Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor have any intention of profiting from the intellectual property of Masashi Kishimoto.

Act I: Rites of Passage

"Run, Naruto. Don't let Mizuki have the 'Scroll of Sealing'!" Those were the orders Naruto had received. So he ran. The diminutive blond boy was garbed completely in bright orange and had three gash-like marks on each cheek. Married to a face that had not lost all its infant form, the overall effect was a comically childish, slightly mischievous, and somewhat endearing countenance.

Traipsing through the forest, concerning thoughts came to his mind. "What if Iruka-sensei loses? They still think I stole the scroll" Mildly panicked, Naruto turned around with the intention of possibly aiding his teacher. "Hopefully this stupid thing can help me. I only learned one jutsu out of it. It's got to be enough." Up ahead, he could see his teacher – both of them. Mizuki had crept up stealthily behind Naruto's ally, ready to strike. In desperation, Naruto sped up to try to help his teacher. "Damn it! I wish I had something to reach him from here."

Well shy of reaching his teachers, Mizuki struck. His over-sized shuriken found purchase, spilling blood and driving Iruka to the ground. "No!" Mizuki heard the keening wail. He turned to the voice. Naruto, not even twenty yards away now, fell to his knees. Mizuki could see the tears running down the boy's face.

"How touching. A demon sheds tears for his sensei." Mizuki scoffed. "Why even bother? You're the nine-tailed demon fox that attacked the village twelve years ago and killed Iruka's parents. Can you imagine that he cared for you at all?" Mizuki continued his verbal torment.

A hot, heady sensation bubbled up within Naruto. Instead of the desired effect of breaking down the young boy, it was beginning to anger him. Mizuki was interrupted from his tirade by a furious cry. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Where once there was one little boy, there stood an army - one that descended upon Mizuki with fists aplenty. There were hundreds of them. Mizuki was a skilled fighter but the sheer number overwhelmed him until he was crushed under the weight of their collective anger.

Naruto's rage settled, he turned to the body of his teacher. He crawled over and turned over the body, removing the offending weapon lodged in Iruka's back. To Naruto's surprise, Iruka coughed in a squirt of black blood. His skin looked pale and drawn, and his breathing was labored. "Iruka-sensei, you're alive!" Naruto embraced his sensei.

Iruka examined his wound with a hand. It came back slick with black blood. "Liver hit, no wonder I feel like shit." Realizing his time was running out, the teacher took off his headband and pressed it to Naruto's hands. "Don't believe what he told you. You have the demon in you, but that doesn't make you a demon. You came back for me. You'll always be one of my best students. I was like you once. I was an orphan. My parents died in the Kyuubi attack. I played pranks to feel connected, to feel like I mattered. You don't have to be afraid of the loneliness. Just be the best ninja you can be. The rest will take care of itself. Don't be afraid…" His voice trailed off as life left his body.

Naruto looked down at his teacher's body. His horizontal scar over his nose gave him character the way Naruto's whisker marks did. It also served to remind Naruto this man was a true ninja who had 'seen the elephant' in his career. He was a man to be respected. He broke bread with the one that contained his family's killer, Naruto realized after this night. "Heh, he even paid for it." Naruto thought wistfully. Iruka had always known when Naruto was up to no good. It was a legacy of his own pranking days. Iruka grew up an orphan, same as Naruto. He pranked for the same reasons. He outgrew these childish impulses. Now it was time for Naruto to grow up too. "I'm sorry Iruka-sensei, I'll make you proud from now on..."

A few days later, Naruto found himself standing in front of the Hokage. His liege lord was a tired looking old man. Liver spots were prominent on his face, but he looked every bit the wizened, sagely portrait of a leader of men. "Examination of the evidence revealed that Mizuki was a traitor working for a very bad man. I know it wasn't your fault, Naruto." The boy just stared back mutely. "I know Iruka gave you his hitai-ite, keep it. I'll agree to your promotion to the rank of genin." That got a wan smile from the boy. The next bit would be harsher. "There's a problem though. We have an appropriate number of graduates, so you'll have to wait for a team." This bit received near hysteria from Naruto.

"What do you mean old man? How am I going to train to get stronger or go on missions without a team?" Naruto voiced in panicked disdain. A runty little boy in a blanket cape scuttled into the room whilst brandishing a kunai just then. He ran at the Third Hokage as if to attack, but tripped on his ridiculous cape.

"Hey! Who did that?" The boy looked around and saw only Naruto. Assuming the older boy was somehow responsible, the bratty looking kid was incensed. "Is this guy one of your ninja gramps? He's good. He stopped me from getting you. I'll be back though, and I'll get you next time." Just then, a bespectacled man in standard jounin uniform ran into the room.

He took stock of the scene at hand. "Young master, you should not be disturbing your grandfather when he has business to attend to. Come with me and I'll train you to be the great ninja you told me you wanted to be." The jounin was a tall, severe looking man with dark hair. He picked up the child and bore him away.

Naruto mutely considered the display. "Weird." He considered his current dilemma and re-focused himself. Just as he prepared to argue for some recourse that could salvage his career, he spotted the smirk on the old warlord's face.

The old man took a few puffs on a pipe before setting it down. "I can't give you a team currently, but I'll make you a deal. I'm giving you a long-term C-ranked mission. The jounin that was just here was Ebisu – my grandson's tutor. You mission will be to aid Ebisu in his duties and train alongside my grandson in the meantime. I'll also promise to slot you into a team as soon as one becomes available. Is this acceptable?"

Though phrased as a question, Naruto was at least smart enough to recognize this was an order and likely the best he could get. "Yes, Lord Hokage, I accept."

A/N

Here's a fun lesson for all of you. I see a lot of authors mixing languages like they were using two primary languages. It's not really supposed to happen, as the industry standard goes. You write in one language. Any words (except proper nouns) you transliterate, loanwords, calques, and so forth usually need a shift in format (i.e. italics). I don't know why anyone would make their characters speak in English but switch to Japanese just to say 'yes'. Techniques are fine, since the literal translation doesn't always do it justice, but still…