Disclaimer: You should expect this by now, but I own none of this.

AN: Based on some of the reviews I've gotten, I've noticed that some people have misread part of this fic. Naruto does not have a Kekkai Genkai here. He has clan techniques instead, like the Yamanaka clan. I might have the River techniques escalate into a full-blown Kekkai Genkai later, due to the Kyuubi's influence. It's a good possibility, but I haven't decided yet. Like I said last chapter, I'm trying really hard not to make Naruto a genius or a god. I just want him to be better than he is in canon.

Just a heads-up. This chapter is about 75-80 percent flashback. I'm still working on mixing dialogue and narration. I can do one or the other, but not both just yet.

Also, I am making the assumption that everyone knows about Mizuki's 'make-up test', and the aftermath. As a result, I'm skipping most of it, with the exceptions of what happens that doesn't happen in canon.

Thank you. Now, on with the fic!

Rivers of Hades

Chapter 5

Naruto sat in a chair in the Hokage's office, in a stunned silence. He had just been through a life-changing night. Some of his questions about his life had been answered, but new ones had popped up to take their place.

The last two years had been relatively peaceful for him. After his performance at the assessment, the attacks on him had almost completely stopped. He still wasn't welcome in most places, but it was still an improvement. Since then, the most common physical assaults came from drunken villagers, who he could easily outrun.

The worst one had been during the Kyuubi festival after the assessment. A group of villagers and shinobi had gotten together, and broke into Naruto's apartment, intent on killing him. Naruto had been so terrified, he activated the second River technique, the Uzumaki Hijutsu: Yomi no Ookawa: Phlegethon, on sheer instinct. The resulting fire burned just about everything in his apartment. Naruto had survived relatively unharmed, but shaken up.

The Uzumaki scroll had also escaped, strangely undamaged. It had been hit directly by the jutsu, but showed absolutely no signs of it. The Sandaime guessed that somehow, the scroll was immune to the Uzumaki clan techniques, and possibly to most any damage, as a protection against the scroll being destroyed. He also guessed that somewhere within the scroll was either a jutsu or special seal that would destroy the scroll if needed. Beyond some clothes and supplies, not much else was recovered. The attackers also survived, but were badly burned. They were taken to the hospital for treatment, but were never heard from again.

Later, it was discovered that, with practice, Naruto could control what the jutsu burned. He could command the fire to burn only a specific target, leaving everything else untouched, or to burn everything but a chosen item or group of items. Sarutobi was aware of the possibilities for this. Naruto could set fire to a certain document in a group, burning it to ash, without harming the others, or create a fiery barrier, that only certain people could safely pass through. It was also confirmed that the River jutsu did require more effort to counter than their normal equivalent. The fire hadn't spread beyond Naruto's apartment, yet, in order to put the fire out, it required an amount of water that would have made more sense if the entire building had been on fire.

--

Following the investigation, Sarutobi found Naruto a better home. He was now under the care of Inu, or when he was off-duty, Kakashi. Sarutobi had gone through the Yondaime's instructions for Naruto, and found he had misread part of it. Naruto still couldn't be adopted by anyone, but there were three people Yondaime trusted to take Naruto in, if need be. Sarutobi himself was one, Kakashi the second, and Minato's sensei, Jiraiya, was the third. He apologized profusely to Naruto for what had happened. Naruto didn't care, he was just happy to have some idea of what family life was like, even if it was just with someone who had become an older brother figure to him.

Living with Kakashi, Naruto learned about the implanted Sharingan. This prompted the two of them to test out Kushina's theory on how to defeat it. Experimenting revealed that the Sharingan's ability to see chakra did take precedence over the ability to copy jutsu, at least with Kakashi's eye. With some minor adjustments to her original ideas, Naruto was able to prevent Kakashi from seeing what jutsu he was about to perform. Basically, Naruto had to channel extra chakra to his hands, but not use it in the jutsu. This would blind the Sharingan as to what was happening. However, Kakashi did warn Naruto that it was possible that a real Uchiha could somehow counteract this weak spot, as they would have better control over their Sharingan than he did.

Since the fire, Naruto's wardrobe had changed drastically. Most of his old orange jumpsuits had burned. Of course, he hadn't worn any of them in some time, but had kept them since no one else would want them. Sarutobi had done as he said and ordered several sets of shinobi clothing in Naruto's size. His new normal clothing made him look like a chuunin, but without the vest. Now, the only orange on him were two stripes on the inside of his sleeves, since he still wanted some orange in his clothing. Sarutobi and Kakashi also convinced him to buy some casual and formal clothes as well, for occasions were a combat uniform was inappropriate.

--

Naruto's experience at the academy had also improved slightly. His book grades were still awful, but were better than they had been. They had gone up first when Naruto moved in with Kakashi, and again when Iruka became Naruto's normal teacher.

He had spent more time around Hinata, and it showed. She still blushed and fainted when he was near, but now he normally had to make an effort to get her to do so. Of course, he still managed to make her blush and faint without meaning to. The stutter was still there, but had also lessened greatly. Naruto still wasn't sure how he felt about her, although she was pretty cute, and he enjoyed her gentle, shy, and quiet personality. Hinata still wasn't aware that she had 'confessed' to Naruto, but was loving the fact that her crush was actually paying attention to her. Sakura seemed blissfully unaware of the change in Naruto's attention, although everyone else in the class was wondering what had happened.

The kicker had come on the day of the genin graduation exam. With the exception of the written exam, Naruto had passed all the parts of the test. He had gotten a good laugh during the jutsu portion on the test. It had been the dreaded Bunshin, which he still couldn't do. However, he had managed to keep the fact that he knew an advanced Bunshin jutsu a secret the entire time, as a trump card. As he was headed down to take his turn, Sasuke-teme had started insulting him. In retaliation, Naruto created two Tsuchi Bunshin outside, which entered the academy and then entered the classroom, walked over to the Uchiha. One held him down, while the other gave him a wedgie. Both then dispelled themselves, pouring mud onto the Uchiha.

The reactions of his classmates were mixed. At first, there was stunned silence, then the noise level rose dramatically. With the exception of Hinata, every girl in the room wanted Naruto dead. However, the other boys, except for Sasuke-teme, had broken out into laughter. Shino was the other exception, though those sitting near him swore they had heard him chuckle. Kiba began bowing down to Naruto, laughing while chanting, 'I'm not worthy'.

Having heard the noise, both Iruka and Mizuki had come into the classroom, to see the Rookie of the Year covered in mud, glaring at Naruto. After they figured out what had happened, they asked where he had learned such a jutsu. Naruto simply replied that he had a private tutor. Iruka promptly passed Naruto on the jutsu portion, and gave Naruto his new hitai-ate. Mizuki sent Sasuke home to shower and change.

--

Afterwards, as Naruto was leaving, Mizuki had approached him, and asked to speak with him in private. When they were alone, Mizuki said that despite passing the practical exams, and earning the headband, Naruto's poor score on the written test meant that he would have to stay in the academy another year. Unless, he managed to pass a certain make-up test...

Something about the test rubbed Naruto the wrong way, and he decided to ignore Mizuki's warning about not telling anyone, and talk to Kakashi. After hearing Naruto's story, the two of them went to see the Hokage. Naruto then retold his story to both Sarutobi and Iruka, who had been summoned by Sarutobi to give some information on Naruto's exam results. Iruka stated that if Naruto's overall score had not been high enough to pass, he would never have been given a hitai-ate. That statement cemented Mizuki's status as a traitor.

A plan was then hatched to catch Mizuki in the act. Naruto would be given the Forbidden Scroll, with a hidden seal that would destroy the scroll if it was separated from Naruto by a distance of more than twenty feet. It had to be the original, in the unlikely event Mizuki knew what jutsu would be inside. Beyond that, everyone would act as they normally would, from the Hokage alerting all active shinobi to the scroll's 'theft', to Iruka trying to track Naruto down. The main difference would be that both Iruka and Kakashi would know exactly where to go, and the Sandaime would be watching from his crystal ball.

It had gone off flawlessly. Naruto arrived early, and acting as he had been told to, began to sit down and try to learn a jutsu from the scroll. He chose Kage Bunshin to learn tonight, and quickly took notes on some of the others listed, ignoring the jutsu listed as needing high chakra control or being part of some really complex jutsu.

Mizuki had shown up as planned, and things went to hell from there. Despite both Iruka and Kakashi being there, Mizuki managed to evade capture long enough to break the law concerning Naruto. After hearing that, Naruto was stunned. He knew why he was hated, the explanation for everything that had happened to him. Iruka and Kakashi, who had gotten hold of Mizuki, and the Sandaime, who was watching the entire time, were very nervous. This was a crucial moment for Naruto and the entire village. Depending of what happened next, Naruto could either rise above everything that had happened, or become the demon the villagers thought he was.

While Naruto's thoughts were running in circles, Mizuki got in a blow on Iruka, trying to break free. The cry of pain shook Naruto out of his personal problems. He saw what was going on, and his eyes flashed red for a second, before returning to their normal blue. Once Naruto roared "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu", Mizuki instantly lost, after he stopped to stare at the small army of clones that had been produced. Kakashi seized the opportunity, knocking the traitor out cold.

--

After turning in Mizuki to the ANBU at the Hokage Tower, the three ninja entered the Hokage's office for a debriefing they wouldn't soon forget. Surprisingly to the three older men, Naruto took the revelation about the Kyuubi in stride, or at least better than they thought he would. His only question on the subject had been to ask why he had been chosen. Choosing his words carefully, not wanting to reveal the other half of Naruto's lineage to both Naruto and Iruka, Sarutobi told him that the sealing needed a newborn, and Naruto was the only child born that day. If Naruto hadn't been used, the village would have been destroyed.

Faced with that reasoning, Naruto grudgingly accepted what had been done, for the moment. He knew that except for letting him vent, it would do no good to complain about what had already been done, and would only make him look and sound like a little child in front of three of the most important people in his life. After he returned the Scroll, the meeting became a more typical of a debriefing. It was decided that this would be ranked as an A-rank mission, and would be listed in all three of their files as a success, with an appropriate reward.

While an A-rank mission wasn't unusual for Kakashi/Inu, it would look very good for Iruka, who had spent the last few years teaching full-time at the academy, something which normally caused one's skills to atrophy. Naruto's reputation as a new shinobi could also benefit, given how rare it was for someone with so little combat experience to survive an A-rank mission, let alone make a significant contribution to its success.

--

Naruto felt a tap on the shoulder, breaking him from his thoughts. It was the Hokage, with Kakashi and a bandaged Iruka still sitting, looking worried.

"Naruto-kun, are you all right?"

"Y-Yeah. Sorry for worrying you guys. It's just, it's a lot to take in at once, you know?"

"I understand. Why don't you go go home and get some rest? I'm sure you could use it."

"Yeah, I guess so. But, oji-san, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"When I used Kage Bunshin, and the clones dispelled, I felt this weird rush in my head. It kind of hurt. What happened?"

"Ah. Well, you see, Kage Bunshin is a multi-purpose jutsu. Used in training, the clones can work on chakra control and reserves, weapon skills, and jutsu, and when they dispel, you gain all the progress they made. The catch is, physical attributes, like stamina, can't be increased using this method. The original needs to do that personally. In combat, the clones have the ability to mold chakra and use jutsu. They just don't have the full extent of your reserves or control. It is also a useful scouting jutsu, because anything they learn is absorbed by you when they dispel. Your 'weird rush' was you absorbing that information from all your clones."

"Oh." After a second, Naruto began to process the explanation, and began to arrive at a conclusion. (And we all know what it is.) "So why don't you use them to help with your paperwork?"

Sarutobi blinked. "The clones don't last very long, even if they aren't in a fight. It would work, but I would have to create a new one every few hours."

"Okay, but even if you only create one clone, and split your paperwork with it, you'd be done twice as fast, right?"

Sarutobi stood there for a few seconds. Then his eye began to twitch, and finally he put his head in his hands. "I don't believe this. I've known that jutsu for over forty years. I'm the 'Professor' of jutsu, and yet a twelve-year-old genin, who hasn't even been out of the academy a full day, sees a use for it I've overlooked. I'm too old for this shit."

Naruto sprouted a grin that was threatening to rip his face apart. "Hey oji-san, remember that promise you made me when you gave me my mom's clan scroll? I think I just held up my end of the deal."

That got a chuckle, followed by a full peal of laughter from the Hokage. "That you did, Naruto-kun. That you did."

Seeing the curious looks from Kakashi and Iruka, Sarutobi said, "Two years ago, I gave Naruto-kun his mother's clan scroll. During that, I told him, completely serious, that if he could find a way for me to defeat the seemingly invincible enemy known as paperwork, I would personally train him. Naruto-kun has held up his end of the deal, so I will hold up mine."

Iruka's jaw was on the floor, so Kakashi spoke for both of them.

"Hokage-sama! No offense, but how could you promise something like that?"

"Why not? If he found a way to do so, I would be free to train him. As it stands, I'll not only be able to do my job here and train Naruto, I can spend time with my family. I might even be able to sleep at night, for once."

Now Iruka spoke up.

"Okay, Hokage-sama, but with Naruto becoming your only student, that leaves us with an unbalanced number of students."

"Hmm... Good point. Who would be the next in line to become a genin?"

"A boy named Sai, Hokage-sama. He joined the class about two weeks ago, so his grades are rather low in comparison."

"Odd. I don't remember giving permission for someone to join your class. I wouldn't have done it anyway, so close to the graduation exam, not without a valid reason. Well, tell him he passed."

"Yes sir, Hokage-sama."

"Well then, I believe that about does it for now. If anything comes up, I'll let you know. Good night."

-- -

AN: Okay, for those of you wondering why Kakashi didn't make mincemeat out of Mizuki, here's my explanation. Kakashi and Iruka were supposed to bring back Mizuki alive if possible, killing him only as a last resort. That limits what Kakashi and Iruka can do, while Mizuki is fighting to kill. A good example is Sasuke and Naruto at the Valley of the End. The way I see it, which seems to be the general consensus, Sasuke was fighting to kill, while Naruto was fighting to capture, holding himself back in the process. True, Sasuke and Naruto are closer in overall ability than Kakashi and Mizuki, but my point was that if you aren't trying to kill the other person, and they're trying to kill you, you're at a disadvantage, normally.

Next time: New Training, and an Important Mission

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Uzumaki Hijutsu: Yomi no Ookawa: Phlegethon -- Uzumaki Secret Technique: River of Hell: Phlegethon