AN: 'Sup guys, it's ya boi; your one and only sleep deprived author. Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. Life kinda got in the way. If y'all are curious, I made a few quick sketches of what Naruto looks like in this chapter. Check out the bottom of my profile to see them. (Sorry about the dead links, hopefully I managed to fix it.)
Thank you so much for last chapter's reviews. As always, they are greatly appreciated. These things are basically like crack to us authors.
Important note; After careful consideration, I have decided to re-write the start of this chapter. I was reading you guy's feedback and agreed with most of the points proposed. I admit, it was written sloppily and in a hurry, but hopefully this one is more realistic.
I don't own Naruto.
"Where the hell is it!?"
"Shhh!"
Naruto turned around and smiled apologetically at the people frowning at him in disapproval.
"Heheh, sorry…" He whispered. The other occupants of the library went back to their literature without another word, making the blond Jinchūriki sigh quietly in relief and scratch his cheek awkwardly. Note to self, keep emotions in check while in the library.
But still, he swore he'd seen that book somewhere when he was doing his pranking research on Maito Gai all those years ago, this old tome about the Shinigami that was nearly falling apart from age.
'Okay, I swear it was somewhere in this section.' He ground his teeth in frustration when the book was clearly not there anymore and resisted the urge to pull his hair out. Where was that damn book!?
His search went on for another 15 minutes and he was about ready to throw in the towel. Putting a finger under his chin, Naruto frowned in thought as he tried to figure out his next step of action.
'Maybe the Librarian knows?' It was a reach, but better than nothing. With the amount of dust he saw on that book when he'd seen it, no one had seemed to have touched it in years.
"Excuse me" He whispered to the librarian behind the counter that was squinting down at a bunch of documents. The woman blinked and lowered her head to peer at him from the bridge of her glasses.
"Can I help you deary?"
He'd always liked this lady, never looking at him with mean eyes or whispering under her breath, treating him like any old lady would treat a child. He didn't know if it was because of her lack of knowledge about him or if she simply didn't care, but that didn't really matter to him.
"Have you seen this super dusty looking book?" Naruto questioned. "Brown, made of leather, has a string that wraps around it?"
The lady's eyes blinked in surprise. "That tome on the Shinigami? What on earth do you need that old thing for?"
"Ah," The Uzumaki looked off to the side nervously. "School project?"
The librarian frowned slightly in suspicion before shaking her head in exasperation. Really, kids these days. "Academy students shouldn't have to worry about such topics, sonny. Only special Jonin levels and above can access it at the back."
Well that was disappointing. Curse this 8-year-old body of his that didn't have any clearance anywhere! But he was a pretty sly guy, maybe he could sneak past her while she wasn't looking.
It was a few minutes later when he saw his opportunity. The librarian's pen rolled off the side of her table making her mutter in annoyance and reach down in search for it. Swiftly moving forward, he quietly opened the door and slipped inside with none being the wiser.
The back room seemed pretty similar to the main room, although it looked slightly smaller. The bookcases were different as well, being made of expensive looking ebony.
Better start looking for it before she realized he was here.
5 minutes later.
'No. Nope, not here. No. No…Is that mold? Ew." He wiped his hand against his pants as he pushed the books away and looked at the bottom row of the book case.
"Ah, found it!" He exclaimed to himself quietly. Carefully picking up the old leather book in fear of having it fall apart in his hands, he placed it onto a table and flipped the tome open.
The pages were blotched in yellow from age, and the words were written in some strange cursive variant. Not only that, but more than half of the words seemed to be missing, much to his chagrin. He'd have to decipher it by himself.
Shinobi age ..4…5 …clan of Uzumaki.
Those simple words already nearly knocked the wind out of his lungs. Why? Why was his clan mentioned in this? How exactly were they involved with the Shinigami? And what was this book doing here in Konoha?
Shinigami….God of Death…Spirit…invites humans…Death... Creatur… …arkness.
He frowned at the macabre words. All of those seemed very unpleasant. Continuing his attempt at deciphering more about the Shinigami, he quickly skimmed through the legible content and flipped to the next page coming across a very interesting passage.
Contract lost…Give…...yo…soul...Ritual….Instated….Uzumaki clan….seals…reach….realm of livi….afterlife.
From what he could garner from this, some sort of ritual was involved, and your soul was the price to pay for it to work. Did that mean he would die? If he did manage to get in contact with the reaper, maybe there was a way he could persuade him otherwise?
The next few pages appeared to be talking about the actual ritual and sealing process. Prayer beads were invoved, and so were curse marks. A line in particular about the reaper plunging his arm into your soul made him quickly move on to the next subject.
Free…Dea.. …emon Cons…ing Seal…..elease….Mask….Stomach…..ut open…..Shinigami will…..any soul insid….
The souls could be released if you put on a mask and used a technique called dead demon consuming seal. Or at least, that's what he could understand from it. Unfortunately, he doubted that something so simple was all that he needed to do. Many pages had been ripped out and whatever ones were left were barely distinguishable. He was nearing the end of the book now which held a few drawings and motifs, the only page in the book that had anything but faded writing.
Some brief mentions of an Uzumaki temple with the clan symbol near the outskirts of Konoha kept coming up every now and then. They must have built one when Konoha had made their alliance with his clan's village. Maybe that's how the book got here. It would make sense that important valuables would be transported back to the allied country. He needed to look for it. Not just for the seal, but for his own sake as well. He wanted to learn as much as possible about his clan.
Looking across to the drawings, he saw one that depicted a pretty scary-looking mask. If he wasn't wrong, that was a Hannya, a demonic looking face adorned with horns. Huh, interesting. He assumed that this was the mask needed for the ritual.
Below was a small motif showing a red symbol with the label "Uzumaki" scribbled under it in actual hand writing, unlike the rest that seemed to have been typed. It was pretty basic, consisting only of a red spiral. But…
He'd seen that symbol before. On the back of those chūnin vests and many other clothes made in Konoha.
Curiouser and curiouser.
'So, the death god can be summoned,' he summarized in his head. 'But what I'm looking for is this mask that's apparently in this Uzumaki place that I've never heard of but somehow was there all along, and in that place is a Shinigami mask that I need.'
It was a stretch, but it's what he was able to garner from the incoherent words in the book. All he had to do was find that temple near the outskirts and find the mask.
Simple, right?
Yeah, as if it ever was that easy.
5 hours later.
'This place has probably seen better days…' Was the thought of the 8-year-old. He'd been looking well over 5 hours for it with the help of his shadow clones. Konoha was a big place, so it had taken him a while. But eventually, a clone had dispelled in this general area and informed him of its location.
The entrance loked to have collapsed upon itself, leaving only a tiny gap as the entry way. The roof had several holes in it and the fences on the sides were barely hanging on. If it weren't for the big red spiral above the doorway, he would have thought he was at the wrong place.
Crawling under the debris that blocked off most of the entrance, the blond shook his head to free it of the dust that had stuck to his hair and squinted inside the darkness. It was getting pretty late at night, and dying sun rays were barely providing sufficient lighting. It didn't take him too long for his eyes to adjust however.
There it was…It wasn't difficult to find, this entire temple seemed to have been built solely for these masks, much to his disappointment. The room was tiny, probably the size of a regular sized bedroom. And on the far wall was a podium where 26 facemasks with varying facial expressions were hung into three rows of 9, with one gap near the top row.
One was missing? Knowing his luck, it was probably the one he was after. The book had shown an illustration of the mask itself, and while they all looked pretty similar, he would be able to recognize it if he saw it.
He didn't.
'Why am I not surprised…' He thought contemptuously.
Sasuke Uchiha was faced with a conundrum.
He saw that blond kid again, the one he'd met two years ago. He was running off to the south for some unknown reason with a determined look in his eyes, and he'd been debating if he should've followed him.
He wanted to speak with the boy again. Not only to thank him for accidentally saving Izumi, but also to have a training partner. He'd been doing his own routine by himself when he met him the first time and he wasn't even in the academy, so he assumed that he was a special case. He was probably pretty strong.
But while he wanted to approach the boy, the words of Itachi kept playing out in his head. His exiled brother had wanted him to befriend him and, despite everything that Izumi was telling him, he couldn't help but associate Itachi as an evil person. Why would he voluntarily do anything he told him to do? He murdered his clan, his entire family! And as if that wasn't enough, he showed him the deed, over and over and over again until his mind was broken and his spirits were shattered. Mental therapy had become less a need and more of a necessity.
Itachi was still very much a sore spot for the dark-haired boy. Ever since the incident, he threw himself harder into his training, each day pushing himself further than the previous one for the sole purpose of being able to one day confront Itachi. He needed to be stronger, to be better. And once he was, he would take him down and get his answers.
He didn't know what he would do once he'd beaten him however. He hated Itachi with a passion and he would like nothing more than to see him begging at his feet, but some tiny part of his mind couldn't help but question his motives, to question the truth. In his 7 years of brotherhood with the prodigy, he'd always seemed to be a pacifist, someone that would prefer to find peaceful answers before resorting to force and violence. He'd always looked out for him as his older sibling. He would comfort him when he was sad and play with him when he was lonely, he'd accompany him to the academy in the morning and walk back with him on the way home, he'd even let him train with him and try out his ANBU equipment sometimes.
Then why? Why would he do such a thing? A kind and caring pacifist like him, slaughtering his own blood, his parents that had raised him and cared for him, his cousins that were barely old enough to read, his old aunts and uncles that just wanted to drink their tea peacefully and reminisce about the past.
Why was he the only one that had been spared?
"Sasuke and Kiba, come on down for your sparring match!" Called out his teacher, Iruka. The boy in the furred hoodie jumped off his chair and whooped in excitement, his companion barking with the same energy. The Uchiha sighed as he got off his chair and made his way down the steps, trying his best to ignore the cheering girls next to him.
Whatever the reason was, whatever Izumi thought, Sasuke didn't think he could ever forgive what Itachi had done, even if there was a good reason for it. At the end of the day, his family was still dead, and there was nothing he could do that would bring them back.
He would get his answers, even if he had to step over a few corpses along the way.
He reached the sparring courtyard and got into his clan's stance, the interceptor fist. Kiba smirked and got down on all fours, Akamaru hopping onto his back. Looking at both fighters, Iruka's raised hand descended into a chopping motion. "Begin!"
Naruto shot forward and threw a quick jab at the masked man, who evaded the attack effortlessly. Quickly ducking under the incoming kick, he hopped back as a chain shot out of the earth and wrapped around the Jōnin's ankle. Kakashi was suddenly replaced by a wooden log as the chain slammed it against the ground and reduced it to splinters. The blond clicked his teeth in impatience as he dug into his pouch and pulled out a smoke bomb, throwing it at the ground and blocking the scarecrow's vision.
Kakashi was immediately on his guard. He'd been fighting this kid for 5 months now, he knew how tricky he could be. The sound of an object cutting through the air made him dash to the side, avoiding a kunai with a small parachute attached to it. 'A distraction!' Doing a 180, Kakashi threw a heavy kick at the blond that had suddenly appeared next to him, catching him by surprise and making him dispel in a cloud of smoke. Another blond blur appeared behind the taller man as he sliced his tanto at the back of the copy-cat's neck. Much to his surprise though, the man in front of him began to turn into a shade of blue and was suddenly engulfed in a shower of lightning.
"Ngh!" Naruto attempted to fight back the sporadic spasms of his muscles from the lightning clone and clenched his fists in frustration. Even after 5 months, no matter how hard he tried, he could still not land a single hit on the Jōnin. Taking in a deep breath, he faced the copy-cat that had landed a few paces in front of him and went through a few hand seals. Tiger, dog, rabbit, snake. 'Wind style: Great Breakthrough!' Moulding chakra into his lungs and converting it into wind nature, he unleashed a large blast of wind from his mouth straight at the masked man, who only brought a hand up to cover his eyes and applied chakra to his feet to stay in place.
Running forward, Naruto went through a few more hand signs. Boar, rabbit, horse, ram. Clenching his right hand into a tight fist at his side, he suddenly shot it forward, a small compressed shockwave of air shooting out of his fist. 'Wind style: Soaring fist!' The ball of air sailed through the air, making the Jōnin harden his stance and weather the brunt of the attack. It crashed into the man's stomach and sent him skidding back, though it didn't seem to have much other effect on him. Cursing, Naruto body flickered forward and jumped high, attempting to throw a right hook at his opponent, who casually leaned back and sent a downwards chop at the boy's back. Grunting, Naruto landed heavily into a crouched position before jumping back up and raising his fist into an uppercut, followed by a high kick and a flurry of punches who were all expertly dodged much to his frustration.
Growing tired of the constant evasions, Naruto stopped his barrage and ran around the Jōnin, trying to find a weak spot in his guard, though Kakashi wasn't planning to keep him out of his sight as he watched him circle around carefully. Taking out his tanto, he dashed forward and stabbed at the man's right shoulder but was parried by a kunai. Kakashi leaned out of the way of another punch and threw one of his own at the boy's face sending him crashing into the ground.
Scrambling to his feet, Naruto was about to jump back into action only to suddenly stop to avoid running head first into the pointed end of a kunai.
"Do you surrender?" Asked the Jōnin in a lazy tone. Naruto glared at the kunai for a few tense seconds before exhaling and falling back into a sitting position. He brought a hand over to his face, nursing his sore cheek where Kakashi's mean right hook had landed and cursed under his breath.
"Dammit."
"Now now." Chided the jōnin as he flipped his book open. "No need to get angry. You're getting better."
Naruto grumbled and took a sip from his water bottle. "Not enough apparently, I can't even touch you."
"Not sure what you were expecting," Started Kakashi lazily as he turned a page. "I used to be ANBU."
The blond sighed and lied down on his back, basking in the feel of the morning dew on the grass to cool his body down. The masked man closed his book and turned to face the blond. "On your feet."
Naruto stood up without a second thought. He recognized that tone from experience and knew better than to question him. Standing straight and at attention, Kakashi crossed his arms and looked at him with a serious expression.
"Today marks the last day of our training together." Said the scarecrow, making the blond look at him in strangely. "Tomorrow at 13:00, you will report to the academy and give this official letter to whoever is in charge inside of room 304." He handed him a slip of paper as his mind began to race. Oh no, what was going on? Was he being sent to the academy? A nervous expression crossed his features, though he knew better than to interrupt the former ANBU while he was in his serious mode.
"You will attend the Genin exam and follow the instructions given. Study hard tonight, there will be a written exam. Make sure that all your tools are sharpened and organized, prepare adequately."
Naruto's mouth hung opened in poorly concealed surprise. He'd done it! He had his approval! He didn't have to go through the academy after all. Tomorrow he would be becoming a ninja! A mix of dread and excitement formed into a ball in the pit of his stomach. All those years of training would be over, but…A new life was going to take its place, one that was much more dangerous and unforgiving.
A hand landed atop his head, startling him out of his thoughts as he looked up at Kakashi, who was now looking at him with an eye smile. "You're going to do fine." He stated confidently as he removed his hand. "Also, you should consider getting some Shinobi clothing. Those civilian ones you have on offer no protection or storage space." He lifted up an end of his blue scarf and frowned slightly. "You should also keep that at home. It'll only get in the way."
He didn't want to leave his precious scarf behind but, he knew that Kakashi was right. Enemies could easily grab onto it or he could trip on it if he wasn't careful. Plus, there was the chance that it would get ruined and he absolutely did not want that. With a nod, Naruto straightened up and saluted the older man playfully. "Yessir!"
Was he ready for this?
He closed the door behind him with a soft click and adjusted his grey jumper. At his teacher's behest, he'd decided to change his outfit to something a bit more practical. He now wore a grey top with short sleeves, a red spiral on the back and a grey hood coming with it to cover his blindingly blond locks in the case of emergency sneakiness. Underneath his grey jumper was a skin tight shinobi mesh shirt for added protection that tucked inside simple black shinobi pants with a tool pouch behind the right hip and a kunai pouch on the right thigh. Standard black shinobi sandals finished his new look as he stuffed his bare hands inside the pockets of his jumper. He wasn't wearing any gloves; they weren't all that comfortable…
The life ahead of him was one that he knew for a fact to probably be the most gruesome life a human could have. After his research on the grim reaper a few months ago, he'd become interested in what other secrets were tucked away inside that library. And the results were surprising. It contained pretty much everything, ranging from the history of the shinobi world, to the foundations of the great villages, to the great wars, the bijuus, the three sannins, the kages. All of that was immensely interesting to the boy, having always liked reading when he was much younger. However, the most interesting parts were biographies, manuscripts, quotes from the old ages and from veterans.
They described the story of their lives, what drove them, what they fought for, what they believed in. And while they were all varying stories, one thing seemed to be present in all of them.
War was hell. It took everything from you until there was nothing left. And after that, it took even more. In the end, there were no winners. Only men and women with broken spirits that had lost more than anybody should. To be shinobi meant living a cursed life. It was something that required your blood sweat and tears and an immense amount of sacrifice. Human greed was ever present, be it for money or power, which drove men and women to unfathomable actions and turned their comrades against the other, creating only more strife. If he was going down that path, then he needed to devote his whole being to it.
Alas, he couldn't do all of this alone. As much as he wanted to tell himself that he'd just not make any bonds to make it easier, he knew he couldn't spend his entire life in solitude, only looking out after himself. He'd done that for 6 years of his life, and he didn't think he could do any more. He could not cope with the loneliness for much longer.
He could die at any moment. And whatever friends and allies he made could die at any moment as well.
His eyes steeled as he neared the academy and he took a deep breath to calm his frayed nerves. Whatever the future had in store; he had no choice but to take it head on.
"-the basic rules of a shinobi as well as some of the History lessons that we've been going over. The second section will be focused primarily on mathematics." A unanimous groan seemed to echo within the classroom at that, making the academy teacher Suzume frown sternly and re-adjust her glasses. "No complaining now, you've had plenty of time to study sufficiently for this."
A knock drew the attention of the germophobe as she turned her head towards the door. "Come in!" She called out. After a few seconds, the door slowly opened to reveal a small grey wearing blond boy, younger than any other kid in her classroom. The kid looked around for a few seconds before turning back to her. "Can I help you with something young man?" She asked as she approached him.
God, he already hated this place. The way all those bratty looking kids were staring at him, some snickering and whispering to their friends, some looking at him like he was a lost puppy. His introverted anxiety began to rear its ugly head as he resisted the urge to stare down at his feet and hide inside of his jacket.
He walked forward to meet her halfway and wordlessly handed her the folded-up piece of paper that Kakashi had given him. She took it and skimmed it over quickly as the other students watched on in curiosity.
Suzume turned to the students in the classroom and began speaking. "Alright everyone, we have a new student that will be taking the exam with us. Please treat him well." She turned back to Naruto and gave him a kind smile. "You can go and sit next to Yuna. Yuna, please raise your hand."
Naruto looked around the room as nobody moved, becoming more and more distressed as time went on. An irritated tick mark appeared on Suzume's forehead as she closed her eyes in exasperation and crossed her arms. "Yuna!" She barked out sharply, making a dozing brunette shoot up in her seat in surprise.
"Huh? Wha-"
"As I was saying…" Repeated Suzume in a warning tone. "This new student will be taking the test with us. Please raise your hand so he knows where to sit."
The half-asleep academy student slowly raised her hand and Naruto nervously made his way up the stairs. Moving further against to the side to let the blond sit down, Yuna rested her chin on the palm of her hand as she curiously watched the younger boy from the corner of her eye.
"Now where was I…Ah, right. The second section of the written test will be mathematics. We will then move along into a sparring match against our instructor Mizuki who will be arriving shortly. You must last at least 2 minutes against him without being pushed out of the ring to be eligible to pass. Next will be-"
"Psst." Called out Yuna discreetly to the whiskered boy next to her, who was listening intently to the instructions. Naruto blinked in surprise and turned towards the brunette that was trying to get his attention.
"Huh?"
Yuna raised an eyebrow. "So, what are you like…7?"
Naruto furrowed his brow as he turned back towards the teacher and tried his best to listen to what she was saying. "No, I'm 8." He said in a small tone. His desk-mate looked unimpressed.
"Wow, big difference." She waited for a reply, but when she was met with none she continued. "Aren't you a bit young to be taking the exam? What were your parent thinking sending you here now?"
His face remained unchanged and unmoving, but his fists balled slightly against his lap. The girl frowned at his lack of response and looked back at her teacher, listening to her talk more about the test.
"-at least 10 points in total for shurikenjutsu. The fourth and final part will be Ninjutsu, which will consist of three academy techniques that you have been taught during the years-"
Yuna looked at him once more. "What's your name anyway?"
Naruto met her eyes as a look of slight dubiety crossed his features. Man, were all girls this age so talkative? He was having trouble hearing what the teacher was saying.
"I'm Naruto." He said finally. Yuna pursed her lips and covered her mouth as her eyes crinkled in amusement.
"Pfft, you're named after a ramen topping?" She said trying to hold back her laughter. Naruto looked affronted and was about to riposte when Suzume beat him to the punch.
"You two! Pay attention!" Yuna rolled her eyes and stared ahead as the blond next to her straightened up and lowered his head in embarrassment.
More minutes ticked by as the bored students listened to the academy instructor finish up her explanation.
"I'm Yuna." She finally said after a long pause. Not that she needed to, he'd already heard it when the teacher had called out to her. Despite that, Naruto nodded but stayed silent.
Shortly after, Suzume has handed out the written exam to every student in the room. And frankly, he was not impressed. These were very basic questions. What was the first Hokage's kekkei genkai called? What was the name of the third's personal summon? While he supposed it was good knowledge, it definitely was not something that was needed to see if you had what it took to be a shinobi. This information would not be useful out in the field. The mathematics portion was a bit more applicable, but still pretty simple in his opinion.
The second part was shurikenjutsu and, while he wasn't the best at it, he still surprised everyone by managing to score a 9/10 in both the shuriken and kunai throwing, only being slightly off mark on one target.
Which brings us to the third part of the exam. He was watching a civilian -based off his attire and his sloppy technique- trying his best to stay within the ring as the teacher Mizuki hit him with various slow and light attacks.
"Time!" Called out Suzume. Mizuki stopped and smiled at the panting student who wiped his forehead in relief.
"Phew, you're way strong Mizuki-sensei!"
"Next is…" Suzume began as she peered at the roll call. "Uzumaki Naruto."
Many heads turned towards the youngest in the room as some of the students began to whisper to each other. They had all been surprised by his score during the second section and were curious to see how he would fair in Taijutsu.
Naruto took a deep breath as he focused his mind on the teacher and forced himself to ignore the rest of the class. His introverted nature will need to be curbed for now, he couldn't afford to lose his focus.
Stepping onto the ring, Mizuki smiled politely and nodded at the blond. "Good luck, Naruto-kun." He said amicably. Naruto nodded in thanks and got into his ready stance.
Suzume looked between both fighters and raised her hand. "Begin!"
Mizuki ran towards the blond and brought his arm back in preparation for a punch. The Uzumaki watched him approach with confusion clearly written across his face. The silver-haired Chūnin threw a punch which Naruto easily deflected with the back of his hand and countered with a palm strike to the chest to push him back.
Man, that guy was…weak. So much weaker than Kakashi, who he could barely follow with his eyes and who hit like an elephant. He was running at the pace of a snail to him, and his strike from earlier felt like it could have barely disturbed a fly. Not to mention how much he had telegraphed that punch. He almost felt insulted.
Mizuki grunted and skidded backwards, rubbing the spot on his chest as he looked at the student in surprise. That was new. Before he could ponder on that any further, the blond terror was already upon him, jumping high and delivering a strong kick. Mizuki brought up his arm to block it and found himself surprised once again as his arm became slightly numb from the force behind it. Using the Chūnin's arm as a springboard, Naruto shot up and nailed the underside of his chin with his foot, making his head lurch back.
Quickly righting himself, Mizuki sent a right hook at the blond which was caught into an open palm. Going down for a leg sweep, he tried to knock the smaller boy off his feet, but Naruto already had his legs planted down firmly. The foot connected against his ankle and only made it budge a little making the 8-year-old wince. Mizuki frowned and attempted grabbing his arm to put him into a headlock and throw him out of bounds only for the blond to slip under him and roll a few paces back near the edge of the ring.
The Chūnin instructor spun around and charged at the blond once more. Good, he was beginning to get angry and was thinking less about the match and more about landing a hit on him. As the Shinobi approached him, Naruto quickly dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding his angry swing. The taller man gasped and suddenly stopped in his tracks as he noticed he was already on the edge of the ring and flailed his arms around in an attempt to stop himself from falling forward. Unfortunately for the silver-haired, the prankster king was already behind him and delivered a kick to his behind, sending him flying out of the ring.
The whole class was silent as Suzume stared in astonishment. An 8-year-old had managed to knock a full grown Chūnin out of the ring…That was unheard of. The goal was to not get pushed out of the ring by Mizuki, not actually beat him.
Mizuki stood up in embarrassment and rubbed the back of his head. "Haha, you got me good Naruto-kun. That was a good ruse, great job!" His pride was hurt, but even he had to praise the skills that the young boy had displayed. Naruto shuffled awkwardly and bowed in respect.
"Thank you Mizuki-san." The blond stepped out of the ring and made his way back towards the crowd of students who were all staring at him in a mixture of surprise and apprehension.
"Woah kid, that was impressive." Said Yuna as she approached him. Naruto lowered his head in embarrassment as she elbowed him playfully. "Are you some kind of prodigy or somethin'?"
"Heh, of course not…" Replied the boy in a weak tone. Compliments still caught him off guard.
"Okay, Naruto." Said Uzume as she looked at the boy from behind her desk. "This is the fourth and final test; Ninjutsu. You've done well so far, now this is the home-stretch. First, start off by showing me the substitution jutsu."
Naruto nodded and brought up his right hand, shaping it into a half ram seal. With barely a whisper, Naruto was replaced by the chair that was tucked away under another table. Another switch and Naruto was back in his previous spot.
"Excellent. Splendid chakra control. Minimal smoke and fluid transition." She nodded her head and scribbled some stuff on her paper. "Next is transformation."
Another seal and Naruto transformed into an exact replica of Ayame Ichiraku. The teacher inspected the change with a critical eye and nodded in approval. "Very good. Now the clone jutsu."
Naruto remained still for a few moments as he pondered the request, making Suzume raise an eyebrow at the blond's sudden hesitation. "Is something wrong?"
"Uh…Any clone jutsu?"
"Oh, right." Confirmed the teacher. Academy students usually only knew the basic bunshin no jutsu, so they just never bothered to specify. Without the use of any hand seals, two clones of Naruto suddenly materialized into existence next to him.
Suzume looked impressed. "Very good Naruto-kun. Using the bunshin no jutsu without any hand seals and with no visible smoke is incredibly impressive, especially at your age!"
"Ah, actually," Interrupted the blond. "It's not the bunshin, but the kage bunshin." To prove his point, he turned towards one of the clones and poked it on the cheek.
"Hey, quit that!" Snapped the clone as he smacked the original's finger away. Naruto winced and nursed his sore finger.
"What was that for, idiot!?"
"What are you calling me an idiot for? I'm you, stupid!"
Suzume's gaped at the scene before her, glasses slippping down her nose from her slack-jawed expression.
The Jinchūriki stepped out of the academy, adjusting the blue forehead protector that was now tied around its namesake. The sky had already began to darken. The roll call to take the Ninjutsu exam had been done in alphabetical order, so he'd been among the last ones to exit the building.
"Dad dad, look! I finally graduated!" Proclaimed a loud voice. Naruto turned towards the sound and saw a kid from the classroom he was previously in, proudly showing off his shiny new headband to his father. The dad smiled at the boy and ruffled his head affectionately.
"Great job, son! Your mother and I are proud of you! We're having your favorite tonight as celebration!"
The boy cheered as both walked off, the father with an arm over the son's shoulder. Naruto watched both retreat with a small smile over his face. Interactions like these always filled him with conflicting emotions.
"Yo, fishcake." The blond turned towards a familiar tomboy-ish voice and watched Yuna approach him with her hands casually in her pockets. "So, you made it as well huh?"
"Looks like it." Confirmed the boy as he smiled up at the taller girl. "You did too. Congratulations."
"Oh, yeah." She walked past him as she approached a woman that was looking towards her direction. "See you during the team placements."
Naruto watched her talk to the beaming woman who had her hands clapped together, making Yuna look down in fake disinterest as red lightly dusted her cheeks in embarrassment. Frowning down at the ground, Naruto stuffed his hands in his pockets and began his way home.
He'd only made it a few meters before a fist bopped him lightly on his head. Flinching and reeling back in surprise, Naruto looked up and came face to face with the smiling visage of his teacher.
"Kakashi?" He said in surprise. Kakashi's eye-smile seemed to increase in size.
"Hey kiddo, nice work on your graduation!" Proclaimed the Jōnin jovially. "I never had a doubt in my mind."
Naruto flushed at the praise and rocked back and forth on his feet. "R-Really?"
"'Course!" The scarecrow retorted with such certainty that it made the boy's heart swell. Reaching down, Kakashi lowered the blond's headband with the palm of his hand to make it cover his eyes and chuckled at his squawk of indignation. "Now come on, everyone's waiting for you."
"Wait, what?" Naruto pushed the headband back onto his forehead and noticed that the masked man had already began to walk away. Running ahead to catch up to him, Naruto looked up at the man in confusion. "What do you mean by everyone?"
"Go on Naruto, drink up!" Encouraged Kakashi as he himself downed a cup of sake. Naruto looked at his own cup in uncertainty with nervous sweat rolling down his forehead.
"I don't know about this, sensei. Are you sure this is alright?" Kakashi had quickly taken him to a Shinobi only bar called Shushu-ya, where many Chūnins and Jōnins had gathered. The rowdy place was full of energy and brimming with excitement as a jolly atmosphere filled the area.
"Bah, you worry too much."
"Really Kakashi. You're a terrible role model." Sighed Kurenai in an aggravated tone.
"It's fine Kurenai, Uzumakis can't get drunk."
"That's not what the issue is here!"
Among those Shinobi were many of Kakashi's close friends. He recognized Gai, the man he'd pranked for his initiation test. He recognized the lady with the long purple hair, she was one of those people assigned with guarding his home and making sure he was safe. Two others were those guys he'd sometimes see guarding the gates of Konoha. The other unfamiliar faces didn't ring any bells to him, but he made sure to burn them into his mind. All had welcomed him with open arms and had gathered to congratulate him on his graduation. His heart fluttered once more in gratitude as he tried his best to keep the moisture in his eyes as unnoticeable as possible.
There was one man smoking a cigarette and with a scruffy beard. A lady with red eyes and a dress that looked like it was made of bandages. Another girl with pineapple shaped purple hair wearing barely any clothes beneath her trench coat. A man with a bandana chewing on a senbon, a man with bags under his eyes and a pale complexion, a guy with scars all over the left side of his face and spiky brown hair. That sure was a lot of people that were going out of their way to celebrate for him…
"Naruto-san!"
Turning around, Naruto was met with Gai Maito, who was grinning down at him with a 1000 megawatts smile. The Taijutsu specialist crossed his arms and looked down at the blond. "Even though my pride is still hurt from falling victim to your most un-youthful prank all those years ago, I still wish to congratulate you for a job well done! I look forward to working with you as fellow shinobis of the leaf!" Gai nodded in approval at his own words as Naruto smiled up at him in appreciation. "With that being said, I wish to give you this gift so you may continue to fan your flames of youth in your endeavors!"
"Hey! We said we'd wait till later for the gifts Gai!" Said Yugao irritably. Gai laughed boisterously and plopped down his suspiciously heavy present onto the table that made the cups and bottles rattle dangerously.
"Hahaha, forgive me my friend, but when I see such youthful young minds, it just brings a tear to my eye and I simply could not wait any longer!"
"T-Thank you Gai-san…" Said an overwhelmed Naruto as he unwrapped the gift with barely restrained anticipation. Ripping up the package, Naruto looked upon 4 training weights to go around his wrists and ankles. Gai grinned once more and gave him a thumbs up.
"This will help you during your red-hot blooded training my friend!" Naruto nodded in amazement and attempted to lift them up but found that they were a lot heavier than they looked. Kakashi sighed and picked them up with an ease that made Naruto gawk at him amazement.
"I'll hold onto those for now, Naruto." Said Kakashi as he sealed them away in his pouch. Naruto nodded and snickered to himself as Gai went into another tangent at Kakashi, who was doing his best to ignore him.
"It's my turn now." Said Yugao as she smiled. "Kakashi told me about your interest in Kenjutsu training, so I got you a better tanto. One that was forged in Kiri and is also chakra conductive." She moved some cups out of the way to make room on the table and placed a long item wrapped in cloth in front of the stunned Jinchūriki. Wow, that sounded like a really expensive gift.
Unwrapping it, Naruto was met with the sight of a tanto that, funnily enough did not look all that different than the one he had, except it was a slightly darker color and had a red spiral on the hilt that contrasted nicely on the near black background. Picking it up, Naruto noticed that it felt much lighter than his previous tanto and the blade itself was incredibly sharp, sharp enough to look like it would draw blood just by being near it.
"Thank you so much, Yugao-san!" Said Naruto in gratitude as he replaced the old tanto on his back for his new one. Rolling his shoulders a bit to test the feel, Naruto smiled at how light his back felt compared to before.
"Yeah, you're probably gonna need to learn how to actually use conductive metal first." Said Asuma as he fished around for something inside his pouch. "You're a wind user right? Well you're in luck, I'm one of the only wind-users in the village. I wrote down instructions on how to channel wind chakra inside your blade."
Naruto looked took the offered scroll and stared at it in disbelief. "How the hell did you guys even have time to get these? I graduated barely 10 minutes ago!"
Kakashi eye-smiled in his direction and waved his hand in dismissal. "Eh, we knew you'd do great."
"But what if I failed!?"
The Jōnin was silent for a few moments before slowly taking another sip of his sake. Conversation soon began anew across the bar once more as Naruto watched on with a twitching eyebrow at the lack of answer.
Kurenai stepped forward. "Naruto." Said the Genjutsu mistress drawing the blond's attention to her. "I know you like taking care of plants, so I got you this." She held up a small pouch which the jinchūriki accepted with curiosity. "These are seeds for Zinnia flowers. With enough care, they'll bloom into beautiful orange petals."
Naruto didn't know how she knew that he liked taking care of plants, but he didn't care. He was so thankful for these gifts he could barely find the words to express his gratitude. Kurenai gave him a knowing smile and moved back so that Kakashi could offer his last gift.
The masked man in question finished his saucer and gave a contented sigh. "Alright, guess it's my turn."
He reached inside of his vest and fished out an orange cloth-like material. Taking it in his hands, Naruto unfolded it to see that it was faded orange face-mask, much like the one that Kakashi wore all the time.
"Kakashi-sensei…This is-"
"You don't have to wear it all the time or anything." Said Kakashi awkwardly. Kakashi was many things, but good at gift giving was not one of them. "But it's handy to have for undercover missions. Those whisker marks will surely give you away all the time."
Naruto stared at the orange facemask in stunned silence as tears began to fall from his eyes. Smiling sheepishly, Kakashi reached down to ruffle his head and filled up his saucer once more. Naruto quickly wiped his eyes in embarrassment as he struggled to meet his eyes.
"The path ahead isn't going to be easy." Began Kakashi. "But bonds are what helps you remain sane and keep pushing forward. And while we're here, you'll always have us to fall back on."
Naruto shut his eyes tightly and nodded as more tears began to flow down his cheeks, making Kakashi smile warmly at him and pat him on the back. "Now, drink up!"
Naruto smiled and stared at his cup of sake. Even though he didn't know what would happen in the future, even though it was going to be full of hardships, he knew that he was going to be fine.
He brought the saucer to his lips and downed it in one go.
AN: So, next chapter's the start of the Shinobi journey. Exciting innit?
I know I said I'd upload basically every 2 weeks, but I feel like not enough is happening each chapters. We'll be at chapter 300 by the time of the 4th war at this rate. I'm gonna take a bit longer from now on for the sake of longer chapters. No pre-determined time limit, but my promise to you is that unless specified otherwise, I'm always working on the next chapter and you can always expect a new one. Thanks for your understanding.
ALSO, please check out 'Pathos of the Shinobi' By Naratu. Like A bet of a lifetime, I think it's a heavily underrated story that really should be getting more attention. Thank you!