Hello and welcome to Chapter 3. Special shout out to BlackRoseOfTheGrave, another Hayate, Genma, Raidou fan- Thanks! I'm glad that I could brighten up your day! :-D
CHAPTER 3
My life developed into a comfortable routine; training in the early morning, short missions, training Naruto of an afternoon, hanging with friends, dinner then bed. I still had regular check-ups with my old doctors who specialised on my case beforehand, just to make sure the tumours weren't coming back. Apparently thanks to the damage in my lungs I'll be much more susceptible to respiratory infections now. Somehow I think I can live with that; you know, being still alive and all.
My first extended mission, back on duty, began today. It would take four days, meaning that I'd miss Naruto's genin graduation, which he was very excited about. I would be working with a couple of chuunin as body guards for the Fire Dyamo's brother-in-law at a wedding or something. The only reason he requested ninja, instead of regular soldiers was to show off to various other Lords and Ladies present. I felt vaguely insulted at being a trophy-guard for some pompous ass, but once I got through this I should be able to get more serious missions again. I was looking forward to that day.
"What I wouldn't give for one of Naruto's pranks to liven up this snooze-fest." Isamu, one of my chuunin team mates muttered to me under his breath.
"Tell me about it." Kichirou, the other chuunin, agreed. "Hey did you hear about the one where he snuck into ANBU and swapped over Ibiki's bandanna?"
"No. How'd he manage that?" The shorter man whispered so as to not be over heard by the party goers.
"I heard that Naruto snuck into ANBU HQ somehow, caught Ibiki desk-napping, stole his bandanna and replaced it with a pink tie-dyed one, all without waking him up." Kichirou explained. "The Sadist then went to an interrogation later, without realising his head wear had been changed. No one said a word about it." I joined the two in chuckling about the stunt.
"I remember that. Ibiki pissed off Cupcake the day before, so Chibi made sure to get him back." I laughed quietly to myself.
"Who's Cupcake?" Both shinobi were looking at me curiously, and I couldn't resist spreading around Genma's much hated, and now abbreviated, nickname. Raidou wasn't as adverse to his nickname 'Cactus' which he ended up with because Naruto thought 'Porcupine' was too long.
"Genma, and if you're wondering 'Chibi' is Naruto. They both hate the nicknames they gave each other though." I cheerfully informed. The chuunin both snorted, trying to muffle the sounds of their amusement. A few of the party guests looked towards us curiously, bored of their own conversations apparently.
Finished being a trophy, and giving a successful report, I finally arrived home... To find a cute little blonde sound asleep on my bed.
"Hey Chibi, I'm home." I said to him, gently shaking the boy awake. As expected, the first thing Naruto did was give me a hug. The unexpected part was instead of a slightly rough tackle-hug; the pint sized blonde meekly crawled into my lap, and buried his face into my chest.
"What's wrong?" I asked, wrapping my arms around him. While he was especially cute when in a sooky mood, it just wasn't normal for him to be so. Slowly, Naruto turned his face from my chest, and rested his golden crowned head on my shoulder.
"Mizuki-sensei tried to kill me." The boy stated clearly and emotionlessly. Then he broke down. I tightened my arms around my little saviour while he poured his broken heart out. You're supposed to be able to trust your teachers to guide you, and that sensei had just betrayed that trust. I hoped the man was sent to Ibiki after having evidence of the bandanna swap incident placed on him.
Despite that, I couldn't help feeling a bit of perverse pride, that I was the one Naruto came to open up to. Judging by the fact that he was wearing some of my old clothes that I had never bothered to clean out upon moving myself to the master bedroom, Naruto had been here for at least a day waiting for me to come back. I felt special. But this wasn't about me; it was about the upset little angel in my arms. Once he'd calmed down, I gently asked him to tell me everything that had happened.
Naruto waited impatiently for his turn at the graduation exam. Most of the class had come back with their shiny new headbands now, so it couldn't be too much longer. As soon as the class had been told that the jutsu part of the exam would include the bunshin, Naruto immediately gave a silent 'Thank you' to Cupcake and Cactus who he'd visited the day before.
After getting fed up with still being unable to do the bunshin Naruto sought answers. Normally he would have gone to Hayate, but the man was away on a mission, so the little blonde's other jonin friends were next on the list. The two shinobi had proceeded to test, poke, prod and investigate to find the source of their little blonde friend's problem.
The moment they'd figured it out, they'd proceeded to cuss out the academy, ignorant teachers, the current academy curriculum, and for some reason even themselves, for not having spotted it. After that, they'd taught Naruto the Kage Bunshin jutsu because "you've got too much chakra, and since you weren't given chakra control exercises since you were three, things that require small amounts or precise chakra delivery will be forever out of your grasp."
Finally Naruto's name was called, and he ran to the exam room, glad to leave the classroom and be away from the Uchiha. Ever since he'd been able to hear the fox, the creature had been trying to convince him to do away with all those with the 'Thieves' eyes', aka the Sharingan. Easily completing the first two E-ranks, Transformation and Substitution, it was now time for the Clone jutsu. Instead of performing the expected jutsu, the short blonde concentrated on performing the new A-rank he'd learned the day before and created the required number of clones.
"Very good Naruto, you pass." Iruka-sensei congratulated. The boy smiled a dismissed his clones.
"That was the Shadow Clone jutsu, not the regular clone technique. He has no recorded Special Circumstances here," Mizuki-sensei interrupted, holding up Naruto's student file. "You can't pass him."
"I needed Special Circumstances to use a higher rank jutsu?" The blonde asked, confused.
"Naruto, where did you learn the Shadow Clone technique?" Iruka asked the boy, throwing a quick glare at his teaching assistant.
"Shiranui-san and Namiashi-san taught it to me in place of the E-rank Bunshin, because I have too much chakra." Naruto explained briefly.
"Having been taught by two jonin, I think we can safely assume that Naruto is well within his rights to-"The brunette abruptly stopped as the white haired man leapt into action. Mizuki dashed at the young jinchuuriki, kunai aiming for the jugular.
"Demon scum! All of your kind should have been drowned at birth." The man screeched. Just as the kunai was about to pierce the boy's neck, fear and adrenalin allowed for a seal-less justu, and Mizuki stabbed his weapon deep into one of the boy's clones. Finally the ANBU on guard in the area responded to Iruka's chakra flare and detained the traitor. Naruto was left with a hitai-ate in his hand, the memory of being murdered in his head.