AN: While searching for a good fic about the Naruto characters read/watching the cannon series, I only found owlgirl16's fics named 'Reading Naruto Shippuden'. So I decided to write my own. I hope you'll like it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I just wish I did.
Beta: This fic is currently being beta'ed by Midnight-Kitsune11. Thank you for your hard work. :D

Now to clarify, this is how you should read the text
"Talking"
'Thinking.'
"flash-back"
Episode (everything in bold is from the episode)

Oh, and if I refer to the Hokage I mean the third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen and not Namikaze Minato… He isn't nominated for the position yet in my timeline.

Chapter 1: Meeting Naruto
Silently, Sarutobi Hiruzen observed the people he had called into the specially prepared interrogation room. Comfortable chairs had been added in the otherwise sterile white room.

His own two students, Jiraiya and Tsunade stood a bit further away and as far away from each other as possible. That wasn't a big surprise, especially taking into account the irritation marks around Tsunade's eyes, and Jiraiya's black eye. Namikaze Minato stood next to Jiraiya. He was silently laughing at his sensei.

He sighed and looked at the blond hidden in the shadows. If only Yamanaka Inoichi, current head of the Intelligence Division, had confirmed the blond to be a spy. It would have been so much easier. But the clan leader had confirmed the younger blonds' story and had insisted on performing this jutsu. Nara Shikaku stood with his teammate.

Hiruzen cleared his throat and immediately he gained everyone's attention.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here. Have a seat and I'll explain."

Curious looks were exchanged as they did as they were told.

"Twenty hours ago, an unknown shinobi appeared in my office with help of a seal. He was unconscious and badly hurt. The seal disappeared immediately afterwards. Inoichi took him into custody. What he saw in the boy's mind, was later confirmed by the boy himself. Inoichi strongly recommended performing a special clan jutsu of his which will allow multiple people to view the boy's memories at the same time."

He paused briefly, giving the shinobi present time to think about what he said.

"What is he?" asked Shikaku bluntly. "It's clear he's not a spy or there would be more people from the Intelligence Division present to record the memories and there would have been no need for us to be here."

Hiruzen nodded.

"Quite right. He's a Konoha shinobi and we found out he won't be born for a few years yet."

A stunned silence filled the room.

"Hokage-sama, are you suggesting time travel?" asked Minato cautiously.

"It is the only explanation." Hiruzen spoke softly. "From what both Inoichi and the boy explained, he somehow ended up here by accident at the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War."

"Fourth?" Questioned Minato softly.

Hiruzen nodded. He knew it was hard to grasp. They were after all still fighting in the third war…

"Inoichi assured me that taking the time to watch these memories now would be more than worth it. That is why I wanted you all here. We are few in this room, and maybe later on I'll ask others to join us but for now this will have to do. Others will lead Konoha while we are busy here."

"I have a question: are we going to watch the kid's whole life? And where is he anyway?" asked Tsunade irritated. She'd rather be working in the hospital. People were dying – they were at war, damn it!

"Inoichi, if you would?"

"Of course, Hokage-sama." The man stepped forward. "Naruto-kun, if you'd please step forward."

A blond teenager stepped forward. He wore standard shinobi clothes the Hokage had given him. Bright blue eyes studied the others in the room, emotions changing so fast it was impossible to name them. He had three thin scars on each cheek, reminding them of whiskers. His Konoha hitai-ate ate was proudly displayed on his forehead. On the back of his hands were standard chakra suppressing seals. Until he had seen those memories, the Sandaime Hokage would be cautious.

"The jutsu I will perform lets me project memories on a flat surface, like onto a wall. It won't show his whole life but shows important memories of his life. This happens chronologically. The oldest memories first. I control the jutsu so it can be stopped and resumed at any time. Almost like a movie."

"Important memories? Meaning you don't choose them?" As always, Shikaku was the one who caught the implication.

Inoichi shook his head. "No, only memories that Naruto-kun considers to be milestones in his life."

"Any more questions?" Asked the Hokage.

"Not at the moment." Grinned Jiraiya. "Let's get this show started!"

Inoichi gestured Naruto fowards. The blond sat down in the chair just in fron of the Yamanaka. Inoichi waited until everyone was comfortable, turned out the light and painted a simple seal on the back of Naruto's neck. He made 4 matching seals on the wall. The rectangular space between the seals would work as a monitor for the images of the memories.
He quickly went through the required hand seals and activated the jutsu.

Small legs became visible, clad in blue ninja sandals and orange pants. It was a child, blond with goggles on his head, in a black t-shirt and with a can of paint in his hand. The kid, not older than 12 years old, was laughing brightly. Two shinobi were chasing him, clearly annoyed.

"Is that you? What did you do, brat?" asked Jiraiya.

"Yes that's me. And I'm sure you'll be shown what I did." Grinned Naruto.

"Why did you do such a thing?" Yelled one of them annoyed. "You're really going to get it this time!"

They chased the child around the village, passing next to the Hokage monument. Someone had painted doodles on the faces of the four Hokages in different colours. Every Hokage had a bloody nose and some scars and feminine eyelashes were added.

Jiraiya started laughing loudly, nearly falling out of his chair.

The Sandaime immediately hit him on his head, making his student fall on the ground.

"I don't care, dattebayo!" yelled the blond. "You know your problem? You can't do the things I do! Only I can do this! I'm better than all of you! Believe it!"

Random shinobi could be heard screaming.

"There's a problem sir."

"Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi Hiruzen regarded the shinobi who entered his office with an annoyed look.

"What is it?" His hand stilled in the middle of writing a kanji. "Did Naruto do something again?"

"From that reaction I'm assuming this happens all the time?" asked Minato amused.

Naruto only laughed brightly at his (future-) father. Amused, he wondered what the man would do if he knew his face was up there. Still, it felt so good to interact with him. He had been raised as an orphan after all.

Without being too bothered, he continued writing. The two shinobi in his office looked frantic.

"Yes, he climbed onto the Hokage Mountain and …"

"And he vandalised and sprayed graffiti all over them!" Cut the second shinobi in.
Almost bored, as if it was a daily occurrence, the Hokage calmly blow out the smoke from his pipe.

Outside, the chase was still on. Two shinobi were still running after the blond kid named Naruto.

"Wait!"

After they passed an alley with wooden panels, a piece of cloth, painted to look just like the panelling, was removed to show a grinning blond.

With his hand rubbing the back of his head, the kid laughed, clearly thinking he had lost them.

"Idiots." Muttered Hiruzen. He made a mental to look into their training regimen outside of war-times.

"Why wouldn't I?" The boy answered the shinobis' earlier demand as if they were still there and not just part of a memory.

An angry chunin, with his brown hair in a ponytail and a horizontal scar across his nose, appeared behind him.

"HEY, NARUTO!"

Not expecting that, the blond jumped high in the air, screaming. Somehow he turned around in mid-air and fell on his behind.

"How did you suddenly get here, Iruka-sensei?"

The chunin pointed a finger at him and frowned.

"The question is: what are you doing here when you should be in class?"

The next scene showed the Ninja Academy, with Iruka lecturing a tied-up Naruto in the classroom.

"You managed to outrun chunin ninja from our village while in the Academy?" asked Shikaku grinning. "Not bad."

"Thanks." Smiled Naruto.

"Now listen Naruto, you failed the last graduation test and the one before that. This is no time to be goofing off, you fool!"

"You failed two times already?" asked a sceptical Tsunade.

"Shut up, baa-chan." Muttered Naruto.

"What did you call me?" A murderous glint appeared in her eyes as she raised a fist.

"Tsunade-sama, please don't." reprimanded Inoichi.

Naruto looked gratefully at the older blond.

"He needs to be conscious for the jutsu to work."

"Hey!"

"Hn." With a grimace Naruto turned his nose up.

Iruka's eye twitched. Angry, he turned towards the other students.

"We will have a retest on the Henge no jutsu (Transformation technique)! Even those who already passed will take it!"

Immediately all the students groaned.

First was a girl in a red dress with green eyes and long pink hair.

"Haruno Sakura." She presented herself. "Here I go… Henge." And with a sudden cloud of smoke she transformed into a copy of Iruka.

"Good." Their teacher praised with a smile.

She cheered as she cancelled the jutsu. "Did you see that, Sasuke-kun?"

"Great, a fangirl." Muttered the Akimichi.

"Next, Uchiha Sasuke."

The boy behind her in the line stoically came forth. He wore white shorts and a blue shirt with the Uchiha clan symbol on the back. He also managed a successful transformation.

Iruka nodded.
"Next, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uzumaki? I thought Kushina was the last…" Minato muttered. Was she the boy's mother? But why would he carry her name then? Why not his father's name?

In the background kids were talking about the blond clad in an orange jumpsuit.

"This is all your fault!"

"Troublesome..."

"Like I care." Muttered the blond.

Blue chakra spun around him as he performed the jutsu and, with the trademark cloud of smoke, Naruto transformed into a foxy, blond and very naked girl who blew a kiss at the poor teacher. Iruka's mouth dropped open and he was momentarily stunned, until what he saw registered. Then he flew backwards from the force of his nosebleed.
Jiraiya had the same reaction as Iruka, only with a perverted grin on his face.

"What the hell is that?!" screamed Tsunade angrily.

"It's brilliant!" exclaimed Jiraiya.
Minato sighed as Tsunade almost sent his teacher through a wall for that remark. He turned towards his Hokage.

The man had tilted his head in such a way he could still see the screen, however, people couldn't see his face… Minato sweat-dropped and the others in the room chuckled but only Naruto laughed outright.

"How was it? I called it Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy jutsu)!"

Laughing loudly, Naruto didn't notice his teacher's quick recovery. The man used, what has been known for generations as, the Big-head-Jutsu and screamed at the blond.

"You fool! Stop making up such idiotic techniques!"

"Quite right." Muttered Tsunade.

The scene shifted towards the Hokage monument. Naruto was cursing while trying to scrub off the paint.

"I won't let you go home until you clean that all up!" said Iruka. He had his arms crossed and observed his student from the top of one of the Hokages' heads.

"I don't care." Yelled Naruto angrily. "There's nobody home anyway!"

"What about your parents?" asked Minato.

The blond looked at him. "I'm an orphan."

Minato frowned. What did that mean? Did Kushina die? Was she even his mother? He still didn't have a clue about who the father was, though he could hope… He and Kushina were dating and were planning on moving in together… On the other hand, if Kushina did die, as awful as that theory might be, what happened to the Kyuubi?

Brooding, he continued scrubbing. Iruka looked at him for a while longer before he tried again.

"Naruto …"

The blond looked up, an annoyed look on his face.

"What is it this time?"

"What I meant was… if you clean up this whole mess, I'll buy you ramen tonight."

Stars appeared in the boy's eyes.

"Yes! I'll finish it in no time, dattebayo!" exclaimed Naruto enthusiastically.

Minato chuckled. That could have been Kushina's reaction! She loved ramen with a passion.

Later that night Naruto and Iruka were eating ramen at Ichiraku's.

"Naruto, why did you vandalise the monument?" asked Iruka curious. "Don't you know who the Hokage are?"

"Of course I do." Said Naruto with his mouth full of ramen.

He drank his bowl empty before continuing.

"Basically, those that receive the Hokage name are the strongest ninja in the village, right? Among them was the Fourth Hokage, who saved the village from the nine-tailed demon fox. "

"Then why did you do that?"

"Because I'll become a Hokage myself, and then I'm going to surpass all the previous Hokage!" Naruto finished that sentence by pointing his chopsticks at his teacher."

"Nice dream, kid." Said Minato.

"A fool's dream." Scoffed Tsunade.

"I don't want to hear that from you!" laughed Naruto.

Tsunade frowned. She wasn't sure she liked this kid. What did he mean by that anyway?

"And then! And then, I'll make the village recognise my strength. By the way, sensei, I have a favour to ask… "

"What, you want seconds?"

"No… Can I borrow you leaf head protector?" Naruto begged.

"Oh, this?" pointed Iruka. "No, no, this is for after you graduate. This is a symbol that you've come of age. Maybe you'll get one tomorrow."

"Stingy." Pouted the blond.

"Nice try." Smiled the sandaime.

Iruka laughed. "So that's why you removed your goggles."

"Seconds!" screamed the kid as vengeance.

"Huh?!"

"Not to be a spoil-sport, but why are we seeing this? I mean, you can't tell me this is an important moment in your live." Muttered Shikaku.

"Hey, ramen is super important!"

Chouza nodded at that.

"And it's not like I get to choose which memories you see. The important part comes later, I guess…" pouted Naruto.

The next day saw them back in the classroom.

"Now for the graduation exam, you will do the bunshin no jutsu. When you are called, come to the next room." Said Iruka with a name list in his hands.

Naruto was anxiously waiting his turn.

'Damn, why that one? That's my worst skill…'

When it was finally his turn, his bunshin turned out to be dying…

"Fail!"

"No offence kid, but that's the third time you failed the academy's graduation exam. You sure know how be stubborn, but are you sure you're the best person to have travelled back in time to help us change the future?" asked Shikaku sceptically.

"I didn't travel back in time on purpose. It was an accident!" said Naruto indignantly. "But does that mean you believe me now?"

The Hokage nodded. "I believed you since the beginning of these memories. Inoichi's jutsu does not allow to show lies or fake memories. We would have noticed by now."

Naruto smiled at that.

Disappointed, Naruto fell down.

"Iruka-sensei…" spoke the white haired chunin next to the teacher."This is the third time, and he did technically create a clone… we could let him pass."

Naruto looked hopeful at that.

"No way, Mizuki-sensei. Everyone else made three clones but Naruto only created one and it was a useless one. I can't let him pass."

Next they saw Naruto sitting on a swing just outside the Academy. In front of the building, graduated students were celebrating with their parents. Miserable and lonely, he watched them.

"Great job! That's my son!"

"Now you're a man!"

"I'm so proud of you! I'm going to make your favourite dinner."

"Hey, that kid…"

"Yeah, that's the kid and he's the only one who failed."

"Well that's good.

"What?" frowned Hizuren. Konoha's citizens were glad an orphan boy didn't become a shinobi. Why?

"We can't have him becoming a shinobi."

"Since, he is…"

"Hey, we can't talk about that!"

They all frowned. What was going on?

Refusing to listen to any more, he quickly left.

In the village, Mizuki-sensei caught up with the blond.

"Naruto…"

"Mizuki-sensei?"

"Iruka-sensei is a serious person." explained the chunin. "His parents were killed when he was young and he's had to do everything himself."

"But why does he pick on me?" pouted Naruto.

Mizuki smiled. "He probably sees himself in you. He's probably thinking he wants you to become strong in the real way. Try to understand Iruka's feelings, since you also have no parents."

Naruto looked down at his hands, a sad look in his eyes.

"… but I wish I had graduated."

"Well then," grinned Mizuki. "I'll tell you a secret…"

"What is he doing?" asked Jiraiya silently.

-x-

"What are you doing here at this hour?" asked the third Hokage bluntly as he caught Naruto sneaking around.

The blond was shocked and cried in reflex: "Sexy no jutsu!"

"Wha-?"

Overwhelmed, the Hokage passed out in a puddle of blood.

Jiraiya once again fell off his chair laughing.

"Sensei, y-you…"

This time it was Hiruzen who hit him on the head.

Naruto continued on and was seen searching through scrolls. He found the right one and left without anyone noticing. He quickly went to a hidden clearing in the forest and opened the scroll.

"Let's see… the first skill is… kage bunshin? (shadow clone) What the hell? Why does it start with one I'm bad at?"

"Are you going to try and learn a jutsu from that scroll? Kage bunsin is a dangerous technique." Said Minato worried.

"The only scroll that has that jutsu in it is the forbidden scroll. Why would you take it?" asked Hiruzen.

"It's explained later on." Muttered Naruto. He so wasn't looking forward to the next part. What would they think of him? He knew some of them knew that his mother was the previous jinchuuriki, but still …

Later, Iruka found Naruto in his clearing. The boy was panting hard and had the scroll on his back.

"I found you!" said an irritated Iruka.

"Oh, I found the nose bleeder!" screamed Naruto enthusiastically.

"Idiot, I found you!" screamed Iruka in response. It was only then the chunin took the time to study his student.

"You're such a comedy dude." Grinned Jiraiya.

"Oh, yeah, I was the best prankster!"

"Hehehe, you found me." Grinned a sheepish Naruto. "I've only learned one skill."

"You managed it? But that jutsu requires a huge amount of chakra?" asked Minato stunned.

"I always had big chakra reserves. It's because of that, and my almost non-existent chakra control, that I couldn't do an ordinary bunshin." Naruto shrugged.

"Naruto, you're all beaten up, what were you doing?"

"Never mind that! I'm going to try an incredible jutsu. If I do it, let me graduate!"

"Why would he graduate you for that?" asked Chouza frowning. He didn't like where this was going.

Iruka blinked. 'So you were practicing here? Enough to damage your body…' The boy was covered in bruises but still he made the hand signs for his jutsu.

"Naruto?"

"Hn?"

"Where did you get that scroll on your back?"

"Oh this? Mizuki-sensei told me about it. And about this place too."

Worried Iruka frowned.

"He said that if I showed you this skill, I'd definitely graduate!"

"Mizuki?"

"It seems we have a traitor." Observed the Hokage.

Hearing something, Iruka quickly pushed Naruto out of the way, taking the hit of different kunai being launched at the child himself.

"Nice job finding him." smiled Mizuki, who suddenly appeared.

Pulling loose a kunai, Iruka glared at his friend. "I see, so that's what going on…"

"Naruto, give me the scroll."

"What's going on here?" asked Naruto. He looked so confused you could almost see a question mark appear above him.

"Come on, kid, it's not that hard to connect the facts." Reprimanded Shikaku.

"Hey!"

"Naruto, don't give him the scroll even if you die!" ordered Iruka. The man was bleeding from various wounds. "That is a dangerous scroll that had forbidden ninjutsu sealed within it. Mizuki used you in order to get his hands on it!"

Shaking, Naruto stood up.

"Naruto, there is no point in you having it. I'll tell you the truth."

"The truth?"

"No, don't!" screamed Iruka desperately.

"Twelve years ago… You know about the demon fox being sealed away, right?" taunted Mizuki. "Since that incident, a new rule was created for the village."

"Sealed away? The Kyuubi has been sealed again?" asked Minato.

Naruto nodded sombrely. Minato sighed, finally understanding. He closed his eyes and muttered: "Jinchuuriki…"

Naruto eyed his father with wide eyes. He hadn't thought he would have figured it out so soon.

The others in the room nodded in understanding but didn't give any other reaction. Naruto wasn't sure what to make of it.

"… A rule?" asked Naruto.

"But Naruto, this rule was never meant to be told to you."

"Not to me? What is this rule? Why?" asked Naruto, frantic.

Mizuki chuckled.

"What kind of rule is it?" asked Naruto again with wide blue eyes.

"The rule is that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that you are the demon fox." Mizuki sneered at him.

"He's not the fox, only its jailor." Said Minato with a strong voice.

Naruto sighed relieved and smiled at the man. Minato, seeing the beautiful smile on the boy's face, smiled back.

"Huh? What do you mean?" screamed Naruto again, his voice slightly breaking.

"STOP IT!" yelled Iruka.

"It means that you are the Kyuubi that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village! You were sealed up by the Hokage you admire and…"

"Oh, shut it, you idiot." Minato really didn't like the white-haired man.

"Stop it!"

"You have been lied to by everyone!" Mizuki continued as if Iruka wasn't there. "Didn't you find it odd how everyone hated you?"

"Why did they tell the whole village?! The identity of the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki has always been one of Konoha's most guarded secrets!" exclaimed Minato angrily. "Which idiot decided to reveal it to the village after what sounds like a massive attack from the fox?!"

Naruto only pointed at the Hokage. "Apparently, the Yondaime Hokage wished for the village to view me as a hero."

"Really, who the hell is that naïve?!"

Naruto laughed happily. Oh, the irony…

Tears gathered in Naruto's eyes.

"Iruka is the same! He actually hates you!"

"Naruto!" called Iruka worried about the young boy's reaction. He closed his eyes and heard again what the third Hokage had said to him earlier that day.

"He's never known a parent's love and is hated by all the villagers because of that incident."

"Nobody will ever accept you." Said Mizuki as he surged forward.

"So to get attention… he makes a lot of trouble. He's seeking acknowledgement of his existence in any possible way."

"That scroll was used to seal you up." Mizuki had almost reached the blond now.

"He acts tough but he is truly suffering."

Blood flew across the screen. Iruka was seen covering Naruto with his body as the great Wind shuriken Mizuki had thrown was sticking out of his back. Blood dripped from the man's mouth onto Naruto's scared cheeks. Tears gathered once more in the boy's eyes.

"Why?"

"M-my parents, after they died, there was nobody to compliment me or acknowledge me. I was so sad… I would always act like an idiot to get people's attention." Iruka tried to explain. "Since I wasn't able to do well in things like school and get attention that way, it was better than being nothing, so I kept acting like an idiot."

"They sure know how to monologue..." Shikaku muttered. "This is taking too long. Why would the traitor wait for Iruka to finish? Not that I'm complaining in this case, but does this sort of thing happen often?"

Naruto rubbed his hand against his chin, thinking.

"Usually it's only the bad guys." he grinned. "But they get so arrogant that most of the time you know the details of their plans before they finish speaking, so I'm not complaining."

"It was so painful." The man was crying now "Yeah, Naruto, you must have been in a lot of pain too. I'm sorry, Naruto, if I had done a better job, you wouldn't have had to feel like this."

Naruto hesitated for a bit and then, clearly over whelmed, the boy ran away.

He ran as far away from the two as his feet could carry him. Iruka gained on him.

"Naruto!" Iruka ran beside the boy. "Hurry! Pass me the scroll. Mizuki is after it!"

Mid-jump Naruto changed directions and tackled his teacher.

"Huh?"

The man flew back as Naruto landed and clutched the scroll.

"What?" gaped Iruka. "Why? Naruto… How did you know I wasn't Iruka?"

And with that Mizuki stopped the transformation jutsu.

"Hehehe." Laughed Naruto.

A sudden cloud of smoke appeared to reveal Iruka.

"Because I'm Iruka."

"Nice." Cheered Jiraiya.

"I see." Sneered the white-haired man.

Unknown to both men, Naruto was hidden behind a tree a bit further away. Clutching the real scroll, he could hear their conversation.

"Hehehe, you'd transform into what killed your parents to protect him?"

"I won't hand that scroll over to an idiot like you!"

"You're the idiot." Mocked Mizuki. "Naruto and I are the same."

"The same?"

Hearing this, Naruto frowned.

"If you use the skills in that scroll, you can do whatever you want. There's no way that demon fox wouldn't try to use that power, unlike what you're assuming."

"Yeah…" agreed Iruka.

Minato frowned again.

"Oh, could you just move on already! Stop talking and do something!" If it wasn't so troublesome, Shikaku would have shouted.

Naruto flinched hearing this.

'Damn it, I knew it… see, even Iruka-sensei… Deep down … doesn't acknowledge me.'

Minato reached for the kid and placed his hand on his shoulder. The younger blond smiled thankfully at him. Jiraiya noticed the two smiling blonds and tilted his head as he saw the similarities between them.

"The demon fox would do that…" Iruka interrupted Naruto's depressing thoughts, "but Naruto is different. He is …I acknowledge him as one of my excellent students. He may not be the hardest worker…"

Naruto hugged the scroll to himself and tried to hide his face in it.

"and he's clumsy so nobody accepts him. He already knows what it is to feel pain in your heart. He isn't the demon fox anymore…"

Again a brief flash of Naruto's hunched form was shown.

"He is a member of the hidden leaf village."

Tears, the boy had tried to contain since the beginning of the day, finally fell.

"He's Uzumaki Naruto!"

They all smiled at that.

Naruto was shaking, trying to calm down, to regain control of his emotions and to not make any noise.

Mizuki grimaced. "Ok, whatever…" he took his second great wind shuriken from his back.

Weak from blood loss Iruka could only watch from his seat against a tree.

"Iruka, I said I would take care of you later, but I changed my mind. Hurry up and die!"

Mizuki threw the weapon. Iruka smiled, but didn't move. He didn't need to.

Unexpectedly, Naruto appeared and head-butted the attacking shinobi.

"Finally something happened." Muttered Shikaku bored.

"Would you shut up about that?!" cried the youngest blond in the room.

"Naruto?!"

"You should not have done that…" muttered Mizuki, slowly getting up.
With the scroll resting on the ground but still in his hand, Naruto glared.

"Don't touch Iruka-sensei. I'll kill you!" glared the boy.

"You tell him kid!" yelled Chouza enthusiastically.

"You idiot! Why did you come out? Run away!"

"Shut up! Punks like you I finish in one shot!"

"Try it, trash! I'll return the pain a thousand times over!"

The boy formed a hand seal. Mizuki only laughed mockingly.

"Then do it, demon fox!"

However both chunin gasped in shock at what followed next.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Thousands of Narutos popped out. The whole clearing was full of them!

"Wow, nice work kid!" Jiraiya gave him a thumbs up.

Naruto grinned, especially when he saw his father gaping.

"Wha-? What's going on?" cried Mizuki wide eyed.

"What's wrong?" mocked Naruto. "Come at me! Weren't you going to kill me in one shot?"

Stunned, Iruka only watched. 'Naruto, you…'

"Well then I'll start things off!" And with that all the clones started attacking the chunin.

Iruka smiled as only one Naruto remained next to Mizuki's beaten form.

"Serves him right." Beamed Minato.

"Hehe, I went a little too far…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Iruka smiled. "Naruto, come over here. There's something I want to give you. Close your eyes."

Naruto did as told. Impatient as ever, he didn't stay still for long.

"Sensei, now?"

"Ok, you can open your eyes."

His eyes flew open and before him sat Iruka. He was smiling and held Naruto's goggles in his hand. His head band was missing.

"Congratulations on graduating! Let's celebrate; I'll buy you a bowl of ramen."

Overjoyed, Naruto tackled Iruka in a hug.

"Well, that was nice." Smiled Shikaku as the images disappeared. "Is that it?"

"It's the first of many to come." Grinned Inoichi.

The Nara moaned.

Minato put his hand on Naruto's shoulder again.

"Congratulations."

Blushing, Naruto felt himself smile so widely his face almost split in two.

TBC?
AN: That's it for now. As you have read, I won't be doing the whole series, I already made myself a list with episodes (and only from Naruto's point of view) I'll be writing like this, but I might be convinced to take requests…
So, I tried, let me know if you think I should continue…
I hope you liked it! Leave a review on the way out, please!