AN: Oh how fun! My first writers block! Bring the champagne! Or at least something alcoholic, because that was frustrating as hell and I want to get hammered now. I was going for a double chapter but had to cut it short, and I STILL didn't make my own damn deadline! Bah. Moving on.

This chapter might be a bit choppy as well as my writers block messed it up a bit... Sorry about that. It's also a filler since it was supposed to be a double chapter with the second half being the Genin test.

Review response:

Butterflypuss: Thank you! :) It's really nice to know my English is okay :)

Alexnder: You brought up something I had actually forgotten, and is a very valid point as well. I forgot the whole understanding a jinchūriki's feelings since you can't just imagine yourself in that situation. Fū already was one of my favorites and this probably pushed her to the top. It will be a monogamous relationship since it's my first story, and I don't want to make things overly complicated. And don't worry about Naruto being OP, I dislike those situations unless you write your entire story about Naruto steam rolling everything and putting your focus on humor or romance instead, if the protagonist is too strong you end up with everything else falling apart around it. I'm very flattered with the high rating, thank you! And the word count will probably increase once I get used to writing, but not before then ^_^

I do not own Naruto

Pride and Gifts

The alarm barely had time to start ringing before a hand slammed down and shut it up. Naruto retracted the hand and opened his eyes and grinning.

'After today… I'm going to be a ninja! This is going to be Awesome, dattebayo!' He thought to himself as he jumped out of bed and stretched his body a little. After moving in with Akira his diet had become a lot more varied, although he still had ramen for lunch almost every day, and he was no longer the shortest of his class, he now stood at 150 cm, only slightly shorter than Uchiha Sasuke. He finished stretching and looked at his clothes for the day with a grin. He had decided that since he had been playing the fool throughout the academy, he might as well graduate as one too, therefore his neon orange jumpsuit was laid out in front of him, most likely to be worn for the last time. It was a shame really, even though Akira had managed to convince him that orange was NOT a good color for a ninja, it was still awesome. He gave a wistful sigh, sadly it was not to be, she had threatened to stop training him if he did not wear practical colors in the field, so he had reluctantly agreed. Shaking his head a bit he quickly got dressed and hurried to the kitchen to get breakfast. After he had eaten he put his sandals on, opened the front door, quietly, he knew better than waking Akira up after a mission, the first time he had done that… He felt a shiver make its way down his spine… She had forced him to play a game of tag, Mitarashi Anko style, which he quickly learned meant he had to run for his life while Akira threw sharp, pointy objects and even ninjutsu at him. He really did not want to meet Anko after that. He forced the memory down and gently closed the door after him, even though the silencing seals in the rooms would stop any sounds unless he knocked on the door, better safe than sorry. With the door closed he sped off towards the academy with his mask slipping into place with barely any conscious effort as he dodged the people in the streets while ignoring their glares, they were unimportant as they didn't even try to get to know him.

He soon reached the academy, and as he had left early he was the only one already there. He filled a bucket with water and carried it to his classroom and put it in a corner for later use. He knew he was going to pass, as had already showed Iruka-sensei his Mizu Bunshin no Jutsuat the level he intended to show in class, and both his Kawarimi and Henge was more than Genin material. He took his usual seat and just waited for everyone to show up. His classmates started to arrive after a while and Naruto barely registered anything that was happening, having learned to tune out everything his 'mask persona' was doing since he would just get bored otherwise. He blinked as he suddenly found him in a position that he couldn't ignore though. He was slowly falling after someone bumped into him, right towards Uchiha Sasuke, his 'rival', and was currently on a collision course for a kiss.

'Oh hell no! My first kiss will NOT be with a guy, and the class emo at that, dattebayo! Although he might actually enjoy it…' He thought as he managed to get the toes of his right foot firmly attached to the ground, he then stuck to the surface with chakra and twisted his body to miss the brooding Sasuke and instead go tumbling down the seats and collapse in a heap at the bottom. Everyone looked at him before they started laughing as he let his persona take over again, although he did catch the look he got from Shikamaru Nara, the only one that had noticed he was hiding his abilities, he had even confronted him about it once, to which Naruto had countered with 'why are you hiding the fact you're a genius?'. The shadow user had just stared at him before leaving with a sigh and mumbling about 'Troublesome blonds'. Shikamaru had started showing up at Akira's house after that and forced him to play shōgi. Naruto never managed to win, but his unpredictable tactics and ability to come up with new plans on the go had provided the genius Nara with a surprising amount of challenge, and the events had proven beneficial to both parties, as it gave Naruto some tactical knowledge and forced the Nara to learn to adapt when things took an unexpected twist, and the games had become a rather regular occurrence. Shikamaru had also become the first, and only, person from his generation to find out about the fox.

Flashback

Shikamaru was studying the blonde across the shōgi board intently. The blonde was an enigma to him, as he was hiding his true abilities during the academy and from what he had noticed from the many games of shōgi, overplaying the hyperactive idiot persona that was generally accepted as Uzumaki Naruto. Another thing that was weird was the amount of hatred that the villagers held for the boy, even his own father had warned him about being careful around him, even if he hadn't told him to stay away as he had heard a lot of other parents do. At first he had thought it was because of the blondes many pranks, but it had soon become clear that the hatred was too big and ran too deep to be because of a simple prank. So what was the reason for this hatred? It didn't make any sense. No matter how much he thought about it he couldn't come up with a valid reason a 10 year old would be the target of this much hate, and when he asked his father about it the man had tried to change the subject and never answered. so the only thing left to do?

"Naruto?" Shikamaru said. When the blonde looked up from the shōgi board to look at him he continued. "Why do the villagers hate you so much?" Naruto froze and actually seemed to stop breathing for a split second before he tried to act like it never happened.

"I don't know. I must have pranked them or something I guess." He said. Shikamaru just stared at him as if to say 'do you think I'm an idiot?'

"Don't insult me. Why do they hate you? What could you possibly have done for them to act the way they do? No matter how much I try I can't think of anything to cause this." He said while narrowing his eyes at the blonde. He would not accept a lie and he didn't feel like avoiding the subject any longer. Naruto seemed reluctant before he looked down.

"That's because you're assuming it's because something I did." He said after a while. Shikamaru blinked. He stared at Naruto for a while before putting his hands together in his 'thinking pose' and closed his eyes.

'So it's not because of Naruto's actions they act like this… Were his parents' traitors or something? No, if something like that could make them act like this the Uchiha would have been chased out after Madara…' He thought. He kept running through various scenarios in his head but always drew a blank.

'Alright this isn't working. What do I know of Naruto? He plays pranks, he's hated by almost everyone, he's a ramen freak, he hides his abilities and he got weird birthmarks, an-...' He stopped at that thought. 'Birthmarks… They look like whiskers… What did the villagers call him again? Fox brat? What was his birthday… That's right, October 10… They see him as the fox, but why? Just because of his birthday and whiskers? No, that can't be right.' His thoughts was running frantic at this point.

'Let's see… What do I know about the kyūbi… Madara used it to fight the Shodaime, who somehow managed to beat it with his Mokuton, no wait. Mokuton could only subdue the Bijū, not beat them. It was his wife that managed to beat it… And her specialty was fūinjutsu, she must have sealed the fox into something. But living beings can't be sealed into inanimate objects for long, so she must have-.' Shikamaru's eyes snapped open and locked onto Naruto. 'Naruto is born the same day the kyūbi attacked, the Yondaime died to beat it, and he specialized in fūinjutsu just like the Shodaime's wife. He must have sealed it inside of Naruto… That's why the villagers hate him, and dad warned me to be careful around him.' While he thought this he studied the whiskered blonde in front of him. Naruto was looking at him with a mix of curiosity, hope, resignation and most of all, fear. It was quite obvious that his actions would have a rather large impact on Naruto. Shikamaru sighed and lowered his eyes to the board. It seemed Naruto had found a way out of his trap and was trying to counter it with his own. He reached for one of his pieces and broke the trap as well as putting him in a position to end the game before he looked back to Naruto.

"I know you figured it out already, you had everything needed to." Naruto said after a while, a small hint of dread in his voice. Shikamaru thought about the situation for a while, the civilians hatred could be written off easily enough, but the fact that several ninjas, even his own father, was cautious of him would mean that the kyūbi could be able to break out. However, the kyūbi had also been sealed inside the Shodaime's wife without incident, and after she died it must have been sealed into someone else since it didn't reappear for several years, meaning the host must be able to suppress it. Did the former host lose control, and is that the reason they fear Naruto? He didn't know. However…

"If you were the kyūbi, me and everyone else in Konoha, would be dead already." Shikamaru said in a bored tone now that he had figured out one part of the blonde enigma. The simple answer seemed to stun Naruto, however happiness soon became apparent on his face when a grin, the same he had almost all the time in his idiot persona, except this one was truly genuine, threatened to split his face.

"Thank you, Shikamaru!" He almost yelled.

End Flashback

Soon after his impressive, if unnoticed by most, display of acrobatics Iruka had arrived together with Mizuki and had quickly shut the class up before explaining the tests, which consisted of a written test, a weapons test, taijutsu and finally the 3 basic ninjutsus. Naruto made sure to stay at a level that just barely allowed him to pass, and he didn't even have to fake it at the written exam… He never managed to stay focused on reading if he didn't have an interest in the subject. Now the only part left was ninjutsu.

"I will call you out one by one and you need to perform the 3 basic ninjutsus, the Henge, Kawarimi and Bunshin no jutsu." Iruka said before he called out names. And then after several minutes and everyone else in his class had either failed or gotten their headbands, "Uzumaki Naruto." It was finally his turn.

"Yes! I'm finally going to be a ninja, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled as he ran to stand in front of Iruka. He quickly used Kawarimi with a nearby chair, Henge'd into the Sandaime, perfect with the pipe and the orange book making Iruka blush a bit before glaring at him. Luckily the book was hidden from the rest of the class and only visible by him and Mizuki, it wouldn't do to spread rumors about the Hokage.

"Very funny Naruto. Now, you just need to make a Bunshin and you will be able to graduate." Iruka said even though he already knew what was going to happen.

"Umm… Does it have to be THE Bunshin or is any type of clone okay?" Naruto asked while scratching the back of his head a bit embarrassed.

"Any clone is fine, why do you ask?" Mizuki said, a bit suspicious. 'Why would he…? He can't be allowed to pass, he must fail for my plans, not to mention the demon doesn't deserve to be a ninja anyway.'

Naruto just grinned before running to the corner he left the bucket of water and brought it back. He put his hands in the Tiger seal and got a look of utmost concentration on his face.

"Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" He yelled and the water slowly rose before morphing into a humanoid shape, slowly changing color and shape until an identical Naruto was standing next to the first. Almost everyone in the room had a look of shock on their face, the only exceptions being Shikamaru, Iruka and Shino, whose face was… Well it couldn't be seen to be honest. Iruka smiled a bit on the reaction before he played his part.

"You're able to make a solid clone? That's impressive!" He exclaimed, trying to sound surprised and proud over the achievement. "You pass!" Mizuki, seeing his carefully laid out plans rapidly evaporating before his eyes cut in.

"Are you sure? I mean, while a solid clone is very impressive the rate which it formed at was very slow, I don't want him to get killed because he wasn't able to create a clone in time." He said while trying to sound worried for Naruto. Iruka shook his head and smiled at Naruto.

"While it's true that the clone was slow to form, a solid clone is a lot more useful than the normal Bunshin no Jutsu, and could potentially save the lives of both him and his teammates, and his Jōnin-sensei will be able to help him work on the creation speed. All in all, he deserves to pass." He said before his smile faded and his expression grew serious. "However Naruto, I need to remind you that you Barely passed any of the tests, and this part is no different. Your clone needs a lot of work to be usable in combat, never forget that." He said sternly, although he himself, Naruto and Shikamaru almost laughed at that, having seen him using dozens of clones without trouble. Naruto looked down in shame.

"At least I managed to make the stupid thing…" He said a bit sadly before perking up. "But I'm a ninja now right?! Right Iruka-Sensei?! Now that I'm a ninja, I'm going to be the best Hokage ever, dattebayo!" He yelled. Iruka chuckled as he handed the boy his headband.

"I'm sure you will. Just remember what it means to be a Konoha ninja and do your best." He said with a smile that Naruto returned. Now that the graduation was over everyone left the room to show off their new headbands to their family members outside.

When Naruto exited the academy, his headband on proud display, several of the parents glared at him with hate and muttered about how something like 'him' shouldn't have been allowed to graduate. He just ignored them all, however one thing he couldn't ignore was the empty feeling he got when he saw almost everyone having someone to show their headbands to and got proud smiles and words in return. He shook his head to get rid of any negative thoughts.

'You knew this would most likely happen, keep it together, dattebayo!' He thought as he tried to think about something else.

"So you made it." A slightly distorted feminine voice said. "For a while I almost thought you had played your role a bit too well seeing you were actually looking forward to wearing that horror." She said bringing a smile to Naruto's face.

"Hey! Don't look down on orange, dattebayo!" He said as he turned and looked up, spotting a cloaked figure standing on a branch while leaning on the tree trunk. The figure straightened up and jumped down.

"Orange is fine, NEON orange, is not." She said in a deadpan voice, obvious even with the distortion. Naruto just grinned.

"That's what YOU think, Akira-nee-chan." He said cheekily, making Akira chuckle as she pulled down her hood and removed a cloth from her head that she wrapped like a scarf around her neck, revealing her gray hair and a breathing mask over her face that she soon removed.

"Cheeky brat." She said with a shake of her head, now with her normal voice. "At least you promised not to wear that when you're actually working…" She almost sighed on how hard it had been to convince Naruto just how much of a bad idea wearing neon orange actually was. She shook her head a little before looking up seeing movement in her peripheral. She waved at Iruka before greeting him.

"Hey Iruka, I guess the brat is no longer your responsibility, you must be relieved." She said with a cheeky smile as she looked at Naruto, who was as she had guessed had an angry scowl on his face while pouting, making him look adorable. Iruka laughed a bit when he saw it before shaking his head.

"A little bit yes. And the worst part is that he's like a puppy doing something bad. You know you should punish it, but he's just so cute you can't bring yourself to do it." He said trying to hide his grin, knowing just how much Naruto disliked being called cute and adorable. Naruto's scowl grew deeper.

"AAH! I'm not cute damn it! I'm awesome, dattebayo! Stop saying that I'm cute!" He yelled as he stomped his foot, however all this made was make Iruka and Akira laugh at him. He glared at them before turning and stomping of towards the gate. "Fine! I hate you both!" He said making the two adults laugh even more before they slowly got their breath back.

"Hey, Naruto." Iruka called after him, making him turn around. He saw both Iruka and Akira smiling at him. "Good job on graduating." Iruka said.

"We're proud of you brat." Akira said.

Naruto's eyes widened a bit when he heard that. Both had proud smiles on their faces and he couldn't help but smile. The empty feeling he had earlier was completely gone, he had people that cared for him now, and the fact they aren't related by blood didn't mean anything, to him, they are his family.

"Was there ever any doubt, dattebayo?! After all, I'm going to be the Hokage!" He yelled happily. Both Akira and Iruka smiled a bit more at that.

"Come on, let's get some ramen to celebrate. I'm buying." Iruka said although he almost regretted it once he saw the gleam in Naruto's eyes, this was going to be expensive.

At Ramen Ichiraku

"Teuchi-oji-san! Ayame-nee-san! Look! I'm a ninja now!" Naruto yelled almost before he got into the small restaurant and ran to his usual seat as Ayame smiled at him from behind the bar.

"That's great! I knew you could do it, you've worked really hard for this." She said happily.

"Congratulations! So you're here to celebrate are you?" Teuchi said as he came out from the kitchen, also with a smile on his face.

"Yeah! And Iruka-sensei is paying, dattebayo!" Naruto said as Akira and Iruka made their way inside as well. "Let's get down to business! A large serving of miso ramen with roasted pork fillet! And keep 'em coming!" He yelled, making Iruka grow pale and touch his wallet a bit nervously, obviously wondering if he would be able to afford everything. Luckily for him Naruto decided to have mercy and only ate 5 bowls. The mood in the small restaurant was very good and was spent talking amongst those present, and both Ayame and Teuchi was happy that Naruto would actually be able to show how hard he had worked the last 4 years now. When everyone was done eating they said goodbye to Teuchi and Ayame and started walking home. They talked a bit until they Iruka had to go since his apartment was in another direction.

Back at Akira's house some time later

After Naruto and Akira had made their way home she had told him to go into the living room and wait, and although a bit confused he had complied right away and was now trying to figure out what she wanted as he sat on the couch.

'Does she want to watch something on TV or something? But why would she need me here for that…' He thought. He pondered on what she might want with him for a short while before he heard footsteps approaching and he turned to see Akira walking up to him with a scroll in her hands. He eyed the scroll curiously before speaking.

"What's with the scroll?" He said in a curious voice as she sat down next to him and put the scroll on the table in front of the couch.

"It's your graduation present." She said making his eyes go wide. "Now that you're a Genin, sort of, it's time that I let you take the next step in our training. And it will probably help you as well." She explained. Naruto kept looking between Akira and the scroll for a while, as if to make sure that it was really for him and not a joke. Although the last 4 years had been great, 8 years of distrust and misery did leave scars. When his brain did realize it really was for him he reached and channeled chakra into the scroll. His eyes almost popped out of their sockets when the smoke cleared. There, in front of him, was a complete set of Akira's unique equipment.

The large hooded cloak in mottled green, gray and brown colors that was Akira's trademark. He quickly opened it and channeled a small amount of chakra into it to confirm that it was real, the insides covered in various seals that was the reason it was considered unique.

A set of ninja clothes in the same colors, made up of standard ANBU pants and a long armed shirt with wide sleeves along with a sort of headdress that looked like a scarf but could be pulled over to cover everything except the eyes. The clothes also had several seals that was invisible unless chakra was channeled into them.

A breathing mask with a seal allowing air to be rebreathed almost indefinitely was present as well.

But the biggest surprise was the sheathed twin daggers. They were black with blue details, the had a blade like cover over the handle to protect the fingers as well as cut through punching and a small, sharp blade at the end (Noble Premium Ophidian Dagger, Aionarmory. Google it. It refuses to be linked.). He grabbed one of them and unsheathed it, revealing blue seals on the blade. Looking inside the sheath he could see a faint glow telling him that there was another seal inside. It had become apparent when Akira had taught him fūinjutsu that he was a natural at the difficult art and he guessed that it was a summoning seal, that would summon the dagger into the sheath if he ever were to lose them. If they were anything like Akira's own that would mean they are made out of chakra conductive metal, which was very expensive.

Naruto was stunned. There was a reason Akira didn't give anyone these things. The seals made them damn near indestructible and would repair themselves unless ALL repair seals would be destroyed. And the chakra needed to create all these seals… Even though Akira had insane supplies for a non jinchūriki… She must have been working on this for almost 2 years unless she worked on it all the time. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the gift for a long time before turning his wide eyes to Akira.

"You're really giving me these?! You NEVER give anyone your things, dattebayo! You didn't even let the old man know what seals are on them!" He said in an awed voice. Akira started chuckling.

"Hey, I've been training you for almost 4 years. You're my apprentice by now if you didn't know." She said with a cheeky smile. "Now go try it on so my eyes will be spared that orange horror." Her smile turning into a grin at the end. Naruto gave her a small glare before grabbing everything and running to his room. He came back fully concealed by the cloak, the shadow provided by the hood making his eyes undiscernible. All in all, he looked a lot more like a ninja now. Akira walked around him a few times looking him over before giving her approval.

"You're looking a lot better than before. Sniff. My little brat is all grown up now." She said as she wiped an imaginary tear from her eye, making him glare at her with that adorable expression. Suddenly he blinked as he remembered something before he started smiling.

"Hey, didn't you say you would stop calling me a brat once I made Genin?" He asked, making her blink as well.

"Huh… I did say that didn't I?" She said while staring at nothing, making Naruto start grinning.

"That's right! You promised! And you keep saying how you NEVER break a promise once you make one, dattebayo!" He yelled in a happy voice, he hated being called a brat. Akira sighed and looked down at the floor.

"That's true… Oh well, I guess I got no choice." She said while Naruto looked at her expectantly. "Well then. What do you want for dinner, Naru-chan" Naruto's eyes widened in horror and Akira started grinning cheekily.

As Naruto sputtered and yelled about his new nickname Akira just laughed and started walking to the kitchen while thinking 'he's so fun to tease'.

AN: I Hope the chapter was okay, it was a bit of a filler as I said earlier since I got stuck...

The reason I had Shikamaru figure out that Naruto contain the Kyūbi is because I want someone his age to know the truth, and out of all the rookie 9 he's the one that has the biggest chance to notice he's hiding his skills and then figure out the reason. Also he's intelligent enough to see the truth... Or he would be too lazy to change how he looks at Naruto... Both are valid options... xD

Oh, about Naruto's personality and persona. His persona is the same as canon, loud, hyper active and arrogant etc etc however without the crush on Sakura, because she's a bitch, sort of. And his actual personality is the same but a bit more subdued, a lot more observant/intelligent, he knows when to be serious and replace his arrogance with confidence.

I've decided to just link you to any jutsus used instead of describing them unless it's one I came up with myself.

Since I apparently can't just link to the site I'll tell you what site I used and the jutsus used in the chapter, remove the spaces for the site (For some reason I can't link the dagger even with spaces, so you have to google it. Noble Premium Ophidan Dagger)

Jutsus can be found at: naruto . wikia . com

Henge no Jutsu

Kawarimi no Jutsu

Bunshin no Jutsu

Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu

That's all from me! I'm not quite happy with it, but it will have to do. Next chapter will see more action, and I might try to introduce Anko as well. Fū, if I don't change my mind about the pairing, will probably show up soon. I already have a plan ready for every considered pairing on how to get them to Konoha, but any romance won't take part until Shippūden since I think 12 is a bit young, and I don't want to just make them instantly fall in love. See you next time!