(Edited)

Chapter 2: Best Laid Plans of Fox and Men

Naruto smirked to himself, the tip of a fang peeking over his lip. Today, he managed to pull one over on the shop owners by changing his appearance with the transformation jutsu. Naruto was kicking himself for not thinking of that sooner. Something else he noticed, though, was how difficult it was to perform the jutsu compared to before. He guessed it was because of the massive chakra increase.

First, Naruto decided to buy food, obviously. He even let out a feral growl once he departed from the store because of how much less the food cost in comparison to before he used the transformation jutsu. After depositing the food in his apartment, he went out to buy some more appropriate cloting. With the same transformation in place, he scanned the store and bought what he wanted.

Currently, Naruto stood in his apartment, with the transformation released, in his new clothes. He was wearing a sleeveless, dark red shirt over black, baggy pants that were taped off at the ankles, black sandals, and black arm warmers. A dark orange sash, the same tone as his hair, was tied around his waist.

Satisfied with his look, Naruto got down to contemplating his revenge. As he currently stood, he didn't stand a chance in hell, fox's power or not. Naruto didn't have the slightest inkling as to what his limits were or what abilities he had in this new form of his. Trying to exact his revenge now would only result in his arrest and execution. All the citizens were looking for any reason to either lock him away for life, or just end his life.

'No way am I going to let them put me down.' Naruto thought with pure determination.

His revenge would have to take a back seat to training. He needed to get stronger and he needed to discover what he could do with this newly attained power. Finding out how, though, was the problem. Naruto couldn't just teach himself. He needed guidance of some sort from an older, experienced shinobi and the only way that would ever happen would be if he graduated from the academy. As much as he loathed and dreaded returning to that damned place, it was his only choice.

Sighing in frustration, Naruto laid in his bed, trying to get some sleep with the thought of the academy in his head, a thought that completely sickened him.

*5 Years Later*

Today would mark the third time Naruto has attempted the graduation exam for academy students. When it came to taijutsu, Naruto ran circles around all of his classmates. Intense practice has fine tuned his aiming with shuriken and kunai. A couple years back, Naruto purchased twin blades and became fairly efficient in kenjutsu. Naruto's taijutsu was something akin to the Inuzuka style. The biggest difference between the two taijutsu styles was Naruto didn't bother getting down on all fours. He discovered that his senses were strengthened. His ears and nose were sensitive, on par with that of an Inuzuka.

But what the hell was the problem? Chakra control. Naruto had so much chakra, and he noted that his chakra was actually steadily increasing, ever so slightly. Any progress that he made while performing countless chakra control exercises, was made invalid. When he became quickly frustrated with his lack of progress, the Kyuubi's voice sounded in his head and told him that he had not given Naruto all of his chakra right away, for that would have killed him. Instead, the Kyuubi opted for gradually sending his chakra into Naruto so his body could adapt easier to the demonic chakra.

Because of the massive amount of chakra Naruto possessed, he was unable to perform the simple jutsus the academy required. He could barely perform the transformation jutsu anymore, he could use the replacement jutsu, but it was inconsistent, and the clone jutsu, Naruto said, "Could go straight to hell." Indeed, Naruto could not create a reliable clone.

Naruto found himself at a stand still. Currently, he waited in his classroom at the academy, just a bit nervous about the exam. He hoped the exam this year would demand the proper execution of the Replacement Jutsu. After a few years, his classmates finally warmed up to the idea of Naruto's feral appearance. They still avoided him, but that was fine by Naruto. He didn't give a damn whether they like him or not anymore.

"The final test will be on the Clone Jutsu. When your name is called, proceed to the testing room." Naruto ears twitched and as he registered what his teacher said. Naruto let out a light growl and he rested his head on his arms, resigning himself to another hellish year in the hellish hellhole.

"Naruto Uzumaki. Your turn. Perform the clone jutsu." Mizuki commanded gently with that gentle smile he seemed to always have. He was one of the nicer teachers, Naruto noted.

Naruto walked over to the testing room and stood in the center. Taking a deep breath to relax himself, he performed the necessary handsigns and said in a low voice, "Clone Jutsu!"

A puff of smoke appeared and as it cleared, Naruto standing next to four duds was revealed.

"Naruto, you fail!"

Naruto growled softly. His ears drooped and he began walking out.

"Come on, can't we allow him to pass. This is his third year and technically, he did create clones." Mizuki said in Naruto's defense.

Naruto's ears twitched in Mizuki's direction and looked back in disbelief. Sure, Mizuki had been relatively nice, but for him to actually speak for him was definitely shocking for Naruto.

"We can't allow him to graduate. Those clones, if you could even call them that, were pathetic. They would be completely ineffective on the battlefield, unless his opponents laughed themselves to death." The female teacher, whose name Naruto didn't bother to remember, spoke.

With that Naruto took his leave.

Outside, Naruto sat in the branches of the nearest tree looking at the proud families and their children whom passed the exam. Apparently, he had been the only one to fail this year and this knowledge fueled his anger and frustration.

"I heard he's the only one who failed."

"Good thing. Do you have any idea what would happen if that demon became a ninja?"

Naruto's sensitive ears picked up on the conversation and he sunk deeper within himself. He noticed Mizuki approaching him from his spot on the tree branch.

"What the hell do you want, Sensei?" Naruto asked without turning to face him.

"I just want to offer you a make-up exam." Mizuki said, catching Naruto's interest.

"I've never heard of any make-up exam. Just what exactly does this entail?" Naruto inquired with suspicion. Trust was never an option.

"If you manage to find the secret scroll located in the Hokage's office and learn any given technique from the scroll, you will pass. You see, this test will examine your ability to invade an area undetected, and test your capacity to learn." Mizuki informed giving his most convincing smile.

"Alright. I guess I'll give it a shot." Naruto said with a determined smirk. The way Mizuki explained the test did make sense, but he'd still stay on his guard just in case.

Naruto wasn't sure for how long he had this scroll, but he did smile as he remembered his reaction to seeing the first jutsu listed on the scroll. He had just opened up the scroll and saw the name Shadow Clone Jutsu written first.

"More clones? Damn it all, it never ends!" He had said frustrated.

But he committed himself to learning and found it much easier to perform than the Clone Jutsu he was familiar with. Another thing he took note off, was how the scroll was clearly labelled as 'Forbidden Techniques.' At that point, he was sure Mizuki was up to something, but he wasn't sure what.

After thoroughly mastering the Shadow Clone Jutsu and familiarizing himself with its special properties, he moved down the list. He read off a technique named the Burst Step.

Derived from the 4th Hokage's Hiraishin, the Burst Step is performed by expelling out a large amount of chakra, depending on one's mastery of the jutsu, out to a specific area and using that expelled chakra as a beacon that recalls the body by basically acting as a magnet and drawing the body towards the expelled chakra in a very quick burst that is virtually invisible to an untrained eye. Apparently, it was forbidden because, unless very carefully performed by someone with a great amount of chakra and knowledge of how to use that chakra, the body could be seriously harmed by use of this technique.

He had recalled what was written for the description of the Shadow Clone Jutsu and applied that to learning the Burst Step. He avoided using the Burst Step to prevent the risks and instead left the practicing to his clones while he kept a sharp eye out for Mizuki. Mizuki was going to pay for even attempting to deceive him.

About two hours after he began trying to learn the Burst Step, he caught the scent of Mizuki. His ears began picking up the sound of rustling leaves and footsteps. His signature fanged smirk spread across his face. Throwing his black, high collared jacket to the ground, he prepared to face off with his Sensei.

His sharp ears heard that something was thrown, he dispelled the clones and jumped to the side, avoiding several kunai.

"Very alert, Naruto. That's good, now hand over that scroll and maybe I won't kill you." Mizuki said with mock praise.

"Bastard. I know you tried to deceive me. Unfortunately for you, though, you won't live long enough to regret that." Naruto said in a low, cruel voice with his clawed hand flexed in front of his face.

Naruto noticed Mizuki move his hand toward his back in an attempt to grab the Fuma Shuriken. Naruto didn't allow him to grab it. Naruto focused his chakra and quickly expelled it to Mizuki's side. Using the Burst Step, Naruto appeared at Mizuki's left and quickly unsheathed one of his twin blades and made a slash at Mizuki. Mizuki, with his shinobi reflexes, managed to side step the attack to avoid a serious injury, but he still received a shallow cut.

"Damn you, demon brat. So you managed to learn a little something from the scroll? Doesn't matter, you're nothing but a wild demon in the face of death." Mizuki's words only served to increase Naruto's anger.

Mizuki grabbed the Shuriken from his back and hurled it at Naruto. Naruto side stepped the shuriken and grabbed several kunai from his pouch and threw it at Mizuki. Mizuki ducked low to avoid the kunai and Naruto appeared using his Burst Step and delivered a kick to Mizuki's face.

Naruto quickly made the hand sign for the Shadow Clone Jutsu and five Narutos appeared. Mizuki did a backflip to regain his balance and pulled out some shuriken. With intent to destroy every clone, he threw them at the Narutos, whom drew their second blade and deflected the projectiles.

One Naruto Burst Stepped behind Mizuki going for the finishing slash, but Mizuki saw the attack coming and back kicked him and quickly realized it was only a clone as it poofed out of existence.

Two Narutos appeared at each of Mizuki's side and two more appeared at his back again. Each held onto Mizuki as the real Naruto channeled chakra into his claws and ran at Mizuki with surprising speed.

Rearing back his right arm, Naruto bellowed as he brought his arm down in an arc, slashing into Mizuki with his chakra-empowered claws. Mizuki's eyes widened and he let out pain-filled scream. Four deep gashes were left across Mizuki's chest. Mizuki's eyes glazed over and he fell to the ground, as the Naruto clones released him, lifelessly.

Naruto rose his blood stained hand to his face. The smell of the blood hit his nose immediately, and Naruto felt a grim satisfaction. He delighted in the feeling that accompanied exacting revenge on the deceitful teacher. Chuckling softly, Naruto walked away, staring at his hand in a daze.

'One down.'