Disclaimer:

First time posting here, but I wanted to get some writing practice in and felt this would be the best way.

I am not Masashi Kishimoto.

I have no clue how far I'll take this story.

I am probably bad at writing.

1- Accidental Discovery

Found out in the forests close to the walls of Konoha, is a young blonde throwing himself at a metaphorical brick wall rather than the literal one he normally uses. Here he stands focused, squat with his legs far apart, before a short burst of blue energy, smoke, and an "identical" sickly blonde lays at the original's feet. Letting loose a yelp of frustration, while still in position, there is a quick burst of wind, then a deafening pop as the blonde is thrown back into the nearby wall, knocking him into an unconscious heap. As he stirs, the brief sight of a folder labeled 'Exam key' lies open with its shredded contents tumbling away in the dying breeze.

- One Year Later -

Yells of "Naruto!" and various insults following flood the streets as two chunin chase a surprisingly evasive boy in a ORANGE, ducking and weaving through streets, crowds, and every so often seeming as if he can change direction in midair. As he makes another leap planning on a swift change in momentum that never came, Naruto is plucked from the air by a third chunin, dragging him back towards the hokage monument he had just finished defacing. Chuckling nervously, the blonde looks up to his captor, "Hey, Iruka Sensei, nice weather.. huh?" receiving an exasperated sigh in reply.

Finishing up his best knotwork on his captive, Iruka hoists Naruto over his shoulder before entering his classroom through the window, just missing the tail end of classroom chatter before they all rush to their seats. Setting Naruto gagged in front of his desk, Iruka looks to his class, " Now that we're all present, lets review what will be coming up in the exams." As Iruka goes about his lecture, before he calls on any of his students to he briefly ungags Naruto soliciting an answer from him, then having another student correcting him when he gets it wrong.

As Iruka brings his lecture to a close, he goes to untie Naruto, " And if you all have kept up practicing your practical skills, I expect you all to leave with a headband tomorrow.", looking out at the class and landing his look at Naruto, with a smile on his face. " At the door you'll show me your Transformation Jutsu before leaving, line up." Iruka directs each student to transform into the student behind them without looking back for reference. He has critiques for most of his students, save for Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and a grumbling Ino Yamanaka having been just before Naruto. Looking down at his last student, and his barely concealed grin. " I know better than to ask you to transform Naruto, I want to see your Clone Jutsu, after you scrub the paint off the Hokage Monument."

At the Hokage Monument, Naruto starting at the face of the first Hokage, scrubbing half heartedly, grumbles various complaints under his breathe " Stupid. Loser. Dumb Clone Jutsu. Why not teach us water jutsus?..." Each complaint grating at his self control, Iruka looking down at his hooligan of a student doing his best to keep an even tone, and failing, bites out " You'll stay here until you're finished, Naruto." "It's not like I have anyone waiting up for me, so fine by me." Naruto offers back in a similar tone. The tone set, Iruka squints down on Naruto, the only sound between them is the scrubbing and periodic rinsing of Naruto's rag. With each scrub, Iruka's anger is eroded away like the paint, revealing a small amount of growing guilt at the statement that started the silence. " Hey, Naruto, how about after this, we go get some ramen from Ichiraku's, on me?" "Alright! Now you're talking Iruka Sensei! I'll have this done in no time!"

The white flaps dance idly as two customers enter the ramen stand, what was a still night, letting the stifling heat in the stand wash out, alerting its owner to his favorite pair of customers. " Iruka, Naruto, what will you have?" Teuchi calls out, not turning at all to see them. " " Two miso for me and five of whatever Naruto wants." Iruka orders. "Pork!" Naruto pipes up as the draft breaks open the flaps for a moment. "Gotcha." "Say Teuchi, are you sure your weren't a shinobi? How do you always know when we come in?" "This again Iruka? No, you can hear Naruto from blocks away when he's excited, and he doesn't often come without you." "I'm not that loud..." As Iruka looks at Naruto with some incredulity he replies "Fair enough." As Teuchi turns with the first bowls of the night he gives a chuckle "That and Naruto has a good air about him.", giving a slight knowing wink at Naruto.

"Say Iruka," Naruto looks to his teacher, waiting on his last bowl, " can I try on your headband?" "What, this?" Flicking the the well maintained but worn steel plate, "No way, you need to be a ninja to wear one." "Come on! Just for a minute." "Fine .." "REALLY?!" Naruto interjects, just before deflation as Iruka finishes, "show me a successful Clone Jutsu." "Thats just dirty sensei..." "Naruto, its your third time around in the academy, I hope you're at least close to getting it right. I was hoping that since you were taking your studies at least where chakra was concerned, there would be some improvement." Naruto, looking down, trying his best to hide a half regretful look under the very real frustrated one, "Nothing I try helps sensei, almost like something doesn't fit. No matter how much time I devote, or chakra I give, the jutsu just doesn't work! I can do the others just fine, but clone always comes out dead at best, and not at all at worst."

|Hmmm, he does the others just fine, all are either entirely physical, or requires more chakra... I wonder if that's the issue, but how would I tell him without getting in trouble. Perhaps if I bring it up to Lord Hokage, we can figure out an alternative graduation exam for him?| Iruka lost in thought missed Naruto finishing his last bowl, and is broken out of it by Naruto's waving hand. "Sensei?" "Sorry. I was thinking what the issue may be, but all I can come up with is lack of practice or over practice." "Over practice?" "Where you've practiced doing something, but always doing it wrong, doing it wrong is what you've practiced, making it harder instead of easier." |Though thats probably not the case.| "Oh. I guess that makes sense, so to fix it, I should give it a break, until I forget enough to relearn it?" Naruto asks, looking hopeful. |I haven't even done that jutsu in almost a year! I'm saved! I was too busy working on that thing I found during my cramming last exam.| "Hopefully that's not the case if you want to graduate this time round Naruto."

The following morning, and the exam passed, without a single successful clone on Naruto's end. Muzuki did try to stick up for him, for once, but Iruka shut that down, although reluctantly. So here Naruto sits on the swing, watching as each of the students is congratulated by their parents, listening as each pass by to the encouraging words. He tries to imagine someone close to him giving these to him until the hushed "Who would make that thing a Ninja?" hits his ears. At that point, he gets up and storms away, not noticing two watchers, one turning away in annoyance, and the other letting a sad sigh as they made their ways home.

Seeing no more eyes on Naruto, Mizuki puts on the friendliest face he can muster before intercepting. "Hey, Naruto! How are you doing?" "Oh, well you know, I was hoping to pass this time, but I just can't do that dumb Clone Jutsu." "Well I might be able to help.." "Really?! Do you know some secret trick to making clones?" "No Naruto, not with clones, but with graduation. Before you interrupt me, there is a secret test. You see if the instructors don't agree on a student's final grade, one can offer this test; There is a scroll in the Hokage's Archive, and around graduation the security is slightly lightened so that if a student who failed, can learn one of the techniques in the scroll, they'll graduate." As Mizuki speaks, he hands Naruto a floor plan and a shift schedule. |Huh, I guess Mizuki Sensei is coming around? I better not waste this!|

As Naruto makes way to the archive, Mizuki watches from above on the building over, kneeling on the guard that once occupied the room, whose neck is bruised and face blue. He curses as Naruto enters the room, and the Hokage enters behind him. Watching the exchange with his breath held, Mizuki almost chokes as Naruto stuns the old man with his Sexy Jutsu. As he takes the time to hide the now useless body, he misses Iruka entering the room.

Having dismissed Iruka immediately to chase Naruto, he has gather a select group of shinobi he was confident would capture Naruto. "Naruto Uzumaki must be found and brought to me, without fail." Met with a chorus of "Yes Lord Hokage!" he turns to one of his masked ANBU. "What of the guard?" "While possible he never made it to his shift, we found traces of scent neutralizers that had yet to decay. The scent Uzumaki was still present so it was done before he entered. Like he was manipulated into taking the Scroll of Seals." "As I expected, I want the guard found, but I want you to track the Uzumaki and observe unseen. If he attempts to flee the village capture him." "As you wish." The ANBU bows and and vanishes. The old Sarutobi then moves back to his study, to view the proceedings through his ANBU's vantage.

Naruto smiles as he rips through the trees doing his best to create bursts of wind to propel his faster, still only able to manage every three out of five tries. It took him a year of practice to get to this point, and even though it wasn't consistent, it was potent when it did work. If he tried hard enough he could even make a deafening pop, but it was a one out of ten thing. |Maybe I could learn a real wind jutsu from the scroll.| As Naruto sat at the meeting spot, certain he'd shaken whatever tail he may have had. "Probably don't have much time, so first one I see..." Naruto opens the scroll as the mole masked ANBU gets in position, a previously unseen seal now active. "... Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu? Ugh, no choice I guess."

For the next hour, the Hokage is hit with a mixture of astonishment, and disappointment. Astonishment at Naruto's quick grasp of the Shadow Clones, and disappointment in the ninja he sent out to find him, taking this long to find one would be genin in bright orange. As he muses methods of training for these ninja, Iruka enters the line of sight. As Iruka listens to Naruto's excited explanation of Mizuki's ruse, an oversized shuriken enters frame just as Iruka pushes Naruto out of the way. A momentary spike of the Hokage's killing intent can be felt through out the building as Mizuki spills one of the worst kept secrets in Konoha's walls.

"You, Naruto Uzumaki, are the Kyubi who decimated the village and took our Fourth Hokage!" These words left Naruto petrified, until he felt a drop of Iruka's blood on his face, and saw a volley of kunai to finish the job. Letting out a large burst of wind, throwing Iruka of him and dislodging Mizuki's kunai from their path into a useless heap, he dashes off. As Iruka stands Mizuki laughs, "Come on Iruka, you can't seriously be standing up for that monster? It's killed too many people, your parents included!" Iruka winces as he blocks Mizuki's kicks, before getting two jabs in and jumping back, creating three clones. "Yeah, the Kyubi did do all that." Saying that, Iruka scatters the clones, each throwing shuriken. Mizuki, guessing wrong, missing the real shuriken thrown from the far right slicing the the back of his calf open. "But thats not Naruto!" Using this created opportunity Iruka and his clones run past, flinging more shuriken at Mizuki to force him into cover.

As Mizuki finishes the tight and fast bandaging of his leg he gives chase, quick spotting Naruto veering off of Iruka's path. Leaving Iruka to chase nothing he gains on Naruto, transforming into Iruka before he's spotted. Just as he calls out in Iruka's voice, Naruto pivots on a branch, drops and kicks out with both feet, knocking the breath out of Mizuki and him out of the transformation. Mizuki catches his footing just in time to dodge a kunai to the neck, catching his assailant in the temple with a hard kick revealing it to be Iruka. Iruka trying to get his bearing, fails and slides down back to tree. "Why, Mizuki? Why betray the village?" "Simple, power. It's been fun Iruka, but I have a demon to kill and a scroll to read." As Mizuki approaches, kunai in hand, he's met with a kick to his stomach and a deafening pop to his left ear, before being flung to the right. "If you touch my sensei again, I'll kill you."

Mizuki, proving surprisingly durable, gets back up despite his leg, and the blood dribbling out his left ear. "Is that right?" Mizuki smirks before fingering a kunai. |If I get rid of Iruka before he can get up, Naruto will be easy pickings.| With that, he throws the kunai at Iruka, who is slowly working himself back up. He watches in horror, as the kunai veers off target, as Naruto jumps in front of Iruka. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" To Iruka's shock, and Mizuki's dread, the forest fills with one thousand faces of fury.

Hiruzen watches from his crystal orb as Mizuki gets his summary execution at the hands of the now on paper genin and his numerous doppelgangers practicing their wind chakra transformation. As he deactivates the seal linking the ANBU mask to his orb. He then views the morgue, where the dead guard was taken after they were found. "Rest easy young one, your killer is dead, his plans dashed."

As Naruto holds his eyes shut he feels his goggles removed and replaced with something else. "Alright, open your eyes Naruto." As he does, Naruto sees Iruka without his headband, goggles in hand. "I'm a man of my word, you showed me a successful clone jutsu. Congratulations, you graduate Naruto."