Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Naruto.
AN: So far, I doubt there will be any pairings in this story...but well, we'll see how it goes. I aim to explore a very different Naruto - one who has been tempered by countless years. Essentially, a cool, calm and collected all-round BAMF. Enjoy and please leave feedback.
Thank you for the reviews, follows, and favorites…your encouragements are truly heartfelt.
Erasels: I've updated the previous chapter to include the source of the missions. I have also changed the mentions of Chouji as the first student. BAMF generally stands for Bad Ass Motherf**ker. Thank you for pointing out the issues and for reviewing.
Some of the students already seated in the classroom turned at the sound of the door opening to find their most truant classmate walking in. As had been the case for the past two years, Naruto was dressed in his dark red muscle shirt, partial covered by an open black sleeveless jacket. He also wore black shorts, black steel toed combat boots and a dark red facemask that covered everything below his nose.
The first time Naruto had entered the classroom dressed like that – after awakening from his coma, not that any of the students knew that – silence had quickly descended upon the children gathered in the room. True to form, Inuzuka Kiba had taken the chance to rib Naruto,
"Hey dead last, nice threads, your injury must have fixed your fashion sense but I'm not sure it did anything for your lack of ninja skills."
Even though there was nothing particularly witty about that statement, most of the other students still laughed because this was Naruto and that was what they did. Normally, the laughter would have been interrupted by an obnoxiously loud declaration from Naruto, protesting what Kiba had said and declaring that he would show them the greatness of the future hokage… but it never came. At this deviation from the norm, people quickly focused on Naruto only to realize that he hadn't even paid attention to Kiba or the rest of the class. In fact, Naruto had never stopped walking and was already seated in the back of the room. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Kiba threw out another taunt, intending to get a reaction from Naruto…nothing. By this point, some of the other students had become uncomfortable and were shifting in their seats. Taunt after mocking taunt and all Naruto did was seat there, calmly staring out of the window by his seat. Finally getting desperate, Kiba began,
"And what's with that facemask? Finally realized that it must have been your ugly mug that caused your par-" and he stopped.
Wondering at what had interrupted Kiba, the students turned to look at him and found him pale and shaking, and even picked up faint whimpers emanating from his jacket where Akamaru was hidden. Quickly their gazes cut back to Naruto and most of them shivered in fear. Naruto's eyes, that had once been calm and disinterested, were now frigid, deadly and unwaveringly trained on Kiba. After a few more seconds during which everyone held their breath, Naruto finally turned his gaze back to the window. It took a few minutes before people felt comfortable enough to resume their original discussions and even then, there was still an undercurrent of unease running through the room.
At the start of the one-sided confrontation, Uchiha Sasuke had looked up in well hidden interest. He had gotten bored when Naruto didn't react and returned to brooding, as he was often wont to do. When slightly frightened silence had descended however, he quickly played back what Kiba had just said and realizing that Kiba had been about to cross a line by mentioning Naruto's no doubt dead parents, he turned an angry gaze on him. A gaze that quickly turned surprised as he found Kiba looking like he had just seen a ghost. When he glanced at Naruto and noticed his glacial eyes, he had a brief flashback to the night his family was murdered and a slight shiver of fear travelled down his spine. He silently berated himself for his reaction and made a mental note to pay more attention to the obviously much changed Naruto.
A few minutes after the students had resumed talking amongst themselves, Iruka walked in and began the lesson of the day.
Months after the start of the academy term and Naruto's memorable re-introduction to his classmates, the students of Iruka's class began to notice that Naruto never attended classes where they had ninja based evaluations such as weapons accuracy tests, taijutsu spars and so on. Grasping at something familiar and safe, they immediately began to speculate that Naruto, no matter the change in attitude and clothing, was still the same unskilled idiot but only much quieter. You see, they chose to interpret his absences as him trying to avoid getting embarrassed by having his mediocre skills and inadequacies aired for all to see. So, now, not only were they convinced that he was a dead last loser, but also a cowardly one too. Sasuke had obviously heard such rumors and with no evidence to say otherwise, having already forgotten Naruto's interaction with Kiba, Sasuke too was convinced that Naruto was nothing interesting and promptly went back to ignoring him.
Naruto, who was aware of what was being said, simply ignored them – squabbling children playing at being ninjas – and continued to train and just generally do his own thing.
Iruka finally arrived and the students quieted down in nervous anticipation. Quick on his heels was the assistant instructor, Mizuki, carrying in his arms the written portion of the academy exams. Iruka promptly began,
"Well then, I see you're all quiet and eager for your exams, so we'll start right away. The exams will have five parts of 10 point each: a written exam, a weapons accuracy test, a stealth test, a taijutsu spar and finally a ninjutsu evaluation. Now, as has always been the case, all portions of the exams save the written portion will have allowances for students to gain extra credit if they wish. As each portion comes up, I will let you know how the extra credit part works. Now, for these written exams, you have fifteen minutes to answer all one hundred questions correctly. Now, don't feel too bad when you can't answer everything in the time given; the exams are made to be unbeatable and the record for this part of the exam has been held for over five decades by our very own Sandaime Hokage."
Many students broke out in hushed murmuring at that little tidbit. Smirking to himself, Iruka signaled Mizuki to hand out the exams and when he finished, he gave the students the go ahead to begin. Naruto glanced once through the exam and began filling in the correct answers without hesitation – having lived for as long as he had and memorized the academy books on top of that, it was a trivial issue for him to know the answers. Coupled with his body's impressive speed and hand-eye coordination, he easily blazed through the written exams and finished a few minutes before the time was up. Iruka noticing that Naruto was done, as did Mizuki, frowned in confusion. He knew how difficult the exams were and though they were multiple choice questions, they still took time to finish.
"Just what is the demon-brat up to?" Mizuki thought to himself. His plans were dependent on Naruto living up to his dead last reputation and bombing the exams. He quickly calmed himself by thinking that Naruto must have either filled in absolute rubbish or just skipped a whole lot of questions – the plan was still on and soon, Orochimaru-sama would bestow on him unimaginable power.
At the fifteen minute mark, the timer went off and Mizuki collected the papers for Iruka to start grading. A lot of the students grumbled about how they couldn't finish the exam and how most of them never got beyond the 70th question. Haruno Sakura, lauded as the smartest student in her year, turned to Iruka and asked,
"Ano, Iruka-sensei, you said that the Sandaime had the record for highest score in this portion of the exam, but you never told us what he scored."
Iruka smiled at her and replied, "I had wondered when one of you would ask. I told you not to expect too much on the exam because the highest recorded score is an 89."
Most of the students were visibly startled at that. Then Iruka continued,
"Now, the next portion is the weapons accuracy test. I want you all to follow Mizuki who will oversee the test while I get to grading your exams, I'm sure it won't take me long."
Mizuki led the students outside to the weapons range. The range had two lines at a measured distance from the targets – the closest line was at 100 yards while the second was behind it, at 150 yards. The ten targets were man-shaped cardboard cutouts with special red kill spots marked on them. Turning to the students, Mizuki began instructing them on the next portion of their exam,
"For the weapons and accuracy test, I will call your name and you will step up and receive five kunais and five shurikens from me. You will stand at the 100 yard line and throw at the targets down the range. Your goal is to hit as many red marked fatal points as possible. For each kill point you hit, you get one point. As Iruka mentioned, there is an opportunity for extra credit here. If you want to try for extra credit, you must step up to the 150 yard line and try to hit ten of the kill spots with only the use of shuriken. Each point you hit properly grants you two points, but each one you miss costs you one. So, if you try for extra credit and hit only six points, you get eight points in total. Oh, and before I forget, the targets will be in motion for the extra credit part. Now, let's begin, Aburame Shino."
Shino stepped up to the 100 yard line and, receiving the weapons from Mizuki, began to throw them one by one at the targets. He got four out of five of his targets using kunai and three out of five with shuriken. Mizuki noted his score down and called the next person up. This continued for a while, with all the students so far opting to forgo the attempt at extra credit. Next, Mizuki called forward Kiba, who decided to try for extra credit. Strutting forward to the taunting calls of his classmate, Kiba accepted the weapons from Mizuki and stood at the 150 yard line. At this point, most of the class was quiet and focused on Kiba. Mizuki activated the mechanism that set the targets in motion and Kiba began. He threw the first five shuriken in quick succession and got four kill spots. The students watching cheered him on and bolstered by his success, he got too cocky and launched the last five weapons faster than before and only scored three out of five. Still, with a total score of eleven points, he was the current highest scorer. He threw a smug smirk at Sasuke and swaggered back to his place in line. The other students after him were encouraged by his success and started trying from the extra credit line. None however were able to do as well as Kiba, until it was Sasuke's turn.
The students immediately focused on him, and his fan club began to cheer him on. Sasuke calmly stepped up to the 150 yard line and accepted the weapons from Mizuki. He quickly launched five shuriken so close together that it seemed like he threw them simultaneously. To the amazement of the watching students, he got four out of five – missing the last one only because the target shifted at the last moment. Repeating the same thing with the last five, he got the same score, putting him at the top of the scoreboard so far with a score of 14 points. Mizuki marked down his score, glanced at his board and called the next student, "Uzumaki Naruto."
Naruto nonchalantly made his way forward and received all ten shuriken from Mizuki. He then turned towards the range and as the students noticed he was making his way to the 150 yard line, they began to jeer at him, telling him not to bother making a fool of himself. Paying them no heed whatsoever, he stopped at the line, glanced at the targets and launched all ten shuriken simultaneously. A single sound of metal shredding through cardboard echoed through the clearing, quickly followed by gasps of shock as the students noticed that each of Naruto's shuriken had gone through the red spot on the head of each of the targets. Silence spread through the clearing as the students and Mizuki attempted to understand just what they were seeing – a perfect score, using shuriken launched simultaneously at moving targets 150 yards away. Finally snapping out of his shock, Mizuki smiled and congratulated Naruto while internally seething at this new endangerment to his plan. Yamanaka Ino went next and choosing not to attempt for extra credit, scored seven out of ten.
Mizuki finished tallying up her score and led the students to the next exam – the stealth test. Arriving at the obstacle course set up for the students, they discovered Iruka waiting for them.
"Well then, why don't we continue with the tests. As mentioned previously, this test allows you to get more than the allotted 10 points. The objective of this test is to make it through the obstacle course, bypassing all the traps and obstacles set up for you and all without triggering any of the bells strung up in there. You will be graded on your speed and ability to make it through without using any chakra, triggering any bell or getting injured. Each student starts off with 15 points and if you make it through in less than 3 minutes, without using chakra, ringing any bells or sustaining any injuries, you get to keep your full 15 points. Every 30 seconds after the 3 minute mark that passes, you lose one point. If you use chakra, ring a bell or sustain an injury, you lose one point. The record for this particular test is actually held by the Yondaime Hokage who took 4 minutes and 19 seconds, and rang no bell to get a score of 13 points."
When Iruka had mentioned the time limit, a lot of students began to think that the course would be relatively short and that they could easily make it through. Their hopes were ruthlessly crushed when he mentioned the Yondaime Hokage's time. If a legend like him could only get 13 points, then obviously the course must be insane. Iruka motioned Shino forward to begin and stepped back.
Taking in a barely perceptible breath, Shino ran into the sectioned off obstacle course and since the students couldn't see what was happening inside, they all fell silent to listen carefully. One minute in, they heard a bell ring, followed by another about 45 seconds later. They noticed Iruka making a note in his scoreboard – undoubtedly penalizing Shino. The 3 minute mark passed and Shino was still nowhere in sight. Then 5 minutes after he went in, they heard the sound of a trap go off and many surmised that he must have gotten injured. Finally, after one more bell rung, Shino emerged, a full 5 minutes and 27 seconds after beginning. He had one injury from a surprise trap and just barely scraped a score of 7 points. After Mizuki had reset the course, the next student went in.
One by one, the other students made a pass at the obstacle course, with most getting times of over 5 minutes and 30 seconds and scores of 6, 7, 8, and in one case, 9 points – earned by Kiba. When it got to Sasuke's turn, the students once again gave him their full attention. When he started, they all focused, waiting to hear if he rung any bell or encountered any traps. After 3 minutes, people had begun to think that he might make it through without ringing a bell. Then at the 4 minute mark, they heard the distinct tinkling of a bell, quickly followed by another. Sasuke emerged after 4 minutes and 23 seconds without a single scratch on his body – he earned a score of 11 points. As Sasuke returned to his place in line, he threw a blatantly challenging smirk at Naruto, obviously still miffed by Naruto's performance in the weapons accuracy test. Naruto obviously caught the look, as did practically everyone else, then nonchalantly dismissed it as he walked passed Sasuke to the starting line. This action did not sit well with Sasuke who had to calm himself before he did anything unbecoming in such a public place. Sasuke's fan club did not hesitate to act in his place though and quickly hurled insults at Naruto – loudest of all coming from Sakura and Ino. Blatantly ignoring them, and thus angering them further, Naruto glanced at Iruka to give him the go ahead to begin. At Iruka's nod, he was off.
The students listened and, despite Naruto's showing at the weapons range, most of them expected to hear bells going off as well as expletives. After the first minute they had heard nothing – eyebrows were already being raised and disbelieving glances being shared. After 2 minutes and 58 seconds, Naruto casually strolled out of the exit of the obstacle course – not a single scratch on him, clothes unruffled and bells remaining silent. After Iruka had gotten over his surprise, he marked down Naruto's time and record shattering score of 15 points. Calmly walking passed a bewildered Uchiha Sasuke and gaping Inuzuka Kiba, Naruto returned to the tree he was leaning against before his turn and sat down on a raised root. Iruka called the last student, Ino, forward and she finished with a score of 8 points.
In his office, Sarutobi Hiruzen continued to watch the ninja academy exams using his crystal ball. He had been following the progress of Uzumaki Naruto and was pleasantly surprised by his success so far. It gladdened his heart to see Naruto realizing his full potential even if he mentally made a note to discover just how he had improved so much. He glanced up as he heard his door open and watched as a handful of jounin – the future jounin senseis of the present graduating class – entered his office. Inviting them over to watch their future students' performances, he refocused on what was happening in the academy.
After collating their results, Mizuki and Iruka led them to the taijutsu sparring grounds. Iruka turned to the students, most of whom were now eyeing Naruto with something other than scorn and haughty contempt, and began his instruction,
"Now, I want you to listen up carefully. The next portion of the exam is a taijutsu spar between you and Mizuki. The time limit for the spar is two minutes and your goal is to either defeat him or last the full two minutes. Each student will start out with 10 points and here's how the scoring will proceed: If a student wins before the time limit, by either knockout or knocking Mizuki out of the ring, then the amount of time left on the clock will be divided by 20, rounded down to the nearest whole number, and added to their 10 points for their final score. If a student loses before the limit, the same math occurs, but with a deduction from their 10 points for their final score. Once a student lasts past the two minute mark, they get their full 10 points whether they win or not. The record for this portion of the exam is a win in a time of 45 seconds, held by the Yondaime hokage. Now, let us begin with Shino."
Shino stepped impassively into the ring with Mizuki and at Iruka's signal, the spar started. From the get go it was obvious that Mizuki was not going all out; for how could he, an academy student could ordinarily never hope to match a Chunin. Using his higher than average clan taught taijutsu skills, Shino was finally able to knock Mizuki out of the ring after 1 minute and 37 seconds, for a final score of 11 points. After congratulating him, Iruka called out the next student. And so it went, the students matched up against Mizuki and only the clan children ever managed to win before the time limit was up, even if Mizuki went easy on them. For the civilians, most were able to last the 2 minutes, while the rest lost before it. Kiba, being the second best student in Taijutsu – on paper – was able to win after 1 minute and 13 seconds. Eventually, Iruka called out Sasuke's name.
Determined to be the best scorer in this portion of the test, Sasuke kicked it into high gear as soon as Iruka started the match. Noticeably moving faster than any of the other students before him, he engaged Mizuki in a ferocious taijutsu encounter. Landing more blows than he received, he ended the match with a brilliantly executed acrobatic manoeuver that had his leg propelling Mizuki out of the ring after a hard impact to his chest. Iruka stopped the timer and noted his time of 1 minute and 2 seconds. Confident that no one would be able to beat his time, Sasuke exited the ring with a smug smirk and passed by Naruto who was already making his way towards the ring before Iruka had even called on him.
Back in the Sandaime's office some of the jounin expressed approval at the Uchiha heir's taijutsu prowess, commenting that he obviously must be the genius of his generation. Hatake Kakashi, one of the jounin present, silently observed one of his future students with his one eye, before returning to his orange covered book. Noticing the lack of commentary from his comrade, Sarutobi Asuma glanced over only to huff in exasperation at Kakashi's terrible habit – not that he was one to talk however. When the jounin noticed that Naruto was next they paid close attention. That attention only sharpened further when Kakashi put away his book and focused on the crystal ball as well. Giving off an amused chuckle, the Sandaime returned to gazing at the scene that was unfolding in the academy.
Waiting for Iruka to finish recording Sasuke's time, Naruto calmly observed Mizuki standing opposite him, taking particular notice of the well hidden malice in his eyes. Knowing that Mizuki would probably not hold back in the first few moments of their spar, he prepared himself to crush the traitor swiftly and ruthlessly. The other students, Sasuke in particular, quickly focused on the spar that was about to begin, hoping to see if Naruto's previously hidden skills included Taijutsu as well. Mizuki just wanted to kill two birds with one stone and diminish Naruto's chances of graduating while getting to beat him down. The moment Iruka gave the signal, Mizuki was off.
Blurring across the arena, faster than any of the other genin could ever hope to follow, he appeared in front of Naruto, his right fist already rocketing towards the boy's head. So confident was he in getting in the first strike that he overcommitted to the blow, and so, when his hand passed through the space where Naruto's face used to be, he found that he had overextended himself. Before his brain could put together what the lack of impact meant, his body was already folding over the right knee that Naruto had ploughed into his stomach. Blood left his mouth as Iruka and the students watching gasped in shock when they noticed the foot sized crater created where Naruto had pushed of the ground. Naruto's leg came back down just as physics caught up to Mizuki, whose body had begun to leave the floor. It was not to be however; Naruto's right hand was suddenly gripping his hair as he drove his head back down to meet the left knee that he had just raised. The spectators winced when a crack resounded through the clearing, quickly followed by blood spraying out of Mizuki's nose and mouth as he slipped into blissful unconsciousness. Numb fingers clicked the button on the timer and Iruka slowly gazed at the clock's face
3 seconds
A low whistle left the mouth of one of the jounin gathered around the hokage's crystal ball, followed by an amazed, yet quite accurate, observation:
"Now, that was a smack down."
The hokage chuckled and puffed out a cloud of Tobacco smoke as he thought to himself, Kushina, he really is your son. The Hokage had obviously noticed that Mizuki had started off too strong for just a taijutsu spar and made a mental note to keep an eye on him. Kakashi, who had also noticed that Mizuki's intentions were less than pure, watched with vindictive pleasure as the idiot slumped to the ground in a bleeding and broken mess – serves him right for pulling a stunt like that.
The students had begun to whisper as soon as Naruto had been declared the winner by knockout. Many of them were wondering just when the supposed dead last had gotten so strong and why he had kept on avoiding assessment tests during the academy school year. Sasuke, meanwhile, was mentally reconsidering everything he thought he knew about Uzumaki Naruto and making plans to corner him for questioning later. Back on the sparring field, Iruka had propped Mizuki against a tree and used what little battlefield healing jutsu he knew. Since his partner was out for the count, he faced off against Ino himself, winning the spar after 1 minute and 50 seconds.
After the students had gotten over their shock at seeing the dead last demolish their teacher, Iruka herded them back into the class room for the final portion of the exam. Being that it was a fairly straightforward process, his instructions were short; you hear your name, enter the next room and do what we tell you, and when you're done, move on to the room across from you and wait for the rest to finish. He started with Shino as always, and continued down the list. Mizuki, who had recovered, joined him halfway through. Sasuke walked in when it was his turn and then Naruto's name was called.
As Naruto made his way towards the connecting door, his acute hearing easily picked up what was being said in the room that contained those who had already finished their exams. Smirking to himself at successfully stirring up the hive, he entered the connecting room to see the two instructors seated at a table. He walked to stand in front of them, absently noting that the hatred in Mizuki's eyes was more visible, probably due to his humiliating injuries. Smiling proudly at him, Iruka spoke,
"Well, Naruto, you've gotten to the last portion of the exams. This ninjutsu test is fairly straightforward; you will be tested on the use of the basic three jutsu – the kawarimi, henge and bunshin no jutsu. We will begin with the kawarimi. Now, sometime in the next 15 seconds and with no prior warning, Mizuki will launch a blunted kunai at you, which you must obviously avoid by switching out with something else. Extra points will be given for demonstrated mastery of the jutsu. The 15 seconds starts now."
Naruto had kept his cool gaze on Mizuki throughout the speech given by Iruka and thus easily made out the lust for vengeance that brightened his eyes when Iruka mention the surprise blunted kunai. Fully aware that Mizuki would attempt to get him back for his previous humiliation, he subtly went on alert for any tricks, while appearing calm, unconcerned and wide open. Nine seconds after the official start of the testing, Mizuki launched a kunai with no prior warning at Naruto, whose eyes easily tracked it – even if it was travelling far faster than a genin could handle. The kunai travelled the gap in an instant and, to the horror of Iruka and barely hidden glee of Mizuki, it plunged into Naruto's chest. Iruka watched –devastated – as Naruto's eyes widened in pain and his body began to fall backwards. He was on his feet in an instant, about to rush towards Naruto, to give whatever futile aid he could when Naruto's body burst into smoke and revealed a chair with the kunai sticking halfway out of it. It took a moment for Iruka to understand what he was seeing and he slumped in relief. A chuckle behind him had him turning to see Naruto standing there with an amused air about him.
In the hokage's office, the present jounin allowed their muscle to relax once they realized that Naruto had successfully performed the replacement technique. Most noted with interest that the kawarimi had been pulled off without any hand seals and with the kind of mastery only found in high level chunin ninja and above.
After he had calmed his heart rate, Iruka turned to berate Mizuki for using what was obviously a real kunai. Mizuki acted sheepish and was able to somewhat fool Iruka into believing that it was a simple oversight on his part. He even apologized to Naruto, who wasn't fooled for an instant. Mizuki was aware, that at this point, Naruto had already passed his graduation exam. So, he privately began to revise his plan for stealing the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing. After things had calmed down, and Iruka had marked Naruto extra for performing a seamless kawarimi with no hand seals and with enough mastery to leave a decoy afterimage, he resumed with the tests.
"Good job on the kawarimi Naruto. Now, you simply have to henge into another person, and then create at least three clones."
With only a nod, Naruto's form simply shimmered and in his place was the Sandaime Hokage in full hokage robes and his pipe in hand. As the figure before them looked up, Iruka and Mizuki subconsciously straightened when they met that ancient and penetrating gaze. Calmly, the figure of the Sandaime breathed out a small stream of fire and lit his pipe. Taking a few puffs, he exhaled some tobacco – which Iruka could smell – and spoke in the mellow and soothing tones of the Professor,
"How are you, Iruka-kun?"
For an instant, Iruka was about to reply as he had always done when the Sandaime asked after him, but then he reminded himself that this was Naruto under an eerily realistic henge and said,
"Very good Naruto, that's another sealless, smokeless and obviously mastered jutsu. At this point in time, you already have passing marks, but if you want to continue, you can attempt to create at least three bunshins."
Once again – with neither smoke nor sound – the room was suddenly containing ten Narutos placed at regular intervals in a circle around the room. Looking around, neither Iruka nor Mizuki were able to determine which one was the real Naruto. Chuckling as he wrote in his clipboard, Iruka awarded Naruto full marks with extra credit for mastery of the three academy jutsu. He then said,
"Okay, Naruto, you can disperse them now."
Nine Narutos – including the one standing where the original had been – faded out of existence without a trace. Turning in surprise, the instructors found the original standing at the back of the room, obviously amused at their surprise. Shaking his head, Iruka said,
"You never cease to amaze me Naruto" then beaming with pride at him, Iruka tossed him a hitai –ate and told him, "You pass, Naruto, with distinction. Congratulations."
Smiling at him, Naruto caught the hitai-ate and bowed to the two teachers. He made his way out of the room and to the room across him, where the students who had finished were waiting. When he walked in with his hitai-ate displayed on his forehead, none of the students were surprised anymore; Naruto had apparently already desensitized them during the earlier tests. Naruto sat at the back as he often did and about ten minutes later, Ino entered with her own head band, followed by Iruka and Mizuki.
Iruka beamed at the students and began his closing statements,
"Well, it's all done now. Though some of you might not have done as well as you expected, I am still proud of the progress you have all made. Those of you who couldn't make the passing grade can retry next year, I have full faith that you will be ready by then. For those of you who received your hitai-ate, you have my congratulations. Make sure to be here tomorrow morning for team assignments. And without further ado, the announcement I know most of you have been waiting for; the rookie of the year. This year, the rookie of the year position is awarded to Uchiha Sasuke for a consistently outstanding performance throughout his attendance."
Most of the students applauded, having already expected as much, with members of the Sasuke fan club screeching loudly. After calming them down, Iruka continued,
"There is still one more thing to take care of however. Uchiha-san earned the title of Rookie of the Year because all six years of schooling were taken into account. Taking only the graduation exam into consideration however, the results are quite different. I will now list the top three students with scores in each of the exam sections. Inuzuka Kiba, with scores of 6.7, 11, 9, 12 and 11, earned a total of 49.7 to come in in third place."
Kiba immediately cheered at doing so well in the exams, ignoring his terrible score in the written portion of the exam. Some of the people around him congratulated him while others pointed out that his accumulated score must be terrible to be able to offset his high exam score. At the observation, he flushed and grumbled while others laughed. The students eventually turned back to Iruka who continued,
"Uchiha Sasuke, with scores of 8.1, 14, 11, 12 and 13, earned a total of 58.1 to come in in second place."
Most of the girls in class cheered at Sasuke's high score, before quieting down as they realized that someone had obviously scored higher than him. Many of the students reached the proper conclusion about the identity of the first place winner at the same time and turned to gape in shock at the person they had derided as the dead last for the past six years. Speaking into the bewildered silence, Iruka announced Naruto's score,
"Uzumaki Naruto, with record shattering scores of 10, 20, 15, 15 and 15, earned the highest possible score of 75 points to come in in first place. Naruto is now the current holder for highest score in every portion of the graduation exams. Congratulations Naruto and to the rest of you as well. I will see you tomorrow."
And with the rest of the class gaping at the disinterested Naruto, Iruka and Mizuki departed from the classroom. Naruto stood up and meandered outside as well, while the rest of the students looked on in stunned silence. The sound of the door closing behind him roused them from their stupor and Naruto smirked as he heard a cry of outrage and shock that originated from Kiba. Chuckling to himself, he vanished from the hallway – disappearing as though he were never there.
In the Hokage's office, the jounin who had been watching the performance of their students missed Naruto's disappearing act because, by then the hokage had ended the jutsu that allowed them to view the classroom. Turning to his jounin, Sarutobi prepared to begin the meeting he had originally called them for. He mused to himself that things were obviously about to become very interesting.
Thank you for taking the time to read this story. Please leave a review behind you. Thank you