Graduation (3) – Part 9

[Naruto POV]

“Hah ... even though I knew that I would fail, I still cannot shake off this feeling of disappointment. It’s extremely discouraging. Perhaps it is true that I’m not fit to be a ninja? Maybe ….. no. Naru believes in me, I know that. She believes that I can succeed. She promised me that she’ll help me become Hokage! And she promised that as long as I’m by her side, she will be beside me too! I cannot disappoint her like this. I can’t let her be sad because of me!” I think while lying down on my bed and covering my eyes with my arm.

“I need to clear my head.” I mumble while jumping out of the window and onto the streets before the apartment.

I slowly walk through the village, ignoring the hateful looks sent my way.

“I wonder what I actually did wrong for the villagers to hate me. Though, I’m glad that they always focused their beatings on me and not on Naru. She’s too cute and way too precious to get hurt like that. That one time … “ I think back to the one time that they literally broke her bones and beat her close to death.

“Had I not arrived at that point in time … would she still be alive? And what about the time that that one disgusting man almost touched her?!” At that thought, I could feel an intense wave of hatred overcome me.

Though, I did not let it control me.

“They shouldn’t have done that. I will forgive them. I will forgive them for beating us for all these years. And I will also forgive them for their hatred. Because unless I know why they hate us, I will not judge them for no reason.” I sigh.

“They call us demons. They call us the fox’s incarnations. Which fox? The kyuubi? But why would we be its incarnations?” I wonder while aimlessly walking through Konoha. The gentle light of the evening sun made Konoha look incredibly beautiful.

This place … my birthplace. My home, Naru’s home. I’ll protect it and I’ll become Hokage. I’ll make all those that hurt Naru regret it! They will respect us, they will look for us for protection! I do not want to be the cause of unnecessary sadness, nor do I want to be the one that starts a big cycle of revenge. Something inside of me always calmed me and told me that it’s not worth it to search for revenge. But I shouldn’t just accept their violence!

They hurt us and they hurt us too many times. If they ever try again, then I won’t hold back anymore. I’ll make them see what it means to attack “the fox’s incarnation”, as they call me! I can forgive them for what they did in the past … but now that I can actually, truly, defend myself and Naru against the villagers, I will not let them hurt her again.

After finding a new source of determination, I continue walking through the bustling evening atmosphere of Konoha.

At some point, I find myself looking down at Konoha in all its glory.

This place always calmed me, it’s where the former Hokage were made eternal.

“The first, the second, the third … jiji … and the fourth. All of them were great enough to have made themselves eternal in konoha’s history. All of them were loved by the villagers and all of them were deeply respected. I do not want to be loved by the villagers … they have hurt us too much for that. But … I do want to have their respect and admiration. I will become strong enough to deserve it! This is my birthplace. I will protect it for that sole reason!” I quietly mumble to myself.

Suddenly … I hear footsteps behind me.

“Huh? I did not even hear him or her approach? They cannot be a Genin.” I reason.

As I slowly turn back, a familiar face enters my sight.

“Mizuki-sensei. What brings you here?” I ask, slightly suspicious. I had seen Naru’s frown when he entered, something is wrong about him. I know that she can sense malicious intent.

“Naruto … I heard what you said just now … and honestly, I want to help you. I want to help you achieve your dreams.” Mizuki-sensei said while smiling at me and keeping his eyes closed.

“Really?” I was surprised at his sudden offer, but I still looked at him with suspicion.

“Yes, really. You know … Iruka never intended to hurt you with his decision. He told me how proud he was of you and that he believed that you would definitely find a way to succeed!” He smiled.

“Iruka-sensei really said that?!” I asked, bewildered. He certainly had my attention now.

“He did! And he also told me that you just need to learn one simple jutsu in order to pass the exam. He is willing to give you a second chance, he wants you to succeed!” Mizuki said, his smile growing.

I widen my eyes in shock.

“A second chance? How could that be possible. It shouldn’t be possible, but … if Iruka-sensei really said that … then I will believe him. If he believes in me, then how could I not believe in him?” I think, failing to notice the obvious malicious glint in Mizuki’s eyes.

 

…

 

After that, Mizuki told Naruto to steal the scroll containing the forbidden jutsu of Konoha. If he managed to learn just one of those, then Iruka would let him choose his very own hitai-ate and he would have a true chance at being a Genin.

Naruto, while not truly believing him, chose to go through with it anyway. If this was a chance to become Genin without learning the clone jutsu, then he would reach out his hand and take this chance at all costs.

Naruto knew that he probably would never be able to perform a correct clone jutsu, he had tried for years, but never managed to do it. He did not want to wait any longer. And Naru should not have to repeat a year, or even multiple, with him, only because his abilities were lacking. If this was truly a one in a hundred chance to become a Genin, then he would try his utmost to achieve it.

Naruto, while the city was celebrating the advent of new Genin candidates and the security was lowered, stole the scroll of forbidden jutsu. Though, he did not go unnoticed.

Soon, many ninja were sent out by the Hokage to search for him and to get the scroll back.

Iruka … was one of them.

So, as they searched for Naruto in all of Konoha, he was sitting in the forest, looking through the scroll filled with forbidden jutsu.

He wanted to make his teacher proud. And that’s why he decided to learn a jutsu of the category that he knew that he did not do well in … the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

 

…

 

Naruto looked intently at the scroll that lied on the grass in front of him.

“This is it … I’ll learn this one. Since I can’t do a normal clone … maybe I will be able to do this one, it’s worth a try at this point. The rest are too hard for me and I’m not interested in them. This one, however, seems interesting!” Naruto smiled to himself while memorizing the hand signs needed for the jutsu that he chose.

After some time, he called out: “Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” And instantly, instead of pitiful clones that could do nothing but lie on the ground, several exact copies of himself stood around him, full of energy and talking amonst themselves.

Naruto’s eyes widened in shock and in surprise at his sudden success in this jutsu. It had worked on the first try too! They were also cleary different than other clones. He then released the clones again and, surpisingly, he remembered their conversations as if he had spoken the words they had spoken.

“Maybe I’m not useless! This is great … this is really great. Iruka will be so proud of me!” Naruto shouted.

Footsteps came from behind him and upon turning around, Naruto saw his sensei standing behind him, looking at him with disbelief.

“Naruto … what did you do … why did you steal the scroll? Do you even know how important this scroll is?” Iruka-sensei asked.

“Sensei! You are here! Look, I managed to learn one of the jutsu from the scroll, doesn’t that mean I passed? I was supposed to learn just one of the jutsu of this scroll, right?” Naruto looked at Iruka with an expression that screamed excitement.

“Ah? Where did you hear this, Naruto?” Iruka asked, even more bewildered than before.

“Eh? Mizuki-sensei said that you had told him that you would let me pass if I managed to learn one of the Jutsu inside of this scroll. Was that a lie?” Naruto’s expression warped in disappointment in mere seconds.

Naruto could already feel that something was wrong, and he had even known that Mizuki was not the person he showed himself to be.

He had known of that, but so what? He wanted to believe in him, in Iruka-sensei. He believed Mizuki only because Iruka-sensei seemed close to him. There was some kind of friendship between them, he had felt that.

“Mizuki did? No, that’s not right … “ Iruka mumbled.

Soon, Iruka’s eyes widened in realization, but it was too late.

Shuriken and Kunai flew towards the two standing out in the open.

Iruka pushed Naruto away, causing him to get away unharmed. Iruka, however, paid the price for that. The shuriken and kunai hit him, a few of them even sticking to his body.

“Haha, foolish boy, give me the scroll. And, don’t you know that your beloved Iruka-sensei secretly hates you, just like everyone else does?” Mizuki smirked, finally showing his true colors.

“That’s not true!” Iruka shouted.

Naruto looked at them with doubtful eyes. He didn’t instantly know who to believe. He had always thought that Iruka and the old man were the only two people that did not hate him and his sister. The people at Ichiraku’s also treated them with kindness, but they weren’t too close. He had always believed that Iruka was different. He was unsure of that only because he had grown used to other people hating him from the get-go.

Naruto looked at Iruka, looking for the truth that would be hidden in his eyes. Eyes were a window to the soul. Naruto tried to find Iruka’s true feelings inside of his eyes, most people were unable to hide them or did not bother to do that.

“Mizuki is lying. Iruka’s eyes hold no hatred towards me, only kindness. I can see that, I’m not blind.” Naruto reasoned in his mind. He decided to believe in Iruka.

“Naruto … don’t you want to know why everyone hates you? Don’t you want to know why they beat you and your sister?!” Mizuki screamed.

Naruto’s eyes moved away from Iruka and towards Mizuki.

“They hate you because you literally are the fox’s incarnation! They were never lying, you both hold the fox demon, the kyuubi, inside of you! You are both monsters!” Mizuki screamed while laughing evilly.

Naruto looked at Iruka for confirmation.

At first Iruka wanted to deny this fact, as it was prohibited to talk about it to Naruto or Naruko. But he chose to nod instead. He did not want to lie to his favorite student any longer.

“Naruto, what Mizuki said is true … but, don’t misunderstand. You are not a monster, you are my precious student! I’m gonna be honest with you! My parents died during the kyuubi’s attack and at first, I did indeed hate you. I needed an outlet for all of my hate, and I focused it on you and your sister, the ones said to be the fox’s incarnation. Of course, all of that was before I even got to know you. It was when you got into my class, that I noticed that you are not any kind of malicious fox’s incarnation. You are instead a kind, young boy that loves his sister and wants to become Hokage. You reminded me of myself, I couldn’t help but like you! Don’t listen to anything that Mizuki says … you are great! I believe in you and your dream!” Iruka said, tears streaming down his face.

Naruto nodded, having understood his sensei and having decided to never doubt him again. He looked at the ground, trying hard to stop tears from falling down his face.

The truth he had just heard, had revealed that the villager’s hatred was totally unfounded. He was not the fox’s incarnation! He knew that he wasn’t! But he also knew that the villagers just looked for a way to deal with their grief, even twelve years after the attack.

He would forgive them, for he also would not know what to do had the kyuubi killed someone that he loved. But he would not tolerate them treating him and especially Naru like that anymore.

While deep in thought, Naruto did not notice the big shuriken that Mizuki had thrown towards him.

Iruka had noticed that Naruto was inattentive towards his surroundings. He wanted to save him but, alas, the injuries he had received from the shuriken caused him to be unable to move to save his student … he could only shout: “Naruto! Dodge!”

Naruto slowly turned around and just as the shuriken was about to hit him, a sword flew, deflecting the shuriken that would have caused Naruto a lot of pain and probably would have killed him too.

The sword, after deflecting the shuriken, burrowed deep into the ground … which was evidence for the strength and speed it was thrown with.

Three pairs of eyes widened in disbelief, three heads instantly looking towards the place the sword had come from. There they saw a small girl looking back at them. She had blonde(golden) hair, like Naruto’s. Her eyes were nearly completely golden, shining brightly like the sun itself.

“Nii-chan, why didn’t you tell me that you went out?” Naru smiled at her brother.

“Naru … I’m sorry. I did not intend for this to happen.” Naruto looked at her apologetically.

Naru nodded her head: “I know, don’t worry. Mizuki-sensei, I had my suspicions about you, but I didn’t think that you were planning something like this.”

“Haha, you are naïve to think that having one more of you weaklings here would change anything!” Mizuki screamed.

Naru only smiled and looked at her brother.

Naruto nodded at her: “Naru, Iruka-sensei … look! I’ll show you what I learned today! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!”

Instantly almost a hundred perfect shadow clones appeared around them. They surrounded Mizuki and left him no chance to escape.

Mizuki’s eyes widened: “W-What?! You actually managed to learn one of the jutsus?!”

Naruto only smirked and motioned for the clones to attack and that they did.

Soon several fists rushed towards Mizuki, who was totally overwhelmed by the situation. Naturally, he totally failed to defend himself and ultimately fell unconscious as a result of his arrogance.

Naruto dispelled his shadow clones and looked towards Iruka and Naru who had by now moved towards their wounded sensei.

“You actually did it … come here, Naruto. You deserve this!” Iruka motioned for Naruto to come closer.

Iruka took off his own hitai-ate and tied it around Naruto’s forehead.

Naruto looked at him with gratitude.

“What about Naru’s?” Naruto asked.

Naru only giggled and pulled out her own from her pocket. (Without Naruto noticing it, she had clearly picked it up again at some point.)

“Let’s go eat ramen later?” Iruka asked, smiling at the two.

“Yeah!” Naruto said, while looking at Naru who only nodded.

Naru had felt that the clones that Naruto had produced were different. You couldn’t just sense or see which one the real Naruto was. There was an equal amount of chakra in all of them. It was clearly a more advanced technique to form clones. She would make sure that Naruto taught her how to do it later! (She clearly did not care that it was seen as a forbidden jutsu!~)

Soon, other ninja arrived. They bandaged Iruka’s wounds after asking him about what had happened.

They took the unconscious Mizuki and the forbidden scroll with them before leaving Naru, Naruto and Izuka to themselves again.

Unbeknownst to them, Iruka was only not taken in for serious questioning because the Hokage had been spectating the whole thing from the beginning. He already knew what had happened, there was no need to especially question Iruka. And seeing that Iruka had told the truth about the whole ordeal, he would let it rest at this point.

 

…

 

A/N: In canon, the Hokage had also been somehow watching the fight, so I just wanted to mention that at the end.

Hopefully everyone liked the chapter!

Next time: Genin?! (lol :3)