Authors note: I had ton o' help in wording this fic better thanks to causeiambetta one of my editors. He has also inspired me and given me new ideas that seem to work better in the fic…so THANKS causeiambetta!
This fic has been edited by: causeiambetta
Disclaimers: Damn it WHY!...cries like chibi people I wana own Naruto…..sniff….sniff….But I don't!
Small recap: Yea…Naruto passed his genin test (not the bell test) and over heard Mizuki say he was gona steal the scroll…so he went to train for the confrontation. Did I mention he scored higher than Sasuke on the test…And made him Bleed all in the same day.
Chapter 2: The Thief, the Scarecrow and the Author
-------------------------------------------Hokage Tower-----------------------------------------------
It started to rain very hard. Almost zero visibility did not stop a determined figure from covering the roof tops. Discretely, the shadow concealed itself from the ANBU patrol loitering around a tall tower nearby. The figure heard a group of jonins coming its way and quickly hid in the corner of a close by building.
The figure Cursed in frustration, "DAMN! That was close, TOO close. Perhaps it's better if I just wait it out a bit more, at least until the rain calms down. No use in stealing a scroll if its just gona get wet."
-----------------------------------------Training Grounds---------------------------------------------
In the middle of the open field, a young boy with dripping wet orange clothes could be seen practicing hand signs. Rain roared, mixed with thunder, lightning lashing out as if meaning to strike him down. On closer inspection of the training grounds condition one could see few trees and large boulders severely sliced. To an untrained eye the cuts were perfect seeing as it had very few rugged sides. But to trained shinobi, smaller ridges could be seen along the inside of the sliced objects. The slices were not as perfect as it appeared, but what could one expect from someone who just moments ago mastered how to perform a decent jutsu.
Uzumaki Naruto huffed and puffed harder every time he gasped for breath, his hands shaking a little as he let them drop to his sides. He looked down on the ground as if it was suddenly the only thing in the world before falling on his back and suddenly started to dream.
-------------------------------------------Naruto Mindscape------------------------------------------
Naruto woke up sitting in three inches of water. He was in a now very familiar sewer-like prison of his now self proclaimed sensei/friend and mock buddy, mock buddy in the sense that they like to pester each other more often than either's tastes. He stood up from his position and looked at the prison ahead of him with a smile on his face, hands behind his head he started walking towards it.
"Hey fur ball! Thanks for teaching me that cool new jutsu, but I gota ask, how and why do you even know ANY jutsus at all?" Naruto asked with a puzzled look on his face. Blood red eyes shot open from the cell and then looked at Naruto, who simply lay there waiting for an answer. The simple figure smiled casting his teeth in perfect white before speaking "YOU KNOW YOU COULD SOUND A LITTLE MORE GRATEFULL KIT, AS FOR YOUR QUESTION, HUMPH!" Kyuubi smirked evilly narrowing his eyes at Naruto "JUST BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE OPPOSABLE THUMBS DOESN'T MEAN I CAN'T SEE HOW A TECHNIQUE IS DONE, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S BEEN USED AGAINST ME TIME AND TIME AGAIN."
The fox demon had softened up a bit towards Naruto over the years. Especially after all the shit he puts up with from a portion of the villages population. The fox still thinks it be easier to just grow in strength and kill off everyone, but Naruto insists on becoming the village protector one day and watching over it. Naturally the fox doesn't know why Naruto bothers with something so beneath the demon or its container. The Kyuubi felt Naruto's future holds much more than even the strongest demon can ascertain but cannot deny. Of course Kyuubi would die 100 times over and cross hell 50 times before he'd tell the kid that.
"KID YOU BETTER GET OUTA HERE BEFORE YOUR SENSEI" Kyuubi was stopped from completing his sentence by a now angry Naruto. He spoke with anger confusion and sadness "HE'S NOT MY SENSEI" Naruto shouted aloud. He calmed himself a little before continuing "not anymore, not if he truly is going to steal the forbidden scroll from the hokage tower." Kyuubi watched the saddened look on his vessel's face before responding in a colder voice than usual "SHIT HAPPENS GET OVER IT! SOONER OR LATER YOU WERE BOUND TO BE BETRAYED BY SOMEONE. IF I WERE YOU I'D GET USED TO IT REAL QUICK BECAUSE FROM WHAT LITTLE I DO KNOW OF YOU HUMANS THIS JOB IS GONNA GET A WHOLE LOT WORSE AS TIME PASSES." Kyuubi finished taking in the mood change from Naruto as he shook his head and clenched his fist eyes filled with determination. "Hai, arigatou Kyuubi" he spoke before he vanished into a swirl of distortion from the cage of the nine tails. Kyuubi sighed to himself as he knew Naruto would be truly alone once a certain 'thing' was completed.
"SORRY KID, BUT I WON'T BE AROUND FOREVER"
------------------------------------------Training Grounds--------------------------------------------
Naruto awoke in his training grounds staring at the nighttime sky, his baby blues meeting the coal black of night. He noticed it had stopped raining as he pushed himself off the ground to stand up from the muddy and wet grass. Naruto took in a deep breath and relaxed himself before opening his eyes. Quickly, he started running towards the Hokage tower with a single question on his mind.
'Why?'
-------------------------------------------Hokage Tower----------------------------------------------
The village leader was calmly sitting down on his chair, looking on at his village with a lit pipe exhaling out the smoke. He sighs as he realizes he can't appreciate the night's beauty, for he had mountains upon mountains of paper work to do. He turned around from his position on the chair and lifted his hands from the arm rest of the chair steadily picking up a pen to continue with his duties as Hokage. Just as he was about to start his paper work a chunin came bursting in through the front door, out of breath to the point of hyperventilating.
Clutching on to his knees gasping for air he spoke with worry in his voice "Hokage-sama! Someone stole the forbidden scroll containing the village's hidden jutsus!" The Sandaime stood up from his desk and calmly walked over to the chunin. In a voice as omniscient as any, "Gather all the jonin and chunin as well as the ANBU. Have them meet me on top of the tower as soon as possible." With that the chunin nodded and in a puff of smoke vanished from the Sandaime's side. The Sandaime huffed in a deep breath and lifted his hands to his pipe and extracted it from his mouth before exhaling smoke. He turned to the window again before muttering "and so it begins, eh, Naruto?" The Hokage of Konoha couldn't help but smile a little.
------------------------------------------------Forest clearing------------------------------------------
Mizuki had stolen the scroll from the hokage tower. He was inordinately pleased with himself for making it near the outskirts of the Konoha forest. Why shouldn't he be? He just pulled off a coup and will be more powerful than ever. Jumping from tree branch to tree branch, Mizuki came a cross a clearing in the forest and decided to rest there. Adrenaline was wearing off and he was a bit tired from all the running. He landed on the ground with a thud and sat down leaning back against a tree as he placed the thick scroll next to him. He smiled to himself "Ha! Those fools didn't even know the scroll was stolen until it was way too late" he started to laugh manically.
"I trusted you!" a voice declared hidden in the trees. Mizuki jumped up kunai in his right hand ready to cut the owners voice. Mizuki looked in all direction but couldn't find anyone; he started to feel annoyed and agitated at this new presence. It spoke again "I trusted you because you told me once I could actually become a ninja if I just put my mind to it! I trusted you because I thought you believed in me! Was that a lie?" the voice said pain and anger clearly present in its words.
Mizuki was getting more furious by the second. He narrowed his eyes as the voice seemed to come from all around him, he shouted out in anger and slight fear "WHO ARE YOU!" As Mizuki finished voicing out his question, an orange clad ninja jumped from the trees and landed nimbly 10 feet in front of him. Only one word escaped out of Mizuki's lips "Naruto?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes at his former sensei then smirked as he spoke "You know there are wild creatures in the forest if you're not careful they might steal things from right under your nose." There was arrogance in his voice. Mizuki was perplexed at the young shinobis statement for a few seconds. Then his eyes widened, quickly turning to his right in search of the now missing scroll. Mizuki quickly turned back towards Naruto only to be met with nothing but lush green forest. At once he took to the trees in search of the orange wearing ninja 'how hard can it be I mean he IS wearing orange that's practically an 'I'm here I'm here kill me' color" Mizuki thought.
Naruto met up with a clone that was carrying the stolen forbidden scroll, as the real him served as a distraction. He smiled at his clone, gave it his "good job" sign and in a poof the clone vanished. Naruto then tied the scroll to his back and formed hand seals in a low cry he uttered a jutsu "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" at once 12 Naruto clones puffed in to existence running along side the original. They looked at each other and then dispersed in different direction all over the forest. The real Naruto was going to go and give the scroll back to the Hokage but stopped on the edge of the forest. With a mischievous smile, he started to unfold the scroll and read its contents.
Two and a half hours later Naruto was a little out of breath and slightly beaten up. But he didn't care, for he just learned a new jutsu. One that's even more powerful than the one Kyuubi had taught him. The jutsu addicted ninja was very happy. However, this particular jutsu was to be used only when he was in dire despair. So he needed to keep it hidden in his now steadily increasing arsenal of jutsus.
As Naruto was huffing and puffing heavily he didn't notice that Iruka had found him in the rather small clearing of the forest. Just as Iruka jumped down and was about to ask Naruto what he was doing he glanced at the scroll that was sitting beside him. Iruka frowned and then spoke both in relief and worry "Naruto? What happened you look awful, and please tell me that's not the Hokage's missing scroll?" Naruto shot out surprised and happy that Iruka found him before Mizuki did. Naruto smiled a true smile at the man before he spoke "yea, but I didn't steal it. Mizuki did. But I stole it back from him and…well I couldn't help but peek in and learn a new jutsu." Iruka was surprised with the information that was just given to him and truly believed Naruto, for he knows Naruto very well and wouldn't lie, at least not to him.
As Iruka was about to speak again he stopped in his tracks and heard the faint noise of metal cutting through wind. In that instance Iruka's instincts took over as his body pushed Naruto's aside. Iruka's back take the full force of several thrown kunai and shuriken aimed at Naruto. Naruto who was on the ground eating dirt turned to Iruka who was clenching his jaw shut, face clearly in pain. Naruto looked on in worry as his teacher was now injured. Mizuki leaped from a tall tree to Naruto and Iruka's left on to the ground landing hard, his face contorted out of anger and most of all hatred for the 'demon' boy.
"OK KID GIVE ME THAT FUCKING SCROLL BEFORE I KILL YOU FOR MAKING ME CHASE CLONE AFTER CLONE!" roared Mizuki clearly angry. Naruto ignored him as he set Iruka down. Iruka spoke softly "Na…Naruto get out a here!" only to be met with a nod from Naruto. "Sorry Iruka-sensei, but it's my turn to protect you" he stated flatly. Iruka pleaded with Naruto to run away one more time but the orange clad ninja was very adamant about his decision. Mizuki spoke again but this time he spoke in a more calmed tone "You know there is a reason why everyone in the village hates you Naruto, and it's quite reasonable." Iruka widened his eyes and shot an upwards glance at Mizuki before shouting his thoughts "NO MIZUKI, YOU CAN'T BREAK THE THIRD'S LAW!" Naruto was naturally a tad confused, not the 'why people hate me' part but the 'third's law' part so he voiced his confusion "What law?"
Mizuki smirked before he spoke again "The thirds law is that no one can tell you or anybody else that YOU are the demon known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune! Yes that's right, you are the nine tailed fox!" he finished with evil written on his face. This only served to confuse Naruto even further and it was evident in his face 'How could I be Kyuubi if he's sealed inside me?' he thought. Iruka was trying to stand but found he couldn't for one of the kunai must have severed his left foot's tendons, Iruka shouted through the pain he felt "NO! NARUTO ISN'T THE KYUUBI; HE'S THE KID WHO PROTECTS US FROM IT. I'V SEEN HIM TRAIN THOUGH I DON'T SAY ANYTHING IN CLASS NARUTO IS ONE OF THE MOST TALENTED YOUNG NINJA I KNOW. I'M PROUD TO CALL HIM MY STUDENT!" Iruka finished tears in his eyes. Mizuki looked at him in disgust and grunted "Humph! Kyuubi lover! Even after he" he points at Naruto "Killed your parents!" Iruka spoke sternly "Naruto isn't responsible for that and you know it! Kyuubi and Naruto are two very different beings!"
Naruto stood in front of Iruka his hair covering his eyes and a small smile on his face as tears left his eyes. 'Iruka-sensei really believes in me! Thank you Iruka-sensei!' Naruto thought happily. Naruto lifted his right arm to his face as he used his forearm to wipe the tears away from his face. He then gave Mizuki a strong and stern look which made Mizuki flinch just a little before Naruto spoke in a cold and dark voice "I hope you know how to fly, because it won't be the fall that kills ya. It's the sudden stop at the bottom!" As Naruto raised his hands and performed hand seals.
Mizuki was already on the attack, fuma shuriken spinning on his right hand ready to strike Naruto down as he charged in for the kill. "DIE, DEMON FOX!" Mizuki yelled bringing his spinning fuma shuriken in for a horizontal strike. Naruto ducked from the attack as he finished with his hands seals and smirked under Mizuki's failed attack 'time to put your jutsu to the test Kyuubi' Naruto thought. Naruto had his eyes narrowed as he spoke "fly little birdy" just then Mizuki widened his eyes as he knew he was not going to be able to block what ever Naruto was gona through at him. "Fuuton: Kezekyu no jutsu" (Wind element: Great Wind ball technique) Naruto shouted as he inhaled a large amount of wind and blew out a large ball of wind out of his mouth as big as Mizuki. Mizuki was caught in the wind jutsu and was sent flying 90 feet in the air. As he flew up he yelled in pain as the wind seemed to cut through his skin giving him both large and small cuts all around his body, the wind jutsu dissipated in mid air leaving a rather battered Mizuki to fall to his pending death.
Naruto looked on as Mizuki was falling straight back down to earth. Iruka was in too much of a shock seeing Naruto do such a jutsu that he failed to notice Mizuki was falling back down at harsh speed. As Mizuki was nearing the end of his journey he closed his eyes and waited for 'the sudden stop' but it never came as he felt something grab hold of him as he fell. He shot open his eyes and looked in surprise that he wasn't dead…yet. He turned to his savior only to be angered and confused. He wiggled out of his rescuers arm and fell on to the ground rather softly and on his back. Mizuki tried to move but couldn't, for he had lost too much blood and was in no condition to keep going. Naruto simply stared at Mizuki with a death glare worse than that of Sakura AND Ino's put together (That is fucking scary!). Mizuki shouted in anger at Naruto "WHY! WHY DID YOU SAVE ME?" Naruto said nothing for a few moments. Just as Mizuki was about to scream again Naruto spoke calm and collected "Because it was the right thing to do." Iruka looked on at Naruto and beamed a brotherly smile.
An ANBU member with gravity defying silver hair and a white wolf mask arrived just when Naruto unleashed his jutsu, but chose to remain hidden to see how the situation developed. This particular ANBU is rarely caught off guard but what had just unfolded in front of him was truly something to be surprised about. 'Well that's interesting, a genin with the power to defeat a low level chunin. I have to admit there are VERY few that can do that" The sliver haired ANBU thought.
As Naruto made his way back to Iruka the ANBU shot out from his hiding place and intercepted Naruto. Naruto looked at the masked man with tired eyes before he collapsed on to the ground and fell unconscious. The ANBU had a confused look in his eyes before he sped to Naruto's aid. Iruka was worried for Naruto but decided to let the ANBU do his job. Mizuki was still too beat up to move so he couldn't move. The silver haired ninja rose with Naruto sound asleep in his arms. He looked at Iruka and spoke in a monotone voice "I'll take the boy to the hospital, it's nothing serious but he should rest for a bit. As for you and the traitor over there" he pointed over towards Mizuki, "You will be picked up by another ANBU squad, tell them 'Saber Wolf' gave the order to lock him up, understood?" With that, Iruka nodded in confirmation before 'Saber Wolf' leapt off in to the tree branches towards Konoha hospital. All the while thinking about what transpired tonight. 'He looks SO MUCH like HIM and his fighting is rather similar, I wonder?" were the ANBU's last thoughts before he looked up at the sky as a hawk flew in circles around his location. 'Sandaime?' the ANBU was confused so instead of making his way towards the hospital he switched directions towards the Hokage tower.
---------------------------------------Hokage Tower--------------------------------------------------
The Sandaime Hokage sat in his comfortable chair scanning his crystal globe at all the night's events. He smiled at the fact that it was Naruto that would stop Mizuki from stealing the scroll as he had predicted. "Hehehe, well Naruto you sure do like to wear yourself down. First you train normally. Then you train harder to learn a new jutsu using up a lot more chakra. Then you use the last bit of chakra you have left to defeat a traitor a class higher than you. Yup you're your father's son alright" Sandaime declared with a smile on his face. He looked at the silver haired ANBU that was carrying Naruto through his crystal ball and smiled even bigger "How ironic that it was YOU Kakashi that found him, fate seems to have a strange twist on things" he murmured as he got up to inform the other shinobis of recent developments and call off the search.
-------------------------------------30 minutes later---------------------------------------------------
'Saber Wolf' walked in to the Sandaime's office carrying a still sleeping Naruto in his arms and set him on one of the chairs in front of Sarutobi. He then saluted the Hokage before speaking. "Saber Wolf reporting, Hokage-sama you wanted to see me?" Sandaime smiled at the sliver haired shinobi and spoke in a grandfatherly tone "Please Kakashi no need for formalities, sit. You and I have much to discuss." With that Kakashi removed his mask and hung it from his belt, revealing a very handsome man with two different colored eyes. His right eye was black while his left eye red with three comma like markings around the iris. Kakashi sat on the other chair next to the one occupied by a sleeping Naruto before asking "We do Hokage-sama?"
"Indeed, we do. I would like you to become a jonin instructor this year" Sarutobi relayed with his eyes closed puffing his pipe. It took Kakashi a full 20 seconds before the information sunk in. "WHAT?" he screeched with widened eyes before he realized what he did and gathered himself. "Hokage-sama, please explain?" he figured the Hokage must have a good reason for asking him to exchange his position of ANBU captain with that of a Jonin-sensei. "The reason I called you to teach is because this years graduating class consists of Uchiha Sasuke and seeing as you are the only Sharingan user left in the village, I thought it be best for you to teach him." Kakashi took in what the Hokage said then spoke again in a serious demeanor "Very well, but may I have a hand in picking his team Hokage-sama?" Sarutobi cringed at what Kakashi said before he spoke in a saddened voice "I'm afraid not, the council wishes he be taught alone, for fear of other students being a distraction." Kakashi was shocked and voiced his inner turmoil to the Hokage "WHAT! But that's not fair. Not just to me but to the Uchiha. He'll grow alone and miss out on how to work as a unit with other shinobi. Tell me what's the point in having a single powerful shinobi if he or she can't learn to cooperate with others to accomplish a goal…Obito and Sensei taught me that."
The Hokage sighed letting out a puff of smoke from his mouth. He reached for his pipe and took it out of his mouth before speaking again "I understand Kakashi, but it was a unanimous decision by the council. Even I can't over rule that if I wanted to." The Sandaime Hokage smiled as he was about to speak his next words "However, Just because he will be taught by you doesn't mean he will go on missions with you only. He, like any other genin, will have to go on team related missions." The hokage dropped his smile and became serious "Sadly the counsel has also ruled out the interaction of placing him on several teams for such missions and has narrowed it down just one team of your choosing for fear of him becoming like Uchiha Itachi." Kakashi took all of this information in heavily. A light snore coming from his right side distracted him. He turned to see Naruto asleep on the chair. Kakashi observed Naruto very closely for a few seconds 'something about you seems…so familiar. I remember when Sensei sealed Kyuubi in side of you, but something else about you just seems to scream out at me" he thought.
Kakashi turned to face the Hokage and spoke more out of a need to know than curiosity "Who are the boy's parents? I mean, he looks so much like sensei, now more than ever. I have to know IS Naruto Arashi-sensei's son?" Sarutobi seemed to be debating with in the reaches of his own minds whether to tell Kakashi the truth or not. There was a sudden pause before Sarutobi nodded to Kakashi once and spoke "Naruto does indeed posses Kage blood in him." Kakashi widened his eyes and turned to Naruto, studying him, taking in every detail about him. Silence was heard through out the room for a good two minutes before Kakashi spoke, his eyes still on Naruto "I think it be beneficial for Sasuke if he'd be allowed to go on missions with Naruto's team."
The Hokage spoke softly to Kakashi "Beneficial for Sasuke or beneficial to you, my dear friend?" Kakashi broke his gaze away from Naruto's body and placed it on the Sandaime "Not at all, I think it's beneficial to Sasuke as well as Naruto" he said. Sarutobi rose an eyebrow "Oh, how so?" was his reply. "The other day I was out on patrol when I came across both Naruto and Sasuke on the school grounds. They seem to have a rivalry. I think it would be healthy for the both of them to be on missions together. Not only will it teach them cooperation but it'll drive them to become better" Kakashi made his case. Sarutobi took in all this information and gave a slight nod to Kakashi "Very well" was his only answer to the silver haired man.
Kakashi suddenly had a question in his head he couldn't get out so he voiced it to the Sandaime "Who is his sensei?" he said as he pointed with his right thumb at Naruto. If Sarutobi's smile could get bigger they'd have to replace Jack Nicholson as the Joker in Batman. He spoke with that once in a lifetime grin "You should know him very well, having read his book every damn day" was Sandaime's reply. In an instant Kakashi's face met the floor, while on the ground he spoke "Ji-Jiraiya-sama?"
-------------------------------Konoha Bathhouse------------------------------------------------------
Far from the Hokage tower a man with unruly long white hair sitting on top of a large orange toad, wearing grey clothing, a red sleeveless vest, wooden sandals and a large scroll tied to his back sneezed rather loudly. He was peeking at the women through a hole in the fence that divides the men's bath from the women's bath. Said pervert lifted his right hand to pat his nose "hmm Sarutobi-Sensei must be speaking about me" before he continued with his 'research.' Except now, there were no women anywhere. He removed his face from the hole in confusion, to hear the sound of knuckles cracking behind him. The man gulped deeply before turning around VERY slowly. He found a herd of women dressed in towels preparing to give him the beating of a life time. The only thing that escaped his mouth before the women pummeled him was "Oh crap!"
-----------------------------------------Hokage tower--------------------------------------------------
"If I may Hokage-sama, why is Jiraiya-sama here? And why is has he agreed to train Naruto? I was under the impression he wasn't taking any students after…Sensei." Kakashi asked confused at the latest development.
Sandaime spoke ever so sagely "That too was the councils doing. However they did it to keep Naruto in control rather than actually teach him anything. The only other person who knows how to maintain the seal on Naruto is Jiraiya. Naturally Jiraiya declined, but once I revealed Naruto's heritage, he reconsidered almost instantly. Jiraiya also has more plans for Naruto than simply just monitor the seal." Sandaime finished with a smirk that read 'we pulled a fast one over the council HA!'
Kakashi waited a few seconds for the information to sink in until he spoke again "That would explain why Jiraiya-sama agreed to teach Naruto, but it still doesn't say why he agreed to teach Naruto AND TWO other students?" Sandaime almost chocked on his own smoke (he's still has the pipe in his mouth) when he heard Kakashi's question before he spoke in embarrassment "Yes, well Naruto's team is rather unique, you'll understand once you see them." Kakashi was confused and he showed it with a raised eyebrow but chose to say nothing because he would indeed be meeting Naruto's team soon.
It was at this point Naruto decided to wake from his slumber. He opened his eyes from the chair and yawned ever so lazily while stretching his arms out in front of him.
Kakashi was going crazy looking for his cloth mask before Naruto woke up completely. He finally found it in his back pocket and put it on hastily thanking Kami. Naruto woke up ever so slowly, an attribute Kakashi would have to speak with Jiraiya to work out of the kid's system. When Naruto was fully awake, he realized he wasn't at the forest anymore. Instead he was in a nice comfy office, sitting in a great big and comfortable red chair. Naruto moved himself so he was sitting upright. It was then he realized he was in the Hokage's office next to an ANBU with half a covered face and left eye shut. He turned to the Hokage himself who was sitting on his usual chair and started to panic thinking that he was in some sort of trouble 'fuck there's no telling what that ANBU piece of shit told the Hokage so I'd get in trouble!" Naruto thought hysterically.
Just as fast as Naruto thought of it, the Sandaime noticing Naruto's worried demeanor, spoke to calm him down "Naruto don't worry you're not in trouble. Kakashi here told me how you protected Iruka and got the forbidden scroll back. Thank you, young genin" Sandaime said this with a heart warming smile. The tension within Naruto immediately diminished. Kakashi spoke next, with a smile that was hidden behind his mask "Interesting display of jutsu I look forward to testing you in the near future." The ANBU vanished in a puff of smoke when he finished.
Naruto turned to the Hokage with an eyebrow raised in confusion at the ninja's cryptic words. "You'll find out in the morning, for now go home and take a well earned rest" Sarutobi said rather cheerfully. This only served to confuse poor Naruto even more but he did as he was told. Naruto stood up from his chair and left for his shithole of an apartment. Sarutobi looked at the retreating form of Naruto as he left his office and had only one thought in his mind 'Arashi, he will be great, I can feel it' The Hokage's smile ever widened.
---------------------------------------Next day at the academy---------------------------------------
The next day at the academy rumors spread like wild fire as students started talking about a newly graduated genin who defeated a chunin. Word was that the chunin happened to be their teacher, Mizuki.
Naruto, who got there early (by a rather furry alarm clock…actually more like roaring beast) sat next to a boy with raven hair and black eyes. Uchiha Sasuke merely sat stoic as ever with his hands clasped together in front of his mouth. Naruto just sat in his chair with his feet up on the table and hands behind his head. He decided to take a little nap and so he drifted off to la la land.
------------------------------------------------45 minutes later----------------------------------------
Naruto awoke to an extreme amount of killer intent directed at him. Ninja reflexes made him shoot out of his chair kunai in hand ready to attack. The massive killer intent was temporarily replaced with confusion. He looked beside him to find that both girls of his dreams were staring at him funny like he grew a second head and a third arm. Soon enough they reinitiated their dark stares on him. Naruto was puzzled why would he be on the receiving end of such a thing from these girls?
It was Ino who spoke her mind first, as usual. "Naruto get the hell out a that chair! And don't try to scare us with a kunai, remember we have them too." "Yea Naruto can't you see that chair is reserved for me! After all true love prevails over all!" Sakura chimed in. Naruto looked even more confused as he put his kunai away and answered in the most logical way any man in his position would have done "HUH?" Sasuke simply grumbled to himself as he knew what was coming after such a brilliant statement.
"POW" was heard before Naruto flew across the class room on to the black board leaving an impression of himself as he slid down. The girls were too busy fighting with each other to notice Naruto walk back to his original seat nursing two big bumps on his head. Sasuke looked at him for a minute before turning back to his brooding.
Just then Iruka entered the door and the whole room went quiet. As he was making it to the front of the class with a clip board in hand something tackled him to the ground.
Every single student looked on in confusion as Naruto jumped and hugged Iruka from clearly 12 feet away. Naruto was clinging to Iruka for dear life and then he spoke in a loud, happy voice "IRUKA-SENSEI YOU'RE OK! AFTER I FOUGHT MIZUKI I PASSED OUT SO I COULDN'T TELL IF YOU WERE OK OR NOT" Iruka was happy as well that Naruto was fine but he was more concerned with the lack of oxygen he was receiving, or in this case, not receiving. "Naruto…AIR!...NEED…AIR!" was all that he needed to say before the orange clad ninja released him from the bear hug. Naruto was rather embarrassed because he never displayed such emotion in front of people, let a lone his peers. So he did the only thing he could do: scratch the back of his head sheepishly with his right arm and an open smile.
Everyone in the class was hitting the floor face first at Naruto's claim at fighting Mizuki. Realization dawned on Shikamaru and he smiled genuinely. Choji noticing Shikamaru's smile questioned him "Hey Shikamaru what's with the smile?" "Heh, don't you get it, Choji? The rumors we've been hearing about a genin defeating a chunin was about Naruto defeating Mizuki-sensei" Shikamaru stated a little louder than he meant to, with his eyes still closed. This prompted both Sakura and Ino to jump up from their chair (they managed to sit in the same chair…don't ask because even I don't know). Their jaws hit the floor from the realization that it must be true, seeing as Iruka nodded to Shikamaru's statement. Sasuke was even more intrigued with Naruto but had to admit to himself he was getting a little annoyed at the 'dobe'.
"Alright Naruto go back n' take a seat so I can announce the teams to the class" Iruka stated plainly. With a nod Naruto leaped to an empty seat in a single bound in the front row next to one Hyuga Hinata. Hinata started blushing rather uncontrollably and occasionally took side glances at Naruto.
As Iruka started calling names Naruto simply kept on thinking about what that silver haired ANBU said. 'Interesting display of jutsu I look forward to testing you in the near future'… 'I wonder what he meant by that?' thought Naruto.
As Naruto finished his trail of thought, Iruka called out his name "Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura" Naruto Jumped up happily with glee, while Sakura loomed over a bit 'Well it could be worse I could have been stuck with Ino-pig!' she thought 'Yea, but it would have been nice to be with Sasuke-kun' her inner self made itself known. "And Yamanaka Ino" finished Iruka. Naruto again jumped up with glee and jolly as he heard the names of his two teammates. Sakura it seemed got even worse 'GREAT! NOT ONLY DO I HAVE NARUTO ON MY TEAM BUT I HAVE TO WORK WITH INO-PIG TOO!' she thought 'SHARANO! WHAT DID I DO KAMI-SAMA; PLEASE TELL ME WHAT DID I DO!' a hysteric inner Sakura screamed in the confines of Sakura's mind. Yamanaka Ino had eyes as big as the Titanic when she heard on whose team she was on and immediately jumped to her feet and protested to Iruka "IRUKA-SENSEI! THERE'S GOT TO BE A MISTAKE I CAN'T-" she was interrupted by Iruka before she could finish her tantrum "INO! There is no mistake you are partnered with Naruto and Sakura to form team seven" Iruka conveyed sternly.
Ino slouched on her chair defeated 'Great not only do I have a dimwit and a forehead girl as my teammates, but now I'll never get to be with Sasuke-kun!' Ino thought discouraged. Naruto on the other hand was having a mental high about the whole situation 'KAMI-SAMA THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I'LL NEVER PULL A PRANK FOR AS LONG AS I LIVE…UNLESS IT'S ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!' was the only coherent thought running through his mind. Iruka stopped dead panned when he read the name of their instructor. He was astonished but kept his face hidden from the class. He continued to call out the names of the teams pretending to keep his cool "Team 8: Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuga Hinata" Hinata nodded along with Shino while Kiba and Akamaru grunted a little. Iruka kept calling out names "Team 10: Akamichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru and…Sai?" He looked over at 'Sai' puzzled and asked a question to the boy dressed in all black "Don't you have a last name?" Sai looked over at Iruka and simply shook his head stating he doesn't.
Iruka dismissed it and then looked at Sasuke who was wondering which team he'd be put on seeing as he was the ONLY student left with out one. Iruka spoke low so only Sasuke could hear "You, Sasuke will be taught by a very important shinobi. You will be his one and only student. However you will go on team missions with another team. I still don't know the full details but you were asked to wait here for him." With that Sasuke nodded in understanding.
Iruka then directed his voice through out the class "Ok class you have your team numbers, so wait patiently for your jonin instructors." The entire class nodded and waited patiently for the instructors to gather them up.
------------------------------------------3 ½ hours later-----------------------------------------------
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs "Our sensei hasn't shown up! GRRR! THAT'S IT!" Naruto jumped off his seat and ran out the room. Sakura, Ino and even Sasuke where looking at each other with confused expressions as the orange clad ninja came back in the room with a water bucket filled to the top in glue and had a bag of feathers. "Naruto what are you doing? You're just gonna get us in to trouble" said Sakura. 'On the other hand our sensei deserves getting pranked for being so tardy!' she thought. 'Absolutely! CHA!' yelled Inner Sakura. "Naruto grow up already and stop being so immature" Ino added to Sakura's comment. 'This I'll be fun to see, a full grown man covered from head to toe in pillow feathers' Ino thought a faint smile appearing on her face. Sasuke simply shook his head and grunted "Do you actually believe that a jonin will fall for a simple prank like that?"
Just as Naruto finished setting up the prank and rushed in front of Sasuke to speak his mind, the door opened. A gloved hand made its way through it as well as a head full of gravity defying silver hair. Naruto and everyone else in the room turned to look at the doors direction. Naruto felt a little dizzy for a few seconds when suddenly in a poof of smoke he was the one standing in between the door way as the man in silver hair was standing in the very same place he once stood. He looked up and saw the glue falling towards him; he widened his eyes before saying his last words "Oh crap." Something weird happened though. The glue stopped falling and hung over his head mid air, aswell as everyone seemed to be frozen. He glanced at Sakura and Ino and thought about how he wished he was in between them seeing as there was an open space big enough for him to be in. Just as he finished that thought swirls of distorted space started covering his body. He noticed time seemed to be slowly readjusting itself for the bucket of glue above him was slowly starting to fall again. One second he was in the glue's path, the next second he was back in the room between Sakura and Ino.
"What the hell?" was all Naruto could mutter before everyone realized he was back in the room safe and sound from the glue and feathers that were adorning the academy floor. Kakashi who used a substitution jutsu to trap Naruto in his own prank was very curious as to how exactly he got out of it. "Naruto, how did you do that? One minute you where there the next you're here?" Ino practically threatened him. Sasuke began to listen intently on to Naruto's explanation. Naruto scratched the back of his head with an open embarrassed smile before speaking "Hehe, I…don't know."
Everyone in the room fell flat on there face once again (this includes Kakashi) at Naruto's brilliant explanation. Naruto had a cheeky grin before another voice in the room spoke "What's going on in here? Looks like a chicken fest Kakashi?" an elderly man spoke from the entrance of the room. He sported long white hair and a head band with the kanji symbol for "Oil." Now everyone's attention was on the man at the door way. He looked over at his "team" and nonchalantly said "Yup, looks like I got my work cut out for me. Especially with the short blond kid that has no clue what so ever that he used his bloodline to bend time and space."
Everyone in the room had an expression on their faces that read 'what the fuck?'
The elder man simply smiled at his team and comrades, for he knew this was going to be a very long day.