Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto. I do not own this story idea either. This a challenge fic issued by Dracohalo117

Chapter 1 - Do I want to be a shinobi?

6:27 a.m. – Saturday October 17

It had been 24 hours since Naruto last slept. His eyes were heavy and all he wanted to do was fall asleep and forget everything. However, thoughts of his tenant wouldn't let him. 'Kyuubi' Naruto thought as he stared at his ceiling in the same position he'd been in for the last four hours. It had only been a day since Naruto felt like he was ready to take on the world. He was going to ace the exams, Sakura would fall in love with him, everyone would see him as being better than Sasuke after he beat him out for Rookie of the Year, and more importantly he'd officially be a ninja and one step closer to being the Hokage. Less than a day had passed and all of that seemed a distant dream. Now he felt as if he was in some never ending nightmare.

What could have happened to change things so dramatically for the normally cheery blond? First he was so excited about finally passing the exams that he almost overslept nearly late for the exam and was made a fool of by Kiba who tripped him when he went to take his seat. The whole class laughed at him even those he considered his friends, well except one. The timid, pale eyed, blue haired girl merely watched him with concern evident in her eyes. Naruto at first had trouble placing the girl as he didn't remember her in any of the classes, but realization dawned on him. 'Oh yeah that's the girl who feints all the time' Naruto thought. Pushing that aside Naruto got himself ready for what he was sure would be the hardest part of the exam for him … the written test.

When Naruto was finally given his test he looked it over and immediately frowned. Naruto knew something was wrong with his test as there were questions about things he didn't think he'd be able to answer even when he became Hokage. Some of the questions didn't even have anything to do with any subject that should be taught in a school ninja or civilian. What kept him from calling for help was the look Mizuki gave him as he started to raise his hand. It was the same look the villagers gave him on 'those' days. So Naruto did what Naruto does and tried his best to answer even a few of the questions. When time was called Naruto had answered all of the questions even if it was only a guess. It took half an hour for all the papers to be collected and graded. Naruto could only frown when he saw the look Iruka gave him as he graded what could only be his paper.

A few minutes later everyone was headed outside when Iruka grabbed him and held him back for a minute while everyone else including Mizuki went on ahead. "Naruto what's the meaning of this?" Iruka questioned as he held out a blank test paper in front of Naruto's face. "What's the meaning of what Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked confused as to why he was shoving a blank paper in his face. "Don't try to act confused with me Naruto. This is your test paper. Now explain to me why you felt you didn't even have to answer one question or even fill in your name?" Iruka asked angrily. Naruto was shocked and wondered what could have happened. "But, but, but I did my test. I even answered all those ridiculously hard questions that ojiisan probably wouldn't know the answers to" Naruto said defending himself. He kept the part about guessing those answers to himself.

Iruka's anger was rising. "Look Naruto, you don't have to lie to me. If you didn't know the answers then you didn't know, but you could have at least tried to answer them" Iruka says. Iruka was slightly proud of himself for how he was handling the situation and allowed a small smile to grace his face. 'I did try' Naruto thought as he looked at the paper then something hit him. "Hey wait a second!" Naruto shouted. "My paper had way harder questions than these. My test had questions like 'Who was the first person to use chakra?' and 'What was the first jutsu ever used?' not 'Where does the Hokage live?'. I could actually answer a question like that. I spent most of my time guessing and trying to come up with reasonable answers to stupid questions like 'How does Konoha's sewer system work?' Naruto says wondering what was going on, but had a good idea. Iruka was getting angrier with every word Naruto spoke trying to defend his stupidity until he had enough.

"NARUTO SHUT UP! Don't you dare try to defend your stupidity by saying you got the wrong test. I'm tired of this Naruto. Every year it's the same thing. You fail to do the simplest things even when I try so hard to help you then make up some lame excuse …" Iruka stopped mid rant and sighed as he looked at Naruto who had his head down. "I'm done Naruto. I can no longer help you. This is your last chance. Fail any of the remaining tests and you will have to be content with being a civilian and doing the best you can to survive. I honestly question if you and any possible teammates you would get wouldn't be better off if you didn't graduate" Iruka says as he walks away. Unbeknownst to Iruka he had sparked a thought in Naruto that he had never truly considered. 'How bad could it be to be a civilian?' He thought. Still, he was determined to be a ninja and not just any ninja, but one of the best for his jiji.

With that thought in mind Naruto went on to pass if only barely the kunai and shuriken throwing portion of the test. Survive and pass the taijutsu portion even though in his opinion Mizuki went harder on him than anyone else. The only test left would be a test of ninjutsu. This had Naruto really nervous as they could be tested on any three of the five D and E rank jutsu they were taught in the academy. Of course Naruto was never taught any of them and had to rely on what he saw as others performed the jutsu's. Still, he had managed to learn four of the five jutsu even if they weren't exactly like the other kids. Naruto prayed to every deity that he knew of for help passing the test and make sure he didn't get the only jutsu of the possible five he couldn't even fake passing, but like always his prayers went unanswered.

Naruto flashed forward to him sitting outside the academy and watching the other kids as they were either congratulated or consoled by family and friends. He could only dream that some day that would be him. 'The only way that's happening is if I make my own family with a woman who loves me' Naruto thought. Despite what he proclaimed and led others to believe Naruto wasn't in love with Sakura and knew she was not that girl. No Naruto had long since seen her for what she was … a violent fangirl with serious mental issues and most likely a permanently underdeveloped body (He saw her mother a lot due to the council trying to have him killed at least once a week). So why had he continued to follow her around like a love sick idiot and allow her to continuously beat on him day after day after day? The answer was if she did it the others would not figuring he had been humiliated and beaten enough for all of them. One punch no matter how hard was infinitely better than groups or gangs with fists who would do more than throw punches. Naruto wondered if there would ever be a girl in Konoha that could love him.

Any further thoughts were cut off as Mizuki approached him. Naruto really wanted to kick himself now that he was thinking about the things that happened later that day. He knew Mizuki was a bad guy and one of the 'demon' haters. He even knew Mizuki had rigged his written test some how and figured he was the one that chose bunshin no jutsu as one of the three ninjutsu he needed to pass. However, Naruto was desperate to hold onto the hope that he could be a ninja and escape the evil clutches of the civilian council and others who wanted to hurt him. So he fell for an obvious lie and did something that could possibly get him killed in a few days when he met with the Hokage.

Naruto stole the Scroll of Sealing other wise known as the Forbidden Scroll from out under the Hokage's nose … well after he knocked him out with his pervert killer jutsu, which most people assumed was just a perverted henge. It was much more complicated than that, yet he found it easier to use than the actual henge no jutsu they taught at the academy. With the scroll in his possession he managed to find the meeting spot in the forest and began to read through the many techniques in the scroll. Unfortunately most of them were way out of his league, but having a blank scroll on him that he didn't use during the test Naruto wrote a few of the more interesting jutsu down for later study and began working on the simplest jutsu he could find in the scroll. It was a clone jutsu which he generally sucked at, but it only required one hand seal and a lot of chakra. Honestly it seemed like it was made for him and the memory transfer ability was definitely something he'd take advantage of.

It took three hours before he was found and in that time Naruto learned the Kage Bunshin, Kage Shuriken, and started working on the Daibukha. The rest of it required him learning other skills like elemental manipulation, chakra control, and fuinjutsu so he saved those for later study. It was Iruka that found him yelling and cursing saying really hurtful things that Naruto wasn't sure he could forgive his former sensei for. Still Naruto plowed through with hope he would receive his headband informing Iruka of what Mizuki told him. A minute later Mizuki struck throwing a giant shuriken at Naruto, which he dodged before Iruka could jump in and protect him. Naruto landed safely away from the madly grinning man facing him with a clearly confused look on his face. 'Is this a part of the test?' Naruto remembered wondering.

Unfortunately things only got worse from there when Iruka engaged Mizuki in combat. During their struggle Mizuki called out to him and informed him of something Naruto couldn't begin to comprehend. "You are too slow Iruka, but then again you never were a match for me were you" Mizuki taunted his former friend as he slashed at Iruka with a kunai. "What's wrong with you Mizuki why are you doing this?" Iruka pleaded with his friend blocking his slash attempt then lashed out with a kick that Mizuki dodged by jumping back. Both men just stared at each other in a ready stance lightly huffing air from their excursion.

"Why am I doing this? I'm doing this because I'm sick of this village. I should be a jonin right now in ANBU gaining fame and glory instead of being stuck with you looking after a group of wannabe's and fan girls. Even that Uchiha is nothing but a weak, overindulged, brat who will probably get himself and his team killed the first time he faces a superior ninja. The worst thou was when they forced me to deal with that little demon over there. The disgust I felt knowing that I was even remotely helping that monster get even a teensy bit stronger made me drown myself in alcohol every night. It got to the point where I couldn't even satisfy my girlfriend who's left me for some loser jonin. Well, now I'm leaving to a place where I will be recognized and my talents properly utilized, but most importantly where demon scum like him won't be allowed to walk around like the rest of us normal decent human beings" Mizuki rants looking from Iruka to Naruto with disgust.

"Hey boy, you want to know why everyone hates you even Iruka here?" Mizuki called out to the boy. Naruto's focus came back and his attention was on Mizuki completely. Iruka immediately lunged at his friend trying to stop him, "No Mizuki you can't tell him". Mizuki carried on like he hadn't heard him dodging around Iruka's wild attacks without much trouble. "The reason is because everyone, including Iruka and that old fart Hokage, is lying to you and those of your generation or younger. The Yondiame didn't kill the Kyuubi he sealed it in YOU! You are the Nine-tail fox and you killed Iruka's parents! Now do everyone a favor and DIE MONSTER!" Mizuki shouted and threw a kunai at Naruto.

Naruto stood there in shock as he thought about how everyone treated him even the Hokage who seemed to always keep a little distance between himself and Naruto despite allowing Naruto to call him jiji and the occasional trip to Ichiraku's. Now it all made sense the faces, the whispers, the beatings, his birthdays'. Naruto was so deep in thought that he hadn't even heard Mizuki's last statement or the kunai that was coming closer to striking his heart. Naruto was broken out of his thoughts by a splash of blood hitting his face. Clearing the blood off of his face Naruto saw Iruka hunched over him a kunai sticking through his hand. From there Iruka told Naruto to run, which he did and half an hour later Mizuki tried to trick him again by using the henge no jutsu to look like Iruka. Naruto sadly had to admit that he almost fell for it the key word being almost.

Naruto feigned giving Mizuki the scroll when he suddenly shoved it forward and right into the man's groin causing him to double over. Then while he was clutching his affected area Naruto slammed the scroll down on his head knocking the ninja out and then tied him up with some ninja wire he always had handy incase a few civilians decided it was time to punish the demon again. Just then Iruka came barreling through the trees to see everything was over. Naruto noticed the large strip of cloth covering Iruka's hand that still seemed to be bleeding.

"I think you for the save earlier Umino-san, but you really should get to a hospital and have that wound looked at" Naruto says. "It's okay Naruto-kun. I'll be fine until help arrives" Iruka replies with a smile at the boy no young man before him. 'Naruto really has grown up well despite all the hate and neglect he's suffered' Iruka thought 'Including from me'. Naruto just shrugged and looked out in the forest trying to sense any approaching ninja. "Naruto" Iruka said catching the blondes' attention. "I would like to apologize about what I said to you in the hall earlier today. It's obvious what you said was the truth now" Iruka stated wondering what else his friend had deceived him about.

Naruto once again shrugged as he remembered the mean hateful things he said earlier and what he said out in the hall that once again made him think about civilian life. "Naruto if you would please close your eyes I'd like to give you a gift as an apology" Iruka says. At first Naruto is hesitant, but despite some incidents between the two early in his life that Iruka probably thinks Naruto doesn't remember and what happened today he decided to show a little faith in the man and close his eyes. Upon opening his eyes he saw Iruka's head band was missing and felt cloth on his head. Naruto unwrapped the headband and held it in his hand examining it with a sort of detached look on his face.

"Naruto despite some of your flaws like being to loud, and wearing too much bright orange, and not paying attention, and acting dumb. I think your quick defeat of Mizuki shows you have potential. The potential to reach your dream some day and be the Hokage. So it is with this headband that I would like to congratulate you Uzumaki Naruto on becoming a genin of Konoha" Iruka says beaming at the young man. Naruto meanwhile, was once again thinking over everything that happened that day and during his academy days. After a few minutes of Naruto just starring at the headband Iruka's smile dimmed and he began to worry about the young blond. "Naruto is everything alright? I'd thought you be jumping up and down doing some retarded victory dance by now" Iruka says shaking Naruto from his thoughts.

"I'm fine Iruka-san, but I can't accept this" Naruto says as he hands the headband back to the chunin. "Why?" Iruka asked confused. "Because, I'm not sure I want to be a ninja any more" Naruto says sounding tired."Oh okay … WHAT?" The scarred chunin screamed. However, Naruto didn't answer and Iruka was into much shock along with a certain spy globe wielding old man to say or do anything. It was only when two ANBU jumped down and after Naruto's explanation of evens grabbed Mizuki and the scroll running back towards the Hokage's Tower after informing Naruto he needed to meet with the Hokage Monday morning when Iruka spoke again as Naruto was about to walk off.

"Hey, Naruto!" Iruka shouted getting the blond to turn around and look at him. "How about we get some ramen my treat" Iruka says though inwardly he feared he wouldn't be able to make rent if he did. "No thank you Iruka-san. I appreciate the offer, but I just want to crash right now … maybe some other time okay" Naruto said as he turned to walk off again not even waiting to see Iruka nod or not. The Hokage and Iruka though could only freeze with a sense of foreboding. 'For Naruto to not only turn down becoming a ninja, but also free ramen something purely evil must be happening' Both men thought as they stared at the retreating blond.

Naruto meanwhile spent the next five hours sprawled out across his lumpy horrible mattress thinking on his problems and rehashing what happened that day. As the sun rose Naruto got up and shut the blinds as much as possible and lay back down. 'Maybe if I just fall asleep I'll find this was all a dream and none of that will have happened' Naruto thought as he finally succumbed to sleep. Unfortunately sleep wasn't in the cards as Naruto suddenly found himself in front of a giant metal gate with a paper seal in the middle of it. He looked around wondering where he was and why he was there. All he saw was a sewer half filled with water. Water that was darker than any he could remember seeing before two giant red orbs peered through the darkness of the cage catching his attention. Then a bright red paw with claws extended came flying out of the cage towards where he was sitting.

Naruto just sat still in shock and waited for it all to end, but just as the paw was right on top of him a blue barrier formed that severely shocked the animal making it retreat back into the darkness of it's cage. Naruto still just sat there wondering what saved him until the glowing red eyes once again stepped forward through the darkness and with it a muzzle and two bright red ears on top. 'It's a fox … Kyuubi' Naruto thought. "Correct human and now that we've met there are certain things we need to discuss" The giant red fox says.

I want to thank everyone for reading this new story. The challenge is 'I Quit' and if you want more details please check out Dracohalo117's profile for this and other challenges. Also, check out Challenger's profile who has all kinds of interesting challenges up on his profile if your interested.

As for fans of my other stories please rest assured updates will come as soon as I can get them up. It shouldn't be too much longer for Choices, but Work Release might still be a ways away. In the mean time I may try to crank out another new story or two before the ideas leave me. Anyway, until next time dear readers and again thanks for taking the time to read this new story!