Chapter 2
Naruto stepped out of the academy with his dull red hitai-ate tied around his waist like a belt, the symbol of the Hidden Leaf shining brightly in the sunlight. Though he didn't show it, he was happy that he had passed. More due to the fact that Kurama had promised to teach him a new ability if he did so, not that he was going to fail in the first place.
He was so distracted by the idea of a new ability that he almost walked into the Third Hokage. Naruto blinked and looked up at the old man. Sarutobi Hiruzen looked down at the young Jinchuuriki with a smile, recognizing the hidden sparkle in the boy's eyes as the pride of success.
"How did it go, Naruto?" Sarutobi asked through his wooden pipe.
Naruto motioned towards the hitai-ate around his waist. He flicked the metal portion with an index finger, making it emit a dull ring in the afternoon air.
Sarutobi smiled down at the impassive child and asked, "In honor of your success, how about I treat you to some ramen?"
Naruto's face brightened considerably at that. Ramen, and those that he respected, were the only things that could bring Naruto out of his blank shell. With a nod, Naruto followed the old man, his mask back in place.
The two of them took a seat at the front counter of Ichiraku Ramen. Ayame, who was manning the cash register, smiled at them.
"Hey, Naruto, Hokage-sama. The usual?" She asked sweetly.
They nodded. Ayame nodded back and went to the kitchen to tell her father, Teuchi, to get their orders cooked up. Several minutes and idle conversation later, they were eating their usual dishes: Miso Ramen for Naruto and Hijiki Ramen for Sarutobi.
After swallowing a bite, Sarutobi asked Naruto, "I heard from the ninjutsu proctor that you used a particularly powerful jutsu." He gauged the slight tensing of Naruto's muscles. "Now now, you're not in trouble." The muscles relaxed.
Emotionless, thanks to the Kyuubi, or not, Sarutobi thought. Naruto is still just a child. And like a child, he hates getting in trouble.
Sarutobi shrugged and said, "I brought it up because I was curious as to where you learned it. I recognized, from he told me, as it being Kage Bunshin, a more advanced and dangerous version of the regular Bunshin. Do you know why it is so, Naruto?"
The young ninja replied instantly.
"It's because it cuts the chakra reserves of the user by the number of clones he or she is trying to create, making them more powerful. For most, it is extremely difficult to make even a single Kage Bunshin, as the sudden depletion of charka would render the user unconscious, or worse. On the upside, when they are dispelled by any means, their memories are sent to the original, making the Kage Bunshin Jutsu an excellent ninjutsu to use for scouting and infiltration."
Sarutobi nodded along with Naruto's explanation of the jutsu. He added his own penny to the conversation.
"That downside is the very reason why it was made a forbidden jutsu, Naruto." Muscles tensed again. "I know for a fact that the only available copy of the jutsu is in my office, underneath a series of seals so complex that even the Fourth would have had to be careful during the process of retrieving it."
Sarutobi leaned forward slightly; his right hand on his pipe as he took a puff.
"Answer me honestly, Uzumaki Naruto. How did you learn the jutsu?"
The older man tried to make his presence seem kind and honest to calm Naruto. All that the younger ninja did, however, was stand up and pay for his meal. He unblinkingly gazed at the Hokage and muttered softly, as not to be overheard,
"My furry prisoner found out about my chakra control problem and helped. That's all."
Without another word being spoken between the two, Naruto left Ichiraku's…
…almost.
A member of the ANBU, this one wearing an Ox mask, suddenly appeared between Naruto and Sarutobi.
"Hokage-sama!"
Sarutobi turned to look at Ox.
"Hmm?"
"The forbidden scroll has been stolen!"
The Hokage's prized pipe fell out of his mouth and landed on the floor, spilling the tobacco inside of it everywhere. The old man was all business in under a second, a small amount of KI leaking out.
"Put the whole village on lockdown. No one comes in or goes out. Those that try will be held for interrogation under Ibiki. I want every ninja available searching every square inch of Konoha!"
"Hai!" Ox exclaimed as he shunshinned out of sight.
"Hokage-sama."
"Yes, Naruto?" Sarutobi looked at the soon-to-be-Genin.
"If I find the one responsible, I can't promise that there will be a body once I'm through."
The Hokage sighed and said, "If you do manage to find the culprit, find out what you can before you add him to your 'collection'. And Naruto…"
"Yes, Hokage?"
"I'm giving you permission to go Feral if need be."
Naruto suddenly grinned maliciously, a homicidal gleam in his eyes as he turned around and took off running.
~~~(((0)))~~~
Naruto took in the scents that surrounded him, and smelled nothing but wood, dirt, leaves, and…
…blood…
The now slightly homicidal Jinchuuriki took in as much of the blood scent as he could before he ran towards the origin of the delicious odor. Leaping from branch to branch, the young blonde was busy talking with his 'prisoner'.
Ahh! The scent of blood! It truly gets you going!
Humph! I don't care what the blood smells like, all that I care about is finding my next kill!
Naruto stopped on a higher branch when he felt two charka signatures just below him. As luck would have it, the scent of blood was strongest where the two unknown ninja were at. Channeling chakra to his feet, Naruto walked down the side of the tree until he could hear what was being said.
"…ou take the Forbidden Scroll, Mizuki?!"
Mizuki laughed and said, "Because I refuse to live in a village that willingly lets a damn demon roam the streets. So, I figured I would leave with a little memento to remember Konoha by, you know, for the oh so wonderful memories!"
So, Iruka found Mizuki, who is the thief, first eh? Let's just hope Iruka gets knocked out or something, because as much as he likes me, I won't be able to guarantee his continued existence once I go after Mizuki.
After several more minutes of bickering, Naruto decided enough was enough and dropped down from his hiding spot, landing on one knee. The two Chuunin stopped yelling at each other to stare at him.
"Naruto!" Iruka yelled, "Mizuki stole the scroll! We've got to stop him!"
Naruto gauged Iruka's injuries. The academy sensei had a couple of kunai sticking out of him, along with a black eye and a large gash that went from his left shoulder down to the elbow. Mizuki, on the hand, seemed no worse for wear.
"I know." He said.
Naruto crossed his arms as the steel lid from his main container fell to the dewy ground with a dull thud. Mizuki took a few steps back, knowing all too well of the Jinchuuriki's special ability.
Taking a chance against fate, Mizuki threw one of his fuuma shuriken and several kunai and normal shuriken at the cross-armed blonde. The automatic fires sprung outwards and burned the weapons to ash, adding them to their user's collection, making the fire go from a simple blaze to a raging inferno from the added kindling.
"Give me the truth, Mizuki." Naruto said with his eyes closed. "Why?"
The white-haired traitor started chuckling, which quickly turned into an all out laugh.
"It's because of you, Uzumaki Naruto! Do you want to know why?"
Iruka's face went from pain to panic faster than anyone could blink.
"NO DON'T! IT'S FORBIDDEN!" He screamed.
"What is?" Naruto asked softly, an imperceptible smirk on his face.
"It's because of something that happened on October 10th, over a decade ago, on the night of your birth." Mizuki ignored Iruka's screams for him to stop. "The Fourth Hokage, a master of sealing jutsu, defeated the Kyuubi no Yoko by trapping him inside an infant." Taking Naruto's silence as shock, he continued. "He trapped it inside of you! YOU ARE THE NINE-TAILED FOX, NARUTO!"
Whatever Mizuki was expecting, a snarl wasn't it. Naruto snapped his eyes open, the irises had changed from their original cerulean blue to a blood red. The pupils slitted.
"I know!"
Naruto disappeared, and reappeared behind Mizuki, the overly-large Forbidden Scroll in his hands. His flames swept over Mizuki like a wave, not giving him any time to scream as the fire licked the flesh off of his bones, melted his eyes, and turned his brain into a burnt crisp. The fire, once it was done soaking up its' latest addition, turned white hot as it absorbed Mizuki's blood. After several minutes of complete silence, the flames died down and went back into the container in ash form, the tiniest scraps of bone could still be seen smoking from the searing heat, blackened from just being in the presence of the demon fire.
Naruto closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were back to their normal color, cold as ever. His bloodlust sated, Naruto turned to the still form of Iruka, who had passed out during the process of Naruto collecting the traitor, and blinked.
"There is a reason why I am called the Demon Inferno of Konoha." Naruto spoke to the empty air. "Remember it well, for it shall instill fear into every heart and mind of the Five Ninja Nations."
There was a rustling of tree branches as two squads of ANBU in full combat gear entered the scene, the Hokage at the front, also in full combat gear. The old man took a look at the scene before him and sighed.
"Naruto, report." He ordered.
Naruto's head snapped to the Hokage's direction.
He said, "Mizuki was the traitor. He said that he would rather be a missing-nin than live in the same village as me. I wasn't able to glean information as to why he took the scroll in the first place because he attacked me before I could ask. It proved futile as he is now sleeping with my ashes."
The Hokage sighed once more. He held out his hand and said, "The scroll, Naruto."
The fire master tossed the scroll single-handedly at the Hokage, who caught it in the same manner. With the scroll firmly, horizontally attached to his back, he ordered Elk to take Iruka to the hospital, and for the rest to pass the word to lift the lockdown, but to keep any possible civilians or ninja under interrogation for the possibility of aiding a traitor.
Better to be safe than sorry, right?
~~~(((0)))~~~
In the Hokage's office, Sarutobi was finishing up the paperwork when a thought struck him.
"Did you have to go Feral on him, Naruto?" He asked, concern in his eyes.
To his relief, Naruto shook his head and said, "Mizuki wasn't stronger than me, not by a long shot. It has recently taken a high-Chuunin to low-Jounin, minimum, to make me go Feral, and Mizuki wasn't even at mid-Chuunin. A bit sad really."
Sarutobi nodded his head in acceptance and went back to reviewing papers. A couple of hours had past when Naruto asked a question that the old man had been wondering himself.
"Who could have possibly managed to trick Mizuki into stealing the scroll?"
The old man shook his head and said, "None of the people that were held for questioning were in allegiance with him. They were all just impatient people trying to go about their lives."
Naruto grunted, then asked, "With Iruka in the hospital, Mizuki dead, and the other sensei busy with the younger students, who will be reading off the team lists to the graduating class?"
Lord Third smiled and said, "That would be yours truly, Naruto. I'll be at the academy at 10 o'clock sharp to read the lists in a week. You can take this time to do what you normally do."
Naruto stood up, bowed, and then left to head back to his rundown apartment and take a nap, wanting to learn the new ability from Kurama.
~~~(((0)))~~~
"Kit, turn your mindscape into a battleground with the Nanabi flying around."
Naruto did so. Scorched earth and dead bodies were everywhere, and the Seven-Tails was hovering in the air. Kurama opened his maw wide. An extremely large ball of demonic chakra, even when placed next to the Nine-Tails, formed in front of him. It was deep red with a glowing center.
"Tailed-Beast Bomb!"
The sphere launched into the sky and smashed into the Nanabi. When it hit, there was a blinding light and a giant explosion that kicked up dust for miles. When the dust at ground zero settled, there was nothing but a large crater with a smoking Nanabi at the bottom.
Kurama turned to Naruto and said, "I am going to teach you how to do this technique by forming it in the palm of your hand. By itself it is devastating. But, coupled with your Kage Bunshin, no mortal will be able to stand in your way. This is how to do it…"
The red Kitsune spent the rest of the night teaching Naruto, and his thousand shadow clones, on how to use it. It turns out that a mix of Wind and Fire chakra was needed to use the technique. Naruto already had a Wind chakra affinity, and his automatic flames dealt with the rest. By the time the sun was rising, Naruto had it down like a master. Before waking up, he decided to test it out on a dummy Kurama.
Smoke surrounded Naruto as fifty shadow clones got in close, distracting the fake Kitsune. The real Naruto had a single ball formed in his hands, but landed on the dummy's raised tails on his feet, his fingers in his signature handsign. Over two thousand shadow clones appeared, high in the air, each with two balls in their hands. They all opened their mouths and yelled,
"Beast Bomb Barrage!"
The dummy Kurama stood no chance, as it disappeared in a puff of black smog. The real Naruto stood on top of a pile of ashes, his arms crossed, without a single glimpse as to what he was feeling. He bid Kurama a good day and woke up.
~~~(((0)))~~~
The week seemed to pass quickly for Naruto, as he had stuck to his word and killed the next person that tried to take his smaller ash containers. Most of the Genin were thanking him for getting rid of the Daimyo's Wife's cat. He visited Tenten again to get another set of ash containers and the largest set of chakra weights they had in stock. When Naruto left he, as he always did, multiplied their intended weight by twenty.
He entered the nearly empty classroom for the last time at precisely 9:45 a.m. He sat in his usual spot at the back of the class., with Sasuke and Shino doing as they always did. Kiba was, surprisingly, the next one to enter the room.
The Inuzuka heir took a quick whiff of the room and started when he picked up the old scent of blood from the Jinchuuriki. Akamaru let in a few careful scents and whimpered when he received Naruto's. Kiba casted a worried glance at Akamaru before sharing a few quiet words with his canine companion. Kiba suddenly looked Naruto dead in the eyes, who willingly stared back.
It became a stare-down between the two alphas that didn't go impeded by those that knew better. The two males had been staring at each other for fifteen minutes when Sarutobi walked in, even then they didn't let up. The Hokage, knowing that they would just get mad at him, didn't interfere.
The position-making stare-down lasted for about an hour when Kiba suddenly looked down in defeat. He gave Naruto a deep bow of respect before sitting in his seat next to Shino, the scent of lost pride around him. Akamaru gave his friend a quick lick on the cheek, trying to cheer him up. Kiba gave a small smile, but it turned into a curious frown as he turned to face the Hokage.
Sarutobi cleared his throat and said, "Now that the clan business is over with, I will announce the new Genin teams. Normally, it would be Mizuki- or Iruka-sensei that would give you your team placement, but due to events that were out of our control I will be the one that does it."
Teams 1-6 don't matter… I hope.
"Team 7, led by Hatake Kakashi, is Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and…"
~~~~~(((0)))~~~~~
Shorter chapter I know, but I need to end the current tie between two of the choices. So, by the time you're reading this, there should be a new poll up with only two team options, and three pairing options, as a reviewer sighted a possible NaruTen pairing. (I'm honestly partial to NaruIno, as that pairing can be downright adorable when done correctly.) So vote on what you want!
Up next, Naruto goes Feral!