Chapter 7- First times the charm

Words- 5,075

Disclaimer- "Naruto" Isn't my creation. It's Kishimoto's.

"Changing the story" Is my creation made purely for entertainment.

For the next few months, Naruto spent her time between training with Gai, discussing the future with Shikaku and Inoichi, cleaning up her parent's house and moving into it agreed upon with Tsume, Naruto also dedicates at least once a week to sparring with her opinion, her strength, speed, and endurance had increased exponentially since she had arrived in the Naruto world.
'No doubt, It's because of the slave drivers known as Gai and Tsume', Naruto winces as she's reminded of her afternoon session with Gai.
Naruto heads towards her and Gai's regular training ground slightly tired from the day. Today was sparring day at the Academy and Naruto somehow ended up in a two-against-one situation with Kiba and Shino. The combination proved too much for Naruto even with her extra training.
'At the end of the day, both Kiba and Shino are at the top of the class when it comes to Taijutsu,' she admits grudgingly.
'Plus,' she smiles while adjusting her clothes, 'These new weights Gai-Sensei got me are taking some time to adjust too.'
Naruto's smile quickly slips though as she remembers where she heading.
'Hopefully, Gai-sensei remembers that I'm wearing them today.' she winces.
Pulling up to the training ground, Naruto is immediately on guard as she notices the field is unusually empty.
Feeling paranoid, she instinctually shunshins towards the tree line. She not a second too soon before there's suddenly a hole in the ground where she was just standing. She mentally thanks her intuition.
Her sensei stands in the hole with his signature smile and green jumpsuit.
"Great job my young student!" He shouts, "I see you've kept up your training in the week I've been gone! How are you faring with-"
He's cut off from his question by a Shuriken headed straight for his head.
"Huh?" He manages to dodge still smiling.
"Attacking while your opponent is trying to have a conversation isn't very honorable young-" he's cut off again by Naruto shunshining with the shuriken and lunging at his head with a Kunai in hand.
Gai sighs at his impatient student but seems amused with her usual antics.
"I see someone is feeling extra youthful today!" He shouts again, easily dodging the girl's attempts at murdering him.
Naruto rolls her eyes at his words, but cracks a smile at the feeling of the thrill.
She jumps back as he aims a kick at her head. Feeling the breeze from the kick slap her in the face, Naruto sweatdrops. 'So he doesn't remember the weights.' She pales.
Naruto tries to form the signs for another shunshin to get away but is forced to block another kick as she's too slow.
She winces at the pain in her arms but pushes through as she flicks the Kunai in her hands at Gai. The man easily plucks it from the air. Naruto has a split second of triumph on her face which Gai notices. Naruto tries to make a hand sign for a fire and this time she's a tad quicker.
Gai's eyes go wide for a split second.
"Katsu!" Naruto shouts with no regard for her or Gai's safety.
The Kunai explodes and Naruto has a brief "oh shit" moment when she realizes how close she is to the actual explosion.
She feels herself get pulled back, however, just as the heat hits her face.
As she is admirering her own handiwork from her new location, she is forced to stop as she receives a hard hit to her spine from behind and she flies forward into the area that just got demolished.
Naruto groans, her face full of dirt and ash.
"Ha! Close one young Naruto!" Her sensei shouts standing directly over her. He does'nt even appear winded by the whole ordeal.
Naruto can hear her ears ringing but she's unsure if it's from the explosion or a concussion.
"I see now why you were in such a rush to start! You've added exploding tags to your arsenal while I've been away!" He grabs Naruto from her resting place and pulls her up.
Naruto groans but forces herself to stand on her shakey legs.
"H-Hai, Sen-sensei," she admits, "I found those at the Inumaki clan's weaponry store and figured you wouldn't mind me testing them out..."
Gai rubs his chin in thought.
"Hmm? Inumaki, no wonder…." he starts.
Naruto stares at him in confusion. Gai notices his pupils' questioning glance and explains.
"Ah! It's nothing, It's just, that I thought the range of the blast was a bit more than I was expecting...Usually exploding tags of that nature are more contained..." he ponders.
Naruto takes in this information.
"What do you mean, Sensei?" Naruto asks confused.
Gai explains it in better detail.
"It means that the exploding tag you received wasn't appropriately created. Someone messed up on the Fuinjutsu and caused the explosion to be too overpowering for what it was used for. That was a level one exploding tag, correct?"
Naruto nods her head at him still not exactly following where he was going with this lecture.
Gai shakes his head back at her.
"There are four types of exploding tags. You would learn this in your last year of the academy if I remember correctly. Level one is the lowest power one can get by using an exploding tag. Simply used for exactly how you just used it. By activating it when an enemy has a hold of the object or is near the object with the exploding tag. Do you see where I'm going with this yet?" He quizzed her.
Naruto nods her head slowly getting what he's explaining.
"I think?" she forrows her brow. "So, theoretically, the plan should have worked had the opponent not been quick enough to react and I shouldn't have caught part of the blast myself?"
"Bingo!" her Sensei shouts proudly before a more serious look overcomes his face, "Had I not pulled you from the blast, things could have been a bit different! Which is why Seals need to be made properly and put through the right testing before being sent out for sale." the Jonin nearly gives Naruto whiplash switching between being serious and silly.
"The Inumaki will need to be told about this incident to make sure more malfunctional seals aren't getting through. By the way," he suddenly looks at Naruto with a frown on his face. "How exactly did you get an exploding tag anyways?" he crosses his arms. "You're not a genin yet, you shouldn't be able to purchase them."
Naruto averts her eyes feeling slightly guilty.
'Damn Jonin, I forgot all about that'
"Hehehe," she snickers while rubbing the back of her neck. "I might have convinced another genin to buy me some..." she admits.
Gai sighs at her admittance.
"Well, no harm done I suppose. You did wait for a Jonin before using them..." He confesses. "Still, I hope you learned the importance of being careful with seals in the future?" he asks.
Naruto nods her head, happy with the gentle scolding she received. She's reminded of a topic she has been meaning to bring up with Gai for a while.
"Say, Gai-sensei?" She asks him as they both start to walk over to their usual stretching spot.
"Hmm?" the man acknowledges.
"I was wanting to start learning Fuinjutsu eventually, is there any Fuinjutus masters you know of?"
Gai seems to take in her question and ponders it for a bit. "Masters? No. Hence why the quality of seals, even through clans like the Inzumaki, still fail every now and again. Fuinjutsu is an immensely difficult art with only a rare few ever really being called "Masters".
Naruto isn't surprised by the news, having already been aware of the current Fuinjutsu master, Jiraiya, being out of the village.
"However," Gai continues, "There are a few in the village that are familiar with the art and are capable of creating seals of certain levels on their own." He explains while finishing a set of stretches.
Narutos listens attentively as she does her own sets.
"These individuals aren't qualified to create seals level 4 and above, but they are qualified to train those who are interested in learning. Keep in mind that those individuals taught will also not be able to proceed past level 4 until they are trained by a master...but it's a start." He concludes.
Naruto takes in this new information with renewed hope for the art.
"Sensei...Do you think you can introduce me to any of these individuals?" she asks him upfront.
Gai mulls over her question.
"Well, there is one such individual I might know that would be interested in teaching fuinjutsu..." he considers.
Naruto jumps out of her stretch excitedly. "Really! Do you really think they would consider teaching me?" she almost squeals. 'I wonder if he's referring to his former teammate by chance' Naruto ponders.
'Fuinjutsu is probably one of the most badass abilities to learn in this universe, even If I can only learn the basics of it that would still put me miles ahead.' she screams internally.
Gai tries to calm the excited girl down before she can get her hopes too high. "Well, It's not certain he'll say yes, but he has trained others before in the art."
Naruto actually squeals this time and runs and hugs Gai.
Gai catches the girl in surprise and his eyes soften.
"I'll reach out to him soon and let him know he has an eager student willing to learn." Gai gently lowers Naruto back to the ground.
"In the meantime!" He claps loudly, "We've wasted enough time talking! Time to get back to training!"
Naruto resumes a fighting stance and they go back into their usual routine of sparring. Still, the young girl can't help but keep a wide grin on her face throughout the rest of the day.

.

.

.

Time skip

.

.

.

Naruto goes to school the next day in more pain than she can ever recall.
'I probably shouldn't have kept antagonizing Gai during our spar...' she admits while trying to stretch her back into her chair.
At the front of the class, Iruka-Sensei goes on about the Four Hokages and each of their specialties. Naruto tries to appear attentive as she quietly lets out a yawn.
"Can anyone tell me which Hokage was the longest-serving Hokage?" Iruka asks the class.
Multiple hands go up. Iruka gestures to the pink-haired girl sitting in the front.
"Sakura, do you know the answer?"
Sakura nods her head and stands up quickly. "Hai Sensei! The longest serving Hokage is lord Third."
The teacher smiles at the young girl and nods his head. "Correct Sakura!"
Sakura smiles and sits back down contently.
Iruka continues his lecture.
"Lord Third, also known as Sarutobi Hiruzen, has been Hokage longer than anybody else. Does anybody know which Hokage had the shortest term?"
Naruto winces at the question but raises a hand. Iruka seems hesitate to call on her but only Sakura has her hands raised again so he's forced to.
"Naruto?" he questions sounding a bit sheepish, "Do you know which Hokage had the shortest term?"
Naruto nods her head and stands up, repeating Sakura's actions.
"Hai Sensei. The Hokage who served the least amount of time was Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage."
Several students can be heard lightly whispering amongst themselves. Iruka seems irritated at their behavior.
"Enough talking! This isn't lunchtime!" he scolds them.
He focuses back on Naruto who is still standing and Naruto swears she sees his eyes soften just a bit.
"Now Naruto, can you also tell me how long the lord fourth was Hokage for?" he questions, his face back to being blank.
Naruto nods her head again. "Lord Fourth was only hokage for about a year before he died while defending the village from the Kyubi attack."
Naruto hears a snicker from behind her and Iruka also happens to catch it.
Before the Chunin can begin to scold the one who snickered, the bell rings and class is dismissed for the day. Iruka sighs and Naruto catches his frustration.
"Remember to finish your assignment that's due by the end of this week," he tells the class.
"And don't forget to have your parent sign the papers for our class trip in a few weeks." He adds on while starting to organize his own paperwork.
There's a flurry of activity as everyone grabs their own things and rushes to exit the classroom. Naruto is slower, taking her time.
Naruto thinks back on the last few minutes of class, contemplating what just occurred.
'Since I moved into my parent's old house several months ago, rumors have spread like wildfires.' she reminds herself.
'At first, everyone was in denial, thinking that it was the Tailed Beast's way of making fun of the dead Hokage. There were even some folks who went straight to the Hokage to complain.' Naruto smiles a bit at that memory.
'In the end, Jiji handled most of the villagers who outright denied the truth, evening going so far as to hold a clan head meeting where her lineage was discussed.'
Nearly everyone has exited the room before Naruto finally has her stuff together.
She waits for the last person, who surprisingly isn't Shikamaru, before making her way toward Iruka's desk.
The Young Chunin notices her approach as he goes to sit in his chair.
"Good job today, Naruto!" He tells her and Naruto can hear the authenticity in his voice as he smiles kindly at her.
Naruto smiles back at him gently, "Thank you sensei!" she responds.
Naruto watches as he goes back to his paperwork before speaking back up again.
"Iruka-Sensei?" she questions timidly.
Iruka looks back up, realizing that she needs something.
"Yes, Naruto? What can I help you with?" he asks while putting the paper back down and giving her his full attention.
Naruto relaxes a bit at his kindness.
"Do you think I may be able to graduate this year?" she throws at him innocently.
Iruka seems taken back for a second but recovers quickly.
"Well, to be truthful Naruto...No..." he admits.
Naruto frowns at his response. The jonin quickly explains his reasoning.
"While you have been growing at an impressive rate these last few months, you still have a long way to go before I think you're ready to take the graduating test."
Naruto furrows her brow before responding.
"Sensei, What would you say I'd need to get better at for me to pass the test?" she inquires.
Iruka folds his hands together showing that he taking the girls questioning seriously.
"Well, for starters, The graduating exam consists of a series of tests. First, there is the written part; at the moment, you are ahead of your class when it comes to written tests, only falling behind Sakura, actually."
Naruto nods her head at this, unfazed.
"-However," Iruka continues, "There are things on the test that we as a class haven't even gone over yet, not to mention won't be going over for another couple of years."
Naruto again nods her head.
"So what if I study on my own for the written test?"
Iruka reflects on the girl's response.
"Well, it's not unheard of, except that would be almost 3 years' worth of knowledge that you'd be trying to understand within the next couple of months. The next graduation exam is only two months away Naruto."
Naruto starts to get a bit frustrated with this conversation not quite going the way she'd expect it to.
"What other things would I have to be able to do, Sensei?" she pushed forward with the questions.
Iruka sighs at her stubbornness.
"The second part of the exam: The physical part." he continues.
Naruto perks back up at this.
"Don't get too cocky, Naruto!" The instructor exclaims sensing her sudden energy.
"You may succeed at the first part of the physical exam, the fitness test, but you haven't even started learning the academy's basic three techniques yet! Those techniques can take years for students to learn and..." Iruka trails off as he slowly notices the shit-eating grin on Naruto's face.
"But Sensei..."Naruto says cockily, "I already know two out of three of the academy techniques..." she admits trying to calm her mischievous grin.
Iruka narrows his eyes as the prankster.
"Oh?" he questions suddenly worried for some reason, "and how did you come across learning those techniques?"
Naruto chose to be honest with the poor man, "I snuck into the library a couple of months ago, Ya know, it's not a crime considering those techniques are available to basically anyone even civilians, dattebayo!" Naruto lets the word slide since it's just the two of them.
Iruka feels his eye twitch at her honesty but sighs when there is nothing he can do about it now.
"Naruto, you know it's not safe to practice new jutsu without an adult's supervision."
Naruto shrugs her shoulders, "I know, but I really wanted to learn the Jutsu...I mean how else am I going to be able to walk around the village now without everyone staring at the daughter of the fourth Hokage?" she argues, "At least now I can henge myself and hide from the Civilians..."
Iruka splutters at what she just admitted, quiet shell shocked.
"Daughter...of the..fourth?" he slowly says as in disbelief.
Naruto raises her eyebrows at the man, "You had heard the rumors I assumed?"
The man seems to try to compose himself.
"Yes...I...heard the rumors Naruto...But I suppose I didn't hold them to any truth?" he states like a question.
Naruto nods at his question that wasn't a question.
"The fourth Hokage was my father and my mother was Kushina Uzumaki," she explains.
"My father died protecting the leaf village and sealed the nine-tailed fox inside of me to further protect the village." she lays it out.
"The Hokage and elders knew of this, however, to protect me from my parent's enemies my identity was kept a secret."
Iruka finally looks like he's regained most of his composure.
"Is that what this is about then?" he questions her a new look on his face Naruto can't quite pinpoint.
Naruto nods in agreement, "I need to get strong fast, Sensei." She explains.
"From what you've told me of the graduation exam, I've deduced that I can learn all that I need to before the two months are up." She tells him without a hint of self-doubt.
Iruka leans back in his chair and crosses his arms, "You really believe that Naruto?"
Naruto grins widely, "Believe it, Iruka-Sensei!"

Iruka smiles at his student, but there's still a small trace of doubt in his eyes.

"And how do you plan to also convince the elders to allow you to graduate?" he questions.

Naruto is prepared for this one.

"In order for a lower-class academy student to take the graduation exam, said student must have three instructors or Jonin recommend the advancement. Am I correct, Sensei?" Naruto asks.

The chunin makes an agreeing sound.

Naruto nods her head, "So far, I have 2 Jonins supporting me already! All I need is one more instructor or Jonin!" she grins wildly.
Iruka grins back at the young girl, amused. "Then let's make a deal, Naruto." He stands up.
Naruto stands up as well, curious.
The chunin walks around the desk and holds out a hand for Naruto to shake.
"If you can learn the other last Academy technique, as well as pass a practice test that I create, then I'll personally nominate you to take the graduating final exam."
Naruto smiles at the offer and shakes Iruka's hand.
"Deal!"

After discussing a few more things with Iruka, such as what would be on the written exam, Naruto heads back towards her home in a better mood than she's been in months.
'Finally!' she thinks to herself, 'I'm finally getting somewhere!'
'All I need to do these next couple of months is study hard and train hard! No more school!'
Naruto is almost bouncing in her step as she opens her front door and enters her house.
The place has been cleaned up beautifully in the past few months. Most of the furniture is the same but a few more pictures have joined the previous one scattered throughout. The most jarring change, however, was the atmosphere. The air was no longer stale, but fresh and filled with flowers from the Yamanaka flower shop. There was now a certain kind of warmth throughout the house that screamed that it was lived in and loved once again.
Naruto smiles to herself.
Going into the kitchen, Naruto prepares to make some dinner for herself. While she's busy with the food prep, she thinks about her plan for the next two months.
'Realistically, being able to pass the Exam isn't too far fetched.' she tells herself while turning the stove on.
'The written part might be difficult, but I could always bribe Kotetsu and Izumo into helping me study...' she smiles at the thought of the boys.
'It has been a couple of weeks since I last saw them, maybe a visit is overdue.'
She moves on to the next part of the plan.
'As for the last academy jutsu...' Naruto's eye twitches as she thinks about her current frustration with the shadow clone Jutsu.
'I've had the Shadow clone jutsu for months now and still, I feel like I'm getting nowhere!' she internally rages.
"I know the original Naruto got it down in one night when he was thirteen so why can't I figure it out!" she half screams into a pot on the stove.
Taking a deep breath the blonde tries to calm her nerves.
'The original Naruto had more time for his chakra to adjust to the levels' she thinks.
'I'm nine years old so the Kyubi's chakra is harder to take into account.'
"Right now, I can do the Jutsu Itself, but I have no control over the number of clones I create, not to mention the massive headache that happens when I make several hundred clones just to pass out immediately because my chakra control has no control!" she huffs.
'Even with the amount of chakra exercises I've been doing I still can't pinpoint the exact amount for this jutsu,' Naruto sets a timer and goes to sit at the dining table while she waits for her food to finish cooking.
'It doesn't help that I'm also having to train with this Jutsu when no one, including Gai-sensei, is looking.' She lowers her head onto the table, feeling defeated.
"Two months, Naruto..." she mumbles.
"We have two months to get our shit together and then we can start our actual journey in this story."
'I could always just go for the next exam in eight months, but what the fun in that? Plus, I feel like I'd be letting Iruka, Shikaku, Inoichi, and the Third down if I fail...'
Naruto's timer goes off and she goes back to the stove.
'Well, Two months is a long time...' she reminds herself trying to stay positive.
"Who knows what I will learn before then!" she exclaims hopeful as she grabs a fork and proceeds to dig into the Ramen she just made.

.

Time skip

.

Two months later, Naruto finds herself about ready to pull her hair out of her head.
'This fucking test is completely different than the one Iruka-Sensei had me practice with!' she curses internally.
In front of her, two teachers are watching the classroom of preteens plus Naruto.
Their eyes are like hawks for any cheaters and Naruto considers just giving up.
Looking back at the written test at hand. Naruto tries to focus once more on the questions.
'Half of these questions are easy and I know I've gone over them at some point. The other half, however...I feel like I'm doing 50/50 for each question!'
Naruto furrows her brow in concentration.
'Still, I should at the very least make a 75 or higher on the written portion if my math is correct.'
Naruto thinks back to the first part of the physical test they did.
'I managed to stay right in the middle of the pack time-wise for the obstacle course..' she reminds herself.
'Which means all I have left to do is pass this test with the bare minimum and then it's smooth sailing with the Academy three.'
Skipping the question she moves on to the next one.
The test goes on for another 30 minutes before one of the teachers calls for the students to put down their pencils. Naruto sighs in relief and briefly stretches her back against the chair.
'Well, no use kicking yourself over it now Naruto!' she admits, 'I studied tremendously the past couple of months. Even Kotestu and Izumo agreed I learned as much as I could in that time frame...'
'It's just up to these teachers to grade it fairly now...' her eyes narrow in on one of the chunin that currently is picking up the tests.
'This guy's been giving me the skank eye ever since I walked into his class, Hopefully, he's not the one grading it...'
"Alright, class! That's it for the written portion!", the other chunin proclaims, "We'll give you a five-minute break before the last portion of this exam begins, so be sure to prepare!"
Naruto thanks the chunin mentally, happy to use the time for a little meditation.
'I'll have to thank the boys for their help. I definitely wouldn't have passed without them pushing me and questioning me nearly every day.' She'll have to try to think of a gift to get them as a thank you.
The classroom remains quiet around Naruto and she is grateful for the brief moment of not having to force her mind to think.
Focusing on her chakra, she can feel the slow ebb and flow throughout her body. She relaxes as she gets lost momentarily in the sensation.
"Okay students!," the jerk chunin interrupts right next to Naruto's desk, "If everyone will step outside and form a line against the hall's wall! This next portion will be done one by one!"
Naruto rolls her eyes at him and proceeds to stand up, following the flow of the other students as they grumpily line up outside the classroom.
The teachers call them in one by one like promised and Naruto gets a fluttery feeling in her stomach suddenly. She tries to push it down but it remains steady.

Watching the children go in and come back out, Naruto notices thats theres always a brief pause of a few minutes.

'They must be grading each students written test before having them come in' She deducts as another student comes out, this time with tears in their eyes.
Finally, after what must have been at least two hours, Naruto's name is called.
'Seemed like they left me for last since I'm an outsider technically...' she puts together.
Walking in, she notices both chunins sitting at the desk with paper skewed about.
The nicer of the chunins is the first to speak up.
"Naruto Namikaze...Thank you for joining us today." He greets.
"For the final test, you will need to perform all three of the Academy basic jutsus. Do you understand?"
Naruto nods her head and confirms.
"Hai, Sensei!"
The chunin smiles briefly.
"Then, you may begin whenever you are ready." he nods and picks up a pen.
Naruto smooths out her breathing and counts to five to relax.
She decides to start with the Henge Jutsu first.
Making the sign, she thinks briefly about who to replicate before applying chakra.
There's a decent cloud of smoke until finally, another form is revealed standing where the girl once was.
Naruto puts on her best impression of her sensei.
"How do you do, fellow leaf ninja!" she strikes a pose and gives the chunins a bright grin with her thumb up.
Both chunins seem blinded by her smile.
Or maybe it's the tracksuit.
Naruto can't tell.
She releases the henge.
The other chunin speaks up for the first time since Naruto has entered.
"We haven't told you to release the jutsu yet!" he exclaims aggressively.
Naruto raises an eyebrow at him.
"Ah. I'm sorry Ninja-san." She says with an innocent look on her face, "But, you seemed frozen by how good of a henge it was, I wasn't sure if you'd even be able to speak."
The chunin's face goes red but he is cut off by his co-worker.
"Ken-san is right, Naruto-kun," he starts to explain quickly to lessen the tension, "We didn't tell you to stop the transformation, however, Since it was a decent henge, we will let it slide..."
Naruto tilts her head at him, curious.
"Now if you don't mind," he continues, "Onto the next Jutsu?"
Naruto puts the incident behind her and focuses on the next part.
Turning around, she locks eyes with a chair across the room, and in one swift motion, Teleports with it.
Across the room, she repeats the action and stands back in her original spot.
Both chunins write something down on their papers.
Naruto takes the time to dissect the chunins.
'Since the identity of my parents has been made public, It seems like the general consensus goes either one of two ways. Either, the party remains hating my gut because I'm the jinchuriki and they see me as a fake daughter,' she looks at the rude chunin, 'or they've turned into ass kissers who hope to gain forgiveness for daring to be rude to the daughter of the great late fourth Hokage." Naruto watches the "nicer" chunin put his pen down.
He smiles at Naruto, "Okay, Namikaze!" he begins, "Last Jutsu, whenever you're ready!"
Naruto holds back rolling her eyes at his fakeness.
She makes the seal for a shadow clone instead.
Taking one giant breath, she forces her chakra into the tiniest, littlest ball she can, and then forces it into the seal.
Beside Naruto, a singular, perfectly created, shadow clone appears.
Naruto looks at it proudly.
Both chunins look at each other and then at Naruto. A moment passes between the two.
"Congrats, Naruto!" the nicer one says happily, "You've passed the graduation exam!"

Naruto smiles at them both brightly.

'D-ranks, here I come!' She thinks without thought.

'..Oh wait..' she remembers in slight horror.

'I forgot about D-ranks...Crap'

Author's note-

35,000 words later we're actually here! Welcome to the start of the actual story folks! From here on, expect canon divergence, OC's, and fucked up timelines!

But seriously, I can't express enough gratitude in how many people have favorited or followed this story!

If anyone has any questions regarding the story or plot, please do not hesitate to ask them! I also really appreciate any feedback!