Chapter two
xxx
Iruka groaned as he slowly rolled out of bed. Why did he have to get up so early again? Oh, right, today was graduation day at the academy and he had to prepare some sort of speech before assigning teams. He shook his head slightly. What few people knew was that while they did place the top and bottom of the class on the same team, everything else was more or less random.
He shrugged and stepped out the door, thinking about a certain student... the only one in his class. For some reason the Hokage had given him special dispensation when he came to the academy to attend at night and study on his own, with the occasional test overseen by a Chunnin examiner... usually Mizuki. Fortunately, only eight students in his normal class had managed to pass the grueling final test, so he'd slip right into a team with no problems.
While Iruka's thought's slipped from his most interesting and confusing student, anothers was just beginning.
After many, many hours of long, hard contemplation, he had finally come to the conclusion... that Naruto was not the Kyuubi. The thought briefly brought a slight grimace to his face as he considered the many ways he himself had mistreated what he had come to realize was an innocent child. Even so...
Mizuki still shuddered in fear every time he recalled that night. That monster... it was nowhere near the power levels the Kyuubi radiated, but that made it no less terrifying. The members of the mob that were nearly to smashed to stand were the fortunate ones. They'd all passed out somewhere and forgotten the whole incident. The rest were not so lucky... a few would wake up, screaming in the night from what they'd seen haunting their dreams.
The kid though... He'd been dead. When the she-monster had dropped him he was dead, Mizuki was sure of it. And yet less than a week later Uzumaki had enrolled in the ninja academy, as though he had never been injured. Mizuki would write it off as the Kyuubi refusing to allow its host to die so prematurely except that as the kid's academy years passed he began changing... far more than was natural. The boy was hiding something, and he wasn't sure what but from the occasional meeting with the Sandaime he could guess a little at it. Sarutobi was extremely and notoriously tight-lipped, but every so often even he would let facts slip.
Like the animated corpse.
Mizuki would still shiver from time to time when he thought about it. That the poor drunk the she-monster had killed had risen, only a short while later, to become a hideous abomination against all life. A moving corpse, immediately lunging in hunger for the nearest source of warm flesh... Maybe it was something the she-monster had done to the corpse after finishing her meal, but according to a subtle inquiry of the shinobi that had accompanied the Hokage there had been no marks on the body other than the throat, no seals, no ambient chakra left floating in the air... certainly there were a few jutsu, forbidden above all others, that could drag the unwilling dead back to this world for a time... but this seemed different somehow. A ravenous beast clothed in a man's corpse. Perhaps it was the way the thing had killed him, devouring his very lifeblood?
Now that was a truly chilling thought. If every person that creature killed would rise again, a mindless, ravening beast, then perhaps its horror was indeed greater than even the Kyuubi... and yet where did the kid figure into this? He'd seen Uzumaki dead the same way he'd seen the drunk dead, and later he'd seen Uzumaki again, seemingly in perfect health... and yet different somehow.
Firstly, the child that had enjoyed running around screaming his head off in the sun had become somewhat quieter... and had developed a severe aversion to sunlight. He was, on occasion, seen in the daylight hours, but only within an hour or so of sunrise or sunset, and even then he tended to stick to the deepest shadows. He wore gloves, a hat, and a long coat at all times, even at night, as though he was trying to ward away even the tiniest ray of sun from his skin. Naturally, he had become quite pale. He never seemed to eat, citing lack of hunger or claiming that he had eaten previously and was quite full. Anorexia? Quite the sudden change from a child that would eat a dozen or more bowls of ramen at once for a single meal. Perhaps it was possible that the near-death experience of having his throat torn out had radically altered his personality... but to such an extent?
But the most telling thing... Mizuki had seen him sometimes, outside of the academy. When that happened... almost always, it was in an area where a crime had been commited recently. Nothing minor, but nothing that had progressed to the point where ANBU had to step in either. The next day, reports would always come in that the criminal had been found dead, all blood and the heart removed, and the head smashed in. The heart would usually be found nearby, but the blood... simply dissappeared. Mizuki would write up a careful and detailed report every time and hand it over to the Hokage... but there was never any proof implicating the kid in any way, simply that he was in the general area when the attack occurred. So were hundreds of other people. So the Hokage would read the report, nodding, thank him, and file it away where it would never be seen again... and Mizuki would have to wonder whether or not he was imagining the brief, instantly hidden flash of guilt in the Sandaime's eyes. The one thing though... the one thing that made him sure it was the supposedly mid-ranked academy student targeting and eliminating these criminals... was something that couldn't truly be put into words. It was an aura, surrounding him like killer intent and yet... not. Surrounding him and radiating... hunger. Like a great predator staring you in the eyes, and slowly licking its chops before crouching to pounce.
The same aura that had surrounded the she-monster.
He shook his head to clear it of the ever more disturbing conclusions he was beginning to draw and continued plotting. He'd intended to use the Uzumaki... pin the blame on him. The ignorant villagers would be only too eager to believe the worst of the 'demon', and they'd support him if he was caught... but Uzumaki had passed easily, destroying the foundations of his carefully laid plan. In retrospect he felt foolish for automatically assuming that he would fail... but this did throw a wrench in things.
He needed to make a new plan, and fast. Time was running out. He needed that scroll... the consequences of failure were too horrible to contemplate.
xxx
"Dawn is near."
Naruto nodded slowly.
"It seems you can't hide in the night forever ninja-boy. Do be careful. You're strong enough to survive sunlight now... that doesn't mean you'll enjoy it. Now get going... we wouldn't want your instructors to come looking for you, would we?"
Naruto just smirked and faded through the wall.
"Brat."
xxx
Iruka was this close to wanting to cry. All that work to write an expressive, motivational speech, and the most of the ingrates ignored it in favor of staring at and whispering about 'the new kid'. Not that he could really blame them though... his reaction had been similar the first time he'd met Naruto. For some reason, he'd expected him to be loud and foolish.
Well he had no problem speaking his mind, but only with people that he liked. That was very few. Even so, it was more his appearance that distracted people than his personality. For one, the twelve year old was short... at least six or seven inches shorter than the rest of the class. He was wearing a black trenchcoat that had to have been specially tailored to fit him, with a bright vivid orange spiral on the back. Then there was the hat. The hat was... unique to say the least. Rather than the typical conic straw hat that could be found anywhere, this hat was made out of leather. Parts were stiff and parts were soft leaving it wide brimmed but still floppy. Why compared to the hat, the gloves and boots were almost normal. His pants were, naturally, black and so was the T-shirt underneath the multiple leather straps holding the front open. He couldn't make out most of the orange lettering through the straps, only PCALYS NW.
His hat was drawn down, covering his face, but Iruka could tell that he was one of the two people listening carefully to him. Shino was the other.
"And to conclude, as Konoha's newest crop of Genin, you are now adults in the eyes of this village. Use this status wisely and with respect, as the Hokage and ANBU forces have the right to revoke this status if necessary. Now, the teams. Team seven is Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Inuzuka Kiba. Jounin sensei is Hatake Kakashi. Team eight is Aburame Shino, Yamanaka Ino, and Uzumaki Naruto. Jounin sensei is Yuuhi Kurenai. Team nine is an already active Genin team. Team ten is Akamichi Chouji, Hyuuga Hinata, and Nara Shikamaru. Jounin sensei is Sarutobi Asuma. Team eight... your sensei is currently on a mission and won't be back until tomorrow. You're free to go, but I suggest you begin getting to know each other better. The rest of you wait here for your sensei to arrive."
No one noticed a gleam appear in Mizuki's eyes as Team eight left, distracted by either chattering at each other or trying to get a look at the mysterious new Genin's face.
xxx
"I can't believe they put forehead-girl on the team with my Sasuke-kun. It's just not fair. Gaah!"
Nearby, and only barely listening to the blonde girl's rant, Shino and Naruto were silently sizing each other up. One would cock his head slightly and the other would shift his feet a bit. One would slightly tense his shoulders and the other would change his footing slightly. One would...
"Sooo... I'm Ino! I know you're Shino, and that would make you...?"
Naruto let himself relax, prompting Shino to do the same as Ino's question trailed off.
"Uzumaki Naruto. I attended a special night class."
"Really? Why?"
Naruto paused momentarily before spouting a convincing lie.
"I'm not quite sure. You'd have to ask the Council why they..."
"Team eight?"
Their heads turned, instantly recognizing the interruption.
"Mizuki-sensei?"
The man chuckled warmly.
"Don't call me that... I stopped being your sensei when you graduated from the academy. Anyway, I'm glad I caught up to you so fast. With Kurenai gone, it falls to me to give you three your first mission assignment."
He instantly had Ino's rapt attention, and both Shino and Naruto looked more subtly interested.
"Actually it's not so much a mission as a final test. You three have passed the Genin exam, but that's only the first step. Of the twenty seven students passed for Genin, only nine will actually make the cut. This test has a failure rate of two thirds!"
"WHAT!" Ino screamed, frightening the nearby birds into flying away and making her teammates wince in pain. "That's not fair! After all that work, we could still be sent back?"
"You must understand Ino, the Genin exams only pass those with the potential to succeed as shinobi. Most don't actually make the cut, and it's best to weed them out now than to have them killed off by bandits, right? Of course if you're not confident in your abilities you can always quit now and attend the academy again for another year of study."
"NO WAY!" Once again, at earsplitting volume. "Forehead-girl would never let me hear the end of it. We'll take the test, and pass it! And if you two make me fail, then so help me I will make your lives a living hell."
'Wow. Feisty one, isn't she kit?'
Naruto shrugged, simultaneously acknowledging both speakers, internal and external, and Shino merely raised his eyebrows.
"You're all sure? Very well then. This mission will be testing your skill in both information retreival and your aptitude for learning. There's a scroll in the Hokage's office... you'll recognize it immediately, it's marked 'FORBIDDEN'. Your mission is to retrieve it and escape unharmed. The Hokage has been informed, and will treat you the same as any other intruder... don't let him catch you or he'll summon ANBU. Once you have the scroll take it to training ground 83... the one with the hill, Naruto knows where it is... And learn at least one Jutsu from the scroll before I arrive. Once I arrive, I'll take the scroll and return it to the Hokage and the mission ends. If you get caught in the tower, you fail. If you get caught with the scroll, you fail. If I arrive, and you can't each demonstrate a Jutsu you learned from the scroll? You fail. Now do you see why this test has such a high failure rate?"
Ino's jaw was hanging wide open, in awe of how tricky this test sounded. Even Shino looked slightly discomfited. Naruto, however, only looked somewhat speculative, and glanced at the tower.
"The mission begins at sundown.. If I were you three, I'd rest up now and eat a good sized meal beforehand. I'll see you later."
Leaves swirled around Mizuki as he disappeared, leaving the three of them staring at the spot he'd occupied until Naruto nodded and turned to leave before pausing and turning his head back towards his teammates.
"We meet here, ten minutes before sundown."
xxx
The hours were occupied in different ways by each of the three.
Ino spent the rest of the morning working in her families flower shop before napping in the afternoon and eating a quick meal of leftover chow mein.
Shino napped first, then ate half a green melon and spent some time meditating in the center of a buzzing swarm of Kikai.
Naruto... the bodies of two successful drug dealers would be found in an alley the next day, mangled as the ANBU had come to expect.
The sun is setting.
xxx
"Where is it?"
Shino's eyes darted to the door and Naruto frantically waved his hand at her, signalling to be quieter. Ino huffed lightly, but dropped her voice to a whisper.
"Where is it? It's supposed to be right here..."
"Found it."
The three breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief, ready to continue to the second phase of their mission.
"Ahem."
Or not.
They slowly turned wide eyes to see... The Hokage. In a nightrobe.
"Do explain what you're doing in my office at such an hour. And it better be good."
Naruto coughed sheepishly as he stepped forward, concealing the scroll behind a chair.
"Well Ojiisan... The thing is- Oiroke no Jutsu!"
Naruto's form was concealed by a thin veil of smoke that cleared almost instantly, revealing a voluptuous blond woman wrapped in a tight leather bra and skirt combo, licking her lips and leaning forward to expose her cleavage.
"Hokage-sama... I've been a naughty girl... very naughty..."
The combination of the figure, the clothes, and the husky, sensual voice proved to be too much for the Sandaime, and he collapsed with blood spurting freely from his nose. Naruto cancelled the jutsu and tossed the scroll to Shino, who seemed slightly dazed.
"Follow me. We have ten minutes at most before he comes around."
They were several blocks away, still hopping from roof to roof when Ino spoke up.
"What the hell was that jutsu? How... Aaargh!"
"I was capitalizing on a weakness."
"What is that supposed to mean!?"
"To be frank, I developed that jutsu on accident after a series of circumstances that I may or may not tell you about later. It's actually a variation on the basic henge, changing the form of the user to, as the name suggests, a sexy girl... the thing is, it's completely tangible."
Ino's eyes widened as she flushed heavily. Shino's cheeks had also pinkened somewhat.
"T-tangible! Y-you mean...?"
"Yes... right down to the plumbing. That's why I don't like to use it... all the hormones shifting around so suddenly and then shifting back gives me a serious headache if I hold it too long. However, there's something about the Hokage that very few people know... he's the third most perverted individual in the whole Land of Fire. That makes it perfect to use against him."
Ino was still flushing heavily, but seemed to understand. Naturally she didn't have to like it to understand. The rest of the trip was silent until they arrived in the training ground.
"Being here again..." Naruto muttered to himself "It brings back memories. Tch. Shino! Open the scroll, we have no way of knowing how long we have until Mizuki arrives. Pick the one that seems the easiest and most useful to you, and then get to work!"
Shino flipped the scroll open and three sets of eyes scanned it quickly, looking for a technique that would jump out at them.
Shino grimaced. There was nothing even vaguely related to insects in this scroll. That could be a... what's this? Close enough. This, he could use.
Ino scanned the scroll nervously. She knew her limits, and so far all of these techniques were far beyond them. She could do the academy jutsu easily, and her clan's mind control jutsu... mind. There. It was perfect.
One of Naruto's eyebrows slowly rose. At least half of this was advanced clone techniques. Kage Bunshin, Mizu Bunshin, poison, acid, smoke, and earth bunshins. Chishio Bunshin. Blood clone. Oh yes that appealed to him.
The three seperated as one, focusing entirely on their training.
xxx
"Iruka!"
Iruka's eyes snapped wide open. Dammit he'd only just gotten to sleep... if this wasn't important he was going to kill the messenger. Assassination attempt on the Hokage importance.
"Iruka, wake up! The Hokage has summoned us... Team eight, Naruto, Shino and Ino... They've stolen the Forbidden scroll!"
Iruka's form literally blurred as he dressed himself and rushed out the door, taking his place in the group gathering outside the tower only seconds before Mizuki caught up to him.
"Hokage-sama, this time he's gone too far!"
"The Forbidden scroll! Our village's secrets!"
"And he tricked two innocent kids into helping him!"
"He has to be punished, he has betrayed us! Kill him!"
"SILENCE!"
The Hokage's bellow immediately stilled the crowd.
"Find them, all three of them, and bring them to me. Alive! Move out!"
The ninja scattered, some to search inside the gates, but most to search outside, in the hopes of picking up a trail.
xxx
Iruka had been scouring the forest for hours... it was no good. He had to stop and think... where would Naruto go? It would be where he felt safest... Given his life so far, where he felt safest would be his favorite place... where was that? Think Iruka!
Flashback
"So Naruto... what's your favorite place in all Konoha?"
The young student angled his head to the side, confused.
"Favorite?"
Iruka winced slightly at the question.
"Favorite is... something you like better than everything else. What place do you like best in all Konoha?"
The boy thought for a moment before answering.
"Training ground 83! It has my... favoritest... memories there."
Flashback end
Iruka turned and loped off towards training ground 83. It wasn't far from the section of the forest he'd been searching, a brisk ten minute walk for a civilian.
He reached it in thirty seconds.
And there they were! He took a deep breath, ready to verbally berate them at the top of his lungs... then paused and released it. They were all breathing heavily, covered with scratches indicative of a heavy training session. Slowly, Naruto's face turned up, eyes focusing on him.
"Iruka-sensei? Did Mizuki send you? You got here fast... we only just finished learning our Jutsu."
"Mizuki? Jutsu? What are talking about?"
"It's what Mizuki-sensei said, Iruka-sensei..." Ino interrupted, still gasping for breath. "Kurenai-sensei wasn't here to give us the final test, so he had to give it himself. We got the scroll, we each learned a Jutsu, now we just have to give it to him to bring back and we pass.
Iruka's finely honed danger sense twanged loudly as he came to a sudden conclusion. Acting quickly, he shoved Ino, knocking her into the crouching and panting Shino and sending them both tumbling, and hurled himself bodily in front of Naruto.
The wet thumps of kunai and shuriken burying themselves into Iruka's flesh seemed to echo across the training grounds as Naruto's eyes widened. Iruka's entire body trembled as he forced himself to remain conscious.
"Mizuki... Mizuki's a... a traitor. Don't... Don't let him have... the scroll."
His message relayed, he gasped and fell into unconsciousness.
"IRUKA-SENSEI, WHAT THE hell... was..."
Ino fell silent, wide eyed at the sight of Iruka, blood pooling around him. Leaves swirled and Mizuki appeared in the middle of the clearing.
"Sorry about that, old friend, but I can't have anyone interfering right now... not even you."
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again all three of the Genin could feel the change in him. He was colder, harder... ready to kill them if necessary.
"Now little brats... give me the scroll!"
"No."
Mizuki's eyes widened, obviously shocked that one of them had had the sheer gall to deny him. Then they narrowed again.
"Uzumaki... heh. I know a secret about you... do you? Did you ever wonder why? Why the villagers seemed to hate you so much? Why they suggested, even ordered, that their children never associate with you, under any circumstances? Why the orphanage threw you out at such a tender age, why the angry mobs, why the murder attempts? The poisoned ramen, the kunai hurled through the window, the venomous snakes left in your bed? Did you ever find out why they hate you so much Uzumaki?"
"Yes. I know."
That set him back, hesitating only a moment.
"I learned long ago... the very night of a certain 'incident' in this training ground. You should recall Mizuki... I'm sure I saw you here!"
Mizuki flinched.
"Yes.. back then. I was there by choice that time... this time..."
He shook his head and his eyes were hard and cold again.
"It doesn't matter. I will have that scroll! Give it to me now! Or face the consequences."
Naruto carefully stood up, staring at Iruka's fallen form. Then his eyes flashed at Mizuki and his hands clenched into fists. Beside him, Shino and Ino rose up as well, tiredly taking up their own fighting stances.
"No? Then die."
Mizuki opened up by launching one of his giant shuriken at Naruto. He ducked, leaving himself open to a rush from Mizuki, but Shino interfered.
"Ninpou: Doku Shuriken."
The sickly green dart of chakra flew from Shino's extended finger, prompting Mizuki to leap to the right, extending one foot to land on a large stone. Or not.
"Shinteki Gigei: Terekinishishu."
Ino's new jutsu jerked the rock about a foot to the right, causing Mizuki to stumble. Naruto was on him instantly, kunai out and slashing for his jugular. Mizuki leaned back, pulling out his own kunai to block Naruto's. A temporary impasse.
"Quickly!" Naruto yelled at his teammates "Grab the scroll and run! Get it to either the Hokage or ANBU, I'll hold him off as long as I can!"
Shino nodded, grabbing the scroll and dashing directly for the Hokage's tower. Ino hesitated a second longer.
"Go!" Naruto yelled again. "You're exhausted, he'll target you first and won't hesitate to kill you!"
Ino bit her lower lip, but turned and ran all the same.
"Heh."
A sudden burst of strength launched Naruto backwards, flipping through the air as he launched one of his kunai at Mizuki's head. It was blocked easily and ricocheted into a tree.
"Clever, brat! By the time I've fought my way past you, they'll be more than halfway there... but you forgot one thing...Now I have no reason to let you live!"
Naruto flashed through a series of handseals before slashing his wrist wide open with a kunai, the blood spraying into the air and taking shape.
"Chishio Bunshin."
Mizuki spluttered, then actually had the gall to begin snickering at him.
"Chishio...? Blood Clone? Leave it to you to pick the most useless skill out of that scroll. A flesh and blood clone is useful, yes, but it can still die... and by sacrificing your own blood you weaken yourself considerably. Even with your rate of regeneration, I bet you're feeling a bit weak. Woozy? Lightheaded? You won't be able to fight in that condition."
Naruto fell to his knees, panting and scowling as Mizuki's words were revealed as the complete truth. Mizuki turned to leap into battle with the clone, missing the way Naruto's pants stopped and turned into a leer as he sank into the ground.
Elsewhere, Sarutobi tossed a cloth over his crystal ball, frowning. Plausible deniability. He knew what was going to happen next, but if anyone asked he could honestly deny seeing it happen. He noted that the timing was almost perfect, as the sound of Naruto's teammates running up the stairs began to echo around the room.
The clone matched Mizuki for a few minutes, but it wasn't long before he got a hit in. Its eyes widened as it slowly looked down to the kunai piercing his chest and back up to Mizuki. Then it ruptured, spraying blood out to cover several square feet of ground as it melted into the earth. Mizuki turned to finish off the origional...
Only he wasn't there.
Grim chuckles echoed out from around the training area, and the panicking Mizuki swirled around several times, trying to decipher where they came from.
"A Genjutsu? No... but wha-AARGH!"
Naruto's hand had emerged from the ground, driving a kunai through Mizuki's calf before he rose back out of the earth.
"B-bastard..."
Naruto's answer was a smirk, and he slowly began pacing towards Mizuki, who was scrabbling his way backwards throught the dirt.
"So... I was right... You really have become... like the she-monster..."
Naruto dispensed with words, lifting Mizuki up by his hair and sinking his fangs deep into his throat. Mizuki struggled lightly before letting loose a wet gurgle and falling still. Naruto gave his head a twist, tearing the flesh of his throat to disguise the fang marks, before pulling his teeth out and staring into the chunnins dead eyes.
"I... see. In death, you've told me everything I need to know. The motivation for your actions... it has been seared into my brain. For what it's worth... I forgive you."
As Naruto gently closed Mizuki's eyes, and whispered something into his dead ears, one could almost think the corpse bore an expression of... relief.
xxx
A.N.
What did Naruto whisper? You'll have to wonder about that...
Anyway, teams are decided, and since I just couldn't leave Naruto without some form of special clone, I made something that suited his vampiric nature a little better. Ah... the other techniques. Doku Shuriken is a small dart of extremely toxic chakra, fired from an extended fingertip. Shinteki Gigei translates roughly to 'mental arts', and Terekinishishu should be obvious.
No omake for this chapter, sorry.