Disclaimer: I, Star Chatterer, own nothing of the "Naruto" or "Elder Scrolls" universes as they belong to Kishimoto and Bethesda respectively.

-Konoha Forest-

Shinichiro Mizuki was a patient man. Dealing with those brats in the academy almost demanded such a trait. However, when dealing with one specific brat it seems he forgot one key fact.

"God damn BRAT! It has been HOURS since I told him to meet up with me here. I know he took the scroll, that stubborn old goat of a Hokage already issued an order to apprehend the little bastard... where the hell is he!" Mizuki seethed. It seems that he did not take into account, at least by the academies standards, that Naruto was not exactly the best at tracking/scouting. Even with all that though, Mizuki felt he should have at least found the kid by now, seeing as he had been patrolling the general area of where the meeting should have been taking place. "That little demon is going to cost me my chance at getting out of this stupid village." Though he managed to keep his volume down during his rant, he had attracted the attention of another patrolling shinobi, one Umino Iruka.

"So that's your game, Mizuki." he said, catching the other's attention. "Using Naruto to do your dirty work? Have you no shame?"

As Mizuki turned to Iruka, he grabbed for the giant shuriken on his back, "Defending that demon, eh Iruka? I would have thought you would be among the first to petition for his death if we had the chance. It doesn't matter anyway... seeing as I need to kill you for hearing that... my old friend."

"Old friend huh? that's if thats the case can I have that Mizuki back? The one who was above these kinds of dishonorable acts? If Tsubaki was here I swe-!" Iruka was forced to stop mid-sentence to dodge the thrown weapon. "Don't you dare patronize me Iruka! I need an out from this village, and that demon is going to provide me the perfect scapegoat! Hell, if I can kill him... I might even be promoted to Hokage! Imagine that huh?" Mizuki angrily shouted, preparing another shuriken for an attack. "Once Naruto gets here, I will take that damn scroll and have an in with... anyone! The price people will pay for it would be immeasurable! Kumo, Kiri, Suna! Any village with a gripe would find such an item priceless, and it would see to the downfall of this pathetic village."

This gave Iruka pause. Not in consideration of the money it would bring, definitely not. The fact that Mizuki, a once proud shinobi of the Hidden Leaf would be able to fall so low... "So this is it then? Everything you strove for, everyone you call comrade, your friends? All of them are open to the highest bidder? Because if anyone gets that scroll, Konoha, your people, all of us are screwed!"

"NONE OF IT MATTERS IRUKA! All of these comrades? My ambitions? I don't care for any of that! If I can live the life of luxury because I killed a demon and took the scroll, then I will do it! Once I kill you, I will find him, and then I will be a new man... No more words Iruka... the only thing I want from you is your death!" With that he attacked.

0000-0000

-Konoha Forest, outside of the Priory of the Nine-

Naruto... was lost. After finally getting that thrice-damned Kage Bunshin down, he decided to try and find his way home. After wandering around for a while, he realized he had absolutely no clue how he had even gotten to the priory, let alone how to get back. After panicking a bit, he decided the best course was to creat a ton of clones and have them stand on the others shoulders until they could see which direction the Hokage Monument was in... not necessarily the smartest move, but Naruto is of course rather impulsive. An interesting thing he found about the clones was that creating them was almost too easy. While the warnings against massive chakra drain were the biggest causes for concern, he barely felt a thing. He did find that while the clones had all of his gear, tools, and weapons, the one thing they never had was his new sword, neatly strapped over his back.

One by one his clones climbed on top of the other, and soon enough there was a large, swaying, swearing column of Narutos. "Boss! I see the monument over that whoaaaayyyy!" one of his clones cried as a strong gust of wind knocked the entire pillar down, the clones erupting in a cloud of thick smoke.

"*Cough* Well that wasn't *cough* such a good idea after all..." Naruto choked out, trying to fight his way free from the smoke. Still, the message had been received and the blonde made his way through the forest towards his home.