Super Genius Naruto: A Rewritten Tale
Chapter 2: The Road To Become A Ninja
An elder man, in his sixties, was sitting on his desks as he was working through a lot of papers, stacked in several rows. His name is Hiruzen Sarutobi, also known as the Third Hokage of Konohagakure.
Hiruzen Sarutobi is a powerful ninja, even hailed as a "God of Shinobi" where generations of Konoha ninja benefited from his wisdom. Being the Third Hokage, he took responsibility for most of the village's day-to-day affairs, such as assigning the village's ninja to missions or securing funding for the village's projects and personnel, and as usual, the workload of a Hokage can be quite formidable. The Hokage spends most of his time in the village, only traveling abroad for events of vital importance to the Village.
"I really should take a break after this," the Hokage sighed, as he has gone through another paper, making it the last for now.
"It will be just a short break," Sarutobi stretched his body and looked outside of the window, "today looks peaceful, maybe I'm going to stroll around for a bit."
"HOKAGE-Sama!" A loud voice began to approach his office as two ninjas entered the room. Nevermind, scratch that peaceful.
"Excuse us for interrupting you, Hokage-sama!" The two of them bowed as one of them continued, "the br- Naruto Uzumaki is desecrating the Hokage-Monument once again!"
The Hokage nodded, clearly not surprised, "I really wonder, how this boy is managing to do this every day...," he thought about this, but for now, this gave him a real excuse to leave his work behind for a while.
-At The Hokage Rock-
The Hokage Rock, also called the Hokage-Monument, is a mountain overlooking Konohagakure that has all the four faces of the Hokage carved into the stone, honoring their achievement. Normally no one would ever touch the Monument out of respect, but someone dared to think otherwise as that someone has finished the paint on their faces, making them look quite hilarious.
"Hm, this actually looks good, don't you think so, Kurama-sensei?" Naruto asked, maybe a bit proud of his artwork, though he did felt bad for doing this.
"Well, whether it is good or bad, does it really matter?" Kurama sweatdropped and alerted Naruto, "they're coming, it's those three again. We have met them quite often, though I still don't remember their names yet."
"Okay, set the timer for me," Naruto said, getting ready to run, "too bad, it's them again I had hoped that at least a Jonin would be joining, oh well, let see if I can break my record against those Chunin's."
Chunin (Literally meaning: Middle Ninja) is a ninja who is qualified to guide other ninja and lead missions. Chunin has reached a level of maturity and ability that primarily consists of leadership skills and tactical prowess. Chunin is typically sent on C-rank or B-rank missions.
Jonin (Literally meaning: High Ninja) are generally highly-experienced shinobi with a great individual skill who serve as military captains. They are often sent on A-rank missions, and experienced jōnin may even be sent on S-rank missions (which are considered to be the greatest difficulty).
"Brat! Stop causing trouble every SINGLE day!" The first one said in an angry tone.
"You'll pay for this!" The second shouted.
"Look at all this...," the last one panicked, how terrible the famous Monument now looks.
Ignoring them, Naruto just began to run away.
"This brat...! After him!" The first one commanded to chased after him.
-Half an hour later-
Naruto sighed, looking at the three who stopped themselves chasing him as they are having a hard time keeping up.
"S-stop, you brat!*pant*" The first one gasped for air, clearly tired of all the chase.
"*pant*How can he be so f-fast?*pant*" The second one wasn't in a better position.
"*pant*I-I have the feeling*pant*, he is becoming faster *pant* every day, we have chased after him...*pant*," the last one finally collapsed, lying down.
"This can't be called training anymore," Naruto shook his head a bit disappointed, "I guess, if they aren't sending Jonin's after me, then there is no point, to paint the Hokage faces nor doing some other pranks anymore, today will be probably the last," he promised himself and turned a grin to the three, "though, I did have my fun with those three."
"NARUTO!" Suddenly a loud voice cut in, flinching Naruto a bit, "what the hell are you doing, during class time?! Get down here!"
"Iruka-san!" The three Chunin's became delighted and hopeful.
Iruka Umino is a Chunin of Konoha who serves primarily as an instructor at the Academy and is Naruto homeroom teacher. Iruka is a man of average height and build. He has black hair that he keeps in a high ponytail, dark eyes, and a scar that runs across the bridge of his nose. Like the three Chunin's he wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit complete with a forehead protector, sandals, and flak jacket.
"Iruka-sensei, you finally decided to take me on?" Naruto smiled at his teacher, against him, it would make this much more interesting. Even though he was also a Chunin, Naruto just knew that Iruka-sensei is really strong compared to these three.
Veins popping out on Iruka's body, losing his patience as he shouted back, "come down here, Naruto! Or I will come and get you!"
"Iruka! You need to act fast *pant* He is awfully quick on his feet!" Chunin A panted.
"I will make the signal! Chase me, after the countdown, Iruka-sensei!", Naruto grinned as he began to count, "3...! 2...!"
"You...!" Iruka was in shock, did Naruto really meant this, did he not understand how much trouble he's in?
"...1!" Naruto was about to run, but stopped the countdown, as he saw the third Hokage slowly approached them in the front of him.
"Well, well, I think you should stop with your plays, Naruto," the Hokage sighed.
"Third-Sama!" Iruka and the three Chunins quickly corrected their posture and bowed to the Hokage.
Naruto sighed, `I guess fun is over, I can't trouble the Hokage, especially if he came here because of me personally.´
"Well, we can say that you have become stronger, they tried their best, but those three couldn't even touch you this time," Kurama chuckled.
"I'm very sorry, Third," Iruka apologized and continued, "I should have been more alert. Naruto! After today's classes end, you will be cleaning all this!"
"Yes," Naruto responded, after all, this was just a part of his training, so of course he was planning to clean the Monument anyway.
"Iruka-san! He should do this now, why bother him to get him back to the Academy, he is just a br-", Chunin B, said, but quickly shut his mouth as Iruka gave him a scary smile.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let any of my students miss any of my classes, after all, the day after tomorrow is the Genin exam," Iruka said.
Genin (Literally meaning: low ninja or junior ninja) are the lowest level of ninja and also the ones that display the most difference in power. Becoming a genin, ninja starts to do their bit for their village's economy – being sent on missions that the village gets paid for. They are typically sent on D-rank missions, which are almost entirely risk-free jobs of manual labor.
"But he-"
"Naruto! Especially you! How can you act like this? Your grades aren't good! If you won't work harder, you will fail," Iruka ignored the three Chunins and turned his gaze to Naruto, lecturing him.
Naruto only responded with a grin, as he began to walk toward the direction of the school Academy.
"Naruto! Are you even listening to me?" Iruka shouted in frustration and bid a quick goodbye to the Hokage, "excuse us, Third-sama. Naruto! At least wait for me!"
"Hokage-sama! We're against him becoming a Genin! Look at how much trouble he gave us every day! Why is he still allowed to take the exam?", Chunin A protested.
The Hokage sighed, "Well first, everyone should have the chance to become a ninja, second, all his activities are an only harmless prank, he also always took responsibilities after this, and last, I'm really looking forward to his future," he ended with a smile.
"But," the three ninjas weren't convinced, after all this child, is the-
Hiruzen glared at them, making them stop thinking any further, "I can understand how you feel," he said as he softens his glare, "but didn't this child also help you guys a lot?"
"Help us..?" The three Chunin wondered what the Hokage meant.
"After years of constantly chasing after him, didn't you become much stronger? You all have become much faster, since the time you have turned into Chunin's, though you still have to work on your stamina," the Hokage chuckled.
The three glanced at each other, the Hokage was actually right, if they look at this point of view, since they took "care" of Naruto, they did become stronger themselves.
Suddenly the third Chunin of the group begun to chuckle, "actually it was always quite entertaining with him, it was never boring with him around, though it did worry me a lot of the image of the village, however, all of his pranks were always so.. creative."
The second Chunin came into a realization, "maybe we were clouded of our own judgment without giving him any chances to defend himself."
The three became silent, as they thought about it.
"Let rethink about this another time, I'm still tired right now...," the first Chunin suggested, but suddenly wondered about something, "did we really became stronger? I'm having this feeling, as each day were passing, each time it became even more impossible to catch him, though..."
The Hokage was proud, finally, they understood who Naruto really is as they began to understand him more, he began to walk back to his office pleased of this result as he is now prepared to continue his workload.
"I didn't lie, those three did become stronger, but... I wonder if that just means that Naruto simply surpassed them? Maybe these weren't just simple pranks he was doing over the past years, did he planned for all this? If this were true, could he actually be a real genius?" Hiruzen began to wonder, but his face changed to a smile, looking up into a certain direction, "I guess, time will tell, I'm really looking forward to your son's future."
-School Academy-
"Naruto, I really want you to understand that there is no time for causing trouble, you guys only have two more days before the ninja school's graduation exam, for the Genin trial starts, and your grades are the worst of the class, it's a wonder that you haven't been a drop out yet," Iruka scolded at Naruto, as they are back in the classroom, "if you won't take this seriously, you'll never wear this forehead protector!", he pointed at something he wore on his forehead.
A forehead protector is a headband composed of a metal plate and a band of cloth. Forehead protectors are worn by most shinobi and are engraved with the symbol of their hidden village. Forehead protectors are usually worn as a sign of pride and fealty for one's village.
"Don't worry, Iruka-sensei, I will pass the exam," Naruto responded with a big grin.
"Naruto...!" Iruka frustrated sighs, though Naruto actually did really meant it, for Iruka, it's looking like Naruto wasn't taking this seriously.
"Just ignore him, Iruka-sensei," a classmate of Naruto said.
"Yes, why bother to lecture him? He won't listen to you anyway," another classmate agreed.
"So uncool, Naruto," a female snickered, making the others laugh along.
As Naruto is used to this, he could easily ignore their laughter with a faint smile as he goes back to his lone sit far in the back.
Iruka sighed, if Naruto was a bit more serious, his classmates wouldn't make fun of him, then again, it's more like how their parents treat him and made him an outcast.
"Because of the lost times, you'll all review the Transformation no Jutsu now, everyone line up and transform perfectly into me."
Transformation no Jutsu is considered to be among the more difficult E-ranked techniques since it requires constant emission of chakra while mentally maintaining the form. It is typically used to change into people other than oneself, but one also has the ability to change into animals, plants, and even inanimate objects like weapons, this gives this technique an abundance of uses. This is one of the basic Jutsu taught at the Ninja Academy.
"WHAT?" the whole class groaned, glaring at Naruto clearly giving him the fault, unknowingly to Iruka as he would have reviewed it anyway.
Naruto himself just chuckled as he thought about something.
After a while, it's almost Naruto's turn.
"Very good, you just need to work about the details a little more, but it should be no problem to pass the test," Iruka made some notice and called for the next one, "Naruto Uzumaki! Your turn."
"This is all your fault, idiot," a boy behind Naruto whispered to him.
Naruto knowing, that it would be pointless to talk to him, got himself ready.
"Urgh, those children... The parents should be ashamed!" Kurama said in an annoyed tone.
"Just ignore him," Naruto replied,
"Tch, trying to be cool? You're a failure and you always will be," the same boy glared at him as he didn´t like to be ignored.
`Let try this,´ Naruto thought as he prepared for the Henge no Jutsu, imagining his transform into his head.
"Eh..? Naruto..?" Kurama became nervous, as it could clearly saw the image in Naruto's head, as their mind is connected after all.
"SEXY no Jutsu!", he said as he began to transform.
Iruka and the children's eyes popped out, the latter mostly baffled as the result of Naruto's transformation was in sight. He actually transformed into a NAKED WOMAN body.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Iruka managed to scream, losing a lot of blood through his nose, almost losing his consciousness.
"It's work better than I thought," Naruto sweatdropped of the reaction, especially Iruka's, of the whole class and ended his transformation.
"Naruto! What were you thinking?" Kurama panicked, "don't tell me, my cute Naruto is turning into a perv-"
"Relax Kurama-sensei," Naruto wondered why Kurama was suddenly panicking for no reason, "you know that I researched a lot during my free time after I have observed a lot of the male villager's, I came to the conclusion that they all seem to be weak to the female bodies, though I really wonder why... I also wonder if this would work against the female gender if I do the opposite."
Kurama was speechless, the result of Iruka's reaction, proved that Naruto was totally right, "I really don't know if I should call you a genius or not..."
"Naruto!" Iruka loudly yelled, "What was this!?"
Naruto responded with a grin, showing a V sign to Iruka, "a deadly Jutsu I made, the Sexy no Jutsu! Though is more like a variant of the Henge no Jutsu."
"Don't invent such a stupid skill!" Iruka shouted with a lot of frustration in his voice.
"A stupid move for a stupid dead last, fitting," the boy who came next after Naruto smirked, though blood is running from his nose.
"Naruto is such a pervert," a female said to her friends.
"He is such a weirdo," her friend responded.
"He'll fail the exam, I can see the future," another boy snickered, making the majority of the class laugh.
"Silence! Naruto, you'll wait until we finish, you heard me? We will now move to the next!" Iruka ordered.
-After school at the Hokage Monument-
"I won't let you go home until you clean all of it," Iruka said, crossing his arms as he watching over Naruto.
"Yes, but this shouldn't take long," Naruto replied with a smile.
Iruka sighed and asked Naruto a question, "why are you doing so much trouble for the village?"
Naruto thought about it, of course, it was all for his training, it's helping him to become faster and even raise his stamina, however, "maybe... I also just wanted to have some interaction with the villager's, even if they only showing grief to me," he whispered loud enough for Iruka to her.
Iruka realizing what he meant, "Naruto, you.."
"Hey look, it's the Dem-kid cleaning the Hokage-Monument," two women passed by, talking to each other, loud enough to be heard.
"It's his punishment, serves him right," the other said with a smile.
Iruka glared at the two, making them shut up and fasten their paces. He softens his glare as he turned back to his student, "Hey Naruto!"
"Yes, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto glanced up to his teacher after he was called.
"Well, uhm, if you've finished cleaning the Monument, I'll buy some ramen for you afterward, you like that right?" Iruka nervously said it's the first time he invited someone.
"Really? Well, we can go now," Naruto grinned.
"Wait, I said after you fin- Wha-? When? How?" Iruka gasped as he saw that the Monument was indeed all clean.
"It was just color, it's not like I used waterproof ink," Naruto laughed at Iruka's expression, "shall we go, Iruka-sensei? I really know the best ramen stand!"
Iruka stunned only nod at him.
-Ramen Ichiraku-
"Another bowl, Ayame-nee!" Naruto ordered as he finished his current bowl.
"Mou~ Naruto-kun, you should slow down, my father isn't the youngest anymore!" Ayame joked, delighted of her favorite customer.
"What are you saying, Ayame? I'm still as fit as a fiddle! Don't you underestimated your old man!" Teuchi, the owner of the small restaurant, laughed, "Naruto, you can eat as much as you want, you still in your growth period!"
Teuchi is a very kind and jovial man. Often seen smiling, he and his daughter, Ayame, have always treated Naruto well, considering him their best customer.
Ayame is a kind and cheerful young woman. She and her father seem to be some of the few Konoha villagers that do not see Naruto in a hostile light and consider him their favorite regular customer. She is a hard-working woman, always doing her best to serve Naruto with ramen.
Iruka smiled, looking at how those two treated Naruto made him feel relief and their Ramen was really good, Naruto was right about this, he should come here often.
"Iruka-sensei, thank you," Naruto suddenly said.
"Huh?" Iruka thought he heard wrong, did "Naruto" just thanked him?
Naruto chuckled, "thank you for treating me, besides uncle Teuchi and Ayame-nee, nobody has done this to me, I'm really grateful to you, Iruka-sensei."
Iruka was speechless, it was a side Iruka never saw in Naruto, he is so... polite and mature, he just wishes, that Naruto would be a bit more serious with his studies.
"So good! Teuchi-san, you ramen are the best!" Naruto grinned, making the father-daughter combo smile.
"Say Naruto why did you paint the Hokage-Monument? Don't you know the history of the Hokage's?" Iruka asked, wanting to know the reason why he targeted the Monument often.
"Of course, I know! They are the strongest ninja of the villages, I really respect them," Naruto said.
"Then why?" Iruka wondered.
"No reason? It was always just something spontaneous," Naruto never really thought about it.
Iruka was baffled, but eventually turned into a quick laugh, "you know, you're really something, Naruto."
Teuchi and Ayame laughed along, they understand what Iruka meant, though Naruto only looks confused at them.
"Well is already late you should go home and sleep, remember you have only one more day, I hope you will go study, you really need that," Iruka said, hoping that Naruto will listen to his advice.
"Alright," Naruto replied, eating his last bowl.
"He is a good guy," Kurama smiled inside Naruto.
-The next day-
`One day before the exam,´ Naruto thought, entering his class, `what should I do today? After all, I promised myself that yesterday would be the last, troubling the village for a while.´
"After you'll become a Genin, you probably going to be busy, just take this day to rest," Kurama suggested.
"Yeah, I think so, too," Naruto nodded, as he watched someone unfamiliar entered the classroom.
"Attention please!" The person with white shoulder-length hair with a slight hint of blue to it and green eyes said. He wore the standard attire of the Konoha-nin, though he wore his forehead protector like a bandanna.
"Iruka-sensei will be absent for today as he is going to prepare for the Genin exam tomorrow, I'll replace him for today, my name is Mizuki," he introduced himself, "if you have any questions, feel free to ask me," he made a kind smile to the class, though for some reason, Naruto noticed that he was especially glancing towards him.
The day went off pretty normal as school ended, nothing noteworthy, however, if he had to point one thing out, the fill-in teacher was awfully looking a lot in his direction, it's may have been only his imagination, though. Or maybe not, as Mizuki approached him right now.
"Naruto-kun? You are Naruto Uzumaki, right?" Mizuki asked as Naruto responded with a simple nod, "I saw in the list, Iruka gave me in the morning, that you have the lowest score, and I also heard that Iruka is giving you a hard time, scolding you a lot."
"I guess, well, it's not like I gave him a choice, after how much trouble I gave him," Naruto chuckled, though he wondered, what Mizuki was aiming.
Mizuki smiled and continued, "he probably sees himself in you, he wants you to become strong, try to understand Iruka's feeling. You should know, that he has, as you, no parent in his childhood."
"I see," Naruto facial became sad, he didn't know, `I guess, everyone has their own past.´
"Looking at your grade, truthfully, it could be difficult for you to pass the exam tomorrow," Mizuki made a thoughtful expression, "but, I may have a suggestion, a special secret, this could even surprise Iruka tomorrow," his expression turned into a smile.
"...," Naruto didn't respond immediately as he thought about something, before he replied, "I'm listening..."
-Nightfall, Hiruzen Sarutobi residence-
"Finally home, sweet home," Hiruzen relaxed, "as usually the workload for the Hokage is no joke."
*crack*
A strange noise made the Third stop on his thoughts, being cautious he walked into the direction of which where the sound came. It was suspicious of him. as he, the Hokage, didn't feel any Chakra, even if it was just an animal, they would emit a small portion of chakra. Maybe it was just an object that fell from somewhere.
As he slowly approached the room, which contained a lot of items, he heard a familiar voice.
"Uhg, of all things I could step, it was a loose wood? I hoped the Hokage didn't hear me," the voice scolded to himself.
Now as Hiruzen saw the familiar person, he approached him from behind, "what are you doing in my house, Naruto?"
It was indeed, Naruto, who burgle into his house, as he jumped up from the surprise, but instead of any explanations, Naruto made a move, that the Hokage himself would have never ever expected at this moment.
"I'm so sorry, grandpa Sarutobi! Sexy no Jutsu!"
...
...
...
After some time, in a forest near Konoha, "so this is the scroll, Mizuki described to me? It wasn't really hidden really well and for something with the inscription "forbidden".. this is pretty unprotected."
"...I just can't believe this! How can this Jutsu knocked out the supposedly strongest ninja of the world!" Kurama expressed with a lot of frustration in its voice, what happened to the humans?
Naruto shrugged it with a laugh, "maybe I should add it into the forbidden scroll?"
Kurama sighed, but something was bothersome, "though, why did you decide to go along with that man's suggestion? This is clearly something you don't really need and breaking into the Hokage home won't end up well."
"Yes, I had hoped I could end this, without someone noticing, but oh well, I wrote a note to grandpa Sarutobi, I just hope he can understand," Naruto felt bad for the Hokage as he responded to Kurama question, "remember, when I told Mizuki, that Iruka-sensei hadn't a choice but to scold me? It was actually more like, he chooses himself to scold me... He could have just simply ignored me, like all the other teachers from the academy, but Iruka-sensei scolded me to lecture me, he truly wanted to help me," Naruto smiled as his memories of Iruka flashed into his mind, but his facial turned into a serious change, "however Mizuki, on the other hand, he had no intention to help me, and sending me to steal this forbidden scroll, proves this, even more, he probably thought that I was so desperate to pass the exam and I would easily agree to this."
"So you decided to see what that man really wanted?" Kurama began to understand.
"Yes, though, as an addition, maybe something inside this scroll can be useful for the future," Naruto slyly smiled, "I do feel bad, but I can't let this chance slip away, let see the first Jutsu... Shadow Clone No Jutsu..."
-At the same time in another place-
Iruka, lying in his bed, was thinking about a lot of things, "tomorrow is the Genin-exam... I wonder if Naruto can pass," Iruka closed his eyes as some bad memory awaked into his mind:
-Flashback, 12 years ago-
A nine-tails fox raged over Konoha as it destroyed most parts of the villages and killed many Shinobi of Konohagakure as they tried to hold him off and protect the villagers.
"LET ME GO!" A young Iruka cried as some Shinobi dragged him off from the battle, "my parent are still fighting!"
Iruka snapped out of these thoughts as he gritted at himself, "what am I thinking! He's not...!"
Suddenly a knock interrupted him, "who..? And at this time," Iruka wondered as he opened the door and saw his childhood friend Mizuki at the door.
"Iruka! Big trouble! Naruto had taken the forbidden scroll! The Hokage is summoning us, Chunin's to go search after him!"
"What did you say?" Iruka widened his eyes, as he couldn't believe what his friend just have told him.
-Shortly at the Hokage office-
"It's been early in the night when the scroll was taken, you must hurry and find Naruto immediately!" The Hokage ordered with a worrisome expression.
"YES SIR!" The crowd saluted and began the search through the village.
`This Naruto! What is he thinking!?´ Iruka clenched his fist as he also began the search, "I should start with the forest!"
"Naruto," the Hokage looked up to the moon, holding a note in his hand, "I wonder what made you do this."
The note on his hand says: I'm sorry, grandpa. I will definitely keep the scroll saves and bring it back later!"
-Forest near Konoha-
"Wow, those Jutsus are really something...! The risk and the chakra consumings are no jokes." Naruto never saw anything like this, no wonder why they were forbidden.
"You really are a fast learner...!" Kurama expressed its surprise, as a kitsune, Kurama didn't know any hand-sign so it couldn't teach Naruto any Nin-Jutsus, though Kurama did saw how he easily learned the basic Jutsus from the Academy. Now seeing how fast he managed to understand and memorize 5 forbidden Jutsus in such a small time, makes it really wonder, what Naruto's real potential is. Though understanding and using them are two different things, time will tell if he can manage to be able to use them.
"So next one!" Naruto said as he was about to move to the next Jutsu, but a familiar voice stopped him from doing this.
"Naruto! I found you!"
Naruto looked up, seeing a man with a scar across the bridge of his nose, "Iruka-sensei! About time!"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU MEANING?" Iruka scolded, but was surprised how dirty Naruto's clothes became, "Naruto, your clothes.."
"Ah, this? I learned a Jutsu from this scroll," Naruto smiled, deciding he shouldn't freak Iruka out and limited it to one Jutsu. Not that he lied, he did just practical one Jutsu, while the other four he just went over.
"You learned a Jutsu?" Iruka wondered, did he trained here to the point to damage his own body and clothes? His angry mode faded away as he can tell how Naruto didn't seem to plan anything bad with the scroll, though something was bothering him, "Naruto! Why did you steal the scroll? Do you know what this is?"
"Oh, this? Mizuki told me about this, he said to me, if I want to pass the exam tomorrow, I should learn the Jutsu's from this scroll," Naruto told truthfully.
"Wait, did you said Mizuki?" Iruka widened his eyes, did his friend asked for Naruto to steal the Scroll? In the first place, Naruto wouldn't do something like that and he shouldn't even know about the existence of the forbidden scroll.
Almost lost in his thought, Iruka almost didn't saw the Kunai that was aiming at him as he defended himself with his own Kunai. "Wha-?!"
The Kunai is one of the most common ninja tools. It is a black dagger with a handle wrapped in bandages and a small ring attached to the end of it. The kunai is designed for thrusting and stabbing, though it can still do some damage if thrown despite not being designed for it, and is about the length of one's hand.
Naruto who also noticed the attack was about to push Iruka away but stopped himself as he saw how Iruka handle it himself.
"Not bad, Iruka," a voice chuckled, slowly making his appearance to the two.
"Mizuki, so it was really you... Why?!" Iruka clenched his fist, he still couldn't believe this, did his childhood friend really made Naruto steal the scroll? But for what reason?
"Someone will pay me a lot of money, if I give him the scroll," Mizuki smirked, "good job, Naruto, though did you purposely hid yourself? You didn't come to our agreed meeting spot."
"Oh? It wasn't the forest?" Naruto acted as he didn't know, "though seeing now that you attacked Iruka-sensei, I'm glad that I mixed up our meeting spot. You set me up, isn't that right, Mizuki?"
"You smarter than I thought, demon," Mizuki laughed a bit surprised at Naruto's conclusion.
"Mizuki! Don't talk any further! The Hokage forbid this!" Iruka shouted.
"Like I care anymore after I'll deliver the scroll, I'm going to leave the village anyway," Mizuki glared, "though it didn't go exactly how I wanted. I wanted to take the scroll after that demon stole it, while I had spread this throughout the village... they will believe that this demon stole the scroll and blame him, while I disappear in the progress, but this little brat didn't appear to our meeting place."
Naruto looked angry at Mizuki, "I never thought, a person can be this cruel, I don't really care how the villager's seeing me, but how can you betray the Village? And even attacked your friend?"
"Naruto...," Iruka was amazed at how Naruto reacted.
"It's true that I didn't plan to kill Iruka right now, but as he now knows the truth I need to eliminate him, but let me tell you one thing! I never have considered him as my friend..! I planned to kill him sooner or later, the man who suddenly got better treatment by everyone else than me! He was just a clown back then, he stole everything from me!"
"What..? Mizuki! What are you talking about..?!" Iruka didn't get, what Mizuki meant.
"So... it was jealousy? Because he got all the attention you became like that, all because you have an inferiority complex? Aren't you just like a brat? You are an adult, act like one!" Naruto scolded him.
"Naruto," Iruka was surprised how Naruto began to lecture Mizuki like an adult.
"Wha-?! You! A brat who is hated by the whole village, have no right to have a word! Just give me the scroll!" Mizuki couldn't contain his rage as he demanded the scroll from Naruto.
"No, Naruto! Don't listen to him! Protect the scroll! Who knows what the person will do with this dangerous scroll!" Iruka ordered.
Suddenly Mizuki began to insanely laugh, "Naruto, you shouldn't listen to this man... You should know, he's actually, really, really hates you! And I will tell you why, no I will tell you WHY the whole village hates you!"
Iruka widened his eyes, "Mizuki! No! Stop!"
Naruto and Kurama, the latter had a sad expression, silently watching the whole situation, knowing in which way this discussion will go.
"12 years ago, you have learned this at the academy, right? The Nine-Tails Fox, who raged over the Village, defeated by the Fourth Hokage and sealed away...happy end, right?" Mizuki began to narrate and smirked, "but, there is one thing you children didn't know, as a new rule was created for the Village, by the Third."
"NO! DON'T!" Iruka screamed again, trying to stop Mizuki, he, however, jumped from tree to tree, making it impossible to stop him now.
"Hehe, Naruto, this rule was never meant to be told you," Mizuki continued with an evil smile, thinking he build-up a lot of tension as he continued, "the rule that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact, that YOU, YOU are the DEMON FOX! The Demon Fox that killed so many people, including Iruka's parents! Do you realize now, why all the people hating you?!"
"Mizuki, why..?" Iruka clenched his fist, Naruto wasn't supposed to know that. The Third wanted to change the viewpoint of the villager's, but their grief was too strong, so the Third made the rule, that at least the new generation can see Naruto in a normal light, but the influence of their parents was too strong and even made Naruto an outcast in his generation, without even knowing this secret. Only a few, like Iruka himself and the two persons, from the small ramen restaurant he recently met, could understand who really Naruto is. He looked over towards Naruto, he was sure that the boy is now really devastated to learn the truth, but to Iruka surprise...
"You have been lied to by everyone! The evil, cruel bastard of a fox is sea-," Mizuki was about to finish his satisfied speak, as suddenly something hard directly connected with his face, clashing him against the tree behind him and making him scream in pain, holding his face, while his body twitched, "Argh, my face! my face!"
To both Mizuki's and Iruka's surprise, it was Naruto, moving so fast as their eyes couldn't catch him.
Clenching his fist, Naruto couldn't contain himself anymore, "I actually thank you for telling me all this, Mizuki-san, but like I said I don't care what the whole village think about me right now, even if I am really the Demon himself, I made a promise to myself, someday I will be acknowledged by the villager's as who I am with my own power and beliefs!"
"Naruto...!" Once again Naruto action completely stunned Iruka and he remembered something from today as he spoke with the Hokage earlier.
-Flashback a few hours ago-
"Good work, Iruka, may the exam tomorrow will be a success," the Hokage smiled, as the preparation for tomorrows exam were finished.
Iruka nodded with a smile, but wondered about something, "I'm actually surprise, that Naruto didn't do anything today, maybe he finally listened to my words."
The Hokage closed his eyes as he began to speak, "Iruka, Naruto probably just wanted to get attention, so he makes a lot of trouble, he'd never known parents love and hated by the villagers because of this unfortunate incident. He's seeking to acknowledge of his existence in any possible way, he may be acting through, but he is surely suffering..."
Iruka said nothing, as he actually also thought it in that way.
"Then again, it's just my assumption, maybe there is something more," the Hokage smiled, remembering a certain incident, making Iruka looks confused at him.
-Flashback end-
`Maybe he was just doing all the pranks, to show the villager's that he isn't someone dangerous, that they could approach him normally,´ Iruka thought.
"-but, I'll never forgive someone, who talk trash to the people close to me..!" Naruto finished with a glare. Kurama inside Naruto was so thankful to Naruto.
"What are you talking about, brat!?" Mizuki glared back, slowly getting used of the pain from the punch and drew a big Shuriken from his back.
Shuriken, like the kunai, are one of the more basic weapons seen in Ninja World. They are sharpened, four-pronged metal stars, useful for throwing. They have an open circle in the center, useful for grabbing with a finger, to avoid cutting oneself, or to put thread through. The circle is also beneficial to the weapon's overall aerodynamics, ensuring more accurate trajectories.
"Mizuki this guy..!" Iruka realized what he was planning and run towards to Naruto.
"I really wanted the village mob to handle you, but you are really making me angry, I will kill you now!" Mizuki shouted, throwing his Shuriken towards Naruto.
"Heh, as if this would hit- Wha-?!" Naruto was surprised, as suddenly something behind him pulled him away.
It was Iruka, he pulled him into an embrace to shield him and took the attack of the Shuriken for him, "I-Iruka-sensei?" Naruto was shocked, truthfully he could easily avoid the attack, but he didn't notice that Iruka was running toward him, he didn't pay attention to his surrounding, especially that he was still angry towards Mizuki.
"I...I´m actually very similar to you, Naruto," Iruka started, coughing a lot of blood, "I have lost my parents and nobody compliments me or acknowledge me... I was so sad that I always acted like an Idiot to get people's attention, since I wasn't able to do well in things like school and I would get the attention in that way, I thought "they laughed at me, but this is better than nothing", so I kept acting like an idiot, but it was really painful", Iruka cried, regretting a lot of things, including the terrible things, happened to Naruto, "I'm so sorry Naruto! I should've done a better job, then you wouldn't have had feel like this"
Naruto closed his eyes, fully understanding how Iruka felt right now, "Iruka-sensei, I'm not resenting you.. I didn't lie to you yesterday, I'm really grateful to you. You may have look after me because you saw yourself in me, but all your action toward me, was genuine, so please don't blame yourself, you have done nothing wrong, just don't die on me now and continue to look after me as to how I'll turn the ninja world with a blast!" Naruto finished with a cheerful grin.
Iruka, who couldn't contain his tears anymore realized something, this boy wasn't something like him, he is much more stronger, "thank you, Naruto..!"
Mizuki who stand aside, watching the whole scene, managed to snorted, "Iruka, how can you be swayed by his words? Isn't he the demon who took your parent's lives? There is no way that the Demon Fox wouldn't try to use the power of the scroll to take revenge to the village!"
"Shut up!" Iruka managed to respond, "you're mistaken! The Demon Fox 12 years ago would do that! But Naruto is different! I've acknowledged him, as one... no, the best student I ever have! He may have troubled the village a lot, but now I know he had his reasons, he isn't the Demon Fox, he is a member of Konoha! He is Naruto Uzumaki!"
Naruto silently smiled, "Kurama, please forgive him, calling you a Demon, after all, he doesn't know you yet..."
Kurama responded with a sad smile, "already forgiven, how can I resent someone who would offer his life to protect you? Though, I wonder if he can ever forgive me for the thing that's happened to his parents..."
"He will understand... I believe it because this It's just his personality," Naruto assured Kurama and finally turned to Mizuki, "It's time to pay for your sins.."
Mizuki began to laugh amused, "you are really an idiot if you think you can beat me, the hit I took from you early was because I didn't have my guard on!"
"Naruto, no!" Iruka coughed, "Don't try to fight him, he still a strong ninja... Just run away!"
"Iruka, I have told you that I have learned a new Jutsu, right? I thought I could surprise this to you for tomorrows exam, but now it's time to show it to you," Naruto began to smile.
-Meanwhile back by the Hokage-
"He is truly something," the Hokage smiled, looking through a crystal ball, the Telescope no Jutsu, a technique that uses the crystal ball to track a particular individual anywhere they are. There are a few restrictions about the person that is subjected to pursuit. The user must know that person's chakra pattern. If someone can be targeted for pursuit, they may be very far away, the crystal ball will be able to confirm their position. As this technique is infallible for intelligence purposes, the Third Hokage used it to maintain public order in the village. Thanks to this technique, the Hokage now knows what has happened.
"Hokage-sama!" someone called, "we just can't find Naruto Uzumaki! Maybe we should call our Jon-"
Hiruzen quickly cut him off, "Oh yes, please tell everyone everything is settled, and tell the others, that Naruto Uzumaki was innocent and prepare to prison Mizuki, the true culprit!"
"What? Mizuki...?" The ninja was surprised.
"Yes, now quickly go!" Hiruzen ordered, to which the ninja replied with a nod.
Three ninjas who were hiding somewhere near, sighed loudly in relief, "I knew it! It was strange! Naruto wouldn't do something this extreme!"
"Liar wasn't you the one who said: "I knew it all along he is evil!"?! It was me, who had suspected that something was wrong!"
"What did you say?! It was me, who needed to convince you, that something was wrong!"
"Hey, hey, calm down, guys, either way, I am just glad that everything is over now."
-Back to the forest-
"For the betrayal of the Village, and the pain you have given to Iruka-sensei, I, Naruto Uzumaki, now will perform your punishment! I'll return this pain 1000 times back to you!"
Mizuki couldn't help but laughed down to Naruto, "What a joke, what can a brat like you, do to me?"
Naruto began to do some hand-signs and shouted out an unfamiliar Jutsu, "Shadow Clone no Jutsu!"
"Naruto...," Iruka widened his eyes, he lost to count how many times Naruto surprised him.
"W-W-What's going on?" Mizuki looked around him, feeling weak from his feet, there was 50, 100 no it may be even 1000 of Naruto's standing around him, "I-I know! This is just an illusion! Only a Clone No Jutsu! A-As if this trick will work against me!" He wanted to believe.
Clone No Jutsu, an E-Rank technique, is a ninjutsu that creates an intangible copy of one's own body, without any substance. Since the clone itself doesn't have the ability to attack, and thus can only be used to confuse the enemy, it is mainly used in combination with other ninjutsu. It's a basic technique learned in the Academy. A person with normal eyes can also distinguish the clones from the original since the clones do not have shadows and will not disrupt the area around themselves with their movement (i.e. won't kick up dust, crush grass, etc.).
Shadow Clone No Jutsu, a forbidden B-rank technique, is similar to the basic Bunshin no Jutsu(Clone Technique), this technique creates copies of the user. However, these clones are corporeal instead of illusions.
"Well Mizuki believe what you want, I wish you a good night," Naruto finally said as he snipped with his fingers. His clones slowly begun to approached Mizuki in the middle.
"No! I-It can't be! They are just illusions! No, no, NOOOOOOO-!" Mizuki screamed.
Iruka baffled, but eventually smiled, `he really did divide into a thousand, plus... each of them wasn't an illusion they were truly solid, with the High-Class-Technique which the Second Hokage developed, he may surpass all previous Hokage when he grows up!´
"Hey, Naruto!"
"Yes, Iruka-sensei? You should rest, though."
"Come over here, there is something I want to give you for now. Close your eyes for a bit."
Naruto willingly to listen to his teacher and close his eyes, after a while he felt something on his forehead, not sure what that was.
"Now, open your eyes," Iruka replied with a grin, "congratulation!"
"Your forehead..!" Naruto noticed that the forehead protector from Iruka is missing and it didn't take long for Naruto to see the connection, "Why..? The exam is tomorrow!" He was really surprise, a lot of his classmates asked to borrow his forehead protectors, to get the feeling to become a shinobi, but Iruka never gave them as he believes that is something that is earned after they'll graduate.
"Yeah, but you deserved that, remember this feeling, when you get your own forehead protector! The symbol to be a proud member of Konohagakure!"
"Iruka-sensei...!"
"But, just to make sure, if you pass the exam tomorrow, I'll promise to take you often to the Rāmen Ichiraku!"
Naruto smiled, Iruka is really a good person, "Yes! Iruka-sensei!"
"Acting just like a father," Kurama chuckled, of this cute situation.
His step to becoming a true ninja draw closer.. of the Super Genius Naruto!
-To Be Continued-