Naruto: Alone...
Hey there folks, Arganaut here with the latest installment of Naruto: Alone. Anyway, last chapter… all I have to say is this, that you all are pretty easily excitable. I know that what happened to Naruto was depressing and all… but people, IT'S A STORY. I mean, I'm happy that you're all into my story, it makes me feel good as an author, but some of you started spouting curses about humanity!
I mean, and this is coming from me, that's sounds like someone who needs to go to the looney bin for a couple days. Seriously people, I love that you guys are so into my story… but chillax a little bit! Anyway, got a lot of reviews last chapter… and like I said a lot of them were just curses to Konoha, and humanity in general. Anyway… time to sort through all the crazy:
Ninja Wolf 25- Alright then, name one time you've ever heard that happening in real life, name one time.
MissNaye- Hey, they're simply acting out of fear of him. And, you're right, at least he still has those four.
Dragon Man 180- He's going to be a bit clever when it comes to getting away from the mobs… but now he has the Sasuke UCHIHA Fan Club to worry about… poor soul.
Pryo-chan the dragon king- Call it a hunch.
AustIn- Well then, if the Third can't change the opinion of the people, then why bother?
Wolvknight- ….. Yeah… (backing away slowly from the crazy fan).
Vnvanman- …. Ummm… security, we have a crazy person here… he needs his medicine as soon as possible.
The Great Rick- Well he's not God, he can't see everything that goes on.
VFSNAKE- That logic would be true in the real world, but unfortunately this is not the real world, this is a world filled with ninja, and besides if there were no witnesses to a 'crime' Sarutobi can't do much about it.
MischievousPuck- Just wait and see.
Zoneshifter D- Thank you… thank you for being a voice of reason among all of this madness!
Canis Black- I've sent you an e-mail with details on how I feel, read it.
Gryphon Turboclaw- Well now, here's someone who gets what I write, very good fella, I'll be keeping an eye on you.
FictionReader98- Yes indeed, I think Naruto will indeed learn a few valuable lessons from that trial… and I hope he learns more in this chapter. That's why I put that in there, I knew that there would be a sense of irony, so I went for it, good job noticing it. Ouch indeed, at least he still has some help. And about the clan… you'll find out later.
Alright then, now that the reviews are out of the way… I'm almost afraid to start this chapter. I'm afraid that you all will once again erupt and begin spewing molten crazy all over me! Oh well, the story must go on. So here's the next chapter of Naruto: Alone!!!
Chapter 11: Substitution Jutsu and The First Try
Konoha - Three Years Later
We fade in to see Konoha, three years later after the Uchiha clan incident. No one has forgotten the dreary near-extinction of the Uchiha clan… and the rumor that Naruto Uzumaki was a part of the massacre, though still as strong as it was three years ago, had not stayed the gossip on everyone's lips. It was still a deep part of people's opinion on the Street Fox of Konoha… but it was not as frequently talked about.
Speaking of our favorite blond ninja… well things have, depending on how you look at it, neither improved nor worsened. For example, Naruto now has to keep a constant transformation on him when he walks the Street. Now then, some would say that his life had taken a turn for the worse because of this. However, since he used a transformation quite often in the first place, some could say that it didn't really change at all.
However, even with the transformation jutsu on, there was still a strong chance of Naruto getting caught. Ninja who were walking the street would commonly check any random person in the street who looked rather inconsistent (or if Naruto's transformation was rather poor at the moment). In that sense Naruto's life has definitely taken a turn for the worse, no way you could look at it as a positive.
But, it was a very rare occurrence for Naruto's transformation to be caught nowadays. After spending so much time around the streets of Konoha, he has learnt two things. Those two things were that people with tan skin in Konoha were a rare occurrence (let's face it, there was a ton of pale people in Konoha), and that walking with his back straight when he's an old man is suspicious. So… he avoided such mistakes.
Now then, this is not to say that all of problems came from just the citizens of Konoha thanks to the rumor spread three years ago. You see, six months after the rumor, Sasuke Uchiha began acting arrogant, sarcastic, and silent… which drove many of the females in his class wild. As such, they formed a group called the 'Sasuke Uchiha Fan Club'. Now, this club had two goals. The first was to get Sasuke to date one of the members, of course.
The second reason? Well… to hunt down and destroy the people who were involved with the Uchiha massacre… which of course created problems around the Academy for Naruto. But, fortunately for him, the girl's in the club were so ill-trained that they could not catch him, and even when they would, their punches aren't too bad… at all (in fact, to Naruto, the worse they've done to him was knock his food out of his hand during lunch at the Academy).
Now then, speaking of the Academy… Naruto was doing… well okay. His strive to become a ninja, and lead a better life, was still very strong, so he worked as hard as he could. Though he still couldn't beat Sasuke in a Taijutsu fight, he was able to outrun him during the laps around the Academy field. He wasn't too smart, but he definitely wasn't the worst either. Yet… he still could not do the Replacement Jutsu, or the Clone Jutsu.
Now then, time to get to the present. We currently see an elderly man, with white hair, and practically no teeth, going down the street, using a cane to help him walk. As he walked many citizens of Konoha greeted the old man with kindness. The old man, in return, did the same… though whenever a kid would run in front of him, he would shout at them about running too fast and then complain about how they dressed, calling them 'whipper-snappers'.
He was walking towards the Academy, many assumed that he was going to complain about an Academy student skinning his cat, or something. Though, when he was in front of the fence, he fell asleep. The people passed by, simply thinking that the old geezer was a narc. However, when there was no one in the streets, the old man's eyes shot open as he stood up straight. The old man looked around in each direction, before forming the ram seal.
"Release." The old man said in a very old, very tired voice, as suddenly a plume of smoke enveloped him, and the entire area around him. Then, suddenly, as the plume of smoke disappeared, we find that the old man that was standing there had been replaced with our favorite young, blonde aspiring to-be-ninja. Naruto smirked as he took his hands out of the ram seal, and cracked his neck. "Too easy." Naruto muttered as he rolled his shoulder.
Yes, Naruto Uzumaki has slowly but surely gotten to exactly where he needed to be. However, to think that the boy had only grown in skill would be mistaken. Naruto was now a few inches taller, and was actually one of the taller people in the class (thanks to the lack of ramen, and input of actual meat, and plants, he's not longer the poor midget). He has no visible muscles, but to think him weak would be a slight mistake.
While he's not super-strong, he isn't amazingly weak either. The clothes he currently wore were the same ones as a few years back. They were worn out, but not in terrible condition. His shirts and pants were slightly tight, but his jackets were still fitting him well, only his shoes were new. Now then, he was currently wearing his black get up, jacket and all. Naruto sighed and walked into the Academy yard…
"NARUTO UZUMAKI!" He heard as soon as he entered. Naruto froze in place and sweat started coming out of his pores.
'Uh oh.' Naruto thought as he looked up. Yes it was the Sasuke Uchiha Fan Club…Naruto Uzumaki's worst pain in the ass. Now, there were only two members that Naruto was overly concerned about, and they were the most prominent ones. They were Ino Yamanaka, and Sakura Haruno. These two were the ones who were by far the biggest thorns in Naruto's side. Sakura was currently wearing a red dress, with little white designs on it, with black shorts under it.
She also wore her signature red ribbon on her head. Ino Yamanaka, however, was wearing a purple top and skirt… nothing else other than sandals. Now, Naruto had actually been caught by her father… and he actually talked with the guy he seemed like a calm, yet stern guy… how in God's name she talks him into letting her wear that was beyond Naruto. Anyway, they were both glaring him down, ready to kill the poor kid… until three people jumped in front of Naruto.
"BACK OFF!" The female of the three shouted as the Sasuke Uchiha Fan Club froze in place, and then backed off, heading towards a different section of the Academy yard. Naruto smirked as the three turned around… and revealed three of the four remaining members of the 'Street Fox Fan Club'. Ever since the formation of the Sasuke Uchiha Fan Club, the two clubs have been at 'war' with each other.
Now then, the SUFC used the fact that Sasuke beats Naruto in every single fight at the Academy to prove Sasuke's superiority. However, the SFFC defended with the fact that if Naruto ever caught Sasuke in the forest while he had three kunai and a shuriken, he'd be toast. And any time that the member's of Sasuke's club would attack Naruto… the members of Naruto's club would deflect them.
These members were Neji, Tenten, and Lee… and Hinata did for a while… before Naruto just couldn't find her anymore. Anyway, the reason Sasuke's club was so terrified of the three visible members of Naruto's club is… well because they were a year older, and one was a Hyuga. Anyway, the three years had… moderately changed the three. Neji began wearing attire more appropriate for a member of the Branch house. Lee had cut off his ponytail, and now adopted a shorter hairstyle, the hair spiking out in the back a bit. He also wore a gi-like outfit, short-sleeved.
Tenten, well she put buns in her hair now, and wore… well a foreign selection of clothes as far as Naruto' could tell. Anyway, the blonde's smirk quickly turned into a serious look as he looked over the three. "Good job men… and woman. You have deflected another attack from the Sasuke Uchiha Fan Club, and I am very proud!" Naruto said as the three quickly saluted him.
"Street Fox, thank you Street Fox!" They said, Lee and Tenten trying to stifle laughs as Neji, being the silent guy he was, just smirked.
Naruto smiled as they all calmed down. Naruto then looked at Neji and raised an eyebrow. "So, where'd Hinata go, she has not deflected an attack for sometime now… has she switched sides?" Naruto asked as Neji just shrugged.
"I'm not sure, it's like whenever she gets here she disappears faster than a picture of Sasuke Uchiha in the Academy…" Neji said as they all chuckled… well what Neji said wasn't entirely true. He had actually used his eyes for this… strange occurrence. Why? Well, for a time, he honestly didn't know where Hinata went. So one day he decided to use the Byakugan… and found Hinata just following Naruto.
He knew this was a very unhealthy habit… but it was fun to watch her squirm sometimes. Now, he knew that was even unhealthier, but imagine seeing your cousin jump every single time Naruto would look in her direction. Unhealthy, like he said, yes. Funny… yes. So Neji just remained quiet as Naruto tapped his chin. "Weird… oh well, she'll show up eventually." Naruto said as the rest just shrugged with him.
The bell rang for the beginning of the classes for today. Naruto and the visible members of the SFFC nodded at each other and walked off into the Academy, where classes would begin for today… and where Naruto could finally practice, learn, and train without the threat of being attacked. At any rate, once inside his own classroom, Naruto quickly took his seat. Naruto's seat was moved to a more remote location… since nowadays almost any student he sat next to he'd cause trouble with.
Anyway, Iruka and Mizuki walked into the room, shortly after Naruto got in. Naruto was never really late, because, in all honesty, he did not have much he had to do. Naruto sat down in his chair and began waiting for the lesson to begin. He didn't even notice that Iruka was sending glances towards his direction. Now, Iruka had been as fair as a teacher as he could be, often times keeping Mizuki from doing something stupid.
Still, that doesn't mean Iruka liked the fox-boy, oh no, but he had a duty, and that duty was to teach each child that came into the Academy… even if it was one that killed his parents. Iruka sighed as he thought of his plan for today. It was closing in on the Genin Exams. Now then, this years students did not have to take the test… however if they felt like it, they could take it early, and graduate early.
Now then, Iruka could only feel overjoyed with the idea of being able to get Naruto out of the Academy, and out of his hair earlier than he had to. And also, he knew, for a fact, that it was going to be the Substitution Jutsu that they were going to be tested on. Now, Iruka had to really think of what he was going to do. He could either go against his views and give a special lesson to Naruto, or he could put up with him for two more years.
In the end, Iruka decided that it would be better for not only him, but the children around Naruto, for the blonde troublemaker to get out of the Academy. It would benefit the students, because they would no longer be distracted by Naruto, and it would be better for him… because he wouldn't be distracted by Naruto. The academy teacher decided that he would wait until the end of the day for him to talk to Naruto. Iruka sighed as he continued to take the role of instructor for the day.
The End Of The Day
The bell rang for the end of the school day. Many of the Academy Students began packing up so they could leave. Just as Naruto was about to leave, Iruka grabbed the Street Fox by the shoulder and kept him from getting out of there like everyone else was. "Uzumaki, please stay here, I believe we need to speak." Iruka said as Naruto gulped.
'What did I do!?" Naruto thought as he sat down at Iruka's desk. Naruto sat there, twitching for several minutes as he kept on thinking about what was going to happen to him. 'Is he going to get me for stealing from the shoe store?' Naruto thought as he began chewing his fingernails. 'I mean, who could have told him… I BET IT WAS NEJI!' Naruto thought as he gritted his teeth together. 'I always thought that bastard looked suspicious…' Naruto thought until he began thinking more.
'Or… maybe it was Tenten… THAT SLUT!' Naruto thought as he continued thinking for a few minutes. 'Maybe it was Hinata… I KNEW SHE BETRAYED ME FOR THAT UCHIHA PUNK!' Naruto thought as he shifted uneasily in his seat as he continued thinking. 'Or maybe it was Lee….' Naruto thought as he stifled a chuckle. 'Yeah right…' Naruto thought as Iruka sat down in front of him and looked him straight in the eyes.
"Listen Uzumaki, the reason you're here is…." Iruka said as Naruto leapt up on the desk.
"Whatever they told you was a lie! I didn't steal them; I got them from a friend's foot! Wait, I mean I found them in someone's closet! Crap, I mean that I was digging through someone's trash!" Naruto shouted as Iruka just stared at him, and blinked a few times before shaking his head.
"What are you talking about?" He asked as Naruto sweat dropped before jumping back into the chair.
"Ummmm… nothing, nothing." The boy said as he began sweating lightly. Iruka sighed as he shook his head. He wasn't here to bust Naruto for anything… well he could, but right now that's not what was important. What was important was that he gets Naruto ready for the Genin Exams. Iruka opened up a file to find the date for the Exam's to be… tomorrow. The Chunin sighed as he closed his folder and rubbed his temples… tonight was going to be a long one.
Iruka once again looked at the sweating Academy Student before sighing again. "Uzumaki, you can stop sweating, I'm not going to bust you for anything." Iruka said as Naruto immediately stopped sweating, and began looking at Iruka with a scrutinizing look. "You see, the reason I've kept you here… is to offer you something." Iruka said as Naruto raised an eyebrow at him, and admittedly, smirked. The last time someone offered him something was the old man offering him to come here to be a ninja… so this had to be good.
"Go on." Naruto said as Iruka continued to stare at the blond before going on.
"Tomorrow, there is a test known as the Genin Exams, I'm sure you've heard of them." Iruka said as Naruto nodded.
'Yeah, I've heard of them alright, according to what my fan club said…' Naruto thought, forgiving the members of his club, seeing as how they didn't snitch on him at all. 'That Exam is my one shot at getting out of here, and actually getting on with my life.' Naruto thought as he nodded again and Iruka continued.
"Now then, the class that is two years ahead of you are required to take the Exam… however." Iruka said as Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Should you want to, you can take the Exam early." Iruka said as Naruto's eyes went wide with shock. Iruka smirked slightly when he saw the boy's reaction, he had him. "But the Exam is on the Substitution Jutsu, one that I believe you cannot execute yet." Iruka said as Naruto lowered his head.
'Damn… should have known there was a catch…' Naruto thought as Iruka cleared his throat, drawing the boy's attention back to the Academy teacher.
"And that's where I come in." Iruka said as Naruto raised his eyebrows. "The reason I kept you behind Naruto, the real one, is so that I can offer to teach you the Jutsu today." Iruka said as Naruto's eyes widened. "Of course, since the Exam's tomorrow we'll most likely be working through out the night, so if you don't want the help…" Iruka said as he watched Naruto eyes narrow slightly as he began sweating again.
'All right then… gotta make a choice here...' Naruto thought as he absent mindedly bit his thumb nail. 'I can take an extra lesson from Iruka-sensei, and depending on whether or not he's telling the truth or not, pass the Genin Exam and get the hell out of here.' Naruto thought as he continued biting his finger nails. 'But if he's lying then I could be cruising towards a bruising later on…' Naruto thought as he finally looked up to Iruka, and crossed his arms.
"I accept your offer." Naruto said, point blank as Iruka smiled. "But… there's something I have to ask." Naruto said suddenly as Iruka looked at him. "What do you get out of this?" Naruto asked as Iruka raised an eyebrow. "What would getting me out of here so quickly do for you?" Naruto asked again as Iruka merely sighed before looking at the Street Fox.
"It would give me some peace and quiet in the upcoming years. It would make teaching your classmates far easier, wouldn't you agree?" He asked as Naruto could only nod. In all honesty, Naruto got what Iruka was saying. The kids were deeply distracted by him, so much so that sometimes their work suffered. Naruto knew if he were gone, then the root of the other's problem would be gone.
Naruto sighed as he looked at Iruka. "So where are we going to do this?" Naruto asked as Iruka smiled.
"I'm glad you asked." Iruka said as he stood. "Since using the grounds around here would be a bad idea, seeing as how if I'm caught training the Street Fox it would bite me in the ass later on..." Iruka said as Naruto stood as well. "But since there are not a lot of places in Konoha to hide a training Academy student, I suggest we go to where you live." Iruka said as Naruto froze on the spot.
"Okay, hold it!" Naruto shouted as he turned to face Iruka. "I am not about to lead you to my hideout!" Naruto said as Iruka sighed.
"Alright then, guess you can practice tonight on your own then…" Iruka said as Naruto froze before he sighed.
"Fine…" Naruto muttered as he and Iruka began walking out of the Academy. As they reached the Academy Yard, Naruto quickly looked around, and formed the Ram Seal. "Give me a second." Naruto said as he began focusing his chakra. "Transform!" Naruto shouted as he was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. As the smoke dissipated… Iruka's face began glowing a shade of red.
Standing in the smoke was a slender woman, with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing just some not-so-loose fitting dress robes. She smiled at Iruka as she tugged on his arm. "Come on Iruka-kun! We have to go!" She said as a slightly high-pitched voice as Iruka pulled his arm away.
"Uzumaki! What are you…" Iruka began shouting before the girl grabbed his arm again, and brought him close.
"Just shut up and follow my lead…" The girl said in Naruto's voice as Iruka just raised an eyebrow as they began walking. It wasn't long though, before Iruka finally caught on to what Naruto was doing. He was making them look less suspicious, and also trying to keep himself from being attacked by a mob. Iruka had to say, this was clever… very clever. However, as they neared the opening of an alley, Naruto quickly lead them both inside, and they walked down it for a while.
When the street was far behind them, Naruto let go of Iruka's arm and reformed the Ram Seal. "Release." He said in his girl voice as another plume of smoke enveloped him. Moments later a normal Naruto walked out of the cloud of smoke, Iruka following him closely. Iruka was still staring at the blond, and it didn't take Naruto long to notice. "What?" He asked as he took a turn in the alley system.
"Nothing it's just… that was clever of you…" Iruka said as Naruto nodded and jumped over a small wooden fence, and Iruka followed. They eventually reached a tarp that covered the entrance to another area of the alley system. Iruka raised an eyebrow at the symbol on the tarp, recognizing it as that of the famous gang that was around a while back… the name escaping him at the moment. As Naruto just walked through it, Iruka followed him… to find a sight he was not expecting to see.
He saw a mostly bare area, a fire pit in the middle of it. A stack of clothes were off to the side, most of them worn out… except for the shoes. There were loads of rotting meat in another corner, fish heads, bare bones, and organs amongst the pile. He also saw a worn out tent with a small futon under it. Naruto walked over to a stack of logs and tossed them in the pit as he then put some dry straw on top, and got out two pieces of stone.
"So, you hungry?" Naruto asked as Iruka was snapped out of his sight seeing mode. "As you can see… there's not too much around here to eat… I could get us some though." Naruto said as suddenly Iruka's stomach erupted in loud growls. He had skipped lunch in order to grade some tests today, so he was starving. "I'll take that as a 'please go get me some'…" Naruto said as he finally got a good fire started and began walking off. "I'll be back…" He said as he walked out another exit in the open area.
Iruka continued looking around the area, simply amazed at what he was seeing. The Chuunin teacher knew that he should have been aware that this was the type of life the Street Fox was living… but for some reason he always thought that he would be at an orphanage, or in some apartment… OR AT LEAST IN AN ABANDONED WAREHOUSE! But… this was all that the fox had… no, there was more to his life than this crap.
Beatings… mobs of citizens and ninja always on the lookout for you… having to steal or hunt for anything you can get your hands on to survive… and on top of that having to train to be a ninja. As Iruka kept on thinking these thoughts, he kept on trying to withdraw them; thinking that it couldn't be this bad, that it couldn't happen like this… but as he kept on thinking… one thought suddenly dawned on him…
Why would the Kyuubi no Youko, the most powerful demon in existence… live like this!? Iruka once again began thinking the same old hate laced thoughts. It was bidding its time, it was waiting for the most opportune moment, it was just waiting… but once again these thoughts couldn't stop him from arriving at the absolute worst realization he's had in the last few moments. That there was no way, in Heaven or Hell that the fox would accept a living like this… and still act like this happy-go-lucky loser with his own fan club…
Eventually, this train of thought led Iruka to one last and most devastating realization, one that only few members of the council had already gotten to a long time before him. That this boy, could not be the Demon Fox in any shape or form… and that lead the academy teacher to one more thought. For years now, a young student of his has been beaten and battered… and he had done nothing to stop it. This was by far the most serious hit to the man's conscience. His musings were only stopped when he began hearing something being dragged into the open area.
Iruka quickly looked up to the sky to find that it was actually later than he thought it was. And when he looked at where the sound had come from… he found Naruto dragging in a few rabbits in. "Found a rabbit hole, and what a score." Naruto said as he sat down on the opposite side of the fire pit from Iruka. Iruka merely stared as Naruto got out a kunai and began skinning the rabbits. Now, Iruka has had survival training similar to this… but he was still disgusted by what he was watching.
As Naruto began cooking the rabbits over the fire, he sighed as he looked straight as Iruka. "While these cook we may wanna start…" Naruto said as Iruka snapped out of his daze.
"Right…" Iruka said as he stood and walked away from the fire, not truly wanting to be around the cooking pieces of flesh. Iruka and Naruto stood at the other end of the area, facing each other while standing a few feet away from each other. Iruka crossed his arms while looking at Naruto. "Alright, first things first, tell me what you do whenever you attempt the Replacement Jutsu, and I'll see what you're doing wrong." Iruka said as Naruto began tapping his chin.
"Well…. I just do the seals… and try the jutsu… something wrong with that?" Naruto asked as Iruka sighed.
"Well… yes." Iruka said as Naruto sweat dropped. "You see the, Replacement Jutsu, as you should know, is a jutsu that requires you to have an object, animal, or person in the immediate area for you to replace yourself with." Iruka said as Naruto simply rolled his eyes at the lecture. Iruka simply ignored it and continued. "But you also have to have a picture of that object, animal, or thing clear in your mind." Iruka said as Naruto blinked a few times.
"You mean I have to think of the thing that I'm replacing myself with?" Naruto asked as Iruka vaulted into the ground.
"You shouldn't even have to ask about that, idiot!" Iruka shouted, his head becoming enlarged by several sizes. "It should be common knowledge, like not eating out of the garba…." Iruka began shouting until he remembered who he was talking to. His head shrank down to normal size before he sweat dropped. "Never mind, bad example…" Iruka said as Naruto sweat dropped as well. "At any rate, thinking about what you're going to replace yourself with isn't truly needed." Iruka said as Naruto was about to shout.
"However." Iruka said, stopping Naruto's rant before it could begin. "It is a very good thing for people who have trouble using the jutsu for the first time. When you get older, and better, you can replace yourself without having to think about it so hard." Iruka said as he took off his jacket. "You'll be trying to replace yourself with my Chunin flak jacket. Alright?" Iruka asked as Naruto nodded. "Alright begin!" Iruka shouted as Naruto nodded and started going through the seals.
'This shouldn't take too long…' Iruka thought as he watched Naruto attempt the jutsu.
Three Hours Later
"AGAIN!" Iruka shouted as a winded Naruto nodded and began going through the seals for the jutsu again. They had been going at it for a few hours now, the roasting… or currently burnt rabbits forgotten over the fire pit. Naruto had so far not gotten any further in getting the jutsu correct, and it was getting late. Iruka sighed as Naruto finished the seals.
"Replacement Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he flashed once… and appeared in the exact same spot. Though, when Naruto looked down he smirked. "HA!" Naruto shouted as Iruka just looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Naruto simply looked down… and saw that Naruto's feet… and the flak jacket had only moved an inch from their original positions. "THAT'S PROGRESS!" Naruto shouted as Iruka face vaulted into the ground.
Iruka began rubbing the bridge of his nose while taking very deep breaths. He couldn't go off on Naruto right now… but he was just so tired. It's been getting late, he's still hungry, and Naruto only made two inches worth of progress. It became clear to Iruka that training like everyone else when it came to this jutsu wasn't going to be enough to get Naruto to do it in time. Iruka thought for a while… thought of a way to properly teach Naruto.
Naruto's speed, weapon skills, and stealth were amazing. But, they only got that way because the boy was forced to learn them or else… just another thing to add to his already strained conscience. But then Iruka snapped his fingers as a thought came to him. Naruto responded to 'REAL, LIVE EXPERIENCE'! If he could make it so that it was a do or die situation for Naruto, he'd have to learn the jutsu. Iruka knew this was risky, but it would be the only way for Naruto to learn the jutsu.
Iruka began reaching for his kunai pouch as he looked at Naruto over his shoulder. "Hey Uzumaki." Iruka said, stopping the boy's mild celebration.
"Yeah?" Naruto asked as Iruka smirked.
"THINK FAST!" Iruka shouted as he threw a kunai straight at Naruto. Naruto panicked, he couldn't deflect the incoming projectile with another kunai, and it was too close to dodge… so he did the only thing he could think of at the moment. He began flying through seals, and in the next instant… he disappeared. Naruto reappeared about a foot and a half away from where he was…. Iruka began bursting out laughing as Naruto gave him an indignant look.
"WHAT!? WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT THROWING A KUNAI AT ME?!" Naruto shouted as Iruka shook his head.
"Well… the fact that you did the Replacement Jutsu only half right…" Iruka said as he chuckled more. Naruto was at first confused about what he meant before he looked down… to see that he was currently wearing the flak jacket. Suddenly the meaning of 'half-right' became so clear to Naruto, as he too began laughing aloud. A few minutes later, the laughter subsided, and Naruto took off the flak jacket and threw it to the side.
"Let's keep this up." Iruka said as he drew another kunai and Naruto simply cracked his neck.
An Hour later
It was an hour later, Naruto was sweating a bit as Iruka picked up a kunai from the ground. He gave the kunai a quick spin as Naruto simply smirked. Iruka threw the kunai at Naruto, and Naruto went through the seals. Naruto finished the last one, disappeared, and was replaced by Iruka's jacket. The kunai pierced the jacket, and Iruka smirked and a once again visible Naruto smiled a wide smile.
"ALRIGHT!" Naruto shouted as he began jumping around. "I DID IT! GENIN EXAMS HERE I COME!" Naruto shouted as he stopped, took a few breaths, and fell onto his rear. Iruka shook his head, grabbed Naruto, and helped him to his feet.
"Congratulations Naruto, you did good…" Iruka said as Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he smirked at Iruka.
"Hey, you called me Naruto." Naruto said as Iruka's own eyes went a little wide as he smirked back at the kid and rubbed his head.
"Yeah, I guess I did." Iruka said as his stomach growled. "Well… let's have those rabbits…" Iruka said as they both looked at the rabbits… only to find that they were completely burnt beyond recognition. Iruka and Naruto sweat dropped as they looked at each other. "Well… I'll eat tomorrow morning." Iruka said as he began walking out. "Good night Naruto." Iruka said as Naruto smirked.
"See ya later Iruka-sensei… and thanks for the help." Naruto said as Iruka merely waved it off as he left.
The Academy - Morning
Iruka was currently taking the role for today's class, remembering that currently Naruto was taking the Genin Exam. Anyone who took the Exam, who weren't forced to, were given the day off. Iruka sighed as he finished role and then left the class to Mizuki, who nearly cursed at Iruka for doing so. Iruka went to the Academy yard and began waiting for Naruto, and the other graduates, to show.
Suddenly, they all began to pour out of the Academy, many of them wearing their Konoha forehead protectors on their heads. They were all smiling as their parents showed up, proudly boasting about how they were now ninja of Konoha. He smiled as he continued looking around for Naruto… who showed up, without his forehead protector. Iruka raised both eyebrows as he walked over to Naruto and looked at him with a confused look.
"It wasn't the Replacement Jutsu…" Naruto said, not even needing to ask what Iruka was about to ask. "It was the Clone Jutsu." Naruto said as Iruka's eyes went slightly wide. Was he wrong? He was so sure that it was the Replacement Jutsu! Even Mizuki told him… Mizuki! Iruka looked up at the window where his class was taking place. Mizuki looked back at him with a smile and waved at him. Iruka gritted his teeth as he place a hand on Naruto's shoulder.
Next time for sure… next time…
R&R