Chapter 2: Graduation
Madara was walking home with Sasuke, still lost in thought at today's events. During lunch, she had created a shadow clone to transform into a bird to watch Naruto. The people of this village seemed to share a strong dislike for him. Of course, Madara could understand why. They were all afraid of the nine tails and believed that Naruto himself was the fox. To Madara, she found this to be quite stupid and idiotic. "Good idea. We're afraid that the fox has taken over the boy, so let's hate him and make it known how much we hate him. We'll isolate him and treat him like a monster." Madara sarcastically thought to herself. The villagers were quite stupid. Instead of trying to make Naruto a loyal member of the village and an ally, they thought it would be better to treat him like shit. Madara sighed out loud, catching the attention of her brother.
"What's wrong, Madara?" Sasuke asked as he looked over at her. She had a stern gaze, which was normal seeing how she didn't particularly care for much.
"It's nothing, Sasuke. But tell me, what do you really think about Naruto?" Madara asked as she turned to face him while walking.
"Naruto? Why are you worried about him? Like I said this morning. He's a clan less loser with no talent or skill. He's the dead last and can't even produce a single clone. If you ask me, he should just drop out of the academy." Sasuke declared.
"Why do you hate him so much? Is there something he did to you?" Madara asked.
"It isn't that he's done anything to me. But day after day, he pulls pranks and acts like a complete idiot. He always goes on about being the Hokage, it gets annoying." Sasuke says. Madara nods at his answer and decides to drop it.
Over the next few weeks at the academy, Madara continued to watch Naruto. Much like Sasuke explained, he didn't take anything seriously. He pranked Iruka quite a lot, with some of the pranks being impressive. What had her most impressed was that Naruto had graffitied the entire Hokage monument and out of pure bitterness, she was amused at the faces of Hashirama and Tobirama.
Naruto continued trying to use the clone technique but failed every time. Madara could see with her Sharingan that he was applying too much chakra, resulting in the technique being overloaded and not working. Sure, his chakra control was complete garbage, but as an Uzumaki who contains the nine tailed fox spirit, it shouldn't be a surprise that his chakra was far too high to perform such a basic Jutsu.
"Naruto." Madara called out. The blond looked over at the dark-haired girl and asked what she wanted. "You're using too much chakra. You should tell Iruka sensei that you're overloading the technique." Madara suggests.
Naruto gave her a skeptical look. In the entire time at the academy, the two never once spoke any words to each other. Yet she was telling him the exact opposite of what his teachers told him, he had too much chakra. "Just mind your own business, Madara. I'll get this jutsu down eventually." Naruto declared. He made the proper hand seals again, only for his sick looking clone to appear.
"Yeah, you're well on your way to mastering it." Madara sarcastically said, which annoyed Naruto. He scowled at her.
"Come on, Naruto. You've already failed the graduation exam twice. If you fail it again, you'll be kicked out of the academy and not allowed to become a ninja." Iruka says.
Naruto scowls at his sensei. "I'm trying, Iruka sensei! This jutsu is too difficult! Why can't I just be given a test on the transformation jutsu? I'm way better at it!" Naruto exclaimed. Iruka crosses his arms and shakes his head.
"No, Naruto. In order to become a Genin, you need to be able to produce at least two clones. I'm serious. Tomorrow is your last chance to graduate. Don't blow it." Iruka states.
Naruto's frustration becomes evident as he stands up and points at Iruka. "I can't produce the stupid jutsu! I keep doing exactly what everyone tells me, and it won't work!" Naruto shouts.
"Try harder! You're obviously not applying enough chakra!" Iruka shouts back, his own will clashing against Naruto. In a fit of defiance, Naruto decided to go towards the window. "Hey, where are you going?" Iruka called out.
"I've got better things to do than listen to your lectures, Iruka sensei." Naruto said before leaping out the window.
"Naruto, get back here!" Iruka called out. He sighs with exasperation, clearly frustrated by Naruto's antics and lack of seriousness. At the time, Madara created a shadow clone to trail Naruto, her own curiosity getting the better of her.
Naruto got to his apartment and slammed the door shut. He was upset, very upset. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't produce anything more than his sickly clone. But being who he was, the one that never quit or backed down, he began resuming his training.
"I'll show Iruka sensei. I'll show everyone that I'm going to become Hokage, believe it." Naruto exclaimed. He made the proper hand seals, ram, snake, and tiger, but as usual, his sick clone appeared. Naruto continued repeating it, over and over again, determined to get the jutsu down in time for the graduation exam.
Watching from afar, transformed into a squirrel, Madara continued watching. Sure, Naruto was annoying and goofed off a lot. But not even she could deny his determination and hard work. "Hmph, he's still at it." Madara thought to herself. She watched for the next few hours, and Naruto kept failing at the technique, time after time. In all truthfulness, Madara couldn't understand why the instructors refused to help him. However, that's when she deduced that the teachers were probably aware of this and allowed their personal feelings to stop them from helping him.
Nighttime came around and Madara watched Naruto continue to try and produce at least one good clone. Unfortunately, it never happened. She sighed with frustration, knowing that even with all his hard work, he still wasn't making any progress. "Well, nine tails. It looks like you guys are going to have a long day tomorrow." Madara muttered to herself. She was about to leave until she saw Iruka sensei arrive at Naruto's house.
Naruto opened the door to his apartment and was a little shocked to see his teacher. "Iruka sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.
Iruka entered his apartment with an uneasy expression. He glanced around at the apartment and at the boy, noticing that Naruto has been practicing for a few hours. "Uh, do you want to go grab a bite to eat, my treat?" Iruka asked. Naruto's face lit up with excitement as he exclaimed his desire for some ramen. "Okay, come on." Iruka says.
The two were walking and Iruka decided to strike up a conversation with the boy. "So, Naruto. Care to explain why you ditched class like that?" Iruka asked.
Naruto shrugged. "I went home to practice the jutsu. But no matter how hard I tried; it just wouldn't work." Naruto says. Iruka places his hands inside of his pockets while nodding. "You know, Iruka sensei. Could it be possible that I have too much chakra?" Naruto asked, considering what Madara had told him.
"No, Naruto. If you had too much chakra, then you'd be able to produce the jutsu with ease. You can't even produce a single good clone. That leads me to believe that you just aren't applying enough chakra to it." Iruka explains.
"But Iruka sensei, if I fail tomorrow's exam, then I'll lose my dream of becoming Hokage. There has to be something I can do, right?" Naruto asked.
Iruka gave Naruto a sorrowful expression. "I'm sorry, Naruto. But rules are rules. We can't just bend them because you can't do the jutsu. The graduation requirement is easier than it's ever been. You just have to give it your all and accept you did your best." Iruka says, trying to raise the spirits of Naruto.
Naruto sighed. "Alright… I'm going to pass that exam tomorrow, Iruka sensei! Believe it! I'll produce the clones and I'll become a full-fledged ninja, mark my words!" Naruto exclaimed with a fierce determination.
Iruka gives the boy a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I know you're determined, but becoming a ninja of this village, it's too dangerous." Iruka thought. The two then arrived at Ichiraku's ramen shop and began ordering.
The clone following Naruto dispelled and the memories were transferred over to the original Madara as she was at home, eating dinner. Her arms were crossed as she reviewed the memories from her clone. "Well, that's certainly surprising. To have such determination, even when he knows that he doesn't stand a chance of passing, I suppose that stands for something." Madara says out loud.
Sasuke comes out of the shower and finds his sister lost in thought. "You alright, Madara? You seem lost in thought." Sasuke says.
Madara looks over at her brother and sighs. "It's nothing, Sasuke. I'm actually going to go for a walk. I'll be back later." Madara states. Sasuke shrugs and heads to his bedroom. Once Madara leaves the house, she begins walking in a random direction. Her own thoughts being focused on everything that's been going on. She still couldn't believe that her soul was transferred to a different reality, a different life, it was just strange. As much as she wanted to go speak with Hiruzen about this, she knew that it would cause problems, especially with the reputation that this world's Madara Uchiha had.
While out for her walk, she noticed Naruto was walking in the direction away from his apartment. This spiked Madara's curiosity and so she decided to follow the blond. Naruto arrived at the training field and began working on the clone technique. Each attempt was followed with a failure, and it was only adding on to his frustration. No matter how much chakra he produced, the clone still came out the same and it was infuriating. Madara continued watching the Jinchuriki fail at trying to produce a clone. After a few hours of nothing changing, she sighed and was about to leave. However, she stopped when she heard the blond speak.
"Damn it! What's wrong with me? Why can't I produce a single good clone? I can transform perfectly! I can use the Body Replacement perfectly! I can land a damn shuriken on a target! But why can't I produce a single clone! It's so stupid and none of the teachers will help me!" Naruto screamed. He began punching the ground, his frustrations being evident. In a fit of rage, he makes another attempt at producing a clone, only for the jutsu to fail once more.
Even though Madara could care less for the boy, she couldn't help but feel a bit sad. Out of all the kids at the academy, Naruto easily tried the hardest. Yet, he had no success. As much as Madara wanted to teach him the Shadow Clone Jutsu, she knew that it would be suspicious for Naruto to suddenly learn such an advanced technique. Along with his loudmouth, this would bring attention to her and raise some flags. Madara just sighed and began walking home.
"It just doesn't make any sense. Why wouldn't Naruto be shown a technique made for those with her chakra reserves? I guess this village really does hate him and fear what could happen if he became a shinobi." Madara muttered.
The next day at the academy came and it was time for the graduation exam. The students were all eager to prove themselves as being ready for the shinobi world. Naruto was feeling anxious and even a little scared. He stayed up all night practicing but didn't make any progress. The two instructors, Iruka and his assistant, Mizuki, stood at the front of the class.
"Alright, today is the day you show us what you've learned. As you hear your name getting called, please come to the next classroom. That's where you'll demonstrate the clone jutsu. Shino Aburame, you're up." Iruka explains and the two teachers walk across the hall with Shino following right behind.
A few moments passed and Shino returned to the classroom with a Konoha headband. Choji Akimichi was then called, and the chubby boy made his way across the hall. Naruto had his arms crossed while laying his head on the desk. If this exam was on anything else, he'd pass it. But because it was on the stupid clone jutsu, his hopes of becoming Hokage were falling faster than the ramen he ate.
Madara returns from across the hall, her headband wrapped around her forehead, indicating she had also passed. Naruto Uzumaki was then called, confirming to Madara that he was indeed an Uzumaki. The blond takes a deep breath before getting out of his seat and walking across the hall.
"Alright, Naruto. Please perform the clone jutsu." Iruka says. Naruto looks at both Iruka and Mizuki sensei with a look of sheer determination. He begins making the hand seals and a burst of blue chakra forms around him. Once the puff of smoke clears, Iruka sighs. The same sick looking Naruto was produced. "I'm sorry, Naruto. But you fail." Iruka says.
Naruto was looking heartbroken and beyond disappointed until Mizuki had spoken up. "Come on, Iruka. This is his third attempt, and he did create one clone. I'm not even that good at using the clone jutsu." Mizuki says. Naruto's face lights up with hope, hoping that they'd still pass him. However, that hope was gone when Iruka shook his head.
"No, Mizuki. All the other students produced at least two clones. Naruto only made one and it's pathetic. We can't just bend the rules because someone is retaking the test." Iruka says. Naruto's head lowers with defeat as he makes his way back to the classroom. The last student, Ino Yamanaka, was called.
Naruto sat at his desk with his blond hair shadowing his eyes. It wasn't often that Naruto displayed disappointment. But today was different. He had given it his all and trained so hard. But in the end, it didn't even matter.
"Well, so much for becoming Hokage, right, Naruto?" Kiba asked, shooting his taunts at the blond. Naruto's disappointment was so great that he didn't even bother arguing with Kiba. He just sat in silence and began sulking. Once Ino returned with her headband, Iruka informed them that their families were outside waiting to congratulate them.
Naruto watches as everyone goes to their families, receiving praises for becoming an official shinobi, meaning adulthood. Madara and Sasuke didn't have anyone to greet them, so they had just gone home like usual. A few people were stealing quick glances at the blond, discussing their relief at seeing Naruto had failed. The people could only imagine what Naruto would become like if he was a shinobi. One of the girls almost spilled the beans about what he contained, but was quickly silenced by her friend, reminding her of Lord Hokage's law.
Hiruzen had arrived to congratulate the newly graduated Genin and as he stood with pride, a frown grew on his face at seeing Naruto sitting on the swing. He felt for the boy, he really did. To see his surrogate grandson in such a state, opposed to his usual happy-go-lucky and hyperactive self. It truly did break Hiruzen's heart. He glanced over at Iruka, who also seemed to have a saddened expression. "Iruka, can we speak later?" Hiruzen asked. Iruka looks over at the aged leader, informing him that there would be no problem. The Hokage nodded and as the students began leaving to go home and celebrate, the Hokage vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving Iruka alone in his thoughts as he remained until the last student had left with their family.
Author's Note
I wanted to really emphasize the determination and effort Naruto was displaying. I was going to originally have Madara show him the Shadow Clone Jutsu, but I had other plans instead. I also want everyone reading to understand this, Madara doesn't care for Naruto. She doesn't have a crush or even consider him a friend. It's the nine tail's that she is interested in and has her own agenda because remember, this is the original spirit and soul of Madara Uchiha.
Yes, Sasuke is a dickhead, but I think we can all agree that in the beginning, Sasuke wasn't exactly buddy-buddy with Naruto. Again, I'm going to make his character great, even though he's a complete ass.
Unlike in cannon, while Iruka does care for Naruto, he is also worried about him being a ninja and allows his fears and concerns to prevent Naruto from graduating, such as not helping him with learning the jutsu. I hope this doesn't set too many of you off or make you want to stop reading it. I just felt like this could be a different dimension of Iruka that isn't really explored.
Finally, I've decided that I'm going to make Naruto be more involved a Jinchuriki. What does this mean? It means that much like Gaara, Naruto will be using more of Kurama's chakra and having a more demonic personality. I always liked the idea of Naruto ending up like Gaara, so we're going explore that path.