A/N: I own nothing, not even the cover. This story is AU-ish, so please don't break my balls. It's rated M being because I'm paranoid.
"Time?" A distorted, albeit distinctly gruff voice, belonging to a shadow covered individual, asked another similarly garbed person.
"Three hours." The answer was nothing more than a quip, the voice muffled and distorted pretty much the same way the first was.
"Numbers?" As if in a contest to show who was the less loquacious, the first individual asked a single word question again.
"Five squads. Seventeen casualties. He allowed the chase to end." Nonplussed, the other shadow gave its report to its officer.
Silence wrapped the little room the two people were in. Part surprise, part uncomfortable, and full embarrassment at the results. The first shadow, seated behind a desk, laced its fingers under its masked visage, resting its chin on their hands.
"He is wasted."
The other shadow, standing, shrugged under its cloak as if signifying it was not their call to agree or not.
"Permission to talk freely."
The standing shadow started minutely. It took a minute to collect itself and its thoughts, humming lightly under its mask. He had been the prime observer of the target for a long while and was intent on giving the commander a clear picture. There was no need to point the good, the report was telling. It did not mean the bad was not present.
"He is undisciplined."
If they did not know the commander never ever snorted, the shadow would have sworn the seated officer just had.
"He is loud and brash."
The commander shrugged and waved a hand, inviting the soldier to continue. The first two points were of no consequence. They had all lacked discipline at first and young boys tended to be loud and brash anyway. The first could be punched in and the second could be punched out. There was nothing a good thrashing could not achieve.
"He wears orange."
The commander stilled. That was a good point. An excellent point even, one that further proved the boy's sheer talent and ingenuity. One did not escape twenty chunin level ninja for three hours and cause thirteen virtual casualties while wearing bright, neon orange by being a dunce. The commander smiled behind its mask.
"Exactly."
Naruto Uzumaki, a short, blue-eyed, blond boy who would be unremarkable if it weren't for the whisker-like marks on his cheeks and his orange garment, was known throughout Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, by many names. For the greater part of the scarce non-shinobi population, he was that boy. It was often sworn like an expletive, some people even signed themselves after saying it, or whispered with extreme distaste. For the smaller part left, it was as if he were not even there. The only two people Naruto knew who said his name, his real name, with a touch of affection were the old cook of the ramen stand and his daughter: Teuchi and Ayame Ichiraku.
For the shinobi inhabitants, who were making up most of Konoha's population, they either treated him like they would a primed high yield explosive tag, with a mix of fear, caution and anger or conscientiously ignored him. They did not really give him a name but it was not much better. There was only one person who looked at him and smiled and even sometimes hugged him, proving that he was indeed not a primed high yield explosive tag. But this person was the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, leader of Konohagakure, and as such, the kindly old man rarely had time for Naruto.
As for the children his age, or at least those he frequented because of school, whether they were from shinobi clans or from a civilian ascent, they called him dead-last and absolutely refused to hang out with him. It hurt. First, because as much as it was technically true he was the dead-last of his class, it was certainly not for a lack of trying. But while every other student were given help when they requested it, Naruto was not. The teachers, all chunin in their own right, were like all the ninja in the village: they ignored him or glared at him but they certainly never helped him. Second, because he could not understand what he had ever done to them all that they refused to be his friends.
Certainly, there were Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi who occasionally skipped class with him, but Naruto was not sure they were friends. Of the three boys, none had ever invited him home, to a birthday party, or to do schoolwork together. And Naruto had never extended the invitation either because he lived in a miserable place he could barely afford and he certainly did not want anyone to find out he lived in what some would consider a ruin. Choji would not laugh but Naruto was sure the portly Akimichi would think no less, Shikamaru would have this sideways smirk the pineapple-haired boy had when he was amused, and Kiba would not even pretend and laugh. Showing the boys his place was simply out of the question. Not like they would accept an invitation in the first place.
So Naruto Uzumaki, that boy, the dobe, the friendless was known by many a nickname and for what reason he did not even know. But his all-time favorite was the one people tended to bellow after him just as he committed a prank. It was a loud, distorted, angry shout that vaguely resembled the word "brat". Yes, when people could not afford to ignore him, because he had dyed their underwears pink, sprinkled paillette in their food, swapped their wares, drawn smiley faces on their doors, or anything else he could think of, they called him. They ran after him. They screamed his last name.
When Naruto committed a prank, he had the villagers' full attention.
The best part was when the ninja started to run after him. Civilians could not keep up but ninja? Ninja totally could. So the boy did his best so that his pranks had repercussions on chunin or jonin. The higher level ninja would enrage having their combat fatigues turned jade blue, turquoise green, or sakura pink, and would chase him in what Naruto liked to think was a game of tag. No one had ever wanted to play tag with him, so the boy made do. And even if the players were not all consenting, it was all harmless fun in the end.
And Naruto liked to run. He was quick for his age, the quickest, and he could run for hours. There was nothing quite like the wind shuffling his blond, spiky locks like a loving hand and making his azure blue eyes water. There was nothing quite like slaloming through Konoha's back alleys, jumping, somersaulting, and rolling in a mad parkour race. Running at breakneck speed was the only way he felt alive. The only way he felt here. The only way he felt now.
Just this very morning, Naruto had realized his masterpiece. The prank of all pranks. The prankiest of his stunts, ever. He had arisen at three in the morning, donned his orange jumpsuit, and darted on top of the Hokage monument where he had patiently hauled various supplies needed for his project over the course of a month. Setting up a complex system of ropes to rappel down the cliff, sculpted to the effigies of the four Hokage, past and present, Naruto had then taken a various brush and paint cans and had proceeded to redesign the four faces of the village's honored leaders.
Dawn had come quickly but Naruto, garbed in the exact tint of orange needed to blend in with the ochre cliff, had escaped vigilance. One hour later, his work finished and the last touch added, the blond child had climbed up, set his rappelling gear aside, and screamed a very loud "good morning Konoha" at the top of his lungs.
The ensuing chase had mobilized twenty or so chunin and lasted three hours as Naruto led them through an obstacle course he had prepared for a month and a half now. It had been absolutely thrilling for the blond.
Eventually, he had allowed Iruka Umino, one chunin from the Academy and the only teacher who paid him attention, to catch him. He had run the entirety of his planned obstacle course anyway.
All this merry, in the blond's honest opinion anyway, game of tag led to Naruto's current situation. The boy was washing the painted, stony faces of the Hokage. The blond, far from the complete idiot people thought him to be, had fortunately gotten water-diluted paint, and was simply throwing buckets of water at his giant doodles, while hanging from his rappelling set-up.
Taken by thoughts of delicious ramen, the fascinating angles of the rock he was bouncing off of, and the shiny rainbow-y spume of the soapy water, the blond nearly could not hear his sensei's sigh as the content of another bucket splashed against the rock.
"Naruto?"
The blond looked up, balancing at the end of his rope like some sort of pendulum, a wide smile on his face. The wind was playing with Iruka's ponytail and it was fluttering in random patterns. "Yes sensei?"
"Why would you do it, Naruto?"
The bright smile faltered and the blond ceased his balancing. He could hear the disappointment in the teacher's voice. Naruto sighed but Iruka spoke before he could answer.
"You know how important this monument is, Naruto, so why?"
The blond knew Iruka enough to know the chunin would not be satisfied unless given a straight answer.
"It's the only way they look at me," said the blond in a subdued voice, barely above a murmur, his blue eyes darting away from the chunin.
Iruka sighed again, louder this time, rubbing his eyes with his right hand before massaging the large, horizontal scar across his face absentmindedly.
"There are other ways Naruto." The ninja instructor began in a tired tone. "You could show them how clever and hardworking you are but all you do is goof around!" It sounded like a broken record to Naruto's ears.
"But I'm trying sensei! I do my best!" The blond exclaimed in protest.
He did try. Not all subjects held his interest equally, that would be lying, but Naruto did try to perform adequately in all. Was it his fault no one, save Iruka, would answer his question? Was it his fault he was excluded from class for the slightest offense? Was it his fault he found geography dry and dusty because the old maps definitely were so? Was it his fault he found chemistry tedious? Was it his fault he could not follow the teachers' agonizingly slow lessons because following a dragonfly's wings' incredibly fast motions was much more interesting?
"If you did your best, you'd get the clone jutsu right!" The teacher exclaimed in response, too fast, and winced.
Naruto hung from his rope lamely, head down, his features set in a scowl to avoid the tears to show.
"I'm- I'm sorry Naruto but I'm worried. The exam is in two days and you still don't have it." Iruka said, voice wavering slightly from anguish. The teacher sat with a sigh, his legs dangling above the fourth Hokage's forehead. "I want you to pass Naruto but the Academy Three are required."
The blond nodded sadly. "I know sensei, I know but whatever I do, I can't get it."
Once again, the brown-haired chunin sighed. The why was a mystery but the blond could not get the clone jutsu. Of the Academy Three, the clone jutsu was maybe the most complicated but it was incomprehensible for Naruto to not manage it. The blond had the substitution jutsu down to a pat. His transformation was a bit shaky but passable. Yet the clone, which was technically demanding but not much more than the transformation, was impossible for Naruto. And while a certain average mark on theoretical materials was required, one Iruka had no doubt the blond would manage, the Academy Three were an absolute requirement. The students were training to be ninjas: if they could not do the simplest of ninjutsu, demonstrate correct taijutsu, and show they could escape a genjutsu, if not weave one, they would not graduate.
Once again, Iruka caught himself scratching his old scar. Looking back at the downtrodden Naruto, the teacher managed a weak smile.
"Look Naruto, how about you finish this and we grab some ramen, my treat," offered the chunin, knowing full well he had just put his wallet at risk.
Immediately, the blond's head shot up, his azure eyes shining as he looked at Iruka with a blinding smile, his previous worry pushed in a corner of his mind. "Ramen!" The blond exclaimed before enthusiastically returning to his cleaning work.
"There is absolutely no way." Hiruzen Sarutobi, reinstated Third Hokage of Konoha, said firmly to his cloaked, masked interlocutor, with all the might his sixty years old, war veteran frame could muster. And the so-called Professor could muster a lot of might.
"He will go to waste." Insisted the cloaked individual behind the white porcelain of a mask. The complete face protection was in the likeness of a dragon, with three red fang-like markings on its forehead. The mask was the tell of an ANBU member and the markings identified the figure as the tokushugun-taisho, the general of the special force.
"He will have a normal team and learn normally-"
"Just like he was supposed to have a normal childhood?" The masked individual interrupted the Kage, their distorted voice cutting through the old man's answer.
"I will not listen to your recriminations," said the Hokage, his tone and commanding. "I followed the will-"
"Of a dying, delirious man. And you will listen to my recriminations, Hiruzen. You made mistakes, many, not all of the same gravity, but it is time you admit to it and handle the fallout. I offer you a way out of it."
"There is no reason for him to join. There is no need to put him through this grinder."
"How much more time will you coddle him? How much more time will you hide the truth from him. We are ninja Hiruzen!" The figure exclaimed, twitching slightly, his raised tone the only mark of his agitation. "Or are you too cowardly? Is that it? Will you wait for your successor to break him the new?"
Killing intent exploded and drowned the office, bending the floor and cracking the large plane of glass behind the old man's desk. "Watch your tongue, Dragon. You are talking to your Hokage," bit Hiruzen in an ice-cold voice.
"Then assume this damned hat and the responsibilities that go with it." The answer was equally cold. "Do you think you are the only one too old for your job? This mask is just as heavy."
An uneasy silence blanketed the room and the Hokage could only palm his face in weariness. "Forgive me Dragon." Hiruzen sighed. "Still, I see no reason for the boy to join the corps."
"What is your plan for him?"
"The classic balance, under jonin Hatake."
"Your officers are definitely out their mind. Have you even looked at the profiling?"
The Hokage took a breath in. "No."
Dragon resisted the urge to slap his forehead. The mask was quite resistant, it would hurt needlessly. "It is a disaster waiting to happen. He definitely won't fit and Hatake's own situation will probably make it worse. No Hiruzen, it's a sad plan and it's going to fail."
"ANBU is not a way to begin your ninja career normally."
The figure threw his arms in the air. "He will never live normally Hiruzen! You need to accept that. He did not have a normal childhood and he certainly won't have a normal ninja career. Now, your decision already made his infancy a living hell, do you want to do the same with his ninja life!?"
The Hokage released the breath he had been holding and his shoulder sagged under his white robes.
"ANBU will warp him."
"Being a ninja will warp him Hiruzen. Now you must decide if it will also kill him or not."
"You will not let this issue go, am I right?"
"Absolutely not Hiruzen. He has too much potential. He is too much potential."
"You will not use him, Dragon!"
"Oh by the flame, Hiruzen! I know you love the kid, hell he is pretty likable, but that does not change what he contains."
"We never had to funnel them through ANBU before."
Even behind the mask, Hiruzen could feel the deadpan look the figure was giving him. "Because the first was already an accomplished ninja and the second's status was actually a secret. Hiruzen, this discussion is over; I am taking the boy. If you still protest, I will make use of very, very tiresome legalese and reveal some secrets to have my way. It will give you paperwork and I'll still have him." The masked individual stated in a tone that was final. "Do we make this the easy or the hard way?"
Hiruzen paled, whether it was at the threat of secrets being revealed or supplementary paperwork added to the pile, none could tell, and sighed. "The easy way." The old man said, distraught.
The dragon masked figure nodded and gave his Hokage an eye-roll so powerful, the old men could hear it. "By the flame, don't treat like he is already dead, Hiruzen. I'll make sure he'll visit you. And if you desire, he'll have a certain talk with you."
Naruto was sitting on the swing in the courtyard of the Academy. He had failed. For the third time, he had failed the test. He knew he was not at the top of his class but his marks on the written tests were fine. He had not the best taijutsu, his was a deformation of the Floating Leaf style, the result of ingrained bad habits no one had corrected. His on the fly genjutsu was mediocre but he could get out of a C-ranked illusion. His shuriken jutsu was actually passable and would be better if not for the ruined knives he used. Hell, he could make his own storage and exploding seals if he had the required chakra paper and he was pretty sure he was the only one capable of that among his classmate.
But the truth of the matter was that, despite his best efforts, he could not make a damned clone. He knew the theory, had practiced for hours on end. Yet when he reached for the fractional amount of necessary chakra, the life energy coursing his pathway system would prove to be indomitable. His chakra simply could not be manipulated in such a minute quantity. Despite the agonizing hours spent on the leaf floating exercise, his control had not been enough.
The blond eyed his joyous classmates -ex-classmates he mentally amended- celebrating with their family, showing off their gleaming headband, none sparing a single glance at him. His keen ears picked the satisfied grunt of many parents, happy that that boy was not becoming a shinobi.
Distractedly, Naruto felt tears rolling down his cheeks. His whiskered cheeks. Not for the first time, he wondered if those whisker-like marks were the reason he could not graduate. The boy wiped the tears away. Dwelling on his failure would not accomplish anything. He could not pass this year, he would try against the next. He had sworn he would become Hokage, and he needed to be a ninja first for that.
Hopping down the swing, the blond brandished his right hand in front of him, finger tightened in a fist and screamed. "I'll do it! I swear I'll become a ninja, 'ttebayo!"
"Well, that's dedication."
Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin and whirled around. In front of him was a white-haired chunin, a bandana on his head.
"Mizuki-sensei?"
The man smiled. "Tell me, Naruto, how would you like a shot at the make-up test."
The blond gave the teacher a puzzled look before the words made it home. Hope, shy and wobbly but hope nonetheless, shone in the azure eyes. "Make-up test?"
Mizuki smiled larger. All according to plan.
A shadow darted from rooftop to rooftop, invisible in the dark cover provided by the moonless night. It stopped for a second when it reached the mass of the Hokage Tower. The Tower was a round building, painted in red, flanked by two smaller buildings of the same fashion. It was actually shorter than the blue topped Broadcast Station that stood next to it like an erect finger. Steadying its breathing, the shadow counted wordlessly. At some signal only they were privy to, the figure sprinted and jumped, latching itself to a gutter running along the wall of the Broadcast Station. Like some otherworldly cat, the shadow climbed up, using the tiniest holds in-between the white bricks that made the wall. With careful grace, the shadow reached the blue roof. It was a pointy wood construct, looking much like a witch's hat, with a strange sphere on top.
The shadow kept climbing until it was in the middle of the roof. Slowly, the individual took a length of rope and tied it solidly to one of the protruding beams of the blue roof. Glancing at its target, the flat roof of one of the secondary tower, the shadow smiled widely.
"This is completely crazy," whisper the individual, the vibrato of excitement clear for all to hear.
Meaning no one, at this hour of the night. The shadow shuddered. It had one try and one try only. A miss was a surefire way to end in the hospital at best.
Circling around the pointy roof, the shadow inhaled deeply. And started to run down and back toward the Hokage Tower.
The maths had proven that, in theory, the pendulum movement would allow the shadow to reach one of the secondary tower. The critical part was the speed but the individual was confident; running fast was their game.
At breakneck speed, wind whistling in its hair, the rope unrolling behind, the shadow ran on an oblique trajectory on the Station's wall and suddenly, jumped. The rope whizzed as the shadow fell, gravity taking what was her by right. The pendulum movement began as the rope was stretched to the max, the beam it was anchored to whining slightly. The figure was catapulted up by its momentum and suddenly, the individual felt weightless. It was at this point they cut the harness.
Naruto fell like an anvil and with a grunt, impacted the tiled roof of the northern secondary tower none too gently. Breaking the shock the best he could with a roll, the cloaked blond ended his course in the ornamental bushes that crowned the outer ridge of the tower.
"Ow ow ow," Naruto muttered, as low as he could, wary of the potential guard. He knew, according to the paper Mizuki had given him, that he should be right between rotation but still, the goal was to go unnoticed.
The blond took a second to dust himself. His black shirt was in tatter and his navy blue pants were torn at the knee. He had multiple cuts, the entire right side of his body hurt, and his left ankle was probably sprained but extraordinarily, he was fine. Naruto checked his various pockets to check everything was still where it was supposed to be and nodded to himself.
The rush had been great, the fall thrilling, and the second of weightlessness amazing but he was not doing that again. Ever. Naruto Uzumaki was a daredevil alright but that had been suicidal, in retrospect. The best entry possible, hell, the best entry ever as the rooftops were rarely patrolled but still, it had been a close call.
From the roof he was on, climbing on the main tower was a piece of cake. The first and second levels of each tower were protected so that it was virtually impossible to climb them, regardless of the technique. The third level was the same but the problem was nullified by various pipes and large cables running around the circumference of the Tower. Naruto had no idea of their purpose but right now, they made perfect holds to climb from one roof to another.
Taking a second to breathe, Naruto entered the tower. The easy part was done. Fortunately, he was used to infiltrating the Hokage Tower for his pranks. The blond knew the best hidey holes.
Navigating the corridors and hiding from the patrolling pairs of chunin, with the occasional jonin, was boringly easy and Naruto was quick to make it to his goal. The vault was sealed shut obviously but as a prankster, the blond knew how to pick the toughest lock. Naruto fished in his pocket and retrieved one of his best invention, something he was especially proud of.
In his right hand, the blond was holding a scroll that he promptly unrolled in front of the door. Holding his hands in a ram seal, the blond stepped on the scroll and whispered.
"Fuin: Sensory Mirror Wall."
The air shimmered around the blond and shifted. Now, Naruto had exactly four minutes to pick one of the most difficult lock, hidden by a genjutsu-like barrier fuinjutsu of his own making.
"Let's open you up."
Three minutes and forty second and one absolutely oblivious patrol later, the vault opened. Naruto guessed more than he knew for certain, that he had probably triggered a fuinjutsu based alarm but he could not do much about it. If there was fuinjutsu somewhere, it was too high level for him to detect it.
Losing no time, as it was now more than ever a scarce resource, Naruto stepped inside the fortified chamber and fastened a large and fat scroll on his back before darting out. Folding his left hand in a half tiger seal, the blond muttered a "katsu".
The scroll he had been standing on was reduced to ash just as several firework fuses burned out, launching their payload in the sky and illuminating Konoha.
If the entry had required some imagination, the exit was easier. Naruto simply dangled a roped from a window of the second floor and glided down while the patrolling guards were occupied with either his fireworks or the alarm at the vault.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was having a peaceful night when he was awakened by a burning sensation. The old ninja woke up immediately, years of combat did that to a man but searched a second for the reason of his awakening. His heart grew cold when he realized it was the tattoo signaling a breach of the vault that was heating up.
Just as he considered the implication of such a thing happening, fireworks illuminated the sky of Konoha. The old Kage swore under his breath.
Naruto skidded to a halt in a clearing. Konoha bore its name because of the dense forests out- and inside its walls and the blond was currently enjoying the relative security of a grove which would hopefully mask him to the soon to be pursuing shinobi.
He had not run far nor wide. The closer you are to your enemies, the safer you are after all. Naruto was inside Konoha proper, far enough from the Tower to not be caught during the first sweep but close enough that the ninja would look for the intruder outside first before eventually finding him. His position was the logical last option in the search order.
The blond opened the large scroll. He had approximately one hour to learn a jutsu, after which, Mizuki-sensei would allow him to graduate. The lingering light of the fireworks made it unnecessary for the blond to use a torchlight, something he had counted on. A torchlight was not very discreet after all.
"Shadow Clone jutsu," muttered Naruto before deflating. A clone technique? When he could not even perform the basic one? No way! Reading further, the blond lay eyes on techniques either too horrible to be learned or way, way too complicated. After five minutes of exploring the scroll, the blond sighed.
"Shadow Clone it is."
Naruto was sprawled, eagle spread, on the ground and the boy was panting hard. The Clone jutsu required him to reign in a small amount of energy and shape it in his image. The needed quantity was too small for the thundering flow of the blond's chakra. The Shadow Clone jutsu was the same but different.
The amount of chakra was not a problem, on the very contrary. The Shadow Clone needed the caster to mold a huge amount of life energy and project it in the shape of the user. The problem that stumped Naruto right now was the fact that a large part of the chakra was supposed to "fill" the shape. The goal was to achieve a solid clone made of pure chakra.
The blond had read about solid clone in a book about chakra theory. Usually, ninja would use earth or water as a putty of a sort and mold it with chakra to create what was commonly called an elemental clone. The required amount was substantially higher than for a standard clone but nowhere near the quantity required for a shadow clone.
Naruto suddenly blinked. Maybe he had to think of the problem like he would an elemental clone? Right now, he was trying to picture an empty shell that he had to fill up with chakra but that was maybe not the way. If he first expulsed as much chakra as possible and then shaped it, like a sculpture of sort, maybe it would work.
The blond broke his musing and nodded resolutely. He had wasted enough time, the hour was coming to a close. Deciding to test his new theory, the boy made a cross-shaped hand-sign. Carefully, the blond proceeded to join his physical and spiritual energies, creating chakra, in a process called merging, and pulsed the chakra through his hands. The specific cross-like shape was supposed to alter the properties of his chakra, much like standard hand-signs, in a process called molding. It had something to do with yang chakra but Naruto was not certain what it was. Focusing, the boy merged as much chakra as he could, modifying it through the hand-sign, and storing it back in his hara. It was difficult to merge fresh chakra while keeping the molded, ready to use energy on the side, so to speak, but Naruto managed.
After a minute, satisfied with the amount he had, Naruto took a deep breath before exhaling. "Alright, now to get it out." The blond muttered.
Pushing all the molded chakra through his hand one last time, the blond pulsed it all out from the tenketsu in his palms. With sweat pouring from his brow, Naruto focused on sculpting the sea of chakra that was surrounding him into a replica of himself. Head, limbs, hair, fingers, eyes, torso, clothes...
"Shadow Clone jutsu!" Roared the blond, eyes shut in concentration.
Only silence answered him. Tentatively, the boy opened one eye. Only for the second to shoot open at the sight that greeted him. In front of Naruto was… Naruto.
With a shaky hand, the blond poked his doppelganger's cheek and was elated when the clone grinned but did not disappear.
"Yatta!" Bellowed the blond while dancing around and with his replica. "I did it! I did it!"
"I did it! I did it!" Answer the clone, feeling every last bit of joy the original felt.
"We did it! We did it!" Chorused the duo, a grin brighter than the sun splitting both faces.
"Na-ru-to!"
The shout was so powerful, the duo of blond tripped and fell, the clone hitting his head on a small rock jutting out of the ground and dispelling in a cloud of smoke. Distractedly, the original noticed he had a sudden urge to rub the side of his head. The blond turned toward the origin of the shout to see Iruka, his head several times bigger than normal and slowly reverting to its original size.
"Hey, Iruka-sensei." The blond said, rubbing the back of his head.
"What is happening Naruto? Why…" Iruka trailed off as his eyes took the sight of his pupil. The blond looked exhausted and as if he had just fought with a pack of wolves. But more urgent was the large, fat, and terribly open scroll near the blond. "Oh no."
The teacher's tone immediately alerted Naruto something was wrong, very wrong. Getting back up, the blond walked carefully toward Iruka.
"Hum, sensei? What-"
He was silenced by the harshest glare Iruka had ever sent his way. Naruto flinched and recoiled.
"Do you have any idea what you have done? This is the Forbidden Scroll Naruto! What got into you?!" The teacher hurled with anger and worry.
Naruto felt his eyes water. Iruka had never been that angry with him. Sure the teacher had been exasperated one or two times but never to this extent. And all the same, Iruka had never been that worried. "Wh-What? B-but Mizuki-sensei said-"
"Mizuki?" Iruka questioned suddenly, interrupting Naruto.
The blond nodded and the puzzle pieces fell into place. It was Mizuki who had rung the alert, saying he had seen Naruto flee with the Forbidden Scroll. Mizuki, who had no business being anywhere near the Hokage Tower tonight. Mizuki, your average chunin, who had somehow seen Naruto when the multiple guards of the Tower had not. Mizuki, who, the last time Iruka had seen him, was geared like he was going to war.
Iruka sprung and tackled Naruto just as a circle of steel embedded itself where the blond was standing a second ago.
"Ah, Iruka." A familiar voice rang into the clearing. "You found him before me uh." A strange, high pitched grating sound was heard.
"Sen-sensei, what is happening?" Naruto asked, trembling.
Iruka steeled himself. "Naruto this is an order." The chunin jumped again, hauling the boy with him as another whistling chakram tore the earth on their last position. "You take this scroll and you run to the Tower." The chunin whirled and hid behind a tree, the trunk shielding him and his charge from a third circle of death. "Are we clear?"
Naruto could only nod, too lost to do much else. Iruka had his no-nonsense voice and Naruto would be damned before he went against it.
"I'll distract him. Be quick."
"As if!"
Iruka pushed Naruto just in time to duck under a kunai strike. The teacher sneered. "Mizuki."
The white-haired chunin simply attempted to strike again, his kunai biting through the air toward Iruka's arm, his other hand releasing a brace of shuriken toward Naruto. The brown-haired man angled himself so, that the strike caught him on his armor.
Chunin flak jackets were actually more than enough to block a sword strike, given the steel was not augmented with some chakra cutting ability. As it were, the kunai simply bounced off harmlessly and Iruka elbowed Mizuki in the face, breaking his nose.
The white-haired ninja swore and jumped back. Naruto had jumped out of the way of his shuriken and had rolled the Forbidden Scroll shut, ready to spring off and away. Mizuki was loath to admit it but if the blond demon started running, he would not catch up. In a split second, the traitorous chunin darted toward the boy, kunai ready to pierce his neck.
"Naruto!"
The blade cut through the blond's raised forearm and a kick just under the sternum sent him tumbling away, breath ragged. Before Mizuki could follow up, Iruka nearly stabbed him through the calf.
"Run Naruto!"
"Why… Are you… Defending him!" Mizuki growled, in-between strikes, one ringing true against the brown-haired man's jaw yet not phasing him, another one landing a knife through his opponent's left shoulder but leaving him overextended. "He stole the scroll!"
"You set him… Up!" Iruka punctuated his answer with a grappling move that ended with Mizuki's right elbow joint dislocated. The white-haired chunin howled in pain and Iruka elbowed him again, under the chin this time. The traitor stumbled back and both chunin broke the fight, panting.
The exchange had lasted thirty seconds, at most, but the two men were breathing as if they had just run a marathon.
"He killed your parents!"
Mizuki's sudden scream froze Naruto in place. The blond was ready to bolt, his breath steadier and his arms hugging the scroll like a lifeline, but the traitor's claim had him rooted to the ground.
"Wh-what?"
"Don't listen, Naruto! Run!"
"Do you know why you're treated like you are, demon?" Mizuki spat, intent on buying some time. He had not counted on Iruka being here and he had certainly not expected the brown-haired chunin to be in such good form.
"Mizuki shu-"
"You're the Kyuubi Naruto!" The white-haired man hollered madly. "You are a demon!"
Iruka shot like a bolt out of a crossbow, taking the traitor by surprise and landing a solid hit on his head before Mizuki retaliated with a kunai cutting Iruka's leg.
"I'm… I'm what?" whispered the blond boy, still frozen and incapable of processing what had just been said.
Yet it made a twisted sense. How the people in Konoha were afraid of him, angry at him, ignored him. But the demon had been killed by the fourth Hokage. He had learned it in history class. He had killed the demon on the day of… Naruto's… Birth.
Mizuki smirked through the haze Iruka had put him in. The bastard had hit him hard but he had won the exchange. The cut on the brown-haired man's leg would slow him. Slow him too much to save the demon. The traitor took another brace of shuriken and hurled the whirling stars of steel toward the blond abomination.
"Naruto!"
The world slowed as Iruka saw the shuriken cut through the air toward Naruto. The steel stars were absolutely harmless against an armor wearing opponent, not much more than a distraction. Against the frozen boy, the would possibly cut an artery and he would bleed out. Iruka melded chakra in a heartbeat and flooded his leg muscles with raw life energy before jumping.
Naruto watched as the deadly stars sped toward him. He wanted to move, desperately so, but he could not. His body refused to obey him and his mind was too preoccupied with puzzling the impossible revelation Mizuki had imparted unto him. For a second, he wondered how the situation had degenerated so before closing his eyes.
The shuriken gave a muffled sound when they embedded themselves in Iruka's flak jacket. But the pained scream that escaped the teacher throat when his leg muscles either cramped on him or tore covered everything.
"Iruka… Sensei?"
"Run, Naruto." The chunin bit through the pain.
For a second, the blond contemplated the idea before the consequences of such an act hit him. If he left right here and right now, Mizuki would kill Iruka. The thought of such a thing happening filled Naruto with white-hot anger. Magmatic fury. Earth shattering scorn. The blond melded chakra, every last bit, and to hell with it if some of it felt terribly raw. His fingers crossed in front of him to mold the raging maelstrom of life energy flooding his pathway, the blond roared.
"Shadow Clone jutsu!"
A wave of powerful, scathing chakra expanded outward and smoke filled the clearing.
Before Iruka's gobsmacked eyes and Mizuki's terrified ones stood a hundred or so blond boys, their face distorted by righteous fury and their knuckles cracking in anticipation.
"I'll beat you to a pulp, 'ttebayo!" chorused the blonde army.
And Naruto made good on that promise, overwhelming the already shaken traitor in a sea of blond and blue, leaving a twitching, bloody, unconscious mess sprawled on the ground not twenty seconds later. Their office done, the army of clones dispelled, leaving a wobbling Naruto behind, the blond momentarily suffering from a splitting headache.
"Na-Naruto…"
The original blond whirled toward his teacher, who was eying him with a mix of awe, relief, and worry. The boy rubbed his head, the strange pain already forgotten.
"I went too hard, did I?"
Iruka chuckled weakly. "No… Not really." The teacher suddenly scowled, the pain of his wrecked legs catching up thought his astonishment.
"Iruka-sensei, are you okay?" asked Naruto worriedly, trying his best to help the chunin stand. The man grimaced and the blond simply propped him up against a tree.
"I shot my legs," answered the man. A shift in his position made him growl. "Ow, ow, ow, I'm definitely upping my training," joked Iruka with a weak smile.
Naruto looked down, biting his lower lips. "Sensei, what… What happened? What Mizuki said…"
Iruka ruffled the blond hair. "First thing first, Naruto. I think I have the gist of it but tell me why you stole the scroll." He ordered in a pained voice.
The blond's eyes watered. "I didn't… I didn't want…" And Naruto explained to Iruka how Mizuki had offered him a shot at a "make-up" test.
"I'm never gonna be a ninja, am I?" Naruto concluded, voice strained by held up tears.
Having the entire story, Iruka sighed. Twice. The man then offered a smile to his student.
"Come here Naruto, and close your eyes."
The blond obeyed hesitantly. He heard some shuffling sound and felt something be fastened around his forehead.
"Open your eyes now."
Iruka, without his headband, was smiling at him warmly. With hesitant hands, Naruto touched the rectangle of steel bearing the leaf insignia. Warm tears fell and rolled down his cheeks.
The blond jumped at his sensei and squeezed the man in a hug, sobbing his thanks.
It was that scene a team of ANBU discovered, a minute later.
"So, to summarize…" Seated in the Hokage office, Naruto told the old man how his night had gone. Iruka had been carried to the hospital and it was the blond's responsibility to explain himself. It took twenty minutes but Naruto explained the best he could, trying his best to not forget any details.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was tired. So very tired. He had but one wish right now, and it was to go to bed. The night had been nightmarish. Someone had infiltrated the Tower right under the nose of the guards, picked the lock of the vault, and made off with the Forbidden Scroll, all without the use of chakra. Then Mizuki Hashiru, a chunin, had pretended to see Naruto, of all people, with the scroll. And Mizuki had revealed to be a traitor, having coned Naruto into believing there was a makeup exam for the one the boy had just failed, and planning to kill the jinchuriki and disappearing with the scroll. And the situation had miraculously resolved itself thanks to Iruka Umino discovering Naruto, fighting Mizuki to a standstill, and Naruto beating the traitorous chunin to a pulp thanks to the Shadow Clone jutsu.
The Hokage groaned, half in frustration, half in weariness, entirely in relief. It was a fucking miracle, no less. The old man eyed the blond boy sitting before him. Naruto had the decency to have his blue eyes lowered in shame. Hiruzen sighed.
"I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hokage of Konohagakure, have taken into consideration the recommendation of chunin Iruka Umino to grant to Naruto Uzumaki a field promotion to genin. By my authority, I confirm the recommendation. Do you accept it, Naruto Uzumaki?"
Naruto immediately stood at attention like he had been taught in the Academy, feet joined, left hand above the heart, right hand on flat on his right calf, and furiously nodded.
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
The old man smiled. "Then welcome to the Kogun, genin Uzumaki."
Naruto bowed, doing his best to contain the smile that wanted to blossom on his lips.
"Now I think we have another matter to discuss."
The Hokage's grave tone immediately brought the blond back on earth.
"Yes, Hokage-sama?" asked the boy hesitantly.
"Now that you have been exposed to lies, we believe it'd be unwise to not address the question properly." Another voice, gruff and distorted, rang out.
Naruto did it best not to jump and turned. Behind him was an ANBU with a dragon mask.
"Naruto, meet Dragon, ANBU's general. Dragon, Naruto." The Hokage said in a tired voice.
"Is it… Is it about what Mizuki said?"
The masked ANBU nodded. "Yes. You have to know the truth about your status."
"My status?"
The ANBU supreme commander nodded again. "Mizuki told you were the Kyuubi. It is not true. You are the Kyuubi's jinchuriki."
"Dragon!" The old Kage exclaimed, apparently wishing the cloaked individual had been less blunt.
"Jin… Churiki?" Naruto tried the word. It was unknown to him.
The ANBU ignored the Hokage's outburst. "We told the population the Kyuubi was killed by the Yondaime. It wasn't, for the simple reason no man found a way to kill a bijuu yet. The Yondaime trapped the beast inside an infant."
There was a pregnant silence for a few seconds before the boy broke it.
"Me." It was not a question. Naruto wasn't stupid and could put two and two together to obtain four. Most of the time at least.
"You," confirmed the ANBU.
"But… But I… Then…" Naruto frowned, too confused to feel much else.
"You are the Kyuubi's warden. Its prison, if you will."
"The boy gulped. "So… I'm not a demon?"
"Of course not my boy!" The Hokage exclaimed heatedly. "And allow no one to call you that!"
Naruto felt his eyes prickle and water despite him. "But then… Why? Why do they treat me like that?" The boy asked with a shaky voice.
Both the Hokage and the ANBU sighed. The cloaked figure threw a glance at Hiruzen, who nodded.
"They fear you Naruto. The Kyuubi caused a lot of pain, which you are a constant reminder of-"
"But I did not ask for it!" The blond exclaimed, tears streaking down his whiskered face. "It's not my fault!" He protested again, voice racked with sobs.
The Hokage rose from his seat and hurriedly engulfed the boy in a hug. Hiruzen sighed. Naruto was so very young still.
"Of course not Naruto. Of course not. But the pain the Kyuubi caused turned to fear, and fear to hate, and rather than see you as the hero you are, they blame their sorrow on you." Hiruzen explained.
"They decided to cling to their hate and blame you, rather than honor the sacrifice of the one they claim they love." The ANBU interjected. "Truly, they understand nothing."
Naruto broke the hug suddenly and took a step back. His teary face was set in a scowl, one Hiruzen had never seen on the blond's face.
"They are… They are such ingrates!" The boy hurled in anger. "All this time they hated me for something I didn't do?!" Naruto's tone was heated but mainly held disbelief. And frankly, all assembled in the room could understand why. Then, something struck him.
"How… How do they even know? Why do they know what… Who… What I am?" demanded the blond with steel in his voice.
It made no sense. Konoha after the Kyuubi's attack had been a field of smoking ruins. Naruto had seen the photos. How come the entire population of Konoha, which certainly had better things to do at the time, knew of him?
"The Yondaime wished for you to be seen as a hero and I… I foolishly granted him his last wish," Hiruzen explained quietly, voice strained by anguish. "But the people I so trusted betrayed me… Us, they betrayed us, their leaders. They betrayed the Will of Fire and I couldn't convince them of their folly. So I made a law when I saw that the survivors would hate you. They were not to speak to anyone to your condition." The voice of the old man wavered and broke for a second. "I hoped that'd allow you to live normally. To… To make friends."
Naruto winced and his scowl came back with a vengeance. "Well, that worked well," sneered the blond, anger thick in his voice. "It worked so very well." He muttered again bitterly, before deflating.
"Why me, though?"
Why him? The bad luck of the draw? The only baby available? No, that could not be right: nearly all his classmates were older than him. His brain made and discarded scenarios one after the other. The Kyuubi had not been near the hospital. Yet, according to the old man, Naruto's parents had died in the attack. Were they ninja then? No, otherwise, the records would have DNA information and he would not bear the Uzumaki namesake. His parents were civilians, logically. Maybe he was born at home? Had his parents died in the first sweep of the tails? But then he should have died too. Why did the fourth choose him, an orphan, to hold the beast? Had his parents offered him?
Was he an orphan before the Fourth chose him, or after? The thought froze Naruto.
"The Fourth-"
"Killed my real parents." Naruto declared, his voice a monotone.
"What!?" The Hokage sputtered in abject horror. "What gave you this idea?"
"Why me? Why not one of the clan kids? The Fourth had an entire generation of clan heir to choose from but no, he picked a nameless orphan. That raises questions, doesn't it?" The blond spoke quickly but his voice was still just as emotionless.
The reasoning made the Kage's eyes widen. "N-no, Naruto, of course the Fourth-"
"Then they abandoned me. They were disgusted by me."
"Of course not!"
"Then why me!?" Naruto screamed in rage, anger tainting his chakra and leaking like poison, the floor creaking under the pressure. "Who were my parents? Where are they now? Why did they allow the damned Yondaime to use me?"
"I cannot-"
"Kushina Uzumaki."
The calm, distorted voice rang through the office, assuaging Naruto's mounting fury and silencing the Kage. The blond turned to the ANBU.
"What?"
"Dragon, I order you-"
"Your mother's na-"
Killing intent erupted and faster than one could blink, the Hokage was holding the ANBU by its throat, lifting the individual above ground, effectively strangling them.
"One more word and I'll have you executed." The Sarutobi threatened.
"Kushina… Uzumaki."
Hiruzen shuddered when he felt a glare being levied on him by the one person he had hoped would never glare at him.
"You knew," whispered Naruto. "All this time you knew. And you told me nothing." The blond continued in a hushed murmur.
Hiruzen's dark eyes met Naruto's azure orbs and the old Kage's heart broke when all he could see was betrayal and disappointment.
"Hokage-sama, may I be excused?" The blond asked, his voice absolutely blank. But Hiruzen balked.
"Naruto…"
"By your leave, Hokage-sama."
The old man sighed. "Dismissed, genin Uzumaki."
Naruto lost no time and bolted out of the office. Hiruzen glared harshly at the ANBU he was still strangling.
"I should execute you."
"You… Are… A coward," spat the masked man, his throat held shut by the vice-like grip of the old Kage.
Hiruzen opened his hand and the commander fell in a heap on the ground, wheezing and massaging their throat. "You are dismissed, Dragon."
The ANBU rose to its feet and nodded stiffly. "To solve a problem, one needs to face it."
"Out!" The old Hokage roared.
Naruto dragged himself through the streets of Konoha, dawn illuminating the village with its first lights. His thoughts were whirling around chaotically in his head. The Hokage had repeatedly told him he did not know who his parents were and Naruto had come to accept it. Now the blond discovered the old man he trusted had lied to him. What other truths had his grandfather figure withheld from him? The Kyuubi, his parents, what was next, a hidden family member?
And the village hated him for something he had no control over. Since little, he had dreamed to gain their acknowledgment and the Hokage had assured him that if he tried, he would. But now, Naruto was second-guessing himself. He was not giving up, absolutely not, for giving up was not the Naruto Uzumaki way. But was gaining the acknowledgment of a group of ungrateful bigots even worth it? Was it even possible? If all they could see in him was the fox, then being Hokage would change nothing.
The blond climbed the stairs to his tiny flat and entered his two rooms apartment. The place was in tatter and it wasn't even his fault. Mostly. But the sorry state of his place was of no concern to the boy right now. Naruto plopped down his run down sofa and kept on thinking.
He did not hate the villagers, he decided. They were hateful ignorants who had made their choice and they had made Naruto's life difficult, quite difficult actually, but the boy refused to hate them. He would not become a hateful ignorant himself, Naruto decided firmly. He would be better than them.
Which did not mean he could not hold them in contempt. He could be beyond reproach, the best of all, the Hokage, he could not tell Konoha what to feel and think about him. Certainly, his pranks had not helped but still but it mattered little ultimately. He could not change people. Only people could change themselves.
Naruto sighed and looked at his hands. Sometime during his musings, he had loosened his headband. The piece of engraved steel reflected his face. The metal was muted, the various small scratch dulling its shininess. There was even a small brown spot. Blood recently dried up. Iruka's or Mizuki's. What did he truly want? Did he even have the choice?
With the beast trapped within him, Naruto reckoned the answer to that was "probably not". So if he did not have the choice, he had to make the best of it. If being a ninja was his path, he'd be the damn best ninja possible, 'ttebayo. He'd never be helpless again like tonight. He'd never have someone fight for him like tonight. He'd never be found wanting.
Naruto's grip tightened around the headband and his face hardened in resolution, he fastened the insignia around his head again.
"I'm a ninja now, 'ttebayo," whispered the boy in a low but confident voice.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed. I'm certainly NOT abandoning my other story. It's just, I read some ANBU fics and I thought I'd relax a bit and write my own, with chapters somewhat on the short side, 4,000-5,000 words maybe. Ended up with 9,000 words. It was a mistake. For the infiltration scene (re)watch Mission Impossible 3 to understand the pendulum manoeuver better.
A/N 2: I will warn new readers here that this fic starts slow. I'm currenlty working on trimming the fat but jutsu and explosions do not come before chapter 11 as it is right now (30/07/2019).