Tadaa! It's my second chapter! I hope you all enjoy it, because I worked hard on it! Hard, and loooooong, as I'm sure you're aware. Sorry about that, but I don't have lots of time to write.
Also, Naruto isn't mine. I wouldn't be sitting here writing this if he was.
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A beam of sunlight peeks through the curtains of a run-down looking apartment. It invariably lands, as all sunbeams must, in the eyes of someone sleeping peacefully in their bed. After all, that's the only thing those sunbeams seem to want to do. And it's not like any amount of curtains ever seem to stop the annoying nuisances.
The "someone" slowly floats back to conciseness and sits up, stretching his arms and giving a powerful yawn. He stands up and shuffles his way to the kitchen, before sifting through the mess of dishes and trash on the counter to find a cup of instant ramen. He adds water and put it into the microwave, before sitting back down to wait for his meal to finish.
Glancing around, his eyes eventually settle on a calendar, vaguely feeling as if he is forgetting something. His eyes suddenly widen, and the boy darts off to the bathroom, not even waiting for his ramen to finish. "Today's the graduation exam! I can't be late today!" he tells himself, before shoving a toothbrush in his mouth.
After taking care of his hygiene, the boy moves on to getting dressed, before he runs back into the kitchen, grabs his still unfinished ramen from the microwave. The boy practically blurs as he dashes out the door. He quickly makes his way toward the ninja academy, legs pumping and heart beating. "Ah, I'm almost there! I'll make it for sure!" he yells, before taking a sharp turn around a corner.
Now, the bad thing about corners is that you can't see past them. So if you come running around a corner, there's a good chance you'll hit anyone who might be on the other side. As it would happen, this was exactly the case.
Naruto collides, with surprising force, with whoever happened to be unlucky enough to be hit by him. "Ahh!" he yells, as he falls to the ground, and his precious ramen flies out of his . "Nooooooo!" He tries to catch it, but it proves difficult to do so from the ground. His good mood is spoiled the moment the noodles splatter across the dirt.
"Hey, watch where you're going next time..." These words come from the other individual involved in the crash. "My ramen…" mumbles Naruto, not paying attention to the other boy. "Are you even listening?" asks the raven-haired boy. Snapping out of his reprieve, Naruto looks at the other boy. "You watch where your going, Sasuke! You made me spill my ramen!" "Me? It's your own fault…" comes Sasuke's quiet reply. Growling, Naruto gets up and brushes himself off.
"Whatever. I've got an exam to past, so I can stand around and hang out Sasuke!" With this, Naruto is off again to the academy. In his rush, Naruto failed to notice a few things. First was the rather unhealthy look on the Uchiha's face, or his slightly labored breathing. He seemed rather ill. He also failed to notice the villagers who watched the short transaction. Glancing at the direction the blonde went, Sasuke slowly follows.
His breathing seemed off, and he even looked to be shivering, despite the warm weather. Step by step, he slowly makes his way towards the academy, feeling worse and worse as he goes on. His state does not go unnoticed by the people milling about the area, who look at him with concern. He is, after all, the prized Uchiha.
Despite his discomfort, Sasuke reaches the academy, although he is late. His breathing slow and faint, and his body twitching and shivering. He suddenly collapses, just steps away from the building! Some of the nearby villagers who had been watching him yell and rush up to him. The crowd yells amongst themselves, panicked over the boy.
"Something is wrong with this boy!" "You, go find a doctor!" "What happened?" "I'm not sure, but I bet it was the demon. He was angry at the Uchiha earlier!" "You think so?"
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Meanwhile, Naruto has made it to class. Still moping about his ramen, he sits down next to his classmate and friend, Shino Aburame. "Greetings, Naruto. You were almost late." "Late? Not today! Naruto Uzumaki is going to start his ninja life today!" Naruto proclaims loudly. "Yes, I know you are very determined to pass this year. I assume your chakra is no longer a problem, correct?" asks Shino.
You see, it had come to Shino's attention that the reason Naruto had been unable to pass year after year was because he couldn't make a clone. Shino managed to convince a Hyuuga to look at his chakra network, and found that, not only did Naruto have enormous chakra reserves, he also had a second, red chakra. Shino suspected that this both of these factors threw off Naruto's ability to make clones.
Several weeks ago, Shino brought up an idea to Naruto. He suggested having some of his insects feed off Naruto's chakra. Not enough of it to be harmful, just enough to lower his chakra to more useable levels.
"Oh yeah! I can makes clones now, easy!" brags Naruto. "Good. If we both pass, perhaps we will be put on the same team." says Shino, in his monotonous voice. "Definitely! Maybe we'll even get Sakura on our team!" the love-struck blonde gazes to the target of his affections, who is currently arguing with "Ino-Pig". Sighing, Shino looks back to the front of the class. Once he got started, there was no getting Naruto out of his trance.
With perfect timing, the door opens and the instructors step into the room. "Alright kids, settle down. I know you're all very excited about today, so let's get started!" says Iruka. "We've been over this before, but I'll say it again. To pass, you have to be able to perform the Kimwari, Henge, and Clone Jutsus. That's it."
And so, with Naruto busy eyeing Sakura and Shino quietly sitting, everyone patiently waits for their turn. Name after name, each person takes their test in turn, some leaving the exam room with a proud look, and others a disappointed frown.
"Sakura Haruno…" "Kiba Inuzuka…" "Choji Akimichi…" "Shino Aburame…"
Silently, Shino stands up and walks towards the exam room. "Hey Shino! Good luck!" yelled Naruto, giving him a thumbs up. "Not that you'll need it!" Shino nods his head, saying "Thank you, Naruto."
A few minutes later, Shino emerges from the exam room, and walks back to his seat by Naruto. "I passed the test, Naruto." "That's great! I knew you'd pass!" shouted Naruto, grinning. "Now all that's left is for you to pass, Naruto." replied Shino in a calm manner. "You know I will!"
"Naruto Uzumaki…"
Looking up at his name, Naruto grins to see that it is finally his turn. "Alright Shino, here I go!" he says, as he walks into the exam room. Iruka and Mizuki are sitting at the other end of the room, waiting. "Okay Naruto, you know what to do. Let's start with Kimwari, alright?"
Naruto nodded his head, and stepped to the center of the room. Mizuki stood opposite him, dulled kunai in hand. With a quick flick of the wrist, the steel weapon was thrown towards Naruto. It seemed like it would land smack dab in the middle of his forehead, but Naruto was suddenly switched with a nearby desk. The kunai sailed over the desk and hit the wall, clattering to the floor harmlessly.
Naruto grinned at Iruka, before the teacher cheerfully said "Very good, Naruto! Now, let's see a Henge." Putting his hands together, Naruto quickly gathered his chakra. He felt a slightly tingly sensation through out his body, indicating the Shino's bugs were doing their job. After a moment, Naruto gave a cry of "Transform!" before a cloud of smoke quickly spawned into existence around him.
As the smoke dispersed, two Irukas stood in the room. "Well Sensei, how is it?" asked Naruto excitedly. "Very good, Naruto! You're doing great." said Iruka, with a proud smile. The smile never faltered when he said his next sentence. "The only thing left is a clone."
This was it. The only thing standing between Naruto and that headband- his headband- was this one jutsu. For years, he could never get it right, but now things were different. Once more gathering his chakra around him, the boy felt the bugs, pulling little bits of his chakra away every time it passed through one of his chakra points.
The boy's shout of "Clone!" filled the air, before a cloud of smoke replaced it. Because this was the final hurdle for the boy to jump, the smoke obviously had to clear in a slow and dramatic fashion. So, at first, one shadowy form could be seen through the smoke. The figure stepped forward, and stared back into the smoke next to the Chunin teachers. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the smoke to clear…
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Beep. Beep. Beep. The steady, yet ominous beeps of machines filled the air, along with the mutterings of Konoha's best doctors. "Scalpel." Beep. Beep. Beep. "No good, his muscle fibers are in perfect condition." Beep. Beep. Beep. "His heart beat is steady too, but the chakra is fading from his body." Beep. Beep. Beep.
These men gathered around the sole heir to the Uchiha clan, standing over the boy's failing body. "I can't explain it." said the lead doctor. "Everything is fine; steady heart beat, healthy tissues, solid bones… But this boy is dying, no question about that." His assistant spoke up. "His chakra is draining away, but we can't find any reason."
Slamming his hand down on the table, the doctor proclaimed, "I will not let this boy die!" Suddenly, the calm beeping of the heart monitor became erratic. "Doctor, his body's almost completely out of chakra! His heart can't keep beating much longer!" yelled the assistant. Bee-beep! Silence. Beep. Acting with only his past years of medical experience as a guide, the doctor leaped into a frenzy of action. Silence. Beep, beep, beep! Silence again. "Nurse, increase the flow of artificial chakra to the boy's cardiac system!"
Working with a feverish vigor, the doctors toiled over their patient for what felt like an eternity, but nothing seemed to work. Beep. Silence. Beeeeeeeep… And silence, once more. Silence that was unnoticeable, yet at the same time held the attention of every person in the room.
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Naruto Uzumaki, ninja of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. It had a nice ring to it. The smoke had cleared, and the flawless clone had revealed itself to the world. Congratulations were passed to the boy, and Iruka stood tall. A glimmer of pride slide over his face, pride in his favorite student. So many thought he was a waste of effort, but Naruto had proven them wrong. Iruka couldn't wait to see those same people when this boy became Hokage.
"Hahaha, I knew it!" shouted Naruto, jumping in glee. "I knew I could do it!" Iruka set a hand on the boy's shoulder, trying to calm the ecstatic child. "I knew you could, too." he said, with a tune of happiness ringing in his words. Mizuki seemed a little less enthusiastic, but said nothing. Iruka walked back towards his desk and picked up a head band. The metal plate shined in the light.
"Naruto Uzumaki…", he said as he walked back to the boy, "welcome to the ranks of the ninja of the Village Hidden in the Leaves." He held the head band out to Naruto, whose trembling hand reach forward to claim his prize. But just before his fingers touched the metal, and hand gripped Naruto's wrist. The Anbu who had grabbed Naruto stood silent for a moment, before saying "Naruto Uzumaki, you have been summoned to the Hokage and Council of Konoha, under charges of the murder of a Konoha citizen."
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Oh, my first cliffhanger! It feels good to be on this side of it! Aren't I the evil one? Well, I hope you all like it! Leave a review, please!