Yo!

I've kinda had a writer's block and that tiny little voice in your head that tells you to stop doing this, it's pointless, and all that crap, so sorry to all my (if I have any) 'fans' who might be angry at me.

...But enough of that, I need to update this fic before I head north for a little holiday for a few weeks. 9 hours of non-stop road trip. Hooray.

And now for the reviewers corner!

demon-slayer: That's a great idea! ... Until I remember that I suck at writing action. I'll try it, but don't get your hopes up.

conlan0414863: ... It's not exactly necessary for me to email now, is it? I will continue the fic whenever I can.

Before I start, I'll just say that this is a timeskip of six years, which makes Naruto twelve... I hope. He's twelve years old, alright? Also, I'm hoping that this chapter will be longer. (Note the hope part. I really have no idea where I'm going with this...)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto, but I do own a Sasuke wallet, an Itachi Keyring and a Kakashi cellphone accesory. Which compensates a little, I guess. :3

Chapter 5

"Ohayo(1), Naruto-kun!"

The boy in question turned to see a bluish-black haired girl heading towards him as he entered the Academy. He smiled.

"Ohayo, Hinata-chan. Where's Sasuke-teme?"

"Over here, dobe," the boy replied with a smirk.

The fox vessel had become good friends with her and Sasuke over the last six years, which seemed to make positive effects to both of them. Hinata became less shy around people and Sasuke had lightened up considerably in comparison to the old Sasuke before the time-travelling jutsu. Unfortuneately, this seemed to make his fangirls think that he was even more handsome than before, the exact reason why in the Academy, he sat at the end of the bench with Naruto and Hinata sitting next to him, like a human shield.

It was the third year the students failed, but today was going to be different, Naruto knew. Sasuke was still the rookie of the year and Hinata was average. In short, Naruto had to be the dead last so that the three had a good chance to be in a group, which wasn't very difficult to do.

Suddenly. the three heard screaming and loud footsteps approaching them very quickly, which revealed to be Sakura and Ino.

"HA! I CAME FIRST, INO-PIG! I GET TO SIT NEXT TO SASUKE-KUN!" Shouted Sakura, doing a victory dance.

"DREAM ON, FOREHEAD GIRL! MY TOE CAME FIRST SO I GET TO SIT NEXT TO SASUKE-KUN!" Shot back Ino. It was at this point that they saw Naruto and Hinata sitting next to their precious 'Sasuke-kun'. Wailing in agony, the two slowly sat somewhere else.

Pretty soon, the class was filled with the other Academy students eager to recieve their forehead protectors as sign that they were growing up. Finally, the two chuunin Iruka and his assistant Mizuki entered the room. Naruto had to suppress a slight growl as he saw the sinister white-haired man walk inside. He knew what he had to do, and he knew that he was going to hate it.

"Alright, class, today is the day of the exams, where you all have a chance to become full-fledged ninjas. You are to do the Shuriken, Bunshin and the Henge test to pass," said Iruka. "First off, it's Haruno Sakura's turn."

The list went on, until finally-

"Uzumaki Naruto! You're up."

Gulping silently, Naruto walked up to the platform and performed his shuriken test first. He made his first mistake to his plans by throwing them with deadly accuracy, much to his chagrin and the awe of all students in the room. He needed to fail, not become the rookie of the year! Gritting his teeth, he steeled his resolve (and his dignity) and began to do everything in his power to be the deadlast and fail.

When asked to do a henge of Iruka, he decided to have a bit of fun and exploit the fact that he was isolated from his friends and classmates. Doing the seal of the ram, he concentrated his chakra and transformed.

"Henge!" The result was a naked beautiful blonde girl which left poor Iruka with a large nosebleed and a laughing Naruto. "Hahah! I call it the Orioke no jutsu, my ultimate technique! No one can defeat it!"

"YOU DUMBASS! DON'T INVENT STUPID SKILLS!" Screamed the instructor. After a few minutes of him cooling down, he then said, "Now, for the Bunshin test. You are to make three perfect bunshins in front of Mizuki-sensei and I." 'I've seen Naruto do the Bunshin no jutsu perfectly,' thought Iruka. 'There is no way he could fail this!'

How very wrong he was.

Instead of three perfect bunshins, as expected of the exam, he ended up with only one clone... which looked dead. In fact, it looked so grotesque and hideous that Iruka felt... no, knew the blond did it on purpose.

Sighing irritably, the chuunin instructor said, "I'm sorry Naruto. You failed. I really don't know how you managed to do it, but..."

"Iruka-sensei, this is his third time, and technically he made a clone... We could let him pass," interrupted Mizuki. Naruto restrained himself to attack the traitor and look hopefully towards Iruka instead.

"I'm afraid not, Mizuki-sensei," the other replied with a heavy heart, "The other students have managed three. Naruto's one would only get in the way. I'm sorry, but I cannot let him pass."

The two chuunins watched as Naruto silently walked out, noticing that his shoulders shook in anger. In actual reality, the boy was trying his best not to laugh out loud.

An hour later, outside of the Academy, sounds of cheerful children and happy parents were everywhere, all proud of their sons and/or daughters passing and recieving their hi-ate. Hardly anyone of them noticed the depressed looking boy who didn't pass. Only Sasuke and Hinata seemed to care enough to sympathize with the demon vessel, but their parents(2) attempted to discourage the two comforting him, as if... 'it' was a deadly illness.

Kyuubi had taught Naruto well in the ways of acting. Inwardly the host smirked as he knew it was going all according to plan.

'The bastard should be here in 5... 4... 3... 2...'

"Naruto... Don't blame Iruka-sensei. He probably sees himself in you and a want you to become stronger. Try to understand his feelings since you also both don't have any parents," said a soft, gentle voice. Naruto looked up to see Mizuki staring at him sadly. The irony of what he just said sickened him to the degree that he restrained himself to say anything.

"Demo..." Here the traitor smiled, "I can tell you a special secret to get you to graduate."

Acting excited, Naruto nodded and pretended to listen to Mizuki's plan. After all, he already heard this before anyway.

Half a day later, in the dense forests of Konoha, Naruto as he tried his best to look like he was as beat up as possible. He knew that he had to look believable to the traitor that he actually did something after stealing the scroll.

"Hey.. I guess I've finally found you..."

Naruto turned his head to stare at an angry Iruka. "Heh, I guess you found me... And to think I only learnt one jutsu as well... Ne, so will you pass me if I show you it?"

The chuunin blinked. "Nani?"

"Mizuki-sensei told me that if I learnt one technique, then I'd pass the exam! He told me about this place and this scroll as well. So am I a genin now or what?"

The revelation of those words struck Iruka quite quickly and he immediately knew what was going on. He then pushed Naruto out of the way to be barraged by an array of kunai. The perpetrator revealed himself to be none other than Mizuki himself.

"Nice job of tracking him, Iruka. Naruto, hand over the scroll," he said with a smirk.

"Naruto! Get out of here, quick! That scroll has dangerous kinjutsu in it! Mizuki used you to get his hands on it!"

"Wh-what's going on? I don't get it," said Naruto, confused.

"I suppose I should tell you the truth." The traitor paused, then continued, despite the shouts of dismay by Iruka, "Twelve years ago, you remember the tale of the Kyuubi attacking the village? He wasn't killed. He was sealed into a child. You, brat, are the nine-tailed fox."

The two men were at least expecting Naruto to even show a hint of shock or anger. Instead the fox vessel laughed, much to their surprise. He laughed long and loud, then calmed down enough to say, "Have you been thinking up of this explanation for the whole day or something? Are you thick enough to believe that Kyuubi and I are the same?" He stopped laughing, his tone became more serious. "You, my friend, are pathetic."

Putting his hands into a seal, he shouted, "Taijuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Thousands of Narutos then appeared out of nowhere, then proceeded to beat the living daylights out of a shocked Mizuki. Panting slightly, he asked, "Iruka-sensei, have I passed the exam now?"

Iruka shook off his initial surprise and smiled, "Come over here and close your eyes. I want to give something to you." Taking off his hi-ate, he put it on Naruto. "Alright, now open them. Congratulations, Naruto. You pass."

Becoming very teary-eyed, Naruto hugged his teacher as hard as he could. The Third Hokage, watching the scene from his crystal ball, wiped his eyes and told his ninja to stop pursuing the missing Naruto and scroll.

No one noticed a different scroll marked 'Read later' hidden in the hole of a tree.

... Sorry that this chapter took so long. I know it sucks to boot, but I needed to get that out of the way.

I updated the last little blurb since people asked me about the scroll. Don't ask me what's written in it, I'll reveal it sooner or later. Besides, it's pretty obvious, isn't it?

By the way, I'm going to make a small survey and leave it for a week or two. The question is... Who should be in Team 7? I'm planning to have Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi in the mix, but who should it be...?

I'll leave the choices as:

-Hinata
-Sakura
-Other (Please state who)

Thanks a lot, see you all 'til I update!

P.S: I suck at making brilliant pranks, so if anyone has any ideas how I can tortu... prank them, feel free to email me/pm me. Any is fine.