Writing an AU version gives me an excuse to spell-check everything I have written, so in the end, both versions will have less mistakes in the end!
Anyway, LET'S START!
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The last week had been a strange one for everyone in Konoha. The first that had happened was that the security had been increased around the village. Apparently, the fact that an academy failure managed to not just enter the Hokage's private library, but also knock out the aforementioned Hokage and steal a scroll, even if the scroll was without much value, (Nope, no value at all) was a sign that they should take this seriously.
The second and last thing that had happened was the fact that the week had been surprisingly quiet. Usually, there would have been a certain orange-clad boy that would run around, pulling pranks on everyone while screaming on the top of his lungs that he was gonna be the next Hokage. That didn't happen this week, and for a somewhat good reason too.
Naruto awoke that morning, feeling less enthusiastic than he had felt in years. He had somewhat become used to it, for he hadn't really had much positive energy this last week.
He stretched, hearing his back make cracking noises, and when he was satisfied, he went over to the window, pulled the curtains away, and promptly swore as he covered his eyes.
This was another thing that made Naruto's mood drop. For some reason, everything seemed to become brighter for each day. In the start, it wasn't really all that noticeable, but as the week passed, he had to squint more and more. It was really becoming quite annoying if he had to be honest with himself.
But he smiled when he turned away from the window. One good thing had happened this last week, and that was the fact that he felt stronger than ever before. The sword that he got from the scroll, for some reason, it felt almost natural to use it. He wasn't anywhere near good with it, but he could easily hold himself against most of his class with it if he had too he guessed.
He hadn't trained much with the dagger though. For some reason, he always felt uneasy when he held it, like something was lurking in the blade, just waiting for him to stab someone. Yet, he felt he couldn't leave it in the house unguarded, so the least he did was hide it away behind some loose floor-planks, a trap here and there put up if only to annoy the would-be thief.
The cloak, he had only used once, and that was the item that mystified him the most. As the light became more annoying, he had to find something to at least block some of the sunlight. He had tried a hat, he had tried sunglasses. Heck, he had even tried a non-orange jacket that had a pretty big hood, but yet the light almost blinded him. But yesterday, when he used the cloak for the first time, everything became darker for him, and the light levels changed to a much more acceptable level.
But being lost in his own mind was not on his agenda that day. Today, he would be given his team! He had actually went shopping just two day ago for some darker clothes. They were still pretty much orange, but they were at a darker, and much more manageable shade for both others and himself. It didn't help that he was almost blinded just three days ago when he opened his closet. He also liked wearing his new head-band around his neck, just felt more comfortable. (And his hair somewhat shadowed for the sun, even if it barely worked.)
As he opened the door to leave, he looked back at the hiding place of his weapons and cloak. A part of him said to just leave them, but another part, almost possessively, screamed at him to bring them with him.
"I'll come back for you." He whispered, almost in a trance. He broke eye-contact with the spot, and as he took a deep breath, he went out of the apartment, and closed the door.
He left for the academy pretty early, not feeling like rushing to get there in time for once. As he walked down the street, he once again noticed the looks the villagers gave him. For some reason though, instead of making him depressed, it almost felt like the glares fueled him. It actually felt so good he almost broke into a smile.
Of course, all good things had to end as he closed in on the academy. He saw kids younger than him scurry around, trying to find their friends before their first year, and he also saw several people about his own age sitting around in their own cliques.
He couldn't be bothered by any of them, so he just strode straight into the academy, quickly finding his classroom door, where he was instantly greeted with a wall of sound.
Jupp, everyone that had passed was inside. Hinata, Kiba, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Shino, Chouji and several more he just couldn't remember the name of. Speaking about the dog-nin.
"Hey Naruto, what are you doing here? This is only a place for people who actually passed the test!" Kiba snarled at the boy, but surprisingly enough, the one who answered him wasn't Naruto, but rather an agitated Nara.
"Could you just shut it Kiba? Are you too blind to see the head-band around his neck, or are you simply a retard?"
Everyone who had listened in stared at the lazy boy, mouth agape and brain malfunctioning. Shikamaru Nara, the proclaimed laziest and most laid-back person to ever exist just up and told another person, Kiba no less, to shut up, and he actually said more than one word.
Breaking out of the spell before the others, Naruto decided that sitting beside the angry sloth may not be such a bad idea.
"So" He began. "What's up with you?" He mumbled.
Shikamaru sighed and put his head on his arms. "Me and my family have trouble sleeping. There's a reason most of my family is lazy, and it comes from our bloodline. If we don't get a minimum amount of sleep, our abilities might run amok. What a drag." He ended, snuggling into his arms a bit more.
Chouji nodded, patting his friends back as he mumbled through his chips. "There there Shika, I bet everything's gonna turn out better soon."
During their little conversation, Ino and Sakura, the self-proclaimed number 1 fan girls of Sasuke had entered the room, yelling profanities at each other which became shriller the longer they spoke.
"Can you girls shut UP!" A voice yelled from the row furthest from the blackboard.
Everyone, including the recently arrived Iruka, stared at the boy with the black sunglasses. Not just Shikamaru, but also Shino was starting to act weird now. What the hell Is happening?
Dismissing the recent development Iruka told the girls to sit down before starting.
"Everyone who is here today, congratulations for passing the academy test! I am sure you are all going to make this village proud, and I am also sure you will all grow into strong ninjas. 'or, at least some of you' Now, Let's begin with the team-placements."
The whole class spaced out basically, only slightly perking up now and then when a name was heard.
"Team 7, lead by the Jounin Hatake Kakashi will consist of Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Chouji Akimichi."
An ear-splitting screech went through the classroom after that announcement.
"Team 8, lead by the Jounin Kurenai Yuuhi will consist of Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuuga."
Two screams of 'Dog-kid with fleas' and 'rabid fan girl' resounded around the room as the raven-haired girl looked down in sadness for not coming in the same team as her love.
Another team was named without any really reacting that badly until the last team was called.
"Team 10, led by the Jounin... This can't be correct" He mumbled to himself as the class perked up.
"Anyway, the team consists of Shino Aburame, Naruto Uzumaki and Shikamaru Nara. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to take a quick chat with the Hokage." And with that, he rushed out the door, leaving a somewhat confused classroom behind.
It wasn't long before the Jounin began to arrive, and the classroom quickly became less and less occupied. Kurenai, a raven-haired, red-eyed individual had to drag a sobbing Ino out of the building. In the end, only two teams was left: Team 7, and Team 10.
Not a lot of conversation had happened, mostly just Sakura gushing at her precious Sasuke-Kun while everyone else tried to block her voice out, and for some reason, Shikamaru and Shino seemed a bit on edge. Naruto just sat there, lost in his own mind, replaying his last training session over and over, finding parts he might improve.
Suddenly, the door opened, and a very familiar face came in.
"Iruka, you're back!" Naruto said, noticing the slightly different uniform.
Scratching his neck, Iruka nodded before coughing. "Team 10, could you come with me?"
Glancing at each other, the kids followed their teacher to the nearby taijutsu field, leaving the chubby Akimichi, the raving Haruno, and the brooding Uchiha behind.
"Yes... Well, it seems like I am going to be your Jounin Sensei. I was given back my old rank as Jounin which I had before I meet you guys. Anyway, any questions?"
"What is the purpose of this team? The members and the abilities in this team seems... Illogical." Shino asked, straightening his glasses.
"... Infiltration, assassination and information gathering. Shikamaru's abilities will in the future be perfect to infiltrate heavily-secured areas, you Shino will be perfect to gather information as I know your bugs have the abilities to read, and Naruto is actually one of the more stealthy individuals in Konoha, having hidden from Chuunin and Jounin several times after his pranks. That, combined with his newly obtained Kenjutsu skills that will improve, makes him a great potential Assassin." He said, not bothering to sugarcoat what this team was supposed to do in the future.
Shikamaru and Shino shared an uneasy look while a chilling laughter went through Naruto's mind.
"But then again, you still have one more test before you are official genin." Iruka said, somewhat ruining the tense mood. "Meet me at training ground 10 in about an hour. Bring everything you may think you need for any situation." And with a poof, Iruka had left.
Shino turned around, about to address his blonde team-mate before he noticed that he was already gone, barely a small speck in the horizon.
"Shikamaru. We need to be careful around Naruto. My bugs... They are uneasy whenever he is close. The worst part is, they don't know why he makes them uneasy." Shino said, his monotone voice actually a bit scared.
"I know, he makes me uneasy too." Shikamaru said, walking away while muttering "What a drag."
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Sitting cross-legged on the ground of training ground 10, Iruka sighed at the recent development. He really didn't want to take his position back. He loved teaching, but he had always been a more theoretical person than a practical person. Shino and Shikamaru would easily pick up what he said, but he was unsure about Naruto. Naruto had always been a very practical person, so Iruka was a bit unsure how to be a good teacher for him.
Speaking of the blonde, a short individual with a somewhat familiar black cloak was seen walking into the same ground as Iruka, a sword which was almost taller than the person on his back.
"Hey Iruka Sensei." Came from within the hood, a a familiar whiskered face somewhat concealed from view. Iruka noted that it was an unusually dark shadow that the hood cast over Naruto's face.
"Hey Naruto, what's with the cloak?" Iruka asked, watching the boy shift on his feet a bit.
"Ehh, I just think that the sun has become damn bright for some reason. Plus, you can't deny I look kinda awesome in this cloak!" Naruto ended in a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
Iruka sighed. 'Well, I can't really force him to stay the same person after that experience in the woods. Except for the cloak, he seems to be taking it well... I'll have to keep an eye on him though. Naruto has always been good at hiding his true feelings and motives.'
He was brought out from his thoughts when he felt a tugging notion at his arm.
"You never told me you was a Jounin. Why did you teach at the academy if you was a Jounin?"
"I've always loved teaching." Iruka said, smiling. "It was my choice really. Before I became a teacher, I was part of the hunter-nin division. I wasn't the best, but I was still fairly good. My experience there helped me deduce what happened when... When Mizuki attacked you." Iruka frowned when he said that, remembering the shaken boy and the decapitated man.
'Something doesn't feel right about that scene.' Iruka mused, watching Naruto do some basic moves with a dagger after having his curiosity sated. 'If I am correct, Mizuki might have been dead for maybe half an hour before I came, yet his body was already stiff and tense, something that usually doesn't happen before three or four hours... What could have made Mizuki react like he did? He must obviously have been scared shit-less by something, but what? It can't be the Kyuubi, everyone within a miles radius would have felt its chakra, and I know Naruto has no skill in genjutsu at all, nor is he able to manifest his ki yet, so it can't really be Naruto. Did he get help?'
This continued for the next 25 minutes, Naruto training with his dagger while Iruka was lost in his own mind, replaying the scene over and over again in his head.
He was broken from his somewhat depressing thought process when he noticed Shikamaru and Shino walk towards him.
'I'll have to take another look in the forest, maybe scourge the area surrounding the clearing for some other tracks.'
"I see you're all here." Iruka announced, getting the attention of Naruto as he walked towards them.
"Now, as I said before, this is the final test to make you all official genins. Since our squad has a specific purpose, I will make it somewhat interesting. This squad's main job is, in the end, assassinations, so I want you three to make a scenario where I will be caught quickly, silently and efficiently with limited or no chance of escaping. Of course, just coming up with a scenario is to easy, so you will have to try and catch me. Any questions?"
The three graduates glanced at each other before ultimately shaking their head.
Satisfied with the answer, Iruka shunshin'd away, leaving behind a note.
Taking the initiative, Naruto picked up the note and read out loud what was written on it.
"As a squad that is basically going to be like a mix of ANBU and hunter-nins, you have to learn patience, stealth, tracking, tactics and how to make a plan on a moments notice. You have until the sun rises tomorrow to catch me. I will only reveal that I have not left the walls of Konoha, so I can be hidden everywhere, but I will not have henged. This is a great test when it comes to your current tracking skills, and will show your future potential.
Just a quick note: I will fight back, so don't expect it to be over even if you find me. -Iruka"
Naruto looked up from the paper, noticing Shikamaru in a strange pose, his brow furrowed in concentration. Shino on the other hand just looked into space, seeming distracted by something.
"Something the matter Shino?" Naruto asked, snapping the bug-ninja out of his trance.
"No, I'm fine. Shikamaru, got any plans?" Shino asked, his voice wavering a bit at the start before settling into his normal monotone.
It took a moment before they got an answer, Shikamaru standing up before he spoke. "Does anyone know where his apartment is? The first step to check should always be at the targets home if you know where it is. Devising a strategy about how to catch Iruka seems somewhat pointless until we actually know where he is and what kind of environment we will fight him in." He said, looking at the other two.
"I have been there before." Naruto said, making the other two raise an eye-brow. "Long story short, I haven't always been healthy." Naruto ended, not interested in explaining anything.
And with that, they began their quest, Naruto leading the way while his two team-mates following just a bit to far away for it to be normal.
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An hour had gone by, and Iruka finally found his way back to the clearing. He never had the best memory when it came to locations.
"Thank god that the ANBU didn't leave any new marks or tracks in the ground or surrounding area. Being an elite seems to have it's perks." Iruka mumbled to himself as he looked over the clearing from atop a branch. He looked over to where Mizuki lied dead just a week ago and frowned.
"Mizuki... *Sigh*"
Getting his head in hunter-nin mode, he began to trail the events.
"Naruto came from west, but he seems to have taken a random path to get here... He walked over here..." Iruka took fifteen steps forward. "Before stopping here... He sat here, putting the scroll down on the ground..." He noticed that there were some ashes right beside where Naruto sat. "The scroll burned up after Naruto got the items... And then Mizuki attacked from behind, throwing one of his shurikens... Naruto sat with his back towards the tree, giving Mizuki a great chance to attack, yet Naruto managed to dodge... Did Mizuki brag before attacking? No, it doesn't fit him. Me may belittle someone, but that's usually after attacking."
He traced to where Naruto landed, and noted the distance between Naruto's new position and Mizuki's position was about 45-50 feet. "Mizuki attacked again, but Naruto managed to deflect the shuriken back somehow..." He noticed the hole in the tree where the shuriken Naruto deflected hit. "Mizuki ran forward and kicked Naruto... He hit the tree, landing on the ground, and then... Naruto... Walks forwards... Mizuki seems to have collapsed at this point for some reason... And Naruto cut of his head... He seems to have broken down here..." Iruka sighed, no closer to an answer than before.
"At least I know that Mizuki must have started the fight, and that he collapsed at the last part of the battle. Did Naruto manage to swipe at him when Mizuki kicked him, giving him a crippling wound? No, I don't remember seeing any other wounds on him... Surveying the trees have given me nothing, and there is no other footsteps here, or anywhere close to this clearing that belongs to anyone else than Naruto and Mizuki..."
He continued to trace the area for any signs for the next hour, his frustration growing as it was becoming more and more apparent that coming here was almost fruitless.
He finally stopped when he noticed that It had become darker in the forest, signaling that the sun must have went down.
"And so the night begins... I wonder if they have found my place yet." He mumbled, deciding to mark this place as clean for now.
As he shunshin'd away, his eyes fell on the ashes on the ground, making him wonder if there possibly was something else in the scroll.
He appeared again on top of the Hokage Mountain, A good 500 feet from the edge in a little tent he had set up.
He immediately sensed three chakra signatures slowly closing in on his position. They were still a good distance away, but there was no mistaking the noticeably larger signature that was Naruto's aiming straight at his location.
"It seems like they found me... I wonder if it's Naruto that showed them how to follow basic tracks." He mumbled to himself, grabbing a sandwich from his bag that was just outside the tent.
"The first thing I should teach them is how to conceal their chakra. I don't expect Naruto to master it, but it will at least make him seem like a much lesser threat than what he really is." He said a couple of minutes later after having finished his dinner, the signatures around 150 feet away, having stopped for now.
"They've most likely seen the shine from my camp-fire. I wonder what they'll do first." He mumbled to himself while he waited for them to make the first move.
He noticed the signatures get closer, and suddenly a kunai flew from the forest. He effortlessly grabbed it, looking a bit disappointed through the trees.
"Is that all?" He yelled to them before noticing that he couldn't move. He then noticed the barely visible string attacked to the handle.
The next moment he was swarmed by bugs while a blade was tickling his throat.
"You shouldn't underestimate us Iruka." Naruto said as he smirked. 'Kill him'. Rang in his head, making his eye twitch a little.
"Not bad," The scarred man said. "This tactic would actually trick a good amount of chuunin, but there is just one problem..." And as he said that, he turned into water and fell to the ground, showing that he was a water-clone.
"I'm not a chuunin." Came from a tree. "I have to say though, playing on my apparent skills and arrogance, making a favorable gamble that I would catch that single kunai was actually pretty clever... But in the end, it failed anyway. Lesson number one: Never expect that you have won until you have your targets head in your hands." He said, watching the three youths bracing themselves. A moment later, he disappeared in front their very eyes.
The silence that ensued didn't help the tense mood the group had.
"Lesson number two: Sensing. Being able to sense, or at least predict where an enemy is, what the enemy might use, where he might strike from and what he might strike first. For instance..." He said, appearing in front of Shikamaru before sending him flying back with a palm-thrust. Naruto attacked him with his sword and Shino went to help his fallen comrade, but Iruka merely dodged lazily around the sword. After a particularly wide swing that left Naruto wide open, he used the same move again, aiming Naruto so he was sent flying towards Shino.
Anticipating this, Shino grabbed Naruto as he flew be, span around, and threw the boy at their teacher, Naruto having somehow managed to sheathe his sword and taken out his dagger.
The first slash missed as Naruto met blades with Iruka. The Jounin jumped back, seeing Shikamaru's shadow try to grab him while at the same time dodging a kunai sent his way from his blond student. With another flurry of speed, Iruka ran at Naruto, and with an easy move, disarmed him and threw him at Shino again, this time hitting the bug-boy, sending them both to the ground.
"This cloak's just in the way!" Naruto grounded out through gritted teeth, throwing the robe of him before unsheathing his sword again, running at Iruka while being accompanied by Shino's bugs. Naruto dodged out of the way from a water-bullet sent from their teacher, but noticed a chunk of Shino's bugs drop to the ground.
"God-DAMMIT!" Naruto yelled, pouring chakra into his sword as he slashed at Iruka. The scarred man wisely dodged out of the way, seeing a wave of chakra exit the boys blade and cutting a tree in two, sending it tumbling to the ground. Not letting up in his charge, Naruto continued to swipe at his teacher, leaving gashes at the surrounding fauna as Iruka easily dodged away from Naruto's predictable attacks.
With a last swing Iruka jumped up to one of the undamaged trees, noticing the panting form of Naruto leaning a bit on his blade.
"You're definitely better at fighting without that cloak Naruto, ever considered turning parts of it into a simple hood instead?" He said, jumping to another tree as to not be caught by another one of Shikamaru's shadows.
"Not really, but I'll think I do it tomorrow. It'll be easier to move at least, that's for sure." Naruto said, being joined by a sweating Nara and a stoic Aburame.
Seeing the exhausted forms of his students, Iruka came to a quick conclusion. With a single hand-sign he grabbed the tree, sent some chakra through it too the earth, and trapped his students legs in a simple, yet very effective earth-jutsu.
"Alright, I think I'll say this test is over." He said, staring down at his students. "I must say, you three did a great job, and Naruto, you've really improved. If you and Sasuke ever meet in a fight, I'd bet on you." Iruka said with a smile, earning the same reaction from his student.
"But in the end," He said, dampening the mood. "You didn't catch me, did you?" He said, before noticing something weird. If he didn't know better, he would think that Shino was... Smiling...
"Well... Shit." He said a moment later, noticing once again that he couldn't move. The Shikamaru that stood at Naruto's side turned into really familiar bugs, flying up and attaching to Iruka as Naruto landed beside him with the sword at his throat, and the once-again acquired dagger at his neck.
"Check mate." He heard from behind him, feeling a smirk from the lazy genius.
"Check mate indeed." Iruka said, regaining function to his limbs as the shadow retreated.
'Coat your blade with his blood, feel it slither down your hands, let it enter the soil beneath your feet.'
Naruto's hand trembled for a moment, his ocean-blue eyes for a quick moment turning into a much darker hue. He shook his head and sheathed his blades, his eyes once again their natural color as he jumped down with his teacher.
"Well, what do I have to say? I'm proud to say that you pass! I will take a quick guess though and say that Shikamaru made the plan, am I right?" He said smirking.
"You're half-right sensei." Said the Lazy teen. "I did come up with the general plan, but it was actually Naruto that came up with the place-switching. To be honest, I don't think our plan would have worked without the clone. We knew you would attack me first, me being the smartest and with the only restricting move, therefore making me the greatest threat in the long run. We actually gambled that you would throw Naruto at Shino, which gave us the chance to switch me with a clone when Naruto kept you busy."
Iruka smiled, satisfied. "You three together are definitely enough to take a chuunin down easily, which was one of my two requirements. The other one was at least tolerable teamwork, and you have shown that in abundance. Team 10, meet me at Training ground 10 in two days. You will have tomorrow to recuperate and finding any last-second equipment you might need. Now, I would like to stay, but I have a report I must give the Hokage. See ya." And with that, he shunshin'd away, leaving the three ecstatic genins behind.
"Can't wait to start really working with you guys." Naruto said, awkwardly extending a hand. Shino looked at it for a moment before turning around, beginning the trek down the mountain.
"Yeah, at least you aren't as loud as you used to be." Shikamaru muttered as he yawned, striding behind Shino.
'Strike them down.'
Naruto shook his head as he was left alone. Naruto made no lies about knowing what was inside of his head. He knew exactly who, or what that man was. The Witch-King of Angmar, the mightiest of the long deceased Nazgul. Naruto shuddered a bit as he remembered how the corpse of a man looked. He knew the mans aura was influencing him, but the part that made him a bit worried was that he was beginning to like it.
He had managed to suppress the feeling for the most part around others, but the mans dark aura still spilled from him. The strange part was that it didn't seem to affect everybody, just selected people around him. He didn't know why, and the wandering corpse in his head rarely talked at all, so no answers there.
As Naruto picked up the cloak he had left behind, something else entirely went on in his head. Angmar was seen slowly wandering around in ankle-deep water. Around him were rusted metallic walls, and above him some pipes.
At first glance one would think he was wandering around aimlessly, but it quickly became apparent that his directions had a purpose.
It didn't take long for him to reach his goal.
The corridor widened to a gigantic room, and in the middle was a gate, each and every metallic pole wider than he was, and in the middle was a seal.
He stopped a small distance from the gate and merely stared at it. A silence ensued as the water stopped moving, and the moment there was no more ripples, he screamed a horrifying scream. The scream that made the Nazgul the most feared warriors in history, being able to inflict pure terror on their victims just with a sound.
Behind the gate, movement was seen, then a massive red-slitted eye opened before it shrank slightly.
"It can't be possible." Kyuubi muttered, shrinking back in fear.
"So we meet again Balrog, you pathetic being." And with that greeting he walked through the gates, roars of despair emanating from the massive fox.