- PROLOGUE -

Sweat streamed down Naruto's face, stinging his squinted eyes and his arms were shaking from sheer exhaustion as he forced himself through the final hand seal.

A flicker of chakra swirled around him...then fizzled out like a deflating balloon.

"Are you kidding me?"

He'd thought for sure he had it that time!

Naruto had been at it for hours—repeating the stupid seals over and over until the hand signs had been burned into his brain. But still, the Shadow Clone Jutsu laughed in his face, staying insanely out of reach.

This isn't fair! Naruto ground his teeth so hard his jaws creaked. This wasn't how things were supposed to go! He was supposed to easily master an amazing Jutsu, one so incredibly powerful it would blow away any moron still doubting his skills. But of course, one of the powerful Jutsu in the scroll would be impossible for a screw-up like him to learn. He glared at his empty hands, now clenched into white-knuckled fists. Crescent cuts instantly formed and healed across his palms, but the sting lingered. As did the simmering frustration that buzzed under his skin since...well, forever really. Ever since realizing he existed solely on the Leaf Village's periphery, a lurking annoyance people simply tolerated and ignored when possible.

Naruto slumped against the base of a tree trunk. He was exhausted from hours of intense training. Every bone in his body ached and every muscle was sore.

Mizuki was definitely telling the truth. All the jutsu in the Scroll of Sealing were totally amazing. But they were also incredibly difficult to master. He had chosen what seemed to be the simplest jutsu in the scroll, at least compared to the others, but even the scroll's simplest jutsu looked super complicated compared to the academy Clone Jutsu. And after hours of tireless practice, going through the motions over and over again, he was finally making progress, but it wasn't enough.

The sun would be up soon and Naruto knew he didn't have much time left to learn a jutsu and graduate. Useless tears he refused to shed stung the corners of his eyes. No matter how hard he trained his all-consuming dream to finally make those jerks in the village respect him, that look in their eyes never changed. The shopkeepers still kept chasing him off, parents never stopped shielding their children from him, and the sideways glances filled with poorly masked disdain were always present.

Naruto shook his head. Thinking about things like that wouldn't help. He just had to learn an amazing jutsu then everyone would have to respect him!

"I just need a little more practice," he muttered to himself as he struggled to stand up, but his legs and arms felt like limp ramen noodles.

Before he could start practicing again, a voice stopped him.

"Naruto!"

Naruto blinked as an out-of-breath and seemingly irate Iruka dropped down from the trees.

A grin spread across Naruto's face.

"Iruka-sensei! I found you!"

Iruka's eye twitched and the chunin shouted, "I found you, fool!"

Naruto struggled to stand up, wobbling on his feet and Iruka frowned.

"What are you doing out here, Naruto?" he asked. "You look completely exhausted."

Of course, Iruka already knew. Every ninja in the village chunin level and higher had been told. Naruto had been caught fleeing the Hokage Tower with the forbidden Scroll of Sealing. The forbidden scroll contained instructions about how to perform the most dangerous and well-guarded jutsu in the village. This was treason, even for a child like Naruto.

"I am exhausted," Naruto confessed. "I've been training in ninjutsu all night! I even learned t—"

Iruka's expression suddenly turned worried. "You really have been practicing jutsu? What were you thinking, Naruto? Stealing the Scroll of Sealing? Don't you know it's forbidden?"

Naruto nodded eagerly and got into position to perform the awesome new clone jutsu he'd been practicing. "Here, I'll show you!" he said excitedly. "If I do this, you'll have to let me graduate! That's how it works right? I get the scroll and learn jutsu from it and I can graduate even if I failed the graduation exam!"

He began to go through the intricate hand movements, thinking to himself, If I can pull this off, they'll have no choice but to promote me straight to chunin!

But Iruka interrupted with a stern voice, "Hold on, Naruto! Who told you that?"

Naruto looked puzzled. "Huh? Mizuki-sensei was the one who told me about the secret test. He said it would make up for the graduation exam."

"Mizuki told you about the scroll?" Iruka asked, repeating Naruto's answer with concern. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to gather his thoughts.

Naruto, finally realizing something wasn't right, dropped his hands. "I-Iruka-sensei, am I in trouble?"

He had no idea what he would do if he were. Could he fight Iruka, his sensei? The thought made him scoff; despite his bravado, Naruto knew he wasn't strong enough to beat someone as skilled and experienced as a chunin. Iruka could easily defeat him before he even had a chance to use his new powerful technique.

Plus, what good would fighting Iruka even do? Attacking a leaf shinobi would ruin any chance he had of becoming a ninja, let alone being Hokage!

Iruka let out a heavy sigh. He was at a loss for what to do next. He didn't know what to do in this situation. So, he just did what came naturally. He placed a comforting hand on Naruto's hair and spoke honestly, "It's very likely you'll be in trouble. But you were just following your sensei's orders to become a ninja. If you come with me, I promise as a Konoha chunin that I will do everything in my power to support you and help you get through this."

Naruto's body tensed up and he seemed to be weighing his options—whether to run, fight, or give in. Mizuki had already lied to him earlier today; could Iruka-sensei be lying too?

Suddenly, without any warning, Iruka lunged forward and pushed Naruto out of the way. Naruto tumbled to the ground as a barrage of shuriken flew towards Iruka. He watched in horror as Iruka was struck by the sharp blades, grunting and stumbling backward.

Iruka clenched his teeth in pain and glared up at a figure perched on top of a nearby tree.

"Mizuki," he gritted out between labored breaths, his clothing torn and blood oozing from multiple wounds. "I should have known it was you who was following me."

Mizuki stood on a branch near the top of a tree, with several huge windmill shuriken strapped to his back. "I had a feeling you might lead me to Naruto," he said

"I see," Iruka responded, pulling a shuriken from his arm with a grimace.

Naruto's eyes darted back and forth between Mizuki and Iruka, wondering what was going on.

"Wh-what's happening?" he stammered.

Mizuki's usual lighthearted demeanor was gone, replaced by a cold, menacing expression.

"Give me the scroll, Naruto."

"Don't listen to him, Naruto!" Iruka's voice rang out, sharp and urgent. "That scroll is filled with dangerous jutsu! Mizuki only wants it for himself!"

Suddenly, everything clicked into place for Naruto. He had been tricked by Mizuki into stealing the scroll from the Hokage!

"You don't need that scroll, Naruto!" Mizuki said. "Now hand it over before you get hurt!"

Naruto's eyes widened in fear as Mizuki's usually friendly face twisted into a cruel sneer. "N-no," he managed to say defiantly, even though his entire was shaking.

"Why? Just because Iruka-sensei told you not to?" Mizuki scoffed. "Would you like to know what Iruka really thinks of you? What the entire village thinks of you?"

Iruka suddenly looked horrified. "No, Mizuki! It's forbidden!" he shouted.

Mizuki ignored Iruka's protests and turned toward Naruto. "Do you know who killed Iruka's parents?" he asked.

"It was the Nine-Tailed demon fox, right?" Naruto answered. "The thing that attacked the village twelve years ago?"

Mizuki let out a mocking laugh. "Well done, Naruto. What a truly brilliant answer, especially coming from someone like you."

"Stop!" Iruka's cry rang out through the air as he tried to stop Mizuki. But the shuriken had done their damage and he fell to his knees.

"Think carefully about my question, Naruto. I asked who killed Iruka's parents, not what."

"Who?" Naruto asked, puzzled. "You're making it sound almost human."

"Because it is, Naruto!" Mizuki spat, his eyes wild and manic. "The Nine-Tailed Fox has changed its form, but it is still alive. Not even the Fourth Hokage could kill the demon. Instead, he sealed it inside a human... and that human is you, Naruto!"

"W-what do you mean?"

Mizuki's face twisted into an ugly snarl. "You are the one who killed Iruka's parents and destroyed our village. They see you as a demon, a monster!"

Naruto's legs felt weak beneath him as he stumbled back, trying to make sense of Mizuki's accusations. "But I...Iruka-sensei's parents..."

"Dead because of you," Mizuki said, his voice dripping with venom. "Their blood is on your hands, Naruto! That's why everyone hates you! Why they despise you! Treat you like dirt!"

"Don't listen to him, Naruto!" Iruka pleaded. "He's not telling the—"

Mizuki sneered at his fellow chunin. "The truth, Iruka?" he scoffed. "The truth is, you hate the Nine-Tailed Fox more than anyone!"

"No, Naruto. That's not—" Iruka started to say.

Mizuki pulled one of the massive shuriken from his back. "Even Iruka hates you, Naruto! You killed his parents! No one can stand the sight of you!"

The chunin threw the shuriken as hard as he could.

"You did your job! Now die in peace!"

Naruto froze as the giant shuriken spun toward him. He didn't scream, or run, or even cry. He just stood there, absolutely stunned. Everything went black as he fell backward. Then a strange thing happened. Suddenly his whole body felt cradled by something soft and warm.

Naruto looked up to find himself in Iruka's arms.

Iruka slowly pulled away. Naruto shuddered when he saw the huge shuriken sticking out of Iruka's back. Iruka's chunin flak jacket had softened the blow somewhat, but he was still seriously injured.

Iruka looked at Naruto and there were tears in his eyes. "You must have felt so lonely, Naruto," Iruka cried. "You must have suffered so much."

Naruto stared at Iruka in utter shock.

Tears rolled down Iruka's cheeks as he remembered what the Hokage had said.

Naruto needs a firm hand. But he also needs love.

That need felt all too familiar to Iruka. He had also longed for someone to love him after his parents died.

As a boy, Iruka had even pulled a few pranks to get noticed, though never as many as Naruto. He just wanted somebody, anybody, to acknowledge he even existed.

Naruto is me, Iruka realized. No wonder I could never get close to him.

But for some reason, Iruka felt different now. He had thrown himself in the shuriken's path without a second thought.

Iruka coughed and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I should have realized what you were going through," he said gently. Blood dripped from the corners of his mouth.

Naruto stared at Iruka. Then he jumped up and ran into the forest with the scroll.

|NARUTO x YOUNG JUSTICE|

The Third Hokage was sitting in his study, staring into a crystal ball. Small figures of Naruto, Iruka, and Mizuki were reflected inside, like actors on a miniature stage.

He suddenly looked away in disgust.

"They finally find Naruto, and now this happens? What is Mizuki thinking?"

The Hokage believed that Naruto was in a very unstable state right now. For ten years, the Fourth Hokage's seal had held. But could it hold forever?

Worse yet, Naruto still had the scroll. If the seal were broken and the Nine-Tailed Fox was freed, Mizuki could use the distinction to escape.

Turning back to the crystal, as he watched Naruto suddenly stop, the Hokage thought back to the day that had ruined so many lives including the one he was watching at the moment.

THEN.

The beast was massive.

Every time it howled, the earth shook.

Why did the creature attack this peaceful place? Nobody really knew. But the Hidden Village was definitely in danger.

The Fox howled again.

"Gaa-oooooooooo!"

The ground shook even harder. The forest trees bowed like little flowers. Black clouds swirled out of nowhere, crackling with lightning.

The Ninja of the Hidden Leaf watched nervously from a distance. They were all well-trained and prepared for combat, but they all knew the stories about the NIne-Tailed Fox. It was the strongest of the Nine Tailed Beasts, capable of causing earthquakes and raising tsunamis with a single swing of its tails.

"Hold it back!"

"Don't let it get any closer to the village."

The Hidden Leaf ninja knew they could never kill the Nine-Tailed Fox, but they decided to give it their best shot anyway.

They let out a battle cry to boost their courage.

Then, the front line attacked.

At first, the Nine Fox simply looked at them with disdain. Then it roared, tearing their best secret jutsu into useless little pieces. The red-hot burning flames of a Fire Jutsu vanished into the air. Ninja were torn to shreds and scattered across the ground.

The other ninja didn't flee but continued to attack.

This second attack hit the target. The Fox growled as fireballs exploded in its face and stone daggers embedded in its stomach. Shuriken and kunai cut through the air as the battle continued.

The shinobi who had been called to the frontlines to fight were all Jonin. The strongest ninja in the village below the Hokage. They all assumed the creature must be hurt, at least a little.

But when the Nine-Tailed Fox emerged from the cloud of smoke, the ninja all froze in shock. The beast looked exactly the same!

Suddenly, the Nine-Tailed Fox lunged forward, too fast for anyone to react. It slammed into the wall of ninja trying their best to protect their home and tore them to pieces with its claws. Tsunamis and earthquakes didn't matter. Not when razor-sharp claws tore through flesh and bone and fangs as large as houses easily chewed through the toughest armor.

The survivors of the front line, who had retreated after their attack, somehow dodged the blows. But it had been made clear that their jutsu were useless against the fox.

They couldn't even slow it down!

Still, the Ninja of the Hidden Leaf fought on. Shinobi were knocked down, smashed up, and blown away, but the rest kept fighting.

They refused to give up. If they did, the Hidden Leaf and everyone in the village would be destroyed.

Soon only a few shinobi were still alive, though just barely. The survivors no longer had any strength, but their fierce desire to protect their loved ones, and their well-honed ninja instincts, kept their bodies moving.

They knew one thing for sure: if the battle continued, they would all die.

"Hold the line! We have to hold the line!" yelled the third Hokage dressed in full battle armor, his adamantine staff shifting back into the massive brown, white form of Monkey King Enma.

"Sarutobi we can't do this much longer. Too many are dying, the Fox is going to get past if we don't do something soon," Enma told his summoner breathing heavily due to exhaustion.

"I know, but none of our attacks can hurt it. Minato said he had something planned he just needed time and we can give him that." The Third answered as his hands blazed through seals before slamming his palms against the ground erecting a mud wall blocking a fireball from burning a poor Chunin who had gotten caught in front of the Kyuubi.

The Nine-Tailed Fox suddenly turned its head in a different direction.

It was what Hiruzen had been waiting for.

A massive cloud of white smoke covered the battlefield fading away seconds later to reveal a gigantic red toad. The toad wore a dagger in its belt and a big haori half-coat. The most noticeable thing was the train-sized tobacco pipe that dangled from its mouth.

The toad hopped over the tired ninja and landed on the other side of the Nine-Tailed Fox and bellowed at the Nine-Tailed Fox in a voice like bubbling mud. The Bijuu roared back in reply and swung around to face its new enemy.

The two big beasts smashed into each other. The land shook yet again. The toad aimed its dagger and lunged at the Fox, who knocked the weapon away with one of its tails.

Below the two massive beasts, the ninja of the Hidden Leaf started to cheer.

"It's the toad boss Gambunta! The Fourth is here!

A flash of yellow light on top of the toad's head signaled the arrival of the Fourth Hokage.

Jumping from Gambunta's head, the Fourth Hokage landed in a crouch on the Nine-Tail's back and placed a hand on its orange fur before disappearing with the Bijuu using his Flying Thunder God Jutsu.

NOW.

That was the last time Hiruzen had seen Minato alive, having found his and Kushina's bodies next to a baby Naruto after Minato used the Reaper Death Seal to summon the Shinigami and seal the Kyuubi away in the Shinigami's stomach as a last-ditch effort to stop the beast.

While the plan was successful, there wasn't a day that went by Hiruzen wished he could have taken his successor's place in death. Forcing the life of a Jinchūriki on anyone would have been hard, asking someone, even a Hokage to do it to their own son…

It would have pained Hiruzen to do it, but he would have done it. He was Konoha's leader, and the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. As terrible as it was to think, the village needed Naruto even if they didn't deserve him.

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe. I should say a prayer, he thought sadly. Naruto was just a kid, after all—a ramen-loving, prankster, and cheeky kid with his teachers.

"It would be a shame to lose him," he whispered to himself, shaking out his pipe in an ashtray.

|NARUTO x YOUNG JUSTICE|

Up in the tree canopy, Naruto jumped from branch to branch, the large Scroll of Sealing still on his back.

"Naruto! There you are!" Iruka shouted when he saw him.

The chunin climbed a nearby tree and began to move together with his student.

"Hurry, give me the scroll! Mizuki is right behind us!"

Naruto looked at his sensei but didn't bother to respond. He quickly changed direction and flew straight towards Iruka, who had just jumped off a branch.

Iruka not expecting to be attacked was unprepared when Naruto slammed knee-first into his chest. The chunin was knocked out of the trees and with nothing to break his fall, he hit the ground with a thud and rolled across the ground in a messy heap. He stared at Naruto, who gracefully landed on the forest floor next to him.

"How did you know?" Iruka scowled up at Naruto as he slowly picked himself up from the dirt and leaves. "Naruto! How did you know!"

Suddenly, a cloud of smoke enveloped him. When it cleared, Mizuki appeared in Iruka's place, seething with rage.

"How did you know that it was me and not Iruka!"

Naruto stumbled back and hit the tree behind him sliding down until he was sitting on the ground. Another burst of smoke surrounded them, revealing Iruka, injured but still smiling.

"Because I'm Iruka!"

Meanwhile, the real Naruto was watching all of this from a distance. Whoa! he thought as he watched the exchange from his hiding spot. Iruka-sensei is really amazing!

"You're a fool!" Mizuki spat, glaring at Iruka. "Why are you protecting that monster, Iruka? He killed your parents!"

"I don't care what you say, Mizuki," Iruka said, "You're not getting your hands on that scroll."

Mizuki stood up and reached for the massive shuriken he still had on his back.

What now! Naruto thought frantically as he peeked around the tree he was hiding behind. Iruka-sensei will die if I don't do something!

But what should he do? Help him or you'll be sorry, shouted a voice inside Naruto. But Mizuki's voice was even louder!

"Don't you get it? Naruto is just like me!"

"How's that?" Iruka asked.

Mizuki laughed like a madman.

"The jutsu in the Scroll of Sealing can make all things possible. They can tear the heavens, split the earth… bring every star in the sky falling down. Naruto wants the scroll for his own power and his own vengeance. That's how monsters are!

Naruto hugged the Scroll of Sealing tighter. That wasn't true! He didn't steal the scroll because he wanted to. Mizuki had tricked.

I just wanted to graduate!

"Naruto will pour all his rage into the scroll and destroy everything!"

Iruka sighed as Mizuki finished screaming. "You're right," he admitted.

Naruto gasped, the Scroll of Sealing clutched tightly to his chest. Iruka's words wrapped around his heart like a vice. So it's true. Nobody in the village really cares about me. Not even Iruka-sensei really accepted me, he despaired.

Tears stung his eyes, but he blinked them away furiously. He had heard enough. Even Iruka-sensei, the one person he thought might understand him, saw him as nothing more than a monster. The Nine-Tailed Fox. A curse upon the village.

The vice tightened and Naruto ran again, leaving Mizuki and Iruka behind before he could hear anything more. His feet carried him farther and farther from the only home he'd ever known. He didn't have a plan and he didn't know where he was going.

All he knew was that he couldn't go back.

Naruto and Young Justice Crossover inspired by the Fic "Maelstrom" by Crohn's Colitis and an SI Fic that I think got deleted!

Next chapter will be a time-skip with Naruto already in the DC world!

Thanks for reading!