Chapter 3: Unlucky Number Seven

Moonlight was cast on a pair of two blonde adolescences within a clear field inside the Hidden Leaf's forest. The two were camping out next to an abandoned wooden shed safe from any disturbances or other interruptions. Naruto was intensively studying the contents of the scroll as Ino kept an eye out.

"Hurry up, Naruto. I want to check if I have this Jutsu down," Ino said brusquely, watching her blonde friend practice this 'Shadow Clone Jutsu.'

"Relax, will ya? I almost got it down. And I don't know why you're rushing me, you were the first one to open it and find something to work on."

Naruto closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. He relaxed his body, slowed his breathing, and concentrated. With his pointer and middle finger together, he put both hands alongside each other in a cross formation.

'Focus,' he thought.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu."

Ino's eyes widened. Several puffs of smoke surrounded Naruto, and when it dissipated, five Narutos were sitting cross-legged on the ground. Naruto opened his eyes. The clones of Naruto all stared at each other before they all exploded in boisterous cheering.

"Yes, we did it!" They all shouted. There were jumping, high-fives, and hugs all around amidst the clones.

"So, you finally can make clones now," Ino said with a smirk, "welcome to the club." One of the clones high-fived Ino. She smiled then paused. "Wait, it didn't disappear, and I could feel it," Ino said with a perplexed look.

"So what?" Naruto replied.

Ino shook her head, "God, you don't pay attention, do you?" Naruto had a puzzled look on his face. "The Clone Jutsu only makes images of the user. They can't affect the matter in the world as real people can. I shouldn't have been able to feel the clone—The Jutsu still shouldn't be working."

Naruto looked at the scroll again. "It says it's the Shadow Clone Jutsu, maybe it's a whole different Jutsu." Ino started to analyze the clones. She poked one in the face.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"They're solid." Ino looked the clone up and down and noticed another property to this Jutsu. "Wait, they all have shadows. Normal clones don't have those."

Naruto chuckled, "Looks like a learned a Jutsu way better than the Academy one."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever, just remember the deal. It's your turn to keep watch; I need to practice some more."

The two switched places with Ino now sitting in front of the scroll and Naruto standing up to keep watch. "I still can't believe how easy it was to get the scroll," Naruto said, leaning casually against the shed, arms behind his head.

. . . .

It was past dusk in the Hidden Leaf Village. The hustle-and-bustle of the day time died down as families began heading home and the nightlife started to come alive in full swing. Lampposts lit up the streets for citizens and ninjas enjoying the cool summer night. During this time, there was a residence with all it's lights out, slumbering into the night until an inconvenience decided to interrupt a particular person's sleep. Knocking on glass was what awoke the young Yamanaka girl from her blissful sleep. She opened her blinds to see her partner-in-crime sitting on her windowsill ledge.

"Why the hell are you here?" Ino asked groggily, wiping away the sleep in her eyes.

"Ew. You look a mess, Ino." Ino shut the window down, pissed off at how her numb-nut of a friend had the audacity to show up uninvited and insult her even. "Ok, wait, I'm sorry," Naruto said through the closed window. Ino turned back, reluctantly, and opened the window again. "What do you want, Naruto?" Ino asked again with drowsy irritation in her voice.

"I need your help. Mizuki assigned me a new graduation test."

"Why would he do that? And why are you up so late then?"

"I don't know, Ino, but I need all the help I can get so that I won't fail again. He said if I can pass this mission simulation then I can be a ninja. He gave me all the details about what to do and where to go."

Ino yawned, "and what are you supposed to do?"

Naruto climbed into her room. "He said I just need to get this scroll," Naruto paused to think, "The Scroll of Sealing, I think, and then go to the spot he said near the outskirts of the village and learn a Jutsu."

"And you expect me to just get up in the middle of the night and help you?" Ino questioned with her arms crossed.

Naruto stood still. "Uh, yes. We're a team, remember?"

Ino walked and sit on the edge of her bed, "Naruto, this might be one mission you have to do yourself. It's too late."

Naruto rubbed his chin connivingly, "Come on, Ino. Don't make me pull that card."

Her body stood at attention. 'You wouldn't dare," Ino glared at him.

"I do dare. I fully dare. I know how your mom wants you to make up with Sakura, but she can kiss that dream goodbye if Sakura finds out what you did."

Ino glared daggers at him."I knew I shouldn't have told you," she grumbled.

Naruto smiled. "We all need our leverages, Ino. Now let's go, I don't want to be a rookie forever. I'll even teach you the Jutsu I learn once I pass."

Two ninjas stood guard outside the room that held the Scroll of Sealing. They had to be Jonin, at least. The building was relatively deserted without much activity outside of it as well. The two blondes hid behind the corner of the hallway and silently formulated a plan. Naruto nodded his head and nodded to the guard on the left side of the door. Ino put out her hands into the signature Yamanaka Jutsu.

Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu.

Ino's body slumped to the floor as her spiritual energy transferred into the ninja guard. The guard's head slacked.

"Hey, you okay over there?" The other guard asked his partner.

"Oh, yeah," the guard replied, rubbing his face in his hands, "I just haven't gotten much sleep lately. But I need to go to the bathroom, keep an eye out for me?"

"My god, you gotta stop drinking so much water at night?"

"I'm sorry," the guard chuckled, "I just get really thirsty at night." The possessed guard started to walk in the direction of the hidden children. "Hey! The bathroom's the other way." He paused. Shit! Ino thought. "Oh yeah, I'm really out of it tonight," he chuckled. He turned the other way and patted the guard on the back. Suddenly, the guard was put into a chokehold.

"Hey! What are you doing!" The guard choked out. He continued flailing under the hold until eventually, he passed out from the lack of oxygen.

"Ino! What you do that for?!" Naruto shouted quietly as he checked on the guard that just got choked out.

"What? It's not like I had any other options. Now, hurry up and tie us before my Jutsu breaks." Ino carried the guard into the sealing room laid him upright on the floor. She laid back-to-back to him and waited for Naruto to tie them up. "Watch the hands, I got to undo the Jutsu and you have to knock him out too."

"Me?"

"Yes, you," Ino spat back, "this is your stupid test. You really think I was going to do all the work?"

Naruto sighed, "fine, just be ready to run."

Ino closed her eyes and formed the 'release' hand sign. Release! The guard's head drooped yet again. When he started groaning back to life, Naruto punched him as hard as he could in the temple, rendering him unconscious snagged the scroll and shook Ino up before they both rushed to their next destination.

. . . .

I can't believe those two! This has got to be one of their most irresponsible, reckless, ignorant pranks to date

The brown-haired, scarred-face Chunin thought, leaping through the trees in the outskirts of the Hidden leaf, searching for the blonde idiots who thought taking the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing was a good idea. Iruka's fuming thoughts were silenced when he heard shouting near him. "Cut it out! It's not funny anymore!" Iruka followed the voice to find one of the pair of thieves laughing at the other who were rubbing their eyes.

"You two! Do you have any idea what you two have done!" Iruka yelled.

"Um...take the secret graduation test to be a Genin?" Naruto said sheepishly. "Ino helped me get the scroll but I learned the Jutsu all by myself," he gloated.

"Secret graduation test? Naruto, what the hell are you talking about?! You stole the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing!" He shouted.

"Forbidden? Mizuki-sensei told Naruto all he had to do was take the scroll and learn a Jutsu to pass," Ino explained.

"Mizuki?"

A barrage of kunai was thrown towards the blonde boy. Iruka sensed them and shoved Naruto out of the way. Pinned and bloodied against the wall, he looked up to see the culprit of this ambush. "You rang?" said the blue-haired Chunin. "Now, Naruto, I just need you to give me that scroll so you can graduate."

Naruto was confounded by what just happened. "Wha-"

"Why did you do that to Iruka-sensei?!" Ino yelled.

"Because Mizuki lied to you, Naruto. There is no secret graduation test. He was using you to get the scroll for himself." Naruto and Ino stared at Mizuki. "That scroll contains powerful ninjutsu that can cause a war if it gets in the wrong hands."

Mizuki smirked, "Naruto, Iruka is just lying because he doesn't want you to pass. The village is full of liars, didn't you know?"

"Mizuki! Stop it."

"I'll admit it, I did use you to get the scroll, but it's not like this is the deciding factor on why the village hates you."

"Mizuki!" Iruka moaned as he pulled the kunai out of his arm and legs. "Don't tell him!"

"Tell me what? Just what is going on here?!" Naruto demanded.

"I guess it's about time you learned the truth. Why everybody hates you, even your sensei here. Why there was a decree the day you were born—the day the Nine-Tailed attacked the village. It's you. You have the Nine-Tails sealed inside of you; you are the Nine-Tailed Fox! You destroyed the village, killed hundreds of ninjas and citizens alike—killed Iruka's parents."

"Shut up, Mizuki!"

"That's why everyone everybody hates you; despises you; treats you like human garbage, because you are the literal emanations of the beast that destroyed the village in human form." Mizuki laughed, "now you two know the village's biggest 'secret.'"

"No," Ino whispered with her mouth covered, tears in her eyes.

Naruto clenched his teeth. "No!" He shouted, his chakra whipping wildly out of control around him.

"You know, I would be the doing the village a great service if I killed the Nine-Tailed Fox!" Mizuki grabbed the giant shuriken on his back, and he threw it at full force with the intent to kill Naruto.

"Naruto, move!" Iruka shouted.

Naruto stood there, frozen with fear, as he watched the weapon hurtled towards him. At the last second, Ino pushed Naruto out of the way, sustaining a deep gash in her arm in the process. Naruto looked at in shock and relief of being saved. "Don't believe anything he says, Naruto. It's all bullshit." Ino said with a smile. Ino stood up in front of Naruto.

"I don't hate you, Naruto. You're my best friend," Ino said, gazing into his eyes, trying to convey all the emotions she felt from her eyes to his," And not everyone in the village hates you. Daddy likes you, Naruto, he reminds once in a while whenever you leave; he thinks you're a good kid, and so does Mommy. You have Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba; I've seen the pranks you all do together—even been on the receiving end sometimes—they like doing that with you—hanging out with you. You even have Inomi on a good day."

Ino turned and faced Mizuki. "Everyone may have lied to him by not telling him the secret. People may not like him because they think he's a demon. But Naruto has me and other friends! He has my family! There's no way we could all hate him. The only liar I see here is you." Naruto teared up at Ino defending him. "Naruto, Iruka's right. We need to return the scroll. Go, now!" Ino shouted at him.

Naruto fled the clearing with the scroll and rushed into the forest, tears in his eyes. Mizuki chuckled. "You really think he's going to return it? Seriously? He's a beast; he's probably going to destroy the village again with it. Whatever." Mizuki gave chase after Naruto. Ino ran over to Iruka to help him get unpinned from the wall. "Iruka-sensei, you have to help Naruto. The Nine-Tailed may have killed your parents but Naruto is not a demon."

"I know, Ino. Right now, I need to wrap that wound up." Iruka quickly pulled out gauze from his pouch. "I would never abandon Naruto," Iruka said, bandaging up Ino's arm. "You feel ok?" Ino nodded her head. "We need to hurry and find Naruto before Mizuki does."

. . . .

Iruka caught up to a fleeing Naruto. "Naruto, give me the scroll. I need to return it." Naruto stopped and charged straight into Iruka, causing him to fall to the forest floor. Iruka clenched his gut as he gasped for air. "How did you know..." 'Iruka' then poofed into Mizuki, "that I wasn't Iruka?" Naruto smirked, "because I am." Naruto then transformed into Iruka. Iruka leaned against a tree to support him.

"I don't know why you think you can tame a beast. He's angry now, and when beasts are angry they attack what causes their ire. In Naruto's case, the Hidden Leaf Village."

"Will you cut that out? Naruto is Naruto. A conniving little prankster that just got the short end of the stick. Despite his disadvantages, he works hard with such tenacity that I know he will accomplish a lot in his life. He's not the fox; he's Naruto Uzumaki of the Hidden Leaf Village."

Behind a tree, Naruto quietly sobbed as Ino held him in her arms to comfort him.

"Iruka, I've had enough of your nonsense." Mizuki pulled his second shuriken behind his back. "It's time I ended this partnership."

Just as he threw the shuriken, Naruto spring out behind the tree and kneed Mizuki right in his face, throwing off Mizuki's trajectory, and cause the shuriken to veer off into the forest. Mizuki skidded on the floor and Naruto stood in front of Iruka with Ino alongside him, both of them with scowls on their faces.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on our sensei!" Ino yelled.

"If you do, I'll kill you!" Naruto said with a threatening glare.

"Oh please! I can beat you down in one single move. I'm a Chunin and you aren't even Genin!"

"Well, technically, I am a Genin," Ino mentioned, "either way, we can beat you in two." As Ino started to weave hand signs, Naruto summoned hundreds of clones of himself that surrounded the forest floor. Iruka gazed in awe at the sheer amount of clones Naruto produced. Did he master the Shadow Clone Jutsu? The Narutos all cracked their fists. "Get ready, Mizuki. You're about to go night-night."

"Finished!" Ino shouted. As soon as she finished the Jutsu, the Narutos all charged in.

"Wait, wait, WAIT!"

The clones ganged up on Mizuki until the morning sun rose. Ino was treating to Iruka's wounds as Naruto cowered over a beaten-up, bloodied Mizuki. "I think I got carried away," Naruto chuckled nervously. Ino and Iruka chuckled at the brutish blonde. "Hey, Naruto, come here. There's something I want to give you. Close your eyes."

Naruto approached Iruka apprehensively and closed his eyes. "Look, I'm sorry for everything. I just wanted to become a ninja so that I was one step closer to being Hokage."

"Well, I'm just here to congratulate you on becoming one step closer."

"What?" When Naruto opened his eyes, Iruka was without his headband. He reached towards his own to see that he had a Hidden Leaf headband on instead of his usual goggles. "Since you mastered a form of the Clone Jutsu, I will let you graduate." Naruto and Ino smiled and hugged their teacher. "You kids had a long night, let's go get some ramen to celebrate."

The Third Hokage smiled to himself as he watched the conclusion to the hectic caper of the stolen scroll unfold before him on his crystal ball. It seems the Yamanaka girl is a good influence on Naruto. Perhaps she can help him control his emotions and thus the seal. But it seems as if this chapter has come to a close.

. . . .

It has been a week since the stolen scroll incident. Not much trouble fell on the two blondes since they were tricked into stealing the scroll, and Mizuki was taken away and arrested for conspiracy against the Hidden Leaf. The scroll was returned to its safe house, with more security guarding it, and everything went back to normal for the most part. Naruto was heading on his way to Ino's house so that they could walk together for orientation. After bumping into Konohamaru, he saw a pink-haired kunoichi walking by herself.

"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto shouted to get her attention.

Sakura turned her head then back once she saw who was calling her. She sped up her pace but Naruto still caught up with her. "Hey, Sakura, look, I graduated too!" Naruto crossed in front of her to show off his newly acquired headband."

"Ok. Great, Naruto," Sakura said halfheartedly. "I guess now even idiots can become a ninja."

What, what the fuck! How did Naruto get a headband? I heard he failed again. Inner Sakura asked.

Naruto drooped his head, "Aw, come on, Sakura. I'm not an idiot."

"What's 8×12?"

"Uh..."

Sakura ignored Naruto and continued to walk ahead of him. Before he could explain himself, Ino walked out of her house and noticed the two were walking together.

"Wow, Sakura. Naruto finally broke you and now you two are dating?"

"As if!" Sakura shouted. She shoved Naruto farther away from her, "keep your distance!"

Sakura noticed something on Ino. "That's a pretty big scar. Where'd that come from?"

Naruto and Ino looked at each other. They haven't told anyone else about the incident except Ino's parents. "Uh...I was training with my dad. He went a little too hard," she tittered. "Too bad your parents aren't ninjas themselves, you could probably use some extra training," Ino retorted back, trying to change the subject.

"Well, I'll get all the training necessary now that I'm a ninja. As of today, you and I are equal." Sakura shoved past Ino. Ino responded by shoving past Sakura herself. "Uh..you guys." Before Naruto could say anything else, the two rivals were bumping and shoving into each other in a race to the Academy.

The rivals burst through the door with each other hands in the other's face."I'm first!" they shouted. Naruto came from the rear as the two started to debate who was really first to class. Before long, Sakura noticed a particular empty seat. "Where are you going?" Ino asked.

Sakura stood outside the aisle where the famous Sasuke Uchiha sat. "Hi, Sasuke," Sakura said shyly, "Is anyone sitting there?" Sasuke just glared coldly at her. She jolted. "Move, Forehead. I'm sitting next to Sasuke. We've been over this, he likes me more than you, right Sasuke?" Sasuke just shrugged his shoulders. "Aw, Sasuke, I know you don't like Naruto but I thought you and me were cool?" Ino pouted as she wrapped her arms around his shoulder.

"Get off of him, Ino-Pig!" Sakura demanded.

"Or what?" A group of girls commenced an argument over who would sit next to Sasuke. Amidst the arguing teens, Naruto climbed into the desk, crouched in front of Sasuke, and glared at him. What do they see in you? Sasuke calmly glared back at him. "Hey, get away from Sasuke, Naruto!" Sakura yelled.

Naruto was still glaring at Sasuke until he felt a push from his backside. This pushed caused him to lose his balance and accidentally kiss the Uchiha. The room became dead silent as the crowd of Uchiha groupies watched in disbelief at what just occurred. Naruto and Sasuke spit out the bacteria that invaded each other's mouths. Ino started laughing as the other girls acquired Naruto to receive their wrath for deflowering their precious Sasuke. "Oh man," Ino managed to get out between her laughing fits, "I wanted to be Sasuke's first but this is too funny."

"You're dead, Naruto," Sakura said.

"Fuck You! How dare you steal a kiss from my Sasuke. I'm gonna make you wish you were never born, Naruto!"

. . . .

After a severe beating from Sasuke's admirers, Naruto ended up sitting next to Ino with Sakura in the row above. Iruka stood in front of the class and began the orientation.

"As of today, you are all now official shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village. The road of the shinobi is arduous and painful, but as the lowest-ranked ninja, you will be assisted by Jonins—elite ninjas—in addition to being in teams of three; however there is an even number of candidates this year so, unfortunately, there will a single squad of four."

The room at first grew silence and then murmurs commenced at the announcement of a squad of four.

"What's the big deal about a squad of four?" Naruto asked Ino.

"God, Naruto. How did you graduate?" Sakura chimed in. "Haven't you about the last team of four from our village?"

Naruto shook his head.

"Basically," Ino started, "the team of four became very powerful but at a cost. One of the members was killed by the other one, another deserted the village, and the others became hollow people of their former selves. That team is known as the Legendary Yonnin around the world, but here, it's the most tragic, unluckiest team in our village history."

Naruto gulped at the prospect of being on an unlucky team. Iruka started to list off the teams aloud.

'Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto perked up, anticipating who his teammates would be, "Sakura Haruno," Naruto cheered from his seat as Sakura gloomily hung her head, "Sasuke Uchiha," the reverse happened when this announcement was made. "And Ino Yamanaka."

Oh, fuck me, they all thought.