Author's note – Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto while Guyver is written by Yoshiki Takaya.
I make no claim to either, I am merely playing in their sandboxes.
At the time of posting, this story now has the most chapters of any Naruto/Guyver story (although Deus Ex Machina still has more words).

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Chapter Nine

Changes

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Naruto grinned as he saw a familiar-hatted figure enter the room and both teachers stiffened.

"Lord Hokage!" One of them finally managed. "We… are honoured to have you here!"

"I thought that I would help oversee this test." Hiruzen stated as he looked across the totally-silent classroom. "After all, before me are those who wish to become my ninja. I could do no less than watch them prove themselves."

The teacher who hadn't spoken took advantage of Hiruzen's turning to face the pupils to quickly release a small technique on the pile of test-papers on the desk, then he picked them up.

"With your permission, Hokage-sama…?"

"Of course." Hiruzen replied, but only Naruto caught the glimpse of irritated humour aimed at the second teacher.

Ibiki would probably have a new person to ask questions of very soon.

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"What was that thing that Sensei Takahati did just before he handed out the tests?" Naruto wondered as the class made their way to the shuriken range.

"It was a genjutsu cancel." Idate supplied. "He removed a genjutsu from at least one test…"

"Probably mine." Naruto sighed. "The last time I took a test without doing a genjutsu cancel, the answers I put down were all wrong for the questions on the paper when I saw it afterwards. I remember wondering what had happened."

Yagura hmmmm'd in thought as they exited the building and lined up ready. The first name was called out and Idate looked round.

"My brother was asking about you."

Naruto blanched and Idate quickly moved to reassure him. "No! Not professionally! He was… intrigued. He knows that… a certain person is watching over you…"

"Hiro." Naruto said quietly and Idate nodded.

"Yes, Hiro. I think he's also curious about the armour."

Before Naruto could reply, his attention was seized by the bow materializing in Hyuuga Neji's hands. An instant later, Neji's hands blurred and six arrows clustered in the center of the target, then Neji whispered something and the seventh arrow multiplied into over twenty, perforating the wooden stump before dissipating in clouds of smoke.

"Perfect score and twenty bonus points." Takahati announced and Naruto sighed.

"Well, looks like I'll be in second place since I don't have senbon or arrows on me. Actually… I don't even know how to use a bow, I'll have to learn, just in case."

Neji smirked as he made way for the next student. Naruto watched as the others demonstrated skills ranging from absolutely perfect (Tenten, if he remembered rightly and she gained an extra twenty points for her skill) to ones where the only safe place to stand was in front of the target (one notably errant Kunai would have buried itself in Yagura's leg had Naruto not managed to catch it). All too soon, though, it was Naruto's turn and rather than accept the use of the Academy Kunai and Shuriken, Naruto pulled out his own.

"Those were made by my father!" Tenten gasped from the sidelines and Naruto grinned as he threw the first kunai, scoring a solid hit. His next throw, honed by the cumulative training done by his clones over the previous few years, slammed into the target so close to the first kunai that it actually shared the same hole. Switching hands, Naruto hurled another pair of Kunai, then hurled two more, one from each hand. Pulling out the last four, he spun and unleashed all four in quick succession, blocking out the view of the center of the target due to the clustered Kunai.

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"How the heck…?" Sasuke gasped as he witnessed the throws from the top of the Academy.

"Interesting." Itachi mused from beside him and Sasuke jolted in shock, not having realized that Itachi had joined him. "The way he moves… he has trained extensively."

Sasuke gave his older brother a slight glower, then turned his attention back to the scene below where the last shuriken had just impaled the target.

"Brother… how is he that good?"

"He must spend a great deal of time practicing." Itachi mused. "Just like Higarushi Tenten."

Sasuke glanced at his (semi-estranged) brother, then turned his attention back to the crowd below.

"That'll be me next year." He whispered.

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"And finally, the Bunshin."

Naruto glanced across to where Hiruzen was sat and surreptitiously moved his hand into the seal for Kage Bunshin. Hiruzen nodded slowly and Naruto grinned.

"Excellent, I'm going to pass."

Yagura and Idate exchange looks of comprehension at his statement and then grinned.

"So, chances of us being on a team together?" Idate asked as the next student walked up and demonstrated her ability to make three illusionary copies of herself.

Hiruzen nodded again and Naruto's grin widened.

"Very high. Thanks, Jiji!"

"How…" Yagura asked and Naruto's grin widened.

"He's not called The Professor for nothing, you know. He probably knows every non-clan skill used in Konoha and several of the clan-skills. Boosting and directing his hearing is something he taught me a few months back, I'm still working on it, though."

"Huh." Idate managed as he stared in shock at Naruto.

"The Hokage… taught you? Why?"

"Classified." Naruto grinned, earning exasperated glares from his two friends. "Hey Idate, you're up!"

Idate grumbled under his breath as he stomped off.

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Hiruzen hid a smirk as he listened in to the conversation, but part of him was worried.

Naruto was dropping hints that he knew about his burden and maybe even his parentage.

Just what had Hiro told him?

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Hinata sat behind the tree, her byakugan active as she carefully examined Uzumaki Naruto's chakra system.

His chakra coils were incredibly strong, stronger even than her father's, but the way that the chakra flowed was far less controlled. Two oddities stood out to her gaze, the strange there-but-not-there chakra shapes in his shoulders which were very reminiscent of Hiro's armour and the strange reddish chakra which resided in his lower abdomen, attached to his chakra system by a strange swirling chakra structure that she recognized as a seal, but one far too complex for her to even hope to decode.

As she watched, Naruto was called forwards to show his skill at making clones.

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"Lord Hokage." Naruto said formally, although the corner of his mouth kept twitching with the grin that he was barely keeping in check. "Despite my training in chakra control, I still cannot hold back enough to perform the standard Bunshin. May I perform an alternative type?"

"The aim is to demonstrate that you have enough control to perform a complex technique." Hiruzen mused, his eyes sparkling with suppressed mirth. "Please, show me what you can do."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Naruto bowed, then his hands moved into a seal that Hiruzen recognized instantly.

" Kage Bunshin!"

A trio of solid clones appeared around him and each one promptly started their own techniques.

"Mizu Bunshin!"

"Doton Kage Bunshin!"

"Raiton Kage Bunshin!"

The three clones each generated a new clone before popping and Naruto stepped forwards, his hands flashing through the ram, horse, monkey and ram seals before he vomited up a rock that turned into another clone.

"Iwa Bunshin." He stated with a smirk before performing one more set of seals that ended with the Kage Bunshin seal, causing Hiruzen's eyes to widen.

"Bunshin Daibakuha!" Naruto announced as the new clone ran at the rock clone, who had braced himself. The newest clone leaped onto the rock-clone's hands and was catapulted into the air, where it exploded.

"So." Naruto said in the shocked silence while all of the other clones dipersed or fell apart into their elemental origin. "That would be six different types of clone. Do I get extra points for that?"

"Indeed you do." Hiruzen smiled. "Indeed you do."

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"You realize that you have both presented me with a problem." Hiruzen said as Neji and Naruto stood in front of his desk. "Both of you are in line for the position of Rookie of the Year, but…"

"Neji can have it." Naruto interrupted. "One team is always the rookie, the next-highest of the opposite gender and the last in class and I really doubt that Yagura or Idate are girls or the dead last."

Hiruzen nodded. "I see. Do you wish to oppose this, Neji?"

"No, Hokage-sama." Neji finally managed. "I would not wish to prevent Naruto-san from having a team that he can work with and I believe that Higarushi Tenten's shurikenjutsu skills are a good match for my long-range archery and short-range taijutsu."

"Well-reasoned." Hiruzen nodded. "Congratulations, Hyuuga Neji, on being the Rookie of the Year."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Neji bowed. "Naruto-san, thank you for your sacrifice."

"Neji, you are dismissed." Hiruzen smiled as Naruto nodded to his fellow genin. "Go share the news with your clan. Naruto, please stay."

Neji retreated from the office and once the door was closed, Hiruzen's genial façade faded.

"Naruto," He said, "I need to know, are you now the owner of the Armour?"

Naruto nodded and Hiruzen seemed to age. "And do you know about…"

"My parents and my burden?" Naruto asked. "Yes."

"I intended to tell you." Hiruzen sighed. "I planned to tell you about the Kyuubi once you became a genin and about your parents once you became a chunin, so that you would have a chance of being able to defend yourself if it leaked. But now you have the Armour… is it in the base?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, I can summon it at any time."

"Oh? Will you demonstrate?"

"Better to do it outside." Naruto said, looking round the office and wincing. "Too much breakable stuff here."

Hiruzen rose from his chair and motioned for Naruto to follow him out of the tower. As they went down the stairs, he spoke.

"I was quite impressed at the number of clone-techniques you know."

"Heh, once I learned the Kage Bunshin and realised that the memories from the dispels went to the other clones as well as myself, it was easy." Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head. "A constant ten clones a day on each technique adds up to a lot of practice."

"Indeed it does." Hiruzen agreed. "You may be second only to the Uchiha in learning new skills, but just because you know how to do something, it isn't the same as knowing when to use it."

Naruto was quiet as he thought about it, then he slowly nodded. "Yeah, I think I get it. Using the wrong skill can leave you totally open to enemy attacks, right?"

"Indeed." Hiruzen said with a proud smile as he led Naruto outside into an enclosed courtyard. "Now, if you would…?"

"Sure, Jiji. Armour on!"

Hiruzen's eyes widened as Naruto was lifted into the air, an energy sphere forming around him and impacting on the ground to leave a small crater. An instant later, a series of flashes marked the appearance of the various parts of the armour, parts that connected to each other by the odd cables and formed around Naruto.

As the armoured figure landed, Hiruzen slowly circled him.

"…incredible."

"Thanks, Jiji."

"Yes, that is definitely you in there, Naruto." Hiruzen chuckled, then he sobered. "Naruto, I hate to do this, but no-one can know it is you in there. When you are armoured, you must go by the name of the last one to use it, Uzumaki Hiro."

Naruto tilted his head and Hiruzen sighed. "Konoha needs Hiro, Naruto. If our enemies find out that he is no longer alive, they will do their utmost to seize that armour and will kill you without a second thought. Do not tell anyone about your armour, or your base, unless I tell you that you can."

"Oh… uhhhh, okay Jiji. Ummm, should I turn back now?"

"Please." Hiruzen said, then he smiled. "After all, I don't see any way for you to eat the ramen I am about to buy you while you are wearing that."

Before he had finished, the armour vanished and Naruto dropped to the ground.

"Ramen! Yaaaaay!"

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"So, Naruto is the new Hiro." Shikaku mused and Hiruzen nodded, glancing at the other two men in the room.

"He is, but this is an SS-class secret. Outside this room, Uzumaki Hiro is still alive and willing to protect Konoha.

"When his identity is finally revealed, my daughter will freak." Inoichi smirked. "Are Hiashi and Fugaku going to find out about this?"

"No." Hiruzen said after a long moment of contemplation. "Fugaku is currently loyal to Konoha, but knowing that a genin has ownership of what may be the most powerful weapon in existence… the temptation might prove too much for him. And if I cannot tell him, then I cannot tell Hiashi either without risking the implication of favoritism."

For a long moment, the office was silent and then the final figure spoke.

"So, who is being assigned to lead his team? And what will he be told?"

Everyone looked at Shikaku, who sighed.

"Akamichi Shito was my first choice, but he was injured on his last mission dealing with nuke-nin from Amegakure and is currently in hospital. He would be dead if not for the actions of his team-mate, Rokushu Aoi."

"Aoi… isn't he the one that uses that senbon-umbrella?" Inoichi asked and Shikaku nodded.

"The ribs are made from chakra-metal with the tips sharpened while the fabric can be reinforced with chakra to form a shield." He said. "It also protects him from the harsh sun or heavy rain. He's an all-rounder who prefers hit-and-run tactics… he'll be a good match for the three of them."

"An ambush and capture team." Ibiki said slowly. "We haven't had one of those in the field since the last Ino-Shika-Cho team."

"Good times." Inoichi said quietly. "Hey, wanna grab Choza and have a drink?"

"My wife wants me back tonight." Shikaku sighed. "If I don't… it would be troublesome…"

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Author's Afternote – Yes, it's the same team-setup from my one-shot The Speedster. I figured that if something works, it should be used.

And yes, we are indeed departing from canon.