This is my first story. Don't hate for no reason. Will take fair criticism though.

I do not own Naruto or anything related. That goes to Masashi Kishimoto

CHAPTER 3

Naruto got ready for school laboriously yet excitedly. Today is the genin exam and he could not wait to pass. In the past three months Naruto's training has improved. The shadow clones combined with the restriction seal allowed him to learn faster than before. While the restriction seal made his exercises much more difficult, especially since he just raised the level to four, the shadow clones improved his seal speed and chakra control. On his way to school Naruto was excited for the future. He still only knew the henge, kawarimi, and kage bunshin, so he was hoping that whatever jonin sensei he got would teach him some elemental jutsu.

But when he sat down in the classroom he began to prepare for the exam. When Iruka and Mizuki walked in he immediately began to focus. "This exam will be in five parts. First will be a written exam, so will you all please get to your seats," Iruka began. As the students got to their seats Mizuki began distributing papers. "You will have one hour to complete ten questions on the paper." Once everyone was ready one shout rang throughout the classroom, "Begin!"

-one hour later-

"Pencils down!" As Naruto wiped the sweat off his forehead he grinned, proud of how well he did on the exam. "We are going outside for the next test." As everyone left Mizuki stayed behind and collected the tests. Once all the students were lined up outside Iruka gave instructions, "I'm going to call you out one by one and you will throw 10 kunai and 10 shuriken."

(I'm just going to do the rookie 9)

"Aburame Shino." 6/10 & 7/10

"Akimichi Choji." 6/10 & 5/10

"Haruno Sakura." 3/10 & 3/10

"Hyuga Hinata." 8/10 & 8/10

"Inuzuka Kiba." 6/10 & 6/10

"Nara Shikamaru." 5/10 & 5/10

"Uchiha Sasuke." 9/10 & 10/10

"Uzumaki Naruto." 9/10 & 9/10

"Yamanaka Ino." 3/10 & 3/10

After marking down everyone's scores Iruka shouts, "Next is taijutsu. You are all going to spar with Mizuki. If you can stay inside the ring for three minutes you get a full score." After hearing this Naruto sat down under a tree to relax and wait for his turn. He was proud of his score but a little saddened by missing the last two points. Though as he watched his classmates spar he grew more and more confident in his capabilities.

"Uzumaki Naruto, step into the circle."

Settling into the opening raiken stance he took a breath and stared into his sensei's eyes.

"Hajime!"

Mizuki kicked off to punch Naruto in the gut. Dodging to the right, Naruto ran back to deliver a punch from the side. However, Mizuki ducks out of the way and tries to sweep Naruto's legs but he flips over it and tries to deliver an ax kick. Mizuki catches the leg and throws Naruto across the ring. Naruto rolls to lessen the impact and glares at Mizuki, 'He's fighting much harder than before. I might as well release the restriction seal.' Holding a one handed ram seal he thinks, 'kai.' While none of the other students caught it, both the teachers did and were very confused, 'What is Naruto doing, no one used a genjutsu.'

Naruto dashes close to Mizuki and tries to hit his face but Mizuki blocks with his left arm and tries to hit back with his right but Naruto jumps high to dropkick Mizuki. However, when Mizuki goes to block Naruto springboards off him temporarily unbalancing Mizuki. With a burst of speed Naruto sprints to hit Mizuki square in his gut knocking him out of the ring.

The silence was deafening as everyone stared between the unconscious teacher and the student scratching the back of his head with a nervous grin, "Oops?"

It took a second before Iruka took a breath and focused, "Well done Naruto, you may step out of the circle."

As Naruto sat down and reapplied his seal Iruka tested the remaining students himself while he let Mizuki recover. After the Iruka wrote down the scores of the last student he shouted for everyone's attention, "Everyone is dismissed for lunch. Be back inside the classroom by 12:30 pm."

-time skip-

After everyone came back from lunch Iruka made an announcement, "We're going to do the last two tests, and if you pass them both you become genin. We'll call you to a separate room and test your genjutsu and your academy three jutsu. Now first up Aburame Shino."

As the numbers dwindled Naruto began to focus. 'The ninjutsu part I'm confident in. I can even do them with only one sign. It's the genjutsu part I'm worried about. I always struggle to recognize that I'm in one.'

Iruka calls out, "Naruto Uzumaki!" As Naruto walks over to the other room he continues his train of thought. 'To release a genjutsu disrupt your chakra by either stopping its flow for a split second or releasing it in a small burst. A third but risky method is to physically injure myself.'

He stood confidently in front of his two teachers but inside he was slightly nervous due to genjutsu being his worst subject, "We will be testing you on how quickly you can recognize and escape from the genjutsu Mizuki will put you in at a random point in time within the next few minutes. If you attempt to escape before he uses a genjutsu points will be deducted. Ready?"

"Definitely!"

As Naruto stood in the center of the classroom nothing changed. He looked all around him and yet nothing looked different, even his teachers looked the same. He began to look around for the little details that might indicate he was in a genjutsu. It was a few minutes until…Finally! He sees it! The color of the wood was different and Iruka's hair was slightly darker and his scar was slightly bigger. Holding the ram sign Naruto closed his eyes to focus on his chakra. Once he had prepared adequately he stopped the flow of chakra for a moment. 'Kai.'

Opening his eyes to smiling teachers he grinned.

Iruka congratulated him, "Good job Naruto, Now do the academy three."

Naruto nervously asked, "Am I allowed to do another type of clone?"

Iruka, "I guess it's okay as long as it's functioning."

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." As the two teachers stared bug-eyed at the clones on both sides of Naruto, each clone did a different hand sign and a different jutsu with them.

"Henge." The clone on the left transformed into a perfect clone of the Sandaime Hokage.

"Kawarimi." There was now a log where the clone on the right now stood. And in between was a grinning Naruto with his chest puffed out in pride. Once the two teachers broke out of their stupor they showed similar emotions but their thoughts were extremely different.

Mizuki was furious, 'The way this is going my plans are going to be ruined.'

However, Iruka grabs a black cloth headband and proudly states, "Congratulations Naruto, you are now a genin!" As his hand is over he continues, "Come back in a week for team assignments. The grades will be posted on the board that day too."

The elated grin that was plastered on Naruto's face as he received his headband was nearly contagious. And as he bounced out of the building he paid no mind to harsh whispers or the indignant glares, he was just happy he got his headband. And the extreme amount of celebratory ramen tasted better than ever before. But as he walked home he felt a tap on his shoulder, "Hey Naruto, can I talk to you?"

Turning around he saw Mizuka behind him, "Sure what do you need?"

"Let's talk in private."

"Sure."

After walking into the forest for a little, Mizuki began, "You did amazing during the exams and I wanted to congratulate you for that."

With a grin he responded, "Thanks Mizuki-sensei."

"However, Sasuke will most likely beat you out for Rookie of the Year and I wanted to know if you wanted a chance to change that?"

There was a brief silence as Naruto thought about it but replied, "No thanks, status as rookie of the year isn't that important to me."

There was a slight twitch on Mizuki's face however, Naruto caught it. Mizuki continued, "Well if you succeeded in the extra test you would also receive 2 kunai and shuriken sets."

Naruto squinted his eyes in suspicion, 'This sounds fake. But let's see.' "What exactly is the test?"

-few hours later-

"Hey Jiji!"

The old man looked up from his paperwork and smiled, "I see you've passed."

The smile spread to Naruto's face, "Of course, you helped me with my main problem. Except I now have another one."

Hiruzen adopted a face of concern, "Is everything alright?"

Getting a little more serious Naruto began, "Well Mizuki said that there was a bonus exam to guarantee my spot as Rookie of the year."

The hokage was now confused, "There is no bonus exam."

"I thought so but what sealed it for me is that he said that the test was to steal the scroll of seals and bring it to some remote area of the forest."

"That would be traitorous."

"I know! That's why I came to talk to you. I wanted to ask you what I should do."

Hiruzen scratched his chin and thought, "What do you think I should do?"

"Well you could arrest him now but you don't have enough to prove anything. So what I would do is have me take a fake scroll and pretend the heist is actually happening. But have an ANBU follow me out to the meet point and hide. Once Mizuki shows that would be enough."

"That sounds like a plan. Inu!"

A swirl of leaves and a man appeared kneeling before his leader, "Yes, Lord Hokage?"

"Follow Naruto to the rendezvous point with Mizuki. If he shows any signs of traitorous activity, capture him. This will be a B-rank Mission for both of you."

Excitedly, Naruto began jumping, "Cool!"

"Now about that fake scroll."

Naruto crossed his arms and smirked, "Oh I can handle that, I just need to inspect it for a minute."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Let's see what you can do."

Swiveling in his chair he grabbed the scroll behind him and handed it to the fresh genin. Naruto took it and began to look through every detail. He never opened it but made sure he had a perfect image of it in his mind. Once he did he handed the scroll back. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A clone appeared next to the boy. That clone then proceeded to transform into a perfect copy of the scroll. Naruto picked it up and strapped it to his back. "It should last for a few hours."

Hiruzen smiled, "I'll begin sending out search parties in an hour. Be at the meetup spot by then."

Naruto and the ANBU both saluted, "Hai!"

-hour and a half later-

Naruto was nervously pacing between two trees. He put some dirt on his clothes to make it look like he was training, 'I thought he would be here already. It's been 30 minutes since the alert went out.'

He was going to continue pacing but he heard a rustling of bushes behind him and a voice call out, "What the hell are you trying to pull Naruto?"

Iruka had emerged from the bushes extremely angry but Naruto was only confused, "What are you doing here Iruka-sensei?"

"I should be asking you that!" Iruka's anger rose.

Playing the fool Naruto responded, "Well Mizuki-sensei said that this was a bonus test."

All the anger immediately flipped to confusion, "What are you talking about?"

Furthering the act Naruto began to ramble nervously, "Well Mizuki said that if I learned a jutsu from the scroll that he could make me rookie of the year. And I thought–"

"Wait. If Mizuki told you to do this then that would mean–"

Both ninjas jumped to the side as kunai flew in between them and a voice boomed, "Give me the scroll Naruto!"

Both ninjas turned to the new person and a Iruka shouted, "Do not give Mizuki that scroll!"

Mizuki snarled, "He just doesn't want you to get any stronger because he hates you!"

The explosively angry complexion turned to a maniacal grin, "But do you want to know why everyone hates you?"

Naruto thought he had prepared for anything Mizuki might say to convince him. But that one question made him crack, "Why?"

"Well you see--" A swift chop to the neck from the hidden ANBU sent Mizuki into unconsciousness.

Restraining the traitor, the masked shinobi began to speak, "Thank you both for helping in the capture of this traitor. Naruto come with me to report mission success in Hokage's office. Iruka you may go home."

Shrugging his shoulders he dispelled the fake scroll and walked over to the ANBU, "Okay, Shunshin us there."

Iruka looked between them extremely confused, "What's going on here?"

"Oh, this whole thing was a plan to prove Mizuki was a traitor."

Iruka just stood there flabbergasted as his student and an ANBU just shunshin away.

-hokage's office-

Standing before their leader Inu spoke, "ANBU Inu and Genin Uzumaki Naruto, reporting mission success."

"Well done. Inu go drop off the traitor to T , Naruto, you may go home and the mission pay will be in your account by tomorrow."

Naruto did not leave. "No."

The hokage was slightly worried, 'Please don't ask.' "Is there something you need, Naruto?"

"Tell me why people hate me."

"People hate what they don't understand."

Naruto, while calm on the outside, began to get angry, "And what is it that they don't understand?"

"Well you're a little different than everyone else."

Naruto began tapping his foot impatiently, "What makes me so different."

"Well you see--"

"STOP MAKING EXCUSES! Stop avoiding the question jiji and tell me why people hate me so much that people I've never met before try to glare a hole through me. Why parents still try to hide their kids from me? Why I had to learn a jutsu just to buy food at NORMAL PRICE?"

Hiruzen sighed. He always did his best to give Naruto some semblance of a normal childhood. He knew most of it didn't work but he avoided this conversation because he wanted to protect Naruto. Preparing for a lot of angry screams he spoke, "You are the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune"

All that was heard was a whisper, "I figured it out a year ago, old man.

Shocked, Hiruzen asked, "H-how?"

"I saw the seal on my stomach. Combine that with the date of my birth and the fact that Biju can't die and it all fell into place. I'm just angry you didn't trust me enough to tell me. Even after I graduated."

Looking down, the Hokage was disappointed in himself, "I just wanted you to have a decent childhood."

"You and I both know that was never going to happen."

"I know, I know," he sighed.

"Look I'm tired and I have to prepare for team assignments so I'm gonna go. I just wanted to hear the truth from you."

Naruto walked out leaving the Hokage sad and with a headache. Lighting his pipe he thought, 'That could have gone better.'

To be Continued…

Happy Holidays(I know I'm late)

This chapter is basically all of episode 1.

I will post every one to two weeks. Thank you for reading.