Chapter 2 revised and edited. Review or PM me on what you think about this chapter now.
Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the Naruto anime/manga all I own are my original characters and plot twists.
'Talking'
"Thinking"
'Heavily demonic voice'
'Fox talking'
"Fox thinking"
*expression*
Jutsu
Flashback
Chapter 2 – Training: Fox style
Naruto awoke the next day feeling happy; however, he also felt that something inside him had changed. Getting out of bed he went through his morning activities and then set out to get some ramen. After eating he figured he would go train and that's when he heard something.
'Hey Kit.' Said a voice.
'Who's there?' Asked Naruto looking around trying to spot who had spoken, only to find he didn't see anyone nearby.
'You aren't going to find me out there, I'm in your head.' Said the voice with an amused tone.
"Kyuubi?" thought Naruto.
'It seems you're not as dumb as I thought you were.' Chuckled Kyuubi.
'Um why are you in my head?' Asked Naruto.
'I'll tell you in a minute, but first, stop speaking out loud. If you think something I will hear it.' Said Kyuubi with an even tone.
"Really?" Questioned Naruto in his mind.
'Yep, see for yourself.' Said Kyuubi.
"Okay, what do you want Kyuubi?" Thought Naruto with a bit of annoyance in his tone, as he was hungry.
'Hey, I'm trying to help you get stronger here, so talk to me with the proper respect or I will annoy you until you go mad.' Growled the fox.
"*sigh* What do you want?" Relented Naruto.
'I want you to go to a weapons store and buy a katana and have the blade made fifty centimetres long. Also, I want you to get ankle weights, wrist weights and a weighted vest which are capable of increasing in weight with chakra. One more thing is I want you to buy a hundred or so three-pronged kunai with an area on the handle where you can place a seal around. It should be around twenty centimetres in girth to allow for the seal. Lastly, get some sealing paper and ink as well as a small brush.' Said Kyuubi.
"Do you think I am rich or something? I am an orphan I CAN'T AFFORD ALL THAT." Ranted Naruto in his mind.
'No. But this won't cost you more than the money you spend on food in a week and since you have those vouchers and you only eat ramen, I'd say you are taken care of in that department.' Replied the fox nonchalantly.
"Fine." Growled Naruto in his mind.
-line break-
Naruto went to the nearest weapon store which was a small four walled building with a flat roof that was significantly higher than the other shops around, while still being only one level. He walked in and spotted a girl he recognised from when he was in the academy.
'Hey Tenten, how's it going?' Said Naruto, happy at seeing a familiar face and not having to talk to the fox.
'Naruto? What are you doing here?' Asked Tenten, who since graduating, had never seen Naruto again, aside from occasionally seeing him running through the village evading ANBU.
Tenten wore a pink sleeveless blouse and dark green pants with her hair up in two buns, with her forehead protector just under her fringe on her forehead. She was also around Naruto's height being only a couple centimetres taller.
'Oh, I'm here to buy some things for my training.' Stated Naruto.
'Oh, well tell me what you need, and I'll see if we have it?' Said Tenten happily.
Naruto told her what he wanted, but there was a problem with the kunai.
'Naruto, those kunai aren't something we have in stock as I have never heard of anyone buying them, so it'll take about three days until they are ready as they would come under the option of being a custom order.' Said Tenten.
"Hey Kyuubi, what should I do?" Thought Naruto.
'Idiot! Obviously come and get them when they are done.' Growled the fox in disbelief.
"Damn Kyuubi relax, I was just asking." Thought back Naruto.
'Alright Tenten I'll be back in three days for those, thanks for the help and see you around.' Said Naruto after paying.
'Ok, see you in three days I guess.' Said Tenten sounding a little confused at Naruto's rapid mood change from being deep in thought, to cheerful in the span of a few seconds.
-line break-
Naruto followed Kyuubi's directions until he found himself at a small training ground with lots of trees and a small stream running through it.
Kyuubi instructed him to use this training ground over the next two days, as it seemed to be one of the lesser frequented ones. Over the next two days, Naruto learned how to climb trees and walk on water with his chakra. His weights were all up to five kilograms each, with the vest being twenty. He also did standard exercises such as push-ups, crunches, lunges, squats, calf raises and log punches and kicks. Additionally, he familiarised himself with his sword and did diagonal slashes, vertical slashes, and horizontal slashes, until Kyuubi deemed his form acceptable.
-line break-
On the third day, Naruto went back to the weapon shop, but Tenten wasn't there and in her place, there was a large well-built man, who Naruto assumed to be the owner of the shop.
'Hello, I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm here for my custom order kunai.' Said Naruto in a business-like tone.
'Uzumaki huh, well here are your kunai. I expect great things from you.' Said the shop owner.
'Thanks old man and you will see great things from me I'm going to be the Hokage.' Naruto said, before he was about to say his signature catch phrase though the fox interjected.
'Say 'believe it' and you won't believe what I will do to you.' Threatened the fox.
"Tsk fine." Thought Naruto.
'See you around.' Said Naruto, before he left the store to train.
-line break-
Naruto continued to train over the next three days, spending the last day practising calligraphy until Kyuubi told him his characters were drawn to an adequate standard. Finally, the day of the exam came; Naruto arrived at the academy and sat down behind Sasuke in an empty row, much to Kyuubi's ire if his growl was any indication.
"Blasted Uchiha, this one even looks like Madara." Raged Kyuubi.
First there was the written examination which Naruto struggled with as the questions he was given were so hard that even Sakura, the smartest girl in the class would struggle with, after which there was the jutsu examination.
Iruka stood up and said 'The jutsu you will be tested on is the clone jutsu.'
Naruto instantly knew he would fail because he could never do that jutsu due to having heaps of chakra and not having good enough control yet, however he was hopeful that just maybe he had enough control to do it now.
When his turn came, he tried his hardest, but all he got was one dead looking clone. Both Naruto and Iruka were twitching when Mizuki spoke up 'Iruka, we could let him pass. It is his third try so he has shown he is dedicated to becoming a ninja.'
Naruto got his hopes up a little but wasn't going to like what came next when Iruka spoke 'Mizuki, all the other children produced at least three effective replications, while Naruto could only produce one and look at it, it's pitiful. I'm afraid I can't pass him.'
Naruto sighed, but his bad mood was somewhat mitigated by the sad fact that he knew he wasn't going to pass.
"I thought you said you stopped messing with my chakra?" Thought Naruto.
'I did, but you had abysmal chakra control even without my interference and a couple days of practicing chakra control is not going to make much of a difference thanks to how large your reserves are.' Replied Kyuubi.
"*sigh* Oh well I guess." Said the orange clad ninja despondently, before exiting the academy.
-line break-
Naruto was really depressed seeing as he was the only one who failed. After listening to the cruel words of the villagers thanks to his enhanced senses he was just about ready to leave and hide himself away, when Mizuki found him outside. 'Hey Naruto, let's talk.' Said Mizuki.
Naruto walked off with Mizuki and they sat on the roof of a building near the academy.
'Iruka doesn't hate you; he just really wants to make sure you're ready for the duties of a ninja.' Said Mizuki warmly.
'Well I am trying, but nothing seems to work.' Said Naruto hopelessly. 'I just really want to be a ninja.' Said Naruto.
As Mizuki heard this, he got a glint in his eyes which was missed by Naruto.
'Well Naruto, there is a secret graduation exam.' Said Mizuki with a smile.
He proceeded to tell Naruto about the Scroll of Seals and that anyone who knew one of those techniques would become a Leaf ninja. Naruto had his suspicions but didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he ignored them for now.
-line break-
Later that night, Naruto stole the scroll and learnt the first jutsu on it, the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
After he finished learning it Kyuubi spoke up 'Hey Kit, look for a technique called the Flying Thunder God.'
After taking a quick glance at it he realised something.
"I'm guessing that's why you wanted me to buy those kunai." Thought Naruto.
'Yep.' Replied the fox with a grin.
"You kitsunes really are tricky, aren't you?" Stated Naruto rhetorically.
Naruto found the technique and hastily made a seal with his brush according to the seal array he found in the scroll, with the ink he had with him, after he dropped some of his blood into the ink. Unnoticed by Naruto, when he dropped his blood into the ink it took on a yellowish hue, before it reverted back to its dark blue colouring.
He carefully attached the seals to the three-pronged kunai then grabbed them and tried to do the jutsu on a few nearby trees; however, he couldn't make it all the way to the kunai and only covered half the distance. Naruto practiced for half an hour when suddenly Iruka appeared and said with a grin 'It's all over Naruto.'
'Hey Iruka-sensei you caught me, and I was only able to master one technique and start learning another.' Said Naruto, giving one of his signature grins.
Iruka looked around and saw the damage done to the trees and to Naruto himself when he asked Naruto why he stole the scroll.
Naruto happily replied 'Mizuki-sensei told me anyone who knows one of the jutsus in this scroll becomes a Leaf ninja.'
'That's why you stole the scroll?' Asked Iruka.
'Yep, because I have to become a Genin if I'm going to become Hokage, and I will.' Said Naruto.
Seeing Iruka's confused face, Naruto had only one thought.
"I knew Mizuki was lying." He thought angrily.
Iruka was stunned however by the response and at that moment Mizuki had arrived on the scene hearing what Naruto had said and started laughing. 'HAHAHA! You? The Hokage? In your dreams, you will never become the Hokage, and you want to know why?'
'Mizuki, stop, it's forbidden to speak of it!' Yelled Iruka.
'Quiet Iruka. Naruto, you will never be the Hokage because you have the Nine-Tailed-Fox sealed within you and everyone despises you for it.' Said Mizuki, with a sadistic smirk on his face.
Naruto was stunned but not because of the knowledge of the fox being sealed inside him, but rather because he now knew why the villagers hated him. Mizuki then threw a huge shuriken at Naruto and Naruto was too stunned to move, so Iruka got in front of it and got hit in the back.
'Why, Iruka-sensei?' Asked Naruto.
'Because Naruto, you and I are the same.' Said Iruka, becoming tearful.
Iruka proceeded to tell Naruto about his parents dying against the fox and how he became the class clown to gain acknowledgement, before the Third Hokage approached him and helped him see a new path he could follow which would still gain him acknowledgment: the path of hard work.
'What a touching scene, but I must be going now, so I'm going to need that scroll now.' Said Mizuki.
Naruto was now enraged at Mizuki for tricking him and hurting Iruka, so he entered his initial Kyuubi form and growled 'If you ever lay a hand on my sensei again, I'LL KILL YOU!
Mizuki seeing the eyes of the fox was momentarily taken aback but thought he could still beat Naruto. 'Bring it on Nine-Tails.' Said Mizuki confidently.
'Fine, you asked for it. Shadow Clone Jutsu.' Yelled Naruto.
Five thousand solid clones of Naruto appeared all around Mizuki. Mizuki started panicking and tried to find a way out but couldn't.
'Now you're going to pay for hurting Iruka-sensei.' Growled all the clones of Naruto.
The clone army beat up Mizuki with pure Taijutsu and didn't stop until he passed out from pain and blood loss.
'Hehe, guess I should have gone easy on him.' Said Naruto while grinning as he scratched the back of his head.
'You did well, Naruto.' Said Iruka.
-line break-
Afterwards, Iruka told Naruto to close his eyes and when he opened them, he had on a Leaf shinobi forehead protector and Iruka said 'Congratulations Naruto, you pass.' Naruto was so happy he hugged Iruka-sensei and afterwards they went and ate ramen. Naruto went home that day happy for once, with the knowledge that someone cared about him.
-line break-
The Third Hokage, having observed all of the night's events through a crystal ball was now leaning back in his chair reflecting on his former successor, now predecessor, while smoking his pipe.
"Truly Minato you were a genius, to attune a technique to the point that it could only be used by your direct descendant through usage of their blood. Truly a genius." Thought Hiruzen Sarutobi, as he glanced at the portrait depicting the visage of the Fourth Hokage.
Once again, short chapter, but these are still introductory chapters although don't worry, the chapters get longer later on.