Naruto sagged against one of the trees for less than a second before he was rolling away from a sword that slashed through the trunk. He'd grown a lot over the last couple of years and was now standing head and shoulders over his classmates. His zanpaktou had said that his slow growth had been an effect of the Kyuubi being sealed inside him. Now that the influence of the fox had been negated, his body was working to make up for lost time. The blonde brought up his sword to parry the blow that the armored form of his zanpaktou rained down. He grunted a little from the force of the blow, but was proud that he had given no ground despite the shocking strength that he'd countered.
It's time for a break, the armored figure said as it backed away from the exhausted blonde. You have done well, although I'm surprised you having been able to hear my name after four years of working together.
"It's not my fault you're always mumbling whenever you say it," Naruto grumbled as he slumped to the ground.
I never mumble, the zanpaktou said indignantly. If you cannot hear it, then you are not ready to hear it. I just have to be proud than your zanjutsu and hoho are at acceptable levels for your experience. Shunpo seems to come naturally to you, which amazes me considering your nearly abysmal failure at using kidou.
"Hey, I can't remember all of those complicated chants," Naruto complained. "Shunpo was easy to learn and it's lots of fun. You should have seen the look on that ANBU's face when I literally disappeared from right in front of him."
The armored figure sighed at this and Naruto stuck out his tongue. The blonde had continued to prank the village despite constant complaining from the zanpaktou that it was beneath his dignity to commit such acts. The blonde thought it was all an act, though, since he could swear he'd heard the spirit laugh after he'd doused the military police with a chemical that attracted a horde of skunks wanting to mate with them.
Your genin exam is approaching again, is it not, the figure asked, turning the featureless helmet to face the blonde.
"Yeah," Naruto sighed. "Are you going to let me pass this time? Most of my classmates are scheduled to graduate this year and I'd at least like to know who I'm going to have to work on a team with. Even if I can't stand the Uchiha."
Your intolerance of him in understandable considering his attitude, the zanpaktou said, but you should prepare yourself in case you required to work with him on a mission. And yes, I believe that it is time you graduated. Your skills have grown to a level where only real combat with different opponents will help you learn more. There are still rough edges to be smoothed away, but those are just a matter of practice.
"Yes! I finally get to become a genin," Naruto exclaimed, his exhaustion now completely gone as he jumped to his feet and danced around the clearing. "I'll get to show up Sasuke-teme on the exams and then Sakura-chan will finally like me…"
I wouldn't count on that, the armored figure warned. The girl is an odd one and I seem to get an echo from her chakra that reminds me of the presence of a zanpaktou and yet different at the same time. Besides, isn't she obsessed with your self-declared rival?
"Nah, she's just following the herd," Naruto said, waving off the implication. "Once she sees what I'm capable of, she'll dump the broody bastard and be my girlfriend!"
While I admire your enthusiasm, the zanpaktou said, you should concentrate on the exam. Your ninjutsu is still difficult for you to perform, especially the bunshin no jutsu.
Naruto crunched up his face in a scowl as he answered, "That's because it's so much harder to use. Kidou doesn't care how much power you put into a spell, but if you overdo it just a little on something like the bunshin no jutsu, it comes out looking dead! Besides, the handseals are a pain. Even if I have trouble remembering the paternoster for the kidou sometimes, it's still better than trying to remember all those seal sequences."
Well, the ninjutsu is a requirement, the armored figure scolded before the form blurred and became the wooden dummy again. If you cannot do it, then you will not graduate and that would not be a good thing for your position in the village.
"Thanks," Naruto groaned as he moved to the center of the clearing and began to practice his handseals
When Naruto had first started at the Academy, it had been a haven of sorts. A place where despite how the villagers seemed to treat him, that they would have to accept him as a student. This notion was quickly and rudely disabused by several of the teachers, although to be fair Iruka-sensei had always treated him well. After he'd found the zanpaktou and begun training in the evenings and through most of the night, Naruto had started to realize that his classes were going to be pretty much useless. So he started napping in class, when he wasn't escaping and playing pranks. Shikamaru seemed to regard him as a kindred spirit and had helped him pick out the material that he would need to keep passing grades on the written tests, so that they could both catch up on their sleep. While Naruto's exhaustion pulled him into the slumber, it was a natural lazy instinct that had Shikamaru dozing off through most of his classes.
Since today was the genin exam, the other classes were given a week's break while the current graduating class would take their exam and be assigned to teams. No use in having all the other kids underfoot if you didn't have to. Naruto showed up and perched himself in the upper corner seat of the classroom, with his back against the wall. He snorted at Sasuke, who was sitting in the second row by the windows and reflected that the boy's hair looked suspiciously like a duck's but from the rear like this. His zanpaktou had taught him to keep his back to a solid surface and to pick a place that allowed you to observe the area without danger to yourself. Obviously he wasn't the only one who thought this, because two other students occupied his row: the Aburame boy and that strange Hyuuga girl.
When Sakura entered the room, Naruto felt his heart begin to race. She was someone that he had desperately liked for years now, ever since he'd seen her being bullied by some of the older kids over the size of her forehead. Unfortunately all of his attempts to become her friend had been rebuffed, first by her parents and then by the rabid crush she'd developed over the last Uchiha. It was enough to make the blonde want to murder the other boy, although he trusted in his zanpaktou to help him calm down enough to keep from murdering the arrogant asshole. Sakura was followed in by Ino and the two began bickering over who would get to sit next to Sasuke. The whole scene was enough to make him fell sick.
That's when Iruka came in and got everything started. The usual tests went by easily: taijutsu, thrown weapon accuracy, basic knowledge, stealth and evasion. Naruto did decently enough, but his lack of skill with thrown weapons and his mediocre written score made the ninjutsu portion the deciding factor. It was a great relief to him that the bunshin no jutsu was not the exam final this year. Instead they had to perform the kawarimi no jutsu while the teachers threw shuriken at them. Naruto gave a broad grin and even though Mizuki-sensei threw twice as many shuriken at him as he did at the others, the blonde walked away with a hitai-ate in his hand and a warm feeling in his heart.
"This calls for a celebration," the blonde declared loudly as he headed off into the town. "Ichiraku ramen, here I come!" Naruto could hear the noodles sizzling in their hot broth already as he ran through the streets.
"Oh, Naruto," Teuchi said as the blonde plopped down on one of the stools at the ramen stands. "So how did the exams go?"
"See for yourself," Naruto grinned as he held out the hitai-ate for the ramen chef to see.
"Congratulations are in order then," Teuchi said with an answering grin. "How about a bowl on the house as a reward?"
"That'd be great," Naruto replied enthusiastically. He practically bounced in his seat as he waited for the food. He didn't get to come here as much anymore, since his zanpaktou was insisting that he eat more healthy foods on a regular basis.
"So any idea who you'll be on a team with," Ayame asked as she finished serving one of the other customers.
"Nah, they won't tell us until tomorrow," Naruto replied, practically drooling as Teuchi set the large bowl of ramen in front of him. "As long as it's not Sasuke-teme, everything will be okay."
"Hmm, I expected you to say something about being on Sakura's team," Ayame teased, before noting the crestfallen look on the boy's face.
"She doesn't want anything to do with me," the boy said sadly. "Every time I try and be friends with me, she just insults me and compares me to Sasuke. I think I'll always like her, but maybe she'll be happier if I just leave her alone…"
"It's not like you to give up, Naruto," Teuchi said.
"I know and I don't really want to," the blonde replied, "but passing the genin exam means that I'm an adult now and I have to act more responsible. So I thought that if I let her have her space, maybe she'll miss me and come to talk or something."
"That's surprisingly mature of you, Naruto," Ayame said proudly with a faked sniff. "Oh, our little Naruto-kun is all grown up now."
"That's not funny, Ayame-neechan," the blonde pouted before digging into his noodles. He didn't want them to get cold after all.
It was late in the evening when Naruto found himself back at his training area, staring down at the bundle of sticks that once again took the armored form of his zanpaktou. He'd eaten a hearty celebratory dinner at Ichiraku's of six bowls of ramen, bemoaning the fact that he couldn't eat as much as he used to before heading back out here to train a little. Truth be told, he just wanted to work off a little of the nervous energy that was building up as he worried about what team he'd be placed with.
Do you hear that, the armored figure asked as it cocked its helm at an odd angle. It sounds like a battle of some sort.
"Either someone else's training really late, or something's wrong," Naruto frowned before disappearing with his shunpo. The armor faded from the dummy as he left, but there remained a charged air about the place. A sort of expectancy that something special would happen tonight.
Naruto could move a large distance with a single step, thanks to his shunpo, and found himself near a dilapidated old shack that sat in the woods. The scent of blood was strong in the air and the blonde could see a crumpled body of someone his age laying nearby. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed to be one of his classmates. One who didn't pass the genin exam if the blonde remembered correctly. He had been disemboweled and left to die not long ago and the sound of steel meeting could be heard fairly close by.
"Why are you doing this, Mizuki," a familiar voice called out as Naruto crept through the underbrush. Shunpo was great for covering distance and general speed, but it was not stealthy. At least Naruto didn't have the skill yet to make it stealthy and he did not expect to need to be creeping through the woods to where his two Academy instructors were fighting.
"I should think the answer's obvious, Iruka," the other chuunin sneered. "They all seem to know about what I did and they've blocked me from ever becoming stronger, so I've decided to take my services elsewhere; somewhere they'll be appreciated. The Scroll of Seals should be a nice bargaining chip as well. Getting that brat to steal it for me was almost too easy. He was so upset about not making genin that he bought my story about an alternate test without batting an eye. Too bad it wasn't Uzumaki. I would have liked a chance to take the demon brat out myself before I left."
"Don't talk about them that way," Iruka growled. Naruto moved closer and could see that the scarred chuunin was holding his side and blood was leaking out. "Aoino was a good student and he might have graduated given another year and Uzumaki is not the demon."
"Faugh, how can you say that," Mizuki spat. "We all know the demon was sealed into him and the village would have killed him if that old fool Sarutobi hadn't interfered. Hell, if I killed him, they'd see me as the hero."
"He's not the demon," Iruka bit out. "It took me a while to understand it myself, but Naruto is a courageous young genin of Konoha and he's had to deal with more trials than any of us."
"That's enough, Iruka," the silver haired chuunin said sadly. "I think it's time I got going, which means that it's time for you to die." Mizuki swung the giant shuriken he held in his hand and let it fly at the wounded chuunin.
"I don't think so," Naruto said loudly as he caught the shuriken against his zanpaktou and let it fall to the ground. He stepped out into the moonlight and took a deep breath. Iruka had been a teacher he respected for dealing with him as a child and not a demon, but the man's words had built himself a special place in the boy's heart.
"Interesting look, demon brat," Mizuki snarled as he pulled a second giant shuriken off his back. Naruto blinked as he realized that he was wearing his training outfit and not his usual orange. His shinigami uniform, as his zanpaktou liked to refer to it. "It's still not going to stop me from killing you. But you really should know the truth first. Do you know why the villagers hate you and many have tried to kill you? It's because you're the Kyuubi no Kitsune that nearly destroyed the village twelve years ago!"
"Don't listen to him, Naruto," Iruka called weakly from where he lay in a growing pool of blood. "You're not the demon…"
"I know," Naruto said calmly as he held his zanpaktou steadily in front of him. "I found out about the demon being there years ago. It's sealed away, though, so it can never hurt anyone again. Now, Mizuki-sensei, I believe that you have something that doesn't belong to you and I'm sure jiji would like to have it returned."
"Try it if you think you ca…urk," Mizuki started, but was cut off as the blonde moved through him with shunpo, slicing him nearly in half.
"Well, that was disappointingly easy," Naruto commented as he took the large scroll from the dead man and turned back to Iruka, whose color didn't look very good. "Ne, Iruka-sensei, we should get you to the hospital. You don't look very good."
"Thank you for stopping him," Iruka said through a groan of pain as the blonde lifted the larger man in his arms. "Though I wouldn't have blamed you for believing him. About being the demon, anyways, after how the village has treated you."
"Trust me, Iruka-sensei," Naruto grinned, "I know more about the fox than anyone in the village and I know how fear can make people stupid. My goal is to get them to see the real me."
Iruka didn't reply as he'd passed out from blood loss, but the blonde felt a lot better having said this and used shunpo to get to the hospital before his teacher lost too much more blood.
That was a noble deed, the zanpaktou said after the blonde had dropped his teacher off at the hospital.
"I couldn't just let Mizuki kill him," Naruto shrugged. "Iruka-sensei has always treated me decently and I'd hate to lose someone who actually looks at me like I'm human. Besides, the old man would be pissed if the scroll got taken out of the village."
I notice that you haven't looked through it, the voice observed. Aren't you interested in the powerful techniques that are sure to be contained within?
"A little," Naruto admitted. "If I was still like I was before I found you or that bastard Sasuke, I would have been all over it. I've learned to be patient since I started working with you. It's not always easy, but it's worked out better for my strength to grow a little at a time rather than trying to take a huge jump ahead."
You have grown much wiser, the zanpaktou said in an amused tone. Remember that you will always have Tenken to call upon to support you.
Naruto walked along to the Hokage tower when he stopped and realized what he had just heard. "Your name is Tenken," he whispered before whooping in joy and cackling like a madman. "One more step on the path to strength down!"
"Are you all right, Naruto," the Hokage's voice called out, interrupting the blonde's impromptu celebration. Naruto turned sheepishly to see the Sandaime standing on the street, looking at him with an amused expression.
"Ah, yeah, jiji, I'm fine," Naruto replied nervously. "I was just coming to see you and return the scroll that Mizuki stole."
"Yes, I heard from ANBU that you'd gotten involved in the situation," the old man replied as he puffed on his pipe. He signaled for the blonde to follow him as he entered the Hokage tower and climbed the steps to his office. "They were impressed with the way you handled yourself and one or two had been wondering who had been teaching you to use a sword."
"It's just something I've been working on," Naruto replied with a half truth. "It's not an actual style or anything, since I don't have a sensei for it, right?"
"It impressed one of the ANBU observers," the Sandaime replied as he entered his office and sat down at his desk, "and he's a renowned sword specialist. He also mentioned that you seemed to use an unusual maneuver that moved at very high speed. A speed that he could barely track despite being and experienced ninja who has fought a wide variety of opponents in his time. Is there something you should be telling me, Naruto?"
Naruto felt sweat rolling down the back of his neck as the Hokage's steely gaze pinned him in place. I don't want to lie to jiji, he thought furiously, but should I tell him about what I found all those years ago? Would he understand or would he think it's just the demon?
Calm down, Naruto, Tenken said in an exasperated tone. The Hokage is more than capable of holding any secret we would tell him unless it endangered the village. He also undoubtedly knows about Kyuubi being sealed inside of you and it has never colored his affection for you, has it?
Yeah, you're right, Naruto thought in relief as he cleared his throat. "Well, " he started, "do you remember when I fell down that sinkhole all those years ago and you had to dig me out?"
"Indeed," the Hokage replied, blinking slightly at the apparent nonsequitor. "It took several hours to remove enough of the rubble and retrieve you from the cave where you lay unconscious."
"Well, I kind of found out a few things that night," Naruto admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably. "That was when I found out about the Kyuubi being sealed inside of me."
"And exactly who told you about this, Naruto," the Hokage asked, his voice hard but not unkind. "If someone in the village told you about this, then they broke an important law that I set in place to try and protect you."
"Well, I'll get to that," Naruto said, raising a hand to forestall the old man's objection. "You see, like most festival nights, I was running from the drunks when I got caught in the sinkhole. Being trapped, I decided to explore and found myself in a series of really old caverns that are older than anything in the village."
"Hmm, I do remember the Shodaime commenting on some ancient ruins having to be removed when they were building the village," the Sandaime mused.
"So I followed them for a while and I found this really big cavern with these neat crystal formations and in the center was an altar," Naruto continued. "On top of the alter was a bundle of cloth. Well, given that I've always been more curious than smart, I opened the bundle up and took out the sword that I found inside. I didn't notice the seals on the cloth, since most of them turned to dust as soon as I touched the cloth."
"Let me guess," the Sandaime said with an amused smile, "that the sword in the bundle is the one you're wearing now."
"Sort of," Naruto hedged. "You see, when I picked up the sword there was a voice suddenly talking in my head and the next thing I knew I was in a sewer. I followed a bunch of noises and found the fox in his cage behind the seal and then the voice showed up."
"So the voice you heard wasn't Kyuubi's," the Sandaime asked.
"No, it was Tenken's and he showed up as this giant guy in really cool armor," Naruto replied. "He said that he knew Kyuubi and this is where it gets really complicated. Tenken said that the bijuu aren't from our world, but they're not really demons either. The way he explained it, six people came chasing three criminals and got stuck here. They found out that this place was corrupting them even the good guys, so they sealed a part of themselves away to protect them or in some cases to protect themselves. You see, the swords have a identity of their own, but their a part of the person's soul and to seal them away meant losing that portion of their soul and power. That made them become corrupt even faster and then you just had the bijuu."
"Fascinating," Sarutobi said, enthralled by the story. "I would be tempted not to believe, Naruto, but this actually fits into some of the facts that we do have about the bijuu. People have spent lifetimes researching what fragmentary records remain of the time before their rampage."
"Well, Tenken said that he used to be part of the Kyuubi," Naruto said with a grin at the old man, "and the fox was not happy to see him. Apparently since I had part of Kyuubi's soul from having his chakra in my coils, Tenken could join with me the way he used to be with Kyuubi. The fox was really pissed cause Tenken being there completely suppresses the fox's attempts to break the seal. I haven't heard anything out of the bastard since and Tenken's been training me in the way of fighting that belonged to what he called shinigami."
"Shinigami," Sarutobi asked sharply, his gaze intense on the blonde. "Are you sure he said shinigami?"
"Yeah," Naruto replied, a little worried by the old man's reaction. "He said they were people who protected the spirits of the dead and killed the monsters that fed on them."
The Sandaime relaxed a bit. "I'm sorry to have startled you, Naruto," he said, "but the seal that locked away the Kyuubi was done via a contract with Shinigami-sama."
"I can understand why that freaked you out them," Naruto replied, "nut I think that's they were a completely different thing from Shinigami-sama. Tenken said that they were basically ordinary men and women with a lot of power, kind of like in a ninja village."
"Thank you for sharing this with me, Naruto," the Sandaime said as he leaned back in his chair. "I admit that I was concerned by your skills and more importantly, by your change in wardrobe. I never thought I would ever see you in anything other than orange."
"This is what I'm going to wear as my work clothes, jiji," Naruto scowled. "I can still wear my favorite colors when I'm not on duty, but Tenken made sense when he said that orange isn't the best color for the battlefield, no matter how awesome it is. Besides, black will hide blood better."
"That's a rather bleak point of view," the Hokage said sadly.
"I'm going to be a ninja, jiji," the blonde replied nonchalantly, "I don't have any illusions about what I'll have to do. I just hope that I never have to kill people who don't deserve it."
I thin we all hope that, Naruto," the old man replied. "Now, set the scroll here and go get some sleep. You'll be getting your team assignment tomorrow and you'll want to be rested."
"Right," the blonde said as he used shunpo to disappear from the room, leaving a shocked Hokage behind him.
"Things really are going to get interesting," the old man mused as he looked at the listings of team assignments in front of him.