Naruto: Alone

Hey there people, Arganaut here with the latest installment of Naruto: Alone. Now then, last chapter Iruka taught Naruto the Replacement Jutsu, trying to get Naruto out of the Academy as soon as possible. However, during this time, he discovered the true living condition that Naruto had been living under for the past... well, by that point in the story its been about... seven years. Now, under this condition, Iruka has several realizations, which lead to the final one, which is Naruto is not the Kyuubi.

Some of you think that perhaps that went a little too fast. Well let me tell you something, with the combination of a conscious, a sharp mind, and a whole load of guilt, you can pretty much make anyone do anything... I know, its been done to me.

Now then... to get about five weeks of news to the front... MGS4 looks kick ass, the Simpsons movie rocked the house, Harry Potter: DH... couldn't have a life without reading the book first (on a related note: SNAPE IS THE MOST AWESOME WIZARD!!!), the Naruto manga is heading to a slow and painful death, football starts soon, I got my license, Orange chicken is in no way, shape or form, better than General Tzo's chicken, I can't wait for the new version of Ninja Gaiden for Playstation 3, nor can I wait for Assassin's Creed for the XBox 360, Midori Days isn't a half-bad manga...

I think that's all of the news I have for now, so now lets get to those reviews people.

ri2- Well yeah it does... but I don't think that there's a particular fighting style that only dwarves would know, so I just call it fighting.

Avatarofrage- You know what... I thought it was pretty amusing as well. And, well, its tricky with the entire Naruto and Iruka thing. As for the 'secret way to graduate'... well, you'll see what goes on in this chapter.

MissNaye- Well, of course he was, what did you expect from him. Well... you'll see how, and who Naruto gets picked on teams later.

The Great Rick- Indeed, a normal day in the life of Naruto Uzumaki.

Ninja Wolf 25- Understandable.

VFSnake- Dude... calm down. You need to take your meds or something cause your spewing crazy all over me and my beta-reader... and he's not nearly as patient as I am.

IQSymphic- I'm glad you decided to give my fiction a chance... and as long as I have a good beta-reader like Zone, and reviewers likes you I'll be fine, and will never reach into the void of cliche.

paintball-gamer- Yeah, well Mizuki is an awfully tricky guy. And will Iruka take Naruto to Ichiraku's shakes magic 8-ball... it is a strong possibility.

Multi-fan46- Well, I'll admit it was sort of sudden, but as I've said above, if you think about it like that, then I think it would make a little more sense.

DragonMan 180- Thank you thank you, I thought of it myself... and I suppose if you look at it that way... Naruto's a little better off than he was before... at least he's not going off screaming 'Believe IT!' anymore.

Geminia- ... Your a bit twisted aren't you?

Gryphon Turboclaw- Well now, those reactions are actually pretty accurate if you ask me. And trust me.. if anyone's going to be a human pincushion its going to be Mizuki. And I made that mistake before... and I don't plan on making it again, I will NOT rush Hinata's and Naruto's relationship. And the thing with Neji... let's just say he caught him before he went under, and pulled him back towards the light... or did he?

EroEro-Kitsune- What don't you people get about 'NO CLICHENESS'!

rasengan86- Yeah well, I like to keep it interesting for the readers.

The Gandhara- Glad you found this fiction man. And I realize that it is a pretty large leap of faith, but hell, everything people do in anime requires a pretty large leap of faith to believe eh? Also, I hope you continue reading, and enjoy.

ZoneshifterD- LISTEN TO THE SANE BETA-READER!

FictionReader98- Yes, Iruka finally is warming up to Naruto... I think you'll enjoy what I have planned. As for the Academy thing... just wait and see. You don't really have much to look forward to for a little while with the NaruxHina... I'm keeping it slow. I think he will... he might just in this chapter. As for the entire 'Forbidden Scroll shtick"... wait and see.

Godentine- Hey, listen pal, sorry if this stories going a bit slow for you, but hey I'm just trying to build up a good back-story.

Well, with the reviews out of the way, we can get on with the next chapter of Naruto: Alone!

Chapter 12: Graduation...

Two Years Later - Konoha

It has been two years since the first failure of our hero, Naruto Uzumaki, and it's been a rather uneventful two years. Naruto has still been attending the Academy... though his late arrivals are becoming a rather common occurrence at the Academy. Now, these late arrivals are not because Naruto gets caught, oh no, its because of the growing amount of distractions, or Genjutsu skilled Chunin that find him under his transformation jutsu (which seem to be growing in amount, according to the Ninja Library, who have noted a large amount of Genjutsu scrolls that are rented).

Now, finding Naruto under the guise of a jutsu would normally have been enough to have gotten a good chance to catch him... however, as the residents, both civilian and ninja, of Konoha are coming to realize that as the situations change, the Street Fox will adapt to them easily. You see... when the Chunin finally were able to see past Naruto's transformation, they thought they had him. The kid only had speed, endurance, and Genjutsu on them before, and now all they had to do was outmaneuver/outrun him... especially with the civilian support that they are now able to access...

Though... what they hadn't learnt until several days later was that now, Naruto had a Ninjutsu to use against them. The Replacement Jutsu, simple as it may be, is an amazingly aggravating jutsu, especially when you're trying to catch someone who knows it, and can use it nearly at will. Now, whenever Chuunin chase Naruto, in the cases that he is not able to just outrun them, he replaces himself with random objects. Garbage cans, garbage, people, basically anything that isn't nailed to the ground the Street Fox will use to escape his pursuers...

In fact... this brings up one particular story. One day, a small cadre of Chuunins had once again found Naruto, and had begun chasing him as such. Now, as they were closing in on him, the one closest to the boy was mere feet away. Then he literally leapt at Naruto, hoping to tackle him to the ground. Naruto, however, had merely used the Replacement Jutsu... and had switched himself with a young woman. Now the hapless nin had tackled the young woman to the ground... and his face landed square onto her breasts...

The Suna-nin on the Land of Wind commented on seeing a 'shooting star' in the middle of the day, on that very same day. Astronomers are still baffled by the unusual phenomenon up until now.

However, that story is beyond the point. A year after Naruto had failed his first attempt at the Genin Exam, he was liable to take it again if he so chose to. However, Naruto was once again late on that day coming to the Academy... so late in fact that he missed his chance to take the Exam. When questioned by Iruka as to why he was late, Naruto merely stated that he was trying to get some breakfast from this fat man with long, red, spiked hair, with weird swirls on his cheeks... and he was nearly crushed to death when he tried to get away, and the man sat on him.

Naruto, however, was saved from further beating when the man picked him up, took him outside, and threw him all the way to the forest on the other side of Konoha. Naruto didn't feel the impact for he was unconscious before he even hit the ground. Hell, he was unconscious before the fat guy got up off of him. Iruka forgave Naruto... for he also had an altercation with an Akimichi over food... and it was not pretty. Speaking of which, I had better get to Iruka.

So far, over the past couple years, Iruka and Naruto had been getting along with each other rather well. Iruka would talk with Naruto some before, and during school... after school was not really an option since Naruto would leave the Academy before Iruka would even have a chance to stop him. Iruka had not taken Naruto out to eat... since it always seemed that Naruto either already had something to eat, or, left by the time he even looked up from his desk.

Now, this is not to say that Iruka took it easy on Naruto. He would still berate Naruto for being late, however seeing as how the circumstances were understandable, he took it a bit easy on Naruto. However, he would berate Naruto some, just to keep up appearances in front of the students at the Academy. Iruka never really had to yell at Naruto for not focusing, since the boy put everything he had into learning (however, he did have to break up verbal fights between Naruto and Kiba).

Neji, Tenten, and Lee had graduated the previous year... so Naruto now had to fend off the members of the Sasuke Uchiha Fan Club on his own... not an easy task. Naruto had seen a little bit of help from Iruka, as Iruka would usually ring the bell a little early during days where Naruto would nearly be mauled by them. Naruto was grateful for this, and usually would try to steer clear of Iruka when going on a stealing spree.

Overall, neither one of them would admit it to anyone, seeing as how such a thing would ruin the images they each had (Naruto, the lone Street Fox, and Iruka the fair Academy teacher), but they were fine with each other, and liked the other's company. As I had said, Neji, Tenten, and Lee had graduated the previous year... so Naruto now had only one member of his fan club around. Naruto had seen a little bit of Hinata around... though the second he'd see her, she'd be gone in the next instant.

But, now then, onto the present time in the story, right now it was a sunny morning in Konoha. The birds were chirping, the people were out and about on the street. And it looked like it was going to be a calm, easy morni...

POOF!

"Uh oh..."

"NARUTO UZUMAKI!" Looks like I was mistaken, for it seems that another chase between Naruto and some Chuunin has begun yet again. We currently see two Chuunin chasing after a twelve-year old Naruto, and in two years change has struck him, where it had not struck other aspects of his life. Though he was not tall for his age, he wasn't short either. There was still no real muscle tone piercing through his clothes, but it was easy to see that the boy was fit, seeing as how he had so very little baby fat on his face.

The clothes he wore... were the same style, and color scheme as his last, but only they seemed newer, and more fitting. What does this have to do with anything? Well... let's just say he stole some new clothes right under the SAME shop keeper's nose, and, just like last time, he got away from the Chuunin... albeit it was a really close call. But I digress. As of now Naruto was running around, a huge slice of ham tucked safely away into his right arm.

There were a few Chuunin chasing after him, wearing slightly annoyed looks on their faces. Naruto smirked as he looked straight ahead, to see a whole street filled with people, ready to try and get their hands on him. Naruto simply jumped several feet in the air, leaping over the crowd of pedestrians... or so he hoped. The Chuunin following him jumped three times higher than he did, and all three of them readied a nin-wire net. Naruto looked back at the Chunin as he completely turned his body and brought his hands together.

The Chuunin threw their nets as Naruto looked back at the crowd. He smirked as he began going through seals for his second jutsu. As the net nearly closed in on him, Naruto and the ham disappeared in an explosion of smoke, and as the cloud of smoke cleared... it revealed a random citizen. The nets closed in around the person, and he landed in the street with a loud thud. The pursuers looked at him, mystified and annoyed by our blond hero's trick.

Meanwhile, a small mouse was moving underneath the crowd of shocked people. It got out of the crowd just as the ninjas landed, and began running down the street. An explosion of smoke later revealed Naruto, with a huge smile on his face. "Try catching me now!" Naruto shouted as he took a quick turn down one of the streets. The Chuunin glared at him, and were about to follow him...

"WAIT!" The caught up pedestrian shouted as they looked at him. "Aren't you going to get me out first?!" He shouted as the Chuunin sweat dropped.

"We'll come back for you later!" One of them shouted as they began running, and the random citizen laughed nervously.

"Okay then... don't forget about me!" He shouted as the Chuunin turned down the street Naruto had. When they looked around... they found absolutely no sign of the little thief. Each of them gave an audible growl as they ran down the street, assuming that he had just gone down one of the streets. As soon as they left, a section of wall that they had passed by suddenly peeled off of the wall, revealing a smiling blond behind it. Naruto gave out a hardy laugh as he scratched the back of his head.

"Hahahahaha! Man what losers!" Naruto shouted as he brought his hands down and shrugged. "You think that they would have learned their lesson by now!" Naruto shouted as suddenly someone appeared behind him, Naruto being to busy gloating to notice the presence behind him.

"OH YEAH, NARUTO?!" Iruka shouted as Naruto jumped a few feet into the air, turned around, and saw Iruka standing behind him with an irate look on his face.

"Iru-Iruka-sensei?! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked as Iruka shook his head.

"I could ask you the same question." Iruka said as he looked at the ham in Naruto's hand. He already had a guess as to where it came from... so Iruka didn't bother asking. "Nice ham." Iruka said as Naruto looked at it, and gave him a nervous smile on his face.

"Yeah..." Naruto said as a smirk formed on Iruka's face, one that Naruto would know anywhere.

The Academy

It was about a half-hour later when Iruka had pulled a hog-tied Naruto, the ham shoved into his mouth, through the door, and into the classroom. The kids had been waiting for a long time for Naruto to show up today... but most of them really saw the point of waiting for Naruto. Iruka tossed Naruto in front of the classroom, and took the ham out of his mouth. "Hey! I was going to finish that!" Naruto shouted as Iruka noted the bite marks on the ham.

Iruka threw away the ham with slight disgust, and wiped off some of the slobber from his hand. The Academy teacher then looked down at his pupil with a pseudo-annoyed look. "Naruto, you can't just keep on showing up late like this. The other kids have to wait for you to start class, and I don't think they appreciate having to wait around for you." Iruka said as Naruto simply made a pouting face at his teacher.

Iruka's eyebrow twitched, once again, in false-annoyance... he had been looking for a good reason to practice the Transformation Jutsu... and Naruto was just the reason. It was actually thankful that Naruto was late this morning. "Fine, but as punishment for being late, everyone in the class are going to have to show the Transformation Jutsu." Iruka shouted as Sakura quickly raised her hand.

"But why Iruka-sensei?" Sakura said with no annoyance in her voice... however...

'WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO PAY FOR NARUTO'S LAZY ASS, CHA!!!' Inner Sakura thought as Iruka shook his head.

"In the career of being a ninja, if one member of a team fails to do their duty, the entire team may fail. This is just a reminder of that lesson." Iruka said as the entire class groaned once more as they began filing up in front of Iruka, one by one. Sakura Haruno was up first... and the kunoichi really hadn't changed too much over the past couple years. She still had pink hair, though it was considerably longer now, and she wore a red dress with white designs on it... and that red ribbon on her head.

"Sakura Haruno here." Sakura said as she formed the Ram seal, and wisps of chakra began to form around her. "Transform!" She shouted as an explosion of smoke appeared around the bubble-gum colored hair kunoichi performed the jutsu. As the smoke cleared, a perfect replica of Iruka stood in the place where Sakura had once stood.

"So you chose me..." Iruka said as he marked her off on his chart. "Next." Iruka said as the Iruka in front of him disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and a joyous Sakura appeared in front of him.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes!" She shouted, jumping at each yes...

'I KICK ASS!!!' Inner Sakura shouted, giving a quick thumbs-up gesture. Sakura stopped jumping around, and took her place in line as Sasuke Uchiha stepped forward. Sasuke looked very much similar to how he looked a couple years ago. He was still wearing a dark blue shirt, though now the sleeve were shorter, and it had the Uchiha Clan symbol on the back. He was also wearing a pair of white shorts, and these weird white sleeve things on his forearms.

Sasuke formed the Ram seal, and without even saying a word a cloud of smoke appeared around him. A few seconds later, another perfect transformation of Iruka. Iruka nodded as he checked off Sasuke's name on the list. "Okay, next." Iruka said as Sasuke transformed back, and Naruto began stepping forward. Now then, Naruto had a bit of a reputation in class, he was indeed known as the Street Fox of Konoha, and infamous thief...

However... that's all they knew him by. Most of his class (save for a few who's parents told them otherwise (Yamanaka, Nara... and as of a year ago the Akimichi might not like him too much anymore)), knew him as just a simple thief. They all had not heard what Neji's, Tenten's, and Lee's class had heard... they had only heard about him being a thief. And to them, a common thief was not someone to look up to.

Though, none of them would doubt the skill the kid did possess. He was fast... however he was not agile (if you all don't see the difference... basically he can move really fast, but he can't turn on a dime). He was street smart... but not all too book smart. Now then, I ramble. Naruto now stands in front of Iruka, who at this point looks over Naruto cautiously. "Okay, go." Iruka said as Naruto formed the Ram seal.

Wisps of chakra surrounded him as he focused his chakra. "Transform!" Naruto shouted, turning into... Iruka? Yes... it was actually a perfect copy of Iruka... how boring. At any rate, Iruka marked his board, and then nodded at Naruto who then exploded in a cloud of smoke, and returned to his normal state. Naruto then took his place back in line as the other kids began practicing the jutsu. At this point, almost all of the students at the Academy were able to do all of the Academy level jutsu...

Well... Naruto was still having trouble with the Clone Jutsu... which both Iruka regretted since he knew that the jutsu for tomorrow's test was going to be on it... he had to tell Naruto somehow. 'I have an idea...' Iruka thought to himself as he nodded at the last student.

"Very good, all of you." Iruka said as gave one last check off on his clipboard. He allowed the students to go back to their seats, and then class for the day went on as per usual. The fan girls would swoon over Sasuke, Hinata would secretly watch Naruto from the back of the class... and Kiba would engage Naruto in all sorts of different contests... today's being a staring contest.

End of Class

The time was nearing the end of class for the day as Iruka put down his pen. He had finished all the extra work before class ended so that he could catch Naruto before he left. Iruka counted down the moments before class would end... not knowing that Naruto was doing the same out of boredom. Then, finally, the bell rang, and just as Naruto was about to rush out of the classroom, he heard something that stopped him in his tracks.

"Naruto, I would like to see you at my desk, now." Iruka said as Naruto sighed and walked down to Iruka's desk, a whole bunch of 'ooooooohhhh's being sounded by the other students as he walked down to the desk. After everyone had left Iruka smirked at the young blonde. "Well Naruto, I bet you're wondering why you're here right now?" Iruka said in a slightly cheeky voice as Naruto sighed slightly.

"Come on Iruka-sensei, stop with the theatrics and just tell me what you want." Naruto said as he smirked slightly. Iruka merely chuckled a bit as he looked at the Academy student.

"Well Naruto, I'd like to give you some news before tomorrow, seeing as how tomorrow is the Genin Exams... you didn't forget did you?" Iruka asked as Naruto scoffed.

"Come on Iruka-sensei, what do you take me for, some kind of idiot?" Naruto asked the Chunin as he turned his head to the side. If Naruto were to be honest, he was counting down the days till the Genin Exam... he was just hoping that this year the Clone Jutsu wouldn't be used... though, with the Substitution Jutsu having been used last year, and the Transformation Jutsu not being used in the test (due to the low amount of skill needed to use it)... chances were high in the Clone Jutsu's favor.

"Well Naruto, I just figured that I'd tell you what jutsu is going to be used in the Exam tomorrow." Iruka said as Naruto's attention was immediately drawn to Iruka. "But if you know so much about the Exams then I suppose that you don't..." Iruka began as he noticed the slight glare/stare he was receiving from Naruto. Iruka laughed a bit as he shook his head. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." Iruka said as he ruffled Naruto's hair a bit.

"Anyway, the jutsu for tomorrow's Exam is going to be the Clone Jutsu..." Iruka said as both of them sighed. "My point exactly... so that's why I'm telling you this now so that..." Iruka began as suddenly Naruto perked up.

"You can help me master the Clone Jutsu in one night so that I can own the test and finally become a Genin?!" Naruto asked as little stars shimmered in his eyes. Iruka sighed as immediately the stars in Naruto's eyes just shimmered out.

"Sorry Naruto, but unfortunately, I have work to do tonight." Iruka said as Naruto gave him a questioning look. "You see, I've been hired part-time by the Hokage to work with him in the mission assignment office. It would add some more money into my paycheck, so I took the job." Iruka said as he looked to the side. "I'm starting tonight, so I wouldn't be able to help you." Iruka said as he sighed and looked up at Naruto.

"I'm sorry Naruto, I really want to help you... but I can't... so sorry." Iruka said as Naruto sighed... before smirking at Iruka.

"Don't worry about it Iruka-sensei, I'll just keep on working at it on my own tonight, and I'll get it by morning! You'll see!" Naruto shouted as he stood up with a jolt, and punched his fist into the air before running out of the room with a start. Iruka merely sat there, a bit dumbfounded by the blond's response. But, after a few minutes, Iruka smiled as he stood up.

"You can do it Naruto." Iruka muttered as he began making his way to the mission assignment office.

...To Be Continued in Part 2... MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Omake 1

It was night-time in Konoha, and all of its residents had gone to sleep. "Hello?" Well, all but the random resident who was caught up in the nin-wire net. "Is someone there? I need help!" He shouted as he struggled in the net. "I'M HUNGRY!" He shouted as little streams of tears began coming out of his eyes. Suddenly, a little white dog came out of nowhere, and began smelling the man. "Oh, good doggie! Go find help!" He shouted as the dog turned... and lifted up his leg.

"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"...