! My parents are still back there!" A young Iruka shouts as he's carried off by a Jonin.

A knock at the door rouses Iruka from his memories.

"What is it?" the chunin asked.

"Iruka, we have to get to the Hokage's Mansion," Mizuki told him, sounding panicked, "Naruto has stolen one of the forbidden scrolls."


Naruto sat on the ground, breathing heavily. He was tired, dirty, and drenched in sweat, but it was all worth it. He had done it. He learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

The way the Second Hokage explained it made so much more sense than anyone else had. It's like he wrote the instructions down with someone like Naruto in mind.

The blond was still grinning when Iruka found him.

"There you are, you dolt."

Naruto laughed. "Hey, Iruka-Sensei! I found you."

A vein bulged in Iruka's neck. "I found you, you Moron! What're you doing out here?"

The child's face brightened. "I've been practicing this jutsu so you'll let me graduate!"

Iruka sent him a confused look.

"I learned a jutsu from the Hokage's scroll, so you have to let me graduate. That's how Mizuki Sensei said it worked."

"Mizuki?" Iruka questioned before the realization hit him like a thunderbolt.

In a flash, Iruka shoved Naruto away and turned to protect himself as half a dozen kunai knives buried themselves in his body. He slid backwards while Mizuki appeared on a high tree branch.

"Well, well, Iruka. I see you found our little demon." he paused when he spotted the blond possessing the scroll he desired. "Naruto, give me that scroll."

"No, don't give him that scroll, Naruto." Iruka coughed.

"What's going on?" the confused boy demanded.

"That scroll's filled with dangerous and forbidden jutsu," Iruka explained, "Mizuki used you to get a hold of it."

Said chunin laughed, "Naruto, are you really going to believe someone who's been lying to you your whole life?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know the nine-tailed fox demon that attacked our village 12 years ago right?"

"Stop it!" Iruka shouted, struggling to stand.

Mizuki ignored him. "For twelve years, no one was allowed to tell you that you're the nine-tailed fox; that you destroyed the village and killed hundreds, including Iruka's parents. If it weren't for the sacrifice the Fourth Hokage made in sealing you in human form, you would've killed thousands more. The only mistake the Fourth Hokage made was not killing you."

Naruto stood there, numbed to the world around him.

"Haven't you ever wondered why everybody hates you for seemingly no reason? Why your own brother abandoned you?"

The blond failed to notice Mizuki pulled a giant shuriken off his back and was spinning it in his hand. He didn't notice Iruka was fighting to stand up and make it to him before Mizuki killed him. He didn't feel anything as Iruka knocked him to the ground and took a giant shuriken in the back for him.

He came back to himself when he felt warm blood drip onto his face. Looking up, he saw Iruka holding himself over him, blood leaking from his mouth.

"Why?"

"Because, I don't hate you, Naruto." Iruka answered, "The truth is, I used to be just like you: lonely. After my parents died, there was nobody there for me. So I acted like an idiot to get people's attention. But...I had no real friends."

Tears began to stream down Iruka's face. "But you're different Naruto; you're stronger than I was. When Arashi was gone, you reached out to another feeling your pain and forged a bond with them. I wish I was more like you at your age."

Naruto was speechless. He didn't know what to say to Iruka, so he did the one thing he could do. He crawled out from under Iruka and faced Mizuki. If Mizuki wanted this scroll so damned badly, he'd have to take it from Naruto's cold, dead hands.

"So the demon fox wants to play." Mizuki teased, hopping down from his tree.

Naruto didn't think about how much older Mizuki was. He didn't think about how much stronger Mizuki was. All he could think about was a single memory.

"Arashi, why do people call me The Fourth's mistake?"

Arashi appeared sad at the question, and Naruto wondered why. His brother knelt next to him, pulling him into a hug.

"Naruto, you were not a mistake. There's something I want to tell you, but you'll have to wait until you're older."

Is that what Arashi wanted to tell him? That he was a monster? No. Arashi never treated him as such, and neither did Ayame, Hokori, Iruka, or Sasuke. They all treated him like he was a human being. So what if the rest of the village thought he was a demon? He'd just have to prove them wrong.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki: son of Takeda and Yukiwa Uzumaki, brother of Arashi Uzumaki. I swear on the honor of my clan and as a citizen of Konoha, I will crush you."

Mizuki stared, bewildered at the boy's proclamation. Naruto made two one-handed tiger seals, crossing them together in front of him. Iruka's eyes widened as he recognized the seal.

In an instant, over a thousand Narutos surrounded Mizuki, who gazed in astonishment at all of the clones surrounding him.

"Not clones; shadow clones. No illusions, but solid physical bodies." Iruka whispered in equal disbelief.

At once, the thousand Narutos descended upon Mizuki. A few moments later, the traitorous chunin lied on the ground, covered in bruises and welts delivered at the hands of Naruto's jutsu.

"I think I might've overdone it." The blond laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

Iruka smiled. "Naruto, come here for a second and close your eyes."

Naruto glanced at him quizzically before complying. He felt something get tied around his head.

"Congratulations on graduating, Naruto."

The boy's eyes shot open, his hand flying to the metal plate tied to his forehead. With a wide smile, he jumped into Iruka's arms and hugged him.


So Naruto has finally become a genin. Now all that remains is for him to meet his team. Next time Team 7.