Naruto 1. prologue

Hey all!

After 2 years of just reading, I've decided to make my own Naruto fanfic. Normal disclaimers apply to any and all characters of Naruto and other characters (whose names could be changed) from various anime, which might appear within this fic.

Here are some notes on my story. These are important so don't skip these.

1. I'll be using Japanese terms for titles, labels and so on. For those who have little to no familiarity in Japanese, there will be a glossary at the end of every chapter. I will also be using the Japanese way of saying names and such.

2. Naruto (Ito) and Iruka (Karasu) are girls in this fic although people will think that Ito is a boy (Naruto) until the Sandaime dies in the Chuunin Exams. For convenience's sake, I'll use the name Naruto only when a character who doesn't know her secret talks or thinks about her.

3. Updates will be slow but there's no way that I'll abandon my first fic. In the immortal words of Naruto, "Believe it!"

Pairings: Itachi & Ito, Kakashi & Karasu, one-sided Mizuki & Karasu

If there are any questions, comments or suggestions, just review and I'll answer them. Can't say when I'll be able to reply though since I don't want my family to know I'm writing in my spare time.

Anyway, ON WITH THE FIC!

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Prologue: A Story Once True

Many stories have lessons to teach those that listen to them. Most of the time, these lessons are known from the very beginning; other times, they are hidden for both hero and listener to discover as the story matures. Yet the most important lesson in every story is never discovered until the very end. Stories with this important lesson are as numerous as the leaves of a tree. This is just one of them.

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The sky was a shade of dark violet that only comes with the setting sun. All around the small shinobi village of Tenpuu, housewives and small children were diligently tending to the fires that cooked the small feast that they prepared for that evening. Workers from various fields of occupation, who before would trudge home like the living dead after a hard day's work, now had a spring in there step (whether they were jumping from roof to roof or not) and a smile on their faces. One would think that they were celebrating the anniversary of a victory against a great foe. However, the truth is that they were celebrating a death, the death of the greatest leader and strongest warrior of Wave Country.

Now why, you ask, would they be celebrating such a solemn occasion? This is because of a myth handed down by word of mouth since his passing nearly a thousand years ago. As with all other legends, specific details were either dropped or altered while a few things were added here and there. Yet all agreed that it started that fateful day when several villagers claimed to have seen a silver-winged angel by the forest. Their leader, a callous but fair man called Kazama Kyuuzo, personally went to investigate this with two others as this could be a matter of security and influence. Also, he was curious to see this angel.

They traveled through the forest split up when they found several trails leading in different directions. Kyuuzo-sama followed his trail deep into the woodland until he heard not the rustling of feathers but the singing voice of a woman. Quite intrigued by this new development, he went quickly but silently only to find that the singer was not only the angel the villagers reported but also that she was bathing in a nearby river. So enchanted was he by her slim figure and the way the light reflected off of her stunning silver wings that he unconsciously dropped whatever shinobi training he possessed and alerted the angel to his presence.

Now normally, in most of these old stories, when a woman whose bathing was interrupted by a man turns around, she would instantly fall in love with the said mortal watching her. This, amusingly, did not happen as there were neither floating hearts in the air nor the sudden blooming of fragrant little flowers in the area. Instead, there was a loud "YOU DISGUSTING PERVERT!" that was heard throughout the immediate area followed by a deafening crash and utter silence.

The two shinobi accompanying Kyuuzo-sama had strict orders to return to the village should anything happen and rushed back to Tenpuu to prepare the rest of the shinobi. A week passed yet there was no abnormal activity coming from the forest. Kyuuzo-sama also failed to return and this caused great worry for the villagers.

On the eighth day, Kyuuzo-sama surfaced from the woods with a fair, raven-haired woman wearing a cloak named Sayuri. (A/N: Think Kagome from Inuyasha but with blue-eyes.) Kyuuzo-sama explained to the villagers what had happened in the forest. He was quite vague about how he actually met Sayuri and what she had yelled at him before the thunderous din. With good reason, if the glare that Sayuri was sending him was any indication. He told them that Sayuri would be joining the village until such time that she decides to leave.

Months passed and the villagers, both civilian and shinobi, grew to adore their newest addition. She was kind, sweet and generous. She also had a very vocal temper that she was not afraid to show anyone, not even Kyuuzo-sama. For the villagers, the pair seemed uncomfortable whenever they were in each other's presence. However, they did notice the vivid blush that would grace Sayuri's cheeks and the small, thoughtful smile on Kyuuzo-sama's lips after casual, mostly awkward (on Sayuri-hime's part) meetings around the village. The blonde messy-haired leader's features also seemed to soften during such encounters and his dark eyes were not as cold as prior to Sayuri's arrival.

The shinobi, of course, had a more definite understanding of what was going on between their previously stoic leader and the blue-eyed raven. Not long after the third loud outburst from Sayuri (extremely loud arguments not included), the two married.

Some years had gone by and Kyuuzo-sama's time was slowly running out due to an illness. On his deathbed, he made a promise. "My time has come but my line shall continue," he said. "She shall come and return the land's hope." With that, he breathed his last. Everyone searched for Sayuri-hime to have their questions answered. They searched well into the night yet all they found were the cloak she had worn that day and a letter saying, "Hope shall return."

They believed in the words that were left behind. They believed even when their story turned into fairytale and fairytale into myth. As families and friends sat at the tables laden with food fit for a Kage, they celebrated the ancient promise that was made for one last time as the last hints of the sun faded from the sky.

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So what do you guys think? Reviews are welcomed and flames will be considered as creative comments unless they are just rants on what I did wrong. For those who want to know what Namikaze Kyuuzo looks, he's from Samurai 7, which I also don't own. I'm just borrowing him since I'm not good in making my own characters.

Sayuri is also not mine either since her appearance is based on Kagome from Inuyasha (as mentioned above) and I only changed her name because I like the name Sayuri much better.

Glossary:

-hime: princess

Kage: literally means shadow; leader of a ninja village

-sama: title for someone of higher rank

Shinobi: ninja

In any case, the prologue is done and, for now, so am I.

See ya! =)


	2. Chapter 1

Hello again!

I knew that some people were going to like my story, but I didn't think that so many people would put it on story alert especially since I only put it up a couple of days ago.

Also, I felt the need to change the rating a bit since I'm describing the battle before the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi. I may not be able to give the scene the justice that it deserves but I can try, can't I?

Well, I've said my piece. Let the story begin!

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Chapter 1: Averted Chaos, Sown Hatred

In any culture, numerous legends of the supernatural are present. The Philippines have the legend of the little girl who turned into a fruit now known as the pineapple; China has the myth of the phoenix and the dragon that turned into mountain ranges. Japan, too, has their share of folklore involving gods, demons and other magical beasts. Among these countless myths and legends, there is one that speaks of nine ancient Bijuu of great power.

Shukaku (Ichibi) is the tanuki Bijuu. Before, he was a priest that lived in the Desert of Nara. Because of the dark power released by Yamata no Orochi, and under the heavy assault of wind and sand, he transformed into a tanuki. The violet tattoos represent his title of God of Wind.

Nekomata (Nibi) is a cat Bijuu, and possesses the power of death. This Bijuu lives in a place called "Forest of Death". Her appearance is a black cat monster with huge, black angel wings. She's the Death God's pet. Nekomata feeds on dead people's spirits, and can summon these to fight for her. She uses a third eye at the top of her head to consume the spirits.

Isonade (Sanbi) is the shark shaped Bijuu with a sharp horn on the forehead. It lives in the deep waters on the West of Japan, fighting pirates. Every few months, Isonade will swim to the surface of the sea from the deep waters, to breathe some fresh air. However, when he does this, storms erupt, oceans rage, and all ships will be swallowed by him as food. Isonade has a subordinate fish called Samehada. Samehada attaches itself to Isonade's stomach, and absorbs its food to create huge amounts of chakra, proceeding to send it back to its body. Samehada's power can enable Isonade to get 5 times the quantity of chakra it could originally get. Therefore, when Isonade battles, he will have unlimited chakra to receive from Samehada.

Sokou (Yonbi) is a Bijuu that looks like a reptile. It was a creature that lived near Mount Fuji. Because of the toxic gas and the volcanic ash, he was transformed into a half-rooster, half-snake monster. The Rooster and Snake are husband and wife in Sokou's body. Everything around it withers away or dies, because of its poison. According to the Legend, whenever he hibernates in Mount Fuji, the snoring he causes will make the volcano erupt.

Houkou (Gobi) is the Bijuu, which looks like a five-tailed dog. Each tail of this creature represents one elemental power: Wind, Water, Earth, Lightning and Fire. They can cause catastrophic damage when used. Houkou will willingly destroy the nature to obtain the power he desires from these elements. He is the god of illusion.

Raijuu (Rokubi) is the weasel Bijuu. His four legs have very sharp claws. Its cry sounds like thunder. It was originally the god of Thunder, but because of Yamata no Orochi's power, it was transformed into a beast. Raijuu can release a huge amount of electricity for battle assistance.

Kaku (Shichibi) is the badger Bijuu. It has seven tails, and is the smallest Bijuu out of the nine; though it is the most cunning and stealthy. Kaku hunts its prey underground most of the time. It kills by crumbling/destroying the piece of land that is under its target, making it fall right into his open mouth. Above land, he can transform into any type of creature, but he is unable to do it if he doesn't have clay.

Yamata no Orochi (Hachibi) is a Snake Bijuu. It has crimson red eyes, eight heads and eight tails and has the power of the Demon world, a symbol of evil. Each head of Yamata no Orochi represents a symbol: Soul, Ghost, Evil, Devil, Monstrous, Kill, The Afterworld and Death.

Kyuubi is the nine-tailed fox Bijuu and the strongest of them all. The reason he is so powerful is simple: Kyuubi has an unlimited amount of chakra, earning it the "King of Bijuu" title. It is also pretty cunning and smart. His abilities are incredible. Because he has never been defeated by any youkai, its total strength is unable to estimate. His tails create cyclones by spinning quickly, and Kyuubi proceeds to rip its enemies with its huge claws. At the same time his fur may shoot fireballs similar to meteorites endlessly, instantly destroying villages.

Of course, being people who are in tuned with nature, shinobi see these demons as beings of power and wisdom from countless centuries of existence. They know better than to head into a battle against any of these demons, let alone the King of Bijuu. However, this was what they were doing for if they do not, their homes, families and comrades would be lost to them.

Most of these honorable shinobi know of the legend but not even they imagined that the power of the kitsune would cause such chaos and destruction. To call the area a battlefield did not do it any justice. If one were to take a stroll in this wasteland, the term 'slaughter' would be too lenient to describe what would be seen.

The land was drenched in dark red blood and the burning corpses of some warriors. Every now and then, a hacked off body part would grace the blood-drenched terrain and give it a little color in the field of drying crimson and floating ash. In the middle of, what once was a lush forest, now a battlefield, stood a large, red-furred fox with crazed scarlet eyes. Its long tails tearing through the Konoha shinobi as if they were nothing more than the thinnest pieces of rice paper.

Guttural snarls came from the beast as shinobi came from all possible angles, unleashing jutsu after jutsu to delay the demon's path to their village. The kitsune, being the strongest of all demons, felt these attacks and their origins as only mere annoyances that should be dealt with, no matter how troublesome it might be. Fury radiating from its being as it prepared for another strike at these worthless insects that are known to be Konoha's best.

At ground zero, several shinobi could be seen taking their dying comrades away from the battle while others provided cover. Try as they might, more of their companions were falling to the force of the giant demon before them. With desperation, they do what they could to give their Hokage the time he needed. However, their hope was dying as the sunset pronounced the spilled blood.

The village of Konoha was not far from the massacre. In the Hokage tower, a tall blonde man wearing a white cloak with red and orange flames at the base was busy reviewing what he needed to defeat the Lord of Bijuu. A he finished, the door leading to his office opened to allow two people to enter. The first was an elder man in the white Hokage robes. If his thinning hair, white beard and wrinkled face were not a testament to his age, then the burdened look in his eyes as he watched his successor. It was he who broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Everything is nearly ready, Minato. A few more minutes and the process shall begin," he stated, trying to keep his voice neutral. He silently asked the spiky-haired man if this was the only way. All he received was a slight nod, for which statement, he did not know.

None spoke and all was silent in the office save for the third figures failed attempts to quiet her sobs. She was quite young, not even in her teens, yet here she was, so close to a battle that could very well destroy her home and everyone she loves.

Namikaze Minato approached the crying girl and crouched down to her level. He put his hand on her head and she looked up. Aside from the twin river of tears that flowed down to her chin, the only other imperfection to her otherwise flawless features was a horizontal scar running across the bridge of her sharp nose. Her chocolate brown hair framed her cherubic face and expressive eyes of the same shade were asking the Yondaime Hokage why.

"Gomenasai," the blonde Hokage said. "Take care of my baby when you become a chuunin. Alright, Umino-chan?" he told the young lady with a strained smile on his face.

Through her tears, she managed to give her family's master a determined reply. "Hai, Minato-sama," she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. In her mind, it was now her duty to take care of her leader's child, one which she will accomplish with pride. With that, Minato left the office, leaving behind a depressed old man and a preteen who started to cry once more.

When he stepped out of the Hokage Tower, a smirk bloomed on Minato's lips. "Konbanwa, Hi-chan," he said to a certain shadow on the wall. A man with long hair and stern features stepped out from that shadow and approached the current Hokage. Instead of his usual disapproving scowl, a sad frown was evident on his own face. His pale seemingly blind eyes marked the presence of the Byakugan, the Kekkai Genkai of the Hyuuga Clan. His dark hair contrasted greatly with his pale skin and eyes of the lightest grey, as did his authoritative aura with the torn and slightly burned yukata he was wearing.

Hyuuga Hiashi might have been a stoic bastard to the general populace (a.k.a. people outside his genin team and immediate family) but in reality, he was the most loyal friend one could have. He had plans of caring for Minato's child when the chaos was over, but the blonde baka he called his friend and teammate declined saying he had everything covered. Still, there were some things he could do to make the last of the Namikaze's life easier in the years to come.

"The villagers won't respect your final wish, Yondaime-sama," he said, ignoring the fact that his long-time friend called him by that irritating nickname. He gauged his blonde companion's actions and noticed the slight slump in his shoulders. The waves of regret rolling off him in waves were also very helpful to the Hyuuga Clan head.

"One can always hope, Hiashi-kun." This was the reply that was given along with a grin far too big to be sincere. Hiashi shook his head and told his leader that he'll do what he can. He walked away from his friend without a farewell.

With the Hyuuga's departure, Minato summoned the gigantic toad boss, Gamabunta. As the cloud of smoke disappeared, the orange amphibian asked in a low voice resembling that of thunder, "Oi, gaki! What are you planning?"

From the top of Gamabunta's head, Minato replied, "Just get me as close to the Kyuubi as possible." The gravity of the remark instead of the happy-go-lucky tone stopped any questions and the summoned toad did as he was told. As the Summon made his way to the massacre, the Hokage made the necessary seals that would rid of the threat that was the enraged kitsune and let his village see another sunrise.

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The Village of Konoha grieved for the loss of their leader and comrades. Several days after the defeat of the Kyuubi, the newly reinstated Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, asked everyone to gather in front of the Hokage Tower. Once every Konoha citizen was present, he gave his announcement from the tower's balcony.

Having planned what to say to the villagers with a trusted adviser, he told them that the Kyuubi was sealed inside a baby and that the Yondaime wished for the Jinchuuriki to be treated like a hero. At this, the crowd was silent with shock.

Mistaking the people's shock for awe, he then went on to say, "The young boy's name is Uzumaki Naruto." All at once, the metaphorical bomb exploded as civilians and shinobi alike cried for the barely one-week old infant's blood. One of the more daring jounin who survived the demon's attack scaled up the wall of the tower to terminate the perceived threat staying in the Hokage's office only to be apprehended by a member of the ANBU.

As a squad of ANBU and several sensible shinobi of different rankings did what they could to disperse the once too shocked to move mob, the Sandaime entered the office and called for his secretary. He gave him several important documents concerning the Kyuubi vessel that he worked on during the past few days. He had hoped not to use them but the majority of the villagers forced his hand.

He watched as the man left the room to do his duties and did not miss the glare that was sent to the baby sleeping in the arms of the last Umino. His sigh was ignored by the two other occupants of the room. The first was cradling the second as if she were caring for the most precious baby in the village. In a way, she was. Listening to the now orphaned girl sing a sweet lullaby, he couldn't help but think that while Konoha was saved from destruction, the innocent babe was doomed to hatred.

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The first chapter is done. It's a bit longer than I anticipated but then the Legend of the Bijuu was quite long in itself. I'm not sure if I got all the Japanese terms in this chapter so if anyone has any questions, just write a review and I'll try to answer them.

I would like to thank blue-iceland for coming up with a female Iruka as her story, The Kunoichi's Heart, not only made me think of my own female Iruka story but also for making me so excited about actually writing and posting my own story.

Also, I would like to thank for the translations, forums. for the Legend of the Tailed Beasts and Wikipedia, and for several facts that I needed to make this story.

Until next time!

Glossary:

ANBU: short for Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai (Special Assassination and Tactical Squad); organization of assassination squads that serves directly under the village's leader

Baka: idiot

Bijuu: tailed demon

Chakra: combination of body energy and spiritual energy

-chan: term of endearment to women and children

Chuunin: basic journeyman ninja; second lowest ninja ranking

Gaki: brat

Genin: lowest of ninja ranking

Gomenasai: I'm sorry.

Hai: yes

Hokage: Literally means fire shadow; strongest ninja of Konoha

Jinchuuriki: power of human sacrifice; demon vessel

Jounin: second highest ninja ranking; ninja who are highly skilled in all jutsu skills and arts

Jutsu: skills/techniques; are the mystical arts a ninja will utilize in battle

Kekkai Genkai: blood inheritance limit; abilities passed down from parent to child

Kitsune: fox

Konoha: Leaf; short name for Konohagakure

Konohagakure: Village Hidden in the Leaves

Kunoichi: female ninja

-kun: informal honorific primarily used towards males

Oi: Hey!

Sandaime: third

Tanuki: raccoon dog

Yondaime: fourth

Youkai: demon

Yukata: Japanese summer garment


	3. Chapter 2

Hey. I'm back with a new chapter.

I know some of you have been waiting for this so I spent a lot of time on it. Schoolwork took a lot of time during the week though so if there are any mistakes, feel free to tell me and I'll correct it A.S.A.P.

By the way, I'd like to thank Amethyst Rulzz for coming up with the names for Naruto and T.E. Rankin for Iruka's name. From now on, Naru-chan will be Ito unless someone who doesn't know her secret talks to her or about her. Iruka-sensei will be Karasu. Now I know that there is a Karasu in Naruto already but that Karasu is Kankuro's puppet. Besides, I have a good idea for a scenario during the chuunin exam which will involve Kakashi, the puppet and an angry puppeteer wearing kabuki make-up.

For now, enjoy the fic!

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Chapter 2: Truth and Lies

The morning sun awoke and released the mostly slumbering village of Konoha from the night's cold grip. As flowers opened to greet the new day, what appeared to be a small boy of four exited a run-down apartment complex. He was wearing a two-sizes-too-big yellowish white shirt with a large orange spiral in the center. As it was so big, it would slide down one shoulder every now and then and the young boy would adjust it until he would give up later in the day. Unlike the shirt, the boy's dirty shorts seem to fit him perfectly. However, with the numerous holes adorning it, the khaki colored cloth was no more than a rag.

Despite this, he still looked positively adorable. His spiky out-of-control hair was the brightest yellow and shined in the strengthening sunlight, creating a sort of halo around his head. Wide blue eyes, that would make sapphires green with envy, radiated a curious mixture of innocence, hope and, sadly, pain. The most intriguing features on the young blonde's face however, were the three whisker-like markings that were on each cheek. These would one day emphasize high cheekbones and a hint of grace and softness. He was much smaller than most boys his age but that only seemed to amplify his other "I'm too cute for my own good" features.

He went towards a fairly large ramen stand called Ichiraku Ramen, making sure to avoid all other early risers. For some reason, nearly the whole village hated his guts. The glares and curses were enough to tell him of that fact. On the other hand, he had no idea what he did to deserve the nearly daily beatings and almost-beatings, the dangerous objects thrown at him by the civilians or the malice-filled cries of "DIE, DEMON SPAWN!" he would receive from both civilians and shinobi alike. He wanted to yell to them that he was only four years old and couldn't have done something horrible to warrant the murderous treatment towards him yet he kept silent. He learned early on that if he so much as tried to fight back, they try to beat him up even more. It was only thanks to the ANBU that the mob hadn't killed him yet and even then most of the masked figures would only stop the enraged mob when they felt like the mob would kill him. All in all, he found that he would be lucky to reach the age of six before he died.

As he entered the ramen stand, a girl in her early teens with shoulder length brown hair and a kind face greeted him. "Welcome back Naruto-chan." She said as she went in front of the counter to ruffle his already messy hair.

"Ohayo, Ayame-neechan!" Naruto replied enthusiastically. He grinned at her sisterly action. He could honestly say that he enjoyed coming to the ramen stand not only because of the good food and affordable price but also because Ayame and her father, Teuchi, were genuinely kind to him and would make him feel welcome. "Where's Teuchi-san?"

"Tousan needed to get some things from our supplier so he'll be back in a bit. What would you like this morning, Naru-chan?" she asked as she helped him get on a stool.

"Chicken ramen!" Naruto said with the biggest smile on his face. Ayame practically melted into a puddle of gooey mush when she saw how adorable the eager little boy looked. As Ayame pulled herself together to make the boy's usual four bowls of ramen, Naruto thought of the people who had helped him and made sure he was alright. He was very thankful for these five people; Ayame and her father being two of them.

Another was the Sandaime Hokage. Sarutobi-jiji made sure that Naruto had enough money to live on his own after the people at the orphanage threw him out saying that they only took care of children and not monsters. He was also the one that got the small boy his apartment. It was nothing special and the complex wasn't in the safest neighborhood but, even at a young age, Naruto knew that he wasn't welcome in the residential areas of the more protected districts of the village. He would also visit Naruto at home but due to his duties as Hokage, couldn't do so as often as he'd like.

Strangely enough, the Hyuuga clan head, Hiashi-sama, was also one of the five. Naruto had avoided nearly all of the members of the prestigious clans since he was not sure of their opinions towards him. He especially stayed away from the Hyuuga clan because they all seemed cold and emotionless. A few months ago, Hiashi-sama stopped several chuunin from beating him with the coldest glare he had ever seen and helped patch up several of the more serious wounds when he saw that the superficial ones were already healing quickly. He was wary of the Hyuuga at first because it wouldn't be the first time someone helped him only to harm him in some way later on. But after weeks of hiding him from villagers and keeping shinobi away, Naruto began to trust the long-haired clan head.

As Naruto thanked Ayame for the ramen and started eating his first bowl, he thought of the last and closest person to him, Umino Karasu. Karasu would stay him for as long as she could since the civilians seemed less inclined to hurt him when he was in the company of a shinobi. (This, however, did not apply to the shinobi who would either restrain Karasu or knock her unconscious when they wanted to beat the poor boy up. Naruto always felt guilty whenever this happened but Karasu always said that it was alright.) Since Sarutobi-jiji and Hiashi-sama had their duties to attend to and Teuchi and Ayame had to work all day, Karasu was the one with the most free time and flexible schedule so she would accompany Naruto almost everywhere he went. She would also chase away the nightmares he would get at night and reassure the sobbing child that everything would be fine when she would visit him before her morning training.

When Naruto finished his third bowl, Ayame asked, "Naru-chan, when will Hokage-sama and Karasu-san come back from Sunagakure?" Being the leader of Konoha, the Hokage had to attend the exam as a formal gathering between shinobi villages and to gauge the village's shinobi, whether they became chuunin or not. Both knew that, as a genin, Karasu had to take the chuunin exams in order to become a chuunin and teach at the Shinobi Academy. It was her dream to be able to teach the future shinobi of Konoha. She also hinted several times that she also had another reason to become a chuunin but always avoided the question saying that it was a secret.

Knowing how important passing the exam was for Karasu, Naruto wished her luck and was eagerly waiting for her return. She had promised to be back in a little more than a month so she, Hokage-sama and the other participants would be coming home any day now. Naruto told Ayame this.

"I really hope Karasu-san passes. She really deserves becoming a chuunin," Ayame commented as she watched Naruto eat his ramen.

Full of conviction, Naruto said, "Don't worry Ayame-neechan. Karasu-neechan will pass. She trained really hard for it and will become the best teacher in the academy soon. Dattebayo!" After saying that, Naruto went back to his meal. Ayame saw how confident Naruto was and couldn't help but feel encouraged by his words. In her mind, he knew Naruto would make a great leader someday.

Naruto finished his last bowl and paid for his meal. By this time, many of the villagers were already awake. As several of them went about their day, they glared at young Naruto who tried hard to keep his pace even and keep smiling while ignoring the glares that were sent to him. The hateful looks hurt about as much as the beatings he'd receive but, as he passed by several jounin, he found something that was even more painful.

The jounin did nothing to hurt him physically yet the cold indifference was a vice-like grip to his heart. Several of their thoughts seemed to have reached his mind. 'Demon.' 'Monster.' 'Useless.' The thoughts that made him feel that his existence was nothing to them and that he was just a burden to everyone in the village was a sharp stab to his chest. It took everything he had to keep the tears at bay because it seemed to the small boy that even if he did become the greatest shinobi of Konoha, they would never give him the respect and acknowledgment a person needs to feel in order to feel accepted. To them, he shall never belong to the village as one of her children.

Forcefully pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind, he decided to spend the rest of the day in his apartment if only to get away from the people who seemed to never see him as a person. Luckily, he had quite a few things to do to keep himself busy. He had to wash away the graffiti that some villagers had painted on his wall otherwise his landlord would have another fit. He had also planned to clean the inside of his home for some time now. It was not overly messy in the tiny apartment but untidy enough for some cleaning to take place. There were also those workbooks that Karasu had gotten for him. He had been having some trouble with a few questions but it wasn't something he couldn't handle. With some plan for the day in mind, he hurried to his apartment building.

* * *

It was dusk by the time the group from Suna returned to their home. They had arrived at the village gates not too long ago. A newly appointed chuunin scanned the crowd, trying to find a bright splash of yellow among the gathered villagers. By the angle of her vision, one could tell that whatever, or rather, whoever she was looking for was quite small, perhaps the size of a toddler. Seeing nothing that even resembles the little blonde child she took care of, Umino Karasu waited somewhat impatiently for Hokage-sama to finish his speech before making her way to her house to unpack. She planned on treating Naruto to a nice home-cooked meal in celebration of her promotion as well as telling him what the Yondaime had intended for his child. She went to Naruto's apartment, politely greeting the villagers and avoiding the ones who thought the "demon child" was controlling her.

As she approached the apartment complex, Karasu felt a sense of foreboding. Now, Karasu had never been one to listen to tales that had scenarios involving a gruesome sight when one opens a door but she would never ignored her instincts when it came to missions or Naruto. Seeing as how she felt apprehensive only when she neared Naruto's building, she couldn't help but worry about the little blonde. She quickly went up the stairs, ignoring the landlord's yells not to run up the stairs, and tore through the door leading to Naruto's apartment. Needless to say, she was horrified at what she saw.

Inside, she found the entire room was ripped to shreds as if a powerful tornado had gone through the room. Papers that she recognized as pages from the workbooks she gave Naruto before she left were scattered across the room. Some were intact yet most were in pieces. The little furniture that Naruto owned was in no better shape. The couch looked like some rabid animal thought it was a chew toy and scratching post and the small table was nothing more than toothpicks. The chairs that Karasu and Naruto would sit on were completely taken apart. Several weapons (some rusted and bloodied) sent a chill to Karasu's spine as she guessed what had happened in the living room/dining room. Not seeing the boy in the room, she quickly went to the bedroom. What she saw there paled in comparison to the previous room.

Unlike the first room, Naruto's bedroom wasn't practically mauled by a half-crazed animal. Everything was in its place yet the center of the room held a sight that made the normally tanned kunoichi pale. In the middle of the room, Naruto was lying in a pool of coagulating blood. The boy's usually sun-kissed skin was paler due to blood loss and his usually bright hair was stained with his blood. The most disturbing thing however was the katana that was rammed into his gut thus preventing his usually quick healing rate to fully close the wound.

Molding some chakra onto a seal on her wrist, she was able to alert the Hokage to the situation concerning the (hopefully dying and not dead) child on the floor. She quickly ran to the blonde's side and carefully removed the katana, relieved to hear the low whimper come from Naruto's lips. Karasu dug into her pouch and stuffed a blood clotting pill and a blood replenishing pill into Naruto's mouth, which he swallowed unconsciously. She then let chakra flow into her hands to use a medical jutsu, making them glow green. Within seconds, the blood flow slowed to a trickle and the wound started to close with the combined power of the healing chakra and Naruto's own healing rate. As the wound closed, the Hokage came into the room.

"Karasu, report!" he demanded as soon as he came in. He had a basic idea of what happened to the young boy on the ground and who might have done the deed. Right now, he was more worried about the boy's status so the rest can wait until later.

"Hokage-sama, I came here after leaving my things at home. I felt uneasy as I approached the building and ran into Naruto-kun's apartment. After seeing the living room and noticing the weapons, I came here as Naruto was not in the living room. He was stabbed by a katana so I removed it after giving him a blood clotting pill and a blood replenishing pill. I then started to treat the wound. That, combined with Naruto's healing rate, closed the wound and that was when you entered the room." As she gave her report, Karasu never once looked away from the still pale form in front of her or cancelled the healing jutsu even though the wound had already closed.

"I see. Cancel the jutsu, Karasu. Run a diagnostic jutsu to see if he has any other injuries," Sarutobi ordered. Karasu did so and found that Naruto had several recently healed ribs and a few other cuts and bruises that were already being dealt with. She told her superior her finding and only then did the two of them relax. "It would be too dangerous to leave him alone for the night," the Hokage said after a few minutes of silence. Both of them had been watching the boy in question and were pleased that he was able to breathe more easily than a few minutes ago.

"I understand, Hokage-sama," replied the chuunin as she soothed her still worried heart. "She has some things that she left in my house so she can stay there tonight." With that, Karasu began packing the child's toiletries in a small bag she found in the closet.

The change in pronouns did not escape the old man. 'So you're going to tell her everything when she wakes up, aren't you, Karasu. She deserves to know but I wonder how she will handle it,' Sarutobi knew what he himself had to do and left to prepare the files that he knew the child will want to read. 'The time to finally know who you are and who your parents were is here, Namikaze Ito.'

* * *

And that's a wrap!

I was worried that this will be shorter than the first chapter and completely disappoint everyone. Luckily, I'm more creative than I previously thought. I still seem to have some trouble describing scenes though. (scratches back of head with a sheepish expression on face) If anyone has any complaints or suggestions then please feel free to critique this chapter. All suggestions will be considered.

Thanks again for reading!

Glossary:

Dattebayo: Believe it

-jiji: grandfather; old man

Katana: Japanese sword

Neechan: big sister

-san: usually rendered as a common courtesy title like "Mr." or "Ms."

Sunagakure: Village Hidden in the Sand, Suna (sand) for short

Tousan: father


	4. Chapter 3

Hey, everyone!

I finally finished the next chapter. It's much longer than I anticipated since before, all the other chapters were only about five to six pages. Somehow, I was able to make eight pages out of an originally four page manuscript. YAY TO ME!

Hope you all enjoy this one since some of you might be mad at me for hurting Naruto so much in the last chapter.

Anyway, on with the story…

* * *

Chapter 3: A Truth Told

'The floor is really wet.' That was the thought that Naruto woke up to. He tried to determine where he was exactly but the only sounds he could hear were the slapping noises of the water against his body and the walls as well as the low growling from somewhere in the area.

It took him a while to open his eyes; exhaustion, depression and pain flooded his senses and kept him from doing something as simple as lifting his eyelids. With some effort, he was able to restore his vision and see where exactly he was abandoned in.

At first, he had thought that whoever had left him for dead had thrown him into the sewer because of the amount of water. But staring straight up at the ceiling, he knew that there was no way his was in the sewage system because the ceiling was much too high for him to be underground and there was no noxious smell of god knows what in the air. The reddish tint in the place, that eerily reminded the boy of blood and fire, and the scent of some sort of animal were also present. 'If it hasn't attacked me yet then maybe it can't for some reason,' the young blonde thought to himself.

Now more than a little uncomfortable, Naruto slowly sat up to adjust to the change of altitude and blood circulation. (1) The next thing he noticed was that while his limbs felt stiff and he felt as if numerous swords of different makes had just pierced various parts of his body, he was physically fine and blood-free. He crawled to the closest wall and rested his back against it. He thought back on what happened after he left Ichiraku Ramen.

_He arrived at his apartment some time ago and got to work on the graffiti covered doorway. He tried to ignore the clenching of his heart whenever he saw further proof of how much the villagers of his home hated him. On the walls and door were harsh demands to die and insults of being a demon and a monster and rather vicious pictures of him being killed of by vengeful mobs and his head on a pike as if it was some sort of trophy. He mostly succeeded but couldn't help but let a few tears fall when he saw one particular phrase that hurt the most: "You don't belong in this village." As a majority of the mess was far too high for him to reach without a chair, it took the blonde a while for him to get rid of every single bit of paint so his crazy landlord won't go ballistic on him. As usual, he mentally complained at the fact that most of the villagers who came to 'visit' him were at least twice as tall as he was. By the time he finished, the sun was already past its zenith. He decided to clean his apartment after a quick lunch._

_He went to into the kitchen to boil some water and used a chair to stand on the counter. He reached into the cupboards and pulled out three packs of instant ramen with a grimace. It wasn't that Naruto didn't like ramen; he was very fond of it in fact. There were, however, limits to eating one's favorite food until one starts to get sick of it because of daily consumption. The only reason he ate so much of it was because the owners of Ichiraku Ramen were the only ones who would let them eat in their restaurant and he was still too young to use the stove to do more than heating water. Also, he doubted that the market would sell him anything other than instant ramen when he got older. If not for Karasu-neechan coming over and cooking for him every now and then, Naruto would have gone completely crazy._

_As he was going on with his internal ranting, the water had started to boil. It was the sound of water coming into contact with the open flame that that brought Naruto out of his rant. Naruto turned the gas off and carefully poured the hot water into the plastic ramen cups. He placed two of the cups on the windowsill because he knew that Sarutobi-jiji assigned a pair of ANBU to make sure he was alright after an assassination attempt a few days after he left for Suna. He had noticed that the one from the pair who guarded him from around 11 o'clock to 2 o'clock was also fond of ramen since he smelt the scent of it even though he didn't make any yet or brought some home from the ramen stand. _(2)_ With that done, he began to eat his own ramen._

_When he finished, he collected the two empty cups from the windowsill _(One had a quickly written note of thanks inside it.) _and the one he left on the table to throw them away. _(He kept the note though.) _'Since I'm here anyway, I'll start with the kitchen,' he thought as he got the cleaning supplies. He took his time with the kitchen since he liked to make sure that it was clean even though the only thing he did here was boil water._

_He moved to the bedroom, which was only untidy because of the loose clothes, books and scrolls scattered around the room and the messy bed, a while later. He put the reading materials in the living room/dining area after putting all the fallen clothes in the hamper to be washed later on. He fixed the bed and then moved on to the living room._

_He had stored the scrolls away first since they were a bit hard to hold onto as they kept rolling to the ground every now and then. As he was about to place the books into a shelf, he heard something flying through the air. He quickly turned around and came face to face with the sharp point of a kunai. Ignoring the instinct to drop his books to shield his face, Naruto raised a particularly thick book titled 'History of Konohagakure' to block the kunai. The blade pierced the book and was just a few centimeters shy of grazing the skin between his eyes._

_The four year old had thought he was somewhat safe from the attack until the sound of something sizzling came from behind the history book. He flung it away from him and hid behind the couch. After the somehow muffled explosion _(3) _was heard, Naruto was forced to evacuate his hiding place at the sight of a long glint of silver turning the couch into a scratching post of a fierce, highly pissed off, large, sharp clawed predator._

_He tried his best to dodge the projectiles that were immediately thrown at him but wasn't able to avoid some that cut his arms and legs and the one, which he saw was a rusty kunai, that sank into his shoulder. He pulled it out and ran into his room. He got whatever he could to defend himself and turned to face his assailants when he experienced a sharp pain on his stomach. He looked up and saw the white and red bear mask of an ANBU. He moved his head to the side and saw the other ANBU who was wearing a falcon mask of white and blue sheathing a katana in the room he had vacated a few seconds ago. He slumped to the ground and thought, 'They're going to kill me.' He was surrounded by darkness not long after._

Realizing that he was still in pain, he figured that he was still alive. Then again, he could have just died and gone to Hell like the villagers have often screamed at him to do. Whether he was alive and abandoned or dead and in Hell, he decided to look around seeing as he might be spending sometime here until he found an exit or someone found him.

After about a half hour of walking, he decided that this place was less interesting than a pile of rocks. There was nothing there except a whole lot of water and a seemingly endless corridor. If not for the feeling that something was waiting for him somewhere at the end, he would have sat down to rest some time ago. However, like most young children, Naruto's curiosity overpowered his fatigue, if only just. The growling, he had just realized, had become louder and seemed to be pissed off beyond all reason. It seemed to get louder as Naruto kept going and the blonde child was thankful that the irritation was, for once, not directed at him.

At the end of the corridor was a pair of doors that might have reached the ceiling. (Naruto couldn't be sure since the ceiling was too high to actually see the top and the doors were the same.) Curious yet a bit frightened, Naruto put a hand on the door, which opened quite easily despite its gargantuan size. Taking a small peek, he saw huge metals bars with a small piece of paper stuck to one of them further in the room. He tentatively walked into the cage room and tried to see into the large dark cage. A figure of a man slowly walked into the light; the earlier fury replaced with concern.

Despite the size of the cage, the person inside it was quite small, just the size of a well built man of average height to tell the truth. The stranger was in the sort of outfit that seemed to be a cross between casual and 'battle-ready-just-wait-until-I-kick-your-ass'. The figure's chest was covered by a loose, plain, dark red, long-sleeved shirt that was slightly rumpled. It blended nearly perfectly with his long blood red hair that was tied into a high ponytail. The sleeves were a bit baggy; some weapons that were hidden in them were small, nearly-unnoticeable-unless-you-were-looking-for-them protrusions in the wrinkled material. He wore pants of a shade of dark blue that were loose enough to hide longer weapons and allow maximum mobility yet fit enough as to give him a fit and trim appearance without giving away the hidden weaponry.

As the man came closer to the much smaller boy, Naruto could make out the concern in his expressive eyes; the left was honey-colored while the right was a dark violet that reminded him of a flower called Titans Glory. As Naruto observed the redhead before him more, he was quite surprised to see sharp claws instead of nails on his hands and bare feet. As he took a closer look at the man's face, he could see a bit of a sharp pointy fang from under an uneasy smile. Looking a bit higher, he saw a pair of long red fox ears that were black at the tips. Taking another look at the man, he could honestly say that he was surprised that he didn't have a tail.

A few minutes of awkward silence, the man in the cage did what anyone would do to break the tension when forced into this kind of situation. He introduced himself. With a deep voice, he said, "Yo, chibi. I'm Kyuubi. I have to say that you look far different in here than you do in the real world."

Naruto, of course, had heard the story of the legendary demon that nearly destroyed the village years ago. Now as children are very creative, they have runaway imaginations and tend to overreact when faced with tense situations. He had heard that demons could change their appearance with little effort and came to the conclusion that the man before him was a demon. As such, Naruto did what any normal four year old would do when meeting someone who claimed to be the Kyuubi and had animal features. He screamed. In his blind panic, he started running towards the door. Unfortunately, he didn't quite make it that far and hit the doorframe. As he was about to black out again, he could just see the beginnings of two huge drops of sweat on the head of the demon who claimed to be Kyuubi.

Naruto swiftly shot up from the bed he was on and quickly looked around as if looking for the figure who claimed to be a long dead kitsune demon. He checked everywhere that could hide a man of medium height including under the bed but did not find anything except where he was. By the cleanliness of the room and the décor, he had found out that he was in Karasu's house, meaning said kunoichi was home again. Wondering what had happened to him after being attacked, he left the room to find her.

* * *

Karasu was in the kitchen making a traditional Japanese meal when she heard noise coming from the room Naruto would stay in whenever he slept over. She was deciding exactly how to tell him what she knew when the said blonde child came rushing out of the room. "Karasu-neechan, how was the exam?" he practically yelled as he latched on to her waist and both boy and young woman fell to the floor. She was thankful that she wasn't holding anything at the moment because, while she was a kunoichi, almost no one could stay standing after the four year old tornado's glomps.

She picked herself and the still-attached-to-her-waist child up and gently tried to pry the boy of her. Failing that, she said, "I'm glad to see you too, Naruto. But if you want me to tell you how I did in the chuunin exams, you have to let go and get some real food into you since I know that you only had ramen to eat." The affectionate kid did what he was told yet continued to stay close to the newly promoted kunoichi as they both had a silent meal.

Afterwards, Karasu told Naruto all about the things she had to do for the exams and how she passed in the third round. To say Naruto was amazed would have been the understatement of the century as he was practically staring up at her with his eyes going as large as they could possibly become with bright stars in said endless blue pools. At this, Karasu could only chuckle at the adorable sight that would make any girl squeal in delight. It took a while to get Naruto to get out of his amazed state as well as for him to stop asking for the smallest details about the exam and questions that include "Will I get as strong as you, Neechan? When do you think I'll pass the chuunin exams? Did you get to meet any cool shinobi from other villages? Was it really that hard?" and so on.

When the child was finally silent, he then asked Karasu what happened after the latest attack. At this, Karasu became serious. "Naruto, I don't know how long they left you in the state I found you but seeing as you aren't dead, I would say that I came just in time. Hokage-sama was able to find the two ANBU members who attacked you and they received punishment for what they did. Hokage-sama and I agreed that it was too dangerous for you to stay in your apartment alone so I brought you home."

Naruto was quiet when he heard this; it was as if he were deciding whether or not to tell his neechan something. He then said quietly, "Neechan, can you tell me about Kyuubi?" Karasu paled a bit at this but easily fought any other reactions.

"Why do you ask, Naru-chan?" was the reply to that particular question. She knew that she should be worried when Naruto changed the subject and spoke so softly that she had barely caught the words.

Shifting his gaze to the floor, Naruto mumbled, "Because I think I met him while I was asleep…"

With a sigh, Karasu decided that it was finally time to tell the small child. "Naru-chan, what I'm about to tell you is very important so please don't interrupt me until I'm done, okay?" With a small nod from her self-proclaimed otouto, she began her story.

"As you know, Kyuubi attacked our village about four years ago for reasons that escape us. That led to the deaths of many shinobi who fought to keep the demon away from our home. Your father was among them." At hearing the words' your father', Naruto perked up and began to listen even more intently. "He fought the Kyuubi and it was defeated by the Yondaime, Namikaze Minato. That is what is known, however, there were certain things that were left out for the benefit of the younger generation. Kyuubi didn't die. Instead, he was sealed by the Yondaime in a baby who was born hours before the attack. That baby was the only child of the Yondaime and his wife, Kushina. More importantly, that baby was you."

Karasu waited for an outburst from the young child who had ended up sitting on her lap but none came. Carefully, Karasu continued her story. "You have to understand, Naru-chan, that there is no way a human, no matter how powerful, could kill an immortal being such as Kyuubi. Your father had no choice but to do what he did so that the village would be safe. Namikaze-sama called me some time before the sealing and told me to tell you all I know about the incident when I became a chuunin and when you got older. He was smiling; that was true enough. But Sarutobi-sama and I knew that he was slowly being torn apart inside in ways Kyuubi's claws could not accomplish."

"His final wish was for you to be treated like a hero for the burden you have to carry until the day you die. As both of us know, that didn't happen. Further more, in order to protect you from your father's enemies, Sarutobi-sama changed your name to Uzumaki Naruto. He had also wanted to tell the village that you were Namikaze-sama's child to ensure that you were treated properly but the village council stopped that from happening saying that if would got out to the village, it was only a matter of time before other villages knew about you. In the end, Sarutobi-sama had to agree with that logic yet he regrets it everyday."

After a long pause, Naruto decided that it was time to say something. "Why do I have to go through everything if the council knew who I was?"

At this, a very angry scowl appeared on Karasu's face. Visibly keeping her temper in check, she said, "The council only said that because they knew that Namikaze-sama wanted to disband the village council. In their mind, this is their revenge towards the Yondaime for almost costing them their position and the power that comes with it. They could care less if other villages knew about you but decided that this was the best way for them to exact their revenge: having nearly the entire village that your father died to protect against you."

There was another long moment of silence when Naruto asked another question. "Does that mean that I'm Kyuubi then?" he asked in a tone that brought tears to Karasu's eyes.

"Of course not, Naru-chan. Kyuubi is Kyuubi and you are you. It just so happens that your body has two souls inside it: yours and the kitsune's. Naruto, I want you to look at me." Naruto did as he was told and looked into Karasu's eyes. "You are not the fox in human form, just as Kyuubi is not you. I want you to remember that."

With a tearful nod, Naruto snuggled deeper into Karasu's embrace. For her part, she just held him tighter than before, offering what comfort she could. Suddenly, she began to remember one last thing she had forgotten to tell the small child in her arms. "Naruto, there's something else I have to tell you. You now know your name was changed, right?" Karasu felt a nod as 'Naruto' still had his head buried into her shoulder. "The Sandaime decided, to be safe, to put a genjutsu on you." Another nod. Sweating a bit now, Karasu went in for the last piece of news she had to give. "To be perfectly blunt, Naruto, your real name is Namikaze Ito and you're a girl." The last part of that sentence was so rushed that it took the child a while to process what had just been told to him… aahh her.

When it finally made sense to the child, what followed was a loud "WHAT THE HELL?" that rang throughout the village of Konoha.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, was enjoying a nice warm cup of tea, his pipe and rather questionable reading material after handing the two ANBU, who had attacked the young kid who he considered his grandchild, to Morino Ibiki, the commanding officer of the Konoha ANBU Torture and Interrogation Force. A soft but clearly perverted giggle came from behind the cover of an orange book depicting a man chasing a woman in a skimpy strapless red dress with the words 'Icha Icha Paradise' in bold red kanji. He set his book down on the desk and was about to take a sip of his tea when he heard the outraged yell of "WHAT THE HELL?" from somewhere in the village. In his surprise, his arms jerked upwards and he loosened his grip on the teacup he was about to sip from. This resulted in the teacup flying in the air and distributing the warm liquid on said male's head.

Being denied his right to peacefully enjoy reading his por… uummm… literary novel while smoking his pipe and drinking his favorite beverage, he sighed, hid the 'innocent' little orange book in a drawer and quickly cleaned the mess that was his Hokage robes. After changing into another set of robes, he thought, 'Looks like Ito-chan knows about Kyuubi as well as herself now. I better get ready.'

He didn't have to wait too long until running two sets of footsteps of a small child and of a hurrying almost fullgrown person were heard. There was a brief silence before his secretary came in and told him that he had visitors. He told the man to let them in and was soon face to face with a glaring blonde child who was kneeling on his desk to get close to his face. "What did Karasu-neechan mean when she said I was who I was?" the kid practically screamed at him. As he looked behind the enraged youngster, he saw a very fidgety kunoichi who seemed to want nothing more than drag the frantic child away from the Hokage and deeply bow in apology while blood rushed to her face.

Putting up a barrier to make sure no other people aside from the three of them would listen in on their conversation, the Sandaime calmly replied, "She told you the truth, Ito-chan. You are, in fact, a girl hidden under a very strong genjutsu, which I myself put on you. This was done to not only protect you from your father's enemies but also from the villagers who would do worse than beat you if they knew you were a girl. It doesn't help matters if the villagers knew that you came into contact with the kitsune as I'm sure that's why Karasu-kun had to tell you about what happened four years ago."

Hearing that, Naruto, or rather Ito, gave the old man a confused look but decided to let go of it for the time being. Seeing that Ito was now somewhat calm, Karasu picked her up from the desk and set her down on the floor. She gave the Sandaime an apologizing look for Ito's actions, which the aged leader responded to with a nod. Sarutobi pulled open a drawer and handed Ito her birth certificate, her parents' marriage certificate and other documents that proved her parentage.

After looking them over, Ito then spoke in a soft voice that both Sarutobi and Karasu strained to hear, "Can I see what I look like without the genjutsu?" She was giving off the aura of a pouty little kid who wanted something. In all honesty, that's exactly what she was.

With a wide smile, Sarutobi nodded and released the genjutsu he cast on Ito the day he had to place her in the orphanage. Karasu then brought out a mirror from her pocket and gave it to the little girl. To say Ito was surprised would not give the situation any justice whatsoever. She was downright flabbergasted.

Once spiky hair was straight yet a bit wavy at the end and fell to her shoulder blades; though it was still a bright yellow that would make the sun jealous, her hair was highlighted by several thin vivid red streaks. Her eyes were still bluer than the sky but were not as wide as they once were giving her a more mature look. The whisker-like marks were thinner than they were when she was Naruto. The overly big clothes made her look smaller than normal and slipped off both shoulders now but it seemed to suit her now that she looked like a girl again as it showed off her smooth shoulder and graceful neck. All in all, she was just so darn cute that Karasu had to stop herself from squealing in delight like the girl that she was and hugging the living daylights out of the little blonde girl.

After getting a good look at herself, she broke into a big smile and both elders were just smitten with the adorableness that was Namikaze Ito. "So how do I look?" she asked her two precious people. They both had to mentally shake their heads to clear them so they could answer. "You look adorable, Ito-chan," Sarutobi replied. Karasu, who was still unable to say anything without squealing just nodded her head and gave her a big smile.

After a few more minutes of fluffy goodness, Ito became serious. "Sarutobi-jiji, can you reapply the genjutsu?" Shocked, both the Hokage and Karasu asked why she wanted to do so. "I know that if I go out there as I am, people will treat me differently than they would Naruto. I'm going to teach the whole village what they should not have forgotten: look underneath the underneath. I won't let them get to me no matter how much crap they throw at me; I'll do it as Naruto so that when I show everyone just who I am, they'll never forget."

With a smile on both their faces, Sarutobi and Karasu silently agreed with the blonde chibi's plan. "Alright, Ito-chan. I'll reapply the genjutsu. But you do know that when you start attending the Ninja Academy, people will be more cruel to you, don't you?" Sarutobi, worried about the small child's safety asked as he did what he said he would.

"Don't worry, Sarutobi-jiji, if there's one thing I know about the villagers, it's that they never see anything other than what is shown to them. If I act like an attention-seeking idiot, I'll be okay." This was said with a tone so determined the village leader couldn't help but be impressed by the disguised young girl's confidence.

'The will of fire burns strongly inside you, Ito-chan,' Sarutobi thought as he watched the two youngsters exit his office. 'You'll make a fine Hokage one day, just like your father.' With that, he sat behind his desk. He was about to pull out his copy of Icha Icha Paradise when suddenly his secretary burst in the office carrying an armload of documents.

"You put off your paperwork long enough, Sandaime-sama. They've been piling up outside during your conversation between Umino-san and the boy," the man said as he put the documents on the desk. "There are some more outside for you to look over. With that, the secretary left the office, leaving the man known throughout the village as 'the Professor' glaring at the one enemy no Kage could defeat: paperwork.

* * *

(1) Trust me. It really gives you a major headache if you don't sit up slowly from a prone position.

(2) This would be because of Kyuubi's sense of smell since foxes can smell better than humans.

(3) Not sure if there are different explosive tags but I think one that can cause damage while not making a lot of noise is useful for shinobi.

So what do you guys think? I'm a bit worried that this chapter isn't as serious as it should have been. If there are any complaints, cut me some slack because this is my first fanfic. Compliments, on the other hand, are very welcome and will be cherished.

Thank you again to all the reviewers who gave me such nice compliments.

See you all on the next chapter! ;)

Glossary:

Chibi: a child-like character with exaggerated features, particularly in anime; a style of cartooning in which the characters are drawn to be very small and cute; used to refer to a short person

Genjutsu: illusionary technique

Glomp: action of one person lovingly (and dramatically) attacking another with a hug

Kunai: Japanese metal dagger

Otouto: younger brother


	5. Chapter 4

Hey again... I apologize for the long wait but I just finished my exams and I needed to recharge.

On the bright side, I'm finally done with schoolwork for the next two months or so. I'll have more time to write the next few chapters and update more often.

With that said, on with the story!

Chapter 4: The Birth of Konoha's Most Unpredictable Shinobi

The sky was cloudless and whispered a promise of a cool starry evening. A light breeze carrying the scent of jasmines dances with the emerald leaves of the towering forest before making its way to the prosperous village of Konohagakure. As it approached the village, the wind died down as if in shock at what it would have seen if moving air had eyes.

The Hokage Monument, a daily reminder of the greatness of the Hokage of the past and present, would often times solemnly watch over the lively shinobi village like benevolent silent guardians. The larger-than-life stone monument that immortalized the four Hokage of the village would usually instill pride and determination into the shinobi of Konoha.

However, the only thing the four carved faces instilled into the inhabitants of the village at the moment was either outrage or laughter. This was because the awe-inspiring landmark was, at present, covered in vulgar (for a child of less than ten) profanities that made the towering spectacle utterly ridiculous. Also, primitive artwork of stick figures and squiggles of different sizes dominated the areas that do not hold a stone head. Unfortunately or amusingly to some, the great likenesses of the village leaders did not escape from such disgrace. The carving depicting the Shodai had pink spirals all over its 'hair', giving it the illusion that it belonged to the Haruno Clan whose majority of its members' hair was naturally that color. There were also indistinct markings on the face that looked like a toddler had gone crazy with a black permanent marker. The Nidaime had similar face markings but in bright blue. The prankster had, like the Shodai, painted the Nidaime's spiky hair but in a shade of green that would make the color of a certain loud and oddly dressed jounin's jumpsuit pale in comparison, making it look like a rather healthy tuft of grass instead of hair.

From afar, one could say that the figures of the Sandaime and Yondaime were left alone if the many strange horizontal lines were ignored. Majority of those closer to the monument were outraged and/or shocked by what had been done to the two leaders; some shinobi who have a sense of humor or just needed something to amuse themselves with were quite entertained with what was written on the two faces. The stone head of the Sandaime had the kanji of 'closet pervert' scrawled over and over again in messy handwriting throughout the uneven surface. The face of the Yondaime was defiled in a similar fashion only there were different insults written on it. These insults ranged from 'poopy head' to 'moron' and many other childish expressions.

On the rooftop of the Hokage Tower, several shinobi were admiring/enraged at the sight. Among them, a spiky-haired tokubetsu jounin who went by the name of Namiashi Raido whistled in appreciation. The scarred shinobi turned to his friend who was chewing on a senbon. "Oi, Genma. He did a pretty good job, didn't he?" the said tokubetsu jounin played with his senbon as he appraised the disaster that was once a breath-taking landmark.

Smirking and putting his thumb and forefinger on his chin as if inspecting something, "Not too bad for a 12 year old. It would have been better if he had used other insults besides 'poopy head' and 'butt face' though," the said 'art critic' said while nodding his head as if to emphasize his point. He heard chuckling from Raido and asked, "What's so funny?"

With an amused grin, Raido answered, "I'm just thinking what the gaki's teacher would do if he took your advice." Needless to say, this caused both shinobi, as well as those near them to giggle or pale since they all know how the said academy teacher and regular missions room worker reacted to dirty remarks and overall disrespect. Speaking of which, said teacher had just arrived and briefly spoke with the Sandaime. All heard the very embarrassed apology that came from the kunoichi. Afterwards, she took a deep breath and that was all the warning that all on the rooftop received to cover their ears.

"**UZUMAKI NARUTO! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING DURING CLASS TIME? GET DOWN FROM THERE RIGHT NOW!**" Yup, the ever soft spoken and sweet chuunin, Umino Karasu, would have been very upset with the boy had he used more insulting words. Those that had enough sense to cover their ears to prevent temporary deafness during the verbal attack on the said academy student could see a petite orange figure moving quickly away from the Hokage Monument followed by the swift form of Karasu.

"I believe that things will be under control for the next few hours," came the voice of the Sandaime. He turned to the gathered shinobi with a gentle smile. You may all return to your previous activities." With that, the village leader left. Another tokubetsu jounin by the name of Ebisu wondered out loud what they were supposed to do with the mess the little terror did to the monument.

"Just leave it alone. Karasu-sensei would probably have the kid clean it up as punishment later on," a random shinobi said. With a nod of agreement, the gathered shinobi left the rooftop with a giant puff of smoke or a long leap to the nearest rooftop.

Over the years, it became a common though still amusing sight for the villagers to see Karasu drag a tied-up Naruto back to school. Whispers would usually follow the odd pair though they would be silenced with a disapproving look from the quick-tempered teacher. They would usually take it to mean that they should keep quiet and mind their own business; Both student and teacher, on the other hand, knew it was more to silence the mutterings against said student than anything else.

"We really need to talk with Sarutobi-sama about this, Naruto-kun. They're starting to get bolder and that will get you into trouble sooner or later," lectured the irritated female. To a normal observer, one would think that she was talking about the pranks the boy keeps playing over the years. Only Karasu and Naruto knew that it was the attitude of the villagers towards the Kyuubi jinchuuriki that they were talking about. Naruto had to silently agree with the chuunin; if not for the law that stated that no one save for a chosen few were allowed to speak of the nine-tailed demon, Naruto would be in big trouble indeed.

Adopting an uncaring stance as much as he could while tied up, the blonde prankster muttered, "Like I care what happens." With a bored, or pained depending on the point of view, sigh, Naruto just let the still angry chuunin drag him to the academy. He was quite thankful for the thick yet glaringly annoying outfit in bright "Here-I-am-hit-me-with-everything-you've-got" orange since the road was unpaved and would have left some bloody scrapes on his back if not for the jacket. Though, one really couldn't argue with the fact that it was an abomination to shinobi who didn't want to die everywhere. Soon enough, they reached the Ninja Academy.

When they reached their classroom, Karasu nodded to Touji Mizuki, the assistant teacher, and put Naruto in front of the class and said, "Tomorrow is the Graduation Exam, Naruto. This isn't time for you to cause trouble!" There was a scowl on her face and a slightly bulging vein near her eye. Karasu's normally well-kept hair had tumbled down her shoulders from chasing Naruto all over Konoha so she had to put it in a messy ponytail when she finally caught up and restrained the boy. Her dark long-sleeved shirt had become darker with the accumulated perspiration and dirt and her equally dark pants were covered in dirt. Her face was flushed giving the scar running through the bridge of her nose a pale complexion. Seeing their teacher's profile in such disarray was a sight the students and assistant teacher saw regularly as she was always the one who stopped the troublesome boy from playing pranks.

"You really should take it easy on Naruto, Karasu-chan," Mizuki said when he saw the tied-up blonde. "He has entertained the Hokage and outran numerous chuunin many times... That's something most academy students can't even dream to accomplish. His speed and evasion skills are quite advanced to avoid higher ranked shinobi."

"I suppose you're right, Mizuki-kun," replied a visibly calmer Karasu. Turning back to the class, she said, "Alright everyone, line up. Since everyone's here now, we'll have a test on the _**Henge no Jutsu**_. Transform perfectly into me." For the most part, the students were able to perform the jutsu flawlessly; Hyuuga Hinata still stuttered when she announced the name of the jutsu though there were no other visible flaws. Finally, it was Naruto's turn.

Some students complained that they were always paying for his mistakes and so on. Naruto heard all of this before and ignored them for the most part. Like all the others, he formed the needed hand seal and gathered his chakra. However, unlike the other students who performed the jutsu and produced a big puff of smoke before taking on their sensei's appearance, Naruto's blue chakra laced the customary smoke that appeared when the jutsu was announced. This caused Karasu to tense as she was worried about her student's wellbeing.

When the smoke finally dissipated, a beautiful slim yet, more importantly, naked girl in her late teens was revealed blowing a kiss to the male teacher. Very thin wisps of smoke covered the more private parts of the girl's anatomy but that didn't help much as many of the boys as well as Mizuki developed very heavy nosebleeds at the sight. Karasu watched in a daze as the more sexually aware members of the room fainted from shock, embarrassment and other emotions that will not be mentioned in a classroom. As a now normal-looking Naruto announced to his conscious classmates that the jutsu he just used was his own _**Oiroke no Jutsu**_, Karasu did the one thing that a woman of her demeanor would do when faced with a perverted experienced. "**UZUMAKI NARUTO, NEVER USE THAT JUTSU IN THIS CLASSROOM EVER AGAIN! **With a chakra-empowered slap, Naruto was sent flying into the nearest wall. Breathing heavily, Karasu dismissed the class seeing as they wouldn't get anything done with half the students and her assistant knocked out. She then began to prop her unconscious students and co-worker against the wall to help them take care of their problem.

"You aren't leaving until ever single drop of this mess is cleaned up," reprimanded a still angry Karasu. They were back at the Hokage Monument. Karasu was sitting on top of the carving of the Shodai overseeing the progress of the clean-up while Naruto was on a ledge scrubbing of the paint he had used to give the Hokage Monument a more artistic touch. Hearing Naruto mutter about having no one to wait for him at home, Karasu sighed and sent her chakra out to scan her surroundings. Finding no one, civilian or shinobi, who could listen in on their conversation, Karasu spoke, "Ito-chan, I know that you play pranks to make the image you've given Naruto more believable and less threatening but did you really have to desecrate the Hokage Monument in this way?"

Ito, finally getting rid of the smiling mask that was named Uzumaki Naruto, stopped scrubbing momentarily. She placed the rag she had been using down and made the hand seals needed to dispel the genjutsu (1). "I guess you can call this prank my finale, Karasu-neechan. I'll be a genin soon so I needed to do something really big so everyone would think that I'm really busy training or something," Ito replied. This was said in a sad tone because while she really wasn't a troublemaker by principle, she still had some fun doing them. In her mind, this was a way to get back at the villagers who have hurt her for so long. The wind picked up a bit as she looked at the stone face of her father. She tucked some of her red-blonde hair behind her ear. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind in any case," she said so softly that Karasu almost didn't hear it. After a few more minutes of staring at the only image she had of her father, she replaced the genjutsu. Realizing that there was nothing more to be said about the matter, Karasu invited her student over for dinner when she finishes up. With a nod of acceptance, they were silent until the monument was as clean as it could get.

The class was abuzz with nervousness as the students waited for their teachers to come in. Near the back of the class, Naruto rested his head on the long table as he thought of his parents for the umpteenth time. While he was thinking, Karasu and Mizuki came in. "Everyone, quiet down," Mizuki demanded. Following instructions, the class made their way to their assigned seats.

Karasu stepped forward and announced what they had to do. "To graduate, you all have to do the _**Bunshin no Jutsu**_. When you're called, come to the next room." One by one, the students left the classroom to perform the test and came back out a few minutes later with a hitai-ate. Naruto waited in mind numbing boredom until his name was called. When it finally was, he said some stuff that he didn't bother to pay attention to since there were only a few more students left and they weren't paying attention either.

In the Exam Room, both teachers were seated behind a desk with some hitai-ate on it. As Naruto performed the jutsu, he noticed that Mizuki's hands slipped under the desk but thought nothing of it. When the smoke began to clear, he expected to see two fully functioning clones but noticed a scrap of dull orange on the ground. Getting a better look at it, he discovered that it was a clone of himself, but one that could only be useful as an illusionary doormat. Needless to say, Karasu failed him on the spot.

Just as Naruto was about to leave the room, Mizuki spoke up. "Karasu-chan, maybe you're being a bit harsh on him. He did after all make a clone. He really wants to become a shinobi of Konoha so maybe we could give him a break" This got the blonde child suspicious; he was sure what had happened moments before but said nothing because he had no proof to support him. Karasu declined that option seeing as the only clone Naruto was useless. Without another word, Naruto left the room.

The front yard of the school was filled with proud parents commenting on their children's graduation. Looking at the heart-warming scene from the shade of the tree made Naruto grimace at the thought that even if Mizuki hadn't messed with his attempt at the Bunshin no Jutsu, his parents wouldn't be there to congratulate him. He ignored the glares some of the parents sent his way as well as the conversation two women were having concerning the Graduation Exam. When everyone had vacated the front yard, Naruto was about to get off the swing he was sitting on and leave himself when he saw Mizuki walking up to him. "You do know that Karasu just wants you to become strong without taking shortcuts, right Naruto?" the assistant teacher asked, leaning on the trunk of the tree.

Deciding to play along with Mizuki's little game, Naruto replied, "Yeah, I know. Karasu-sensei is a very serious person and she follows every single rule written. I just wished that I passed the Exam though." He was staring at the ground to make it seem that he was dejected at the fact that he would have to wait another year before he could become a real shinobi. Apparently, his acting skills were very convincing as he had been playing the part of an idiotic blonde for more than half his life. Either that or Mizuki was an incredibly arrogant bastard who was too overconfident to notice such little details.

"There is... another way for you to become a shinobi this year. It's a Secret Graduation Exam that is used to give those who failed the normal exam a second chance." Interested, Naruto leaned closer to listen.

It was the dead of night and Karasu was on her bed, visualizing Ito's Graduation Exam once again. Everything went perfectly and Ito used focused enough chakra to make more than enough clones to pass. Also, the teacher had helped her with that jutsu in her spare time until she could make decent clones. Ito clearly told her the day before that she would pass the exam and become a proud shinobi of Konoha so she knew something must have happened. He did notice some slight movement her left but dismissed it as Mizuki stretching or something. They had been sitting there for some time after all.

Loud knocking interrupted her thoughts before she could go on and she hurried to open the door. Whoever was visiting her seemed to be panicked over something. When she flung the door open, She saw an out of breath Mizuki who had eyes wide with urgency. "Karasu-chan, we have to report to the Hokage's office right away! He said that Naruto stole a forbidden scroll as a prank." That was all Karasu needed to push any thoughts of the exam out of her head.

Sarutobi had just told all the available shinobi about the theft just as he and Naruto had planned. The child of his successor turned predecessor had come to his office some time in the evening and told him what Mizuki had said. Mizuki instructed Naruto to steal the Scroll of the Forbidden Seal and bring into to the hut in the forest. If he were able to master one of the jutsu written on the scroll and show Karasu, he would graduate, the man said. Both of them planned what they were to do and executed it immediately. He would wait until Naruto was far enough away to get to the rendezvous point before calling any shinobi and telling them that Naruto had taken the scroll.

The old man was, of course, worried about what would happen to someone he considered as his own and wondered what else he could have done to help the boy before taking out the crystal ball he often used to view the inner workings of his village from the comfort of his office. He found several chuunin passing by the forest Naruto was in and wondered when the traitor would come for Naruto. He was about to send some of them into the forest when he saw two figures heading for the forest. Knowing who the first figure was, he concentrated more on the second as whoever it was could be an accomplice of Mizuki. He pondered on what to do with the wild card the second figure had just become as he focused on the result of the unknown variable. The figure passed through a moonlit area and that's when the Hokage was absolutely sure of the plan's success. With a smile, he leaned back into his chair and took out a box of popcorn that he had somehow kept in his robes. In his mind, a chibified version of himself was going on and on about how he was about to witness the birth of Konoha's most unpredictable shinobi.

Panting, Karasu rushed into the clearing and finally found the preteen sitting against the wall of a shack, out of breath with his head down and many scrapes here and there. Dirt clung to his clothes and the ground looked like several people on a sugar rush had been jumping around the area. Right beside him was the missing scroll. The sight of the rolled up piece of paper filled her heart with dread. Making her way to her tired student, she said as she tried to regulate her breathing, "...I've found you..." Seeing Naruto look up, she began to inspect him more carefully. There were more dirt marks on his face and beads of sweat were making their way down to his jacket. "What were you doing here and where did you get that scroll, Naruto?"

Grinning so widely that his became slits, Naruto stood up, wrapped his arms around the humongous and proudly said, "Mizuki-sensei told me about the Secret Exam and told me about the scroll and everything." At those words, Karasu tensed as she was prepared for many excuses; the one she had just been given was not one she anticipated. "But never mind that now, Mizuki-sensei said that if I show you something from this scroll, I'll definitely graduate!" Just as the boy was forming the needed hand seal, several kunai came from the trees and pinned them both to the wall. A few embedded themselves into Karasu's body and were already bleeding heavily. She took a quick glance at her favorite student and saw that he was in a similar situation except that only his clothes were caught by the projectiles. He was still carrying the forbidden scroll.

A very familiar voice from the trees spoke, "Nice job finding the idiot, Karasu-chan." Mizuki jumped to a large branch overlooking the clearing. "I truly didn't expect anyone to find this place though... Seems like I have to change my plans just a little bit." Looking down on the trapped pair, Mizuki gave them a crazed grin befitting a power-hungry lunatic. He leapt down and Karasu could see that he had two fuuma shuriken attached to his belt. "Thank for taking such good care of the scroll, Naruto," he said with a tone so fake a five-year-old would have no trouble detecting it. Naruto's reaction was to hug the scroll tighter to his body.

Karasu finally had enough of this and shouted, "**Damn it, Mizuki! What the hell are you thinking?**" She received low chuckling for her outburst.

Walking closer to the teacher and student, Mizuki said, "I've always thought you were quite intelligent, Karasu-kun; it seems as if I have to spell it out for the both of you. I tricked the blonde idiot beside you to steal the forbidden scroll. After I kill him and make it seem like he ran away with the thing, I'll use the scroll as a bargaining chip to get more power." The traitor was now before Karasu and was stroking the few strands of hair that fell in front of her face behind her ear. "I still have to figure out what to plan with you, though." He brought his other hand up to Karasu's thigh and began caressing it through the material of her pants. The traitor wrapped his arm round Karasu's waist and inhaled her scent. Uncomfortable with the intimate contact, Karasu blushed and did what she could to avoid it with the limited space she had. "Get away from me, Mizuki!"

Seeing his teacher's distress, Naruto, who had been silent so far, angrily called out, "Oi, Mizuki-teme. What do you think you're doing to Karasu-sensei?"

"You best be quiet, demon brat," Mizuki said with a voice full of malice. Smirking as if he just thought of a brilliant idea, Mizuki drawled, "I bet you're wondering why everyone in the village hates you, don't you Naruto?" When his question was met with wide-eyed silence, he continued, "Twelve years ago, the fox demon attacked Konoha and was defeated by the Yondaime. He didn't kill the beast; no one could. Instead, it was given a human form by sealing it away in a baby. That baby was you, Naruto. You are the Kyuubi reborn." He waited for the stunned preteen to comprehend what was just revealed to him. He expected crying, a soft "no way" or maybe even a loud pain-filled "Are you fucking serious?" but laughter was not among the reactions he had expected.

It stopped as quickly as it came but the humor was still in the blonde's eyes. "Idiot, tell me something I don't know." With a puff of smoke, the blonde disappeared. "Oi, Teme!" a very pissed off voice came from behind the snake in the grass (or leaves as the case may be), "Don't touch Karasu-neechan like that or I'll kill you, you pervert."

Confident that he could beat a tired academy student, Mizuki jeered, "I can kill a genin wannabe like you in one shot."

Naruto snarled, "Try it trash. I'll return the pain a thousand times over." Angered by the arrogant retort, Mizuki used one of the retracted shuriken as a short sword and slashed at the boy. The attack connected but Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_… How do you like the new jutsu I learned, sensei?" Naruto asked mockingly. More blondes came from the forest and the army of Narutos lunged at Mizuki. Within seconds, the pale man was overwhelmed by the number of his opponents and was knocked out.

After making sure that the bastard teacher was down for the count, Naruto canceled the jutsu and went to see how Karasu was faring with her injuries. "Karasu-neechan, are you alright?" he began to remove the kunai that trapped his sensei's clothes to the wall of the hut.

Smiling, Karasu said that she was just fine as she began to apply first-aid on the wounds she received from Mizuki's onslaught. With the task done, she asked a favor from her student. "Ito-chan, I want you to close your eyes for a minute." Seeing that the disguised girl had done what she had asked. She removed her hitai-ate and tied it around the girl's head.

Giving the okay to open her eyes, she watched as Ito realized what just happened. Let's just say that Karasu won't be able to hear for the next few minutes and leave it at that.

The Sandaime smiled as he watched the two young ladies walk back to the village after Karasu's hearing was restored and all the questions the shinobi who had gathered due to the massive output of chakra. With a faraway look, he began to wonder what other great things the young Namikaze heiress would be able to do in her shinobi career.

A knock on his door shook him out of his stupor. His guest entered once permission was given. With hurried steps, his visitor, the Hyuuga Clan Head, went up to the Hokage and said, "Sarutobi-sama, I've heard what happened about the forbidden scroll. Is everything well?"

"All is fine, Hiashi-kun," the old man replied. He quickly recounted all that he had witnessed from his crystal ball and gave some of his educated guesses. Both were glad that everything went according to plan and all injuries were easy enough to deal with.

"The future is looking bright for the young heiress isn't it, Sarutobi-sama?"

"Yes, Hiashi-kun. It is looking very bright indeed."

Whoohoo! Another long chapter!

Hope you all enjoyed it. I'm a bit worried that I copied practically the whole conversation about the genin exam. But then that's what disclaimers are for.

In any case, tell me what you guys think and I'll reply to your reviews and/or PMs.

Later!

(1) Although the Sandaime has the main control over the genjutsu, Ito can dispel it on her own if she wants to.

Glossary:

Fuuma shuriken: large, collapsible, four-bladed throwing weapon shaped like a star

Hitai-ate: forehead protector

Nidaime: Second generation

Senbon: Needle used for acupuncture

Sensei: teacher

Shodai: First generation

Teme: bastard (from what I understood from the manga anyway)

Tokubetsu jounin: Special Jounin; ninja who have jounin-level ability in a single area or skill; elite specialists in their areas

Jutsu List:

Bunshin no Jutsu: Clone Technique; makes illusionary copies of the user

Henge no Jutsu: Transformation technique; gives user the appearance of another person

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Shadow Clone Technique; makes solid but unstable copies of the user

Oiroke no Jutsu: Sexy Technique; gives user the appearance of an appealing, naked woman


	6. Chapter 5

It's been a while since I last updated... Who here is mad at me? (Lots of hands were raised.) Okay...-" I know that I promised to update often for two months but I had a slight problem that left me depressed so I couldn't write very well.

In any case, here's the next chapter. I know that I said that the bell test was next but I sort of forgot about the introduction of Kakashi... (Authoress receives glares from KakaIru fans and sheepishly laughs.)

On with the story.

* * *

Chapter 5: First Impressions

Bright yellow sunlight streamed into the small apartment of one Uzumaki Naruto, known to a very select few as Namikaze Ito. The unmade bed was clue enough that the newly appointed genin was up and about…or rather, sleepily making breakfast in the almost primitive kitchen. No matter the occasion, even if it was the day she'd formally become a genin, the preteen was by no means a morning person. Resting her head on the counter, she monitored her battered up toaster to make sure it makes the slightly crunchy pieces of golden brown bread it was supposed to make instead of the usual charcoal (1). After the few slices of bread were decently toasted, she got up, dragged her feet to the refrigerator and took out a carton of milk. Due to early morning crankiness and the fact that her eyelids were still somewhat glued together, she failed to see anything other that the basic shape of said milk container.

After that quick breakfast, Ito went to the bathroom to clean up and ascertain that the genjutsu was holding up. She came out a few minutes later in the "I'm a moving target" orange jumpsuit that differentiated her from every single shinobi of Konohagakure. As she was about to leave, a familiar baritone spoke up, "_Oi, chibi. Don't forget your hitai-ate. You'll need it if some dunderhead classmate of yours asks you what you're doing there_."

"_Good point, ojisan._" Ito went back to her bedside table and grabbed her teacher's, now her, hitai-ate. "_What would I do without you and Karasu-neechan, ojisan?_" she asked her self-appointed uncle.

"_You'd still be on the floor of your mindscape, slowly drowning since you passed out at the sight of me… again,_" came the deadpanned response. Once Ito had the opportunity, not to mention the courage, to face Kyuubi a month after they first 'met', she appeared before Kyuubi in his giant demon fox form. Needless to say, Ito did the same thing she did when they first met: ran screaming into a wall and knocked herself unconscious. She would later defend herself by saying that he was big enough to eat her and the sharp teeth dripping with fox spit did not help whatsoever. As Kyuubi didn't have a comeback for that, he left it alone… for about a minute or two. When Ito regained consciousness and visited him again, the first thing the fox in human skin did when he saw the child again was to laugh in her face very hard until he had to stop because of a stomachache.

"_Shut up, baka kitsune!_" Ito yelled at her tenant mentally. She tied her hitai-ate securely around her forehead. She remembered that incident quite well and still felt the phantom pain on her forehead from those bumps when she had woken up. She was just glad that, unlike the sarcastic fox demon, Karasu was sympathetic of her new protrusions and put a light blue band-aid with several mini shuriken on the aching brow. "_At least I didn't steal my ears from a giant rabbit _(2)_, fur ball!"_

"_Says the one who's the most likely to be eaten by said giant rabbit,_ _you walking carrot_!" retorted the imprisoned canine. In his mind, his fox ears were perfect and unworthy of a whiny rabbit that would just end up as someone's dinner, preferably his. And so began a long insulting match between prisoner and jailor.

"_You're going to be late if you don't hurry, chibi,_" the demon lord said in a teasing manner when he started to get bored of their little game. Looking at the clock, Ito realized that she was practically arguing with herself (since there's no one else physically present in the room) for the better part of an hour. Cursing violently enough to make Karasu want to wash her mouth out with hydrochloric acid if she were there, she jumped out her window and landed somewhat gracefully on the ground. She was off not a second later so she wouldn't make a scene when she entered the classroom. While Ito was doing what she could to make sure she was in school before too many people came and to make sure she didn't make a fool out of herself, Kyuubi thought to himself, 'I don't think it will take much for that cute chuunin teacher of hers to want to wash anyone's potty mouth out with a gallon of toilet bowl cleaner…'

* * *

In the Shinobi Academy faculty lounge, Karasu had just finished finalizing the formal documents that stated her current class' passing of the Graduation Exam. One of the other teachers, Mika, was holding a conversation with her when she sneezed twice. "Karasu-san, are you coming down with something?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, Mika-san. It's probably nothing." She did however, wonder why she suddenly started sneezing.

Jokingly, Mika said, "Maybe one of your many suitors is thinking about you, Karasu-san." It was a well-known fact that there were many men of different ages and occupations who had an eye out for the morally uptight chuunin; for some reason, said morally uptight chuunin never knew this very obvious fact as she said, with a confused face, that she didn't have any suitors. The staff who heard what she just said couldn't help but stop what they were doing to stare at her. Large drops of sweat hanging from their heads as they all thought the same thing, 'Just how dense can a grown woman be?'

* * *

Naruto got to the classroom when it was just starting to fill up. Making sure he looked unrushed and giddy to the point of exploding as was his mask's character, he went in the classroom and sat in second to the last row. As Kyuubi predicted, one of his (Kyuubi: _cough_dunderhead_cough) _classmates came up to him and asked what the hell he was doing here when the room was for those who passed the exam only. True to his public character, "What, are you blind?" Naruto said. "Can't you see this hitai-ate? I've got as much right as you to be in here!"

He would have gone on saying, "With this hitai-ate, I'll become the greatest Hokage the world has ever seen!" or something similar to that if not for a forcefully assertive feminine voice interrupting them. "Hey, will you let me through?" Both looked up and saw a pink-haired green-eyed girl who wore her hitai-ate as a hair band, making her larger than average forehead a thing to stare at. She wore a long red shirt that had a very large slit on each side. These slits showed off her dark green knee-length shorts. There were white circles on the sleeves and front flap of the shirt and a zipper running down the front of said red shirt.

Hiding a wince of annoyance, he greeted his 'crush', Haruno Sakura, with as much genuine enthusiasm as a cat knowing it was being prepared for a bath. Naruto really had no problems with the girl since she was one of the most intelligent students in class and she was okay in a sense that she was only a bit of a bitch when a certain boy was concerned as she was also one of the most annoying fan girls in the class, followed closely by her former best friend, Yamanaka Ino. Like most girls in the class, they were hopelessly enamored with the resident emo bishie, Uchiha Sasuke.

When Naruto didn't move immediately, Sakura yelled, "NARUTO, MOVE YOUR ASS! I WANT TO SIT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF YOU!" That was when Naruto looked beside him and saw that he was indeed sitting near the said class heartthrob, who had his hitai-ate tied around his forehead.

With dark hair and eyes that contrasted greatly with his pale skin, Sasuke was the crush of nearly all the girls in class and the envy of just as many boys. Wearing dark colors as if to match his overall attitude, he would always project an aura of mystery, impassiveness and superiority that attracted the girls to his bad boy image… However, there was a rumor that the last Uchiha swung the other way because, despite the fact that he has many females of all ages and professions swooning at his feet, he has taken an interest in absolutely no one. (It doesn't help that another loudmouthed classmate, Inuzuka Kiba, practically shouted it out one day during recess. Needless to say, he was promptly beaten up by all the raging fan girls.)

As Naruto was observing Konoha's last Uchiha, a certain crazed female got impatient and shoved him away. "Sasuke-kun, can I sit next to you?" Without waiting for an answer, Sakura quickly took up the space beside the brooding boy and ignored her other seatmate in favor of plotting how to steal her crush's first kiss. Her thoughts were quite obvious to Naruto because of the pink hearts that appeared in place of her eyes. Naruto couldn't help but wonder if the rookie of the year was as dense as Karasu-neechan (It was kind of hard to ignore the men who would drool over her in broad daylight.) or believed in the theory that stated that as long as you ignore it, it will go away…

A few minutes later, Karasu-sensei came in with a cheerful greeting and explained her injuries and Mizuki's absence to the class. Both she and the Hokage agreed to leave Naruto's name out in case some idiotic villager decided to somehow blame him for the incident that night. Clearing her throat, she then went on to give the prepared and well-rehearsed lecture about the group dynamics of a genin team and their jounin teacher before grouping the students into their respective teams.

The thoughts of three particular students were as followed: Sasuke thought, 'Pfft…Three man teams? That only means more people in my way.' Naruto had similar, yet more detailed, thoughts. 'I don't care who my teammates are as long as it's anyone but Emo Boy and Bubblegum Banshee…' Sakura, on the other hand, had no concern of the other teammate as long as 'her' Sasuke-kun was with her.

It could be said that the thoughts of one blonde genin were about to take a page out of life and bite him in the ass because the next words that came from Karasu-sensei's mouth were, "Next is Team 7, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke." After a loud and rude interruption from Naruto in all of his faked indignation, the teacher went on to lecture them about the way their grades were the basis of balancing out the teams before continuing the team placements.

It took some time since most students were vocal about their opinions regarding their placements but they were done… eventually. "You'll be introduced to your jounin sensei this afternoon. Take a break until then." The new genin left the classroom and Karasu collected her papers. She held up one particular paper that held the paper that held the list of jounin teachers. One name concerned her, Hatake Kakashi.

Her conversation with the Hokage revealed something that might worry the chuunin; he never passed a single team that was assigned to him. She didn't really know anything about the jounin, just that he was a shinobi prodigy and, from what she remembered of him when he would show up from the mission room, a rude pervert with horrible penmanship and absolutely no sense of time management whatsoever… In hindsight, she realized that she really would have to be very worried about all three of her former students…

* * *

It was maybe three or four hours after the team announcements. Team 7 and Umino Karasu were waiting patiently for the ever-late shinobi prodigy to show up… Actually, you could hardly say they were waiting patiently as Karasu had fallen asleep on her desk and Sakura was busy daydreaming about becoming Uchiha Sakura. Sasuke had taken a more irritated show of impatience by getting a new hobby, glaring several holes through the wall

Naruto, on the other hand, was the most vocal and active of them all. He kept pacing the length of the classroom, looking out the door and muttering under his breath about stupid late jounin teachers. Finally, he had enough and took a dirty eraser from the blackboard. Seeing this, Sakura pulled herself out of her daydream and hissed quietly at the boy as to not wake up her teacher, "Hey! What are you doing, Naruto?"

Making a chair lean against the sliding door, Naruto answered, "I'm going to teach that dumb sensei a lesson for being late." As he was about to stick the blackboard eraser between the door and its frame, the door was suddenly opened. Because of the lack of support provided by the door, the chair lost its balance and toppled over, taking Naruto with it. A surprised yelp and the following crash woke Karasu from her nap and surprised Sasuke out of his new hobby. The other two genin and the chuunin academy teacher rushed to the door. Both Karasu and Sasuke had a pretty good idea what happened due to the amount of chalk dust covering the ground expected to see one blonde genin getting acquainted with the floor.

Instead, they were treated to a sight that would shock all of them, amuse one teacher and enrage the other. What they saw was Uzumaki Naruto and a fairly tall jounin with messy silver hair. He wore the standard dark blue jounin uniform and fingerless gloves with pieces of metal positioned at the back of the palms. He would have been forgettable if not for the fact that he wore a mask that concealed everything below his eyes and his hitai-ate was tilted to cover his left eye. However, his sudden appearance and what he looked like were not what three of the five occupants of the room were staring at. It was the fact that Naruto landed on the newcomer that shocked them. Not only that, but they found that Naruto was not only on their jounin teacher but was also kind of kissing him ('kind of' because of the facemask).

A moment of silence passed until, Sasuke cleared his throat. That action broke whatever trance the other four shinobi were in and the first thing Naruto did was scream his lungs out before rush to the bathroom. Even though the bathroom was at the other end of the hall, they could hear rushing water, furious gargling, loud spitting and severe coughing as if to get an awful taste out of one's mouth.

The jounin, on the other hand, was just glad for the protection of his facemask and calmly got up from the floor. Seeing the shocked looks from the kunoichi present, he came up with an amused response to the situation. He said, "Hhmmm… How can I say this? Karasu-sensei, these are what I would have to say about my new students… The orange one is definitely a skittish virgin. Pinky is probably a fan girl of some sort and the other is most probably an avenging brooder."

What the jounin said about her former students was enough to bring Karasu out of her moment of shock and brought out her lecturing mode. The lecture one Hatake Kakashi received involved something about sexually harassing a minor and student as well as his tardiness. Kakashi didn't have the guts to ignore the raging chuunin as he remembered that he saw her often in the mission room and she had no qualms with publicly degrading someone if the situation called for it; there was a reason why his friend, Asuma wouldn't dare smoke in the missions room anymore. (Though he did have to admit that Karasu looked rather hot when she was pissed off.) Sasuke and Sakura watched their usually polite former teacher loudly lecture someone of a higher rank. One thought went through their minds, 'This probably won't end well.' Meanwhile, a certain imprisoned demon fox was doing what he enjoyed best, laughing his head off at the misfortune of his jailor.

* * *

Thirty minutes, one bruised cheek and one shattered libido later, Kakashi was up on the academy roof with his genin team. His cheek stung badly from the punch he had received from Karasu-sensei; he belatedly realized that maybe, just maybe, he shouldn't have suggested they leave the brats and act out his favorite scene in Icha Icha Paradise. He spent a few seconds retrieving what he knew of his students.

Uchiha Sasuke, the last remaining Uchiha of Konoha who was probably bent on revenge against his clan's killer, would probably need watching in case Uchiha pride made him do something stupid. He knew that Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki of Konoha and the only underaged prankster to successfully run away from numerous shinobi of various ranks, was more than he seemed, having watched over him during his ANBU days. Haruno Sakura, civilian-born shinobi and probably a fan girl of the Last Uchiha, was definitely in need of a wake up call if she plans on becoming a real kunoichi.

With a sigh, he said, "Well, let's begin by introducing ourselves. Start with your likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams for the future." Both his more social students said that he should go first and added that he looked kind of suspicious. With nothing better to do, he said," Well, my name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you of my likes, dislikes or hobbies. Dreams for the future…hmm… I might have one or two at the moment."

At that, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura shared a look that clearly said, "All he told us is his name." Not minding the look, he asked 'Pinky' to go first. "My name is Haruno Sakura. The thing, or rather person I like is… and uhmm my hobby is… What I dislike is Naruto and Ino-pig. My dream for the future is…" Although she didn't really say much, the glances at Sasuke, the blush and the almost muffled squeals where words were supposed to be were clue enough to everyone present.

Kakashi can only think, 'Girls of this age are more interested in love than in being a ninja. I'll have to work on that.' Sighing, he turned to the Uchiha and said, "The one with the scowl is next."

Sasuke's answer came in a monotone. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are lots of things I don't like and I don't really like anything. I can't really call it a dream… It's more of an ambition; the resurrection of my clan and… to kill a certain man."

With a nod and a knowing look, he turned to his last student. The boy started with his name like the other two and stated that what he liked was ramen, what he disliked was the three minute wait to cook ramen and so on. Kakashi began to think that the boy was more suited to become a ramen chef than a shinobi until the boy said, "My dream is to surpass the Hokage, to have the people of this village acknowledge my existence and to take up my dad's legacy." As he said this, he adjusted his hitai-ate with pride.

'Your brat certainly has grown in an interesting way, Sensei,' Kakashi thought. He saw the other two glanced at Naruto in wonder about his father but decided not to say anything at the moment. Before Sakura (for it was certain that Sasuke would not say anything about it) could ask Naruto about his father, Kakashi said, "Tomorrow, we'll start our duties as shinobi."

Naruto asked in a loud voice, "What kind of duties?" It was obvious that he was excited but he could tell the boy would be serious in his missions… until he realized all they would be doing for the next few months were D-rank missions that should be labeled as chores. Oh well, at least there was more time for him to read his book and find out what happens next.

"First, we are going to do something with just the four of us." Naruto asked what it was with barely contained excitement. A short answer was given. "Survival training." There were calm (and in Naruto's case, disappointed and irritated) opinions before Kakashi continued. With a hidden sadistic smirk, he said, "This is not normal training. This time, I'll be your opponent and of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be able to receive the rank of genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy for further training. Everything you need to know is on this paper."

Kakashi had to admit that watching Naruto's and Sakura's reaction when they read through the training details were very amusing. There was a loud and angry shout from Naruto about not being able to eat breakfast but that was not nearly as funny as Sakura's determined posture. Somehow he could hear Sakura's thoughts about being separated from Sasuke and the training they would receive tomorrow was a test of love… that or maybe he was spending a bit too much with Gai.

Kakashi dismissed them after that. He observed Sakura asking Sasuke out and was rejected rather violently and silently as the object of her affections walked away without a word of acknowledgment. She left after that. Naruto had dashed off somewhere, probably to get some ramen as soon as they were dismissed.

Kakashi glanced at the horizon and noted that the sun was already setting. As he thought back on the day, he couldn't help but wonder about two things. The first was whether he could survive training an avenging sociopath, an obsessed fan girl and the ramen-obsessed village pariah who would soon be known as Konoha's most unpredictable shinobi. The second was if he had a chance with the cute academy teacher and mission room worker. He knew that she and the blonde brat that was his student were close; maybe Naruto can put in a good word for him… With a quick motion of his hand, a familiar orange book was in front of his face. He left with a puff of smoke, leaving the few that were in the academy wondering where the echoing giggles were coming from.

* * *

So how was it? Was anyone out of character? Reviews, comments and such are welcome. Useful critiques are also very much appreciated because as stated before, I am just a beginner at writing stories. Until next time!

(1) My family has a lot of problems with the toaste The damn thing burns whatever we put in it unless we watch it…

(2) Has anyone else noticed that Kyuubi's ears are way too long to be fox ears? They fit better on a rabbit…

Glossary:

Bishie: a young man whose beauty and sexual appeal transcends the boundary of gender; also known as Bishōnen

Ojisan: uncle


	7. Chapter 6

Hey, again.

It's a bit late but I finished the bell test. I hope I got everything accurate enough for those of you who like their fanfics to be almost like the story yet having their own little twists.

By the way, I was starting to confuse myself on who is saying/thinking what so the format below will be effective immediately,

'_Demon /Inner Sakura talking'_'**Demon thinking' **_'People thinking' _"People talking" _**Jutsu**_

Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 6: Camaraderie at the Sound of Bells

'_How long do we have to wait for that bastard?_' came the unheard shout from one of three preteens. Knowing the pride of the Uchiha, it's not Sasuke. Neither was it Naruto for he was, at the moment, busy watering several blades of grass with his drool. No, the one that yelled was Sakura… or rather, a sketchy white on black outline of Sakura. (It may be a visual representation of Sakura's real feelings or the result of Sakura's efforts to attract her crush by acting demure when she was not. In any case, it's there and might help the pink-haired girl in her team's misadventures.)

Had Sakura's teammates heard what "Inner Sakura" yelled, they would have agreed. The instructions their one-eyed teacher gave them told them to meet by the training field near the Memorial Stone at exactly six am. The broody brunette bishie and the blonde sprinkling system were already doing their respective activities when she arrived five minutes before the assigned arrival time. As tired as she was with the early wake-up time, she was determined to look and act her best in front of Sasuke. The two conscious genin expected their teacher to arrive exactly on time or at least a few minutes after. Unfortunately, they have been waiting for, not one hour but a grand total of three and a half hours.

They waited for another 20 minutes before something happened; it was not the arrival of the silver-haired jounin. Naruto woke up and stretched, yawning as he did so. While Naruto was still caught unaware, Sakura, both inner and real, decided to vent out some built up frustration. Hitting her teammate on the head with her nicely manicured fist, she yelled, "Naruto-baka, why were you sleeping? Kakashi-sensei could have come while you were asleep!"

Rubbing his head to soothe the pain, he said in a whiny voice, "But, Sakura-chan! Kakashi-sensei always shows up three hours late for meetings and his mission reports are four days late at best!" Both Sakura and Sasuke were surprised that Naruto knew about their teacher's habits since the only thing he told them about himself yesterday was his name.

"Hn. Don't talk as if you know things, Dobe," Sasuke said in stoic arrogance. He gave Naruto a look that Sakura interpreted as 'He's annoying.' Truth be told, he has that look on his face quite often.

"Don't call me that, Teme!" Naruto yelled. He got another blow to the head for insulting a certain green-eyed teammate's crush. When he recovered a few seconds later, he added, "I asked Karasu-sensei if she knew anything about Kakashi-sensei when we went out to eat last night. She told me he was an open pervert who'd be late for his own memorial service and his penmanship is worse that a chicken writing calligraphy with its beak and a feather duster. While he was talking, a shadow appeared beside Sakura unnoticed.

"Mah… I doubt Karasu-sensei would say something as mean as that even if it were true, Naruto," the source of the shadow said. All three genin turned around and found their sensei squatting on top of one of the three training logs. "I believe what she told you was that I am a shinobi prodigy with extremely questionable taste in literature and desperately in need of lessons in time management and penmanship." He gave them a smile when he was saying this… or at least they thought it was a smile because of the curving of his eye and his light tone.

The more vocal members of Team 7 wasted little time. "YOU'RE LATE!" "WHAT WERE YOU DOING SPYING ON KARASU-SENSEI AND I?" Sakura and Naruto shouted respectively. Sasuke took this time to glare at his teacher. It seems that everyone, from know-it-all fan girls to genius rookies, could become horribly testy after a four-hour wait without breakfast.

"I did what you did, Naruto, and got information about my new students," That seemed like a plausible answer so Naruto was somewhat mollified. As he got off the training log, Kakashi answered Sakura's question. "As for why I'm late, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take another route to get here."

"…That has to be the dumbest excuse you could have given us," Sakura said after Naruto shouted, "LIAR!" at their jounin instructor. Sasuke had a look of displeasure, which increased as Kakashi placed something on top of the training log he had just vacated. To the annoyance of the jounin's students, the item turned out to be an alarm clock.

Before the more vocal members of Team 7 could say anything to voice their annoyance, Kakashi said, "OK, it's set for noon." Despite the confusion his students had, he continued as he held out two bells, each dangling by a string. "Your task is to take these bells from me before time's up. Whoever can't do it by then gets any lunch and will be tied to one of the training logs while I eat lunch right in front of you."

The three test takers shared a single thought as their stomachs growled at the same time. '_So that's why he told us not to eat…_'

"The ones who don't get a bell by then fail and will go back to the academy. Use weapons if you want but I'll warn you right now. You won't succeed if you don't come at me with the intent to kill." This was said casually but all knew that the lazy-looking jounin was serious.

"B-but you might get hurt, Sensei!" Sakura panicked. Even though she was still quite annoyed at him for making them wait so long, she didn't really want to see him get hurt.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was not thinking about this. True, the brunette was annoyed because of the wait but he also wanted to test Kakashi to see if the man really could train him and make him strong enough for him to fulfill his ambition. With this in mind, he quickly took out a kunai with his right hand and prepared to lunge at the older male. Before he could even move from his spot however, he felt a larger hand grab his armed hand and another grabbed the back of his head. In a swift movement that he wouldn't have noticed had he not been the one being held, his arm was bent to aim the tip of his kunai to the base of his skull. The looks from Sakura and Naruto were evident that they too were surprised by the seemingly inattentive jounin.

"You might want to calm down, Sasuke. Training hasn't started yet," Kakashi said with a slightly more serious tone. Looking at his two other students, both in a stance easy to shift from defensive to offensive, he continued. "It seems that you guys are finally prepared to come at me with the intent to kill." He let Sasuke go and, with a smirk that showed (?) his pleasure at having his students acknowledge his skills, he said, "I think I'm beginning to like you guys. OK, let's get going… Ready… BEGIN!" As his final word left his lips, all three of his students vanished.

'_A basic skill for a shinobi is to conceal his presence_," Kakashi thought as he searched for his students. By sensing for their chakra, he found Sasuke and Sakura hiding nearby but virtually invisible. '_Good, the two of them are nicely hidden. But, where is…_' Before he could complete that thought, a very orange, very loud boy appeared several feet in front of him. '_Aahhh… There he is._'

"Come here and fight me, Sensei! I still have to pay you back for yesterday!" yelled the blonde preteen. Staring at the boy in front of him, Kakashi thought about what happened yesterday.

'_Did I do anything to Shorty? Hhmmm… I remember rereading my Icha Icha Paradise, having another idiotic match with Gai and coming here before going to the academy. When I was about to go in the classroom… Oh, that's what he means…_' Giving the angry boy in front of him a big smile, he said, "Ano… About yesterday… I'm sorry, Naruto, but I'm not interested in you that way and I happen to like the female anatomy much better than the male anatomy…"

With an enraged yell because of the crack at Naruto's sexual preferences (or so Kakashi thought), Naruto charged at him with both his hands fisted. Kakashi, seeing Naruto's rash action, stuffed his dominant hand in his pouch. Naruto saw this and, for once, listened to caution and waited. Kakashi then announced, "Shinobi lesson number one: taijutsu."

Naruto knew that taijutsu was hand-to-hand combat. But seeing Kakashi put his hand in his pouch, he couldn't help but think, "_Is he going to use a weapon?_' To the surprise of Naruto, as well as Sakura and Sasuke, Kakashi pulled out neither a weapon nor anything to help him in a fight. What he pulled out was a book with the words, Icha Icha Paradise on the cover.

A stunned silence fell over the training field. Kakashi looked up to see Naruto gawking at him, his jaw nearly reaching the floor. "Hey, what's wrong? Weren't you about to attack me just now?" Naruto then asked what the book was for since they were about to fight. Kakashi replied, "It's my favorite book and I like to see what happens next. But don't worry; it won't make any difference with you guys."

Shaking with rage, Naruto yelled as he sent a backhanded punch towards his teacher. "I'LL TOTALLY KICK YOU ASS!" The punch was block and Naruto followed up with a kick. Even though Kakashi was obviously giving more attention to his book than his attacking student, he still ducked under the unbalanced kick and got behind Naruto as he got into a squatting position behind the boy when he went for another punch. Naruto obviously missed and expressed his confusion rather intelligently. "Huh?"

From behind the rambunctious genin, Kakashi said, "A shinobi isn't supposed to get caught from behind… baka."

Sakura, who was hiding under a bush, saw that Kakashi's hands were clasped together with his middle and index fingers sticking out. '_No way! He's going to use a jutsu on Naruto!_' Sasuke saw the tiger seal as well and assumed that the older man was being totally serious about the training. Coming out from her hiding place, Sakura yelled a warning. "Naruto! Get away! He's going to use a jutsu!" Her warning was too late, unfortunately, and Kakashi unleashed his attack.

Now, the tiger seal is the last seal for a majority of katon jutsu thus Sakura's warning; instead of the flames both were expecting, their teacher simply got a maniacal glint in his eye and thrust forward… very quickly. "_**Konohagakure Hiden: Taijutsu no Ougi: Sennen Goroshi**_" With that, Naruto went flying… while holding on his poor abused behind… and landed in the nearby lake.

As Sakura and Sasuke were dissecting the mental and ethical stability of the other two members of the team, Naruto was in the lake doing some thinking. "_Kuso! How the hell can I get a bell from that open pervert? He's a jounin and I'm just a… genin…_" Coming to a realization, Naruto came up with a plan. He made a cross-shaped seal with both his middle and index fingers.

On land, Kakashi was busy reading his book and giggling perversely. '_He's reading and laughing… All this time, he was just playing with Naruto…_' Sakura thought with worry. She saw Naruto come out of the lake, sputtering to regain control of his breathing.

Kakashi came closer to the gasping boy and asked, "Do you need a break? I could always find Sakura or Sasuke while you rest up a bit." Though Kakashi did say that sincerely, it came out mocking and egotistical. The bells also seemed to be mocking him because they chose that particular moment to tinkle.

Yelling at the indignity of being mocked by both his teacher and a pair of ornaments, Naruto yelled, "Shut up. I can still fight on an empty stomach!" It was then that both his teammates realized just how hungry they were because of skipping a meal.

Voicing his disappointment, Kakashi turned his back on Naruto and said, "As a shinobi, one should not make excuses for one's weaknesses." As he was walking away from the boy, he heard seven splashes from behind him. Turning around, he saw eight kage bunshin getting out of the lake.

Sasuke and Sakura wondered about the jutsu Naruto just performed. Sasuke silently asked, '_What kind of jutsu is that?_' Sakura, on the other hand, marveled at the fact that the clones were real.

Kakashi did not appear worried because he knew that Naruto couldn't beat him no matter how many kage bunshin he makes. That jutsu also takes an insane amount of chakra to perform and Kakashi calculated that he only had a minute until Naruto runs out of chakra. He was, therefore, surprised when he felt someone roughly the same size as a short twelve-year-old grab him from behind. Seeing a bit of orange, he knew exactly who was on his back.

"Shinobi aren't supposed to get caught from behind. Right, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said with a bit of difficulty due to the position he was in and fatigue. Most of the other clones grabbed various parts of the jounin's body while another Naruto stated, "My ass still hurts from the ass poke you gave me and I still have to pay you back for what happened yesterday!" Pulling his fist back for a powerful punch, he yelled, "Take this, bastard!"

Both his teammates were impressed with Naruto's performance and were willing to finally acknowledge him. There was, however, one tiny setback. Instead of Naruto punching Kakashi, he punched another Naruto. '_Kuso!_' Naruto thought. '_He must have used __**Kawarimi no Jutsu **__and switched places with one of my kage bunshin._' The real Naruto quickly cancelled his _**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_ and several puffs of smoke appeared. With Plan A failing, Naruto used the smoke as cover to get to a hiding place. '_Commence Plan B after a bit of rest_.'

Sasuke, tired of watching the dobe of the class make a fool of himself, jumped from one tree to another to find the silver-haired man. It took him ten minutes before he found him leaning against a tree. He took out several kunai and shuriken and waited for the right moment. As Kakashi gave another giggle at the R-rated content, Sasuke flung his weapons at him with deadly aim and precision.

It seemed like the projectiles had hit their target, a bit too well as many of them could have caused serious injury. However, smoke enveloped the falling teacher and revealed a log that was skewered with the weapons he had just flung. Realizing he had just away his position, he quickly ran away from the immediate area.

* * *

Sakura was running from tree to tree in hopes of finding Sasuke. She wondered if their teacher had already dealt with Sasuke but immediately rejected the idea because Sasuke could handle himself very well. She noticed a flash of silver to her left and spotted Kakashi reading his perverted book. She hastily hid behind a bush and thought, '_Good. He hasn't noticed me yet_.'

"Sakura, behind you!" a voice suddenly said. Unconsciously following the command, she met the image of her teacher's masked face. The only thing she noticed was that his eye was opened widely before leaves appeared out of nowhere and danced in the wind then formed a tornado of leaves. When everything settled, she no longer saw her teacher right in front and the area was darker than usual.

"Sakura," a soft voice called from behind. Recognizing Sasuke's voice, she immediately called back. She turned around and saw Sasuke, who was leaning against a tree. She rushed to him and asked her crush if he was hurt.

Sasuke shook his head. "I have something to tell you before anything else happens."

"What is it, Sasuke-kun?" The boy she loved was acting strangely but that could just be from the stress of this test. Besides, she would get to privately talk with him. In a romance-driven fantasy, she imagined that he was about to confess his feelings for her.

"I know you like me but there's someone else I like." In a heartbroken manner, Sakura asked who it was. "The one I like is Naruto." Horror filled the female with the larger than average forehead and a tear slid down her face. A dismayed scream soon filled the air and Sakura fainted.

From a high branch of a sturdy tree, Kakashi was reading his book as he watched the little drama Sakura presented. Speaking to himself, he pondered on the intensity of the psychological damage he did to the poor girl. "Perhaps I overdid it just a wee bit." Flipping to the next page, he added, "But she should have noticed if it was real or not."

* * *

Sasuke also heard the scream. Realizing it was Sakura's voice, he deduced that Kakashi must have gotten to her as well. Behind him, Kakashi casually turned another page while saying, "Shinobi lesson number two: Genjutsu. Apparently, Sakura is very susceptible to visions of you confessing your heartfelt feelings for Naruto."

Sasuke glared at his teacher and restrained himself from screaming that he wasn't gay. He took a deep breath to calm himself. Stomping on the urge to strangle the man, he said, "I'm not the same as them." Turning around, he decided to get serious from the get go and pass this mockery of a training session.

"You should say that when you finally gotten a bell from me, Sasuke-kun." Lowering his book, he said, "The lone survivor of one of the village's most powerful clan, the Uchiha Clan. This should be interesting, don't you think?" Both fighters stared each other down, trying to find a weakness. By some nonexistent signal, Sasuke reached into his shuriken holster and flung three shuriken right at the older male. Easily leaping out of the way, Kakashi said, "Such obvious attacks are useless, Sasuke."

As he looked at the boy in front of him, he saw him smirk. Glancing at the passing weapons, he noticed one had just cut a wire. Several blurs came at him, barely giving him time to dodge them. Kakashi saw kunai and shuriken that were deeply imbedded into the tree trunk.

He had little time to ponder as Sasuke had gotten behind him and launched a kick at his head. He was able to escape injury by blocking the kick and grabbing the violent boy's leg. Sasuke countered by swinging his fist back while he still had some momentum and tried for another headshot. Again, Kakashi blocked and Sasuke tried to deliver another kick to his head by adjusting his center of balance and flipping over.

Kakashi hardly had a chance to block before Sasuke's hand quickly shot to his waist, where he had tied the bells. Realizing that he had left the bells unguarded, Kakashi inwardly cursed and flung the boy away from him as well as bending forward to keep Konoha's Last Uchiha from getting his prize. The result was that Sasuke's fingertips barely brushed the metal circumference of a bell before Kakashi was able to put some distance between them.

Kakashi was impressed with Sasuke's performance. '_What a guy,_' the jounin thought. '_I didn't even have a chance to read my Icha Icha Paradise_.' Aloud, he said, "I have to admit that you are very different from the other two. Your skills are on a much different level than both Sakura and Naruto."

Ignoring his teacher's words of praise, he quickly went through a series of hand seals. He ended with the tiger seal and announced the name of the jutsu before taking a deep breath. "_**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu**_!" to say Kakashi was surprised would not give the expression on his face (eye?) justice. He was down right shocked that a mere genin could have enough chakra to perform the C-rank jutsu. A giant fireball came from Sasuke and scorched the ground where Kakashi was. When the jutsu was cancelled, a crater was shown but there were no signs of the masked shinobi.

Sasuke wasn't naïve enough to think that he killed his teacher with that jutsu. He knew that he had somehow evaded the fire and began looking for him. '_He's not in the air nor on the side… Where is he?_'

A familiar voice asked his unspoken question, "Below you." What shocked the young avenger was not the unseen voice but also hand that grabbed on to his leg. "_**Doton: Shinjuu Zanshuu no Jutsu**_!" With a quick and strong pull, Sasuke found himself staring at the feet of his jounin instructor. Realizing that he was buried neck deep in dirt, he looked up and saw the man once again reading his perverted book. "Shinobi lesson number three: Ninjutsu. I have to admit, Sasuke. You're much further along in this respect than the other two though Naruto could catch up with a bit of training." He took his leave after that.

* * *

While Sasuke tried to retrieve a bell from Kakashi, Naruto was able to regain some of his lost energy and find Sakura. He had been able to guess what happened here since Kakashi had used taijutsu with him and would have probably used ninjutsu with Sasuke. It took him some time to rouse the girl from her horror-induced faint and even more time to get her to calm down and stop attacking him and yelling "I won't let you take my Sasuke-kun away from me!" During all that, the pink-haired genin punched numerous holes in trees and almost broke his jaw with a well-executed kick.

When he suggested that they find Sasuke so they could work together to get the bells, Sakura just screamed Sasuke's name and ran off, leaving Naruto behind. Cursing under his breath, Naruto decided to find Sasuke himself. He just hoped he had more luck convincing that bastard to work with him. Of course, he knew that the chances of that happening were slim, but he was desperate at this point.

He found Sasuke rather quickly and almost succeeded in suppressing his laughter at the sight of his 'severed head' and Sakura's unconscious form. He roused Sakura once more and both got to work getting Sasuke out of the hole in the ground. Once that was done, he once again tried to get the two of them to work with him. "Guys, I have an idea on how to pass the test."

"Shut up, Naruto," Sasuke snapped. "I don't need any help from a dobe like you. I already touched a bell. I'll get it next time."

"There's also not much time until lunch. We should just try harder again next… time," Sakura offered her suggestion but was quickly silenced by a glare from Sasuke. He got up to leave and try his luck to get a bell once more before he was tackled to the ground.

"Damn it, Sasuke! For once, stop thinking about yourself and listen!" Naruto yelled from on top of the other boy. As if to wake the Uchiha up, he gave him a hard punch to the face. Sakura was too stunned to do anything and Sasuke was surprised at Naruto's actions. "We're only genin! We don't have a chance at beating Kakashi-sensei unless we try doing it together. Also, the point of this entire test wasn't to get the bells but to-" Before Naruto could say anything else, the completely forgotten alarm clock rang.

In a swirl of leaves, Kakashi arrived at the scene and said, "Time's up." He pulled Naruto off Sasuke and directed them to the training logs. Once there, he quickly tied up Naruto and quickly gave his announcement before Naruto could protest to the rough handling. "About today's training, the only one who has to go back to the academy is Naruto." He allowed Sakura to celebrate for a while as it drowned out the sound of Naruto's complaining. Once, both of them quieted down, he continued, "Naruto can take the Genin Exam again next year. The two of you, however, should quit as shinobi!" The tone he used left no doubt in their minds that the silver-haired man before them was dead serious. Shock was evident on the faces of the genin hopefuls present.

Sakura was able to get over the shock quickly. "What do you mean Sasuke and I should quit as shinobi. It's true that we couldn't get the bells but Naruto was no closer to getting one than Sasuke!"

Kakashi readily supplied them with an answer. "It's because the two of you are just punks who don't deserve to become shinobi." Pure rage coursed through Sasuke's veins. In a short moment of rashness, Sasuke once again lunged at Kakashi, not even bothering to arm himself this time. He ignored the cries from his teammates and was rewarded for his enraged efforts to hurt the one responsible for keeping him from getting more power with a face full of dirt and a foot keeping his head down. Kakashi was sitting on his back to keep him from struggling. From his comfortable position, Kakashi easily taunted the boy under him, "This is why you're a punk."

Ignoring Sakura's demand not to step on Sasuke, Kakashi shot his female student a glare. "Are you underestimating shinobi?" he snarled at the girl. The fact that only a very small fraction of his face was visible made him even more threatening. "Why do you think you were divided into teams and were assigned to do this training?" His voice was angry and full of malice. Sakura asked what he meant, stuttering as she did so.

He softened his expression somewhat and explained, "The two of you did not understand the answer to this simple test. Naruto got it somewhat when he used _**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **_and understood the reason for this test in its entirety before he woke you up the first time, Sakura."

Hearing this, Sakura turned to Naruto who simply said, "Teamwork." Shifting as much as he could, he continued, "My guess is that if we had worked together in the first place, we would have passed even if we didn't get the bells. Right, Kakashi-sensei?" A simple nod was given.

"Sakura," Kakashi started. "Naruto gave you two opportunities to work with him. The first time, you rejected him in favor of Sasuke, whose location you did not know and the second time was when you wanted to give up." He applied a bit more pressure to the foot on Sasuke's head before he gave his analysis of his performance. "Sasuke, you just assumed that the others would get in your way and tried to do everything yourself. Even the fact that you needed their help to escape from my last attack did not give you a hint on what you had to do in order to pass this test." He relieved the additional pressure he put on Sasuke but kept a firm hold on the boy.

"The duties of a shinobi are done AS A TEAM," Kakashi stressed. "Of course individual skill is important to a shinobi but teamwork is more important. Individual play that disrupts teamwork can endanger your comrades as well as get them killed. For example…" He reached behind him and took out a kunai and placed it near Sasuke's throat before yelling. "Sakura, kill Naruto or Sasuke dies!"

Needless to say, both Sakura and Naruto were shocked at what was just said. Kakashi ignored them and got off Sasuke. "You see? You must make tough decisions or someone will die. You will be risking your lives and the lives of your comrades in these duties.

Sakura, however, noticed the bells hanging onto Kakashi's jounin jacket. "But if teamwork was the answer all along, why are there only two bells?"

Looking over his shoulder, Kakashi answered. "The bells were used to see if you could all work towards a common goal and put individual needs aside." He walked towards the Memorial stone, where numerous names of shinobi who were killed in action were carved. As if coming to a decision, he said, "I'll give you guys one more chance. After lunch, I'll make it harder for you all to get the bells. However, don't give any to Naruto; it's his punishment for intentionally attacking a fellow shinobi." Turning to face them once more, he gave them another threatening look and said, "I am the law here, got it?" With that, he left them to their meal.

All was quiet for a while as Sasuke and Sakura ate. Every once in a while, Naruto's stomach would growl loudly. Sasuke quickly scanned the area for their teacher but didn't find him. He held his lunch to Naruto and simply said, "Here." The brunette's actions surprised both Naruto and Sakura because he was directly disobeying Kakashi's orders and he was thinking about someone other than himself.

"I don't sense Kakashi-sensei near here," Sasuke interrupted Sakura as she voiced her worry. "If we're all going to get the bells after lunch, the dobe has to eat or else he'll be useless when we have to act."

Both were in awe at Sasuke's new outlook on the concept of solidarity (even though Naruto was insulted that he was called useless). Sakura also held up her lunch to Naruto and gave him a small smile.

With a big grin of his own, Naruto said, "Sasuke, Sakura-chan…" he began. "It's not that I don't appreciate the gesture but I can't eat." Sasuke and Sakura looked at Naruto in shock. Both knew he was probably starving if the volume coming from his stomach was anything to go by and that he needed the energy if he was to do anything useful in their second attempt.

"For starters," Naruto explained. "I did attack Sasuke and that really can't go unpunished. Kakashi-sensei values his team more than anything else if what he said counts. Secondly, I can't eat because my hands are tied…" To stress his point, he tried to move his hands to get the food from his teammates but couldn't even move away from the training post.

With drops of sweat on their heads, Sasuke and Sakura saw that their teammate had a point. Sighing, Sakura got up and was about to feed the boy after angrily reminding him that this was only going to happen once when a big cloud of smoke appeared and revealed Kakashi.

He looked so enraged that his rules were ignored that his entire eye took an unnatural white color. Sakura threw her arms before her face as if to ward away an evil spirit and Sasuke tensed and got ready to attack. As Sasuke and Sakura were kneeling down at this point and Naruto was rather short to begin with, Kakashi definitely had the advantage of height, as well as intimidation. "You guys…" he practically growled at them. The next word that came out of his mouth surprised them all as it was said rather happily. "Pass."

Silence reigned for a while until Sakura asked why they passed in a shocked voice. "You guys are the first," Kakashi explained. "All the others were just a bunch of idiots who just did as they were told. Naruto was right when he said I value my team because those who break the rules are trash; those who don't care about their comrades are lower than trash. It's something I had to learn the hard way."

He quickly undid the rope restraining Naruto and gave them a thumbs-up. "That's the end of training and all of you pass! Team 7 will officially begin their duties tomorrow!" Cheering came from both Naruto and Sakura and Sasuke even had a pleased smirk adorning his face. He offered to treat them to lunch as long as it wasn't ramen and they all gladly accepted (though Naruto had to make a show of disappointment). As they were walking away from the training field, Kakashi took Naruto aside and asked, "Oi, Naruto… Do you think you could put in a good word for me when you meet Karasu-sensei again?" The boy was puzzled at his teacher's request until it dawned on him.

"You like Karasu-sensei too, don't you, Sensei?" No words were exchanged between them until they got to a restaurant.

* * *

Omake #1: Sex ED with Consequences

"Oh, kids," Kakashi called out in a singsong voice. It was the kind of tone that made those older than eight years old wary, especially coming from a morally questionable adult like their jōnin instructor. They cautiously approached him.

Kakashi had an evil grin under his mask. "I've just gone through the academy's curriculum and I found something _very_ troubling," he said with an exaggerated note. "You're all old enough now and as two out of three of you don't have an adult to properly explain this topic, I've taken it upon myself to educate all three of you to save time." The small hint of his smile has never looked so frightening to his students. "It's time to give all of you the Talk."

All three blushed at the implications of the last two words but stayed where they were. At first, the lesson wasn't that bad. Kakashi started with the changes there bodies were experiencing without being invasive or offensive to either sexes and moved on to more… sensitive topics about human reproduction, sexual contact and STDs. It made the genin more aware about that topic and made Sakura decide to wait until she's older to have Uchiha babies.

However, Kakashi's idea of wrapping up the lesson was to read the exciting parts of his Icha Icha Paradise. The three genin tried to escape at that point but were restrained by their scarily enthusiastic teacher.

Most of Konoha noticed the odd behavior of Team 7 after that lesson. Sakura shied away from any male above the age of ten except her father and, occasionally, Sasuke. Naruto was more wary of people in general and developed a nervous twitch. Sasuke had also taken more extreme measures to avoid his fangirls, including using non-lethal traps.

Finally, Karasu confronted Naruto. She had simply asked why they were acting oddly and the blonde blushed as he mumbled. She couldn't catch more than a few words such as "Kakashi", "book" and "hogtied" but it made perfect sense to the academy teacher.

The day after, word spread about a certain jōnin's hospitalization and their possible connection to the furious yells of Karasu about being "an immoral and irresponsible bastard who poison the minds of the innocent."

* * *

Glossary:

Ano: Uhmm…

Dobe: dead last

Kuso: damn it

Ninjutsu: ninja technique

Shuriken: ninja star

Taijutsu: hand to hand combat

Jutsu list:

Doton:Shinjuu Zanshuu no Jutsu= Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique; user conceals themselves underground and drags the object of their attack down only the head and neck are free

Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu= Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique; the user breathes in and blows to make a ball of fire that hurls itself at the target

Kawarimi no Jutsu: Replacement Technique; allows user to switch places with a nearby object

Konohagakure Hiden Taijutsu no Ougi: Sennen Goroshi= Konoha Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique: One Thousand Years of Pain; a very hard butt poke

WWWHHHEEEEE! 11 pages! My longest chapter yet! I hope you all enjoyed. Questions, comments and **useful** criticism are very welcome while flames shall be burned by Sasuke's _**Goukakyuu no Jutsu**_and go back towhere they belong.

Thanks again for taking time to read my story. See you all again next time (hopefully, it's next week)!


	8. Chapter 7

I finally had time to write the next chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

Omake #2: Karasu the Mother Hen

While Karasu was quite displeased that he would drink so early in the morning and in front of her former students, the kunoichi reminded herself constantly that the man was a client and beating him up would be bad business… even if she did feel justified for doing so. Besides, the Hokage had asked her to assure the old man about abilities of Team 7 and would be disappointed in her if she were to do so.

"I'm super sure that the loud blonde one will run around like a super fool," Tazuna muttered.

Karasu's eye twitched at the complaint against the genin she had taken care of. '_Must not maim client_…' The young lady had been repeating this mantra since she left with the bridge builder. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Naruto-kun has made vast accomplishments even before graduating the academy, Tazuna-san. He and his teammates will be able to protect you and Kakashi-sensei, one of our best jōnin, will also be there."

They approached the gate and saw that Kakashi was waiting for them. "Yo, Karasu-sensei, Tazuna-san," he greeted the pair with a smile. Karasu returned the greeting with one of her own. Not long after, the rest of the team arrived.

However, Naruto started attacking the silver-haired shinobi for no reason whatsoever while Sasuke and Sakura guarded their academy teacher and their client. "Just what are you doing?" Karasu screamed.

"That's not Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke growled. He glared at the man who was dodging Naruto's attacks with practiced ease.

"He's clearly an imposter!" Sakura explained. "Sensei would arrive hours late and give a stupid excuse. He also doesn't have his book out and he isn't fawning over you like he usually does."

"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" the teacher yelled as she broke through the two-man barrier and made to stop Naruto from assaulting his teacher. After convincing the genin that Kakashi wasn't an imposter, she said her goodbyes. "Be careful on the road, Naruto, and look out for your teammates. Listen to Kakashi-sensei only when it comes to the mission and throw something at him if he takes out that disgusting book around you." At this, the silver-haired jōnin tried to argue but was silenced by a glare. "Don't talk to strangers and remember to take a break from training every now and then. Don't pick up anything strange on your way to Nami no Kuni and back and don't fight with Sasuke-kun too much, all right? Make sure to brush your teeth, wash behind your ears and dry your hair before going to bed. Did you pack your weapons? Snacks? Extra clothes? Clean under-"

"YES!" the embarrassed boy screamed before his older sister figure could continue. He had a bright blush on his face at the attention she was giving him and took the opportunity to hide his face when the chūnin hugged him. She gave the other two genin a similar yet less embarrassing treatment before saying goodbye to Tazuna.

"Kakashi-sensei, may I speak to you privately?" The older ninja nodded. When they had semi-privacy, she spoke. "If any of them are hurt, Hatake, you will regret it!" she hissed. "I don't want them to get so much as a scraped knee between the three of them when they get back and they better not come home upset because of something that happened on a simple mission! If anything happens to them and you could have prevented it, some of my friends in the Torture and Investigation Force will have a new toy to play with once you get out of the hospital! Do you understand me?"

The glare froze Kakashi's blood in his veins and he could almost see the fires of female wrath behind the petite woman. While he still thought she looked attractive when she was angry, the jōnin didn't have a death wish. He nodded slowly and the pair made their way back to the rest of the group. She gave copynin one final glare as she said goodbye to the others. He only relaxed once they entered the forest. '_How is she still a chūnin_?' he asked himself.

Hidden under a complex genjutsu were two men wearing black cloaks decorated with red clouds. They had observed the group as the academy teacher bid them farewell. The taller tried to stifle his laughter at what he just saw. The shorter, on the other hand, used to live in Konoha and had encounters with the woman before. Thus he was familiar with the tanned kunoichi's mother hen and mama bear tendencies. "…Karasu-san has mellowed over the years," he said to himself. His companion heard him and gawked at the information.

* * *

Chapter 7: Secrets and an Encounter

The pink-haired genin of Team 7 was panting on the forest floor while her teammates strove continuously to master the exercise. Because of their larger chakra reserves, they had more difficulty with the exercise but they were steadily improving.

A lot of things had changed in the past two days when they received their first C-rank mission. They discovered that the client, Tazuna, had given false information about the mission parameters when they were ambushed by a pair of chūnin-level nukenin. They then heard the situation in Nami no Kuni and were basically conned into continuing the mission despite the fact that they had the right to abandon it. They were attacked by the Devil of the Hidden Mist, Momochi Zabuza, and it was only through Naruto's unorthodox yet effective plan and the timely arrival of two Kiri oinin that they lived through that encounter.

They were now intensifying their training as their teacher theorized that Zabuza may still be alive and the oinin were working with the man. As he was incapacitated and forbidden to do much exercise by Sakura and Tsunami, he had them continue with the tree climbing exercise. While she easily mastered it before they left Konoha, she could only run up a tree three times before tiring. The boys however, were not yet able to climb the entire tree but they didn't need to take breaks between their runs.

She continued her training as she pondered about her teammates. She had been admiring Sasuke for years but, if she was truly honest with herself, she knew nothing personal about the boy except what he allowed himself to reveal since they first became a team. He was almost every girls dream boy: handsome even at a young age with deep dark eyes and pale skin, from a rich and politically powerful shinobi clan, a prodigy. His bad boy image only made him more popular with the girls in the academy. Other than that, she didn't know anything until a few weeks ago.

Naruto was almost his exact opposite. He was the class clown when he bothered to show up to class and was the village's biggest prankster since she could remember. While his blonde hair and blue eyes were quite beautiful, the orange jumpsuit he wore made girls avoid him. Even adults were hostile towards him for one reason or another and told their children not to socialize with him even though he was a kind and sweet person once you get passed the annoying traits he possessed. Like her crush, she also didn't know very much about the blonde as her parents told her to stay away from him ever since she was little.

Sakura was so focused on her teammates that she failed to realize that she was reaching her limit. The boys would check on her progress and grew concerned when they saw how distracted she was. They quickly abandoned their own training and prepared to catch her when she fell. Soon enough, she ran out of chakra. Sakura realized how tired she was almost instantly and didn't have the energy to shift her body position. She prepared for impact but felt two pairs of steady arms catch her instead of the harsh crash with the ground. "Are you alright, Sakura?" she heard Naruto ask.

"You should rest," Sasuke said. He had a concerned expression on his face. The pink-haired girl lowered her gaze, thinking that Sasuke was implying she was weak.

Seeing this, Naruto spoke up. "You ran more than twice as long as usual so we got worried." Sasuke confirmed it with a nod.

"Is everything okay?" Sasuke asked. He knew that Sakura was often alert, especially when he was around, so seeing her out of focus was troubling. The girl in question failed to stop a blush but nodded. Naruto, feeling that the two could use a moment alone, shifted until Sasuke supported Sakura's entire weight before taking his hands away and told the two he'd come back with something for them to eat then train somewhere else. When the two gave him a questioning look, he gave them a grin and simply said that three was a crowd. He watched in fascination as their faces took an identical shade of tomato red before leaving. He came back and left after handing Sasuke two bentō.

* * *

Ito practically whistled a happy tune as she wandered away from her teammates. She had undone the genjutsu once she was far enough and was relieved to be herself again. She loved her Naruto genjutsu as it allowed her to do things that were almost exclusive to boys but she hated the fact that she had to act like a complete moron.

On a more self-admiring note, she missed feeling her long hair and hated the orange monstrosity. Her blonde hair had a few strands of red and reached the middle of her back. She wore a black and dark red jacket over a fit dark orange sleeveless shirt with black and dark red pants. Her hitai-ate was tied proudly around her forehead with a black cloth.

Pausing mid-step, the blonde wondered how her team would react when they find out both her secrets. When she became a genin, she told herself that she would either keep her secrets safe or tell them to her team should she come to trust them. Right now, she couldn't say that she would trust them with her life but it was getting there at an alarming rate, especially since they've been teammates for only two months. Would they reject her because of Kyu-jisan and the fact that Naruto didn't actually exist? Would Sasuke go easy on her during training? Would Sakura think that she's a lesbian for asking her out so many times as Naruto or worse, see her as a monster like her mother does?

Kyuubi partially materialized outside of Ito's mindscape, looking like an illusion. Ito had grown used to seeing him like this or fully materialized as he would often do so when they were alone or in the company of Karasu and the Hokage. Surprisingly, the three got along wonderfully after the initial shock and wariness when the fox revealed that he was controlled to attack Konoha... and after he stopped flirting with the academy teacher and calling the Hokage a cross dresser to his face. "Don't think too much of it, Chibi," Kyuubi said. "You went through the same with Wallflower but things went well with her, remember?"

True, Hinata had been the first to discover her secret. She had just learned how to activate her Byakugan and was practicing in the schoolyard. Ito, on the other hand, was in the classroom with Karasu and the Hokage who were teaching her how to undo and redo the genjutsu on her own. They had to calm the heiress down and explain to her with the help of Hiashi. The atmosphere was tense between the two for days as all knew about Hinata's crush on Naruto but she got over it.

"Thanks, Jisan." She stopped under a tall tree and started eating. As she ate, she thought about the two girls who pretended to be oinin. The fox had told her that while they came off as cocky and uncaring, he didn't sense any intent to harm them, not even her teacher or Tazuna. "Kyuu-jisan. Is there a chance that Zabuza doesn't really want to kill Tazuna-san too?"

"There's a chance, Chibi. I couldn't tell very well since Rice Cake (1) was fighting Cyclops. From what I could tell before the fight, he does want to kill someone but I doubt it's Meatball (Tazuna). Who knows? He could want to take out some idiot for making moves on his mate."

"Yeah, there's tha…Wait a minute! His mate?"

"Yup. Rice Cake is with the older of the oinin pair. The younger one isn't their kit but the two of them probably treat her like it anyway," the fox mused. "If there's one thing I learned about you ningen, it's that you have a habit of taking in young even if it's not your own, like the way Black Bird and the old cross dresser did with you."

A smile graced Ito's lips as she remembered her surrogate big sister and her grandfather figure. "Yeah. I guess you're right…and for the last time, Hokage-jiisan wears a robe!"

"If it looks like a dress and is worn as a dress, then it's a dress, Chibi Ito-chan," Kyuubi smirked as Ito sent curses his way. The fox laughed at the fuming girl. He then returned to Ito's mindscape, which now resembled a meadow. From there, the fox smirked evilly as he watched what was about to happen through Ito's eyes.

Almost as soon as the fox retreated back into his jailer, she saw someone almost hidden behind a tree. He was a few years older than her and had a stern look in his eyes. He looked familiar for some reason but Ito couldn't put her finger on it. The boy wore a black cloak with red clouds spread about. He had a dangerous aura around him, however, what put her on edge was the fact that the older boy had a hitai-ate with a horizontal slash that marked him as a nukenin. She quickly armed herself with kunai and waited for him to make the first move.

Itachi had been observing the genin all morning. He wanted to confirm Kakashi's status. He was supposed to return after that but felt that it was important to keep an eye on the genin. After all, he had psychologically attacked his little brother five years ago and he felt like a complete and utter jackass. While he did it in order to protect his brother, it still hurt knowing that he was the reason Sasuke changed from a dependent yet happy little boy to the brooding avenger before him. _'At least he was able to get some friends,'_ the older Uchiha thought as he recalled how the two boys on the team interacted yesterday. He noticed that the girl was also showing genuine interest in him.

Also, he wanted to observe the blonde. There was something odd about the boy and it had little to do with the fact that he was the container of the Kyuubi. His actions showed that he was a reckless and loud person and yet his body language and strategies suggested that he was more intelligent and competent.

He felt the boy gather his chakra and tensed, ready to take him out in case he somehow sensed him. Instead, a cloud of smoke engulfed the boy. When the smoke cleared, a longhaired girl took his place. Much of her features matched that of Naruto yet she had a different air around her. Still, he was hesitant to say that the girl and Naruto were one and the same.

However, all doubts were erased when the red figure appeared out of nowhere. Itachi knew that high-level demons have a secondary humanoid form; the red fox ears gave away his identity as the Kyuubi. '_They seem to be in good terms_,' he thought. Just to be sure, he decided to investigate further.

He watched her for a bit and learned that Ito was the complete opposite of the knucklehead Naruto appeared to be. She was alert, insightful and obviously intelligent. When the Kyuubi disappeared, he made his presence known. He didn't know why he did it; he wasn't impulsive no matter how much one stretched the word.

Yet, he allowed himself to be spotted by the blonde genin as soon as Kyuubi's form disappeared. He watched as she armed herself in a swift movement that most chūnin would envy and stayed still to assess his movements. Itachi's lips twitched upwards by a fraction and whispered. Though it was almost inaudible, it carried to the young girl who froze as she processed the words. He took his leave after that, barely stirring the grass.

Ito didn't move until long after the older boy left. It took her uncle a sharp mental jab to get her to eat her lunch and go back to training. What he said rang through her mind as she fought to calm her breathing. "I think I'm in big trouble..." she said to herself. Those six words scared her in ways she couldn't imagine before today. Yet she knew those words would haunt her in one way or another.

"_I know your secrets, Uzumaki Naruto."_

_

* * *

_

Naruto laid his head on the table. He had spent the rest of the afternoon simultaneously training until he mastered the exercise and worrying about the oddly dressed boy. At least he now knew why he looked vaguely familiar. He was practically an older version of Sasuke.

He was tired and inwardly panicking as he thought of the older teen. Kyuubi told him not to tell her teacher for some reason; the fox had never steered him wrong before so he did as asked. However, the paranoia and guilt for keeping it a secret was getting to him.

Across the table, a young boy glared at him. Inari couldn't take it anymore. While the other genin also trained to improve themselves, Inari just can't stand the blonde. He reminded him far too much of his father with his determination and optimism. It was as if history was going to repeat itself. Inari didn't want to see him die like his father. "Why are you trying so hard? Niichan will just get killed for a country you don't even belong to!" the distraught boy yelled at the blonde seated across him. "You have no idea what we've been through and yet you think your being here can make it all better!" He glared at the genin in front of him, trying to get him to understand.

Everyone in the room stayed silent and let the little boy rant. When he finished, everyone stared at Naruto, wondering what his reaction would be. "Unlike you," Naruto said calmly, "I will not be a character of a tragedy. I won't sit back and watch when people need help." He stood up and walked beside Inari who was a bit intimidated by the unusually tense blonde. "Also, while it's true I don't know how much this country's suffered because of Gatou." A moment later, the loud sound of skin hitting skin was heard in the small room followed by a crash as Inari fell to the floor. Inari raised a shaky hand up to his reddened cheek as he looked up to cold sorrowful eyes. "But you also have no idea how it is to be hated and nearly killed before you're even old enough to know why." He made his way out of the room, telling Kakashi that he was going to blow off some steam. The silver-haired teacher merely nodded.

Silence reigned in the wooden house. Sakura, her face pale with shock and worry, finally broke the silence by asking their teacher if what the blue-eyed genin said was true. He sighed before answering. "For reasons that I can't tell you, I was one of many who were assigned to watch over Naruto before becoming your sensei." He looked at his two remaining students seriously and said with sadness and guilt. "Sasuke, Sakura, look underneath the underneath because nothing about Naruto is what it seems. I'll start giving you some jutsu to study in the morning." He then hobbled to his room, signaling the end of their conversation.

* * *

Inari stared at the ever-moving waters just outside his home as he thought about what was said some time ago. He had thought that the boy was only an idiot from a safe village and a happy home with the way he smiled and went through his day. Obviously, he was wrong. He heard nothing but the water slapping against the foundation of the house so was surprised when one of the shinobi his grandfather hired sat beside him.

Neither said a word for a while; they just listened to the water. Sasuke turned to the ashamed boy. "Naruto," he said, "is an idiot most of the time but what he said was for your benefit." He got no response and was truly not expecting one. "He grew up alone and is probably wondering why you're like this even though you still have your mother and grandfather." Inari nodded in shame as he was reminded of what the blonde's life was like in his own home. "He also knows what it means to be strong."

Inari sat deep in thought before asking the young avenger how he could know what Naruto was trying to tell him. "You lost your father that day." Sasuke stared up at the evening sky. "Naruto didn't have anyone until we were assigned to the same team. In one night, my family was taken away by a man I thought I could trust. He and I are also the same and we're both sick of crying when there's something we can do."

Sasuke went back inside and encountered the older shinobi who was reading his book. He cheekily smiled at his student and said, "You have a weird way of comforting someone, Sa-su-ke." The Uchiha cringed at the singsong way Kakashi said his way and grunted. He ignored the annoying pervert and went to his room to sleep.

* * *

(1) Japanese have different ways to write words that sound the same so even though Momochi really means peach earth, I used 'mochi' which means rice cakes since it's cuter.

Glossary:

Kiri: mist

Nami no Kuni: Wave Country

Ningan: human

Nukenin: missing nin; ninjas who deserted their villages

Oinin: hunter nin; ninjas who are assigned to hunt down deserters


End file.
